Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Kirk Douglas in the title role, a slave who leads a rebellion against Rome and the events of the Third Servile War. Adapted by Dalton Trumbo from Howard Fast's 1951 novel of the same title, the film also stars Laurence Olivier as Roman general and politician Marcus Licinius Crassus, Charles Laughton as Sempronius Gracchus, Peter Ustinov as slave trader Lentulus Batiatus, and John Gavin as Julius Caesar. Jean Simmons played Spartacus' wife Varinia, a fictional character, and Tony Curtis played the fictional slave Antoninus.

The Robe is a 1953 American fictional Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that is responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. The film was released by 20th Century Fox and was the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope. Like other early CinemaScope films, The Robe was shot with Henri Chrétien's original Hypergonar anamorphic lenses. The film was directed by Henry Koster and produced by Frank Ross. The screenplay was adapted from Lloyd C. Douglas's 1942 novel by Gina Kaus, Albert Maltz, and Philip Dunne—although Maltz's place among the blacklisted Hollywood 10 led to his being denied his writing credit for many years. The score was composed by Alfred Newman, and the cinematography was by Leon Shamroy. The film stars Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Victor Mature and Michael Rennie, and co-stars Jay Robinson, Dean Jagger, Torin Thatcher, Richard Boone, Betta St. John, Jeff Morrow, Ernest Thesiger, and others. "A sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), continues from where The Robe ends." Wikipedia

The Colossus of Rhodes (1961) is an Italian epic film directed by Sergio Leone, marking his debut as a credited director. Starring Rory Calhoun, the film is a fictional retelling of events on the island of Rhodes during the late third century BCE, a period before Roman control. Set against the backdrop of the towering Colossus of Rhodes, the story follows a war hero who becomes entangled in two separate conspiracies to overthrow a tyrannical king: one led by Rhodian patriots, the other by Phoenician agents. Unlike most films of the genre, which are typically set in classical Greece or Roman times, The Colossus of Rhodes is one of the few epics to take place during the Hellenistic era, a unique historical period after Alexander the Great's death but before the rise of the Roman Empire. This film is notable for being Leone’s least-known work and the only one of his films not featuring a score by Ennio Morricone.

El Cid - 1961 (HD) | Epic Movie: Starring Sophia Loren & Charlton Heston. El Cid is a 1961 epic historical drama film directed by Anthony Mann and produced by Samuel Bronston. The film is loosely based on the life of the 11th-century Castilian knight and warlord Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, called "El Cid" (from the Arabic al-sidi, meaning "The Lord"). The film stars Charlton Heston in the title role and Sophia Loren as El Cid's wife Doña Jimena, spelled "Chimene" in the script and pronounced that way (shim-ain) in the film. The screenplay is credited to Fredric M. Frank, Philip Yordan and Ben Barzman, with uncredited contributions by Bernard Gordon.

The Alamo is a 1960 American epic historical war film about the 1836 Siege and Battle of the Alamo produced and directed by John Wayne and starring Wayne as Davy Crockett. The film also co-stars Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie and Laurence Harvey as William B. Travis, and features: Frankie Avalon, Patrick Wayne, Linda Cristal, Joan O'Brien, Chill Wills, Joseph Calleia, Ken Curtis, Ruben Padilla as Santa Anna, and Richard Boone as Sam Houston. Shot in 70 mm Todd-AO by William H. Clothier, it was released by United Artists.

The Birth of a Nation - 1915 (HD) | Controversial film. The Birth of a Nation, originally called The Clansman, is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play The Clansman. Griffith co-wrote the screenplay with Frank E. Woods and produced the film with Harry Aitken. The Birth of a Nation - 1915 (HD) | Controversial film. Caution The following movie doesn't represent our channel values, because contains stereotypes that were wrong when it was created and still being wrong today. Nevertheless, has been included in our portfolio to show the harmful impact that could produce the seventh art in that period. The mistakes of the past should be a lesson to learn, and cultivate a more inclusive future for all. The film shows how, even in 1915, the wounds of the Civil War in the United States were still healing, wounds that were then finally healed, paradoxically, by a nobel cause fighting a common enemy, during the First and Second World Wars...

