1950s Great British Movies

Boxset of four classic films from the 1950s. 'Simba' (1955) is an adventure drama about a man who travels to post-colonial Africa to visit his brother only to find he has been killed by a Kenyan rebel group.

When Alan Howard (Dirk Bogarde) arrives in Africa, he soon learns his brother has been killed by the Mau Mau, a group of rebels who are fighting against the newly imposed rule of the white man.

Enraged by his brother's murder, Alan decides to stay and put all of his energy into fighting the Mau Mau who he now considers his enemy.

However, along the way he falls in love with a neighbouring settler called Mary (Virginia McKenna) who disagrees with his abhorrence of the native people and tries to put an end to his prejudices. 'Sapphire' (1959) is a hard-hitting crime drama exploring racism towards immigrants among the London police and public.

Sapphire (Yvonne Buckingham), a fair-skinned West Indian immigrant is discovered hiding in London and murdered.

To the police, led by Superintendent Hazard (Nigel Patrick) and Inspector Learoyd (Michael Craig), the case seems clear cut - Sapphire must have been killed by a member of the black community.

However, when Sapphire's brother (Earl Cameron) turns up at the police station and Sapphire's true ethnic roots become known, Hazard and Learoyd must face up to the racism of two communities and, quite possibly, their own. 'The Happy Family' stars Stanley Holloway and Kathleen Harrison as a couple who refuse to move from their house as the government reveal their plans to build a Festival Hall on the South Bank.

The tenants of the local corner shop, Mr and Mrs Lord (Holloway and Harrison), are the only residents who refuse to make way for the construction - even when the police issue an eviction order.

As the family barricade themselves into the shop, the bailiffs must try to think of another way to get them out. 'The Young Lovers' (1954) is a romantic drama starring David Knight and Odile Versois.

American Ted Hutchens (Knight) is a lonely bachelor working for the US Embassy in London.

When Ted meets Anna Szobek (Versois), also an Embassy worker, at a performance of 'Swan Lake', the pair soon fall in love.

However, it's not long before the international situation threatens their new-found happiness.