"Actor: Hay Petrie"

• Jamaica Inn | DVD | (11/06/2007) from £4.49   |  Saving you £5.50 (122.49%)   |  RRP £9.99

  It's generally acknowledged that the Master of Suspense disliked costume dramas and Jamaica Inn--a rip-roaring melodrama drawn from a Daphne du Maurier pot-boiler, set in 1820s Cornwall--is about as costumed as they come. So what was he doing directing it? Killing time, essentially. In 1939 Hitchcock was due to leave Britain for Hollywood, but delays Stateside left him with time on his hands. Never one to sit idle, he agreed to make one picture for Mayflower Productions, a new outfit formed by actor Charles Laughton and émigré German producer Erich Pommer. An innocent young orphan (the 19-year-old Maureen O'Hara in her first starring role) arrives at her uncle's remote Cornish inn to find it a den of reprobates given to smuggling, wrecking and gross overacting. They're all out-hammed, though, by Laughton at his most corseted and outrageously self-indulgent as the local squire to whom Maureen runs for help. Since his star was also the co-producer, Hitch couldn't do much with the temperamental actor. He contented himself with adding a few characteristic touches--including a spot of bondage (always a Hitchcock favourite), and the chief villain's final spectacular plunge from a high place--and slyly sending up the melodramatic absurdities of the plot. Jamaica Inn hardly stands high in the Master's canon, but it trundles along divertingly enough. Hitchcock fanatics will have fun comparing it with his two subsequent--and far more accomplished--Du Maurier adaptations, Rebecca and The Birds. --Philip Kemp

• The Four Feathers | DVD | (19/06/2007) from £3.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (150.38%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Far too many film versions of the The Four Feathers have been made over the years, which is especially surprising considering that this 1939 Korda brothers production is surely definitive. The film simultaneously celebrates and pokes fun at British imperialism, showing the kind of dogged stiff-upper-lippery that forged an empire, but also the blinkered attitudes and crass snobbishness of the ruling classes (and those plummy accents--did people ever really talk like that?). Whatever political subtext may or may not be read into it, though, the film is best celebrated for its magnificent vistas: partially made on location in the Sudan, as well as at the famous Denham Studios, this is British cinema from the days when it thought to rival Hollywood for sheer spectacle. Vincent Korda's production design and the glorious early colour cinematography are helped greatly by fellow Hungarian émigré Miklos Rozsa's epic score. John Clements is the notional hero, the man who is determined to show the world he is not a coward after resigning his commission (even though it would surely have saved everyone a lot of bother if he had just stuck with it) but the film is stolen by Ralph Richardson, magnificent as an officer struck blind and led to safety by Clements' Harry Faversham. The latter scenes when Richardson's Captain Durrance realises the truth and its implications are the most poignant and emotionally truthful in the film. C Aubrey Smith is delightful as the old buffer who relives his battles on the dinner table; to a modern audience, however, the "blackface" casting of John Laurie as the Khalifa strikes a discordant note. But adjusting some expectations for its vintage, this is a triumph of derring-do and far and away the most gripping version of this oft-told story on film. --Mark Walker

• One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing | DVD | (15/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  After being shot down over Nazi occupied Holland an RAF bomber crew attempt to make their way back to England with the help of the Dutch resistance.

• A Canterbury Tale | DVD | (19/06/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  This compelling drama by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (A Matter of Life and Death The Red Shoes) is now acknowledged as one of their finest films. Their re-working of Chaucer's epic fourteenth century tale largely set in wartime Kent centres on American army Sergeant John Smith British Soldier Dennis Price and Landgirl Shiela Sim who before making a modern-day pilgrimage to Canterbury solve the bizarre mystery of a man who pours glue over the hair of village girls at ni

• Thief Of Baghdad | DVD | (19/06/2006) from £7.39   |  Saving you £2.60 (35.18%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This wondrous fantasy comes out of the pages of ""A Thousand and One Nights."" When the nefarious Jaffar usurps the Sultan's throne the princess's beloved suitor Ahmad and the strong and handsome thief Abu use magic to help the king regain power. To defeat them Jaffar causes Ahmad to go blind and turns Abu into a dog. But the heroes overcome these adversities and conquer many other mortal dangers before reclaiming the kingdom. The Thief of Bagdad made quite an impact on the

