True Stories
True Stories are those based (sometimes loosely!) on fact. They cover topics as diverse as drug addiction, poverty, political unrest, the corruption of power, alcoholism, class divisions, sexual inequality, mental illness and other human struggles. Meet some of history's most intriguing characters, find out what it's really like to climb a mountain or paint a masterpiece. Truly, the True Story is one of cinema's most engaging and enthralling genres.
Bio-pics feature in this section and are also gathered together separately under the 'Biography' sublink left.
Pictured: Inside the Las Vegas mob, Scorsese's unromantic 'Goodfellas'
The Legend of the Tamworth Two (2004)
5.8/10
Director: Metin Huseyin
Starring: Chris Langham, Gerard Horan, Emma Pierson, Darren Boyd, Alexei Sayle, Kevin What...
Not wanting to become just another roast dinner, two Tamworth pigs escaped from a slaughterhouse in January 1998. Butch and Sundance, as they were chr... Read more
The Legend of Valentino (1975)
5.4/10
Director: Melville Shavelson
Starring: Franco Nero, Suzanne Pleshette, Judd Hirsch, Yvette Mimieux
A dramatization of the life of the silver screen's greatest lover, actor Rudolph Valentino. Franco Nero stars in this portrait of innocence against th... Read more
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
6.9/10
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Charlize Theron, John Lithgow, Miriam Margolyes, Stephen Fry, Sta...
Geoffrey Rush turns in a spectacular performance as legendary comedian Peter Sellers in this acclaimed biopic. The film tracks Sellers' life through a... Read more
The Lion in Winter (1968)
8.1/10
Director: Anthony Harvey
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Anthony Hopkins, Peter O'Toole, John Castle, Nigel Terry, Tim...
Peter O'Toole and Katharine Hepburn tear strips off one another in this grand historical drama about 12th Century King Henry II choosing an heir to th... Read more
The Long Gray Line (1955)
7.3/10
Director: John Ford
Starring: Betsy Palmer, Donald Crisp, Maureen O'Hara, Tyrone Power, Ward Bond, Robert Fran...
High-spirited Irish immigrant Marty Maher (Tyrone Power) is an awkward misfit at West Point until he's taken in as an assistant by kindly athletic dir... Read more
The Long Riders (1980)
7.1/10
Director: Walter Hill
Starring: David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, James Keach, Stacy Keach, De...
Called 'the best directed American movie of the year' by David Denby (New York), 'The Long Riders' uses four theatrical families to tell the James Bro... Read more
The Longest Day (1962)
7.8/10
Director: Andrew Marton, Ken Annakin, Bernhard Wicki
Starring: Curt Jurgens, Eddie Albert, Gert Frobe, Henry Fonda, Jeffrey Hunter, John Wayne,...
Acclaimed as one of Hollywood's greatest epics, producer Darryl F. Zanuck's brilliant re-creation of the Allied landing at Normandy on June 6, 1944 fo... Read more
The Longest Day ( Blu-ray ) (1962)
7.8/10
Director: Andrew Marton, Ken Annakin, Bernhard Wicki
Starring: Curt Jurgens, Eddie Albert, Gert Frobe, Henry Fonda, Jeffrey Hunter, John Wayne,...
Acclaimed as one of Hollywood's greatest epics, producer Darryl F. Zanuck's brilliant re-creation of the Allied landing at Normandy on June 6, 1944 fo... Read more
The Look of Love (2013)
6/10
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Anna Friel, Stephen Fry, Steve Coogan, Shirley Henderson, Matt Lucas, David Wall...
The outrageous true story of Paul Raymond (Steve Coogan), the controversial entrepreneur and property baron who established the Raymond Revue Bar and... Read more
The Lost Battalion (2002)
7.1/10
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Starring: Michael Brandon, Rick Schroder, Phil McKee, Jamie Harris, Jay Rodan
As the First World War draws to a close, American troops penetrate deep into German-held French territory, under pressure from French and British alli... Read more