In the May of 1941 RKO radio Pictures released a controversial film by a 25 year-old first-time director. That premiere of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane was to have a profound and lasting effect on the art of motion pictures. It has been hailed as the best American film ever made and it's as powerful film today as it was fifty years ago. It earned eight Academy Award nominations and won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Through its unique jigsaw-puzzle story-line inventive cinematograp
If you're looking for the definitive example of dry wit, look no further than this 1952 version of The Importance of Being Earnest. Of course, it helps to have Oscar Wilde's beloved play as source material, but this exquisite adaptation has a charmed life of its own, with a perfectly matched director and a once-in-a-lifetime cast. Mix these ingredients with Wilde's inimitable repartee, and you've got a comedic soufflé that's cooked to perfection. Opening with a proscenium nod to its theatrical origins, the film turns Wilde's comedy of clever deception and mixed identities into a cinematic treat, and while the 10-member cast is uniformly superb, special credit must be given to Dame Edith Evans, reprising her stage role as the imperiously stuffy Lady Bracknell. To hear her Wilde-ly hilarious inflections and elongated syllables is to witness British comedy in its purest form. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Reach for the Sky was a box-office hit in 1956 and rightly remains a fondly regarded classic of British cinema. Kenneth More is ideally cast as Douglas Bader, the gifted pilot who loses both legs in a pre-war air crash, only to play a major role in the Battle of Britain, rise to the rank of Group Captain and become a war hero. Based on Paul Brickhill's biography, this is an "official" history maybe, but Lewis Gilbert's screenplay and direction are historically accurate and informed by that very British humour, of which More was a natural. The film is graced by a decent supporting cast and a typically "widescreen" score from John Addison. On the DVD: Reach for the Sky is vividly reproduced in 16:9 anamorphic format and decent mono. There are subtitles for the hard of hearing and detailed biographies of More, Gilbert and Barder. The original theatrical trailer is included, but it would also have made sense to include an interview or documentary footage of Bader himself. --Richard Whitehouse
The most acclaimed film in cinema history, Citizen Kane receives extra bolstering each time it tops a "greatest films ever" list. As a piece of filmmaking it ticks all the right boxes: a precociously talented director and lead actor in Orson Welles, Gregg Toland's innovative cinematography, a strong screenplay by Welles and Herman J Mankiewicz, rich scoring from Bernard Herrmann, and so on. For its time, it was technically groundbreaking, and laid out a blueprint for Hollywood filmmaking that's still influential. But, most importantly, as a viewing experience it's still one of the most mesmerising and beautiful films in existence. From its opening scenes--Kane's eerie Gothic mansion, his lone figure muttering the word "Rosebud" as he dies, journalists discussing the newsreel footage of his obituary--Kane lays out an enigma: who exactly was this man? Looping flashbacks build up a portrait of a contradictory figure who, despite living in the public eye, remained a mystery at heart. A testament to the corrupting influence of money, fame and the media and at its centre the tale of a man in search of love, Citizen Kane is a personal tragedy on an epic scale. Technically, it's a lesson in filmmaking in itself whose daring aesthetics nonetheless remain unobtrusive. It's doubtful that a debut director will ever be given such free reign by a studio again and even if this happened, it's doubtful that such a masterpiece would be created. On the DVD: Citizen Kane in this DVD special edition is beautifully remastered and comes with a feature illustrating the before and after of the restoration process. A 50-minute documentary, "Anatomy of a Classic", hosted by Barry Norman, delves into the making of the film as well as trying to deal with some of the myths that surround it, like the (untrue) rumour that Welles ran over both time and budget. Film historian Ken Barnes takes over for a commentary and Welles himself is featured in his controversial 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds and 1945 broadcast of The Happy Prince. A photo gallery, extensive cast and crew profiles, breakdown of all the films expenses and trailer round off this admirable package.--Laura Bushell
If you're looking for the definitive example of dry wit, look no further than this 1952 version of The Importance of Being Earnest. Of course, it helps to have Oscar Wilde's beloved play as source material, but this exquisite adaptation has a charmed life of its own, with a perfectly matched director and a once-in-a-lifetime cast. Mix these ingredients with Wilde's inimitable repartee, and you've got a comedic soufflé that's cooked to perfection. Opening with a proscenium nod to its theatrical origins, the film turns Wilde's comedy of clever deception and mixed identities into a cinematic treat, and while the 10-member cast is uniformly superb, special credit must be given to Dame Edith Evans, reprising her stage role as the imperiously stuffy Lady Bracknell. To hear her Wilde-ly hilarious inflections and elongated syllables is to witness British comedy in its purest form. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
