Cast and Crew:  Milos Forman (Director); Peter Shaffer (Original Play and Screenplay); Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Jeffrey Jones, Kenny Baker, Cynthia Nixon, Vincent Schiavelli

What It’s About: The story of the rivalry between child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) and less gifted but more popular composer Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham).

Why Watch it Today?: Mozart died today in 1791.  Although much of the events of the film are fictional, the fiction is anchored by a compelling performance from Abraham as a man whose envy, jealousy, and knowledge that his works are inferior to Mozart’s drives him to take a terrible revenge.