Adapted by David Nobbs from his novel The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin brilliantly captured the mid-1970s zeitgeist. It opened each week with a naked Reggie walking out into the sea to end it all before rapidly rethinking the whole idea and told the story of a man desperate to escape his loving but dull marriage disappointing offspring and the daily grind of his job. The first series - while hilariously funny - was incredibly dark focusing on a man in nervous breakdown. Each week Reggie's behaviour becomes more erratic his excuses to his secretary for lateness weirder and weirder (22 minutes late Joan: a badger ate a junction box at New Malden) and his fantasies of seducing her more vivid. The mere mention of his mother-in-law is enough to send an image of a hippo lumbering through his head and each episode ends with Reggie screaming in frustration. Ultimately he fakes his own death but is reunited with wife Elizabeth when he attends his funeral in disguise and can't resist wooing her all over again. Reggie returned a year later bent on setting up a new business Grot selling useless goods. It was of course a massive success leaving Reggie trapped back in the rat race. For the third less successful series he abandoned wage-slavery again this time setting up a commune for his former co-workers. A brilliant satire the programme will also be remembered for its catchphrases including Reggie's boss CJ's I didn't get where I am today by... and Reggie's brother-in-law Jimmy constantly cadging food on the basis of a bit of a cock-up on the catering front. Above all there was Leonard Rossiter's brilliant performance as Reginald Iolanthe Perrin. RIP to both.
When Karen and Fred Schouten finally conceive a child they feel it is the most important achievement of their lives. But their unborn baby develops a brain defect which means that it will only survive for a few hours after birth. Out of this tragedy however comes a gift of hope and life. For Alice and Gordon Hole whose baby will die unless he receives a heart transplant it could be the answer to a desperate prayer...
Barrister Archie (John Cleese) falls in love and tosses off more than his wig for sexy thief Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis) - who can charm the pants off anyone! To make things worse Wanda is already using her charms on fellow partner-in-crime Otto (Kevin Kline in an Oscar-winning performance) a dim-witted intellectual psychopath who thinks the London Underground is a political movement! Meanwhile Otto is making eyes at henchman Ken (Michael Palin) an animal loving multiple dog-kille
One of Alfred Hitchcock's finest pre-Hollywood films, the 1936 Secret Agent stars a young John Gielgud as a British spy whose death is faked by his intelligence superiors. Reinvented with a new identity and outfitted with a wife (Madeleine Carroll), Gielgud's character is sent on assignment with a cold-blooded accomplice (Peter Lorre) to assassinate a German agent. En route, the counterfeit couple keeps company with an affable American (Robert Young), who turns out to be more than he seems after the wrong man is murdered by Gielgud and Lorre. Dense with interwoven ideas about false names and real identities, about appearances as lies and the brutality of the hidden, and about the complicity of those who watch the anarchy that others do, Secret Agent declared that Alfred Hitchcock was well along the road to mastery as a filmmaker and, more importantly, knew what it was he wanted to say for the rest of his career. --Tom Keogh
Five resistance fighters known only by their animal-based code names fought during World War II. Thirty years later they are reunited by the death of one of their number Claude. Despite their age they put their skills and experience to use to raise enough money to construct a hospital in his memory by scamming criminals. They are (reluctantly) aided by the son of one of their number an inspector in the French police. Together they strike as a modern-day band of Robin Hoods robbing from the criminal element to fund their cause.
