"Actor: George"

• James Bond - 23 Film Collection | DVD | (14/09/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £38.93

  All the Bond films are gathered together in this one-of-a-kind boxed set– every gorgeous girl nefarious villain and charismatic star from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig. Experience BOND with this fitting tribute to the most iconic and enduring secret agent in movie history.  Collection Contents: 23 films on Blu-ray™ from Dr. No to Skyfall plus space reserved for SPECTRETM (Coming 2016) Doctor No His name is Bond James Bond and here in his explosive film debut Ian Fleming's immortal action hero blazes through one of his most spectacular adventures. Sean Connery embodies the suave yet lethal cool of agent 007 as he battles the mysterious Dr. No a scientific genius bent on destroying the U.S. space programme. From Russia with Love Sean Connery returns as James Bond in this thrill-a-minute adventure featuring remarkable villains beautiful women and exotic locales! This time Bond squares off against the evil spectre organisation in a race to seize the Soviet Lektor decoding machine thrusting him into a thrilling boat chase a brutal helicopter attack and a deadly brawl aboard the Orient Express. Click Images to Enlarge Goldfinger From the opening bomb blast outside a steamy nightclub to a last-minute escape from the president's personal jet James Bond's third screen adventure is an exhilarating pulse-pounding thrill ride! Sean Connery returns as Agent 007 and faces off with a maniacal villain bent on destroying all the gold in Fort Knox - and obliterating the world economy! Goldfinger is 'the best...of all the Bonds' (Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times)! Thunderball The thrills never let up as James Bond drives into this riveting adventure filled with explosive confrontations and amazing underwater action! Sean Connery brings his characteristic style and magnetism to agent 007 as he travels to Nassau to track down a villainous criminal who is threatening to plunge the world into a nuclear holocaust. You Only Live Twice A disaster in space pushes humankind toward World War III and only James Bond can prevent it in this magnificent pull-out-all-the-stops movie spectacular. Sean Connery returns as Agent 007 who travels to Japan to stop the evil spectre organisation and its diabolical leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Donald Pleasence) from instigating global warfare from his massive headquarters in an inactive volcano. On Her Majestys Secret Service James Bond goes undercover in the treacherous Swiss Alps in this action-packed epic filled with artillery-laden ski pursuits incredible stunts and nonstop thrills! George Lazenby leaps into the role of Agent 007 with supreme confidence and undeniable charisma even finding love with the beautiful and seductive Tracy Di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg). But first Bond must stop evil genius Blofeld (Telly Savalas) from realising a germ warfare plot that could kill millions! Diamonds Are Forever A fortune in stolen diamonds thrusts James Bond into action in this thrilling adventure! Sean Connery returns as Agent 007 and teams up with the beautiful Tiffany Case (Jill St. John) to prevent his nemesis Blofeld (Charles Gray) from using the diamonds in a deadly laser satellite. Live and Let Die James Bond battles the forces of black magic in this high-octane adventure that hurtles him from the streets of New York City to Louisiana’s bayou country. With charm wit and deadly assurance Roger Moore steps in as Agent 007 and takes on a powerful drug lord (Yaphet Kotto) with a diabolical scheme to conquer the world. The Man with the Golden Gun James Bond has been marked for death and he'll need all his lethal instincts and seductive charm to survive in this action-packed adventure! Roger Moore returns as Agent 007 and faces off in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with assassin Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee). Featuring a wild automobile chase through Bangkok and Bond's stunning confrontation with an entire martial-arts school The Man with the Golden Gun delivers nonstop excitement! The Spy Who Loved Me Nobody does it better than Bond and he proves it once more in this explosively entertaining adventure that takes him from the Egyptian pyramids to the ocean floor and to a gravity-defying mountaintop ski chase! Roger Moore brings inimitable style to Agent 007 as he teams with beautiful Russian agent Anya Amasova (Barbara Bach) to stop the megalomaniac Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) from unleashing a horrific scheme for world domination. Moonraker James Bond blasts into orbit in this pulse-pounding adventure that takes him from Venice to Rio de Janeiro and to outer space! Roger Moore stars for the fourth time as Agent 007 and joins forces with Nasa scientist Holly Goodhead (Lois Chiles) to prevent a power-mad industrialist (Michael Lonsdale) from destroying all human life on Earth. For Your Eyes Only James Bond is thrust into one of his most riveting adventures in this jam-packed free-for-all of outrageous stunts passionate encounters and exciting confrontations. Roger Moore portrays Agent 007 with lethal