Classic Movies: The Story Of
Movie critic Ian Nathan goes in search of the cinematically sublime and explores the ingredients that went into making a classic. With each episode devoted to a single film, their story will be told with detail, affection, looking for the truth behind the myth, and all the trials and triumphs that went into forging the classic.
Seasons
1. The Third Man
Air Date: 2023-08-31
In this opening episode, movie critic Ian Nathan examines the qualities that made this 1949 film noir starring Orson Welles an enduring classic.
2. The Ladykillers
Air Date: 2023-09-07
Movie critic Ian Nathan examines the qualities that made this 1955 black comedy - starring Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers - a classic.
3. Brighton Rock
Air Date: 2023-09-14
Movie critic Ian Nathan examines the qualities that made this 1948 gangster film noir starring Richard Attenborough, an enduring British classic.
4. The Graduate
Air Date: 2023-09-21
Movie critic Ian Nathan examines the qualities that made this 1967 romantic comedy-drama starring Dustin Hoffman an all-time classic.
5. Ran
Air Date: 2023-09-28
Movie critic Ian Nathan examines the qualities that made this 1985 epic action drama, directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa, an enduring classic.
6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Air Date: 2023-10-05
Movie critic Ian Nathan examines what helped to make James Cameron's 1991 sci-fi-action sequel, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, so critically-acclaimed within the genre.
1. Classic Movies: Brief Encounter
Air Date: 2024-08-08
Ian Nathan returns to cast his eye over more cinematic masterpieces, beginning with David Lean's 1945 romantic tragedy starring Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard.
2. Classic Movies: Whisky Galore!
Air Date: 2024-08-15
Ian Nathan examines Alexander Mackendrick's 1949 Ealing comedy, in which Scottish islanders try to salvage 50,000 cases of whisky from a shipwreck.
3. Classic Movies: The Producers
Air Date: 2024-08-22
Ian Nathan examines Mel Brooks' classic 1968 comedy, which stars Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder as two men who set out to make a Broadway flop.
4. I'm All Right, Jack
Air Date: 2024-08-29
Ian Nathan examines the Boulting brothers' 1959 comedy, a satire on British industrial life starring Ian Carmichael Peter Sellers, Richard Attenborough and Margaret Rutherford.
5. Murder on the Orient Express
Air Date: 2024-09-05
Ian Nathan examines the 1974 adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery, featuring a stellar cast of train-bound suspects and Albert Finney as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.
6. The Deer Hunter
Air Date: 2024-09-12
Ian Nathan examines Michael Cimino's 1978 Vietnam War drama, which starred Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, John Savage, John Cazale and Meryl Streep.
1. The Ipcress Files
Air Date: 2025-05-01
One of the greatest spy films ever made, The Ipcress Files begins with a kindap, a killing and a cup of coffee.
2. Kind Hearts and Coronets
Air Date: 2025-05-08
Kind Hearts and Coronets is one of a kind, a superb pitch-black comedy about gentle serial killing.
3. The Dam Busters
Air Date: 2025-05-15
The Dam Busters begins in 1942, where a bespectacled man plays marbles with his children under a silver sky.
4. Scott of the Antarctic
Air Date: 2025-05-22
From Charles Frend, this 1948 drama tells the story of Robert Falcon Scott’s failed attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole.
5. Flash Gordon (1980)
Air Date: 2025-05-29
As Mike Hodges’ flamboyant science fiction epic and Queen’s iconic rock song declares, Flash Gordon will be the saviour of the universe.
6. Billy Liar
Air Date: 2025-06-05
Directed by John Schlesinger in 1963, Billy Liar is one of the signature films of the British New Wave, the dynamic naturalism of the sixties.
1. The 39 Steps
Air Date: 2025-10-16
Embark on a journey to discover what makes The 39 Steps not only a quintessential thriller but also an espionage thriller.
2. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Air Date: 2025-10-23
Released in 1943, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, is an extremely exceptional epic, which is exactly what makes it a masterpiece.
3. Passport to Pimlico
Air Date: 2025-10-30
One of the great British comedies the plot of Passport to Pimlico is gloriously absurd. A combination of fantasy and realism told with a light touch.
4. Highlander (1986)
Air Date: 2025-11-06
Highlander is one of a kind, a strange and haunting fantasy epic about immortality and sword fights. Rediscovered again and again since its release in 1986.
5. The Railway Children
Air Date: 2025-11-13
Adapted from the book by legendary children's author E. Nesbit, it is a cinematic rite of passage that makes us remember the mysteries of childhood.
6. Escape from New York (1981)
Air Date: 2025-11-20
In the dystopian future of Escape from New York, the island of Manhattan has been turned into a maximum-security prison.
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Rating
7.2/10
Release Date
2023-08-31
Episodes
20 (4 seasons)
Status
Returning Series
Cast
Production Companies
3DD Productions