"Actor: James West"

• Anatomy Of A Murder | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £9.98   |  Saving you £12.00 (150.19%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Anatomy of a Murder, Otto Preminger's 1959 film of the novel by Robert Traver (a pen name for a Michigan Supreme Court Justice), was controversial in its day for making frank on-screen use of then-unheard words such as "panties", "rape" and "spermatogenesis"--and it remains a trenchant, bitter, tough, witty dissection of the American legal system. With its striking Saul Bass title design and jazzy Duke Ellington score, Anatomy of a Murder takes a sophisticated approach unusual for a Hollywood film of its vintage. Most radically, it refuses to show the murder or any of the private scenes recounted in court, leaving it up to us to decide along with the jury whether the grumpy and unconcerned Lieutenant Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara) was or was not subject to an "irresistible impulse" tantamount to insanity when he shot dead Barney Quill, the bear-like bar owner alleged to have raped Manion's teasing trailer-trash wife Laura (Lee Remick in unfeasibly tight trousers). James Stewart plays Paul "Polly" Biegler a former District Attorney keen to get back into court to clash with the political dullard who replaced him in office. Biegler is supported by the skills of his snide secretary (Eve Arden) and boozy-but-brilliant research partner (Arthur O'Connell). For the prosecution, the befuddled local DA hauls in Dancer (George C Scott), a prissy legal eagle from the local big city whose sharp-suited, sly elegance makes an interesting clash with Biegler's "aw-shucks" jimmy-stewartian conniving. This is simply the best trial movie ever made, with a real understanding of the way lawyers have to be not only great actors but stars, assuming personalities that exaggerate their inner selves and weighing every outburst and objection for the effect it has on the poor saps in the jury box. On the DVD: The print is letterboxed to 1.85:1, but it's a bit of a cheat since that seems to involve trimming the top and bottom of the image (losing the steps under and the clouds above the Columbia lady in the opening titles), though the film isn't seriously hurt by a tighter look at the action. Also included are: an Ellington-scored photo montage, soundtracks in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish with subtitles in ten languages, filmographies for director and principal cast, original advertising (highlighting Saul Bass' poster designs, a trailer and more trailers for more Columbia Jimmy Stewart or courtroom films. --Kim Newman

• The Talented Mr Ripley | DVD | (08/01/2001) from £7.39   |  Saving you £10.60 (143.44%)   |  RRP £17.99

  To be young and carefree amid the blue waters and idyllic landscape of sun-drenched Italy in the late 1950s; that’s la dolce vita Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) craves - and Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law) leads.

• The Lost Prince | DVD | (20/01/2003) from £6.12   |  Saving you £9.87 (161.27%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A marvellous reinvention of the costume epic, The Lost Prince is Stephen Poliakoff's absorbing study of the turbulent years leading up to and during the First World War, seen through the percipient eyes of a scarcely remembered royal child. Extensively researched, impeccably cast, beautifully filmed, written and directed by Poliakoff himself with masterly economy and restraint, this is a timely reminder that original, intelligent drama can work as prime time entertainment while appealing on multiple levels; and there isn't an escaped soap star in sight. Johnnie, the prince kept hidden away by his parents Queen Mary and George V for fear that his epileptic fits and idiosyncratic ways might draw unwelcome attention, is not presented as a tragic figure. His view of the great events which shatter his family and change the world forever is direct and uncluttered. Poliakoff celebrates his apartness--and that of all children who are different--as a force for good, without judging the standards, protocols and contemporary medical theories which kept him on the periphery of society. The series makes the most of its well-chosen locations, and from Johnnie's garden at Sandringham to the assassination of the Russian imperial family, it maintains a hypnotic and elegiac quality The acting is first-rate, too. Gina McKee is profoundly moving as Johnnie's devoted nurse Lalla; and Miranda Richardson's Mary is an extraordinary performance, the controlled façade of single-minded focus occasionally fracturing to reveal a flash of humanity. This production is exquisite in every respect. On the DVD: The Lost Prince is presented in its original transmission format of 16:9. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, enhanced by Adrian Johnston's haunting score is crystal clear. Extras include Poliakoff's revealing commentary, with occasional input from Johnston and designer John-Paul Kelly, and a couple of documentary fragments which show the production in progress and place it in context with the rest of Poliakoff's work. --Piers Ford

