Films of great books nominated for Best Picture: Oscar, BAFTA, Berlin, Cannes, Venice
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- DirectorLewis MilestoneStarsLew AyresLouis WolheimJohn WrayA German youth eagerly enters World War I, but his enthusiasm wanes as he gets a firsthand view of the horror.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsRonald ColmanHelen HayesRichard BennettA medical researcher is sent to a plague outbreak, where he has to decide priorities for the use of a vaccine.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsGary CooperHelen HayesAdolphe MenjouAn American ambulance driver and an English nurse fall in love in Italy during World War I.
- DirectorRobert Z. LeonardStarsNorma ShearerClark GableAlexander KirklandAfter Nina Leeds finds out that insanity runs in her husband's family, she has a love child with a handsome doctor and lets her husband believes the child is his.
- DirectorFritz WendhausenStarsHans AlbersLucie HöflichMarieluise ClaudiusA Nazi-era German reimagining of Ibsen's classic, as an adventure type vehicle for the popular heartthrob Hans Albers.
- DirectorClarence BrownStarsGreta GarboFredric MarchFreddie BartholomewThe married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions.
- DirectorRouben MamoulianStarsMiriam HopkinsFrances DeeCedric HardwickeAgainst the backdrop of Napoleon's Waterloo campaign, an ambitious woman from a family of entertainers begins a destructive climb up the social ladder.
- DirectorPierre ChenalStarsHarry BaurPierre BlancharMadeleine OzerayRaskolnikov is a Russian man who follows an unusual moral code. A combination of vigilantism and hubris fuels his decision to aid a hapless prostitute by removing her antagonist, a local merchant. Raskolnikov is locked up for the murder, and while he does not deny committing the crime, he tries to persuade the police that he should not be charged.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsFreddie BartholomewFrank LawtonEdna May OliverA gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleMax ReinhardtStarsJames CagneyDick PowellIan HunterTwo couples and a troupe of actors have an encounter with some mischievous fairies in the forest.
- DirectorRichard BoleslawskiStarsFredric MarchCharles LaughtonCedric HardwickeIn early-19th-century France, an ex-convict who failed to report to parole is relentlessly pursued over a 20-year period by an obsessive policeman.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsNorma ShearerLeslie HowardJohn BarrymoreYoung love is poisoned by a generations long feud between two noble families.
- DirectorRobert J. FlahertyZoltan KordaStarsSabuW.E. HollowayWalter HuddThis black and white movie is based on Rudyard Kipling's "Toomai, of the Elephants", in which a small native lad claims he knows the congregating place of the elephant hordes.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsTommy KellyJackie MoranAnn GillisTom Sawyer and his pal Huckleberry Finn have great adventures on the Mississippi River, pretending to be pirates, attending their own funeral and witnessing a murder.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithLeslie HowardStarsLeslie HowardWendy HillerWilfrid LawsonA phonetics and diction expert makes a bet that he can teach a cockney flower girl to speak proper English and pass as a lady in high society.
- DirectorVictor SchertzingerStarsKenny BakerJohn BarclayMartyn GreenThe son of the Mikado of Japan, a wandering minstrel, falls for a girl who is engaged to her guardian.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsMerle OberonLaurence OlivierDavid NivenA servant in the house of Wuthering Heights tells a traveler the unfortunate tale of lovers Cathy and Heathcliff.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaJane DarwellJohn CarradineAn Oklahoma family, driven off their farm by the poverty and hopelessness of the Dust Bowl, joins the westward migration to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJohn WayneThomas MitchellIan HunterA merchant ship's crew tries to survive the loneliness of the sea and the coming of war.
- DirectorGabriel PascalHarold FrenchStarsWendy HillerRex HarrisonRobert MorleyA young and idealistic woman, who has adopted the Salvation Army and whose father is an armament industrialist, will save more souls directing her father's business. A comedy with social commentary.
- DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsLaurence OlivierRobert NewtonLeslie BanksIn the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France in 1415.
- DirectorGabriel PascalStarsClaude RainsVivien LeighStewart GrangerAt the height of the Roman Civil War, a young Cleopatra (Vivien Leigh) meets a middle-aged Julius Caesar (Claude Rains), who teaches her how to rule Egypt.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.
- DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsJohn LauriePrince Hamlet struggles over whether or not he should kill his uncle, whom he suspects has murdered his father, the former king.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJeanette NolanDan O'HerlihyMacbeth, the Thane of Glamis, receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders his king and takes the throne for himself.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiWilfred JacksonHamilton LuskeStarsKathryn BeaumontEd WynnRichard HaydnAlice stumbles into the world of Wonderland. Will she get home? Not if the Queen of Hearts has her way.
- DirectorGeorge HoelleringStarsJohn GroserDonald BissetClement McCallinThe tape version, if one exists, may be 114 minutes but the film, on original release, ran the same 140 minutes in the USA as it did in England. It is an experimental transposition of the Eliot play to the screen and, as such, and Eliot a poet, the film deals more with sound and meaning than it does film movement, i.e., static shots with voice overs. It is the story of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, and his struggles against temptation and personal vanity prior to his murder in the great Cathedral.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesMicheál MacLiammóirRobert CooteThe Moorish General Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his Lieutenant Michael Cassio when in reality, it is all part of the scheme of a bitter Ensign named Iago.
- DirectorGeorge StevensStarsMontgomery CliftElizabeth TaylorShelley WintersA poor boy gets a job working for his rich uncle and ends up falling in love with two women.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsMoira ShearerRobert RounsevilleLudmilla TchérinaA melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsLaurence OlivierJennifer JonesMiriam HopkinsA young girl from a provincial town learns the bitter reality of a big city and great love.
- DirectorDaniel MannStarsBurt LancasterShirley BoothTerry MooreAn emotionally remote recovering alcoholic and his dowdy, unambitious wife face a personal crisis when they take in an attractive lodger.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsMichael RedgraveRichard WattisMichael DenisonWhen Algernon discovers that his friend, Ernest, has created a fictional brother for whenever he needs a reason to escape dull country life, Algernon poses as the brother, resulting in ever increasing confusion.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsRobert TaylorElizabeth TaylorJoan FontaineA knight seeks to free the captive King Richard and put him back on the throne.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsLouis CalhernMarlon BrandoJames MasonThe growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony.
- DirectorRichard ThorpeStarsRobert TaylorAva GardnerMel FerrerKing Arthur's rule is threatened by the adulterous love between Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, a relationship the king's enemies hope to exploit.
- DirectorJoy BatchelorJohn HalasStarsGordon HeathMaurice DenhamA successful farmyard revolution by the resident animals vs. the farmer goes horribly wrong when the victors create a new tyranny among themselves.
- DirectorVera StroyevaStarsAleksandr PirogovNikandr KhanayevGeorgi NeleppAction happens at the end of the 16th century, on the eve of "time of troubles". The main character of this historical tragedy - the Russian tsar Boris Godunov who has ascended to a throne after Ivan the Terrible after tragic events: death of the eldest son of Grozny Fedor and death of the young tsarevitch Dimitrii.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsDan O'HerlihyJaime FernándezFelipe de AlbaThe classic story of Robinson Crusoe, a man who is dragged to a desert island after a shipwreck.
- DirectorRenato CastellaniStarsLaurence HarveySusan ShentallFlora RobsonIn Shakespeare's classic play, the Montagues and Capulets, two families of Renaissance Italy, have hated each other for years, but the son of one family and the daughter of the other fall desperately in love and secretly marry.
- DirectorJoshua LoganStarsWilliam HoldenKim NovakBetty FieldEmotions are ignited among the complacent townsfolk when a handsome drifter arrives in a small Kansas community on the morning of the Labor Day picnic.
- DirectorLaurence OlivierStarsLaurence OlivierCedric HardwickeNicholas HannenShakespeare's powerful tale of the wicked deformed King and his conquests, both on the battlefield and in the boudoir.
- DirectorLev ArnshtamLeonid LavrovskyStarsGalina UlanovaYuri ZhdanovIraida OleninaRussian ballet version of Shakespeare's tragedy about star crossed lovers from two feuding Italian Renaissance families.
