Best of British
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Francois Truffaut : Isn't there a certain incompatibility between the terms 'cinema' and 'Britain'? This might sound far-fetched, but I get the feeling that there are national characteristics — among them, the English countryside, the subdued way of life, the stolid routine - that are anti-dramatic in a sense. The weather itself is anti-cinematic. Even British humor - that very understatement on which so many of the good crime comedies are hinged — is somehow a deterrent to strong emotion .
Variety ( reviewing The Lodger 1932 ) : They can make pictures in England - the only point for discussion is why they do not make them oftener .
The old joke used to be that Britain had the best intelligence service in the world... shame it was working for the Russians . Britain has the best film industry in the world , it's just called Hollywood - Chaplin , Stan Laurel , Hitchcock , Charles Laughton , James Whale , Ridley Scott , Christopher Nolan etc etc etc etc .
Too often British films were cheap , or looked cheap , were far too middle class , with too many silly accents ( most of which were assumed - many of the actors weren't actually that posh ! ) , too many stage plays put on film , no working class people . It didn't help having most of the stars poached by Hollywood , either .
Then we had World War Two stiff upper lipped to death for thirty years ( and counting ) .
For years ( the seventies and eighties at least ) the best stuff was on television . Sometimes things were made even worse when they tried to "do Hollywood " , and in more recent years Merchant Ivory and the Jane Austen industry , bloody rom coms , mockney gangsters , and umpteen horror movies .
These are the films that stood out , good enough for Hollywood , or good enough to be French / European films . Plus the better comedies - we made far too many lightweight ones in the fifties , and then too much Carry On - culminating in the absolute nadir of British Cinema - the so called sex comedies of the seventies - both things being completely absent .
best viewed chronologically
Francois Truffaut : Isn't there a certain incompatibility between the terms 'cinema' and 'Britain'? This might sound far-fetched, but I get the feeling that there are national characteristics — among them, the English countryside, the subdued way of life, the stolid routine - that are anti-dramatic in a sense. The weather itself is anti-cinematic. Even British humor - that very understatement on which so many of the good crime comedies are hinged — is somehow a deterrent to strong emotion .
Variety ( reviewing The Lodger 1932 ) : They can make pictures in England - the only point for discussion is why they do not make them oftener .
The old joke used to be that Britain had the best intelligence service in the world... shame it was working for the Russians . Britain has the best film industry in the world , it's just called Hollywood - Chaplin , Stan Laurel , Hitchcock , Charles Laughton , James Whale , Ridley Scott , Christopher Nolan etc etc etc etc .
Too often British films were cheap , or looked cheap , were far too middle class , with too many silly accents ( most of which were assumed - many of the actors weren't actually that posh ! ) , too many stage plays put on film , no working class people . It didn't help having most of the stars poached by Hollywood , either .
Then we had World War Two stiff upper lipped to death for thirty years ( and counting ) .
For years ( the seventies and eighties at least ) the best stuff was on television . Sometimes things were made even worse when they tried to "do Hollywood " , and in more recent years Merchant Ivory and the Jane Austen industry , bloody rom coms , mockney gangsters , and umpteen horror movies .
These are the films that stood out , good enough for Hollywood , or good enough to be French / European films . Plus the better comedies - we made far too many lightweight ones in the fifties , and then too much Carry On - culminating in the absolute nadir of British Cinema - the so called sex comedies of the seventies - both things being completely absent .
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- DirectorZoltan KordaStarsJohn ClementsRalph RichardsonC. Aubrey SmithA British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he shadows his friends to save their lives.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerJack HawkinsUlla JacobssonOutnumbered British soldiers do battle with Zulu warriors at Rorke's Drift.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsMargaret LockwoodMichael RedgravePaul LukasWhile travelling in continental Europe, a rich young playgirl realizes that an elderly lady seems to have disappeared from the train.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsKarlheinz BöhmAnna MasseyMoira ShearerA young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.