• True Grit | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £6.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (85.84%)   |  RRP £12.99

  John Wayne hams it up as a one-eyed, broken-down marshal in this 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis's bestselling novel. Kim Darby plays the formal-speaking adolescent who goes to Wayne for help tracking down her father's killer, and singer Glen Campbell straps on his guns to join the quest. Directed by old lion Henry Hathaway (Rawhide), True Grit is largely a showcase for Wayne (who finally won an Oscar), but it is also a decent Western with a particularly stirring final act. --Tom Keogh

• Birdman Of Alcatraz | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £8.18   |  Saving you £7.81 (95.48%)   |  RRP £15.99

  How does bitter convict Robert Stroud cope with a lifetime of solitary confinement? The answer in a sense comes from above in the form of a feeble sparrow he finds in the isolation yard. Stroud brings this newfound companion to his cell nurses it to health and from that point on there's no turning back. Despite having only a third grade education and no hope of parole Stroud becomes a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind prison walls

• On The Waterfront (1954) (Criterion Collection) 2 discs - UK only | Blu Ray | (02/12/2019) from £32.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  MARLON BRANDO (The Godfather) gives the performance of his career as the tough prizefighter-turnedlongshoreman Terry Malloy in this masterpiece of urban poetry, a raggedly emotional tale of individual failure and institutional corruption. On the Waterfront charts Terry's deepening moral crisis as he must choose whether to remain loyal to the mob-connected union boss Johnny Friendly (12 Angry Men's LEE J. COBB) and Johnny's right-hand man, Terry's brother, Charley (In the Heat of the Night's ROD STEIGER), as the authorities close in on them. Driven by the vivid, naturalistic direction of ELIA KAZAN (Gentlemen's Agreement) and savory, streetwise dialogue by BUDD S CHULBERG (A Face in the Crowd), On the Waterfront was an instant sensation, winning eight Oscars, including for best picture, director, actor, supporting actress (North by Northwest's EVA MARIE SAINT), and screenplay. Special Edition Features: New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition Alternate presentations of the feature restoration in two additional aspect ratios: 1.85:1 (widescreen) and 1.33:1 (full-screen) Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS -HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition Commentary featuring authors Richard Schickel and Jeff Young New conversation between filmmaker Martin Scorsese and critic Kent Jones Elia Kazan: Outsider (1982), an hour-long documentary New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with scholar Leo Braudy, critic David Thomson, and others New interview with actress Eva Marie Saint Interview with director Elia Kazan from 2001 Contender, a 2001 documentary on the film's most famous scene New interview with longshoreman Thomas Hanley, an actor in the film New interview with author James T. Fisher (On the Irish Waterfront) about the real-life people and places behind the film Visual essay on Leonard Bernstein's score Trailer PLUS : A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Almereyda and reprints of Kazan's 1952 ad in the New York Times defending his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, one of the 1948 New York Sun articles by Malcolm Johnson on which the film was based, and a 1953 Commonweal piece by screenwriter Budd Schulberg

• Howard's End | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £12.96   |  Saving you £-7.98 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  Howards End is E M Forster's beautifully subtle story of the criss-crossing paths of the privileged and those they disdain--and of a remarkable pair of women who can see beyond class distinctions. Dramatic and tragic but also surprisingly funny, this James Ivory film focuses on a pair of unmarried sisters (Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar, and Helena Bonham Carter) who befriend a poor young clerk (Sam West) and, without meaning to, ruin his life. Meanwhile, Thompson also makes the acquaintance of a dying neighbour (Vanessa Redgrave), who leaves her a family home in her will--which her husband (Anthony Hopkins) destroys. But, ironically, he meets and falls in love with Thompson, even as their paths once more intersect with the increasingly miserable young clerk. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beautifully economical script also won an Oscar.--Marshall Fine

