"Actor: Herschel Bernardi"

• Murder by Contract (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (24/10/2022) from £18.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Starring Vince Edwards (City of Fear) and Herschel Bernardi (The Front), Murder by Contract is a bleak investigation into the mind of a professional killer. Tasked with murdering a witness in a criminal trial, contract killer Claude has second thoughts when the target turns out to be a woman... because women cost double. Killing is just a business to Claude, but when he tries to quit, the hunter become the hunted. The once-blacklisted writer-director team of Ben Maddow (Framed) and Irving Lerner (City of Fear) bring you this stylish, minimalist, and eccentric film noir, beautifully photographed by Lucien Ballard (Bullfighter and the Lady, The Wild Bunch), and championed by Martin Scorsese who has described it as one of his biggest influences. Product Features High Definition presentation Original mono audio Audio commentary with film critic and writer Farran Smith Nehme (2021) Introduction by Martin Scorsese (2014, 5 mins) Swedes in America (1943, 18 mins): Irving Lerner's Oscar-nominated short film, presented by Ingrid Bergman, detailing the influence of Swedish immigrants on the United States Violence Is the Word for Curly (1938, 18 mins): comedy short starring the Three Stooges, which provided an early cinematography credit for Murder by Contract's prolific director of photography, Lucien Ballard Original theatrical trailer Larry Karaszewski trailer commentary (2020, 3 mins): short critical appreciation Image gallery: publicity and promotional material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• Irma La Douce | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £14.18   |  Saving you £1.81 (12.76%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Irma La Douce reunited The Apartment team of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine with director Billy Wilder in an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name which had been a hit in Paris, London and New York. The screen transfer by Wilder and his colleague--writer IAL Diamond--however, omits the show's songs, relegating them to a background score refashioned by Andre Previn with some additional themes of his own. Background here is a complimentary term, for whatever qualms one might entertain as to this move, the two sets of themes are skilfully woven together by Previn and emerge as a witty and lyrical aural delight in their own right which is given due prominence on the soundtrack. Wilder is no rush to tell prostitute Irma's story: her affair with Lemmon being the pivot of the tale as he takes on the disguise of an English Lord. Lemmon and MacLaine beautifully play their mutual attraction under Wilder's deft direction with the slapstick never allowed to get out of hand. Many will recognise Wilder's touch in his handling of the scene where Lemmon as a policeman is carted off in a van full of voracious prostitutes from the bunks-in-the-train sequence in Some Like It Hot. The handsome production, designed by Alexander Tranner--with the occasional view of the Seine thrown in for good measure--and the Panavision photography by Joseph La Shelle are further assets. On the DVD: The DVD contains a longer than usual theatrical trailer, half shot as a cartoon with characters closely resembling those Pink Panther figures who emerged at the same time from the Mirisch Brothers, a pair prominent in sustaining the unique success of United Artists, whose name was deleted, in favour of the MGM logo, in the early 1960s. It's too bad that the music on this DVD transfer sometimes strikes a coarse note particularly over the extended opening credits. --Adrian Edwards

• The Front (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (30/08/2021) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  What if there were a list? A list that said: Our finest actors weren't allowed to act. Our best writers aren't allowed to write. Our funniest comedians aren't allowed to make us laugh. What would it be like if there were such a list? It would be like America in 1953. Special Features 4K restoration from the original negative Original mono audio Audio commentary with film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman and actress Andrea Marcovicci Behind The Front (2004, 6 mins): an interview with the acclaimed director of photography Michael Chapman Isolated score: experience Dave Grusin's original soundtrack music Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography Original theatrical trailer New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• The Front | DVD | (06/06/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.

• I-Man | DVD | (13/04/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Fun sci-fi tale for all the family of a cab driver (Bakula) who is turned into a virtually indestructible human being after exposed to a mysterious gas...