Most people didn't mind Gwyneth Paltrow's English accent in this charming, 1996 adaptation of Jane Austen's novel (which also inspired Clueless). But even if it doesn't sound quite right to you, there are plenty of authentic and wonderful Brit thespians in this film by screenwriter-turned-director Douglas McGrath (co-author of Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway), including Juliet Stevenson (Truly Madly Deeply), Alan Cumming (Buddy), Phyllida Law (Much Ado About Nothing), Ewan McGregor (the Scots star of Trainspotting), and Sophie Thompson, outstanding and finally heartbreaking as the chattering Miss Bates. Paltrow plays Austen's benign busybody, Emma Woodhouse--so busy trying to arrange the lives of others that she is sidestepping her own. McGrath brings a kind of pretty and light touch to the production, his best move the wise delegation of creative authority to the actors themselves. --Tom Keogh
NOTICE: Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.
From the legendary filmmaking duo Powell and Pressburger (A Matter of Life and Death, 1949The Red Shoes), The Small Back Room is the story of the troubled love affair between atormented back-room scientist and a secretary, told against a background ofministerial intrigue and Empire building.Sammy Rice (David Farrar) was the army's finest bomb disposal officer until he wasinjured in the war. Now part of a specialist back room' team, he dismantles the boobytrappeddevices being dropped by Nazi bombers. He falls in love with Susan(Kathleen Byron), a colleague, and the two begin a secret affair. However,embittered by life, he feels inferior: inferior as a lover, inferior as a man unableto wear uniform, inferior in his work. Although a brilliant scientist, he allowshimself to be exploited by his power-hungry boss and haunted by his past,he drowns his sorrows in whiskey.Sammy's life is descending into disarray when the news comes; a bombhas exploded with catastrophic consequences, and another has beenfound. Faced with the biggest challenge of his career, Sammy mustface his demons and take his own life in his hands to solve the mystery of the bomb's lethal mechanism.
Legendary director Powell and Pressburger at their most imaginative - and controversial - with a film about a pilot who suffers strange hallucinations after surviving being shot down over the English Channel.
An Englishman’s home may well be his castle, but it would be a very different castle indeed if Germany had won WWII. Set in an alternate 1970s on an Earth where Germany won the Second World War and is now occupying England, Peter Ingram (Kenneth More) is the lead writer of a popular soap opera set in Blitz-era London. Ingram’s life sees little adventure. He knowingly turns a blind eye to the realities of local Nazi rule, opting for the easy life. After the inclusion of a Jewish character in his television series is met with strong objection, his eyes finally begin to open. And when the woman he loves (Isla Blair) reveals that she was born a Jew, he has a difficult decision to make. Will Peter join his lover in the underground resistance or continue to lodge his head firmly in the sand? Also starring Kathleen Byron (Saving Private Ryan, The Elephant Man) and Nigel Havers (A Passage to India) and directed by Paul Ciappessoni (Angels, Softly Softly, Doomwatch, Doctor Finlay’s Casebook).
In nineteenth century middle-Europe orphaned teenage twins Maria and Frieda go to live with their uncle Gustav Weil who heads the Brotherhood a vigilante group trying to stamp out vampirism. But their methods are random and misplaced and the only result is a terrorised populace. The real threat lies with Count Karnstein and although the twins seem outwardly to be identical Frieda finds herself much more drawn than her sister to the Count's castle dominating the skyline.