- DirectorJohn BoultingStarsRichard AttenboroughHermione BaddeleyWilliam HartnellIn Brighton in 1935, small-time gang leader Pinkie Brown murders a journalist and later desperately tries to cover his tracks but runs into trouble with the police, a few witnesses, and a rival gang.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid NivenKim HunterRobert CooteA British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsRoger LiveseyDeborah KerrAnton WalbrookFrom the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsVanessa RedgraveOliver ReedDudley SuttonIn 17th-century France, Father Urbain Grandier's protection of the city of Loudun from the corrupt Cardinal Richelieu is undermined by a sexually repressed nun's accusation of witchcraft.
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.
- DirectorWilliam Cameron MenziesStarsRaymond MasseyEdward ChapmanRalph RichardsonThe story of a century: a decades-long second World War leaves plague and anarchy, then a rational state rebuilds civilization and attempts space travel.
- DirectorLothar MendesAlexander KordaStarsRoland YoungRalph RichardsonEdward ChapmanAn ordinary man suddenly finds that anything he says comes true. Or at least, almost anything.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsSylvia SidneyOscar HomolkaDesmond TesterA Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJohn GielgudMadeleine CarrollRobert YoungAfter three British Agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to the mission conflicts with their consciences.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsNova PilbeamDerrick De MarneyPercy MarmontA man on the run from a murder charge enlists the help of a beautiful stranger who must put herself at risk for his cause.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsLeslie BanksEdna BestPeter LorreAn ordinary British couple vacationing in Switzerland suddenly find themselves embroiled in a case of international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by spies plotting a political assassination.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenAlida ValliPulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonClaire BloomHildegard KnefIn post-WW2 Berlin, when travel to the East was still possible, the sister of a British officer from West Berlin is abducted by Communist agents and taken into the Soviet sector where her eventual rescue is arranged by a German smuggler.
- DirectorArthur B. WoodsStarsEmlyn WilliamsAnna KonstamAllan JeayesA convict, just out of prison, is implicated in a murder and goes on the run, hitching a ride with a truck driver.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsMargaret LockwoodRex HarrisonPaul HenreidAfter Germany invades Czechoslovakia, the German and the British intelligence services try to capture Czech scientist Dr. Axel Bomasch (James Harcourt), inventor of a new type of armor-plating.
- DirectorWalter FordeStarsMuriel AkedJoan BarryDonald CalthropThe theft of a valuable Van Dyck painting leads to murder, and many suspects are on a plush express train speeding from Paris to Rome.
- DirectorT. Hayes HunterStarsBoris KarloffCedric HardwickeErnest ThesigerAn Egyptologist returns from the dead to take revenge on those who have violated his tomb.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsBrian DonlevyJack WarnerRichard WordsworthProfessor Bernard Quatermass' manned rocket ship returns to Earth, but two of the astronauts are missing and the survivor seems ill and unable to communicate.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsBrian DonlevyJohn LongdenSidney JamesProfessor Quatermass, trying to gather support for his Lunar colonisation project, is intrigued by mysterious traces that have been showing up.
- DirectorRoy Ward BakerStarsJames DonaldAndrew KeirBarbara ShelleyA mysterious artifact is unearthed in London, and famous scientist Bernard Quatermass is called in to divine its origins and explain its strange effects on people.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsDirk BogardeSarah MilesWendy CraigUpper-class Tony hires servant Hugo Barrett, who turns out to have a hidden agenda.
- DirectorClive DonnerStarsAlan BatesDonald PleasenceRobert ShawWhile renovating his house in London, Aston, out of pity, lodges a homeless man, but Aston's brother taunts and harasses the cranky old bum.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsAlbert FinneyBillie WhitelawFrank FinlayInspired by his love for Dashiell Hammett novels, nightclub comedian Eddie Ginley puts an ad in the paper as a private eye. The case he gets turns out to be a strange setup and as he digs to the bottom of it his life starts falling apart.
