"Actor: Judith Owen"

• Carry On Cabby | DVD | (27/02/2017) from £6.21   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A rare Carry On with more interest in having a proper plot than tossing off gags every line, Cabby is also one of the friendliest of the series, built around the relationship between a cackling but good-hearted Sid James and an unusually touching Hattie Jacques. Sid's so obsessed with his taxi business that he neglects his wife, spending their wedding anniversary driving expectant father Jim Dale to and from the maternity hospital on a false alarm that naturally pays off with a delivery in the back of the cab. This drives Hattie to set up her own rival firm ("Glam Cabs"), employing dolly birds in tailored uniforms to undercut the likes of Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey. It ends happily, with a pair of hold-up men trapped in a ring of taxis and the marriage saved. Among the expected Carry On bits: Connor in drag, Amanda Barrie in a corset, Hawtrey in a leather jacket as a devout rambler ("We like to go as far as we can"), Liz Fraser as Connor's perky intended. Kenneth Williams is missed, but his role as the obnoxious shop steward (Carry On producer Peter Rogers never missed a chance to be nasty about the unions) is ably taken by Norman Chappell. Other familiar faces are Bill Owen, Peter Gilmore, Milo O'Shea, Renee Houston and Michael Ward as the tweedy businessman who has apparently left a pearl earring in the back of Connor's cab. On the DVD: No extras, but it's a smashing widescreen presentation of a pristine black and white print. --Kim Newman

• The Rainbow | DVD | (23/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A respectable and picturesque realisation of DH Lawrence's novel, 1989's The Rainbow is director Ken Russell's prequel to his 1969 version of Women in Love. By Russell's standards, this is a remarkably restrained treatment of Lawrence's novel, set in the Midlands in the 19th century: with its lush, rural setting and quaint bucolic soundtrack there are moments when you might imagine you're watching The Railway Children--until the sex scenes kick in, that is. Her soul infused with infinite longing by the sight of a rainbow as a child, Ursula Brangwen grows up restless at the prescribed roles set out for women in Victorian England, which are stoically endured by her mother (Glenda Jackson, who played Ursula's sister Gudrun in Women in Love). She idealises her swimming instructor--the older, more experienced Winifred (Amanda Donohoe) with whom she enjoys a passionate, borderline lesbian relationship. She becomes a schoolteacher against her parents' wishes, and takes up with Paul McGann, who is somewhat tepid as a Boer War officer. Ultimately, however, she finds all of these limitations too constraining and finally strikes out on her own in search of true spiritual and sexual freedom. On the DVD: This is a full-screen version of the film, ratio 4:3. The sound quality is fine as is the colour and sharpness, though like the film itself, not quite as ravishing as you might hope. Special features consist of a routine trailer ("She played by her passion, not by their rules") and disappointingly perfunctory "filmographies" of the director and cast: merely lists of their previous movies. --David Stubbs

• Richard Thompson: 1000 Years of Popular Music | DVD | (30/09/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  The godfather of British folk Richard Thompson takes songs dating back as far as the 15th century as well as contemporary hits and imbues them with own inimitable style. This release features the live set as it happened and 2 audio CDs of the material for your - strictly - listening pleasure. DVD - Tracklist: 1. Summer Is Icumen In 2. King Henry 3. So Ben Mi Ca Bon Tempo 4. Bonnie St. Johnstone 5. O Sleep Fond Fancy 6. Remember O Thou Man 7. Shenandoah 8. Blackleg Miner 9. I Live In Trafalgar Square 10. There is Beauty In The Bellow Of The Blast 11. Java Jive 12. Night And Day 13. Orange Coloured Sky 14. Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee 15. A-11 16. See My Friends 17. Friday On My Mind 18. Tempted 19. Oops!... I Did It Again 20. Cry Me A River 21. 1985 22. Sam Hall CD 1 - Tracklist: 1. Summer Is Icumen In 2. King Henry 3. So Ben Mi Ca Bon Tempo 4. Bonnie St. Johnstone 5. O Sleep Fond Fancy 6. Remember O Thou Man 7. Shenandoah 8. Blackleg Miner 9. I Live In Trafalgar Square 10. There is Beauty In The Bellow Of The Blast 11. Java Jive CD 2 - Tracklist: 1. Night And Day 2. Orange Coloured Sky 3. Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee 4. A-11 5. See My Friends 6. Friday On My Mind 7. Tempted 8. Oops!... I Did It Again 9. Cry Me A River 10. 1985 11. Sam Hall

• Things | DVD | (19/06/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  In the tradition of 'Creepshow' and 'Tales From The Darkside' comes 'Things' a horror anthology about the evil created by men. Presenting three weirdly intertwining stories 'Things' revolves around a scorned wife getting revenge on her husband's bit on the side through bondage humiliation and telling her scary stories! Thus the sadistic mayor of a small town terrorises three misplaced hookers by unleashing the thing in the box. A battered betrayed and murdered wife (or rather what is left of her) slithers out of the grave to exact her brutal retribution. If you like a good fry-up for breakfast you're in for a treat! And in a hysterical finale see what the spurned wife has stashed in the garage - it will have you hopping with mirth!