determination in a plot that finds him infiltrating the Greek underworld to locate a stolen device capable of controlling a fleet of nuclear submarines. Octopussy From a thrilling jet chase to a climactic countdown to nuclear disaster James Bond is back in an electrifying adventure that pushes the limit for nonstop excitement. Roger Moore portrays the immortal action hero perfectly capturing Agent 007's deadly expertise acerbic wit and overpowering sex appeal as he investigates the murder of a fellow agent who was clutching a priceless Faberge egg at the time of his death. Never Say Never Again Sean Connery is back for his final performance as agent James Bond in this high-velocity action thriller. Agent 007 is hurried into a pulse-pounding race to save the world from Armageddon when two atomic warheads are hijacked by the evil SPECTRE organisation. A View to Kill Roger Moore lends humour elegance and lethal charm to his final performance as James Bond in A View to a Kill. Bond confronts Max Zorin (Christopher Walken) who has devised a plan to corner the world's microchip market even if he has to kill millions to do it! But before Bond can stop the madman he must confront Zorin's beautiful and deadly companion May Day (Grace Jones). Licence to Kill James Bond turns renegade to hunt down a master criminal in this pulse-pounding thrill ride that's packed with awesome stunts subtle humour and explosive confrontations. Timothy Dalton brings urgency charm and deadly determination to his portrayal of the superagent who leaves the British Secret Service and begins a fierce vendetta after his friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) is brutally attacked by drug lord Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi). GoldenEye The effortlessly suave and sophisticated Pierce Brosnan makes his acclaimed debut as Agent 007 in this rip-roaring espionage thriller featuring the most eye-popping opening sequence yet! When an MI6 agent (Sean Bean) turns rogue and plans world domination with a terrifying satellite-borne weapon Bond must pursue his former ally to Cuba Monte Carlo Switzerland and even Russia all whilst dodging a sexy deadly femme fatale (Famke Janssen) who will stop at nothing to put the 'squeeze' on the intrepid spy! Tomorrow Never Dies Pierce Brosnan returns as the fearless cunning and devastatingly cool Secret Agent 007 in this thrilling adventure! When a ruthless media tycoon (Jonathan Pryce) tries to destabilise the world economy by orchestrating a deadly standoff between world superpowers in an attempt to achieve high ratings for his media conglomerate Bond must step in to prevent World War III! Co-starring the gorgeous Teri Hatcher and Michelle Yeoh this high-tech action-adventure will exhilarate Bond fans of all ages! The World Is Not Enough Pierce Brosnan returns as sexy super-spy James Bond. The agent's assignment is as follows: he must protect Elektra King (Sophie Marceau) the sole heir of a British oil tycoon from the influence of terrorist Renard (Robert Carlyle). Unfortunately she double-crosses him and the world's oil supply is put in peril. Now he must take on Renard a villain who feels no physical pain with the help of do-gooder scientist Christmas Jones (Denise Richards). Die Another Day James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) pulls out all the stops to take you on an unforgettable adrenaline-pumping ride across the globe in this action-filled adventure! From a dark cell in a north Korean prison to the beautiful beaches of Cuba 007 is on the trail of a diabolical genius who's hell-bent on slicing up the earth - literally. Casino Royale Daniel Craig stars as the latest incarnation of James Bond in the 21st instalment of the franchise. Based on one of the original Ian Fleming novels the story follows a young Bond at the beginning of his career having just received his double-0 status. For his latest mission 007 travels to Montenegro to investigate the highly exclusive Casino Royale where Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) a money man for an international terrorist group is raising funds for their misdeeds through high-stakes gambling. The rookie MI6 agent aided by British Treasury agent Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) is tasked with infiltrating the group and ultimately defeating the rogue player both on and off the tables. Quantum of Solace On a nonstop quest for justice that crisscrosses the globe Bond meets the beautiful but feisty Camille (Olga Kurylenko) who leads him to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) a ruthless businessman and major force within the mysterious Quantum organisation. When Bond uncovers a conspiracy to take control of one of the world's most important natural resources he must navigate a minefield of treachery deception and murder to neutralise Quantum before it’s too late! Skyfall James Bond (Daniel Craig) finds his loyalty to M (Judi Dench) tested as her past returns to haunt her. When MI6 comes under attack from a cyber-terrorist 007 must do everything it takes to track down the threat. Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men Vicky Cristina Barcelona) is superb as the sinister villain Raoul Silva and as the film unfolds you discover his dark past.