- DirectorJoshua LoganStarsMarilyn MonroeDon MurrayArthur O'ConnellA naive but stubborn cowboy falls in love with a saloon singer and tries to take her away against her will to get married and live on his ranch in Montana.
- DirectorSergei YutkevichStarsSergey BondarchukIrina SkobtsevaAndrei PopovThe Moorish general Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his lieutenant Michael Cassio when in reality it is all part of the scheme of a bitter ensign named Iago.
- DirectorCecil B. DeMilleStarsCharlton HestonYul BrynnerAnne BaxterMoses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsAudrey HepburnHenry FondaMel FerrerNapoleon's tumultuous relations with Russia, including his disastrous 1812 invasion, serve as the backdrop for the tangled personal lives of two aristocratic families.
- DirectorGrigoriy KozintsevStarsNikolay CherkasovYuriy TolubeevSerafima BirmanSenor Quexana has read so many books on chivalry that he believes that he is the knight Don Quixote de la Mancha. So Don Quixote sets off on his horse, accompanied by his squire Sancho Panza on a mule, to perform valiant deeds. They mistakenly save the Lady Altisidora who is so amused that she invites them to visit the Duke to provide some merriment at court. Among other deeds, Don Quixote frees some prisoners, who then turn upon him, and Don Quixote attacks a windmill that he imagines is a monstrous wizard.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsYul BrynnerMaria SchellClaire BloomDrama based on Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky's homonymous novel about the proud Karamazov family in 1870s Russia.
- DirectorDelbert MannStarsSophia LorenAnthony PerkinsBurl IvesDesperation and secret passions on a family farm lead to tragedy.
- DirectorFranz Peter WirthStarsO.W. FischerLiselotte PulverEllen SchwiersIn 1865, Swiss captain Bluntschli fights as a mercenary in the war between Bulgaria and Serbia. When his group is attacked by a few Bulgarian troopers, he learns that he's got the wrong ammunition for his cannon and should flee. His flight leads him right into the bedroom of his enemy's fiancée.
- DirectorJirí TrnkaStarsJoss AcklandAnn BellRichard BurtonThe first puppet kinescope in the world. It is based on the famous poetic comedy by William Shakespeare. Three worlds meet in this story: the noble world of three Athens couples, a common popular world of tradesmen amateur theatre and a fairy-tale happiness of magic creatures as elves and nymphs. The film is considered the most remarkable Jirí Trnka's work and a milestone in the history of the world animation.
- DirectorIosif KheifitsStarsIya SavvinaAleksey BatalovNina AlisovaA love story among the nobility of the Russian Empire: a man and a woman, both married, fall in love.
- DirectorGeorge SchaeferStarsMaurice EvansJudith AndersonMichael HordernHallmark Hall of Fame's second version of Shakespeare's classic play, with the same two stars and the same director as its first version, but a different supporting cast.
- DirectorJack CardiffStarsTrevor HowardDean StockwellWendy HillerA young man with artistic talent lives in a close-knit coal-mining town and finds himself inhibited by his emotionally manipulative mother.
- DirectorGiorgos TzavellasStarsIrene PapasManos KatrakisMaro KodouAntigone defies her uncle's decree that her traitorous brother should go unburied and therefore find no rest in the afterlife; however, her actions have tragic consequences.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.
- DirectorMichael CacoyannisStarsIrene PapasGiannis FertisAleka KatselliLiving in exile after the death of their father, the grown children of a murdered and usurped king converge to exact eye-for-an-eye revenge.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsJames MasonShelley WintersSue LyonA middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a 14-year-old girl.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsKatharine HepburnRalph RichardsonJason RobardsAt the end of a long and hot summer day, members of one family gather in a large house. Everyone has something painful and offensive to say, and their silence is even worse.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsAlbert FinneySusannah YorkGeorge DevineThe romantic and chivalrous adventures of adopted bastard Tom Jones in 18th-century England.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsEnrique IrazoquiMargherita CarusoSusanna PasoliniThe life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. Pasolini shows Christ as a Marxist avant-la-lettre and therefore uses half of the text of Matthew.
