Stage to Screen
It wouldn’t just be the actors themselves making the transition from the boards of West End to the big screen. Armed with the collected works of playwrights known the world over - from William Shakespeare to Joe Orton - Britain’s rich theatrical history was ripe for cinematic inspiration. Bringing to life the lavish operas, shadowy whodunnits and outrageous comedies formerly only seen following a pilgrimage to the playhouse - this collection reimagines the theatre experience in your own home.
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Ran
Akira Kurosawa’s visually spectacular epic transplants Shakespeare’s King Lear from Celtic Britain to feudal Japan. In its epic scope and expert execution, Ran can be seen as a culmination of the great Japanese director’s filmmaking career; a late triumph which he planned and refined over several...
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The Lion in Winter
Christmas 1183. An elderly King Henry the Second (Peter O'Toole) is torn over naming his successor. He wants the young Prince John (Nigel Terry), one of his three sons, to take over, however, his wife Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katherine Hepburn) wants another of his sons, Prince Richard the Lio...
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Play On! Shakespeare in Silent Film
By the end of the silent era around 300 films of Shakespeare’s work had been produced. This celebration from the BFI National Archive draws together a delightful selection of thrilling, iconic and humorous scenes from 24 titles (many unseen for decades), newly digitised and brought to life with a...
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Lady Windermere's Fan
Ernst Lubitsch’s 1925 Hollywood version of Lady Windermere’s Fan is often misquoted as the first screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s enduringly popular 1892 play. In fact, the British got there first, with this early silent feature made nearly a decade before Lubitsch’s film. While the lack of act...
