"Actor: Jack Hawkins"

• British War DVD Collection | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The four films presented in The British War Collection unapologetically embody the dogged spirit and pluck of an embattled nation during its greatest crisis; that they also represent the zenith of post-war British cinema is a testament to both their quality and veracity. First in chronological order is The Cruel Sea (1953), a rivetingly faithful adaptation of Nicholas Monsarrat's gripping novel (itself semi-autobiographical) in which Jack Hawkins is the epitome of determined professionalism in the face of ever-present disaster. Moving from sea to air, The Dam Busters (1954) uses the same documentary-style approach to storytelling, though combined here with the more overt patriotic appeal of Eric Coates' famous march theme. A similar never-say-die spirit pervades both The Colditz Story (1955)--an authentic retelling of PR Reid's narrative--and Ice Cold in Alex (1958). Coincidentally or not, both films star the always indomitable John Mills. In Colditz, Mills heads a distinguished ensemble of British thespians as they attempt to escape from the infamous fortress, while in Alex he and his marvellously tight-knit cast journey painstakingly towards what is probably the most famous glass of lager in the world. On the DVDs: The British War Collection comes in a neat fold-out package with postcard-style cards for each movie. All four discs are presented in their original aspect ratios (Cruel Sea and Dam Busters, 1.33:1; Alex and Colditz, 1.66:1). The black and white prints are in pretty good condition, and are accompanied by reasonably clean mono soundtracks. Other than the original theatrical trailers there are no extras. --Mark Walker

• Lawrence of Arabia (Restored Version) | Blu Ray | (19/10/2015) from £22.68   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Limited edition steelbook

• Angels One Five | DVD | (24/08/2015) from £8.00   |  Saving you £9.99 (124.88%)   |  RRP £17.99

  In the summer of 1940 young volunteer reservist T.B. ‘Septic’ Baird (John Gregson – The Longest Day) is forced to crash his Hurricane on the RAF fighter station runway in order to avoid a collision with another plane. Injured in the accident he incurs the wrath of Squadron leader ‘Tiger’ Small (Jack Hawkins - Zulu) who grounds Baird transferring him to the operations centre until he recovers. Baird is desperate to get airborne but ‘Tiger’ refuses his protests. However when risk of a bombing attack threatens the airfield Baird takes his chance to be reinstated and returns to the skies. Painstaking restored to its former glory ANGELS ONE FIVE  is amongst the very best Battle of Britain war epics. Based on director George More O’Ferrall’s own WWII experience at Fighter Command HQ it offers a slice-of-life depiction of aerial

• Mandy | DVD | (06/07/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A loud resounding crash reverberates around the room though the small child in the cot remains motionless and oblivious to the sound. The young child's parents worst fears are realised - little Mandy is deaf! As she cannot hear how will she ever learn to speak? Harry and Christine Mandy's parents argue over their child's education. Christine wants to send Mandy to special school where deaf children are taught to lip-read and learn to speak but Harry will not allow it. So the child remains at home until one violent argument Christine leaves taking Mandy with her.

• State Secret | Blu Ray | (22/02/2021) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Hollywood star Douglas Fairbanks Jr gives a lively performance as a man on the run in this dramatic thriller from British film legends Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Co-starring Glynis Johns and featuring cinematography from Oscar-winning Robert Krasker, State Secret is presented here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. The East European state of Vosnia appears to outsiders as a civilised and beautiful country but is, in truth, a tightly controlled dictatorship. When a visiting American surgeon is duped into becoming dangerously involved in Vosnian power politics he goes on the run - a wanted man, his life is forfeit if he's captured!

• Angels One Five | Blu Ray | (24/08/2015) from £11.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (91.74%)   |  RRP £22.99

  In the summer of 1940 young volunteer reservist T.B. ‘Septic’ Baird (John Gregson – The Longest Day) is forced to crash his Hurricane on the RAF fighter station runway in order to avoid a collision with another plane. Injured in the accident he incurs the wrath of Squadron leader ‘Tiger’ Small (Jack Hawkins - Zulu) who grounds Baird transferring him to the operations centre until he recovers. Baird is desperate to get airborne but ‘Tiger’ refuses his protests. However when risk of a bombing attack threatens the airfield Baird takes his chance to be reinstated and returns to the skies. Painstaking restored to its former glory ANGELS ONE FIVE  is amongst the very best Battle of Britain war epics. Based on director George More O’Ferrall’s own WWII experience at Fighter Command HQ it offers a slice-of-life depiction of aerial

• Bonnie Prince Charlie | DVD | (14/03/2011) from £6.33   |  Saving you £9.66 (152.61%)   |  RRP £15.99

• Angels One Five | DVD | (02/06/2008) from £11.20   |  Saving you £1.79 (15.98%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Filmed mainly at RAF Kenley at the real '11 Group' operations block at RAF Uxbridge Angels One Five tells the story of the Battle of Britain from the perspective of the men and women on the ground.