- DirectorPeter YatesStarsStanley BakerJoanna PettetJames BoothA group of British criminals plan the robbery of the Royal Mail train on the Glasgow-London route.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJune TrippIvor NovelloMarie AultA landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
- DirectorMaurice ElveyStarsIvor NovelloElizabeth AllanA.W. BaskcombA landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsDavid BradleyBrian GloverFreddie FletcherA working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.
- DirectorJules DassinStarsRichard WidmarkGene TierneyGoogie WithersA small-time grifter and nightclub tout takes advantage of some fortuitous circumstances and tries to become a big-time player as a wrestling promoter.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsRobert NewtonSally GrayPhil BrownClive Riordan plans a devilish revenge against his wife's lover.
- DirectorEdward DmytrykStarsSam WanamakerLea PadovaniKathleen RyanOne of the few (if any at the time this film was made) films shot in England with New York City's 'Little Italy" as the locale. This was Edward Dmytryk's first film after he had refused to tell a Congressional Committee whether or not he was, or had ever been, a member of the Communist Party. This is a 'runaway production' shot in England for political reasons and not for the usual USA tax-break reasons. Geremio, a young Italian immigrant to New York City, works as a bricklayer and is courting an Italian girl, Annunziata, by mail. He lies to her that he owns his own home and, after they are married, has to rent one for their three-day honeymoon. The years pass and they are unable to save enough money to get out of their slum tenement, and the 1929 depression brings even harder times to the family that now includes three children. Geremio, in order to make enough money to care for his family, exploits his "comrades" in dangerous construction work. This practice leads to the accidental death of his best friend, and, in grief, Geremio also becomes unfaithful to his wife. The messages of the film -- life is aimless and no man can judge the true worth of another man -- are pounded on for most of the two-hour running time.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsMargaret LockwoodJames MasonPatricia RocA noblewoman begins to lead a dangerous double life in order to alleviate her boredom.
- DirectorLeslie ArlissStarsMargaret LockwoodJames MasonPhyllis CalvertAfter a brutish, hedonistic Marquis marries a pretty young Clarissa to act as a 'brood sow,' he begins an affair with her friend who plots to take her place.
- DirectorMarc AllégretStarsStewart GrangerValerie HobsonWalter FitzgeraldThe childless widow of Allan Fury bequeaths the Fury estate to her Fuller relatives, but Allan's illegitimate son who masquerades as a servant hopes to grab the estate for himself.
- DirectorArthur LubinStarsStewart GrangerJean SimmonsBill TraversIn early-1900s England, a maid tries to blackmail her master into romancing her when she discovers that he murdered his wife.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDeborah KerrDavid FarrarFlora RobsonA group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.
- DirectorSidney HayersStarsMichael CraigFrançoise PrévostBillie WhitelawA gang plans to steal a factory's wages, but an armored van foils them. They rob anyway, killing the driver. His vengeful wife and encroaching police make the gang betray each other.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsRobert ShawMalcolm McDowellAndy BradfordTwo escapees are on the run in the wilderness of an unspecified country. Wherever they go, they are followed by a menacing black helicopter.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsLeslie BanksC.V. FranceValerie TaylorAn English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert NewtonAlec GuinnessKay WalshIn Charles Dickens' classic tale, an orphan wends his way from cruel apprenticeship to den of thieves in search of a true home.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsCatherine DeneuveIan HendryJohn FraserA sex-repulsed woman who disapproves of her sister's boyfriend sinks into depression and has horrific visions of rape and violence.
- DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsDonald PleasenceFrançoise DorléacLionel StanderIn search of help, two wounded gangsters on the run find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryHarry AndrewsIan BannenIn a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDeborah KerrPeter WyngardeMegs JenkinsA young governess for two children becomes convinced that the house and grounds are haunted.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsRobert ShawPatrick MageeSydney TaflerThe down-at-heel lodger in a seaside boarding house is menaced by two mysterious strangers, who eventually take him away.
