-
The Man Who Laughs
🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyA 1966 French-Italian film version made in Italy, titled L'uomo che ride, directed by Sergio Corbucci. This version features elaborate colour photography but a very low production budget. The main action is shifted to Italy and moved yesterwards in time, with the deformed protagonist meeting Lucrezia Borgia instead of Queen Anne. In this version, Gwynplaine is renamed Angelo (played by Jean Sorel). His disfigurement is represented as a single broad slash across his mouth, crude yet convincing. The story (which is attributed, in the movie credits, to the director, producer and others involved in making the film, but not to Victor Hugo) is a swashbuckler pitting the disfigured acrobat against the henchmen of the Borgias. At the end, Dea (actress Lina Sini) miraculously acquires her eyesight and Angelo undergoes surgery that completely reverses his disfigurement and renders him perfectly handsome.
-
Anarkali
The 16th CenturyPrince Salim, son of Akbar falls in love with Anarkali. Akbar forbids Salim to prolong this affair as he wanted his son to marry a Rajput princess and thereby strengthen communal harmony.
-
The Agony and the Ecstasy
🇻🇦 Holy See 🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyFrom the age of magnificence comes a new magnificence in motion pictures. — Charlton Heston stars as Renaissance artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), who begrudgingly paints the Sistine Chapel for imperious Pope Julius II in this epic adaptation of Irvine Stone's novel directed by Carol Reed. While the novel covers Michelangelo's life from birth to death, the film focuses on the battle of wills between the perfectionist artist and the impatient Pope who commissions (and eventually commands) him to paint the famed chapel.
-
Othello
🇨🇾 Cyprus 🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyThe greatest Othello ever by the greatest actor of our time — The 1965 version of the Shakespeare play.
-
The Mandrake
🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyA young man hatches a plan to sleep with another man's infertile wife. Based on the play by Machiavelli.
-
The Devil-Ship Pirates
The 16th CenturyA Hot-Blooded Crew of Cut-Throats! — A pirate ship, fighting in 1588 on the side of the Spanish Armada, suffers damage and must put into a village on the British coast for repairs. The village is small and isolated and the Spanish convince the villagers that the English fleet has been defeated and that they, the Spanish, are now their masters. This results in the villagers' sullen cooperation, but rumors and unrest begin to spread and soon the Spanish pirates find themselves facing a revolt.
-
The Female Prince
🇨🇳 China The 16th CenturyThe husband-and-wife team of Ivy Ling Po and Chin Han returned to another Huangmei Opera classic after Lady General Hua Mu-Lan. Helmed by Chow Sze-loke and written by Chang Cheh, the story revolved around two intellectual siblings, Ching Feng-sheng (Chin Feng) and Ching Feng-hsiao (Ivy Ling Po), who were constantly abused by their stepmother Hsia (Kao Pao-shu). Feng-hsiao was engaged to Li Ru-lung (Chin Han) since birth, but the greedy Hsia forced him to forfeit the marriage. When Ru-lung refused, Hsia framed him for thievery and put him behind bars. To rescue her lover, Feng-hsiao dressed as a young man and went to the capital. She then used Ru-lung's name to enter the national exam and was ranked first place. Impressed by Feng-hsiao, the Emperor decided to let her wed the Princess (Fang Ying). On the wedding night, Feng-hsiao revealed the truth to the Princess...
-
The Gallant Musketeer
🇫🇷 France The 16th CenturySet against the troubled period of the Wars of Religion in France, at a time when the three Henries (Henri III, Henri de Guise and Henri de Béarn) vied for the the throne, these new adventures of Pardaillan have the gallant musketeer defend the rightful king Henri III.Jean gives his full to thwart the Duke of Guise's attempts to have the king assassinated. A heartthrob more than ever, Pardaillan will awake serious interest in many a girl, at times becoming their prey like with Bianca Farnese, De Guise's agent.
-
The Black Duke
The 16th Century The 14th CenturyCesar Borgia--a cardinal in the Catholic church, a confidant of the Pope and a member of one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in 16th-century Italy--must deal with a host of political and personal crises. He is having problems with his mistress, and members of a secret society called The Black Carnation are out to assassinate him.
