"Actor: Fay Compton"

• The Haunting | Blu Ray | (04/05/2020) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  It was an evil house form the beginning , a house that was born bad. The place is the 90-year-old mansion called Hill House. No one lives in there. Or so it seems. But come in. Because even if you don't believe in ghosts, there's no denying the terror of The Haunting. Robert Wise, returned to psychological horror for this much admired, first screen adaptation of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Four people (Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson and Russ Tamblyn) come to the house to study its supernatural phenomena. Or has the house drawn at least one of them to it? The answer will unnerve you in this elegantly sinister scare movie. It's good fun (Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies).

• The Haunting | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £4.79   |  Saving you £9.20 (192.07%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Certain to remain one of the greatest haunted-house movies ever made, Robert Wise's The Haunting (1963) is antithetical to all the gory horror films of subsequent decades, because its considerable frights remain implicitly rooted in the viewer's sensitivity to abject fear. A classic spook-fest based on Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House (which also inspired the 1999 remake directed by Jan de Bont), the film begins with a prologue that concisely establishes the dark history of Hill House, a massive New England mansion (actually filmed in England) that will play host to four daring guests determined to investigate--and hopefully debunk--the legacy of death and ghostly possession that has given the mansion its terrifying reputation. Consumed by guilt and grief over her mother's recent death and driven to adventure by her belief in the supernatural, Eleanor Vance (Julie Harris) is the most unstable--and therefore the most vulnerable--visitor to Hill House. She's invited there by anthropologist Dr. Markway (Richard Johnson), along with the bohemian lesbian Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has acute extra-sensory abilities, and glib playboy Luke Sanderson (Russ Tamblyn, from Wise's West Side Story), who will gladly inherit Hill House if it proves to be hospitable. Of course, the shadowy mansion is anything but welcoming to its unwanted intruders. Strange noises, from muffled wails to deafening pounding, set the stage for even scarier occurrences, including a door that appears to breathe (with a slowly turning doorknob that's almost unbearably suspenseful), unexplained writing on walls, and a delicate spiral staircase that seems to have a life of its own. The genius of The Haunting lies in the restraint of Wise and screenwriter Nelson Gidding, who elicit almost all of the film's mounting terror from the psychology of its characters--particularly Eleanor, whose grip on sanity grows increasingly tenuous. The presence of lurking spirits relies heavily on the power of suggestion (likewise the cautious handling of Theodora's attraction to Eleanor) and the film's use of sound is more terrifying than anything Wise could have shown with his camera. Like Jack Clayton's 1961 chiller, The Innocents, The Haunting knows the value of planting the seeds of terror in the mind, as opposed to letting them blossom graphically on the screen. What you don't see is infinitely more frightening than what you do, and with nary a severed head or bloody corpse in sight, The Haunting is guaranteed to chill you to the bone. --Jeff Shannon

• Othello | DVD | (21/04/2014) from £8.75   |  Saving you £21.24 (242.74%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Filmed as a classical tragedy, Orson Welles' Othello is a tale of passion, jealousy and murder. Welles used his earnings from several performances (including Carol Reed's classic The Third Man) to finance the production, which was shot over several years across multiple locations including Italy and Morocco. The footage was well matched photographically, resulting in an artistically brave compression of a great play. In the title role, Welles shows us a man who has fought many wars but still maintains a princely disposition. As Desdemona, Suzanne Cloutier is guileless but strong enough to have wanted and pursued the Moor. She alone is accused of pretending to be what she is not, and her openness makes her suspect in a world where few appear to be as they are. In a rare filmed role, Micheál MacLiammór excels as the diabolical Iago, a master of manipulating appearances and devoid of any motive save pure evil. MacLiammór shows how a hint can be greater than a howl, executing a series of deceptions (whose victims include Roderigo, Brabantio, and Cassio) that culminate in the symbolic destruction of Desdemona. The financial constraints appear to have ignited an even higher level of creativity within Welles, who never takes the expected angle and directs the film with a vertiginous, exhibitionist energy. Though Roderigo's death scene was filmed in a Moroccan steam bath because the costumes had not arrived, it is refreshing to see a Shakespeare film in which the cast doesn't look like it's on its way to a Beverly Hills costume party with an Elizabethan theme. The allegorical journey between heaven and hell concludes with the exposure of both Iago's scheme and the tragedy of Othello, who ultimately could not believe in the purity of his wife. This Othello won the prestigious Palme d'Or at Cannes in April 1952. --Kevin Mulhall

