Literature on video
Arts, Languages and Literature department of Central Library has what you need - Jane Austen's Emma, Charles Dickens David Copperfield and Great Expectations, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde and many more.
We hold also an extensive collection of videos about writers and their work.
Below is an example of the material we have available for viewing within the Library. We provide all the necessary equipment free of charge. Please check the Library Catalogue to see if we have the item you want, and visit us the next time you are in the city centre.
You can borrow videos from Central Lending Library and from Sutton Coldfield Library. Items borrowed from the Central Lending Library can be watched in Information Services, but any hire charges will need to be paid.
LATEST ARRIVALS
Cranford
Director: Simon Curis With: Judi Dench, Julia Sawalha, Michael Gambon, 2007 295 mins
Death of a Salesman
Director: Volker Schlondorff With: Dusitn Hoffman, John Malkovich, Charles Durning 2001 130mins
Miss Austen Regrets
Director: Jeremy Lovering With Olivia Williams, Imogen Poots, Greta Scacchi, 2008 85 mins
Revengers Tragedy
Director: Alex Cox With: Christopher Eccleston, Eddie Izzard, Derek Jacobi 2003 106mins
MAIN LIST
Abigail's Party
Director: Mike Leigh Starring: Alison Steadman and Tim Stern 1984 103 minutes
Abigail's Party DVD
Director: Mike Leigh Starring: Alison Steadman and Tim Stern 2003 101 minutes
The Age of Innocence DVD
Director: Martin Scorsese Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder 1993 133 minutes
All quiet on the western front DVD
Director: Lewis Milestone Starring: Lew Ayres and Louis Wolheim 1930 2hrs 8 minutes
An Inspector Calls DVD
Director: Guy Hamilton Starring: Alastair Sim and Bryan Forbes 1954 77 minutes
Angela's Ashes DVD
Director: Alan Parker Starring: Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle 1999 2hrs 20 minutes
Animal Farm DVD
Director: John Stephenson Featuring the voices of Kelsey Grammer, Ian Holm and others 2001 90 minutes
Anna Karenina DVD
Director: Julien Duvivier Starring: Vivien Leigh, Ralph Richardson and Kieron Moore 1947 134 minutes
The Ascent
Director: Larisa Shepitko Starring: Boris Plotnikov and Anatoli Solonitsin 1976 105 minutes
Beloved
Director: Jonathan Demme Starring: Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover 1991 165 minutes
Bent
Director: Sean Mathias Starring: Lothaire Bluteau, Clive Owen and Brian Webber 1996 100 minutes
Bleak House DVD
Director: Justin Chadwick Starring: Gillian Anderson, Alun Armstrong and Charlie Brooks 2006 465 minutes
Blithe Spirit
Director: David Lean Starring: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings etc. 1945 96 minutes
Box of Delights 2 parts from the novel by John Masefield
Director: Renny Rye Starring: Devin Stanfield and Patrick Troughton 1989 166 minutes
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof based on the play by Tennessee William
Director: Richard Brooks, 1958 104 minutes
Catch- 22 DVD
Director: Mike Nichols Starring: Martin Balsam and Richard Benjamin 1970 117 minutes
Cold Mountain DVD
Director: Anthony Mingella Starring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman and Renee Zellweger
The Color Purple based on the novel by Alice Walker
Director: Steven Spielberg, 1985 150 mins
Arthur Miller's The Crucible DVD
Director: Nicholas Hytner Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, 1996 118 minutes
David Copperfield based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Director: George Cukor Starring: W C Fields [1953] 125 minutes
Death of a salesman DVD
Director: Alex Segal Starring: Lee J Cobb, Mildred Dunnock and George Segal 1966 108 minutes
Doctor Faustus DVD
Director: Richard Burton Starring: Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, 1967 92 minutes
Effi Briest
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Starring: Hanna Schygulla and Wolfgang Schenck 1974 135 minutes
Emma by Jane Austen
BBC TV Production dramatised by Denis Constanduros, 1993 257 minutes
Equus DVD
Director: Sidney Lumet Starring: Richard Burton and Colin Blakely.1977 132 minutes
Far From the Madding Crowd DVD
Director: Nicholas Renton Starring: Paloma Baeza and Nathaniel Parker 1998 202 minutes
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
Director: Kenneth Branagh Starring: Robert de Niro and Kenneth Branagh 1994 118 minutes
Mary Shelleys Frankenstein DVD
Director: Kenneth Branagh Starring: Robert de Niro and Kenneth Branagh 1994 118 minutes
The French Lieutenants Woman based on the novel by John Fowles
Director: Karel Reisz, 1981 119 mins
The Glass Menagerie DVD
Director: Anthony Harvey Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Sam Waterston and Michael Moriarty 1973 104 minutes
The Go-Between DVD
Director: Joseph Losey Starring: Julie Christie and Alan Bates 1971 113 minutes