- DirectorGrigoriy KozintsevStarsInnokentiy SmoktunovskiyMikhail NazvanovElza RadzinaAfter the death of the King of Denmark - Hamlet's father - his brother Claudius ascends the throne, who takes his widow Gertrude as his wife. Hamlet meets the ghost of his father and learns that he was killed by Claudius.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsAudrey HepburnRex HarrisonStanley HollowayIn 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
- DirectorKen HughesHenry HathawayBryan ForbesStarsKim NovakLaurence HarveyRobert MorleyA medical student becomes obsessed with his faithless lover.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJeanne MoreauMargaret RutherfordWhen King Henry IV ascends to the throne, his heir, the Prince of Wales, is befriended by Sir John Falstaff, an old, overweight, fun-loving habitual liar. Through Falstaff's eyes we see the reign of King Henry IV and the rise of Henry V.
- DirectorSergey BondarchukStarsLyudmila SavelevaVyacheslav TikhonovSergey BondarchukThe Russian aristocracy prepares for the French invasion on the eve of 1812.
- DirectorAleksandr ZarkhiStarsTatyana SamoylovaNikolai GritsenkoVasiliy LanovoyAnna Karenina is a young wife of an older husband. She has an affair with the handsome Count Vronsky. By following her desires Anna complicates her life.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsSilvana ManganoFranco CittiAlida ValliRescued from abandonment and raised by the King and Queen, Oedipus is still haunted by a prophecy--he'll murder his father and marry his mother.
- DirectorJoseph StrickStarsMilo O'SheaBarbara JeffordMaurice RoëvesJames Joyce's masterpiece incarnated: The story of two seperated Dublin wanderers, Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus, struggling to control their personal lives.
- DirectorRudolf NoelteStarsMaximilian SchellCordula TrantowTrudik DanielA man comes to a small village to begin his new job as an attendant at the nearby castle. But everybody in the village claims that he surely must be mistaken, there is no need for an attendant at the castle.
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsLeonard WhitingOlivia HusseyJohn McEneryWhen two young members of feuding families meet, forbidden love ensues.
- DirectorKirill LavrovIvan PyrevMikhail UlyanovStarsMikhail UlyanovLionella PyryevaKirill LavrovThree brothers, one spiritual and living at a monastery, the other - a gambler, and the third - an intellectual, work out their problems in 19th century Russia.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsAlan BatesOliver ReedGlenda JacksonTwo best friends fall in love with a pair of women, but the relationships soon go in very different directions.
- DirectorSilvio NarizzanoStarsLee RemickRichard AttenboroughHywel BennettBased on the play by Joe Orton, this film follows the adventures of two pals who have pulled off a bank robbery and have to hide the loot. Fortunately one of them works in a funeral parlor and they have a coffin to spare. Then there's the gold-digger nurse and the gonad-grabber detective and a host of other wonderful characters.
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsDirk BogardeRomolo ValliMark BurnsWhile recovering in Venice, sickly composer Gustav von Aschenbach becomes dangerously fixated with teenager Tadzio.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsFranco CittiNinetto DavoliJovan JovanovicAn adaptation of nine stories from Boccaccio's "Decameron".
- DirectorBob FosseStarsLiza MinnelliMichael YorkHelmut GriemA female girlie club entertainer in Weimar Republic era Berlin romances two men while the Nazi Party rises to power around them.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsHugh GriffithLaura BettiNinetto DavoliPasolini's artistic, sometimes violent, always vividly cinematic retelling of some of Chaucer's most erotic tales.
- DirectorGeorgiy DaneliyaStarsRoman MadyanovFelix ImoukhuedeEvgeniy LeonovThis adaptation of Twain's masterpiece still is absolutely warm without being completely married to retelling the book line by line. Despite being on the other side of the world, the tone and the feel is lovingly authentic while still giving taste of the Soviet Georgian culture.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsNinetto DavoliFranco CittiFranco MerliIn ancient Arabia, a beautiful slave girl chooses a youth to be her new master, then she is kidnapped and they must search for each other. Stories are told within stories: love, travel and the whims of destiny.
- DirectorMichael CacoyannisStarsIrene PapasKostas KazakosKostas KarrasTo appease offended gods before going to war, a commander must sacrifice his favorite daughter to them but does so under the pretext of marrying her off.