• Ben-Hur | Blu Ray | (15/04/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  High-definition Blu-ray hits greater heights with the arrival of the visual splendour thundering action and towering drama of this record-setting winner of 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture. Charlton Heston brings a physical and moral presence to his Best Actor Oscar-winning role of Judah Ben-Hur a Jewish nobleman in Palestine whose heroic odyssey includes enslavement by the Romans vengeance against his tormentors during a furious arena chariot race and fateful encounters with Jesus Christ. Best Director Oscar winner William Wyler masterfully grips the reins of an enduring and spellbinding spectacular.

• The Third Secret | DVD | (24/09/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  One of Britain's leading psychiatrists has committed suicide. His teenage daughter (Pamela Franklin) is convinced that her father was murdered - and enlists the help of one of her father's patients, news reporter Alex Stedman (Stephen Boyd) to uncover the truth.As Stedman delves into the lives of his three suspects - a tormented art dealer (Richard Attenborough), a beautiful, lonely woman (Diane Cilento) and one of Britain's most respected judges (Jack Hawkins) - he has to battle with his own, re-emerging psychological terrors - and unravel The Third Secret...

• The Bridge On The River Kwai | Blu Ray | (04/12/2017) from £19.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (15.01%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Based on the true story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold's superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean's career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson's Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984). On the DVD: Too often the best extras come attached to films that don't really warrant them. Not so here, where a truly great film has been given the attention it deserves. The first disc presents the film in the original extra-wide CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, in an anamorphically enhanced transfer which does maximum justice to the film's superb cinematography. The sound has been transferred from the original six-track magnetic elements into 5.1 Dolby Digital and far surpasses what many would expect from a 1950s' feature. The main bonus on the first disc is an isolated presentation of Malcolm Arnold's great Oscar-winning music score, in addition to which there is a trivia game, and maps and historical information linked to appropriate clips. The second disc contains a new, specially produced 53-minute "making of" documentary featuring many of those involved in the production of the movie. This gives a rich insight into the physical problems of making such a complex epic on location in Ceylon. Also included are the original trailer and two short promotional films from the time of release, one of which is narrated by star William Holden. Finally there is an "appreciation" by director John Milius, an extensive archive of movie posters and artwork, and a booklet that reproduces the text of the film's original 1957 brochure. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Cruel Sea | DVD | (15/01/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The courageous story of the Battle of the Atlantic: a story of an ocean a ship and a handful of men. The brave crew are the heroes. The heroine is the ship. The only villain is the sea that man and war have made even more brutal...

• Zulu Special Collector's Edition | DVD | (05/11/2007) from £6.22   |  Saving you £3.77 (60.61%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The year: 1879. The place: Natal, Africa. One British garrison has already fallen to a huge army of Zulu tribesmen. The fearless native warriors are now heading for the isolated colonial outpost of Rorke's Drift, which is manned by no more than a hundred South Wales Borderers.A stirring tale of courage under fire, Zulu boasts fine performances from Michael Caine and Stanley Baker as conflicting British officers, and an unforgettable rendition of Men of Harlech.

• Mandy (65th Anniversary Digitally Restored) | Blu Ray | (12/06/2017) from £11.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Mandy Garland was born deaf and has been mute for all of her life. Her parents believe she is able to speak if she can only be taught and enroll her with a special teacher.

• The Michael Caine Collection - Educating Rita/The Ipcress File/Kidnapped/The Fourth Protocol | DVD | (06/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The Ipcress File - The tense spy thriller by Len Deighton that turned Michael Caine into a superstar. Cynical and rebellious ex-army sergeant Harry Palmer has been blackmailed into working for Britain's security service. Hot on the trail of a kidnapped scientist Palmer finds himself enmeshed in a sinister conspiracy involving horrifying brainwashing techniques murder and treachery that reaches up to the highest levels of the security service itself... Kidnapped - When young David Balfour arrives at his uncle's bleak Scottish house to claim his inheritance his relative first tries to murder him and then has him shipped off to be sold as a slave in the colonies. Fortunately for David he strikes up a friendship with Alan Breck (Michael Caine) and together they manage to escape. On arriving back in England they set out for Edinburgh dodging the ruthless Redcoats to claim David's rightful inheritance. Educating Rita - Rita a hairdresser with a sharp wit is married to Danny and at 26 doesn't want a baby. She wants to discover herself - so she joins the Open University. Dr Frank Bryant is a disillusioned university professor of literature. His marriage has failed his girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend and he can't get through the day without downing a bottle or two of whiskey. He refers to himself as an appalling teacher of appalling students. What Frank needs is a challenge - and along comes Rita. In this hilarious and often moving drama the story tells how two people find a new lease of life through each other. The Fouth Protocol - On July 1 1968 America Britain and Russia signed a treaty to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. The powers then added four extra clauses. The most secret of them was and remains the final. On winter the Chairman of the KGB hatches a plan to breach this Fourth Protocol and destroy NATO. He sends an agent Major Petrofsky (Pierece Brosnan) to assemble the operation. It is now up to MI6 agent John Preston (Michael Caine) who now must race against an unknown deadline to stop him and his devasting mission.

