Rope (1948), Richard III (1955), Equus (1977), Death of a Salesman (1951), Titus (1999), Henry V (1945), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Othello (1965) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Theatrical Style movies.
Storyline: Brandon and Philip are two young men who share a New York City apartment. They consider themselves intellectually superior to their friend David Kentley, and as a consequence, decide to murder him. Together they strangle David with a rope and placing the body in an old chest, they proceed to hold a small party. The guests include David's father, his fiancée Janet, and their old schoolteacher Rupert, from whom they mistakenly took their ideas. As Brandon becomes increasingly more daring, Rupert begins to suspect.
Plot Keywords: suspense, thriller, crime, psychological, murder, alfred hitchcock, classic ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Richard's military skills have helped to put his older brother Edward on the throne of England. But jealousy and resentment cause Richard to seek the crown for himself, and he conceives a lengthy and carefully calculated plan using deception, manipulation, and outright murder to achieve his goal. His plotting soon has tumultuous consequences, both for himself and for England.—Snow Leopard
Plot Keywords: shakespeare, historical drama, england, war, power struggle, tragedy, royalty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Psychiatrist Martin Dysart (Richard Burton) investigates the savage blinding of six horses with a metal spike in a stable in Hampshire, England. The atrocity was committed by an unassuming seventeen-year-old stable boy named Alan Strang (Peter Firth), the only son of an opinionated but inwardly-timid father and a genteel, religious mother. As Dysart exposes the truths behind the boy's demons, he finds himself face-to-face with his own.—Serenleono <verax@mindspring.com>
Plot Keywords: psychological thriller, play adaptation, psychoanalysis, human nature exploration, criminal psychology, ethical dilemma, british film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: An over-the-hill salesman faces a personal turning point when he loses his job and attempts to make peace with his family.
Plot Keywords: tragedy, play adaptation, family conflict, american dream, mental breakdown, father-son relationship, social pressure ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: War begets revenge. Victorious General Titus Andronicus (Sir Anthony Hopkins) returns to Rome with hostages: Tamora (Jessica Lange), Queen of the Goths, and her sons. He orders the eldest hewn to appease the Roman dead. He declines the proffered Emperor's crown, nominating Saturninus (Alan Cumming), the last ruler's venal elder son. Saturninus, to spite his brother Bassianus (James Frain), demands the hand of Lavinia (Laura Fraser), Titus' daughter. When Bassianus, Lavinia, and Titus' sons flee in protest, Titus stands against them and slays one of his own. Saturninus marries the honey-tongued Tamora, who vows vengeance against Titus. The ensuing maelstrom serves up tongues, hands, rape, adultery, racism, and Goth-meat pie. There's irony in which two sons survive.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: shakespeare, revenge, tragedy, roman empire, violence, power struggle, war ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the inspired Olivier concept, Shakespeare's play begins as a performance in the Globe Theatre, shifting in broad cinematic terms to an epic narrative of Henry V, who had developed from a dissolute youth to a purposeful monarch. Proving his ability as a soldier and skillful leader, he unites the dissident factions in the English army and goes on to crush the French, against enormous odds, at Agincourt. Arranging a treaty with the French court, he woos Princess Katharine to whom he is formally betrothed as part of the peace agreement.—alfiehitchie
Plot Keywords: historical, war, drama, shakespeare, british, medieval, biographical ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A movie about World War I based on a stage musical of the same name, portraying the "Game of War", and focusing mainly on the members of the Smith family who go off to war. Much of the action in the movie revolves around the words of the marching songs of the soldiers, and many scenes portray some of the more famous (and infamous) incidents of the war, including the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, the Christmas meeting between British and German soldiers in no-man's-land, and the wiping out by their own side of a force of Irish soldiers newly arrived at the front, after successfully capturing a ridge that had been contested for some time.—Sonya Roberts <sonya_roberts@geocities.com>
Plot Keywords: anti-war, historical, black comedy, musical, world war i, satire, british film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Desdemona (Dame Maggie Smith) defies her father to marry the Moor of Venice, the mighty warrior, Othello (Sir Laurence Olivier). But Othello's old Ensign, Iago (Frank Finlay), doesn't like Othello, and is determined to bring about the downfall of Othello's new favorite, Cassio (Sir Derek Jacobi), and destroy Othello in the process, by casting aspersions on Othello's new bride.—Kathy Li
Plot Keywords: shakespeare, tragedy, jealousy, betrayal, race, venice, military ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: One morning at an isolated mansion in the snowy countryside of 1950s France, a family is gathered for the holiday season. But there will be no celebration at all because their beloved patriarch has been murdered! The killer can only be one of the eight women closest to the man of the house. Was it his powerful wife? His spinster sister-in-law? His miserly mother-in-law? Maybe the insolent chambermaid or the loyal housekeeper? Could it possibly have been one of his two young daughters? A surprise visit from the victim's chic sister sends the household into a tizzy, encouraging hysterics, exacerbating rivalries, and encompassing musical interludes. Comedic situations arise with the revelations of dark family secrets. Seduction dances with betrayal. The mystery of the female psyche is revealed. There are eight women and each is a suspect. Each has a motive. Each has a secret. Beautiful, tempestuous, intelligent, sensual, and dangerous...one of them is guilty. Which one is it?
