"Actor: Cyril Ring"

• Fahrenheit 451 | DVD | (10/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The classic science fiction novel by Ray Bradbury was a curious choice for one of the leading directors of the French New Wave, François Truffaut. But from the opening credits onward (spoken, not written on screen), Truffaut takes Bradbury's fascinating premise and makes it his own. The futuristic society depicted in Fahrenheit 451 is a culture without books. Firemen still race around in red trucks and wear helmets, but their job is to start fires: they ferret out forbidden stashes of books, douse them with petrol and make public bonfires. Oskar Werner, the star of Truffaut's Jules and Jim, plays a fireman named Montag, whose exposure to David Copperfield wakens an instinct towards reading and individual thought. (That's why books are banned--they give people too many ideas.) In an intriguing casting flourish, Julie Christie plays two roles: Montag's bored, drugged-up wife and the woman who helps kindle the spark of rebellion. The great Bernard Herrmann wrote the hard-driving music; Nicolas Roeg provided the cinematography. Fahrenheit 451 received a cool critical reception and has never quite been accepted by Truffaut fans or sci-fi buffs. Its deliberately listless manner has always been a problem, although that is part of its point; the lack of reading has made people dry and empty. If the movie is a bit stiff (Truffaut did not speak English well and never tried another project in English), it nevertheless is full of intriguing touches, and the ending is lyrical and haunting. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com

• The 4 Marx Brothers at Paramount | Blu Ray | (06/09/2021) from £26.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Marx Brothers Chico, Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo are one of the cornerstones of American comedy. Starting out in vaudeville, they conquered Broadway and the big screen in their own inimitable style, at once innovative, irreverent, anarchic, physical, musical, ludicrous and hilarious.With the advent of the 'talkies', the Brothers signed to Paramount Pictures and brought their stage act to cinema audiences. They made five films in five years, all of which are collected here: The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932) and one of the greatest comedies of all time, Duck Soup (1933).The Paramount era represents the Marx Brothers at their absolute finest, retaining all of the energy and controlled chaos of their stage shows. Plots are unimportant it's the gags, set-pieces and one-liners that matter: Why a duck? , Hello, I Must Be Going , Hooray for Captain Spaulding , That's the bunk! , Horse Feathers' Swordfish scene and classic mirror sequence in Duck Soup.Special Features:High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all five features, each scanned and restored in 4K from original film elements by UniversalOriginal 1.0 mono audioOptional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearingCommentary on The Cocoanuts by film scholar Anthony SlideCommentary on Animal Crackers by film historian Jeffrey VanceCommentary on Monkey Business by Marx Brothers historian Robert S Bader and Bill Marx, son of Harpo MarxCommentary on Horse Feathers by film critic FX FeeneyCommentary on Duck Soup by Bader and film critic Leonard MaltinThe Marx Brothers: Hollywood's Kings of Chaos, a feature-length documentary containing interviews with Leonard Maltin, Dick Cavett and others Three excerpts from NBC's The Today Show featuring interviews with Harpo Marx, Groucho Marx and Bill MarxSibling Revelry, an introduction to the Marx Brothers by critic David CairnsMONKEYNUTCRACKERDUCKFEATHERS, a video essay about the films by David Cairns

• The Great War | DVD | (25/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £99.99

  In the early 1960s the BBC embarked on one of their most important and ambitious series ever. It was to be the definitive history of the First World War complete in twenty-six 40-minute episodes. An inspired account of the world-shattering events of 1914-1918 The Great War is narrated by Sir Michael Redgrave and employs the voice skills of many other leading actors of the day including Sir Ralph Richardson and Marius Goring. The series includes authentic archive footage and stunning photographic images gathered from 37 separate sources around the world. It also features interviews with many veterans of the war (by this time most were still only in their 60s) as well as almost 150 separate extracts from diaries letters and reports from the war. This important series is here available complete and unabridged. The Great War is here presented in a 7 disc set with the complete series on 6 discs and a full disc of extra features. This edition also includes a luxury 64-page booklet with full background notes reviews chapter points and associated articles.

• Made For Each Other / James Stewart On Film | DVD | (01/11/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Produced in a time when films were both literally and figuratively black and white, Made for Each Other was unique in its effective blending of the comedic, the dramatic and, as perhaps some would insensitively say, the melodramatic. Beautiful Carole Lombard and likeable James Stewart are Jane and John Mason, a couple who meet, fall madly in love, marry and quickly have a baby. But while they--and the audience--are confident that they are meant for each other, life intercedes and the couple must meet with disapproving in-laws, job stress, financial challenges and, finally, a devastating illness.Lombard and Stewart--and the genuinely good people they portray--are utterly compelling and charming. Say yawningly what you will about tradition but the Masons' path is one that many, if not most, go down. And unlike the wonderful but wholly fantasy world of peer Preston Sturges, director John Cromwell's universe is, like real life, full of ups and downs. It's an accessible, sensitive portrayal. He gives the audience characters they want to see succeed, and to see stay together in the process. It may be a tale of triumph of the human spirit but its ultimate sentiment--one that celebrates the kindness of strangers--is thoroughly sweet, though in no way saccharine. Look for a great supporting cast, including a blustery Charles Coburn as John Mason's boss and Lucile Watson as Mason's interfering mother. --N F Mendoza