-
The Scapegoat
🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyIl Fornaretto di Venezia (US TV title: The Scapegoat) is a 1963 Italian film directed by Duccio Tessari who co-wrote screenplay with Marcello Fondato, based on novel by Francesco Dall'Ongaro. It tells the story of 16th century's Venice where a young worker is sentenced to death on the suspicion of attacking a noble.
-
The Magnificent Adventurer
🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyBenvenuto Cellini knows no obstacles when it comes to creating a work of art or conquering the heart of a woman.
-
Swordsman of Siena
🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyA 16th-century Spanish overlord hires Thomas Stanswood (Stuart Granger) to protect his, less than eager, fiancee (Sylva Koscina) from rebels. Thomas finds himself drawn to both the fiancee and the rebels side.
-
Taras Bulba
🇺🇦 Ukraine The 16th CenturyA love story of flesh and fire! — Ukraine, 16th century. While the Poles dominate the Cossack steppes, Andrei, son of Taras Bulba, a Cossack leader, must choose between his love for his family and his folk and his passion for a Polish woman.
-
Seven Seas to Calais
England The 16th CenturyHell and Heroism On The High Seas! — Sir Francis Drake fights to take over Spain's treasure routes for Queen Elizabeth I.
-
Taras Bulba
🇺🇦 Ukraine The 16th CenturyItalian adaptation of the historical novella of the same name by Nikolai Gogol.
-
The Pit and the Pendulum
🇪🇸 Spain The 16th CenturyBetrayal cuts both ways! — Francis Barnard goes to Spain, when he hears his sister Elizabeth has died. Her husband Nicholas Medina, the son of the most brutal torturer of the Spanish Inquisition, tells him she has died of a blood disease, but Francis finds this hard to believe. After some investigating he finds out that it was extreme fear that was fatal to his sister and that she may have been buried alive!
-
Princess of Cleves
The 16th CenturyWhen a young teen marries the Prince of Cleves, more than twice her age, she automatically becomes an official Princess and takes her new position to heart. Although distracted by the elite entertainments found at court, the princess cannot help but mourn her impossible love for the dashing Duc de Nemours.
-
Rome, 1585
🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyThe leader of a gang of Spanish mercenaries falls for a beautiful princess. Thing get dicey, however, when an imprisoned leader is freed and comes calling. Paget, as usual, is absolutely stunning.
-
Mughal-e-Azam
🇮🇳 India The 16th CenturySet in the 16th century AD, the movie brings to life the tale of the doomed love affair between the Mughal Crown Prince Saleem and the beautiful, ill-fated court dancer, whose fervor and intensity perpetrates a war between the prince and his father the great Mughal Emperor Akbar, and threatens to bring an empire to its knees.
-
Faust
The 16th CenturyIn 1957 Gustaf Gründgens staged a new production of Goethe's Faust in which he once again played Mephisto, a part he had played since 1932. The brilliant production was a huge success and ran for a couple of years. In 1959 Peter Gorski captured the performance on film in his directorial film debut. Basically it is a registration of the production, but Gorksi did manage to accentuate the details of the acting by using enough medium and close-up shots which give a view on the acting you normally would not able to see in a theater.
-
Terror of the Red Mask
The 16th CenturyIn 16th century Italy, mercenary Marco is hired by cruel duke Astolfo whose unjust reign is threatened by the notorious outlaw the Red Mask.
-
Miracle Roses
The 16th CenturyBefore the Spanish Conquest, an Aztec princess does the Romeo and Juliet thing with the Prince of a neighboring tribe. Sixty years later, a colonized subject has visions of the Virgin Mary.
-
El Lazarillo de Tormes
The 16th CenturyAn adaptation of the anonymous sixteenth century novel Lazarillo de Tormes (1554), it tells the story of Lazarillo, a poor boy who has to live by his wits after being sold to a series of cruel masters.
-
The Kingdom and the Beauty
🇨🇳 China The 16th CenturyThis is a musical about a young emperor who is lured via stories told to a place called Kiang-Nan by his royal tutor. The empress mother has the tutor go to Kiang-Nan to bring him back.
-
The Devil's Cavaliers
🇫🇷 France The 16th CenturyCaptain Richard and a small band of soldiers return home to France to discover the country ruled by horrible nobility.
