For our 1st recommendation, we’ve picked that 1941 screen classic, “Citizen Kane”. This is Orson Welles’s 1st feature film, and he is producer, co-screenwriter, director and leading actor. It is the epic tale of a publishing tycoon’s rise and fall and is considered by many to be the greatest film ever made. Remarkably it lost out to “How Green Was My Valley” for the Oscar for Best Picture. In fact it was nominated for 9 Academy Awards but won only one, for Best Original Screenplay. It is available to watch on BBC iplayer, in their Silver Screen Classics section.

In addition, for avid film lovers, “David Stratton’s Story of Australian Cinema”, also on BBC iplayer, is well worth a look.