Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows With Michael Balcon
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1. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Not Rated | 106 min | Comedy, Crime
A distant poor relative of the Duke D'Ascoyne plots to inherit the title by murdering the eight other heirs who stand ahead of him in the line of succession.
Director: Robert Hamer | Stars: Dennis Price, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, Joan Greenwood
Votes: 39,752
2. The 39 Steps (1935)
Approved | 86 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A man in London tries to help a counter-espionage agent, but when the agent is killed and the man stands accused, he must go on the run to save himself and stop a spy ring that is trying to steal top-secret information.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle
Votes: 61,592
3. They Came to a City (1944)
Not Rated | 78 min | Drama, Fantasy
Adapted from a J.B. Priestley play with many of the original actors. The tale of various people who have come to live in an "ideal" city and their hopes and reasons for doing so.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: John Clements, Googie Withers, Raymond Huntley, Renee Gadd
Votes: 293
4. The Ladykillers (1955)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Crime
Five oddball criminals planning a bank robbery rent rooms on a cul-de-sac from an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom
Votes: 31,424
5. The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
Approved | 78 min | Comedy, Crime
A meek bank clerk who oversees the shipment of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country as miniature Eiffel Towers.
Director: Charles Crichton | Stars: Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James, Alfie Bass
Votes: 15,579
6. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Approved | 75 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An ordinary British couple vacationing in Switzerland suddenly find themselves embroiled in a case of international intrigue when their daughter is kidnapped by spies plotting a political assassination.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Peter Lorre, Frank Vosper
Votes: 21,188
7. Tom Jones (1963)
Not Rated | 129 min | Adventure, Comedy, History
The romantic and chivalrous adventures of adopted bastard Tom Jones in 18th-century England.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Albert Finney, Susannah York, George Devine, Rachel Kempson
Votes: 14,275 | Gross: $37.60M
8. Scott of the Antarctic (1948)
PG | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Biography
The story of British explorer Robert Falcon Scott's 1912 expedition and his quest to be the first to reach the South Pole.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: John Mills, Derek Bond, Diana Churchill, Harold Warrender
Votes: 2,440
9. Sabotage (1936)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Thriller
A Scotland Yard undercover detective is on the trail of a saboteur who is part of a plot to set off a bomb in London. But when the detective's cover is blown, the plot begins to unravel.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Sylvia Sidney, Oscar Homolka, Desmond Tester, John Loder
Votes: 18,760
10. This Is Your Life (1955–2003)
30 min | Documentary, Biography
The UK version of the popular US show. Eamonn Andrews (later Michael Aspel) surprises celebrities by presenting them with the Big Red Book before taking them into the studio to tell viewers... See full summary »
Stars: Eamonn Andrews, Michael Aspel, Elizabeth Dawn, June Whitfield
Votes: 323
11. Dead of Night (1945)
Approved | 77 min | Drama, Horror
Guests invited to a weekend in the country share their supernatural stories, beginning with Walter Craig, who senses impending doom as his half-remembered recurring dream turns into reality.
Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, Robert Hamer | Stars: Mervyn Johns, Michael Redgrave, Roland Culver, Mary Merrall
Votes: 14,233
12. Dunkirk (1958)
Approved | 135 min | Action, Drama, History
A dramatization of the British Expeditionary Force's 1940 retreat to the beaches of France and the extraordinary seaborne evacuation that saved it from utter destruction by Nazi Germany.
Director: Leslie Norman | Stars: John Mills, Richard Attenborough, Bernard Lee, Robert Urquhart
Votes: 3,527
13. The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
Not Rated | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A landlady suspects that her new lodger is the madman killing women in London.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: June Tripp, Ivor Novello, Marie Ault, Arthur Chesney
Votes: 13,405
14. The Man in the White Suit (1951)
Approved | 85 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
An altruistic chemist invents a fabric which resists wear and stain as a boon to humanity, but big business and labor realize it must be suppressed for economic reasons.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Michael Gough
Votes: 10,821 | Gross: $0.01M
15. The Rainbow Jacket (1954)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Sport
A champion jockey is banned from racing so spends his time helping a young lad to become the next champion.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Robert Morley, Kay Walsh, Edward Underdown, Fella Edmonds
Votes: 196
16. Secret Agent (1936)
Not Rated | 86 min | Mystery, Thriller
After three British Agents are assigned to assassinate a mysterious German spy during World War I, two of them become ambivalent when their duty to the mission conflicts with their consciences.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: John Gielgud, Madeleine Carroll, Robert Young, Peter Lorre
Votes: 9,047
17. Lease of Life (1954)
Approved | 94 min | Drama
The parson of a small rural community knows he is dying and this makes him reconsider his life so far and what he can still do to help the community.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Robert Donat, Kay Walsh, Adrienne Corri, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 328
18. The Clairvoyant (1935)
Passed | 81 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A fake music-hall clairvoyant meets a woman, and suddenly his predictions seem to come true ...
