The inimitable Peter Sellers stars as John Smallwood, an idealistic Reverend appointed to the parish of an upper-class village by mistake. With a bad habit of telling the truth at all times, Smallwood makes several clerical decisions that shock his wealthy, landed-gentry parishioners.Inspired by an idea by British satirist Malcolm Muggeridge, the Boulting brothers' HEAVENS ABOVE! was considered a bit too sacrilegious for general consumption on its 1963 release. Way ahead of its time, the film, featuring Sellers at his most iconoclastic, has since accrued a loyal and vocal following. A superb supporting cast includes Eric Sykes, Irene Handl, William Hartnel and Joan Hickson.NEW Sellers Takes Off in Heavens Above!NEW Heavens Above! A Q&A with Daily Mash's Tom Whitley, Eva Griffith and Benedict MorrisonNEW Heavens Above! The Mask Behind the MaskAudio Commentary by Authors and Comedy Historians Gemma Ross and Robert RossLobby Cards gallery
This stunning new 4K restoration of 1955 Ealing comedy THE LADYKILLERS and the first from the original 3 strip technicolour negative, showcases Alexander Mackendrick's vision is its full glory. Considered by many as the finest British comedy ever made, THE LADYKILLERS follows the hilarious capers of a group of small-time crooks, taking on more than they can handle in the form of their sweet elderly landlord, Mrs. Wilberforce (BAFTA Award winning actress Katie Johnson; How To Murder A Rich Uncle). The criminal gang, posing as a string quartet, are unprepared for their landlord's meddling when one of the musicians' cases gets caught in a door, revealing the group's true identity. Featuring an impressive all-star lineup, with the finest comedy actors of the day; Alec Guinness (Kind Hearts and Coronets, Lavender Hill Mob) plays the gang's mastermind Professor Marcus', Cecil Parker (A French Mistress) is Claude otherwise known as Major Courtney', Peter Sellers (I'm Alright Jack) is Harry aka Mr. Robinson', Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther) is Louis aka Mr. Harvey' and Danny Green (A Kid For Two Farthings) plays One Round also known as Mr. Lawson'. A stunning new 4K restoration of Ealing Studios finest comedy Special Features: Lobby cards Gallery Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery NEW Investigating the Ladykillers featurette NEW Colour in The Ladykillers: an interview with Professor Keith Johnston Lobby Cards gallery Behind the scenes stills gallery Peter Sellers spoof trailer from the set of The Ladykillers Audio commentary with author and film scholar Philip Kemp King's Cross Locations featurette with Alan Dein Audio Interview with Assistant Director Tom Pevsner Audio Interview with Unit Production Manager David Peers Trailer Includes the feature in both 1.37 and 1.66 aspect ratios - first time both have been available together Collector's includes - 5 disc (DVD, X2 BD, UHD, CD Glorious Ealing Films soundtrack disc) 6 Pop Art cards - by Art&Hue of the gang and Mrs Wilberforce, a 64 page booklet with new essays.
One of the top five screwball comedies of the 1930s, this helped to cement a genre that waxed golden until the end of the Second World War. Director Leo McCarey won an Oscar for Best Director for this 1937 romantic comedy--one of the most successful films of his career. Irene Dunne and Cary Grant are a squabbling couple who separates because of supposed infidelities on both sides. They part, but cannot really keep away from each other. Grant finds himself hooked up with a socialite, Dunne becomes engaged to a millionaire hick played by the hapless Ralph Bellamy (as if he ever stood a chance as the "other" man!). When not dating others or baiting one another in a verbal war, Grant and Dunne wage a custody battle over their pathetic pooch. Gags, double entendre, witty remarks, snide comments, and fast-paced dialogue helped this to garner six Academy Award nominations. The Awful Truth was awfully good to Dunne and Grant, as both were breaking out of much more serious moulds and this secured their positions. --Rochelle O'Gorman
This classic stage production gets a Hollywood make-over. James Stewart plays the title role as Elwood P. Dowd who befriends a human-sized rabbit by the name of Harvey: the trouble is only he can see him.
