1963's The Sword in the Stone is Disney's animated take on Arthurian legend. In the midst of the Dark Ages, when England has no rightful ruler, a sword imbedded in a stone mysteriously appears in a London churchyard, bearing the inscription "Whoso pulleth out the sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England." Scores of would-be kings travel to London to attempt the feat and thereby claim the throne. They all fail. Years later, in the English countryside, an 11-year-old squire nicknamed Wart (Rickie Sorensen) is devotedly helping his incompetent foster brother, Kay (Norman Alden), train to become a knight, when he meets the great magician Merlin (Karl Swenson). The well meaning, but absentminded, wizard declares himself Wart's mentor and claims that he will lead the boy to his destiny. Spirited and full of spunk, Wart (whose real name is Arthur) approaches Merlin's lessons with the same determination that he applies to Kay's hopeless training and to the monotonous chores he is assigned by his guardian. He soon finds himself accompanying Kay to London for a jousting tournament that will determine England's new king. There, Wart forgets to bring Kay's weapon to the joust, but finds an abandoned sword in a nearby churchyard -- which he effortlessly pulls out of a stone. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, Rovi

The story begins as an innocuous romantic triangle involving wealthy, spoiled Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren), handsome Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), and schoolteacher Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette). The human story begins in a San Francisco pet shop and culminates at the home of Mitch's mother (Jessica Tandy) at Bodega Bay, where the characters' sense of security is slowly eroded by the curious behavior of the birds in the area. At first, it's no more than a sea gull swooping down and pecking at Melanie's head. Things take a truly ugly turn when hundreds of birds converge on a children's party. There is never an explanation as to why the birds have run amok, but once the onslaught begins, there's virtually no letup. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two sisters stop at a hotel in an unidentified European country on the brink of war or insurrection. The older, more cultured sister, Ester (Ingrid Thulin), who translates literature, is terminally ill, and her fear of death clouds her relationship with her younger, beautiful sister Anna (Gunnel Lindblom), who's depicted as the fleshly side of the spirit/flesh dichotomy. The younger sister neglects her son Johan (Jörgen Lindström) (a boy of 12 or so), who wanders the seemingly half-empty hotel.

From Russia With Love, the second in the series of James Bond films, is the film that solidifies all the Bond film elements into a formula -- the action sequences are intensified and lend greater tension to the proceedings; John Barry's inimitable score makes its first appearance; and Sean Connery as Bond has nailed down his role as 007 -- accentuating Bond's stylishness and sophistication, while toning down his cold-bloodedness. In From Russia With Love, the bad guys don't want to take over the world. They want something more mundane -- a Russian decoding device. Assigned to the mission of stealing the decoding device are No. 3, former KGB agent Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), and No. 5, Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal), an expert chess player who has plotted every move of the mission. Kronsteen's plan requires using Bond's weakness for women as an element in acquiring the decoding device. Once Bond obtains the decoding device from Russian cipher clerk Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), SPECTRE muscleman Red Grant (Robert Shaw) is to forcibly take it from Bond and kill him. But Bond suspects a trap. Being Bond, however, he can't resist the lure of a beautiful woman. So, flaunting danger, Bond travels to Istanbul to meet Tatiana. The centerpiece of this 007 feature is the thrilling fight to the death between Bond and enemy agent Red Grant aboard the Orient Express. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi