"Actor: Dorothy Ford"

• Abbott And Costello - Laugh-A-Thon | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Abbott & Costello Classic Comedies three-disc collector's set consists of oddments from the latter days of their career that have fallen into public domain; which means you don't get their best routines or classiest productions, and indeed find the double act doing fairly tired schtick as Costello is chubbily chicken-hearted and Abbott grumpily money-grubbing. Africa Screams is a 1949 safari parody, with Costello running away yelping from sundry alligators, gorillas (including a Kong-sized giant), cannibals ("Chief have sweet tooth for little fat man") and lions amid backlot jungles as Abbott competes with stock villains for a fortune in diamonds. Jack and the Beanstalk, from 1952, finds the duo attempting to sell themselves as children's entertainers in a Wizard of Oz-influenced fairytale book-ended by sepia modern-day segments. The magical story unfolds in wonderfully gruesome cheap colour with some of the worst musical numbers ever committed to film ("he's perpendicular-la-la") as Jack the Clod (Costello) and Mr Dinkelpuss the Butcher (Abbott) climb the beanstalk and plod around the Giant's lair until the story runs out. Possibly the most interesting item is the third disc, which offers an episode of the Colgate Comedy Hour (aka The Abbott and Costello Show) from the 1950s. It shows the pair doing live routines closer to their original vaudeville act than their film roles (including an amazingly cruel bit in which Abbott slaps Costello every time he says the word "tin"). A loose plot about Latin American intrigue, with Lou hired to stand in for an assassination target "El Presidente", makes room for speciality guest stars ranging from child xylophonist Baby Mistin to four starlets (including Jane Russell and Rhonda Fleming) harmonising on a "Happy Easter" medley. Best of all, and now funnier than the comedy, are original hard-sell ads for household products like "Ajax, the foaming action cleanser" and "Halo, the shampoo that glorifies your hair". --Kim Newman

• Citizen Kane | DVD | (08/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  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 cinematography brilliant ensemble acting and direction by Welles the story of Charles Foster Kane is a fascinating portrait of America's love of power and materialism and the corruption it sometimes fosters. Like all great films Citizen Kane is a memorable fusion of cinematic art and marvellous entertainment.

• Classic Double Acts | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Consisting of 9 Classic films and TV shows spread over 3 discs this collection brings you the best of Abbott & Costello Hope & Crosby and Laurel & Hardy. Titles included are: Disc 1: Africa Screams: Abbott and Costello go on an African safari armed with a secret map which will lead them to hidden diamonds... Jack And The Beanstalk: 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

• The Importance Of Being Earnest | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  The timeless 1952 version of Oscar Wilde's comedy of errors in a Special Collectors' Edition.

• My Brilliant Career | Blu Ray | (23/11/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A