-
Black Cat Mansion
🇯🇵 Japan The 20th Century The 16th Century The 15th CenturyThe descendant of the servant of a cruel and vicious samurai returns to the town where she was born, only to find that a cat who is possessed by the spirits of those murdered by the samurai is trying to kill her.
-
Pirate of the Half Moon
The 16th CenturyGianna Maria Canale as the Duchess who is offered a banquet and requests for a hard-boiled egg. The stingy Spanish lord, who used his last gunpowder to fire a salute to the noble lady and thus has no more when a bunch of pirates, led by Nadir, launches an attack against his castle. Nadir is the dashing fiery hero.
-
The Black Devil
The 16th CenturyBehind The Mask: Man or Myth? — The Spaniards under Charles V aim to occupy all of Italy with the help of traitorous allies like Don Lorenzo. Lorenzo conspires to marry off his supposed niece Isabella to Charles V’s nephew, Prince Rodriguez, to confirm Spain’s dominance. The Black Devil, a heroic masked avenger, falls in love with the fake Isabella and takes vengeance on Lorenzo with the help of his friend Ruggerio and his men.
-
If Paris Were Told to Us
🇫🇷 France The 19th Century The 18th Century The 17th Century The 16th Century The 15th CenturyHistorical film directed and written by Sacha Guitry follows the the history of Paris from its founding through the significant events in the city's history.
-
Castle of the Banned Lovers
The 16th CenturyThe beautiful Beatrice Cenci, daughter of the noble Francesco, falls in love with Olimpio. But she has to face the jealousy of his violent and morbid father, and the hostility of his stepmother Lucrezia, who has a relationship with her other stepson, James. The stepmother and stepson-lover plan to kill Francesco. And when the latter dies accidentally, they decide to put the blame on Beatrice and Olimpio.
-
Diane
🇫🇷 France The 16th CenturyLana Turner dares the devil in... Diane — Asked by Francis I (Pedro Armendáriz) to tutor his son (Roger Moore), Diane de Poitiers (Lana Turner) becomes the future King Henry II's mistress in 1500s France.
-
Bold Adventure
🇧🇪 Belgium The 16th CenturyBased on the book by Belgian XIX century author Charles de Coaster.
-
Thomas Müntzer
🇩🇪 Germany The 16th CenturyIn 1523, young Thomas Müntzer arrives with his wife Ottilie in the Thuringian village Allstedt to assume the rectorate. As a follower of Luther′s teachings, he finds in the Bible not only reasons for clerical, but also for secular reforms. But when Luther turns away from the rural population after a discord with Müntzer, it is Müntzer who becomes the peoples′ spokesman. He is forced to go to Southern Germany, where he convenes with revolting farmers. But his way leads him back to Thuringia. In 1525, he and Heinrich Pfeiffer form the centre of the Thuringian peasant uprising in Mühlhausen, but their success is diminished by the fact that peasants and craftsmen don′t seem to be able to work together. In Frankenhausen, Müntzer becomes the leader of a peasants′ army that is set to fighting the ruler′s army – and sustains a devastating loss. Müntzer is arrested and sentenced to death by decapitation for his insurgency.
-
The Barbarians
🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyRome, 1527. Massimo Colonna is in love with Angela, a member of the Orsinis, the Colonnas'arch enemies. As she is officially engaged to Tancredi Serra, the latter, a faithless individual, has Massimo accused of the murder of Prince Orsini whereas he himself has woven it. Massimo is rejected by an outraged Angela and banned from Rome.Meanwhile the Eternal City has to face a brutal attack by armed invaders from Spain. The Spaniards are about to storm Rome when Massimo and his troops appear. The invading forces are defeated and Massimo is acclaimed by the crowd. After clearing his name, he can marry Angela.