More than half a century after its release in 1950, Sunset Boulevard is still the most pungently unflattering portrait of Hollywood ever committed to celluloid. Billy Wilder, unequalled at combining a literate, sulphurous script with taut direction, hits his target relentlessly. The humour--and the film is rich in this, Wilder's most abundant commodity--is black indeed. Sunset Boulevard is viciously and endlessly clever. William Holden's opportunistic scriptwriter Joe Gillis, whose sellout proves fatal, is from the top drawer of film noir. Gloria Swanson's monstrously deluded Norma Desmond, the benchmark for washed-up divas, transcends parody. And her literal descent down the staircase to madness is one of the all-time great silver-screen moments. Sunset Boulevard isn't without pathos, most notably in Erich von Stroheim's protective butler who wants only to shield his mistress from the stark truths that are massing against her. But its view of human beings at work in a ruthlessly cannibalistic industry is bleak indeed. Nobody, not even Nancy Olson's sparkily ambitious writer Betty Schaefer, is untainted. And neither are we, "those wonderful people out there in the dark". Norma might be ready for her close-up, but it's really Hollywood that's in the frame. No wonder Wilder incurred the charge of treachery from his peers. It's cinematic perfection. On the DVD: Sunset Boulevard lends itself effortlessly to a collector's edition of this quality. The film itself is presented in full-frame aspect ratio from an excellent print and the quality of the mono soundtrack is faultless: the silver screen comes to life in your living room. The extras are superb, including a commentary from film historian Ed Sikov and a making-of documentary which includes the memories of Nancy Olson. Interactive features such as the Hollywood location map add to the fun. --Piers Ford
This spectacular production features the tremendous pageantry and color of 12th-century England and the considerable talents of Danny Kaye. Kaye plays a court jester who becomes involved with outlaws trying to overthrow the king. In between singing dancing and clowning he still finds time for some jousting with knights dangerous duels with swordsmen and rescuing damsels in distress. A delightful comedy for the whole family.
A family fleeing from the despotic regime of Napoleon is chased off course by a band of pirates. They are then shipwrecked on a tropical island where they begin a new and adventurous life. Based on the book by Johann Wyss.
It's always a small surprise to revisit this movie and realise what a subtly dark performance James Stewart gives as an alcoholic who claims he keeps company with a six-foot-tall, invisible rabbit. As Elwood P. Dowd, the actor emits a faint whiff of decay and spirits, yet Stewart also embraces Dowd's romanticism and grace with splendid ease. Based on a hit play and directed by Henry Koster, the film is terribly funny at times, especially whenever Elwood decides it is only polite to introduce Harvey to complete strangers. The supporting cast can't be beat. --Tom Keogh
They've always been a great team. But now Frank (Golden Globe® winner Kevin Spacey) and Claire (Golden Globe® winner Robin Wright) become even greater adversaries as their marriage stumbles and their ambitions are at odds. Click Images to Enlarge
Hitchcock's masterful film about intrigue and espionage is filled with suspense and excitement.
They've always been a great team. But now Frank (Golden Globe® winner Kevin Spacey) and Claire (Golden Globe® winner Robin Wright) become even greater adversaries as their marriage stumbles and their ambitions are at odds. Click Images to Enlarge
Kenneth More stars as Crichton, the impeccable butler to Lord Henry Loam (Cecil Parker) in Lewis Gilberts evergreen British comedy classic. Crichton is a man who knows his place in the grand scheme of things. He's supremely happy being a gentleman's gentleman - until fate takes a strange twist!
The gruesome murder of an 11-year-old boy in the Georgia woods leads a local detective into a disturbing search for the truth in this drama series based on Stephen King's bestselling novel.