- DirectorPeter WatkinsStarsMichael AspelPeter GrahamDave BaldwinA docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Britain.
- DirectorPeter CollinsonStarsDavid HemmingsTony BeckleyTom BellThe saga of three British soldiers and their German captive as they trek through the European countryside.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiCharles CrichtonBasil DeardenStarsMervyn JohnsMichael RedgraveRoland CulverGuests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.
- DirectorThorold DickinsonStarsMervyn JohnsJohn ChandosNova PilbeamWartime propaganda piece giving the warning "Be like Dad, Keep Mum". A gossipy housewife is overheard talking about what her son is doing by a Nazi spy.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingChristopher LeeMichael GoughWhen Jonathan Harker rouses the ire of Count Dracula for accepting a job at the vampire's castle under false pretenses, his friend Dr. Van Helsing pursues the predatory villain.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingHazel CourtRobert UrquhartWhile awaiting execution for murder, Baron Victor Frankenstein tells the story of a creature he built and brought to life - only for it to behave not as he intended.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingChristopher LeeYvonne FurneauxIn 1895, British archaeologists find and open the tomb of Egyptian Princess Ananka with nefarious consequences.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsHerbert LomHeather SearsEdward de SouzaAn acid-scarred composer has his dwarf helper bring an opera singer to his London sewer hide-out.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsClifford EvansOliver ReedYvonne RomainIn eighteenth-century Spain, an adopted boy becomes a werewolf and terrorizes the inhabitants of his town.
- DirectorWolf RillaStarsGeorge SandersBarbara ShelleyMartin StephensIn the English village of Midwich, the blonde-haired, glowing-eyed children of uncertain paternity prove to have frightening powers.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsMacdonald CareyShirley Anne FieldViveca LindforsAn American tourist, a youth gang leader, and his troubled sister find themselves trapped in a top secret government facility experimenting on children.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsSean ConneryCharlotte RamplingSara KestelmanIn the late 23rd century, a savage trained only to kill finds a way into the community of bored immortals that alone preserves humanity's achievements.
- DirectorPeter WatkinsStarsTony CosgroveOlivier Espitalier-NoelDon FairserviceThe 1746 Battle of Culloden, the last land battle fought in the British Isles and the battle that ensured that Scotland was controlled by England.
- DirectorMike HodgesStarsMichael CaineIan HendryBritt EklandWhen his brother dies under mysterious circumstances in a car accident, London gangster Jack Carter travels to Newcastle to investigate.
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsSean ConneryTrevor HowardVivien MerchantA burnt-out British police detective finally snaps whilst interrogating a suspected child molester.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsJack WarnerDerek FarrVeronica HurstWhen a local bully is found shot to death, the police suspect a young man who had recently been seen arguing with him. When thy discover that they had been arguing over the affections of a young girl, they begin to suspect that the pair had conspired to kill the victim. The suspect insists he's innocent, but the evidence seems overwhelming.
- DirectorJack ClaytonStarsDavid KossoffAlfie BassAlf DeanFender is a lowly clerk in the warehouse of clothing manufacturers Ranting and Co. His one ambition is to have an overcoat of his own. Refused one by the cold hearted Ranting he asks a tailor friend, Morry, to make him one instead, but dies of cold before he can take delivery of it. Unwilling to give up his only desire even in death, he returns as a ghost to persuade Morry to steal him the overcoat he so coveted in life.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsHardy KrügerStanley BakerMicheline PresleIn 1950s London, Dutch painter Jan Van Rooyen has an affair with a rich married Frenchwoman who is supposedly murdered, resulting in Van Rooyen becoming Scotland Yard's prime suspect.