Wings - 1927 (Gershwin | HD): Starring Clara Bow. Wings is a 1927 American silent and synchronized sound film known for winning the first Academy Award for Best Picture. Due to the general public's apathy towards silent films, the film was quickly re-released in 1928 with synchronized sound. While the sound version of the film has no audible dialogue, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects. The film stars Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and Richard Arlen. Rogers and Arlen portray World War I combat pilots in a romantic rivalry over a woman. It was produced by Lucien Hubbard, directed by William A. Wellman, and released by Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation. Gary Cooper appears in a small role, which helped launch his career in Hollywood. The film entered the public domain in the United States in 2023. Remastered and musically edited by Rueda Books & Arts.

The Four Feathers (HD) is a 1939 British Technicolor adventure film directed by Zoltan Korda, starring John Clements, Ralph Richardson, June Duprez, and C. Aubrey Smith. Set during the reign of Queen Victoria, it tells the story of a man accused of cowardice and his efforts to redeem his name. It is widely regarded as the best of the numerous film adaptations of the 1902 novel of the same name by A.E.W. Mason. "This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in 1902, before the cutoff of January 1, 1929. The longest-living author of this work died in 1948, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 75 years or less" Wikipedia Remastered by Rueda Books & Arts / Some inappropriate scenes for family audiences were removed.

Jesus of Nazareth (1977), directed by the legendary Franco Zeffirelli, is an epic television drama that brings to life the profound story of Jesus Christ, from his miraculous birth to his ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. Co-written by renowned authors Anthony Burgess and Suso Cecchi d'Amico, this monumental production features Robert Powell in an iconic portrayal of Jesus, surrounded by a stellar cast that includes Academy Award winners Anne Bancroft, Laurence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Anthony Quinn, and many more. This cinematic masterpiece delves deep into the human and divine aspects of Christ’s life, presenting a nuanced Judas Iscariot, manipulated by the scheming Zerah, and the compassionate figures of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. While some miracles, like the transfiguration and the calming of the storm, are omitted, the film showcases powerful scenes such as the raising of Lazarus, the healing of Jairus’s daughter, and the feeding of the multitude. Premiered in 1977, Jesus of Nazareth captivated global audiences, earning widespread acclaim for its artistic vision, emotional depth, and Robert Powell’s extraordinary performance, which continues to resonate with viewers around the world. #history #religion #jesus #classicmovies

Constantine and the Cross - 1961 (HD) | Historical Film. Constantine and the Cross (Italian: Costantino il grande) is a 1961 historical drama film about the early career of the emperor Constantine, who first legalized and then adopted Christianity in the early 4th century. The fictionalised film only stretches as far into his life as the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in AD 312. It was also known as Constantine the Great or Constantino il Grande - In Hoc Signo Vinces. #history #religion #constantine #classicmovies #romanempire

The Thief of Bagdad is a 1924 American silent film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Douglas Fairbanks, and written by Achmed Abdullah and Lotta Woods. Freely adapted from One Thousand and One Nights, it tells the story of a thief who falls in love with the daughter of the Caliph of Baghdad. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being " #culturally , #historically , or #aesthetically significant". One Thousand and One Nights (Arabic: أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ ʾAlf Laylah wa-Laylah) is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the Arabian Nights from the first English-language edition (c. 1706–1721), which rendered the title as The Arabian Nights' Entertainment. Remastered and Musically edited by Rueda Books & Arts. Rimsky Korsakov: Scheherezade (Intro) 0:01 Manuel de Falla: El Amor Brujo (Danza del Fuego) 2:01 Maurice Ravel: Boléro 6:45 Rimsky Korsakov: Scheherazade (The Sea & Sinbad's Ship) 20:44 Rimsky Korsakov: Scheherazade (The Tale of the Kalendar Prince) 31:44 Rimsky Korsakov: Scheherazade (The Young Prince & The Young Princess) 43:55 #arabiannights #silentfilm #classicmovies #classicalmusic #scheherazade #libraryofcongress

Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film directed by, produced by, and starring Orson Welles. Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay. The picture was Welles's first feature film. Citizen Kane is frequently cited as the greatest film ever made.

Cyrano de Bergerac is a 1950 American adventure comedy film based on the 1897 French Alexandrin verse drama Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand. It uses poet Brian Hooker's 1923 English blank verse translation as the basis for its screenplay. The film was the first motion picture version in English of Rostand's play, though there were several earlier adaptations in different languages. The 1950 film was produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Michael Gordon. José Ferrer received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring performance as Cyrano de Bergerac. Mala Powers played Roxane, and William Prince portrayed Christian de Neuvillette.

