Whilst this is certainly a lavish and luxuriant production, somehow the sum of the parts just don't add up to much of an whole. Yul Brynner is the ambitious, former general-turned-restauranteur "Bounine" who has been, for many a year, convincing his financial backers that he has discovered the last surviving child of the assassinated Czar Nicholas II. He has discovered the sickly and troubled "Anna" (Ingrid Bergman) and hopes that with some grooming, training and furs she might be able to convince the Dowager Empress (Helen Hayes) that she is, indeed, her granddaughter. It also turns out that should she endorse the identity of the young woman, the enormous sum of £10 million will be released to her by the Bank of England. Bergman is strong as the initially vulnerable, amnesiac girl who has no real idea who she is, or where she comes from - and that performance contributes very plausibly as the story gathers momentum and her persona becomes much better established (real or not!). Hayes - aided by the scene stealing Martita Hunt's "Baroness von Livenbaum" - also plays her part well, an imperious woman who is cynical but harbours an optimistic desire that hopes against hope. Brynner isn't up to very much, though. He doesn't quite cut it as the scheming manipulator and as the story progresses his character, already pretty unlikeable, doesn't really develop until a rather weak and underwhelming denouement (historical truth notwithstanding). When this was made, there was a chance that one of the Grand Duchesses had survived, and the colourful and stylish look of this film tries hard to capitalise on those intriguing rumours. Sadly, though, here the dialogue is wordy and there is little by way of on-screen chemistry to distinguish this disappointingly episodic and plodding historical drama.
A retired farmer and widower in his 70s, Alvin Straight learns one day that his distant brother Lyle has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. Then he hits on the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
Brilliant mathematician, John Nash, is on the brink of international acclaim when he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy.
The young Bavarian princess Elisabeth, who all call Sissi, goes with her mother and older sister Néné to Austria where Néné will be wed to an emperor named Franz Joseph, Yet unexpectedly Franz runs into Sissi while out fishing and they fall in love.
Sissi is now the empress of Austria and attempts to learn etiquette. While she is busy being empress she also has to deal with her difficult new mother-in-law, while the arch-duchess Sophie is trying to tell the emperor how to rule and also Sissi how to be a mother.
After a wonderful time in Hungary Sissi falls extremely ill and must retreat to a Mediterranean climate to rest. The young empress’ mother takes her from Austria to recover in Madeira.
A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins - with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.
One day at work, unsuccessful puppeteer Craig finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters its mad and controlling world of overtaking another human body.
A docudrama about four weeks in the life of famous Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. The drama - filled with many of Dvorak's compositions - begins when the composer suddenly decides to cut a concert in London and return home. While on the train, flashbacks reveal his relationship to his wife Anna and her sister Josefina. Both women gave him inspiration, yet Dvorak is clearly troubled in some way as musical excerpts come and go in his creative mind.