The Red Shoes (Saturday, 9:50am)
Not only is this 1948 drama considered one of Powell and Pressburger’s best films, but it was voted the 9th greatest British film of all time by the BFI in 1999. Based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, Moira Shearer stars as an aspiring ballerina joining the world-famous Ballet Lermontov. Owned and run by Anton Walbrook’s Boris Lermontov, he makes her choose between her dancing career and newfound romance with Marius Goring’s composer. The film is one of the all-time favourites of Hollywood directors Stephen Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.
Lawrence of Arabia (Saturday, 1:30pm)
It’s almost four hours long and considered one of the greatest movies ever made. The David Lean 1962 epic stars Peter O’Toole as World War I hero TE Lawrence, renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Voted in 2004 as the Best British film of all time in a poll of leading UK filmmakers, the war epic almost starred Marlon Brando in the title role. However, the Hollywood legend turned it down for filming in Tahiti with better pay on Mutiny on the Bounty, saying, “I’ll be damned if I’ll spend two years of my life on some f***ing camel!”
Both films will also be on BBC iPlayer for a limited time.
