Rentals
Martin Scorsese Selects: Hidden Gems of British Cinema
Scorsese hand picks a selection of his favourite British films.
A selection of classic films, hidden gems, and unheralded treasures, taken from a watchlist Scorsese recommended to filmmaker Edgar Wright during the Covid lockdown. Enjoy this cinematic journey into the heart of British film, curated by one of cinema’s greatest champions.
Film: The Blue Lamp
The Blue Lamp The Blue Lamp
Police drama 1950 85 mins Director: Basil Dearden
Dirk Bogarde stars as a loose-cannon crook with Dixon of Dock Green (Jack Warner) on his tail, in the classic Ealing policier.
Film: Sapphire
Sapphire Sapphire
Police drama 1959 92 mins Director: Basil Dearden
A young student with a secret is brutally murdered in this British Academy Award winning thriller about race, sex and jealousy.
Film: Dead of Night
Dead of Night Dead of Night
Horror 1945 99 mins Director: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer
A group of guests assembled at a country house swap uncanny and supernatural stories in this classic Ealing chiller from 1945.
Hue and Cry Hue and Cry
Comedy 1947 82 mins Director: Charles Crichton
An army of schoolchildren fight crime on the bomb-torn streets of postwar London in this ripping Ealing classic.
Film: The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Drama 1989 116 mins Director: Jack Clayton
Maggie Smith is astonishing in one of her greatest roles as a spinster who falls for Bob Hoskins’ brash businessman.
Film: Pink String and Sealing Wax
Pink String and Sealing Wax Pink String and Sealing Wax
Crime 1946 90 mins Director: Robert Hamer
Gordon Jackson stars in a seething tale of family conflict, murder and blackmail in Victorian Brighton.
Film: Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit Quatermass and the Pit
Horror 1967 94 mins Director: Roy Ward Baker
One of Britain’s finest sci-fi films, based on Nigel Kneale’s masterful script, about the discovery of ancient alien craft beneath central London.
Film: The Man in Grey
The Man in Grey The Man in Grey
Melodrama 1943 116 mins Director: Leslie Arliss
James Mason, Margaret Lockwood and Stewart Granger star in the first of the fantastically successful Gainsborough melodramas.
Film: Uncle Silas
Uncle Silas Uncle Silas
Drama 1947 98 mins Director: Charles Frank
Gothic chiller based on the novel by J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Jean Simmons stars as an heiress pursued by her unbalanced uncle and his perverted son.
Film: The Devil Rides Out
The Devil Rides Out The Devil Rides Out
Horror 1968 95 mins Director: Terence Fisher
Dennis Wheatley's occult tale is given the Hammer treatment.
Film: Underground
Underground Underground
Romance 1928 93 mins Silent Director: Anthony Asquith
The BFI National Archive restoration of one of Anthony Asquith's finest silent films set in London's Underground, with a new score.
Film: Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars Shooting Stars
Drama 1928 101 mins Silent Director: A.V. Bramble
Anthony Asquith's (A Cottage on Dartmoor, Underground), fabulous silent film set in a British movie studio in the 1920s.
Film: The Queen of Spades
The Queen of Spades The Queen of Spades
Fantasy 1949 95 mins Director: Thorold Dickinson
Thorold Dickinson's most dazzling success, based on Pushkin’s 1834 tale of black magic and gambling.
Film: Night of the Eagle
Night of the Eagle Night of the Eagle
Horror 1962 84 mins Director: Sidney Hayers
A sceptical professor falls prey to diabolical evil when he burns his wife's protective magic charms.
Film: It Always Rains on Sunday
It Always Rains on Sunday It Always Rains on Sunday
Drama 1947 88 mins Director: Robert Hamer
Austerity noir: Ealing's downbeat but compelling East End thriller.
Mandy
Mandy Mandy
Drama 1952 93 mins Director: Alexander Mackendrick
Alexander Mackendrick's drama about a deaf girl and her unstable family life is remarkably unsentimental while still packing an emotional punch.