"Actor: Hardwicke"

• Elizabeth | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A 1960's hipster secret agent is brought out of cryofreeze to oppose his greatest enemy into the 1990's where his social attitudes are glaringly out of place.

• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £15.68   |  Saving you £0.31 (1.98%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Although Britain has changed almost beyond recognition since Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was first broadcast in the early 1970s, the show's simple slapstick humour has an ageless quality that makes it enduringly hilarious. Michael Crawford found fame as Frank Spencer, still probably television's most accident-prone man, and still Britain's most mimicked sitcom character, having inspired thousands of wannabe entertainers to don black berets and Humphrey Bogart-style rain coats and feebly exclaim "Mmm, Betty!". Crawford's great insight was to portray Frank as both a figure of fun and an endearingly sympathetic character: we laugh at him but never cease liking him, and we always admire his plucky never-say-die spirit. Most of the episodes share the common theme of Frank attempting to find a job (ranging from a holiday camp entertainer to an RAF cadet), but because of his clumsy demeanour and lack of common sense, losing the positions within a matter of hours. Pitted against a variety of middle-aged, male professionals (his GP, a psychiatrist and a public relations consultant for example), Spencer's stupidity reduces these "experts" to nervous wrecks. His long-suffering, doting wife Betty (Michelle Dotrice) features throughout, but despite his wild behaviour and idiocy she appears only mildly flustered by her husband's actions. On the DVD: Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was one of the first comedy series to be recorded by the BBC in colour, but the sound and vision of the episodes transfer perfectly satisfactorily to DVD format. At times the production values of some of the episodes are decidedly ropey (watch out for stray boom microphones and the skewed opening and closing credit). Apart from the episode and scene selection menus, which incorporate sound extracts from the show, no extras are included. --John Galilee

• Suspicion | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Repeated viewings can't dispel the shock of the final scene of Suspicion, Hitchcock's classic 1941 romantic mystery--a brief but disorientating confrontation that suddenly inverts the heroine's mounting conviction that she's married a murderer, forcing us to reconsider virtually every scene and line of dialogue that's preceded it. It's a masterful coup de grâce for the director, who has built a puzzle around the corrosive power of suspicion, threaded with deft ambiguities that toy with dramatic conventions and character archetypes in nearly every frame. As embodied by Joan Fontaine, who nabbed an Oscar in this second outing with the director, Lina McLaidlaw is a buttoned-up, bookish heiress whose prim exterior conceals longings for a more engaged emotional life. Her solution materialises in the darkly handsome Johnnie Aysgarth, a gambler, womaniser and spendthrift who flirts, then pursues, and soon marries her. As Aysgarth, Cary Grant is both irresistible and sinister, capable of deceit and petty theft, as well as grander designs on his bride's impending fortune. Lina's passion for Johnnie is clouded by each new revelation about his apparent dishonesty, from clandestine gambling to real-estate development schemes; more troubling are clues implicating him in the death of his best friend, and the prospect that Johnnie may be slowly poisoning Lina herself. By the time we see him ascending a darkened staircase with a suspicious glass of milk, an image made all the more indelible through the spectral glow the director captures in the glass, the evidence seems damning indeed. In fact, even as Hitchcock stacks the deck against Johnnie, and takes full advantage of Grant's skill at conveying such menace, the director also dots his landscape with visual clues to Lina's own neurotic (and erotic) obsessions. The final scene forces us to re-evaluate her behaviour while leaving enough of a cloud over Johnnie to rob him, and us, of a complete exoneration. It's a wicked, unsettling payoff to a brilliantly executed thriller. --Sam Sutherland

• The Sherlock Holmes Catalogue - The Sign Of Four | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Sign of Four is a 1987 feature-length version of Conan Doyle's second Sherlock Holmes novel, and is faithful to the original story except in one important detail: Dr Watson (Edward Hardwicke) does not get the girl. Otherwise, the familiar tale of the death of Bartholomew Sholto and the theft of the Agra treasure is all here, featuring a snappy performance by Jeremy Brett as Holmes doing some of the finest investigative work of his career. The famous climax, a chase on the Thames in which Holmes is almost struck dead by an exotic weapon, is handled very well. Sherlockians may have a hard time not seeing Watson's romantic pursuit of Mary Morstan (Lila Kaye), his first wife according to Doyle's book, but it would hardly have been practical in the context of the long-running Granada Television series. The rest is to be enjoyed, however. --Tom Keogh

• I Am Heath Ledger | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £3.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  I Am Heath Ledger chronicles the story of one of this generation's brightest young actors and this is the ultimate tribute to an artist gone far too soon. Fiercely private during his life, this documentary features interviews from A-list actors such as Naomi Watts Ben Mendelsohn and Emile Hirsch; Hollywood directors Ang Lee and Catherine Hardwicke, musicians Ben Harper and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, childhood friends, family and artistic collaborators along with never-seen-before candid video and still archival imagery. I Am Heath Ledger provides an intimate look at Heath Ledger as he saw himself, presented in a novel way that reflects his creative spirit.