Closely Watched Trains - 1966 (HD): Oscar Award. Closely Watched Trains (Czech: Ostře Sledované Vlaky) is a 1966 Czechoslovakian New Wave coming-of-age comedy film directed by Jiří Menzel and is one of the best-known films of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It was released in the United Kingdom as Closely Observed Trains. It is a story about a young man working at a train station in German-occupied Czechoslovakia during World War II. The film is based on a 1965 novel by Bohumil Hrabal. It was produced by Barrandov Studios and filmed on location in Central Bohemia. Released outside Czechoslovakia during 1967, it received widespread acclaim and won the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 40th Academy Awards in 1968. Nowadays the movie is assessed as one of the finest works of the Czech New Cinema.

The General is a American silent comedy-action Western film released by United Artists in 1926. Inspired by “the Great Locomotive Chase”, a true story of an event that occurred during the North American Civil War, extracted and adapted from the memoirs of William Pittenger (1889): The Great Locomotive Chase. The film stars Buster Keaton, who also co-directed it with Clyde Bruckman. The entire film was edited with Scott Joplin's music, one of the best North American composer of the 19th century. In 1954, the film entered the public domain in the United States because its claimant did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.

La Tulipe Noire - 1964 (The Black Tulip) is a Franco-Italian-Spanish swashbuckling film directed by Christian-Jaque, released in theaters in 1964. This film, which is one of the most broadcast cinema films on French television channels, has only a distant connection with the eponymous novel by Alexandre Dumas which is nevertheless credited in the film's credits as having inspired it.

Les Misérables. Complete Summary of Victor Hugo's Novel (illustrated audiobook), 7 minutes and 14 seconds long, written and edited by Juan C. Rueda, with the voice of the British narrator Oliver "Wheel", with images from the French Series, based on the same novel by Victor Hugo (With Gérard Depardieu, Christian Clavier, John Malkovich and Virginie Ledoyen).

Agora | Black & White Version. Agora (Spanish: Ágora) is a 2009 historical drama film directed by Alejandro Amenábar and written by Amenábar and Mateo Gil. The biopic stars Rachel Weisz as Hypatia, a mathematician, philosopher and astronomer in late 4th-century Roman Egypt, who investigates the flaws of the geocentric Ptolemaic system and the heliocentric model that challenges it. Surrounded by religious turmoil and social unrest, Hypatia struggles to save the knowledge of classical antiquity from destruction. Max Minghella co-stars as Davus, Hypatia's father's slave, and Oscar Isaac as Hypatia's student, and later prefect of Alexandria, Orestes.

The Legend of Tomiris (HD) | Black & White Version. Tomiris is a 2019 Kazakhstani feature film directed by Akan Satayev, which tells the story of the queen of the Massagetae, Tomyris, and the Persian king, Cyrus the Great. The film co-stars Almira Tursyn, Aizhan Lighg, and Ghassan Massoud. The film was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan. The idea to create a film about Tomyris was brought by Aliya Nazarbayeva, the youngest daughter of the first president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. She was later employed as a general producer of the film.

The Egyptian Sinuhe (Audiobook) by Mika Waltari. Edited by Rueda Books & Arts (Version 2.0). Full Audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR2-rL9BNcM "The Egyptian (Sinuhe egyptiläinen, Sinuhe the Egyptian) is a historical novel by Mika Waltari. It was first published in Finnish in 1945, and in an abridged English translation by Naomi Walford in 1949, from Swedish rather than Finnish. Regarded as "one of the greatest books in Finnish literary history",it is, so far, the only Finnish novel to be adapted into a Hollywood film, which happened in 1954. The Egyptian is the first and the most successful of Waltari's great historical novels, and that which gained him international fame. It is set in Ancient Egypt, mostly during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten of the 18th Dynasty, whom some have claimed to be the first monotheistic ruler in the world. The novel is known for its high-level historical accuracy regarding the life and culture of the period depicted. At the same time, it also carries a pessimistic message of the essential sameness of flawed human nature throughout the ages." Wikipedia #audiobook #audiobooks #audiobookseries #learnenglish #egyptian #sinuhe #history #literature #books #libros #aprenderingles #englishbook