Based on the series of novels written by Dorothy L Sayers in the 1920s and 30s, Lord Peter Wimsey was dramatised for TV by the BBC between 1972-5. Ian Carmichael, veteran of British film comedy, played the genial, aristocratic sleuth; Glyn Houston was his manservant Bunter. The pair are similar to PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Bertie Wooster (whom Carmichael played in an earlier TV adaptation) though here the duo are equal in intelligence, breezing about the country together in Wimsey's Bentley and stumbling with morbid regularity upon baffling murder mysteries to test their wits. Those for whom this series forms hazy memories of childhood might be surprised at its somewhat stagy, lingering interior shots, the spartan paucity of music, the miserly attitude towards locations, especially foreign ones, and the rather genteel, leisurely pace of these programmes, besides which Inspector Morse seems like Quentin Tarantino in comparison. It seems that initially the BBC was reluctant to commission the series and ventured on production with a wary eye on the budget. The Britain depicted by Sayers is, by and large, populated by either the upper classes or heavily accented, rum-do-and-no-mistake lower orders, which some might find consoling. However, the acting is generally excellent and the murder mysteries are sophisticated parlour games, the televisual equivalent of a good, absorbing jigsaw puzzle. There were five feature-length adaptations in all. "The Nine Tailors" weaves an especially elaborate tale, involving jewel theft, campanology (the art of bell-ringing) and dual identity. --David Stubbs
Join the inimitable Mr Toad and his good friends Ratty Badger and Mole in their exciting and unpredictable adventures over a year at the Riverbank! Featuring 12 episodes from the award-winning 1980s ITV series previously unavailable on DVD this charming box set is a unique opportunity to re-discover the much-loved world of Toad and chums! Another fine animated show from those geniuses at Cosgrove Hall.
In School for Scoundrels wimpy Ian Carmichael wants to impress girls and get one over on all-round show-off and cad Terry Thomas (playing gloriously to type). Discovering Alastair Simms' unorthodox school Carmichael happily enrols and learns the quaint tricks of the day for securing the admiration of a fair lady. Ultimately as a star pupil he teaches the Master a thing or two about true love when everything turns out just fine in the end. Appealing to all male sensibilities is the idea of a magical set of simple rules for winning someone's affections. Set in the tweed-rich environment of an English boarding school makes this an even quainter notion. To watch this classic comedy is to cock one's snoot at womanisers everywhere while unavoidably making a mental list of anything that might actually work! The three central performances are brilliantly realised, particularly the role reversal between Carmichael and Thomas. Try playing a tennis match after a viewing without calling "hard cheese". -Paul Tonks
First published in 1908, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind In The Willows has become one of the best-loved books of all time, enchanting generations of children and adults alike. Voiced by an all-star cast including David Jason as TOAD, Michael Hordern as BADGER, Richard Pearson as MOLE and Ian Carmichael as RATTY with Una Stubbs and Beryl Reid. Brought to the screen by award-winning animation team Cosgrove Hall, The Wind In The Willows movie introduces us, for the first time, to our four intrepid animal friends. Toad decides that motor cars are the only way to travel, however his driving skills don't matchup to his enthusiasm. Our countryside friends come to his rescue and try to help him stay on the right side of the road, and the law, in this exciting adventure. BAFTA and Emmy award-winning, this movie set the template for the hugely successful five series of The Wind In The Willows that followed.
Terry-Thomas one of Britain's finest cinematic cads gets his very own box set. Good show! Featuring: 1. School For Scoundrels (1960) 2. His & Hers (1961) 3. Private's Progress (1956) 4. Make Mine Mink (1960) 5. Too Many Crooks (1959) 6. The Naked Truth (1957)
Newly qualified barrister Roger Thursby joins his flatmate as a trainee at a London law firm. Thrown in at the deep end by the absent-minded senior partner his first few appearances in court border on the disastrous as he encounters a succession of cantankerous judges.