Plot Keywords: murder mystery, musical, black comedy, french cinema, family secrets, retro style, musical film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The exploits of Sir Perceval, a legendary exemplar of knightly chivalry and one of the champions of King Arthur's Round Table.
Plot Keywords: medieval, chivalry, french cinema, literary adaptation, allegory, symbolism, spiritual journey ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Iago convinces Othello, The Moor of Venice that his wife, Desdemona has been unfaithful. Iago is an evil, manipulative character with his own agenda. A plot of jealousy and rage transpires in this classic Shakespearean tale.—Jason Ihle <jrihl@conncoll.edu>
Plot Keywords: shakespeare, tragedy, play adaptation, jealousy, betrayal, race, love ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Based on Molière's play. The children of Harpagon, Cléante and his sister Elise, are each in love but they still haven't spoken to their father yet. Harpagon is a miser who wants to choose the right man and the right woman for his children. When Cléante, at last, tries to speak to Harpagon, the old man informs the family that he wants to marry Marianne, the young girl loved by Cléante. Unaware of his son's sorrow, Harpagon doesn't understand why Cléante has become so angry with him.
Plot Keywords: comedy, french film, adaptation, classic literature, satire, greed, money ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Hamlet returns to Denmark when his father, the King, dies. His mother Gertrude has already married Hamlet's uncle Claudius, the new King. They urge Hamlet to marry his beloved Ophelia. But soon the ghost of Hamlet's father appears and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius and Gertrude. Hamlet must choose between passive acquiescence and the need for a vengeance which might lead to tragedy.
Plot Keywords: tragedy, shakespeare, revenge, denmark, prince, classic adaptation, drama ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Three separate stories concerning relationship issues are presented, each largely taking place in suite 719 of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. In story one, suburban New Yorkers Sam and Karen Nash are spending the night in the hotel as their house is being painted, but more importantly for Karen because it is their twenty-"something" wedding anniversary, the hotel where they spent their honeymoon. While Karen wants to recreate the romance that she remembers of their wedding night, Sam is preoccupied with business matters. But it is other issues that highlight their fundamental differences that may demonstrate if they will make it to twenty-something plus one. In story two, womanizing Hollywood movie producer Jesse Kiplinger has exactly two hours free during his whirlwind stay in New York, which he wants to fill with a quickie. Of the many women he calls, the first to agree to meet at his suite is his old hometown flame, married Muriel Tate. Muriel, who knows what Jesse wants, he who she has not seen in fifteen years, is a bundle of nerves as she continuously second guesses herself in whether she should have come. And in story number three, there are a roomful of people in the Baroque Room of the hotel for the wedding and following reception of Borden Eisler and Mimsey Hubley, the event which is being paid for by Mimsey's penny-pinching father, Roy Hubley. What the people in the Baroque Room are unaware of is that Mimsey has locked herself in the bathroom of the hotel suite, but not saying a word to either her father or mother, Norma Hubley, as to the reason for her cold feet. As Roy and Norma try whatever they can to get Mimsey out of the bathroom while stalling the Eislers in the Baroque Room, Roy and Norma also focus on issues in their own relationship and how they raised Mimsey, which may be appropriate if they learn the reason for Mimsey's cold feet.—Huggo
Plot Keywords: comedy, romance, marriage, new york, hotel, anthology, humor ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In 1874, in the Imperial Russia, the aristocratic Anna Karenina travels from Saint Petersburg to Moscow to save the marriage of her brother Prince Oblonsky, who had had a love affair with his housemaid. Anna Karenina has a cold marriage with her husband, Count Alexei Karenin, and they have a son. Anna meets the cavalry officer Count Vronsky at the train station and they feel attracted by each other. Soon she learns that Vronsky will propose to Kitty, who is the younger sister of her sister-in-law Dolly. Anna satisfactorily resolves the infidelity case of her brother and Kitty invites her to stay for the ball. However, Anna Karenina and Vronsky dance in the ball, calling the attention of the conservative society. Soon they have a love affair that will lead Anna Karenina to a tragic fate.
Plot Keywords: romance, tragedy, historical, drama, literary adaptation, russian, aristocracy ...
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