Gormenghast based on a book by Mervyn Peake DVD
Director: Andy Wilson Starring: Lynsey Baxter, June Brown, Stephen Fry and others 2000 274 minutes
Grapes of Wrath based on the novel by John Steinbeck
Director: John Ford 1994 129 minutes
Great Expectations based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Director: David Lean, 1945 118 minutes
Great Expectations BBC TV
Director: Julian Jarrold Starring: Gabriel Thompson, Bernard Hill and Charlotte Rampling 1999 120 minutes
The Handmaids Tale based on the novel of Margaret Atwood
Director: Volker Schlondorff, 1990 104 mins
Hard Times based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Director: Peter Barnes Starring: Alan Bates and Bob Peck 1995 102 minutes
Hobson's Choice
Director: David Lean Starring: Charles Laughton and John Mills 1954 103 minutes
Howards End based on the novel by E M Forster
Director: Merchant/Ivory, 1993 136 mins
The Iceman Cometh
Director: Sidney Lumet Starring: Jason Robards and Robert Redford 1960 208 minutes
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Director: Anthony Asquith 1952 93 mins
The Importance of Being Earnest DVD
Director: Oliver Parker Starring: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Frances OConnor 2003 90 minutes
Jane Eyre BBC TV Parts 1 & 2
Director: J. Aymes Starring: Timothy Dalton and Z.Clark 1992 240 minutes
Jane Eyre
Director: Franco Zeffirelli Starring: William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg 1995 109 minutes
Kes from the book by Barry Hines DVD
Director: Kenneth Loach Starring: David Bradley and Colin Welland 1970 106 mins
To Kill a Mockingbird DVD
Director: Robert Mulligan Starring: Gregory Peck and Mary Badham 1962 124 minutes
Little Dorrit Parts 1 & 2 based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Director: Christine Edzard Starring: Derek Jacobi and Alec Guinness 1987 343 minutes
Little Women by Louisa M Alcott
Director: Gillian Armstrong Starring: Winona Ryder and Gabriel Byrne 1999 116 minutes
Lord of the Flies based on the novel by William Golding
Director: Harry Hook 1994 95 minutes
The Lord of the Rings
Director: Peter Jackson Starring: Ian McKellan, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Ian Holmes 2002, 171 minutes
The Lord of the Rings. The Fellowship of the Ring DVD
Director: Peter Jackson Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Liv Tyler 2001 200 minutes
The Lord of the Rings trilogy DVD
Director: Peter Jackson Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler 2001 200 minutes
Part one: The Fellowship of the Ring
Part two: The two towers
Part three: The return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings.
The Two Towers DVD
Director: Peter Jackson Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Liv Tyler 2002 172 minutes
Madam Bovary DVD
Director: Claude Chabrol Starring; Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Francois Balmer 1991 140 minutes
Magic Toyshop based on the novel by Angela Carter
Director: David Wheatley Starring: Tom Bell and Caroline Milmoe 103 mins
The Magic Toyshop DVD
Director: David Wheatley Starring: Tom Bell and Caroline Milmoe 103 mins
Mansfield Park, BBC TV production
Director: David Giles Starring: Ken Taylor and Betty Willingale 1990 261 minutes
Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens
BBC TV production adapted by David Lodge, 1995 337 minutes
Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy BBC TV
Director; David Giles Starring: Alan Bates and others 1991 5 hrs 51 minutes
Middlemarch by George Eliot BBC TV screenplay by Andrew Davies
Director: Anthony Page Starring: Juliet Aubrey and Robert Hardy 1994 178 minutes
The Mill on the Floss DVD
Director: Graham Theakston Starring: Emily Watson, Cheryl Campbell and James Frain 1997 116 minutes
Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens DVD
Director; Douglas McGrath Starring: Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay 2004 127 minutes
1984 by George Orwell
Director: Michael Radford 1994 122 minutes
The Norman Conquest
Director: Herbert Wise Starring: Richard Briers, Penelope Keith and Tom Conti
1/ Living together 1977 92 minutes
2/ Table manners 1977 108 minutes
3/ Round and round the garden 1977 105 minutes
North & South DVD
Director: Brian Percival Starring: Daniel Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage and Sinead Cusack 2005 233 minutes
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
BBC TV production dramatised by Maggie Wadey, 1990 90 minutes
Of Mice and Men based upon the novel by John Steinbeck DVD
Director: Gary Sinise Starring: John Malkovich and Gary Sinise 1992 106 minutes
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
BBC TV production dramatised by Alexander Baron 1991 5 hrs 33 mins
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey
Director: Milos Forman Starring Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher 2001 128 mins