-
That Lady
The 16th CenturyAna, the Princess of Eboli, wears a black patch over her right eye, where she was blinded as a youth when fighting a duel in defense of her king, the despotic Philip. Thereafter she and the monarch were close friends, although his passion for her was never consummated. She marries one of Philip's ministers, bore him a son, and soon became a widow. Now Philip calls upon her to assist in coaching a commoner, Antonio Perez, for the office of first secretary to the crown.The result is more than Philip bargained for as Ana and Antonio become lovers and create a scandal in court, always the scene of perpetual intrigue. Philip has Antonio arrested on a drummed-up charge of murder, and when Ana refuses to leave Madrid, she too is arrested. After spending time in jail, she is transferred to her home and held in check. Antonio escapes and makes his way to Ana, who persuades him to leave the country and take her son.
-
Götz von Berlichingen
The 16th Century -
Seven Samurai
The 16th CenturyThe Mighty Warriors Who Became the Seven National Heroes of a Small Town — A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food.
-
El alcalde de Zalamea
The 16th CenturyFilm version of the historic piece of Calderon de la Barca. An army officer faces the local authority that intends to judge him for having stained the honor of a young girl
-
Karin Månsdotter
The 16th CenturyKarin does not belong to the nobility but nevertheless marries the mentally ill king Erik XIV and becomes queen of Sweden. The king's skilled counsellor Göran Persson wants a royal policy supporting the people and supported by it. But in relation to the nobility the king oscillates between provocative strength and unpredictable weakness. Göran arranges that some very powerful noblemen are killed. Subsequently the king tries to have them convicted of high treason by the parliament. He forgets the manuscript, mixes up all facts, and the noblemen are acquitted. But Göran speedily gathers another parliament and has them convicted. Meanwhile Erik apologises because of the unjust murders. Hence Erik is dethroned and imprisoned. Göran is executed. Karin is restricted to a castle in Finland. In the prison Erik believes that he is still the king and gives the guards presents such as all fishes in the Baltic Sea.
-
Boris Godunov
The 17th Century The 16th CenturyRussian filmmaker Vera Stroyeva specialized in cinematic adaptations of famous operas. One of the most successful of these was her 1955 film version of Mussorgsky and Pushkin's Boris Godunov. Stroyeva's adaptation deftly streamlines the story of a Russian czar whose life is placed in jeopardy by a pretender to his throne. A. Pirogov sings the title role, while G. Nellep provides vocal and visual menace as the "False Dmitri". The use of a color process known as Magicolor adds just the right touch of theatrical artificiality to the pomp-and-splendor proceedings.
-
Crossed Swords
🇮🇹 Italy The 16th CenturyNobleman Rainiero, Sidonia's duke son, comes back home with his friend Renzo. Soon after arrival, Renzo will get in a big trouble and he will be forced to choose between going to church for marriage or going to prison.
-
Ugetsu
The 16th CenturyIn 16th century Japan, peasants Genjuro and Tobei sell their earthenware pots to a group of soldiers in a nearby village, in defiance of a local sage's warning against seeking to profit from warfare. Genjuro's pursuit of both riches and the mysterious Lady Wakasa, as well as Tobei's desire to become a samurai, run the risk of destroying both themselves and their wives, Miyagi and Ohama.
-
Young Bess
England The 16th CenturyA Great and Spectacular Drama! — The mother died under the executioner's axe; the daughter rose to become England's greatest monarch -- the brilliant and cunning Queen Elizabeth I. Jean Simmons portrays young Bess in this rich tapestry of a film that traces the tumultuous, danger-fraught years from Elizabeth's birth to her unexpected ascension to the throne at a mere 25. Charles Laughton reprises his Academy Award®-winning* role as her formidable father Henry VIII. Deborah Kerr plays her last stepmother (and Henry's last of six wives), gentle Catherine Parr. And Simmons' then real-life husband, Stewart Granger, adds heroics as Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour. In a resplendent world of adventure, romance and court intrigue, Young Bess reigns.
-
The Sword and the Rose
🇫🇷 France The 16th CenturyA Forbidden Love That Threatened Two Kingdoms! — Tells the story of Mary Tudor and her troubled path to true love. Henry VIII, for political reasons, determines to wed her to the King of France. She tries to flee to America with her love but is captured when she is "un-hatted" on board ship. In return for her consent to the marriage with France, Henry agrees to let her choose her second husband. When King Louis of France dies, Mary is kidnaped by the Duke of Buckingham. He tries to force her to marry him but she is rescued by her love in an exciting battle on the beach.
- load more
← swipe for more →