• All Neat in Black Stockings | DVD | (27/01/2014) from £6.94   |  Saving you £3.05 (43.95%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Part bawdy romp, part kitchen-sink drama, this box-office hit features then-rising star Victor Henry as a twenty-year-old window cleaner whose womanising is curtailed when he finds himself falling in love for the first time. Also starring Susan George and, in his film debut, Jack Shepherd, All Neat in Black Stockings' bold intermingling of sexual adventure, humour and tender love story instantly caught audience's imaginations, its evocation of London's dingy back-street pubs and dubiou...

• The Whole Truth (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (17/06/2024) from £16.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Stewart Granger (Footsteps in the Fog), Donna Reed (Scandal Sheet), George Sanders (Endless Night), and Italian sex symbol Gianna Maria Canale (I vampiri) star in The Whole Truth, a wry suspense thriller set on the French Riviera. When film producer Max (Granger) begins an affair with Gina (Canale), the star of his latest production, it isn't long before she threatens to tell his wife, Carol (Reed), what is going on. However, the price of Gina's silence changes for Max when she is found murdered, and he must convince Inspector Carliss of the Yard (Sanders) of his innocence... Directed by John Guillermin (Town on Trial), photographed by Wilkie Cooper (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad), and co-written by Philip Mackie (The Naked Civil Servant), The Whole Truth is a stylishly shot and tautly plotted murder mystery. INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES High Definition remasterOriginal mono audio Audio commentary with film historians Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby (2024) Robert Shail on 'The Whole Truth' (2024): the film historian discusses the film and British production company Romulus FilmsThe BEHP Interview with Ronald Spencer (1991): archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the assistant director in conversation with Joyce RobinsonOriginal theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearingLimited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Barry Forshaw, archival interviews with George Sanders and Gianna Maria Canale, archival article on Canale and Donna Reed, extracts from the films campaign book, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film creditsWorld premiere on Blu-rayLimited edition of 3,000 copies for the UK All extras subject to change

• All About Eve (1950) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (23/08/2021) from £25.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In this devastatingly witty Hollywood classic from JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ (Cleopatra), backstage is where the real drama plays out. One night, Margo Channing (Now, Voyager's BETTE DAVIS) entertains a surprise dressing-room visitor: her most adoring fan, the shy, wide-eyed Eve Harrington (The Magnificent Ambersons' ANNE BAXTER). But as Eve becomes a fixture in Margo's life, the Broadway legend soon realizes that her supposed admirer intends to use her and everyone in her circle, including an acid-tongued critic played by GEORGE SANDERS (Rebecca), as stepping-stones to stardom. Featuring stilettosharp dialogue and direction by Mankiewicz, and an unforgettable Davis in the role that revived her career and came to define it, the multiple-Oscar-winning All About Eve is the most deliciously entertaining film ever made about the ruthlessness of show business. Special Features: 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Two audio commentaries from 2010, one featuring actor Celeste Holm, director Joseph L. Mankiewicz's son Christopher Mankiewicz, and author Kenneth L. Geist; the other featuring author Sam Staggs All About Mankiewicz, a feature-length documentary from 1983 about the director Episodes of The Dick Cavett Show from 1969 and 1980 featuring actors Bette Davis and Gary Merrill New interview with costume historian Larry McQueen Hollywood Backstories: All About Eve, a 2001 documentary featuring interviews with Davis and others about the making of the film Documentaries from 2010 about Mankiewicz's life and career, the short story on which the film is based and its real-world inspiration, and a real-life Sarah Siddons Society based on the film's fictional society Radio adaptation of the film from 1951 Trailer PLUS: An essay by critic Terrence Rafferty and the 1946 short story on which the film is based

• Malignant | DVD | (27/12/2021) from £8.85   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Malignant marks director James Wan's return to his roots with this new original horror thriller.

• The Battle Of Midway | Blu Ray | (05/02/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An all-star dramatization of the Japanese attack on the island of Midway in 1942, which saw US forces finally wresting control of the waves and staving off the threat of its West Coast being invaded. Henry Fonda heads the cast as Pacific Fleet Commander Chester W. Nimitz.

• Police Academy | DVD | (07/06/2004) from £4.90   |  Saving you £9.09 (185.51%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The call went out. The recruits came in. No longer would police cadets have to meet standards of height weight or other requirements. Brains were optional too. Can't spell IQ? Don't know the number 911? No matter. Police Academy grads are ready to uphold law and disorder!