• Rita Hayworth | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £32.43   |  Saving you £17.56 (54.15%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A bumper box set of classic films featuring 'The Love Goddess' herself Rita Hayworth! Gilda (Dir. Charles Vidor 1946): The legendary Rita Hayworth sizzles with sensuality and magnetism as she sings ""Put the blame on Mame"" and delivers a dazzling performance as the enticing temptress Gilda. In the story of Gilda Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) goes to work for Ballin Mundson (George MacReady) the proprietor of an illegal gambling casino in a South American city and quickly r

• The Hunchback Of Notre Dame | DVD | (14/04/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Based upon Victor Hugo's classic novel Chief Justice Frollo (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) desires the beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda (Maureen O'Hara) and sends deformed bellringer Quasimodo (Charles Laughton) to catch her. But when Captain Phoebus is found dead Esmeralda is sentenced to hang. Only Quasimodo can save her.

• Nell Gwyn | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £4.31   |  Saving you £8.68 (201.39%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Anna Neagle stars as the humble orange seller Nell Gwyn who captures the heart of a king in this bawdy and controversial British historical drama. In a 17th century England revelling in its freedom after years of Puritan domination King Charles II (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) promises to restore to the nation ""its old good nature its old good manners and its old good humour"". Wild and free Nell Gwyn captures his imagination like no other woman. She becomes his mistress and in effect th

• Sherlock Holmes - The Musgrave Ritual / The Abbey Grange | DVD | (09/06/2003) from £9.97   |  Saving you £0.02 (0.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Two more mysteries for the detective Sherlock Holmes to solve! The Musgrave Ritual: Holmes and Watson are staying with Reginald Musgrave at Hurlstone Manor. During their stay the butler disappears after he has been dismissed for prying into family documents examining details of the Musgrave ritual. Then when Rachel the housemaid vansihes Holmes begins to employ his deductive powers. The Abbey Grange: When Sir Eustace Brackenstall is bludgeoned to death in his dinning room Holmes is called in. After interviewing Lady Mary Sir Eustace's wife who herself was assaulted in the attack Holmes concludes that it is the work of the notorious Lewisham gang and hands the matter over to the local constabulary. But on the way back to London something is nagging in Holmes mind...

• I Am Heath Ledger | Blu Ray | (22/01/2018) from £6.60   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  I Am Heath Ledger chronicles the story of one of this generation's brightest young actors and this is the ultimate tribute to an artist gone far too soon. Fiercely private during his life, this documentary features interviews from A-list actors such as Naomi Watts Ben Mendelsohn and Emile Hirsch; Hollywood directors Ang Lee and Catherine Hardwicke, musicians Ben Harper and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, childhood friends, family and artistic collaborators along with never-seen-before candid video and still archival imagery. I Am Heath Ledger provides an intimate look at Heath Ledger as he saw himself, presented in a novel way that reflects his creative spirit.

• The Sherlock Holmes Catalogue - The Golden Pince-Nez / The Red Circle | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Two enthralling investigations from Sherlock Holmes.

• David Copperfield | DVD | (09/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Born to a weak but loving mother soon after his father dies David Copperfield is nine years old when his mother Clara marries Mr Murdstone. A cruel man who believes in extreme discipline he has no hesitation in sending David away to school. Shortly after he is sent away Clara dies and Murdstone seizes the opportunity to send him away for good this time into menial labour at a London wine merchants. It is here that David meets the genial Micawber family and his aunt Betsey arrange

• Wing And A Prayer | DVD | (03/05/2004) from £5.29   |  Saving you £7.70 (145.56%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A group of eager young Navy pilots become frustrated when their superiors enact a non-combat strategy against the Japanese. To make matters worse the pilots must answer to a rigid unyielding commander (Ameche). Against all odds the men fly into action in the decisive Battle of Midway. Nominated for a 1944 Best Original Screenplay Oscar'' this stunning war drama uses actual combat footage to tell its engrossing story.

• The Sherlock Holmes Catalogue - The Hound Of The Baskervilles | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (-100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This near two-hour Granada Television production of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Conan Doyle's most popular Sherlock Holmes tale, stars series regular Jeremy Brett as the Baker Street detective and Edward Hardwicke as his close ally, Dr John Watson. A thrilling blend of detective yarn and Gothic horror, the tale concerns the apparent return of an old curse upon the Baskerville family in the terrifying form of a gigantic killer hound. Fans of Hardwicke get an opportunity to see his Watson on a solo mission for part of this story, though Brett--easily the best of all screen actors to play the sleuth--is never far from the narrative. The supporting cast is very good, and the beast itself, revealed in a famously terrifying finale, is indeed a spooky revelation. --Tom Keogh

• Tycoon (John Wayne) | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £6.12   |  Saving you £3.87 (63.24%)   |  RRP £9.99

  An action-packed romantic movie about an engineer's attempt to build a railroad tunnel in the Andes Mountains. Johnny Munroe is a tough builder who along with partner Pop Mathews has been hired by tycoon Frederick Alexander to pull off the difficult task. Although Johnny and Pop think that it would be far easier to lay the train tracks on a bridge spanning a river Frederick insists on a tunnel.

• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - The Complete First Series | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £9.35   |  Saving you £6.64 (71.02%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Although Britain has changed almost beyond recognition since Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was first broadcast in the early 1970s, the show's simple slapstick humour has an ageless quality that makes it enduringly hilarious. Michael Crawford found fame as Frank Spencer, still probably television's most accident-prone man, and still Britain's most mimicked sitcom character, having inspired thousands of wannabe entertainers to don black berets and Humphrey Bogart-style rain coats and feebly exclaim "Mmm, Betty!". Crawford's great insight was to portray Frank as both a figure of fun and an endearingly sympathetic character: we laugh at him but never cease liking him, and we always admire his plucky never-say-die spirit. Most of the episodes share the common theme of Frank attempting to find a job (ranging from a holiday camp entertainer to an RAF cadet), but because of his clumsy demeanour and lack of common sense, losing the positions within a matter of hours. Pitted against a variety of middle-aged, male professionals (his GP, a psychiatrist and a public relations consultant for example), Spencer's stupidity reduces these "experts" to nervous wrecks. His long-suffering, doting wife Betty (Michelle Dotrice) features throughout, but despite his wild behaviour and idiocy she appears only mildly flustered by her husband's actions. On the DVD: Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was one of the first comedy series to be recorded by the BBC in colour, but the sound and vision of the episodes transfer perfectly satisfactorily to DVD format. At times the production values of some of the episodes are decidedly ropey (watch out for stray boom microphones and the skewed opening and closing credit). Apart from the episode and scene selection menus, which incorporate sound extracts from the show, no extras are included. --John Galilee

• The Sherlock Holmes Collection (23 Disc Box Set) | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £159.99

  The Sherlock Holmes Collection is a comprehensive box set containing all 36 hour-long episodes plus the five feature-length specials of Granada TV's classic series starring Jeremy Brett. Originally screened in 1984, the series ran intermittently until the mid-1990s, when the leading actor's chronically failing health forced a final end (he died in 1995). Still hailed by many as the definitive Holmes, Brett presented the great detective as a solitary, nervous and depressive personality whose brilliant flashes of inspiration were interrupted by long bouts of introspection and drug-induced lethargy. In the later feature-length episodes, the actor's own ill-health added a poignant extra dimension that both deepened and darkened his portrayal of Holmes. In a welcome departure from earlier adaptations, Dr Watson (originally played by David Burke, then by Edward Hardwicke) is a thoroughly sensible, pragmatic--if rather unimaginative--companion, not at all the bumbling sidekick made famous by Nigel Bruce in the Basil Rathbone era. Aside from impeccable central casting--bolstered by a host of distinguished thespian guest stars--and scripts that remain remarkably faithful to Conan Doyle's original stories, the series also boasts lavish period production design and a haunting music score from Patrick Gowers. Although latterly they both err too far on the side of melodrama, overall both the series and Jeremy Brett's tour de force performances are likely to remain unsurpassed. On the DVD: The Sherlock Holmes Collection DVD box set might be complete, but the individual discs themselves are disappointingly spartan, with no additional features of any kind nor any attempt to clean up the rather scratchy 4:3 picture quality or the dull mono sound. --Mark Walker

• Sherlock Holmes - The Devil's Foot / Silver Blaze | DVD | (09/06/2003) from £5.98   |  Saving you £4.01 (67.06%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Devil's Foot: While recuperating in Cornwall Holmes becomes involved in the tragedy of the Tregennis family. Silver Blaze: A kidnapped racehorse poses particular problems for Holmes and Watson.

• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - The Specials | DVD | (06/10/2003) from £10.03   |  Saving you £5.96 (37.30%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Includes all three 'Special' episodes on DVD for the first time! 'Jessica's First Christmas' - First broadcast 25 Dec 1974: It's time for Frank's favourite annual event the nativity play. When the angel of the lord phones in sick Frank is ready to put the wings on. He's also designed a special flying effect but ends up flying a bit higher than intended! 'Learning To Drive' - First broadcast 25 Dec 1975: Frank has a driving lesson but his car gets away from! Back at the hous

• Mary, Mother Of Jesus | DVD | (22/09/2003) from £19.59   |  Saving you £-17.60 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  The world's greatest story seen from the eyes of the Virgin Mary as she watches her infant son Jesus grow to manhood inspiring the known world with his miracles and teachings on the Word of God. The Angel Gabriel visits the 16 year-old Mary and tells her that she has been chosen to give birth to the Son of God. The child is born in Bethlehem and so begins a very human and touching story of love sacrifice and inspirational faith highlighting a real mother's concern for a son who knows that he must die on the cross so he can be born again.