Director: Maurice Elvey | Stars: Claude Rains, Fay Wray, Mary Clare, Ben Field
Votes: 1,200
19. The Blue Lamp (1950)
Approved | 84 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The daily routine of two London Policemen is interrupted by a killer.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Jack Warner, Dirk Bogarde, Jimmy Hanley, Robert Flemyng
Votes: 2,539
20. Four Desperate Men (1959)
100 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Three men attempt a prison break, but their plan derails when their boat falters near an island, where the caretaker recognizes the convict. A hostage situation erupts, leading to a tense standoff with authorities.
Director: Harry Watt | Stars: Aldo Ray, Heather Sears, Neil McCallum, Victor Maddern
Votes: 331
21. Passport to Pimlico (1949)
Approved | 84 min | Comedy
Residents of a part of London declare independence after they discover an old treaty, which leads to the need for a "Passport to Pimlico".
Director: Henry Cornelius | Stars: Stanley Holloway, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray, Paul Dupuis
Votes: 5,292
22. The Ghoul (1933)
Approved | 77 min | Action, Drama, Horror
An Egyptologist returns from the dead to take revenge on those who have violated his tomb.
Director: T. Hayes Hunter | Stars: Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger, Dorothy Hyson
Votes: 3,254
23. Went the Day Well? (1942)
Approved | 92 min | Thriller, War
An English village is occupied by disguised German paratroopers as an advance post for a planned invasion.
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti | Stars: Leslie Banks, C.V. France, Valerie Taylor, Marie Lohr
Votes: 4,344 | Gross: $0.02M
24. Whisky Galore! (1949)
Approved | 82 min | Comedy, Crime
Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Basil Radford, Joan Greenwood, Catherine Lacey, Bruce Seton
Votes: 6,657
25. Hue and Cry (1947)
82 min | Adventure, Comedy, Crime
A gang of street boys foil a master crook who sends commands for robberies by cunningly altering a comic strip's wording each week, unknown to writer and printer. The first of the Ealing comedies.
Director: Charles Crichton | Stars: Alastair Sim, Frederick Piper, Harry Fowler, Vida Hope
Votes: 1,790
26. Against the Wind (1948)
Not Rated | 96 min | Action, Drama, War
A secret London school trains a motley group of men and women for sabotage work in German occupied Belgium during World War II. When one of them is captured by the Germans, five others are parachuted in to rescue him.
Director: Charles Crichton | Stars: Robert Beatty, Simone Signoret, Jack Warner, Gordon Jackson
Votes: 750
27. High and Dry (1954)
Passed | 92 min | Comedy
An American businessman in Scotland is conned into shipping a valuable load of cargo to a Scottish island via a coal powered boat.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Paul Douglas, Alex Mackenzie, James Copeland, Abe Barker
Votes: 1,522
28. All at Sea (1957)
Unrated | 87 min | Comedy
A seasick sea Captain commands an amusement pier despite local opposition.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Alec Guinness, Harry Locke, Frederick Piper, Fred Griffiths
Votes: 1,206
29. The Scapegoat (1959)
Unrated | 91 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
An English schoolteacher meets his lookalike, a French count; and unwillingly swaps identities with him.
Director: Robert Hamer | Stars: Alec Guinness, Bette Davis, Nicole Maurey, Irene Worth
Votes: 2,443
30. The Pleasure Garden (1925)
75 min | Drama, Romance
Two couples' romances are fancifully intertwined.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Virginia Valli, Carmelita Geraghty, Miles Mander, John Stuart
Votes: 2,887
31. The Night My Number Came Up (1955)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
On a routine flight from Hong Kong to Japan, a British military transport aircraft's fate may or may not depend on a prophetic nightmare.
Director: Leslie Norman | Stars: Michael Redgrave, Sheila Sim, Alexander Knox, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 1,585
32. It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)
92 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
An escaped convict tries to hide out at his former lover's house, but she has since married and is reluctant to help him.
Director: Robert Hamer | Stars: Googie Withers, Jack Warner, John McCallum, Edward Chapman
Votes: 2,385 | Gross: $0.01M
33. Jungle Fighters (1961)
Approved | 110 min | Drama, War
In 1942, a group of British soldiers is sent on a mission in the Malaysian jungle and gets lost into the Japanese controlled zone.
Director: Leslie Norman | Stars: Richard Todd, Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris, Ronald Fraser
Votes: 984
34. The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)
Not Rated | 84 min | Comedy
Volunteers take over their local passenger train service (against bus company resistance) when the government announces its closure.