1950s British comedy in which a petty criminal attempts to pass some counterfeit notes. After stealing a briefcase of money, Willie Frith (Ian Carmichael) realises the notes are fake. However, in an attempt to win the affections of barmaid Gloria (Belinda Lee) Willie begins spending the money. Meanwhile, the man whose briefcase was stolen is out to seek the culprit...
Join Ratty Badger Mole and the inimitable Toad in these exciting adventures!
A vibrant, free-spirited Southern woman and her bright, engaging 12 year-old daughter find themselves on a journey of self-discovery in Gavin O'Connor's Tumbleweeds.
Brothers Kevin and Michael Goetz co-direct this American horror remake of the notorious Pascal Laugier directed French cult classic. The film begins as ten-year-old Lucie (Ever Prishkulnik) flees her captors in an isolated farmhouse and is taken into the refuge of a Catholic orphanage where she becomes best friends with fellow resident Anna (Elyse Cole). Still traumatised ten years later, Lucie (Troian Bellisario) begins an obsessive quest to get her revenge on the people who tortured her. With Anna (Bailey Noble) by her side, she tracks down the couple responsible for her kidnapping but the pair soon find themselves at the mercy of a murderous religious cult and its leader Eleanor (Kate Burton)...
From Beyond the Grave is an anthology film adapted from four short stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes, strung together under the pretext of an antique dealer who owns a shop called Temptations Ltd. and the fate that befalls his customers who try to cheat him. First up is "The Gate Crasher" with David Warner who frees an evil entity from an antique mirror; then "An Act of Kindness" featuring Donald Pleasence; followed by "The Elemental;" and "The Door." From Beyond The Grave was the directorial debut of Kevin Connor who would go onto become a modest name in genre cinema. It was actually one of Connor's best films and he demonstrates exceptional directorial style. Particularly good are the seance scenes in the first episode where Connor conducts some inventive 360-degree pan shots with a candle that explodes between a flickering flame and a jet in the foreground. The murders in this segment are vividly staged, with Connor creating some marvelously sinister images of David Warner standing about in bloodstained clothes and a totally wrecked apartment. --Sally Giles
Jim has managed to get a job in one of the top universities but all he has to do to cement a future is survive a terrible weekend at his fellow professors deliver a lecture on 'Merry England' and resist the temptations of Christine...
Winning BAFTAs for Best British Screenplay and Best British Actor (Peter Sellers) I’M ALL RIGHT JACK is popularly considered to be the best of John and Roy Boulting’s social satires.Sellers plays both Sir John Kennaway and the tragic-comic trade union leader Fred Kite. The result is laugh-out-loud comedy with a satiric edge lampooning the then-burning issue of industrial relations. Bertram Tracepurcel (Dennis Price) plans to make a fortune from a missile contract a scheme that involves manipulating his innocent nephew Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael) into acting as the catalyst in an escalating labour dispute from which the socialist Mr. Kite is only too keen to make capital. Featuring a superb supporting cast including Terry-Thomas Richard Attenborough John Le Mesurier Irene Handl and Margaret Rutherford this is an ingenious comedy about the British workplace and self-serving hypocrisy. A sequel to 1956’s A Private’s Progress the film is bought roaringly to life by Sellers’ astonishing turn as the Stalinist unionist. Bonus Features: Brand new interview with Liz Fraser The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film Cinefile: Seller’s Best
Ian Carmichael stars as the aristocratic detective Lord Peter Wimsey in this classic BBC adaptation of the novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. When Lord Peter goes on holiday to Scotland he is hoping to do nothing more strenuous than catch some trout. Even Wimsey's loyal servant Bunter is looking forward to taking some time off to go painting. However when Bunter notices an easel in the distance but no sign of the artist Lord Peter is called into action. The easel belongs to an unpopular local artist Campbell whose body is discovered lying on the rocks below the popular vantage point. Was it an accidental fall? Wimsey suspects not and with six possible suspects he must use all of his detective skills to determine the five red herrings and expose the murderer.
