Subgenre Sampler
Rental > Classics > Drama: 29 Films to Rent
- Amadeus (1984)
- Dir. Milos Forman
Feat. Tom Hulce, F. Murray Abraham
- Academy–award winning biopic of Mozart's illustrious but brief existence that spawned much of the greatest music ever written. A humourous yet…
- Gandhi (1982)
- Dir. Richard Attenborough
Feat. Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox…
- Epic retelling of the life of the inspirational Indian leader with Ben Kingsley as 'The Mahatma'. Won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture.
- Fedora (1978)
- Dir. Billy Wilder
Feat. William Holden, Marthe Keller, Jose Ferrer…
- Fascinating later work from dir. Wilder, in which an impoverished film producer travels to the Greek islands to track down an elusive European star…
- Gambler, The (1974)
- Dir. Karel Reisz
Feat. James Caan, Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton…
- A typically gritty 70s crime drama, adapted from a story by Dostoevsky, that boasts a fine performance by James Caan as a well–respected…
- Deep End (1970)
- Dir. Jerzy Skolimowski
Feat. Jane Asher, John Moulder-Brown, Diana Dors
- Remarkable, darkly comic story of 15–year–old Mike who takes a job at the local swimming baths and becomes obsessed with a beautiful…
- Model Shop (1969)
- Dir. Jacques Demy
Feat. Anouk Aimee, Gary Lockwood, Alexandra Hay
- A mesmerizing, shamefully neglected stateside film from French New Wave director Jacques Demy that follows an aimless, unemployed architect who ends…
- No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)
- Dir. Jack Smight
Feat. Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal…
- Macabre cat–and–mouse thriller from the pen of suspense–master William Goldman (MARATHON MAN), about a psychotic master of disguise…
- Up Tight (1968)
- Dir. Jules Dassin
Feat. Raymond St. Jacques, Ruby Dee, Frank Silvera…
- In this landmark collaboration between activist and actress Ruby Dee and director Jules Dassin, Black revolutionaries are betrayed by one of their…
- Graduate, The (1967)
- Dir. Mike Nichols
Feat. Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katherine Ross
- An endearing Dustin Hoffman in his first leading role, is seduced by a middle–aged woman and then falls in love with her daughter. A brilliant…
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
- Dir. Mike Nichols
Feat. Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor
- High powered melodrama with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in peak form as a married couple whose dinner party turns into a violent debacle.…
- Shakespeare Wallah (1965)
- Dir. James Ivory
Feat. Shashi Kapoor, Felicity Kendall, Madhur Jaffrey
- The first major film from the Merchant–Ivory collaboration, this elegaic drama follows the progress of an English theatre troupe through India…
- Carpetbaggers, The (1964)
- Dir. Edward Dmytryk
Feat. George Peppard, Alan Ladd, Carroll Baker…
- Drama based on the best–selling 1961 novel by Harold Robbins about a cheerfully vulgar business tycoon (perhaps modelled off Howard Hughes),…
- Chalk Garden, The (1964)
- Dir. Ronald Neame
Feat. Deborah Kerr, Hayley Mills, John Mills…
- British melodrama based on the eccentric stage play by Enid Bagnold, with Hayley Mills playing a rebellious teenager who meets her match in governess…
- Kitten with a Whip (1964)
- Dir. Douglas Heyes
Feat. Ann-Margret, John Forsythe, Peter Brown…
- Ann–Margaret brings white–hot intensity to this cult classic about a teenage girl on the run from the law who blackmails a clueless…
- Hands Over the City (Le mani sulla città ) (1963)
- Dir. Francesco Rosi
Feat. Rod Steiger, Salvo Randone, Guido Alberti
- An astute and ever–pertinent story of political corruption in post–World War II Italy starring Rod Steiger as a ruthless developer and…
- Leopard, The (Il Gattopardo) (1963)
- Dir. Luchino Visconti
Feat. Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon, Claudia Cardinale…
- An Italian classic, concerning the decline of the 19th century Sicilian aristocracy – represented by Burt Lancaster– that fulfils its…
- Harakiri (Seppuku) (1962)
- Dir. Masaki Kobayashi
Feat. Tatsuya Nakadai, Shima Iwashita, Akira Ishihama…
- Japanese jidaigeki (period drama) set at the beginning of the Edo period, following a masterless samurai (ronin) who wishes to commit suicide…
- Hustler, The (1961)
- Dir. Robert Rossen
Feat. Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott…
- Classic Paul Newman, playing a pool–shark with potential who gets into a match with the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). George C…
- Room at the Top (1958)
- Dir. Jack Clayton
Feat. Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret
- Matters sexual are treated with rare maturity in this stunning, landmark British drama about an ambitious, working–class cad who falls in love…
- Eddy Duchin Story, The (1956)
- Dir. George Sidney
Feat. Tyrone Power, Kim Novak, James Whitmore
- Tearjerking, CinemaScope biopic of the beloved but short–lived pianist and bandleader Eddy Duchin. Nominated for four Academy Awards.
- Gate of Hell (Jigokumon) (1953)
- Dir. Teinosuke Kinugasa
Feat. Machiko Kyo, Kazuo Hasegawa, Isao Yamagata
- Tragic story of unrequited love set during the Heiji Rebellion in 1159, where a samurai warrior falls in love with a married…
- Outrage (1950)
- Dir. Ida Lupino
Feat. Mala Powers, Tod Andrews, Robert Clarke
- One of the earliest post–Code Hollywood films to deal with the subject of rape, this black–and–white B–movie follows a young…
- Sunset Boulevard (1950)
- Dir. Billy Wilder
Feat. Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich von Stroheim…
- Faded screen vamp Gloria Swanson and screenwriter William Holden exploit each other mercilessly in this searing dissection of Hollywood decadence,…
- Red Shoes, The (1948)
- Dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Feat. Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer, Marius Goring…
- Beloved dance classic is a strikingly realised story of a young ballerina who, in an echo of the Hans Christian Andersen story, becomes torn between…
- Casablanca (1942)
- Dir. Michael Curtiz
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
- The role that immortalised Bogart is that of Rick, the laconic cafe–owner who assists old flame Ingrid Bergman to escape the Nazis with her…
- Citizen Kane (1941)
- Dir. Orson Welles
Feat. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead
- Orson Welles ground–breaking work chronicles a publishing tycoon's rise to power, told through a reporter's efforts to discover the meaning of…
- Face Behind the Mask, The (1941)
- Dir. Robert Florey
Feat. Peter Lorre, Evelyn Keyes
- Film noir following the descent of a kind watch maker whose face is disfigured in a fire shortly after immigrating to America, and despite being a…
- Jour Se Leve, Le (Daybreak) (1939)
- Dir. Marcel Carne
Feat. Jean Gabin, Arletty
- A renowned example of 'poetic realism', Jean Gabin gives another consummate performance as a doomed anti–hero. His tragic story is told in…
- Variety (1925)
- Dir. E.A. Dupont
Feat. Emil Jannings, Lya de Putti
- A cautionary fable of romantic treachery set in the since–vanished vaudeville world, lent depth through its sophisticated visual style. Emil…