Actor Alec Guinness (1914)

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) is an American space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay was written by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas based on a story by Lucas, who also served as the executive producer. One year after Han Solo’s capture, C-3PO and R2-D2 are sent by Luke Skywalker to rescue him from Jabba the Hutt’s palace on Tatooine in exchange for a trade. Disguised as a male bounty hunter, Princess Leia joins in ...

Smiley’s People (1982) is a British six-part spy drama by the BBC, directed by Simon Langton and produced by Jonathan Powell. It is an adaptation of John le Carré’s 1979 novel of the same name and a sequel to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, excluding the second book in the trilogy, The Honourable Schoolboy, which was not filmed due to budget constraints. Starring Sir Alec Guinness, Michael Byrne,

The American epic space opera film, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), was directed by Irvin Kershner and written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas.Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, Darth Vader and the Imperial fleet send out probe droids to find the Rebel Alliance. The probe locates their base on Hoth, an ice planet. Luke Skywalker falls into the clutches of a wampa, but he uses the Force to ...

The BBC’s seven-part spy drama, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), is an adaptation of John le Carré’s novel of the same name. Directed by John Irvin and produced by Jonathan Powell, the series follows George Smiley, a retired deputy from the British Secret Intelligence Service. Smiley was forced into retirement after a failed mission in Czechoslovakia known as Operation Testify. The operation, orchestrated by the head of the Circus (the British Secret Intelligence Service), resulted in the capture and torture of ...

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) is an American epic space opera film directed and written by George Lucas. It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox. Serving as the first installment in the Star Wars series, it is the fourth chapter in the Skywalker Saga. The story takes place during a galactic civil war, where the Rebel Alliance has obtained plans to the Death Star from Imperial spies. This massive space station has been constructed by the tyrannical Galactic Empire and has the capability to annihilate entire planets. Among those involved in retrieving these ...

The British spy comedy film, Our Man in Havana (1959), was shot in CinemaScope and helmed by director and producer Carol Reed. Set in pre-revolutionary Cuba, the film follows James Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman who is recruited by Hawthorne of the British Secret Intelligence Service as their operative in Havana. Rather than recruiting actual agents, Wormold creates imaginary ones out of men he barely knows and fabricates plans for a rocket-launching pad using vacuum cleaner parts to impress the service and secure more funds for himself and his lavish daughter, Milly. As his importance increases, a secretary named ...

The British black comedy crime film, The Ladykillers (1955), was directed by Alexander Mackendrick for Ealing Studios. It follows the story of Mrs Wilberforce, a kind and quirky elderly widow who resides in a sinking, crooked home above a railway tunnel in Kings Cross, London. Despite her active imagination and frequent visits to the local police station to report suspicious activity in the neighbourhood, her reports are often dismissed. Things take an interesting turn when she is approached by ‘Professor’ Marcus, a sinister figure seeking to rent rooms in her house. This scene was captured on Argyle Street ...

The Man in the White Suit (1951) is a British comedy film produced by Ealing Studios. The story follows Sidney Stratton, a talented young chemist and former Cambridge scholar, who has been fired from multiple textile mills in northern England for his extravagant requests and obsession with creating an indestructible fabric. While working as a laborer at Birnley Mills, he stumbles upon the opportunity to conduct research and successfully develops an unbreakable, dirt-resistant fiber. A suit is then made from this material, which appears brilliantly white due to its inability to absorb dye and faintly glows due to its radioactive components. Initially hailed as a ...

The British comedy film, The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), was written by T. E. B. Clarke and directed by Charles Crichton for Ealing Studios. In the movie, Henry Holland resides in luxury in Rio de Janeiro and entertains a dinner guest from Britain. As they dine, he recounts how he transformed his life through an elaborate gold bullion heist. Prior to this, Holland had worked as a dull bank clerk in London for two decades and was responsible for the delivery of gold bullion. Despite being dedicated and meticulous in his work, he hatched a plan to steal a shipment of gold but ...

In the timeless classic Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), directed by Robert Hamer, we are transported to Edwardian England where Louis D’Ascoyne Mazzini, 10th Duke of Chalfont, finds himself imprisoned awaiting execution for a murder he may or may not have committed. As he reflects upon his life in memoir form, we are taken back in time to see how events unfolded. Louis’s mother was the youngest daughter of the 7th Duke of Chalfont, but she scandalously eloped with an Italian opera singer named Mazzini and was subsequently disowned by her family. Sadly, Mazzini passed away soon after Louis’s birth, ...