• Men Who Stare At Goats | DVD | (19/04/2010) from £5.30   |  Saving you £12.69 (239.43%)   |  RRP £17.99

  "The Men Who Stare At Goats" is a hilarious comedy inspired by a real life story you will hardly believe is true.

• Elvis Presley - Elvis In Hollywood | DVD | (21/04/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This 1987 documentary is distinguished by both its smart narrative premise and wonderful performance footage of Elvis Presley at the dawn of his remarkable career. With the King's melodramatic life already a familiar subject for film and print biographies, producer-directors Alan and Susan Raymond instead shaped this hour-long profile around the year that saw the charismatic Memphis singer's eruption as a pop sensation. By taking that selective path, and focusing tightly on Presley's crucial transition to a major record deal, national media exposure and the first decisive steps in his subsequent movie career, Elvis '56 achieves a unique cohesion while legitimately celebrating a remarkable period of growth.With the Band's Levon Helm narrating in his salty Arkansas drawl, the story effectively conveys Elvis' Southern perspective, while evocative use of Alfred Wertheimer's celebrated black-and-white still portraits sustains a visual style carrying over to the programme's real high points: early stage and television appearances by Presley and his original trio, later augmented into a quartet. Among the highlights are historic slots on Milton Berle's and Steve Allen's variety shows: we see the joyous physicality that made the Berle performance a topic of outrage (and, of course, a swoon-worthy moment for female fans), as well as Allen's glib solution to censors' worries, forcing a static, tail-coated Presley to sing "Hound Dog" to a basset hound. --Sam Sutherland

• Citizen Smith: Series 3 and 4 | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £30.86   |  Saving you £-5.87 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Series 3 and 4 of the sitcom adventures of Wolfie Smith. Power to the people! In Tooting London SW17 revolution is still brewing. But will the Glorious Day ever come? Will Wolfie (Robert Lindsay) Ken Tucker and Speed - the Tooting Popular Front - ever manage to drag the proletariat out of its lethargy to strike at the heart of capitalism? Or will Wolfie's domestic problems lack of money and the dreadful performance of his beloved Fulham Football Club once again prove effective

• To Catch A Thief | DVD | (13/01/2003) from £5.18   |  Saving you £7.81 (150.77%)   |  RRP £12.99

  To Catch a Thief is not one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest, but it's arguably his most stylish thriller, loved as much for the elegantly erotic banter between Grace Kelly and Cary Grant as for the suspense that ensues when retired burglar Grant attempts to net the copycat diamond thief. The action, much of it shot on location, hugs the coast of the French Riviera; John Michael Hayes' screenplay crackles with doubles entendres; and Edith Head's dresses define the aloof poise of one of cinema's more enigmatic icons. If anything is missing, it's the undertow of black humour which snags the unsuspecting viewer in so many of Hitchcock's greater films. Here, the edge is supplied by the splendid Jessie Royce Landis as Kelly's vulgar, worldly mother; her special way with a fried egg is one of those cinematic moments which linger in the mind with almost pornographic disgust. History, of course, delivered its own ironic blow years later when the then Princess Grace of Monaco died in an accident on the very road where Kelly and Grant shot their exhilarating car chase. Portents aside, she remains Hitchcock's most alluring and sophisticated heroine. On the DVD: To Catch a Thief is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, which distils the distinctive qualities of the VistaVision cinematography, and with a mono Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Interesting extras include several mini-documentaries in which Hitchcock's daughter and granddaughter, among others, reminisce about the great director, censor problems over the risqué dialogue, the talents of costume designer Edith Head, and the peculiar difficulties of shooting in VistaVision. An original theatrical trailer is another bonus. --Piers Ford

• The Ladykillers | DVD | (25/10/2004) from £4.79   |  Saving you £13.20 (275.57%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Tom Hanks teams up with the Coen brothers for a remake of the classic 1955 Ealing comedy about a group of thieves trying to bump off their landlady.