Fawlty Towers remains a timeless example of comic writing acting and characterisation at its very best. This fantastic complete collection set features all 12 episodes from this classic series. Episodes titles: 1. A Touch of Class 2. The Builders 3. The Wedding Party 4. The Hotel Inspectors 5. Gourmet Night 6. The Germans 7. Communication Problems 8. The Psychiatrist 9. Waldorf Salad 10. The Kipper and the Corpse 11. The Anniversary 12. Basil the Rat
The original Creature from the Black Lagoon is one of the silver screen's most unforgettable characters and, along with the other Universal Classic Monsters, defined the Hollywood horror genre. The Creature from the Black Lagoon: Complete Legacy Collection includes all 3 films from the original legacy including the gripping classic and the sequels that followed. These landmark motion pictures perfectly blended Universal's classic monster heritage with the science-fiction explosion of the 1950s and continue to inspire remakes and adaptations that strengthen the legend of the Creature from the Black Lagoon to this day. Bonus Features: Back to the Black Lagoon Documentary 3 Feature Commentaries Production Photographs Theatrical Trailers
The original Creature from the Black Lagoon is one of the silver screen's most unforgettable characters and, along with the other Universal Classic Monsters, defined the Hollywood horror genre. The Creature from the Black Lagoon: Complete Legacy Collection includes all 3 films from the original legacy including the gripping classic and the sequels that followed. These landmark motion pictures perfectly blended Universal's classic monster heritage with the science-fiction explosion of the 1950s and continue to inspire remakes and adaptations that strengthen the legend of the Creature from the Black Lagoon to this day. Bonus Features: Back to the Black Lagoon Documentary 3 Feature Commentaries Production Photographs Theatrical Trailers
In the 1880s Englishwoman Martha Price (Maureen O'Hara) and her daughter Hilary (Juliet Mills) come to America to sell their prize Hereford bull at an auction. When he is purchased by Bowen a wild Scotsman (Brian Keith) the women hire a footloose cowhand named Burnett (James Stewart) to help them transport the animal to its new owner. So begins an adventure that tests the mettle of all involved as they battle killers cattle stampedes and each other. But when they reach Bowen's ran
A Fish Called Wanda was the blockbuster which proved that John Cleese could be a movie star in his own right. Directed by the Veteran Charles Crichton, who made the 1951 Ealing Comedies classic The Lavender Hill Mob, Wanda combined Ealing-comedy capers and Basil Fawlty-esque farce with contemporary big-screen swearing and black comedy. The plot develops in classic film noir style as Cleese's lawyer, Archie Leech, gets sucked into the double-crossing aftermath of a London diamond heist. For sound box-office reasons, British comedies often sport an American star and here Cleese delivers not only Jamie Lee Curtis as a smooth operating femme fatale, but Kevin Kline as her idiotic, and insanely jealous lover (for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar). Pushing the limits of bad taste is Michael Palin's animal-loving Ken, who in the film's best running gag attempts to murder an old lady, only to slay her beloved pet dogs. Other highlights include Palin as a man with two chips up his nose and Cleese showing the world a different sort of "Full Monty". One of the funniest British films ever made, A Fish Called Wanda was followed by Fierce Creatures (1997), which reunited the lead cast and claimed to be an "equal" not a "sequel", but sadly wasn't. --Gary S Dalkin
The life story of one of Britain's most notorious bare-knuckle fighters, Lenny McLean, also known as the Guv'nor.
One of the best known Shakespeare comedies which blends romance fun confusion and fairies.