- DirectorDon SharpStarsChristopher LeeNigel GreenJoachim FuchsbergerAfter cheating death, master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu returns with a plot to contaminate the River Thames with a powerful toxin extracted from Tibetan poppies.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsKeir DulleaCarol LynleyLaurence OlivierA woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she ever existed.
- DirectorDavid VilliersStarsMichael GoughErika RembergHans von BorsodyThe professional killer Kersten arrives in England and is hired by Donald Edwards to murder his wife Helene. But Helene's lover Robert Vaughan discovers the plot and he trails Kersten and Edwards to a country cottage.
- DirectorRobert LynnStarsZena WalkerKenneth CopeBasil HensonAn adulterous couple turn to murder, only to discover that a petty crook and blackmailer has already had his eye upon them.
- DirectorAlbert FinneyStarsAlbert FinneyColin BlakelyBillie WhitelawA married writer has an affair with his secretary.
- DirectorMaurice ElveyStarsClaude RainsFay WrayMary ClareA fake music-hall clairvoyant meets a woman, and suddenly his predictions seem to come true ...
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsKim StanleyRichard AttenboroughMargaret LaceyA medium and her husband stage a kidnapping in order for her to pretend to solve the crime and achieve fame.
- DirectorFrancis SearleStarsRobert PrestonElizabeth SellarsColin TapleyA Canadian World War II veteran working for the British Foreign Office scours England for the killer who murdered his wife.
- DirectorRalph ThomasStarsJean SimmonsTrevor HowardSonia DresdelA former British agent is employed at the Fenton country estate where he aids Fenton's niece in eluding the police after she's unjustly accused of murdering a local gamekeeper.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsEric PortmanEdana RomneyBarbara MullenA man falls in love with a beautiful young woman and begins to suspect that he may have also loved her in a previous life.
- DirectorLance ComfortStarsAnne CrawfordSiobhan McKennaMaxwell ReedEmily, a pretty young Irish girl, gets a job on an English farm owned by the Tallent family. The local men take to her but the women don't, objecting to her flirtatious nature with their men and one woman, Bess Stanforth, is especially disturbed by her. When Dan, a man from Emily's past, shows up and accuses her of having tried to kill, him Beth's suspicions are further aroused, and they're confirmed after Dan is found murdered in a local barn. Beth sets out to find out exactly who Emily is and to prove that she murdered Dan.
- DirectorCompton BennettStarsEric PortmanAnn ToddMaxwell ReedA hangman conceals his true identity when he falls in love, and sets up home with his girl on a barge in the river Thames. Tragedy strikes when the hangman's assistant tries to seduce his boss's wife - after a fight, the hangman is presumed drowned. The woman commits suicide, but the hangman has in fact survived, and manages to save his assistant from the gallows.
- DirectorFrank NesbittStarsDan DuryeaIsa MirandaGwen WatfordThe kidnap of a child goes wrong and the child dies. An old lady is the only witness having heard the disguised voice of the kidnapper from outside a public telephone box. To trap the murderer she tells the press she has seen his face.
- DirectorRoy William NeillStarsGeorge ArlissMargaret LockwoodJohn LoderWhen customs and excise men arrive at the village of Dymchurch in Kent, they uncover an intricate smuggling network being coordinated by the local parson, Dr Syn. Unknown to all but a few locals Dr Syn also hides a secret past, that he was once the notorious pirate Captain Clegg.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsRex HarrisonPeggy CumminsWilliam HartnellA convict sentenced to three years for killing a detective escapes from a prison and goes on the run aided by a local girl.
- DirectorCharles CrichtonStarsHoward KeelAnne HeywoodCyril CusackTwo inmates working to shore up a dike during a severe flood are swept away in the current along with their guard. The three of them wind up in an isolated house whose flooded interior contains a frightened woman.
- DirectorGeorge KingStarsDouglass MontgomeryHazel CourtPatricia BurkeAn ex-serviceman plans to escape his faithless wife.