• Good Will Hunting | DVD | (22/01/2001) from £13.50   |  Saving you £2.49 (18.44%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Robin Williams won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck nabbed one for Best Original Screenplay, but the feel-good hit Good Will Hunting triumphs because of its gifted director, Gus Van Sant. The unconventional director (My Own Private Idaho, Drugstore Cowboy) saves a script marred by vanity and clunky character development by yanking soulful, touching performances out of his entire cast (amazingly, even one by Williams that's relatively schtick-free). Van Sant pulls off the equivalent of what George Cukor accomplished for women's melodrama in the 1930s and 40s: He's crafted an intelligent, unabashedly emotional male weepie about men trying to find inner-wisdom. Matt Damon stars as Will Hunting, a closet maths genius who ignores his gift in favour of nightly boozing and fighting with South Boston buddies (co-writer Ben Affleck among them). While working as a university janitor, he solves an impossible calculus problem scribbled on a hallway blackboard and reluctantly becomes the prodigy of an arrogant MIT professor (Stellan Skarsgård). Damon only avoids prison by agreeing to see psychiatrists, all of whom he mocks or psychologically destroys until he meets his match in the professor's former childhood friend, played by Williams. Both doctor and patient are haunted by the past and, as mutual respect develops, the healing process begins. The film's beauty lies not with grand climaxes, but with small, quiet moments. Scenes such as Affleck's clumsy pep talk to Damon while they drink beer after work, or any number of therapy session between Williams and Damon offer poignant looks at the awkward ways men show affection and feeling for one another. --Dave McCoy

• People Just Do Nothing: Series 1-5 Boxset | DVD | (21/01/2019) from £13.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All 5 series of the hit BBC show, collected for the first time in this DVD set. Includes subtitles for the Hard Of Hearing

• The Exterminator | DVD | (14/05/2012) from £10.98   |  Saving you £2.00 (25.03%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Scorching the streets clean... Flamethrowers ready as the alleyways of skid row are set ablaze with the brutal vengeance of one man... The Exterminator!John Eastland has been to ‘Nam and he’s seen things... Things you wouldn’t believe. Surviving torture and witnessing the brutal deaths of his friends, John returns home to a tough neighbourhood in New York and his loving family. But when some local thugs take a crippling dislike to his best friend Mike, leaving him paralysed, something snaps in John. Did he fight the Vietcong for this? Taking the law into his own hands, Eastland sets out to clean the streets of every low life, good for nothing gang banger, mobster and ghetto ghoul across the city in director James Glickenhaus’ (McBain) brutally violent vigilante classic. Special Features: Also Includes an Interview with James Glickenhaus Collector’s Booklet by Author Calum Waddell

• 633 Squadron | DVD | (20/05/2019) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  British WWII drama starring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris and Maria Perschy. An RAF flying unit are assigned with the dangerous task of destroying an overhanging cliff in order to demolish a German bomb factory located in Norway. The squadron Wing Commander Roy Grant (Robertson) must work with Norwegian resistance leader Erik Bergman (Chakiris) in order to eliminate the Nazi threat.

• Ealing Studios Rarities Collection: Volume 6 | DVD | (16/09/2013) from £9.34   |  Saving you £5.65 (60.49%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A global byword for cinematic quality of a quintessentially British nature, Ealing Studios made more than 150 films over a three decade period. A cherished and significant part of British film history, only selected films from both the Ealing and Associated Talking Pictures strands have previously been made available on home video format - with some remaining unseen since their original theatrical release. The Ealing Rarities Collection redresses this imbalance - featuring new transfers from...

• Mae West in Hollywood, 1932-1943 (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (13/12/2021) from £59.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When Mae West went to Hollywood in the early 1930s, she was already a major star. Having sensationalised Broadway, it was time for the movies to receive the same. Her fame allowed her control, picking her co-stars (including a young Cary Grant), receiving screenwriter credits, and baiting censors and audiences alike as the pre-Code era gave way to a more sanitised period in American filmmaking. This six-disc collection brings together all ten of West's classic Hollywood features, from her supporting turn in 1932's Night After Night to 1943's musical extravaganza, The Heat's On. Special Features 4K restoration of I'm No Angel 2021 restorations of Belle of the Nineties, Go West Young Man and Every Day's a Holiday from 4K scans 2018 restorations of Goin' to Town and My Little Chickadee from 4K scans 2017 restoration of She Done Him Wrong from a 4K scan High Definition remasters of Night After Night, Klondike Annie and The Heat's On Original mono soundtracks Audio commentary on She Done Him Wrong by critic and film historian Pamela Hutchinson (2021) Audio commentary on I'm No Angel by critic and writer Farran Smith Nehme (2021) Audio commentary on Klondike Annie by academic and curator Eloise Ross (2021) Audio commentary on Go West Young Man by writer and film historian Nora Fiore (2021) Mae West at UCLA (1971): archival audio recording of the great performer in conversation at the University of California, Los Angeles Introduction to My Little Chickadee by Harriet Fields, granddaughter of W C Fields (2021) Lucy Bolton on Mae West (2021): the writer and academic discusses the irrepressible stardom of West Christina Newland on Mae West (2021): the writer and critic looks at West's glamour and attitudes to sex Two Super 8 versions of I'm No Angel: a pair of original cut-down home-cinema presentations, each consisting of unique scenes Super 8 version of The Heat's On Original theatrical trailers New and improved subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive 120-page book with a new essay by Iris Veysey, archival articles, a critical archive, and film credits World and UK premieres on Blu-ray Limited edition of 6,000 numbered units MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED! All extras subject to change

