Film choice

Pimpernel Smith (1941, b/w) FILM4, 3.50PM ★★★★★

 Leslie Howard, famed for his role in Gone with the Wind, directs and stars in this deft drama set in 1939 Berlin. An academic (Howard) recruits students to go to Europe under the guise of an archaeological dig. However, his real mission is to smuggle victims of Nazi persecution out of Germany. An absorbing film and, retrospectively, quite haunting since Howard was shot down in the war by a Nazi plane two years later.

The Birth of a Nation (2016) SKY CINEMA PREMIERE, 4.10PM ★★★★★

 Writer-director-star Nate Parker’s attempt to reappropriate the notorious racism of DW Griffith’s 1915 foundation myth and spin it on its axis is a graceless, pretentious mallet to the head of history. Parker (whose galvanising performance is much the strongest) tells the story of Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion from the side of the true victims. Gabrielle Union and Armie Hammer are among the great supporting cast.

Se7en (1995) ITV4, 10.00PM ★★★★★

 Gluttony, avarice, envy, sloth, wrath, lust and pride; the seven deadly sins are explored graphically, and imaginatively, in this gloomy thriller from director David Fincher. It follows a detective (an outstanding Morgan Freeman) and his rookie partner (Brad Pitt) on the hunt for a maniac who kills those guilty of the above vices. Brutal and gripping, with an ending you won’t forget in a hurry. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey co-star.