"Actor: Cicely Courtneidge"

• The L-Shaped Room (Digitally Restored) | DVD | (27/11/2017) from £7.65   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The L-Shaped Room, adapted by writer-director Bryan Forbes from Lynne Reid Banks' novel, unfolds in a dank, depressing London boarding house. Leslie Caron plays Jane Fosset, a 27-year-old French woman, down on her luck, who takes a room. There are bugs in her mattress. The taps drip. The landlady ("the lovely Doris") is a drunken, malicious busybody. Forbes doesn't paint the English in a flattering light. They're covetous, eccentric and xenophobic. "I never close my door to the nigs," Doris tells Fosset, as if to prove that she is no racist. When Fosset reveals that she's pregnant and unmarried, everybody turns against her. The one real friend Fosset makes is Toby (Tom Bell), an impoverished would-be writer who lives in the room downstairs. She starts an affair with him, but for all his protestations to the contrary, he too turns out to be moralistic and conservative--he can't accept the idea that she is having another man's baby.Forbes' dialogue sometimes grates, the film risks running into a dead end (Fosset is stuck with nowhere to go and no prospects), but this is compelling fare all the same. Cameraman Douglas Slocombe (who went on to shoot Raiders of the Lost Ark) makes the boarding house seem as gloomy and oppressive as a Gothic mansion. Forbes doesn't sentimentalise at all. The London he portrays is nothing like the swinging, hedonistic city shown in later British movies of the 60s. --Geoffrey Macnab

• The L-Shaped Room (Digitally Restored) | Blu Ray | (27/11/2017) from £10.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The L-Shaped Room, adapted by writer-director Bryan Forbes from Lynne Reid Banks' novel, unfolds in a dank, depressing London boarding house. Leslie Caron plays Jane Fosset, a 27-year-old French woman, down on her luck, who takes a room. There are bugs in her mattress. The taps drip. The landlady ("the lovely Doris") is a drunken, malicious busybody. Forbes doesn't paint the English in a flattering light. They're covetous, eccentric and xenophobic. "I never close my door to the nigs," Doris tells Fosset, as if to prove that she is no racist. When Fosset reveals that she's pregnant and unmarried, everybody turns against her. The one real friend Fosset makes is Toby (Tom Bell), an impoverished would-be writer who lives in the room downstairs. She starts an affair with him, but for all his protestations to the contrary, he too turns out to be moralistic and conservative--he can't accept the idea that she is having another man's baby.Forbes' dialogue sometimes grates, the film risks running into a dead end (Fosset is stuck with nowhere to go and no prospects), but this is compelling fare all the same. Cameraman Douglas Slocombe (who went on to shoot Raiders of the Lost Ark) makes the boarding house seem as gloomy and oppressive as a Gothic mansion. Forbes doesn't sentimentalise at all. The London he portrays is nothing like the swinging, hedonistic city shown in later British movies of the 60s. --Geoffrey Macnab

• On The Buses - Series 1 - Episodes 4 To 7 | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £9.97   |  Saving you £3.01 (43.12%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Set around a London bus depot, On the Buses starred Reg Varney as Stan, an ageing bachelor and driver of the No.11 bus who still lives with his Mum (Cicely Courtneidge), his plain sister Olive (Anna Karen) and disgruntled brother-in-law Arthur (Michael Robbins). At work, he fraternises with the laddish and lecherous Jack (Bob Grant), with whom he pursues innumerable (and improbable) giggly, mini-skirted "clippies" (conductors) and cheeks the beady-eyed and punctilious bus inspector, Blakey (Steven Lewis) This first series was broadcast in black and white in 1969. Much of the comedy derives from gender role reversal--Stan and Arthur forced to do the household chores when Olive and Mum fall ill ("Family Flu"); "The Canteen", in which the busmen decide to run the canteen themselves; or "The Darts Match", in which Stan and Jack are bested at darts by--imagine--a pair of dollybird clippies. Despite its immense popularity, On the Buses hasn't dated well. Like the buses themselves, the jokes don't arrive very often and when they do, they're visible a long way off. The studio audience whoops cathartically at anything remotely alluding to sex, making you wonder at the repressed nature of British society in 1969. In later decades it would come to be treasured as somewhat creaky kitsch by audiences nostalgic for an age of politically incorrect innocence. On the DVD: On the Buses has no extra features here. The original black and white versions have scrubbed up reasonably well, although defects such as fading sound and poor dubbing have proven beyond amendment.--David Stubbs