• Laughter in Paradise | Blu Ray | (29/06/2020) from £10.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The four remaining relatives of famed practical joker Henry Russell are brought together to hear his last will and testament, revealing a £50,000 inheritance each if they can all complete a set task completely out of character. The assignments are designed to reflect their greatest shortcomings and test their abilities to adapt and ultimately change for the better. Law-abiding retired army officer Deniston (Alastair Sim), secretly writes scandalous novels until he is given a week to get himself arrested for an actual crime and jailed for exactly 28 days. Haughty Agnes (Fay Compton) must find employment as a housekeeper in a middle-class home and retain her position for a month despite her disdain. Simon (Guy Middleton), a penniless womanising rogue, would have to marry the first single woman he speaks to, such as the cigarette girl at the club he frequents (Audrey Hepburn). Finally, timid Herbert (George Cole) needs to hold up the bank manager he works for with a mask and a toy pistol. Can they all pull it off in order to grab the cash? Special Features NEW Alastair Sim and Laughter in Paradise: Interview with Stephen Fry Ministry of Information short Nero: Save Fuel (1943) starring Alastair Sim & George Cole Behind the Scenes Stills gallery Alastair Sim's Rectorial Address at Edinburgh University (1949)

• Uncle Vanya | DVD | (22/08/2011) from £13.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (21.44%)   |  RRP £16.99

  A classic production of Chekhov's classic tale of boredom and frustration set on a Russian country estate in the late 19th century. Produced as part of the inaugural season at the new Chichester Festival Theatre Laurence Olivier directed the play and also performed the role of Dr Astrov.

• Cape Forlorn | DVD | (21/04/2014) from £5.06   |  Saving you £4.93 (97.43%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Written by and starring Frank Harvey and directed by German film pioneer E. A. Dupont, Cape Forlorn tells the story of a passionate, sexually aware young woman whose presence destroys the serenity and ultimately the lives of three men. Set on an isolated lighthouse off the New Zealand coast, Cape Forlorn's provocative, apparently amoral storyline led to its initial banning in Australia. This brand-new digital transfer presents the film uncut, in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio...

• London Belongs to Me | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £29.95   |  Saving you £-19.96 (-199.80%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Alastair Sim Richard Attenborough Joyce Carey and Fay Compton head an all-star cast in this classic British comedy crime drama set in pre-war London and produced by the acclaimed team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Christmas Eve 1938. The lives of all those living in a rooming house in Dulcimer Street South London are about to change forever. Young Percy Boon (Richard Attenborough) from upstairs takes his first step towards a life of crime.and down-on-his-luck fraudulent medium Henry Squales (Alastair Sim) arrives to take the basement room. The people who live in 10 Dulcimer Street are all very different - but when Percy's criminal career ends in tragedy and he is sent to the gallows they rally together as Londoners to try and get true justice.

• Odd Man Out | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £13.98   |  Saving you £8.00 (66.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  James Mason stars in this powerful suspense drama as Johnny McQueen the leader of a quasi-IRA group. When he's wounded in a botched robbery he becomes the object of an intense police manhunt and must scramble desperately about Belfast in an attempt to escape. Kathleen (Kathleen Ryan) the woman who loves him also takes off in pursuit of Johnny hoping to reach him before the police do.

• Odd Man Out | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Odd Man Out is a British classic from 1947 that fits the film noir definition in almost every respect. It's one of the milestones of its era, highlighted by what is arguably the best performance in the illustrious career of James Mason, here playing the leader of an underground Irish rebel organisation, who is seriously wounded when a payroll heist goes sour. Left for dead by his accomplices on the streets of Belfast he's forced to hide wherever he can find shelter and as his gunshot wound gradually drains his life away, his lover (Kathleen Ryan) struggles to locate him before it's too late. Although the IRA and Belfast are never mentioned by name, this film was a daring and morally complex examination of Northern Ireland's "troubles" and the compelling tragedy hasn't lost any of its impact. A study of conscience in crisis and the bitter aftermath of terrorism, this was one of the first films to address IRA activities on intimately human terms. Political potency is there for those who seek it, but the film is equally invigorating as a riveting story of a tragic figure on the run from the law, forced to confront the wrath of his own beliefs in the last hours of his life. It was this brilliant, unforgettable film that established the directorial prowess of Carol Reed, whose next two films (The Fallen Idol and The Third Man) were equally extraordinary. --Jeff Shannon

• Laughter In Paradise | DVD | (29/06/2020) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The four remaining relatives of famed practical joker Henry Russell are brought together to hear his last will and testament, revealing a £50,000 inheritance each if they can all complete a set task completely out of character. The assignments are designed to reflect their greatest shortcomings and test their abilities to adapt and ultimately change for the better. Law-abiding retired army officer Deniston (Alastair Sim), secretly writes scandalous novels until he is given a week to get himself arrested for an actual crime and jailed for exactly 28 days. Haughty Agnes (Fay Compton) must find employment as a housekeeper in a middle-class home and retain her position for a month despite her disdain. Simon (Guy Middleton), a penniless womanising rogue, would have to marry the first single woman he speaks to, such as the cigarette girl at the club he frequents (Audrey Hepburn). Finally, timid Herbert (George Cole) needs to hold up the bank manager he works for with a mask and a toy pistol. Can they all pull it off in order to grab the cash? Special Features NEW Alastair Sim and Laughter in Paradise: Interview with Stephen Fry Ministry of Information short Nero: Save Fuel (1943) starring Alastair Sim & George Cole Behind the Scenes Stills gallery Alastair Sim's Rectorial Address at Edinburgh University (1949)