Powell and Pressburger added to their run of daring stimulating and stylistic pictures with this melodrama about a group of Anglican nuns establishing a remote mission high in the Himalayas. Their physical environment - extreme temperatures illness and a young Indian Prince's perfume (Black Narcissus) - leads to psychological disturbance coupled with emotional weakness. Jealousy sexual repression and hysteria all play their part in a fantastic climax which ripped through the Brit
From the legendary filmmaking duo Powell and Pressburger [A Matter of Life and Death The Red Shoes] The Small Back Room is the story of the troubled love affair between a tormented back room scientist and a beautiful secretary told against a background of ministerial intrigue and empire building. Sammy Rice [David Farrar] was the army's finest bomb disposal officer until he was injured in the war and left with a false foot. Now part of a specialist 'back room' team he dismantles the booby-trapped devices being dropped by Nazi bombers. He falls in love with Susan [Kathleen Byron] a colleague and the two begin a secret affair. However embittered by life he feels inferior; inferior as a lover inferior as a man unable to wear uniform; inferior in his work for although a brilliant scientist he allows himself to be exploited by his power-hungry boss. Haunted by his past he drowns his sorrows in whiskey. Sammy's life is descending into disarray when the news comes; a bomb has exploded with catastrophic consequences and another has been found. Faced with the biggest challenge of his career Sammy must confront his demons and take his own life in his hands to solve the mystery of the bomb's lethal mechanism.
Charlie (Charlie Drake) is keen to work for his living but unfortunately he's completely accident-prone. He's been visiting his local Labour Exchange regularly for over 20 years and has had nearly 1000 jobs. He managed to get himself sacked from every one of them within hours of starting. Episodes Comprise: 1. The Machinery Of Organisation 2. Out Of The Mouths Of Casual Labourers 3. The Mechanics Of Piecework 4. No Automation Without Representation 5. A Democratic Democratism 6. And Never The Twine Shall Meet 7. A Host Of Golden Casual Labourers 8. Eight And Thrupence 9. Little Tom 10. A Punting We Will Go 11. Through A Glass Darkly 12. The Man Who Moved His Head 13. I Just Don't Want To Get Involved 14. Hello Cobbler 15. You Have Enjoyed The Sweets Now You Must Suffer The Sours 16. The Siege Of Kidney Street 17. Now Is The Time For All Left Legs 18. When Adam Delved And Eve Span 19. A Change Is As Good As A Rest 20. Breed For Speed Breed Out For Stamina 21. Cough 22. The Saucerer's Apprentice 23. Ma Chandelle Est Morte 24. I Babble Babble As I Flow To Join The Brimming River 25. No Room At The Inn For The Odd Couple Up The Staircase
In this adaptation of Victor Hugo's evergreen classic, Liam Neeson is Jean Valjean, imprisoned for stealing bread then paroled after nearly two decades of hard labour. A gift of silver candlesticks from a kindly priest helps him begin anew. Forging a decent and profitable existence, he finds success as a businessman and as the mayor of a small town. He even takes in a pregnant young woman (Uma Thurman) and raises her daughter as his own. But when a former prison guard (Geoffrey Rush) recognises Valjean, his past catches up to him. Director Bille August culls mesmerising performances from his cast, but loses us with an ending that panders to teen audiences. The focus shifts dramatically, and uncomfortably, from the haunted Neeson and his hawk-like pursuer, to his daughter (Claire Danes) and her romance with a handsome revolutionary. After this narrative shift, the script leaves behind Hugo themes of revenge and redemption to focus improbably on teen angst--hardly what the author had on his mind. --Rochelle O'Gorman
This 1951 Nettlefold Production was directed by top British director Lewis Gilbert who directed Alfie, Shirley Valentine,Moonraker, Sink The Bismark and Reach for the Sky as well as many others..Scarlet Thread was one of his earliest works and he displays his obvious talent in this production.Laurence Harvey stars as a small time crook looking for the high life and Sydney Tafler as an educated gang boss living the high life - both take part in a robbery that goes wrong.Good scenes of Cambridge and supporting cast Harry Fowler, Kathleen Bryon and good time girl Dora Bryan make for anenjoyable British crime drama.