Director: Charles Crichton | Stars: Stanley Holloway, George Relph, Naunton Wayne, John Gregson
Votes: 3,315
35. Downhill (1927)
Not Rated | 110 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Bound by honor, a successful schoolboy takes the blame for his roommate's indiscretion, and it's all downhill from there.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Ivor Novello, Ben Webster, Norman McKinnel, Robin Irvine
Votes: 3,061
36. The Cruel Sea (1953)
Approved | 126 min | Drama, War
The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, John Stratton, Denholm Elliott
Votes: 5,415
37. The Mountain Eagle (1926)
57 min | Romance, Thriller
In the Kentucky hills, a store keeper tries to win the love of an innocent schoolteacher. She runs away and seeks refuge with a hermit.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Bernhard Goetzke, Nita Naldi, Malcolm Keen, John Hamilton
38. Pool of London (1951)
Approved | 85 min | Crime, Drama
When their ship docks the crew disembark as usual to pick up their lives in postwar London. For one of them his petty smuggling turns more serious when he finds himself caught up with a robbery in the City.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Bonar Colleano, Susan Shaw, Renée Asherson, Earl Cameron
Votes: 1,184
39. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1947)
Approved | 108 min | Drama
A young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-hearted, grasping uncle.
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti | Stars: Derek Bond, Cedric Hardwicke, Mary Merrall, Sally Ann Howes
Votes: 984
40. Man of Aran (1934)
Not Rated | 76 min | Documentary, Drama
In this blend of documentary and fictional narrative from pioneering filmmaker Robert Flaherty, the everyday trials of life on Ireland's unforgiving Aran Islands are captured with attention to naturalistic beauty and historical detail.
Director: Robert J. Flaherty | Stars: Colman 'Tiger' King, Maggie Dirrane, Michael Dirrane, Pat Mullin
Votes: 2,326
41. Cheer Boys Cheer (1939)
84 min | Comedy
Set in the world of brewing, a classic tale (an Ealing speciality) of the small, friendly, family run company being threatened with closure by the nasty, modern, large organisation. ... See full summary »
Director: Walter Forde | Stars: Nova Pilbeam, Edmund Gwenn, Jimmy O'Dea, Moore Marriott
Votes: 137
42. A Yank at Oxford (1938)
Passed | 102 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
A brash young American aristocrat attending Oxford University gets a chance to prove himself and win the heart of his antagonist's sister.
Director: Jack Conway | Stars: Robert Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan
Votes: 1,366
43. Saraband (1948)
Approved | 96 min | Biography, Drama, History
Young Sophie Dorothea marries Prince George Louis but it's far from a love match. Then she falls for Swedish Count Philip Christoph von Königsmark.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Stewart Granger, Joan Greenwood, Flora Robson, Françoise Rosay
Votes: 625
44. The Magnet (1950)
Approved | 79 min | Comedy
A boy steals a powerful magnet from a younger boy and gets him into all sorts of trouble.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Stephen Murray, Kay Walsh, James Fox, Meredith Edwards
Votes: 611
45. Nowhere to Go (1958)
Approved | 89 min | Crime, Drama
In London, a Canadian serving prison time for grand theft escapes prison and attempts to retrieve his loot, kept in a bank safety deposit box, but his accomplice takes the security key while he only has the pass code.
Directors: Seth Holt, Basil Dearden | Stars: George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee, Geoffrey Keen
Votes: 919
46. Crash of Silence (1952)
Approved | 93 min | Drama
Mandy Garland was born deaf and has been mute for all of her life. Her parents believe she is able to speak if she can only be taught, and they enroll her with a special teacher.
Director: Alexander Mackendrick | Stars: Phyllis Calvert, Jack Hawkins, Terence Morgan, Godfrey Tearle
Votes: 1,022
47. Far into the Night (1943)
TV-G | 90 min | Drama, War
Comedian Tommy Trinder plays it straight in this tribute to the wartime AFS (Auxiliary Fire Service), the dedicated band who kept the fires of London under control during the blitz and fire bombings of WWII.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Tommy Trinder, James Mason, Philip Friend, Mervyn Johns
Votes: 265
48. The Third Key (1956)
Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The sleuths of Scotland Yard try to solve a series of burglaries.
Director: Charles Frend | Stars: Jack Hawkins, John Stratton, Dorothy Alison, Michael Brooke
Votes: 1,377
49. Easy Virtue (1927)
Not Rated | 80 min | Romance, Thriller
A recently divorced woman hides her scandalous past from her new husband and his family.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Isabel Jeans, Franklin Dyall, Eric Bransby Williams, Ian Hunter
Votes: 3,063
50. The Captive Heart (1946)
Approved | 86 min | Drama, War
In 1940, a concentration camp escapee assumes the identity of a dead British officer, only to become a prisoner of war.
Director: Basil Dearden | Stars: Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Frederick Leister, Mervyn Johns
Votes: 1,177