One flew over the cuckoos nest DVD
Director: Milos Forman Starring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and William Redfield 1975 128 minutes
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit
Director: Beeban Kidron Starring: Charlotte Coleman and Geraldine McEwan 1997 165 minutes
Our mutual friend DVD
Director: Julian Farino Starring: Paul McGann, Keely Hawes and Anna Friel 2001 350 minutes
Pandoras Box
Director: Andrei Andreiev Starring: Louise Brookes and Fritz Kortner 1928 105 minutes
A Passage to India by E M Forster
Director: David Lean 1984 157 mins
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Granada TV production adapted by Julian Mitchell, 1971 225 mins
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
irector: Robert Leonard 1940 118 mins
Pride and Prejudice BBC 1985 109 minutes
Director: Cyril Coke Starring: Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul
Pride and Prejudice
Director: Cyril Coke Starring: Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul 1991 221 minutes
Pride and Prejudice BBC
Director: Simon Laugton Starring: Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle 1995 301 minutes
Rebecca DVD
Director: Jim O'Brien Starring: Charles Dance, Emilia Fox and Diana Rigg 2006 189 minutes
Regeneration DVD
Director: Gillies MacKinnon Starring: Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby and Jonny Lee Miller 1997 109 minutes
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
BBC TV production dramatised by Alexander Baron, 1990 174 mins
She Stoops to Conquer DVD
Director: Max Stafford- Clark Starring: Nigel Cooke and Christopher Staines 2002 139 minutes
Siegfried
Director: Fritz Lang Starring: Paul Richter and Margaret Schon 1924 86 minutes
A Streetcar Named Desire
Director: Elia Kazan Starring: Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh 1952 120 minutes
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
BBC TV production dramatised by Pieter Harding, 1990 172 mins
Tartuffe DVD
Director: F. W. Murnau Starring: Emil Jannings, Lil Dagover and others 1926 64 minutes
Tess of the DUbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Director: Ian Sharp Adapted by Ted Whitehead, 1999 180 mins
Three Sisters by Chekhov 1970 155 minutes
Director: Laurence Olivie Starring: Laurence Olivier and Alan Bates
Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas 1999 88 minutes
Director: Andrew Sinclair Starring: Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole
Vanity Fair DVD
Director: Mira Nair Starring: Bob Hoskins, Jim Broadbent, Gabriel Byrne and Rhys Ifans, 2004 2hrs 15minutes
The Virgin Suicides DVD
Director: Sofia Coppola Starring: James Woods, Kathleen Turner and Kirsten Dunsts 2000 93 minutes
Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Albee [?] 124 minutes
Director: Mike Nichols Starring: Elizabeth Taylor
Wives and daughters DVD
Director: Nicholas Renton Starring: Francesca Annis, Ian Carmichael and Deborah Findlay, 2001 301 minutes
Women in Love by D H Lawrence
Director: Ken Russell 1969 129 minutes
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Director: David Skynner and adapted by Neil McKay, 1999 112 minutes
Wuthering Heights DVD
Director: William Wyler Starring: Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier and David Niven, 1939 1hr 40 minutes
VIDEOS ABOUT WRITERS
ACHEBE, Chinua
ALDISS, Brian with Christopher Priest
ANGELOU, Maya
ANGELOU, Maya - Five Authors series 25 minutes
ATWOOD, Margaret
AUSTEN, Jane
BAWDEN, Nina
BEHN, Aphra The Rover Open University 1996
BENNETT, Alan. Talking Heads, with A.Bennett, P.Routledge and M.Smith. 1997 218 minutes
BLAKE, Quentin with Heather Neill
BRADBURY, Malcolm with A S Byatt
BRIGGS, Raymond with Barry Took
BYATT, A S with Iris Murdoch
CONRAD, Joseph
DHONDY, Farrukh with H O Nazareth
DONLEAVY, J P
DOSTOEVSKY, Fyodor
ELIOT, T S
ERDRICH, L & DORRIS, M with Paul Bailey
FRENCH, Marilyn with Sarah Dunant
GINSBERG, Allen - The last UK poetry reading 1995 53 minutes
GUPTARA, Prabhu with Naseem Khan
IBSEN, Henrik
INFANTE, C Cabera with Mario Vargas Llosa
JAMES, P D with A S Byatt
JOYCE, James
KAFKA, Franz
KENNEDY, Lean
LLOSA, Mario Vargas with John King
MOORCOCK, Michael with Colin Greenland
MORRISON, Toni
NAYLOR, Gloria with Nicholas Shakespeare
OKRI, Ben with Edward Blishen
ORWELL, George
PROUST, Marcel
RENDELL, Ruth
ROSEN, Mark
RUSHDIE, Salman with Charlotte Cornwall
RUSHDIE, Salman
SEROTE, Mongane with Edward Blishen
SHINEBOURNE, J & GILROY, B with Susheila Nasta
SOYINKA, Wole
THUBRON, Colin
UPDIKE, John with Claire Tomalin
WELDON, Fay with Deborah Moggach
WELDON, Fay
WORDSWORTH, William- The English Programme 1998 25 minutes
ZEPHANIAH, Benjamin- Off the page 26 minutes
OTHER LITERATURE VIDEOS
Making Childrens Picture Books
War Poets
Writing for Children
Library Catalogue
Audio Visual Material
Shakespeare videos
Film classics
Language tapes
Arts Videos