Movies: Tony Palmer

Richard Wagner's operatic retelling of the story of the search for the Holy Grail receives a lavish production in this video, which records performances held in Bayreuth, St. Petersburg, and Ravello, Italy. Internationally renowned tenor Placido Domi...

The life of composer, conductor, pianist and Oscar-winner Andre Previn, filmed during a year which culminated in the world premiere of his first opera, A Streetcar Named Desire, in San Francisco. Wherever he went, the camera followed. To Tokyo for a ...

Documentary covering the famous Wigan Casino northern soul venue and the working class kids who spend all their money not on alcohol but on records and dancing all night....

This 1973 documentary by the award-winning director Tony Palmer shone a light on the multi-millionaire Hugh Hefner and his Playboy empire. It gave Hefner the opportunity to tell his story and, of course, it offended the usual suspects - Mary Whitehou...

Tony Palmer’s study of the German composer Paul Hindemith....

Yet more archive film has been found from the famous 1972 tour, which formed the basis of the best-selling 2010 DVD Bird on a Wire. Concert material from the shows in Stockholm, Paris and the Albert Hall, with Cohen at the height of his powers perfor...

In November 1971, Ginger Baker, the legendary drummer of Cream and Blind Faith, decided to set up a recording studio in Lagos, then the capital of Nigeria. Baker was one of the first rock musicians to realize the potential of African music. He also d...

Though perhaps best known for his star turn in Broadway's "The Phantom of the Opera," Michael Crawford has more than 30 years' worth of credits to his name. He also has plenty of stories to tell, as Tony Palmer's witty documentary reveals. Clips from...

The great composer of The Planets, Gustav Holst also taught himself Sanskrit, lived in a street of brothels in Algiers, cycled into the Sahara Desert, and allied himself during the First World War with a ‘red priest' who pinned on the door of his chu...

In 1976 the pianist, entertainer and one of the biggest stars of the day, published a coffee table book about his collection of homes, jewellery and costumes called The Things I Love. This DVD is nothing more-nor-less than precisely that, as told to ...

Tony Palmer examines the life and legacy of the German composer, Carl Orff....

Keep on Burning tells the fascinating story of the world's most enduring underground music movement: Northern Soul. Featuring key DJ's, journalists and promoters, including soul radio pioneer Tony Blackburn, Marc Almond and key DJ's, journalists and ...

Director Tony Palmer exposes the harsh underbelly of the famed Miss World beauty contest, going beneath the glamour to reveal a hotbed of bullying, and sexism. At once tragic, funny, and deeply moving, this document of gender power dynamics remains a...

A celebratory look at the life of football legend Bobby Moore....

War footage meets the Bee Gees, Elton John, Tina Turner, Peter Gabriel, Bryan Ferry and others as they belt out new arrangements of Beatles songs. The result is a truly original anti-war musical....

There's no doubt that Richard Wagner who built it was the most influential composer in the whole of the 19th Century. But his family has survived a mixture of lies, deception, fraud and dangerous political alliances....

This is Palmer's highly controversial portrait of Brahms - a film that exploded the familiar image of 'stodgy old bearded Brahms' - a man whose first musical experience had been playing an upright piano in the brothels of Hamburg where he had grow...

This emotional film by the award-winning director Tony Palmer includes a performance of the “Third Symphony” by The London Sinfonietta alongside powerful footage of Górecki at Auschwitz and Birkenau....

Tony Palmer appeared at Harrogate Film Festival on 12 March 2020 as part of a celebration of his work which included a screening of Mighty Good, his television documentary about the Beatles era. This independent documentary feature chronicles that oc...

Explores the life and career of American soprano Renée Fleming. Share an intimate visit with Renée behind the scenes, at home and on stage as she rehearses and performs in Verdi’s Otello and Requiem, and sings Strauss, Mozart, Dvorák, Korngold, Ellin...