David Parkinson

Hitchcock's penultimate film deals with many of his previous themes with typical grim comedy and insight into a psychopathic killer's mind.

Poetic, provocative and unstoppably powerful. But, depressingly, it probably won't change a thing.

A rose-tinted look at American history, certainly, but still a very entertaining one.

A truly insightful art film that still manages to be easy-going and unpretentious.

This MGM classic remains the most faithful and powerful adaptation of the great Dickens novel.

This is still the definitive version of Charles Dickens' atmospheric and occasionally creepy classic.

A magnificent comic performance and a film of genial hilarity.

Superb dialogue, beautifully played and hummingly atmospheric, this is sexy, poignant and tense with some surpising humour...only the plot shows cracks...

Packed with cultural references and sly satire, this is also a hugely entertaining comic romp.

This lesser known Kurosawa feature is worth a look, with outstanding performances and stunning cinematography.

Alec Guinness shines in this hilarious British comedy.

A bleak and moving drama with reflective performance from Jack Nicolson.

Well-served by a laudably authentic ensemble, the director explores both character and ethnicity with a canny wit.

A painful and poignant excoriation of the American dream.

Magnificent examination of the criminal mind and Cagney's finest moment.

Subtle and multi-layered film-making with compelling performances.

A gripping study of treachery, identity and survival.

Full of fascinating behavioural insights and moments that are both hilarious and adorable, this studied treatise on the personality and emotionality of domestic animals should provide plentiful food for thought.

The red-jacketed, Method-pouting James Dean steals every scene, but the ensemble playing is nothing short of exemplary.

For the rare uninitiated, this is a fine introduction to Babs' talents.

Dark but beautiful.

Winning Best Film at that year's Oscars, this John Huston film typically epic with a faithful screenplay to Richard Llewellyn's famous novel. Strong performances from Crisp and O'Hara although McDowall as the young lead, gives a particularly memorable performance while the setting shows Wales at its most beautiful.

Magnificent absurdist crime drama from the master of suspense.

Louis Malle, possibly at his best here. The drama is subtle but affecting.

It might be lesser known, but certainly not deservingly so. This is a cracking piece of Brit cinema.

Lemmon and Maclaine fail to reproduce the chemistry from The Apartment but this slight film is not as ignorable as reputation suggests.

A must see.

Powerful and mesmerising, this offers an fresh approach to a tough topic.