Courtenay is heartbreaking as a broken man crushed under the wheels of a callous system.

Atmospherically black-and-white photography provides suitable accompaniment to Sidney Lumet's unrelenting direction, with the two leads into it with plenty of relish.

The music, even after a quarter of a century, is the film's redemption.

With its driving jazz score, hilarious dialogue and overdrive melodramatics, this is the ultimate expression of the American cinema's greatest fetishes: big breasts, fast cars, tight jeans, and sudden death. This is, in its own way, one of the great films of the 60's.

Interesting portrait of the shallow nature of fame but overall this fails to engage on an emotional level.

Harry Palmer, charismatic but grounded in reality, is the perfect popular bridge between the spectacular escapades of Bond and the cold, harsh milieu of Deighton's embittered, betrayed spies.

Great performances and an innovative approach to a tired old story make this one to watch out for.

One of the greatest screen musicals ever.

Larger than life, faintly ridiculous, completely cool, Goldfinger is the quintessential James Bond movie.

A wonderfully stylish and witty movie classic.

Well at least we get to see him in more leather in this one. Though one could quite possibly live without it.

Still an impressive and disturbing brink-of-doom thriller.

One too many jokes about Dick Van Dyke's dire Cawk-nee accent can drag a movie down.

Make a date to catch this on the big screen and be rewarded with pure magic.

This remains a compelling Hitchcock thriller but it's Tippi Hedron's remarkable central performance which steals the show.

Creepy Price in all his gnarled splendour.

Unlike in The Pink Panther, Clouseau was the real star here.

As a spectacular war film with a powerful moral dimension, Zulu pre-dates Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan by more than three decades. Like the defence of Rorke's Drift itself, its legend grows with the passing of time.

A cracking cold war story.

Elvis not only rocks the city of lights but also showed he could act.

Tragic and tender Fuller classic. Way ahead of its time.

Certainly difficult to define, this period piece messes with genres, power relationships and your head.

The collapse of the Cold War may have left Kubrick's satire on mutually assured destruction less relevant than it was, but it still features Peter Sellers' finest three performances as well as proving that the supposedly humourless Kubrick was up for a laugh.

Disney’s adaptation of the first book in T. W. White’s colourful Arthurian trilogy The Once And Future King (which also served as the source for the musical Camelot) is formulaic matinee fare, competent and sprightly but undistinguished.

Perhaps the best Hitchcock film Hitchcock never made.

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

The definitive wacky screwball comedy that spawned a genre.

Polanski arrived on the scene with an almost super-human knack for tension; one of the great directorial debuts in cinema's history.

If Tom Jones now feels something of a product of its times, it still deserves credit for attempting something new - no matter how derivative.

An uplifting film that cemented the reputation of its star.

It's one of the most highly-wrought (indeed, overwrought) films ever made, with art direction, editing, sound effects, weird camera angles and lighting orchestrated to fill every frame with hints of the unsettling.

Despite some inventive photography and decent gore for its day, its uneven pace renders it a curio for Coppola fans.

The final act of The Great Escape is a masterfully sustained piece of action and tension as the various escapees struggle for freedom via train, bicycle, motorbike, row boat and hitchhiking. The Great Escape should always be seen. It reminds us of a history that is all too quickly forgotten.

A sprawling anything-goes portrait of the artist and the creative process in crisis.

For sheer old-fashioned, childhood rekindling adventure you really can't go past it - just don't take the rose-tinted glasses off.

Running at just over four hours, it is as spectacular, lush and extravagant as the studio would have liked its audience to believe. But it also has moments of mind-numbing boredom as the plot,– slowed by extraneous dialogue, drags from Egypt to Rome.

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

Newman is at his very best, and the cinematography is backing him up every step of the way. Must-see material.

The beginning of the super-successful franchise, this remains one of the most satisfying Bond films.

Satirical Samurai action of the highest order.

A mysterious army of enemies, with no suggested motive and, what's worse, they're your friendly garden crows. Clamps itself to your recollection and doesn't let go.

A grand folly, but lots to love.

The second half occasionally descends into melodrama, but for the most part this is bleak, non-judgemental, riveting stuff.

Storytelling doesn't get much better than this.

Brando rocks the boat with his dodgy accent and lowers the tone as history gets rewritten as vanity project.

Sour as month-old milk and with a tang of off-screen animosity in its mouth, Robert Aldrich's melodrama is still hysterical in every sense of the word.

A dazzling spy thriller that’s still amazing.

At three hours it does seem bloody long at times, but is still a suitably epic tribute.

