Subgenre Sampler
Classics > Drama: 991 Films to Buy & Rent
Tom Brown's School Days (1940)
- Dir. Robert Stevenson
Feat. Freddie Bartholomew, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Jimmy Lydon
- Thomas Hughes' classic novel of life at the Victorian Boys public school of Rugby is given a generous, populist treatment. New boy Lydon finds…
Twenty One Days (21 Days Together) (1940)
- Dir. Basil Dean
Feat. Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Leslie Banks…
- Laurence Olivier plays a playboy embroiled in the death of an attractive model's blackmailer in this curious pre–war melodrama, from the…
Dark Victory (1939)
- Dir. Edmund Goulding
Feat. Bette Davis, George Brent, Humphrey Bogart…
- Sleekly upholstered melodrama, with Davis as a willful, party–going Long Island millionairess who discovers she is dying. Great performances…
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939)
- Dir. John Ford
Feat. Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert, Edna May Oliver…
- Minor Ford drama with Fonda and Colbert as newlyweds whose farming career gets stymied by the Revolutionary War and attacks from Native Americans.…
Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939)
- Dir. Sam Wood
Feat. Robert Donat, Greer Garson
- Slow–moving, heartfelt story of a devoted schoolteacher. Robert Donat won an Oscar in the lead role.
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939)
- Dir. William Dieterle
Feat. Charles Laughton
- Charles Laughton is perfectly cast in this beautifully expressionistic version of the classic.
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…
La Regle Du Jeu (Rules of the Game) (1939)
- Dir. Jean Renoir
Feat. Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Roland Toutain…
- Considered one the greatest films in history, this downbeat yet incisive satire centres around weekend shooting party that results in a myriad of…
Of Mice and Men (1939)
- Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Lon Jr. Chaney, Burgess Meredith, Betty Field…
- A mentally–challenged giant and his level–headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in this adaptation of John Steinbeck's…
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
- Dir. Howard Hawks
Feat. Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth
- Quintessential Hawks fare in which men are men and women have to be equally tough. At a South American outpost, mail pilot Cary Grant becomes…