• On The Waterfront | DVD | (09/06/2014) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Hang 'Em High | DVD | (12/06/2000) from £6.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (85.84%)   |  RRP £12.99

  After starring in the now-legendary Dollars trilogy of spaghetti Westerns for Italian director Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood became a box-office star and imported the style of those classic shoot-em-ups for this 1967 Western directed by Ted Post, with whom Eastwood had worked during their days on the television series Rawhide. Eastwood plays an innocent rancher who is mistaken for a cattle rustler and sentenced to hang by an angry mob. When he is saved from the noose by a passing lawman, he embarks on a renegade campaign of vengeance against the men who attempted to lynch him. Hang 'Em High offers a number of memorable moments and stylistic flourishes, and features a superb supporting cast of Western veterans, including Ben Johnson, Ed Begley, Pat Hingle, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, LQ Jones, and the "Skipper" himself, Alan Hale Jr Made just three years before Dirty Harry, the film marked a turning point for Eastwood, who would soon move into a prolific period of contemporary thrillers. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• One Summer | DVD | (23/01/2006) from £14.98   |  Saving you £7.00 (53.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Sharply observed and written with both sympathy and a sense of humour this critical and commercial success was created and written by the reknowned Liverpudlian playwright Willy Russell. This is the first time that this long-anticipated series has been release on DVD. This is the story of two Liverpool youths who go to the valleys of Wales to enjoy a peaceful life. They come from the Liverpool of 1983; a tough gritty uncompromising city a long way from the magical days of the Beatl

• Elvis Presley - Aloha From Hawaii | DVD | (12/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £27.99

  Elvis Presley's performing career, punctuated by its extra-musical achievement as the first global satellite broadcast devoted to a single entertainer. Both the broadcast and its companion album captured the King in his most grandiose persona, fuelled by Hollywood scale and Vegas glitz, as a caped pop superhero.He may have looked trim, but posthumous accounts (especially Peter Guralnick's Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, the second volume in his definitive biography) confirm what a second look suggests--on this evening, Elvis was alternately overwhelmed and distracted, bravura renditions of signature songs (most triumphantly, the "American Trilogy" medley originated by Mickey Newbury) offset by less-focused readings. Fans may still savour a generous and diverse song list, but viewed beside Presley's earlier, more consistent performances (including a rehearsal the previous night, since released as The Alternate Aloha Concert), this legendary concert anticipates Presley's imminent decline.In this remastered version, three songs have been deleted due to music clearance issues, while four songs taped after the actual show have been inserted. A fifth bonus track, "No More," makes its first appearance on video. --Sam Sutherland

• Elvis Presley - Elvis - Aloha From Hawaii | DVD | (14/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Elvis Presley: Aloha From Hawaii

• Jane Eyre | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £6.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (129.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The stunning BBC production of Charlotte Bronte's inspiring story is available for the first time on DVD. Jane Eyre (Zelah Clarke) is a mistreated orphan who learns to survive by relying on her independence and intelligence. Her first job in the outside world is governess to the ward of Mr. Rochester (Timothy Dalton) a man of many secrets and mercurial moods. The tentative trust between them slowly develops into romance but their hopes for happiness will soon be jeopardized by a te

• The Absent-Minded Professor | DVD | (11/01/2005) from £18.05   |  Saving you £-1.80 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A bumbling professor accidently invents flying rubber or ""Flubber"" an incredible material that gains energy every time it strikes a hard surface. It allows for the invention of shoes that can allow jumps of amazing heights and enables a modified Model-T to fly. Unfortunately no one is interested in the material except for Alonzo Hawk a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the material for himself.