• Category 8 | DVD | (13/11/2017) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Pastor Hall (UK Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (27/06/2022) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  When the quiet German village of Altdorf is taken over by an SS platoon which proceeds to enforce Hitler's ideals upon its inhabitants, a kindly pastor questions the agenda of 'The New Order' while members of his parish turn a blind eye to the insidious indoctrination. Before long, he is punished for his vocal opposition and is sent to Dachau, where, despite the abuse and brutality which he suffers, he refuses to give in to the madness and inhumanity of National Socialism. Adapted from Ernst Toller's 1939 play of the same name, and based on the true story of Protestant minister Martin Niemöller, Pastor Hall is the impressive third feature from the Boulting brothers (Brighton Rock). Starring Wilfrid Lawson (Pygmalion) as the iconic pastor, and Nova Pilbeam (Young and Innocent) as his formidable daughter, the film was one of the first anti-Nazi dramas ever made and had its original production delayed by British censors who were not yet ready to be openly critical of Hitler's regime. A bold and stirring tribute to the universal power of faith, courage and personal conviction, Pastor Hall has been newly restored from 4K scans of the nitrate duplicate negative by Powerhouse Films and is finally available on Blu-ray for the first time in the world. Product Features New restoration from a 4K scan of the nitrate duplicate negative by Powerhouse Films Original mono audio Matthew D Hockenos on Martin Niemöller (2022): the author of Then They Came for Me: Martin Niemöller, the Pastor Who Defied the Nazis discusses the life and legacy of the German pastor Richard Falcon on 'Pastor Hall' (2022): the ex-BBFC examiner discusses the film's history with the British Board of Film Censors Newsreel footage (1946): extract from Welt in Film featuring Niemöller speaking about post-war German guilt The Dawn Guard (1941): short film directed by Roy Boulting and starring Pastor Hall actors Percy Walsh and Bernard Miles as members of the Home Guard Minefield! (1944): documentary short film produced by Roy Boulting for the Army Film Unit New and improved subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Fiona Kelly, archival articles, new writing on the short films, and film credits World premiere on Blu-ray Limited edition of 4,000 copies for the UK and US All extras subject to change

• Old Curiosity Shop | DVD | (14/05/2012) from £7.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (100.12%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When an elderly shop keeper and his daughter are threatened by the local mean spirited dwarf they run away to avoid having to pay him their debts. However he soon catches up with them and pursues them across England.

• The Conquest of the Air | DVD | (14/09/2015) from £11.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Charting man's complicated journey towards and mastery over flight, this fascinating film uses both drama and documentary footage to present a highly cinematic account of the evolution of aviation, encompassing early experiments in automated flight, the development of bombers and aircraft carriers, and the earliest experiments in vertical rotary flight. A project initiated in 1935 by Alexander Korda as a potential collaboration with Winston Churchill, The Conquest of the Air was produced in fits and starts over the following five years eventually being released in 1940 as a propaganda film to help the war effort both here and in America. The film is featured here in a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited aspect ratio.

• Best Of British Thrillers | DVD | (23/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  First ever DVD box set release of the famous Victorian theatre and film actor - Tod Slaughter who died in 1956. Includes: 1. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street 2. Crimes at the Dark House 3. Maria Marten: The Murder in the Red Barn

• Criterion Collection: Red Shoes | Blu Ray | (20/07/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Crimes At The Dark House | DVD | (23/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Percival Glyde is murdered in his sleep with a wooden spike that is hammered into his skull. His killer (Tod Slaughter) steals his identity and moves into Glyde's London mansion. The family lawyer who has not seen the real Percival since he was a boy informs the madman of Glyde's arranged marriage to the beautiful heiress Laurie Fairlie. Greed and perversion drive this lunatic to the brutal killing of anyone who attempts to unravel his secret identity...

• Jamaica Inn | DVD | (27/06/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.30

  It's generally acknowledged that the Master of Suspense disliked costume dramas, and Jamaica Inn--a rip-roaring melodrama drawn from a Daphne du Maurier pot-boiler, set in 1820s Cornwall--is about as costumed as they come. So what was he doing directing it? Killing time, essentially. In 1939 Hitchcock was due to quit Britain for Hollywood, but delays Stateside left him with time on his hands. Never one to sit idle, he agreed to make one picture for Mayflower Productions, a new outfit formed by actor Charles Laughton and émigré German producer Erich Pommer. An innocent young orphan (the 19-year-old Maureen O'Hara in her first starring role) arrives at her uncle's remote Cornish inn to find it a den of reprobates given to smuggling, wrecking and gross overacting. They're all out-hammed, though, by Laughton at his most corseted and outrageously self-indulgent as the local squire to whom Maureen runs for help. Since his star was also the co-producer, Hitch couldn't do much with the temperamental actor. He contented himself with adding a few characteristic touches--including a spot of bondage (always a Hitchcock favourite), and the chief villain's final spectacular plunge from a high place--and slyly sending up the melodramatic absurdities of the plot. Jamaica Inn hardly stands high in the Master's canon, but it trundles along divertingly enough. Hitchcock fanatics will have fun comparing it with his two subsequent--and far more accomplished--du Maurier adaptations, Rebecca and The Birds.--Philip Kemp