Small time Miami reporter Malcolm Anderson (Kurt Russell) gets the break he is looking for when he starts getting calls from a notorious murderer in The Mean Season. He and his school teacher girlfriend Christine (Mariel Hemingway) had been planning to move away from the area to start up a new life. However his growing relationship with the killer and subsequent reporting of his crimes means that his career is on the up. But at what price? Soon Malcom realises that instead of just wri
Boasting a virtuoso comic performance from Leonard Rossiter The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976-79) remains one of the greatest of all television sitcoms. Writer David Nobbs combined the surrealist absurdity of Monty Python with an on-going story line that unfolded through each of the three seasons with a clear beginning, middle and end; a ground-breaking development in 70s TV comedy. The first and best season charts middle-aged, middle-management executive Reginald Perrin as he breaks-down under the stress of middle-class life until he informs the world that half the parking meters in London have Dutch Parking Meter Disease. He fakes suicide and returns to court his wife Elizabeth (Pauline Yates) in disguise, a plot development that formed the entire basis of Mrs Doubtfire (1993). Series Two is broader, the rapid-fire dialogue still razor sharp and loaded with caustic wit and ingenious silliness, as a now sane Reggie takes on the madness of the business world by opening a chain of shops selling rubbish. The third season, set in a health farm, is routine, the edge blunted by routine sitcom conventions. At its best The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin is hilarious and moving, its depiction of English middle-class life spot on, its satire prophetic. Reggie's visual fantasies hark back to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and Billy Liar (1963), and look forward to Ally McBeal (1997-2002) and are the icing on the cake of a fine, original and highly imaginative show. On the DVD: Reginald Perrin's discs contain one complete seven episode season. There are no extras. The sound is good mono and the 4:3 picture is generally fine, though some of the exterior shot-on-film scenes have deteriorated and there are occasional signs of minor damage to the original video masters. Even so, for a 1970s sitcom shot on video the picture is excellent and far superior to the original broadcasts. --Gary S Dalkin
Performances: Phil Collins - Take Me Home Arrow & His Band - Hot Hot Hot Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes Jimmy Buffett - Volcano Mark Knopfler - Brothers in Arms Mark Knopfler - Money for Nothing Sting - Message in a Bottle Sting - Magic Elton John - Your Song Elton John - Live like Horses Elton John - Don't Let the Sun go Down on Me Eric Clapton - Broken Hearted Eric Clapton - Layla Eric Clapton - Same Old Blues Paul McCartney - Yesterday Paul McCartney -
Four veterans of the French Resistance, reunited nearly thirty years after the war, join forces to meet adventure, danger and excitement in this hit series based on Paul Gallico's best-selling novel. Starring Brian Keith, John Mills, Lilli Palmer and Barry Morse, The Zoo Gang has been newly remastered in HD from the original 35mm film elements for this Blu-ray edition it has certainly never looked better! Special Features: 60 second trailers for each episode Commercial Break Bumpers Damaged section (from The Counterfeit Trap) Monochrome Mute Takes (from The Twisted Cross) Monochrome and Colour Mute Title Sequence Offcuts Extensive Image Galleries
Set in the Second World War when Nazi Germany occupied Italy. This film deals with the Vatican's involvement in the entire movement during the occupation of Rome.
Umberto Lenzi directs this action-packed Italian crime thriller. After escaping from prison, rising criminal Luigi 'Chinaman' Maietto (Tomas Milian) orders a hit on Inspector Tanzi (Maurizio Merli) who put him behind bars. Unfortunately for him, Tanzi survives and vows to do all he can to return Maietto to the prison where he belongs. But if he is to catch him, Tanzi must work outside the law when he denies his superior's request to go into hiding, instead preferring to catch Maietto himself.
Umberto Lenzi directs this action-packed Italian crime thriller. After escaping from prison, rising criminal Luigi 'Chinaman' Maietto (Tomas Milian) orders a hit on Inspector Tanzi (Maurizio Merli) who put him behind bars. Unfortunately for him, Tanzi survives and vows to do all he can to return Maietto to the prison where he belongs. But if he is to catch him, Tanzi must work outside the law when he denies his superior's request to go into hiding, instead preferring to catch Maietto himself.
How far would you go to win back the love of your life? Perhaps send flowers, write poetry or even serenade that man of your dreams until he can take it no more? Paul, our hot but self-centered hero has other, more extreme ideas when sensitive hunk Brad drops him and begins dating another man. Not used to losing and determined to regain his love, Paul decides to pretend to have a life-threatening illness in what he sees as a foolproof method in ensuring Brad's return. But will it work or will the tangled web he weaves get him in hot water rather than in to the arms of his hot man? Populated by outrageous characters, this fun romantic comedy is a truly off the wall take on what one man would really do for love.
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