• Howards End | DVD | (27/11/2017) from £10.20   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Howards End is E M Forster's beautifully subtle story of the criss-crossing paths of the privileged and those they disdain--and of a remarkable pair of women who can see beyond class distinctions. Dramatic and tragic but also surprisingly funny, this James Ivory film focuses on a pair of unmarried sisters (Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar, and Helena Bonham Carter) who befriend a poor young clerk (Sam West) and, without meaning to, ruin his life. Meanwhile, Thompson also makes the acquaintance of a dying neighbour (Vanessa Redgrave), who leaves her a family home in her will--which her husband (Anthony Hopkins) destroys. But, ironically, he meets and falls in love with Thompson, even as their paths once more intersect with the increasingly miserable young clerk. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beautifully economical script also won an Oscar.--Marshall Fine

• Howards End | Blu Ray | (27/11/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Howards End is E M Forster's beautifully subtle story of the criss-crossing paths of the privileged and those they disdain--and of a remarkable pair of women who can see beyond class distinctions. Dramatic and tragic but also surprisingly funny, this James Ivory film focuses on a pair of unmarried sisters (Emma Thompson, who won an Oscar, and Helena Bonham Carter) who befriend a poor young clerk (Sam West) and, without meaning to, ruin his life. Meanwhile, Thompson also makes the acquaintance of a dying neighbour (Vanessa Redgrave), who leaves her a family home in her will--which her husband (Anthony Hopkins) destroys. But, ironically, he meets and falls in love with Thompson, even as their paths once more intersect with the increasingly miserable young clerk. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's beautifully economical script also won an Oscar.--Marshall Fine

• Snow Falling On Cedars | DVD | (13/11/2000) from £5.87   |  Saving you £4.12 (70.19%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Fog as thick and palpable as cotton hangs suspended over San Piedro Island. On the bay, a flickering lantern signals distress from a crippled fishing boat, while elsewhere a freighter lurches blindly through the chalky mist.

• The Shaggy Dog | DVD | (17/07/2006) from £28.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The first live action movie ever produced by Walt Disney. Fred MacMurray heads an all-star cast that includes Jean Hagen Tim Considine Kevin Corcoran and Annette Funicello in her big screen debut. After years of on-the-job clashes with cranky canines mail carrier Wilson Daniels (MacMurray) sees man's best friend as his worst enemy. This makes for one hairy situation when a magical ring accidentally transforms his teenage son Wilby (Kirk) into a lumbering sheepdog! Can Wilby break

• The Outer Limits - The Original Series - Vol. 2 | DVD | (27/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission... Surrender yourself to the mysterious world of 'The Outer Limits' as one of the creepiest and most provocative series in television history comes to DVD. On this fantastic box every episode from the second season is featured alongside a host of eery special features. Episodes comprise: 1. Soldier 2. Cold Hands Warm Heart 3. Behold Eck! 4. Expand

• Cowboy | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Cowboy is both a sturdy Delmer Daves picture--his third with Glenn Ford, following Jubal and 3:10 to Yuma--and also one of the most offbeat Westerns ever. It must be the most true to form too, with Frank Harris's memoirs as the source and a picaresque screenplay by Edmund H. North and Dalton Trumbo (a blacklistee, credited only posthumously). There's a pileup of oddities and complications at the outset, with Chicago hotel clerk Harris (Jack Lemmon) already in mid-romance with a daughter of the Mexican aristocracy (Anna Kashfi--Mrs Marlon Brando at the time), and Texas cattleman Tom Reese (Ford) storming in to commandeer an entire floor of the hotel for him and his drovers so they can party 'till, well, the cows come home. Partying is curtailed when Reese loses big at cards; Harris bails him out with his savings, and Reese finds he's taken on not only an unwanted partner but a tenderfoot besides. Soon everyone is headed south. Cowboy merits its bedrock title. This is a rare Western in which the job of breaking horses, trail herding, and so on, figures as a dynamic aspect of the storytelling. The film also has a blunt and original way of looking at death, not as a genre convention but as something abrupt, ungainly, and often absurd, in both senses of the word. (This applies equally to men and cattle, by the way.) The camerawork is trim, angular, and somehow precarious, and the jagged editing hustles the very eventful proceedings to a close in barely an hour and a half. Saddle up. --Richard T. Jameson, Amazon.com