• On The Buses - Series 2 - Episodes 1 To 3 | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Set around a London bus depot, On the Buses starred Reg Varney as Stan, an ageing bachelor and driver of the No.11 bus who still lives with his Mum (Doris Hare), his plain sister Olive (Anna Karen) and disgruntled brother-in-law Arthur (Michael Robbins). At work, he fraternises with the laddish and lecherous Jack (Bob Grant), with whom he pursues innumerable (and improbable) giggly, mini-skirted "clippies" (conductors) and cheeks the beady-eyed and punctilious bus inspector, Blakey (Steven Lewis) Despite its immense popularity, On the Buses hasn't dated well. Like the buses themselves, the jokes don't arrive very often and when they do, they're visible a long way off. The studio audience whoops cathartically at anything remotely alluding to sex--even a bared male nipple--making you wonder at the repressed nature of British society in 1969. In later decades it would come to be treasured as somewhat creaky kitsch by audiences nostalgic for an age of politically incorrect innocence. On the DVD: On the Buses has no extra features here. The original black and white versions have scrubbed up reasonably well, although defects such as fading sound and poor dubbing have proven beyond amendment. --David Stubbs

• On The Buses - Series 1 | DVD | (08/04/2013) from £12.11   |  Saving you £2.88 (23.78%)   |  RRP £14.99

  One of the most successful TV series ever made running from 1969 to 1973 On the Buses is great British comedy at its best. Starring Reg Varney as jack-the-lad bus driver Stan and Stephen Lewis as the long-suffering dim-witted Inspector Blake ('Blakey') who does his best to get the buses out in time whilst making their lives as miserable as possible. Episodes Comprise: 1. The Early Shift 2. The New Conductor 3. Olive Takes A Trip (aka Olive's First Day) 4. Bu

• Elstree Calling | DVD | (28/04/2014) from £6.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (47.13%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Released in 1930 by British International Pictures in response to the lavish revues being produced by the major Hollywood studios Elstree Calling was Britain's first musical film. This all-star vaudeville show features performers drawn from some of the era's most popular London productions including Cicely Courtneidge Anna May Wong John Longden and music-hall veterans Will Fyffe and Lily Morris. Compèred by Tommy Handley the film presents nineteen comedy and musical sketches in the guise of a 'live' television broadcast; Alfred Hitchcock - then under contract to BIP - was responsible for creating the sketches and linking material. A fascinating snapshot of the earliest years of the British musical film and rarely seen since its original release Elstree Calling is made available here in a brand-new transfer from the original elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Several sequences in the film were originally artificially coloured using the Pathécolor system and those colour sequences are intact here. Special Features: Image Gallery Includes full opening overture (fades up from black)

• On The Buses - Series 1 - Episodes 1 To 3 | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Set around a London bus depot, On the Buses starred Reg Varney as Stan, an ageing bachelor and driver of the No.11 bus who still lives with his Mum (Cicely Courtneidge), his plain sister Olive (Anna Karen) and disgruntled brother-in-law Arthur (Michael Robbins). At work, he fraternises with the laddish and lecherous Jack (Bob Grant), with whom he pursues innumerable (and improbable) giggly, mini-skirted "clippies" (conductors) and cheeks the beady-eyed and punctilious bus inspector, Blakey (Steven Lewis) This first series was broadcast in black and white in 1969. Much of the comedy derives from gender role reversal--Stan and Arthur forced to do the household chores when Olive and Mum fall ill ("Family Flu"); "The Canteen", in which the busmen decide to run the canteen themselves; or "The Darts Match", in which Stan and Jack are bested at darts by--imagine--a pair of dollybird clippies. Despite its immense popularity, On the Buses hasn't dated well. Like the buses themselves, the jokes don't arrive very often and when they do, they're visible a long way off. The studio audience whoops cathartically at anything remotely alluding to sex, making you wonder at the repressed nature of British society in 1969. In later decades it would come to be treasured as somewhat creaky kitsch by audiences nostalgic for an age of politically incorrect innocence. On the DVD: On the Buses has no extra features here. The original black and white versions have scrubbed up reasonably well, although defects such as fading sound and poor dubbing have proven beyond amendment. --David Stubbs