*Titles to be confirmed
Hailed by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest films ever made, Citizen Kane continues to influence filmmakers and astound viewers 80 years later. Nominated for nine 1941 Academy Awards, with a win for Best Original Screenplay, Orson Welles' controversial masterpiece uses innovative flashbacks and ground-breaking cinematography to follow the epic rise and fall of wealthy newspaper magnate. For any fan of films, this is an essential viewing experience. 4k Ultra HD Collector's Edition Includes: Feature Film on 4k and Blu-ray 48-Page Book 20-Page Souvenir Programme Reprint of Press Release Excerpts Two-Sided Poster 5 Collectable Art Cards 3 Photo Stills Special Features on Blu-ray: Separate Commentaries by Roger Ebert and Peter Bogdanovich Interviews with Ruth Warrick and Robert Wise Opening: World Premiere of Citizen Kane Still Photography with Commentary by Roger Ebert and More
The timeless 1952 version of Oscar Wilde's comedy of errors in a Special Collectors' Edition.
Arguably the greatest of American films, Orson Welles' 1941 masterpiece, made when he was only 26, still unfurls like a dream and carries the viewer along the mysterious currents of time and memory to reach a mature (if ambiguous) conclusion: people are the sum of their contradictions and can't be known easily. Welles plays newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. The result is that every well-meaning or tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event. Written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, and photographed by Gregg Toland, the film is the sum of Welles's awesome ambitions as an artist in Hollywood. He pushes the limits of then-available technology to create a true magic show, a visual and aural feast that almost seems to be rising up from a viewer's subconscious. As Kane, Welles even ushers in the influence of Bertolt Brechton film acting. This is truly a one-of-a-kind work, and in many ways is still the most modern of modern films this century. --Tom Keogh
The timeless 1952 version of Oscar Wilde's comedy of errors in a Special Collectors' Edition.
When three outlaws stumble across a dying woman and her baby they vow to escort the infant to New Jerusalem across the white-hot desert...
Infested with criminals the town of Warlock is in serious need of a strong marshal. Enter Clay Blaisdell (Henry Fonda) a man with a reputation for some serious gun-slinging. Accompanied by his gambler friend Tom Morgan (Anthony Quinn) the two find themselves as the centre of many a controversy due to their brutal methods in dispatching with the criminal element. Eventually a reformed outlaw in town named Johnny (Richard Widmark) is elected sheriff and a showdown with Clay seems i
Bud and Lou take on a babysitting job and find themselves involved in the Jack And The Beanstalk fairy tale.
In May of 1941 RKO Radio Pictures released a controversial film by a 25-year-old first-time director. That premier of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane was to have a profound and lasting effect of the art of motion pictures. It has been hailed as the best American film ever made and it's as powerful a film today as it was fifty years ago. It earned eight Academy Award nominations and won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Through its unique jigsaw-puzzle storyline inventive cinemato
Jack And The Beanstalk: The legendary comedic duo Abbott and Costello provide fairy tale fun for kids (of ALL ages!). The wacky pair pretty much stick to the outline of the original childrens fairytale but add their own signature comic flourishes and slapstick details. Utopia: Stan and Ollie inherit a yacht along with a small island. They set sail accompanied by a stateless refugee and a stowaway. A violent storm causes our heroes to crash on their island. Together
Africa Screams (Dir. Charles Barton 1949): Abbott and Costello go on an African safari armed with a secret map which will lead them to hidden diamonds... Jack And The Beanstalk (Dir. Jean Yarbrough 1952): Bud and Lou take on a babysitting job and find themselves involved in the Jack And The Beanstalk fairy tale! One of the very few colour films that Abbott and Costello made beginning in black and white but then turning into a full on colourful fairy tale. One of the
The last of the original Andy Hardy films which had seen fifteen releases in nine years sees Andy (Mickey Rooney) return home from the Second World War and enrol into college. As he also wishes to rekindle his relationship with Kay Wilson (Bonita Granville) he selects the same college as she is attending for his higher education hoping it will also be the path to true love.
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