- DirectorSalvatore SamperiStarsMartin HalmMichele PlacidoVirna LisiTriestw in the year 1911. Ernesto is the privileged, seventeen year old son of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father, who has deserted his family. He is raised by his uncle Giovanni and his moaning aunt Regina, who send him to work at the office of a trading company. Ernesto doesn't take his new job very serious, he wants to become a violin player. One day when he is alone in the storage, he is approached by a young stable-hand, to whom he has given working orders before. They agree to meet. Ernesto is very aware of the sexual intentions of the man. He is curious and starts having sex with the man frequently. But after an overwhelming heterosexual experience with a prostitute, he decides to avoid any further contact with the man. He quits his job and concentrates on studying the violin. During a concert, Ernesto meets a 15 year old violin player of classic beauty called Emilio. The two boys start an intense friendship that is troubled by jealousy and possessiveness. Untill Emilio introduces Ernesto to his twin sister Rachele. Then Ernesto becomes insecure and confused. Does he want the brother or the sister?
- DirectorWerner HerzogStarsKlaus KinskiIsabelle AdjaniBruno GanzCount Dracula moves from Transylvania to Wismar, spreading the Black Plague across the land. Only a woman pure of heart can bring an end to his reign of horror.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsNastassja KinskiPeter FirthLeigh LawsonA strong-willed young peasant girl attracts the affection of two men.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsNigel TerryHelen MirrenNicholas ClayMerlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsTeresa StratasPlácido DomingoCornell MacNeilVioletta meets Alfredo and quickly falls for him. After the lovers run away together, they live in bliss for a short time. However, Alfredo's father, Giorgio, starts to interfere, concerned that Violetta's bad reputation will affect the marriage prospects of Alfredo's sister. Violetta reluctantly leaves Alfredo, but his love is so strong that it leads him to actions that have tragic consequences.
- DirectorKon IchikawaStarsYoshiko SakumaSayuri YoshinagaYûko KotegawaThe orphaned Makioka sisters look for a husband for their third sister, Yukiko, as the rebellious youngest sister, Taeko, is kept waiting her turn.
- DirectorFrancesco RosiStarsJulia MigenesPlácido DomingoRuggero RaimondiIn 1820s Spain the soldier Don José falls in love with the fiery and charismatic factory worker Carmen. Conflicts and grievances multiply, however, as it becomes apparent their views on love and commitment are fundamentally incompatible.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJudy DavisVictor BanerjeePeggy AshcroftCultural mistrust and false accusations doom a friendship in British colonial India between an Indian doctor, an Englishwoman engaged to marry a city magistrate, and an English educator.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsJeremy IronsOrnella MutiAlain DelonIn Belle Époque Paris, a 19th century Parisian aristocrat (Jeremy Irons) falls in love with a lower-class prostitute (Ornella Muti) who seduces him but never loves him.
- DirectorPaul SchraderStarsKen OgataMasayuki ShionoyaHiroshi MikamiA fictionalized account in four chapters of the life of celebrated Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.
- DirectorFranco ZeffirelliStarsPlácido DomingoKatia RicciarelliJustino DíazVerdi's famous opera is brought to life in this production. The immortal tale of the noble Moor and his beautiful young wife, and of his lieutenant, whose jealousy and lust for power lead him to commit the ultimate treason.
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsMarcello MastroianniSilvana ManganoMarthe KellerAn Italian tells his story of love to a Russian. In a series of flashbacks, Romano Patroni leaves his wife to visit a spa where he falls in love with a Russian woman. He returns to Italy resolved to leave his wife and marry his love.
- DirectorPaul NewmanStarsJoanne WoodwardJohn MalkovichKaren AllenA son longs to escape from his stifling home, where his genteel mother worries about the future prospects of his lame, shy sister.
- DirectorJames IvoryStarsJames WilbyRupert GravesHugh GrantTwo English school chums find themselves falling in love at Cambridge. To regain his place in society, Clive gives up Maurice and marries. While staying with Clive and his wife, Maurice discovers romance in the arms of the gamekeeper Alec.
- DirectorJean-Paul RappeneauStarsGérard DepardieuAnne BrochetVincent PerezFamed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.