Lavish composer biopics and scandal-courting features sit beside the black-and-white BBC portraits where his career began, and a few of these reached the screen only after the censors had trimmed them.
1Women in LoveA 1969 adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's novel with Alan Bates and Oliver Reed that won Glenda Jackson the Academy Award for Best Actress.1000pts
2Dante's InfernoA 1967 BBC Omnibus film starring Oliver Reed as the Pre-Raphaelite painter and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti.698pts
3ValentinoA 1977 biopic of the silent star Rudolph Valentino, played by the ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev.649pts
4GothicA 1986 film about the 1816 night at the Villa Diodati, with Gabriel Byrne as Byron, Julian Sands as Percy Shelley and Natasha Richardson as Mary Shelley.592pts
5WhoreA 1991 drama in which Theresa Russell plays a Los Angeles street prostitute who tells her story directly to the camera.525pts
6Salome's Last DanceA 1988 film in which Oscar Wilde watches a private staging of his banned play Salome in a brothel, with Glenda Jackson as Herodias.444pts
7The Debussy FilmA 1965 BBC Monitor film about a director making a film on Claude Debussy, with Oliver Reed as Debussy and Vladek Sheybal as the director.444pts
8TommyThe 1975 film of The Who's rock opera, with Roger Daltrey as Tommy, Ann-Margret as his mother and Elton John as the Pinball Wizard.444pts
9Savage MessiahA 1972 film about the French sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (Scott Antony) and his companion Sophie Brzeska (Dorothy Tutin).444pts
10The Boy FriendA 1971 film of Sandy Wilson's stage musical starring Twiggy, who won two Golden Globe Awards for the role.345pts
11The RainbowA 1989 adaptation of D. H. Lawrence's novel with Sammi Davis as Ursula Brangwen and Glenda Jackson as her mother Anna.345pts
12MahlerA 1974 film about the composer Gustav Mahler, played by Robert Powell, told through flashbacks on a train journey.345pts
13French DressingRussell's first feature, a 1964 comedy with James Booth as a deckchair attendant who sets up a film festival in a run-down seaside town.345pts
14Always on SundayA 1965 BBC Monitor film about the painter Henri Rousseau, who is played by the self-taught artist James Lloyd.345pts
15The DevilsA 1971 drama starring Oliver Reed as the priest Urbain Grandier and Vanessa Redgrave as Sister Jeanne, based on Aldous Huxley's The Devils of Loudun.345pts
16The Music LoversA 1971 film about Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky starring Richard Chamberlain, with Glenda Jackson as his wife Antonina Milyukova.345pts
17Isadora DuncanIsadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World, a 1966 BBC television film with Vivian Pickles as the American dancer.345pts
18Altered StatesA 1980 science-fiction film from Paddy Chayefsky's novel in which William Hurt, in his film debut, plays a scientist experimenting with sensory deprivation.0pts
19LisztomaniaA 1975 fantasy about Franz Liszt with Roger Daltrey in the title role and Ringo Starr as the Pope.0pts
20Billion Dollar BrainA 1967 spy film from Len Deighton's novel with Michael Caine in his third appearance as Harry Palmer.0pts
21Song of SummerA 1968 BBC Omnibus film about the last years of Frederick Delius (Max Adrian) and his amanuensis Eric Fenby (Christopher Gable).0pts
22Crimes of PassionA 1984 thriller with Kathleen Turner as a designer who works nights as China Blue and Anthony Perkins as a street preacher.0pts
23The Lair of the White WormA 1988 horror comedy loosely based on Bram Stoker's novel, with Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi.0pts