• British Comedies of the 1930s: Volume 8 | DVD | (21/03/2016) from £8.04   |  Saving you £4.95 (61.57%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The ebullient comedy films of the 1930s brought escape and laughter to millions of British cinemagoers, enabling veteran stars of the music-hall and theatre to reach out to a wider audience making household names of performers like Leslie Fuller, Hal Gordon, Bobby Howes, Ernest Lotinga and Gene Gerrard.Although comedy would prove to be the decade's most successful film genre, many of these classic early talkies have remained unseen since their original release. From boisterous knockabout humour to polished adaptations of popular stage farces, this ongoing collection showcases a wealth of rare features, each presented uncut, in a brand-new transfer from the best available elements in their as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.THE CAMELS ARE COMING (1934)A British squadron leader is tasked with uncovering a desert dope-smuggling operation, but unwittingly becomes a Sheik's drugs mule!Black and White / 77 mins / 1.37:1 / Mono / EnglishME AND MARLBOROUGH (1935)1710: a feisty young woman disguises herself as a man, joins the Duke of Marlborough's army and sets off to try to rescue her press-ganged husband.Black and White / 80 mins / 1.37:1 / Mono / English

• On The Buses - The Best Of Series 3 And 4 - Vol. 4 | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Running from 1969 to 1973 On The Buses was one of the most successful comedy series ever made. Re-live the flares and wide collars with the On The Buses crew. 'On the Buses' is British comedy at its best. Starring Reg Varney as jack-the-lad bus driver Stan Bob Grant as his chirpy conductor Jack and Stephen I'll 'ave you Butler! Lewis as the long-suffering dim-witted Inspector Blake who does his best to get the buses out on time while making their lives as miserable as possible. Episode titles: Nowhere To Go The Canteen Girl Dangerous Driving The Other Woman.

• Darling / L-Shaped Room | DVD | (23/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Darling: (FS 4:3) Everyone calls Diana Scott (Julie Christie) 'Darling'. She is that kind of girl. As an ambitious model searching for new experiences she breathes in the sweet smell of success yet forget to exhale. Using a stream of famous and infamous men to sexaully manipulate her way to the top she becomes a prisoner of the jet-set lifestyle she herself conquered. Julie Christie won an Oscar for best Actress. Oscars also went to both Fredric Raphael for Best Original Story & Screenplay and to Julie Harris for her Costume Design The L-Shaped Room: (WS 1.66:1) In a sensitive study of social morals at the dawning of the 1960s sexual revolution a woman faces life in a shabby suburban bed-sit after being jilted and left pregnant. Sharing her desperation with an assortment of neighbours they help her to decide whether to have an abortion...

• On The Buses - Series 1 and 2 (4 Disc Box Set) | DVD | (12/08/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Set around a London bus depot, On the Buses starred Reg Varney as Stan, an ageing bachelor and driver of the No 11 bus who still lives with his mum (Cicely Courtneidge in the first series, Doris Hare in the second), his plain sister Olive (Anna Karen) and disgruntled brother-in-law Arthur (Michael Robbins). At work, he fraternises with the laddish and lecherous Jack (Bob Grant), with whom he pursues innumerable (and improbable) giggly, mini-skirted "clippies" (conductors) and cheeks the beady-eyed and punctilious bus inspector, Blakey (Steven Lewis) The first series was broadcast in black and white in 1969, and the show eventually ran until 1973. Eventually, On the Buses would be both celebrated and reviled for its leery, pre-feminist sauciness, and for the exasperated gurning of Lewis' little Hitler-esque inspector. The first series in particular, however, is more keen to develop the theme of Stan as Mummy's boy, with Lewis only a secondary character. Much of the comedy derives from gender role reversal--Stan and Arthur forced to do the household chores when Olive and Mum fall ill ("Family Flu"); "The Canteen", in which the busmen decide to run the canteen themselves; or "The Darts Match", in which Stan and Jack are bested at darts by--imagine--a pair of dollybird clippies. Despite its immense popularity, On the Buses hasn't dated well. Like the buses themselves, the jokes don't arrive very often and when they do, they're visible a long way off. The studio audience whoops cathartically at anything remotely alluding to sex--even a bared male nipple--making you wonder at the repressed nature of British society in 1969. In later decades it would come to be treasured as somewhat creaky kitsch by audiences nostalgic for an age of politically incorrect innocence. On the DVD: On the Buses has no extra features here. The original black and white versions have scrubbed up reasonably well, although defects such as fading sound and poor dubbing have proven beyond amendment. --David Stubbs

• On The Buses - The Best Of Series 3 And 4 - Vol. 1 | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £22.96   |  Saving you £-9.98 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Running from 1969 to 1973 On The Buses was one of the most successful comedy series ever made. Re-live the flares and wide collars with the On The Buses crew. 'On the Buses' is British comedy at its best. Starring Reg Varney as jack-the-lad bus driver Stan Bob Grant as his chirpy conductor Jack and Stephen I'll 'ave you Butler! Lewis as the long-suffering dim-witted Inspector Blake who does his best to get the buses out on time while making their lives as miserable as possible. Episode titles: First Aid The Cistern Busmen's Perks The Snake.

• On The Buses - Series 2 - Episodes 4 To 6 | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Set around a London bus depot, On the Buses starred Reg Varney as Stan, an ageing bachelor and driver of the No.11 bus who still lives with his Mum (Doris Hare), his plain sister Olive (Anna Karen) and disgruntled brother-in-law Arthur (Michael Robbins). At work, he fraternises with the laddish and lecherous Jack (Bob Grant), with whom he pursues innumerable (and improbable) giggly, mini-skirted "clippies" (conductors) and cheeks the beady-eyed and punctilious bus inspector, Blakey (Steven Lewis) Despite its immense popularity, On the Buses hasn't dated well. Like the buses themselves, the jokes don't arrive very often and when they do, they're visible a long way off. The studio audience whoops cathartically at anything remotely alluding to sex--even a bared male nipple--making you wonder at the repressed nature of British society in 1969. In later decades it would come to be treasured as somewhat creaky kitsch by audiences nostalgic for an age of politically incorrect innocence. On the DVD: On the Buses has no extra features here. The original black and white versions have scrubbed up reasonably well, although defects such as fading sound and poor dubbing have proven beyond amendment. --David Stubbs

• On The Buses - The Best Of Series 3 And 4 - Vol. 3 | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £18.70   |  Saving you £-8.71 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Running from 1969 to 1973 On The Buses was one of the most successful comedy series ever made. Re-live the flares and wide collars with the On The Buses crew. 'On the Buses' is British comedy at its best. Starring Reg Varney as jack-the-lad bus driver Stan Bob Grant as his chirpy conductor Jack and Stephen I'll 'ave you Butler! Lewis as the long-suffering dim-witted Inspector Blake who does his best to get the buses out on time while making their lives as miserable as possible. Episode titles: Going Steady The Squeeze On The Make Brew It Yourself.

• On The Buses - The Best Of Series 3 And 4 | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  One of the most successful TV series ever made running from 1969 to 1973 'On the Buses' is great British comedy at its best. Starring Reg Varney as jack-the-lad bus driver Stan and Stephen Lewis as the long-suffering dim-witted Inspector Blake ('Blakey') who does his best to get the buses out in time whilst making their lives as miserable as possible.

• On The Buses - The Best Of Series 3 And 4 - Vol. 2 | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Running from 1969 to 1973 On The Buses was one of the most successful comedy series ever made. Re-live the flares and wide collars with the On The Buses crew. 'On the Buses' is British comedy at its best. Starring Reg Varney as jack-the-lad bus driver Stan Bob Grant as his chirpy conductor Jack and Stephen I'll 'ave you Butler! Lewis as the long-suffering dim-witted Inspector Blake who does his best to get the buses out on time while making their lives as miserable as possible. Episode titles: Mum's Last Fling Radio Control Foggy Night The New Uniforms.