• The Virgin Soldiers | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Available for the first time on DVD! The Virgin Soldiers is a bawdy look at life in Britain's conscript army of the 50s and how their ""virgin soldiers"" spent two years defending King and country. Take Private Brigg (Hywel Bennett) for example when he's not filling in forms or engaging the Malaysian bandits he's out on manoeuvers with a Chinese dance-hall girl named Juicy Lucy (Tsai Chin). She is supposed to be a lady of easy virtue but to Brigg's delight she proves to be a lady

• State Secret | DVD | (22/02/2021) from £6.44   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Hollywood star Douglas Fairbanks Jr gives a lively performance as a man on the run in this dramatic thriller from British film legends Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. Co-starring Glynis Johns and featuring cinematography from Oscar-winning Robert Krasker, State Secret is presented here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio. The East European state of Vosnia appears to outsiders as a civilised and beautiful country but is, in truth, a tightly controlled dictatorship. When a visiting American surgeon is duped into becoming dangerously involved in Vosnian power politics he goes on the run - a wanted man, his life is forfeit if he's captured!

• Guns at Batasi | Blu Ray | (31/07/2017) from £18.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Regimental Sergeant-Major Lauderdale is a spit-and-polish, by-the-book disciplinarian, who seems like a 19th Century anachronism in a sleepy peacetime African outpost of the modern British Commonwealth. He is ridiculed behind his back by his subordinate NCO's and must play host to a liberal female MP making a tour of the base. However, when an ambitious African officer, who happens to be a protege of the MP's, initiates a coup d'etat against Captain Abraham, the lawful African commandant, the resourceful RSM uses all his military training to arm his men despite being under house arrest and rescue the wounded commandant from a certain firing squad. When Lt. Boniface, the leader of the mutiny surrounds the sergeants mess with two Bofors guns, it looks like Lauderdale will have to surrender unless he again disobeys orders and takes the initiative. High Definition Transfer Commentary by Actor John Leyton Interview with Mia Farrow TBC Promotional Materials Gallery Still Gallery Original Theatrical Trailer

• The Intruder | Blu Ray | (20/04/2020) from £14.33   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An excellent early feature from future Bond director Guy Hamilton, this tense drama boasts outstanding performances from Jack Hawkins, as a distinguished former officer, and Michael Medwin, as the wartime hero he endeavours to save from a life of crime. Featuring strong support from Dennis Price, and George Cole, The Intruder is presented here in a brand-new High Definition transfer from the original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Wolf Merton, a London stockbroker with a fine war record as colonel of a tank regiment, returns to his Belgravia home to find that there is an intruder in the house a young armed thug called Ginger Edwards, who he remembers well as one of the most fearless and spirited troopers under his leadership. But why has Ginger taken up housebreaking? And will Merton be able to help him to return to a more honourable way of life? SPECIAL FEATURES: Theatrical trailer Image gallery

• The League Of Gentlemen | DVD | (15/01/2001) from £14.98   |  Saving you £0.01 (0.07%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The League of Gentlemen is a sardonic crime drama in which Jack Hawkins plays an embittered retired army officer who recruits seven fellow ex-soldiers to carry out a bank raid with military precision. The film presents an England between post-war austerity and the more liberated 1960s where traditional moral certainties were rapidly being discarded; a London where ex-officers left on the scrapheap at war's end could justify turning their military experience to armed robbery. Unfortunately the tale is neither particularly amusing or thrilling, with an overlong central detour via an army camp prefacing the exciting heist and a largely anti-climactic ending. Nevertheless Hawkins effectively subverts his heroic officer type from The Cruel Sea (1953) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and there's excellent support from a great cast including Nigel Patrick, Richard Attenborough and Roger Livesey. Bryan Forbes not only wrote the cynical screenplay but costarred with wife Nanette Newman in her first significant screen role. More influential than truly classic, The League of Gentlemen has lent its name to a modern BBC comedy, an "Extraordinary" comic strip-turned-movie, and proved the template for heist films ever since, including both versions of The Italian Job (1969 and 2003). On the DVD:The League of Gentlemen is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 16:9 transfer from an excellent condition print and mostly looks and sounds fine. There's minimal print damage, though sadly Philip Green's ironically patriotic main title music suffers from significant distortion. The only extra is the original trailer, which is now something of a period piece itself. --Gary S Dalkin