One of the Nouvelle Vague's boldest achievements.

John Frankenheimer, during his decade as one of the screen's most innovative and exciting directors, tells a difficult story with imagination and compassion.

The mood of the movie reflects the exuberance of youth and the wisdom of experience. New Wave gold.

Some may find this sprawling film hard to adjust to, but for those who can, it is a real find. With an imaginative plot and an amusing direction, this charming film is a fitting way to end Cocteau's career.

Written with great insight by Kogo Noda and filmed with painterly delicacy by Asakazu Nakai, though Ozu's touch brings the magic to this domestic drama.

One of Heston's best work, this shows our lead at his most macho and heroic, inspiring a whole army while also managing to woo the stunning Loren in this romantic war epic.

This really is the musical for people who don’t like musicals.

Natalie Wood is stunning and the drama is full of passion but this suffers a little from 60s hollywood style.

Audrey Hepburn is delicious as Holly and the Henry Mancini score is in the class of elite soundtracks. [Review of re-release]

There's a huge amount of style in this picture, but also a huge amount of substance underpinning it.

Less visceral than the battle scene in Seven Samurai, this is more of a free-for-all, with brute force leaving no room for skill.

A highly effective merging of star power (both in front and behind the camera) and finely honed horror sensibilities.

Although, beyond the calling of its plot, this set of likable characters do come intelligently alive and there is real directorial skill in the growing tension of the finale — this is not just a mater of blindly going through the motions. Violently out of fashion, perhaps, but inspirational in its own tidy way.

Dog-lovers, in particular, will go ga-ga for this, but this remarkably fresh and funny period tale (set in England, fact fans) has all the ebullience and lovability of its titular characters.

Deep down, you know it's not as good as Seven Samurai — but few films are. You also know that next time it's on television, you'll find yourself watching it.

Spartacus' merry rabble swarms across country to face a Roman army that, seen from a distance, resembles either a group of ants moving in perfect formation or living chessboard squares marching in order — an unbeatable, fascist machine. It's a breathtaking moment, which forces you to realise that Kubrick (before CGI) had to command extras as rigidly as Crassus runs Rome.

Olivier is truly remarkable in his portayal of the hammy actor, anti-hero Archie.

Timeless classic. Superb performances and the infamous shower scene make this the perfect nightmare.

Delightful comedy romance with a clutch of note-perfect performances.

Truly classic film-making.

Superbly adapted with blistering performances from Taylor and Hepburn.

Little can come close to captivating the grandeur and epic quality of William Wyler's magnificent bum numb-er.

The quintessential '50s rom-com.

Powerhouse performance from Richard Burton but a little too old to play the angry young man stuff that is essential to this tale.

This is Hitchcock's longest film and also his most self-referential. Little jokes abound about art and artifice, role play and reality, duty and duplicity and each viewing reveals something new to enhance the pleasure of watching the Master of Suspense at his most mischievous and assured.

Brilliantly terrible or terribly terrible depending on your viewpoint.

Cleverly wrought and expertly played crime thriller.

Faultless, freewheeling-and very funny.

Although time doesn't flatter the film much, it remains engaging and insightful.

Key to its success - along with its vivid characters and brilliant performances - is the snappy pace throughout. Non-stop gags, invention, twists and comic incident flow, as Joe and Jerry - sexy Curtis and screamingly funny Lemmon - elude mob boss George Raft by wriggling into an all-girl jazz band, with Josephine and Daphne’s legendary drag act taking in amorous adventures, seductive deceptions and madcap pursuits.

There are some poignant moments, but Steven's decision to shoot a claustrophobic movie in CinemaScope and the stage-bound feel of the whole enterprise never bring the action to life.

A consummate display of populist weepie-making.

Stylish enough, but the plodding story inhibits the smooth sophistication of the film's stars.

Delightful, but bum-numbingly slow.

Dark but beautiful.

Epic, heartbreaking cowboy story.

Uncomfortable viewing which isn't afraid to engage with race-related violence.

Two of cinema's most iconic stars on top form make this worth a good look.

Expertly executed example of a golden time in British cinema - one to savour.

Gripping throughout with frame upon frame of standout images and superb performances from the two leads.

By deviating from Stoker's text, Hammer was clearly signalling a new direction in horror. It was garish, it was sexy and it was never afraid to be gory.

Marlene Dietrich tries not to give anything away as usual while Agatha Christie's whodunit plot whirs tidily about her expressionless beauty.

Astonishing cinematography and brilliantly played, this certainly one of the most influential crime movies in history.