• Rita, Sue and Bob Too (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (22/05/2017) from £8.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  British films about sex are fairly rare, and mostly embarrassing: from the painfully anxious (Brief Encounter) to the hopelessly naff (the Carry On films). What a treat then is Rita, Sue and Bob Too, Alan Clarke's filming of a stage play by young Andrea Dunbar. It's an unsentimental, gleefully lewd comedy about shagging. Tagged for its cinema release in 1987 as "Thatcher's Britain with its knickers down", it even provoked a minor moral hullabaloo in the newspapers. Rita (Siobhan Finneran) and Sue (Michelle Holmes) are two giggly Bradford lasses stuck on a ramshackle housing estate. They keep themselves in fags by occasional baby-sitting for nouveau riche couple Bob (George Costigan) and Michelle (Lesley Sharp). Bob fancies himself rotten, but Michelle has ruled that sex is off the menu. So one night, driving Rita and Sue home, Bob detours to the Yorkshire moors and offers the girls a little something extra in his front seat. Rita and Sue decide to grab it while they can. Alan Clarke's cult following is founded on his bleak, brilliant films about violent young men (Scum, The Firm, Made in Britain). But Rita, Sue is a tribute to Clarkey's ribald sense of humour. It even sports a cameo from novelty pop-act Black Lace, performing their non-hit "Gang-Bang". Teenage debutantes Holmes and Finneran are terrific--just watch them dancing lustily around Bob's red leather sofa to Bananarama. In support, Clarke wisely cast skilled northern comedians like Patti Nicholls and Willie Ross, as Sue's foul-mouthed mum and dad. Amid the laughs, Clarke as usual doesn't stint from showing us the harsh, unlovely side of life. He shot the film on location at Bradford's Buttershaw estate, where Andrea Dunbar grew up and where, tragically, she died of a brain haemorrhage only a few years after the film's release. --Richard Kelly

• Shampoo | DVD | (08/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A modish creation teased into life by Warren Beatty, Shampoo was an offbeat Hollywood hit back in 1975. Made after Watergate, it reflects on the hedonism of late-60s Los Angeles with a sad, somewhat cynical eye. Basically a bedroom farce, fuelled by some famously raunchy dialogue, its comedy is nevertheless underlain with melancholy. Screenwriter Robert Towne was inspired by Wycherly's Restoration comedy The Country Wife, wherein a wily fellow convinces friends of his impotence even while he is merrily seducing their wives. Hence, Towne invented handsome Beverly Hills hairdresser George Roundy (Beatty), who ought to be gay, but emphatically isn't. Shampoo begins on US Election Day, 1968, as Nixon is trouncing McGovern at the polls, and George Roundy is trying to sort his life out. An earnest advocate of sensual pleasure, he beds most of his female clients, from the fretful Jill (Goldie Hawn) to the wealthy Felicia (Lee Grant). Yet George is himself unfulfilled, and imagines that owning his own salon will satisfy him. He asks Felicia's husband Lester (Jack Warden) to back him, but first Lester coerces George into squiring his mistress Jackie (Julie Christie) to a Nixon victory party. Inevitably, Jackie is another of George's girls and, having seduced Felicia's vivacious daughter (Carrie Fisher) earlier that day, George has much to conceal from Lester and Felicia as the evening's festivities unravel. Shampoo shows the 60s turning sour. The characters are rich hippies, superficially liberated but deeply unhappy, and blandly indifferent to the dawning of the Nixon era. The excellent Lee Grant won an Oscar, but Shampoo is Beatty's film. He produced it, had a substantive hand in Towne's script, and deputised the nominal director, Hal Ashby. The film mildly exploits legends of Beatty's real-life sexual prowess, but mainly it embodies his commitment to making thoughtful movies for grown-ups. Richard Kelly