Winning BAFTAs for Best British Screenplay and Best British Actor (Peter Sellers) I’M ALL RIGHT JACK is popularly considered to be the best of John and Roy Boulting’s social satires.Sellers plays both Sir John Kennaway and the tragic-comic trade union leader Fred Kite. The result is laugh-out-loud comedy with a satiric edge lampooning the then-burning issue of industrial relations. Bertram Tracepurcel (Dennis Price) plans to make a fortune from a missile contract a scheme that involves manipulating his innocent nephew Stanley Windrush (Ian Carmichael) into acting as the catalyst in an escalating labour dispute from which the socialist Mr. Kite is only too keen to make capital. Featuring a superb supporting cast including Terry-Thomas Richard Attenborough John Le Mesurier Irene Handl and Margaret Rutherford this is an ingenious comedy about the British workplace and self-serving hypocrisy. A sequel to 1956’s A Private’s Progress the ?lm is bought roaringly to life by Sellers’ astonishing turn as the Stalinist unionist. Bonus Features: Brand new interview with Liz Fraser The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film Cinefile: Seller’s Best
Two classic British comedies from the 1960s. Trouble with Eve: Scandal rips through a quiet British village after a woman converts her cottage into a tearoom. Double Bunk: When newlyweds Jack and Peggy face eviction, they are tricked into buying a rundown houseboat. After rebuilding the engine, they take their friends Sid and Sandra on a trip down the river to Folkestone, but somehow they end up in France. Starring Sid James and Liz Fraser.
Ian Carmichael - one of British cinema's most accomplished character actors and immortalised in the television role of P.G. Wodehouse's genial upper-class bumbler Bertie Wooster - heads a strong cast in this comedy Cold War thriller. Directed by the BAFTA-nominated Cy Endfield whose credits include Zulu and Hell Drivers Hide and Seek also stars Oscar winner Hugh Griffith Bond villain Curd Jürgens and Golden Globe-winning British actress Janet Munro; the film is presented here in a brand-new transfer from the original elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Whilst working on a top-secret missile project research scientist David Garret runs into an old friend from behind the Iron Curtain - now a world chess champion working for mysterious businessman Hubert Marek. The hapless professor of astronomy is shortly to find himself at the centre of a kidnap plan designed to make it appear that he has in fact defected to the Soviet Union... Special Features: Image Gallery
First published in 1908, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind In The Willows has become one of the best-loved books of all time, enchanting generations of children and adults alike. Voiced by an all-star cast including David Jason as TOAD, Michael Hordern as BADGER, Richard Pearson as MOLE and Ian Carmichael as RATTY with Una Stubbs and Beryl Reid. Brought to the screen by award-winning animation team Cosgrove Hall, The Wind In The Willows movie introduces us, for the first time, to our four intrepid animal friends. Toad decides that motor cars are the only way to travel, however his driving skills don't matchup to his enthusiasm. Our countryside friends come to his rescue and try to help him stay on the right side of the road, and the law, in this exciting adventure. BAFTA and Emmy award-winning, this movie set the template for the hugely successful five series of The Wind In The Willows that followed.
First published in 1908, Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind In The Willows' has become one of the best loved books of all time, enchanting generations of children and adults alike. Voiced by an all-star cast including DAVID JASON as Toad, MICHAEL HORDERN as Badger, RICHARD PEARSON as Mole and IAN CHARMICHAEL as Ratty with UNA STUBBS and BERYL REID. Brought to the screen by award winning animation team Cosgrove Hall, 'The Wind In The Willows' original movie introduces us, for the first time, to our...
A comedy drama set in a WWII British Army Searchlight Squad. They are an odd bunch of misfits but somehow manage to get the job done. Part of the successful `Best of British series which showcases lost or unreleased films from the heyday of British cinema.
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