This film is currently unavailable

Show Boat
By far the best film version of Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern’s landmark stage show.
Director: James Whale
Overview
Adapted from the landmark stage show – the first musical to have a narrative and where black and white actors were given equal prominence – Show Boat takes place on and around the Mississippi, and like several of Oscar Hammerstein’s works it addresses racial prejudice. This is by far the best of three film versions, and Paul Robeson, with his deep velvety tones, performs the definitive version of ‘Old Man River’.
Related

The Critic The Critic
Thriller 2023 101 mins Director: Anand Tucker
Ian McKellen is in delicious form as London's most vicious critic, who strikes a Faustian pact with a struggling actor (Gemma Arterton).

Rosalie Rosalie
Period drama 2024 115 mins Director: Stéphanie Di Giusto
Enchanting tale of female empowerment in 19th century France, based on the true story of a famed ‘bearded lady’.

The Peasants The Peasants
Drama 2023 115 mins Director: Hugh Welchman and Dorota Kobiela
Using an advanced oil painting animation technique, The Peasants is a visually thrilling rendering of Władysław Reymont’s Nobel Prize-winning tale.

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.

An Actor's Revenge An Actor's Revenge
Period drama 1963 114 mins Director: Kon Ichikawa
Kon Ichikawa's wildly melodramatic tale of a kabuki female impersonator who exacts a long-delayed revenge.

The Nightingale The Nightingale
Period drama 2018 136 mins Director: Jennifer Kent
A young Irish convict enlists the help of an Aboriginal tracker in her quest for vengeance, in this ferociously powerful revenge drama from Jennifer Kent (The Babadook).

Song of Freedom Song of Freedom
Drama 1936 77 mins Director: J. Elder Wills
A black London docker becomes a famous opera singer in this stirring musical drama starring Paul Robeson

Body and Soul Body and Soul
Drama 1925 93 mins Director: Oscar Micheaux
Paul Robeson made an auspicious film debut in a twin-role, in this key work from pioneering black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux.

The Proud Valley The Proud Valley
Drama 1940 77 mins Director: Penrose Tennyson
Deeply moving mining drama that provided the legendary American singer/actor Paul Robeson with his best British film role.

Sanders of the River Sanders of the River
Drama 1935 87 mins Director: Zoltan Korda
Alexander Korda’s colonial epic was disowned by its star Paul Robeson, but became a pivotal film in his fight for screen representation.

King Solomon's Mines King Solomon's Mines
Action and Adventure 1937 77 mins Director: Robert Stevenson and Geoffrey Barkas
The first adaptation of H. Rider Haggard’s famous novel, featuring Paul Robeson as a usurped king accompanying Allan Quartermain on an African adventure.

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Ernest Cole: Lost and Found
Documentary 2024 107 mins Director: Raoul Peck
Raoul Peck’s sorrowful portrait of Ernest Cole, the first photographer to expose the horrors of apartheid to the world.

Seaside Special Seaside Special
Documentary 2021 93 mins Director: Jens Meurer
Jens Meurer’s bittersweet portrait of Cromer during the Brexit crossroads is also an affectionate homage to British theatrical escapism.

The Summer with Carmen The Summer with Carmen
Comedy 2023 106 mins Director: Zacharias Mavroeidis
A seductive and smart gay comedy set on a cruisy Greek island.

Driving Mum Driving Mum
Comedy 2022 113 mins Director: Hilmar Oddsson
Jon drives his mums corpse across Iceland in Hilmar Oddsson’s darkly comic odyssey of self-discovery and acceptance, beautifully filmed in crisp black and white.

William Tell William Tell
Action and Adventure 2024 133 mins Director: Nick Hamm
A peaceful huntsman is thrust into the heart of the resistance following an Austrian Empire invasion, in this gripping retelling of a timeless legend.

The Crime is Mine The Crime is Mine
Thriller 2022 103 mins Director: François Ozon
François Ozon’s witty 1930s farce about a penniless actress who finds fame while on trial for murder, featuring a riotous performance from Isabelle Huppert.