- DirectorAlberto CavalcantiStarsStephen MurrayRichard ToddPatricia PlunkettChristy Drew, an aspiring young writer trying to broaden his experience, gets involved with Frankie Ketchen and her two suitors, Herb Logan and Jim Heal. One night, Jim finds Frankie has been with Christy and kills her. Herb is accused of the murder and sentenced to prison. After he gets out, he blames Christy but finally proves Jim to be the real killer, based on a clue provided to him by Christy, now a famous writer.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsLeslie HowardLaurence OlivierRichard GeorgeA World War II U-boat crew are stranded in northern Canada. To avoid internment, they must make their way to the border and get into the still-neutral U.S.
- DirectorRoy BoultingStarsMichael RedgraveJames MasonBarbara MullenCynical, embittered newspaperman David Charleston (Michael Redgrave) is tormented, then inspired, by visions he keeps having of people who have drowned.
- DirectorRoy BoultingStarsWilfrid LawsonNova PilbeamSeymour HicksThis film is based on the story of Pastor Martin Neimuller, who was sent to Dachau concentration camp for criticizing the Nazi party. The small German village of Altdorf in the 1930s has to come to terms with Chancellor Hitler and the arrival of a platoon of Stormtroopers. The Stormtroopers go about teaching and enforcing "The New Order" but Pastor Hall is a kind and gentle man who won't be cowed. Some villagers join the Nazi party avidly, some just go along with things, hoping for a quiet life, but Pastor Hall takes his convictions to the pulpit.
- DirectorVictor SavilleStarsJessie MatthewsSonnie HaleMuriel AkedIt is pouring with rain at one minute to midnight on Friday the thirteenth, and the driver of a London bus is peering through his blurred windshield as his vehicle sails down an empty road. Suddenly, lightning strikes, and a vast crane above topples into the path of the oncoming bus. Then Big Ben begins to wind backwards. Time recedes, and we discover the lives of all of the passengers and the events that brought them to that late-night bus journey, from the con man with a hundred pound cheque to the businessman's distraught and elderly wife. Time flows on, inevitably, to the crash, and past it, as some live and some die.
- DirectorSidney ColeCharles CrichtonBasil DeardenStarsJack WarnerGladys HensonSusan ShawA train disaster is told as four short stories to give character studies of the people involved, how it will affect them, and how they deal with it.
- DirectorHerbert WilcoxStarsAnna NeagleMichael WildingGoogie WithersThe stories of four sets of characters intersect via chance-encounters at Epsom Downs racecourse on the morning of Derby Day.
- DirectorThorold DickinsonStarsAnton WalbrookDiana WynyardFrank PettingellTwenty years after the murder of Alice Barlow, her house is finally occupied again. However, the husband from the couple who have moved in has a secret which he will do anything to keep hidden.
- DirectorDavid MacDonaldStarsDiana DorsGeorge MerrittFlora RobsonA young girl from the ghetto gets involved with some criminals. Driving while drunk, she knocks down and kills a Policeman. She runs away with two G. I.s who are also on the run and they start a crime wave.
- DirectorFrank LaunderStarsAlastair SimMargaret RutherfordJohn TurnbullChaos ensues for staff and students alike after an all-boys and an all-girls school are amalgamated into one.
- DirectorCy EndfieldStarsStanley BakerHerbert LomPeggy CumminsA rookie trucker tries to expose his boss' rackets.
- DirectorVal GuestStarsStanley BakerJohn CrawfordDonald PleasenceIn Britain, a Manchester police inspector becomes obsessed with capturing a criminal who escapes from prison.
- DirectorJoseph LoseyStarsStanley BakerSam WanamakerGrégoire AslanIn the UK, after pulling a racetrack robbery, repeat offender Johnny Bannion hides the loot in a farmer's field but the police and the local mob come looking for Johnny and the money.
- DirectorCliff OwenStarsStanley BakerHelmut SchmidTom BellA criminal gang sets out to pull off the heist of a large army payroll.