Set in Victorian England, Robert Hamer's 1949 masterpiece Kind Hearts and Coronets remains the most gracefully mordant of Ealing Comedies. Dennis Price plays Louis D'Ascoyne, the would-be Duke of Chalfont whose Mother was spurned by her noble family for marrying an Italian singer for love. Louis resolves to murder the several of his relatives ahead of him in line for the Dukedom, all of whom are played by Alec Guinness, in order to avenge his Mother--for, as Louis observes, " revenge is a dish which people of taste prefer to eat cold". He gets away with it, only to be arraigned for the one murder of which he is innocent. Guinness' virtuoso performances have been justly celebrated, ranging as they do from a youthful D'Ascoyne concealing his enthusiasm for public houses from his priggish wife ("she has views on such places") to a brace of doomed uncles and one aunt, ranging from the doddery to the peppery. Miles Malleson is a splendid doggerel-spouting hangman, while Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood take advantage of unusually strong female roles. But the great joy of Kind Hearts and Coronets is the way in which its appallingly black subject matter (considered beyond the pale by many critics at the time) is conveyed in such elegantly ironic turns of phrase by Dennis Price's narrator/anti-hero. Serial murder has never been conducted with such exquisite manners and discreet charm. --David Stubbs
Mr. Dingle is the popular music teacher in an English school but when the headmaster threatens to close down the school band the pupils have to come to his assistance using their musical skills to help.
A global byword for cinematic quality of a quintessentially British nature, Ealing Studios made more than 150 films over a three decade period. A cherished and significant part of British film history, only selected films from both the Ealing and Associated Talking Pictures strands have previously been made available on home video format - with some remaining unseen since their original theatrical release. The Ealing Rarities Collection redresses this imbalance - featuring new transfers from...
On the cusp of international fame, Sean Connery took a lead role in this star-studded film adaptation of R.F. Delderfield's story of a couple of lovable service dodgers who become accidental heroes. On the Fiddle is featured here in a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Tricked into joining the RAF by a wily judge, wide boy Horace Pope sets his sights on the main chance, teams with slow-witted, good-hearted gypsy Pedlar Pascoe, and work...
This stunning new 4K restoration of 1955 Ealing comedy THE LADYKILLERS and the first from the original 3 strip technicolour negative, showcases Alexander Mackendrick's vision is its full glory. Considered by many as the finest British comedy ever made, THE LADYKILLERS follows the hilarious capers of a group of small-time crooks, taking on more than they can handle in the form of their sweet elderly landlord, Mrs. Wilberforce (BAFTA Award winning actress Katie Johnson; How To Murder A Rich Uncle). The criminal gang, posing as a string quartet, are unprepared for their landlord's meddling when one of the musicians' cases gets caught in a door, revealing the group's true identity. Featuring an impressive all-star lineup, with the finest comedy actors of the day; Alec Guinness (Kind Hearts and Coronets, Lavender Hill Mob) plays the gang's mastermind Professor Marcus', Cecil Parker (A French Mistress) is Claude otherwise known as Major Courtney', Peter Sellers (I'm Alright Jack) is Harry aka Mr. Robinson', Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther) is Louis aka Mr. Harvey' and Danny Green (A Kid For Two Farthings) plays One Round also known as Mr. Lawson'. A stunning new 4K restoration of Ealing Studios finest comedy Special Features: NEW Investigating the Ladykillers featurette NEW Colour in The Ladykillers: an interview with Professor Keith Johnston Lobby Cards gallery Behind the scenes stills gallery Peter Sellers spoof trailer from the set of The Ladykillers Audio commentary with author and film scholar Philip Kemp King's Cross Locations featurette with Alan Dein Audio Interview with Assistant Director Tom Pevsner Audio Interview with Unit Production Manager David Peers Trailer Includes the feature in both 1.37 and 1.66 aspect ratios - first time both have been available together
Although you never really fear for Mrs "lop-sided" Wilberforce or General Gordon (her parrot) in The Ladykillers, the criminal gang who come to stay are clearly dangerous. Alec Guinness is extraordinary as the buck-toothed mastermind, and once the hijacked lolly is stowed in their digs it's a joy to watch him scheme to eliminate the other crooks and abscond with it all. Herbert Lom's thuggishness, Peter Seller's nervy twitching, and Danny Green's lumbering cloddishness are a treat, but are wickedly done away with one by one under cover of locomotive smoke plumes. So many set-pieces make this a classic: sending the landlady to collect the stolen money at the station, Frankie Howerd's boisterous fruit seller cameo, and keeping alive the idea that the gang's a musical troupe with a penchant for Boccherini and Haydn. Some inspired set design and camera work even add an expressionistic quality. --Paul Tonks
Based on Charles Dickens' epic novel, this critically acclaimed film version stars Dirk Bogarde and Dorothy Tutin in the unforgettable tale of the French Revolution.
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy