This was Roberto Rossellini’s revelation, a harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome and the brave few who struggled against it. Though told with more melodramatic flair than the other films that would form this trilogy and starring some well-known actors—Aldo Fabrizi as a priest helping the partisan cause and Anna Magnani in her breakthrough role as the fiancée of a resistance member—Rome Open City (Roma città aperta) is a shockingly authentic experience, conceived and directed amid the ruin of World War II, with immediacy in every frame. Marking a watershed moment in Italian cinema, this galvanic work garnered awards around the globe and left the beginnings of a new film movement in its wake. Presented in Italian and German with English subtitles.
Read MoreGenre: War
For two years the Civil War has been elsewhere. Now Confederate forces are nearby, looting and burning. It’s time to fight back, Jess Birdwell’s neighbors insist. Yet Birdwell, a Quaker, knows there must be a better way to settle things. In a role ideally suiting his stalwart persona, Gary Cooper plays Jess in William Wyler’s beloved film of Jessamyn West’s novel that earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Dorothy McGuire (the National Board of Review choice as Best Actress), Anthony Perkins and a superior cast get to the heart of faith, family and pacifism put to the test.
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One of the greatest silent films and a landmark in World War I cinema, is celebrated for its realistic portrayal of warfare and lasting influence on war films. It follows the idle son of a wealthy businessman who joins the Army, befriends two working-class soldiers, and falls in love with a Frenchwoman before heading to the frontlines. Starring silent-era icon John Gilbert, the film will be introduced by his grandson, Gideon Fountain.
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Lee tells the story of Lee Miller (Kate Winslet), American photographer. Determined to document the truth of the Nazi regime, and in spite of the odds stacked against female correspondents, Lee captured some of the most important images of World War II, but they came at an enormous personal price.
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One of the most honored films in cinema history, with epic imagery and a star studded cast, Doctor Zhivago is a tumultuous tale of Russia divided by war and hearts torn by love.
Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, this film stars Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, and Alec Guinness.
Introduction by film restorer and Bedford Playhouse Board member Robert Harris. Presented in 4K in its original 1965 roadshow format!
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On the eve of WWII, one man did the impossible. ONE LIFE tells the incredible true story of Nicholas “Nicky” Winton, a young London broker who helps rescue hundreds of predominantly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia in a race against time before Nazi occupation closes the borders on the verge of World War II. Fifty years later, Nicky (Sir Anthony Hopkins) is haunted by the fate of those he wasn’t able to bring to safety.
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In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, explore the Jewish community’s profound impact on Hollywood while confronting the shadow of antisemitism, followed by a special screening of the classic TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942), in which a group of actors use their talents to outwit the Nazis in occupied Poland.
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The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
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Greer Garson delivers an Academy Award-winning performance as a British wife and mother whose courage and grace hold her family together through the terror of the World War II German Blitz — Mrs. Miniver. In this film lauded by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, which eloquently captures the hopes of England and America at a time defeat by Nazi Germany seems imminent, Mrs. Kay Miniver (Garson) refuses to allow the war to destroy her family even as she huddles with her children through bombing raids, faces enemy paratroopers and fears for her husband’s life as he fights in a string of crushing defeats.
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One of the greatest anti-war thrillers ever, FAIL-SAFE stars Henry Fonda, Walter Matthau, Dan O’Herlihy, Larry Hagman and Fritz Weaver (in his film debut) as a group of military men on the verge of World War III. When a military computer error deploys a squadron of SAC bombers to destroy Moscow, the American President (Fonda) tries to call them back. But their sophisticated fail-safe system prevents him from aborting the attack, so he must convince the Soviets not to retaliate. In desperation, the President offers to sacrifice an American city if his pilots succeed in their deadly mission over Moscow. A four-star techno-thriller that builds tension and suspense with every tick of the nuclear clock.
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