Alice's Playhouse
In Alice's Playhouse you will discover an exceptional collection of feature films adapted from some of the most celebrated plays ever written. Often featuring towering performances, outstanding direction and exceptional writing, this collection is a superb archive of contemporary drama masterfully transferred to the silver screen.
Filmizations of The Bard's work may be scrolled via the 'Shakespeare' sub-feature in green on the left, along with other notable playwrights who have been adapted for celluloid.
For adaptations of novels and short stories, check the 'Special Interest' link and click on 'Based on...'
Right: Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh relax during the filming of Tennessee Williams' masterpiece, 'A Streetcar Named Desire'.
The Women (1939)
8/10
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer, Rosalind Russell, Mary Boland, Paulette Goddard, J...
Based on the Clare Booth Luce play of the same name, this MGM comedy is justly famous for its all-female cast and deft direction by George Cukor. The... Read more
The Woodsman (2004)
7.2/10
Director: Nicole Kassell
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Eve , Mos Def, David Alan Grier, Benjamin Bratt
After twelve years in prison, Walter (Kevin Bacon) moves into a small apartment, gets a job and keeps to himself. But as a convicted sex offender his... Read more
This Happy Breed (1944)
7.3/10
Director: David Lean
Starring: Robert Newton, Celia Johnson, John Mills, Kay Walsh
This fine understated drama looks at a typical British household and how it is affected by the events of those years between World Wars I and II. Base... Read more
This Property is Condemned (1966)
7.1/10
Director: Sydney Pollack
Starring: Charles Bronson, Kate Reid, Natalie Wood, Robert Redford
Repressed desires, sultry women, sweltering weather and a handsome new stranger in town... this is playwright Tennessee Williams territory. Depression... Read more
Throne of Blood (1957)
8.1/10
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshiro Mifune, Isuzu Yamada, Takashi Shimura
Kurosawa's version of 'Macbeth' spares no effort in creating an atmosphere of obsessive madness and supernatural compulsion. The black and white contr... Read more
Thunder Rock (1942)
6.8/10
Director: Roy Boulting
Starring: Barry Morse, James Mason, Michael Redgrave, Jean Sheppard
An adaptation of Robert Ardrey's stage play. Michael Redgrave plays a writer who tries to reveal what is happening in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy,... Read more
Timelock (1957)
2.8/10
Director: Gerald Thomas
Starring: Robert Ayres, Robert Beatty, Betty McDowell, Lee Patterson, Sean Connery
A textbook example of how a talented director and cast can do a lot with a little. Lensed in Canada, the story gets under way when a child is accident... Read more
Titus (1999)
7.2/10
Director: Julie Taymor
Starring: Alan Cumming, Colm Feore, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Harry Lennix
"Titus Andronicus", Shakespeare's first tragedy, is given striking treatment by director Julie Taymor, who melds ancient settings with modern accoutre... Read more
Torch Song Trilogy (1988)
7.7/10
Director: Paul Bogart
Starring: Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein adapted his Broadway hit play about the trials and tribulations of being a sexually active, gay urban male in the 1970's for the big... Read more
Toys in the Attic (1963)
6.9/10
Director: George Roy Hill
Starring: Dean Martin, Gene Tierney, Geraldine Page, Wendy Hiller, Yvette Mimieux
Sisters Carrie and Anna Berniers have been supporting their ne'er-do-well brother Julian through various failed businesses; now, he returns home with... Read more