During the 1940s the Rank Organisation was a phenomenal success in the film world boasting five studios two newsreels a great many production companies a staff of 31 000 650 cinemas and an incredible turnover of 45 million. To celebrate 70 years of Britain's most acclaimed film studio this fantastic collection encompasses some of Ranks most prestigious and successful films. The Red Shoes The tragic and romantic story of Vicky Page the brilliant young dancer who must giv
Hedda Gabler has just come back from her honeymoon married to boring but reliable academic George Tesman. Refusing to tie herself down in life and name Hedda is banking on George being appointed a professorship to secure a better life for the young couple. However the arrival of cleaned up ex-lover Eilert threatens to destroy everything.
Long-awaited, long-overdue: The Professionals as you have never seen them before. Bodie and Doyle need little by way of introduction, but if the series had at all escaped you since its debut in 1977 their boss George Cowley, head of CI5, couldn't put it more succinctly than his opening gambit: anarchy, acts of terror, crimes against the public. To combat it I've got special men experts from the army, the police, from every service. These are The Professionals . Featuring the perfect ensemble cast of Martin Shaw, Gordon Jackson (completely against type here) and the much-missed Lewis Collins, the series ran for 57 action-packed episodes and made an immediate impact on British and then international audiences which has sustained 35 years. But the series has never looked this good. Painstakingly restored from the camera-original negatives the series could have been made yesterday. No matter how many times you have seen The Professionals, this is a new experience, like seeing it for the first time. Features: Brand-new, High Definition restorations of all 13 episodes in series two from the camera-original negatives Brand-new 5.1 tracks from original sound elements Remastered original as-broadcast mono tracks Remastered music-only tracks featuring Laurie Johnson's original scores HD photo galleries featuring hundreds of rare and previously unseen images All episodes are presented in their original production order PDF material featuring scripts and memorabilia Archive footage featuring additional material, advert break bumpers, US sales trailer and more English HOH subtitles
Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp: Drama about the life of Clive Candy an English soldier who served in three wars (Boer World War I World War II) and had relationships with three women along the way (each played by Deborah Kerr). Despite Candy's tours-of-duty he harbors no ill will towards the Germans instead he believes they have been the pawns of military leaders. Colonel Blimp an old befuddled British military officer reminisces about his past glories in this witty w
The final adventures of the oh so dapper John Steed and his sidekick Tara King. Episode titles include: Fog Who Was That Man I Saw You With Pandora Thingumajig Homicide And Old Lace Requiem Take-Over Bizarre
Two masterpieces of British cinema are paired here--Powell and Pressburger's first Technicolor triumph, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) and their even more ambitious A Matter of Life and Death (1946). Both pictures are transcendent examples of the filmmakers' craft, and remain models of great cinema long after their original wartime propaganda brief has expired. Based on a famously satirical cartoon strip that mocked outmoded attitudes of fair play at a time of "total war", Blimp subsequently became notorious as the film Churchill tried to have banned. Because the War Office objected to the screenplay, they refused to allow P&P's first choice for the role, Laurence Olivier, and the duo cast unknown stage actor Roger Livesey in his place. It is Livesey's sympathetic performance that transforms Clive "Sugar" Candy from an object of satire to one of warm affection, effectively reversing the film's intended message about old-fashioned decency versus wartime pragmatism. Anton Walbrook is a profound presence in a role that mirrored the actor's own plight as a German in Britain, while Deborah Kerr is a living leitmotif in the film, playing no fewer than three distinct but deliberately related roles. Briefed by the Ministry of Information to make a film that would foster Anglo-American relations in the post-war period, the duo, known as "the Archers", came up with A Matter of Life and Death, an extravagant and extraordinary fantasy in which David Niven's downed pilot must justify his continuing existence to a heavenly panel because he has made the mistake of falling in love with an American girl (Kim Hunter) when he really should have been dead. National stereotypes are lampooned as the angelic judges squabble over his fate. In a neat reversal of expectations, the heaven sequences are black and white, while earth is seen in Technicolor. Daring cinematography mixes monochrome and colour, incorporates time-lapse images, and even toys with background "time freezes" 50 years before The Matrix. Roger Livesey and Raymond Massey lead the fine supporting cast. On the DVD: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and A Matter of Life and Death are presented in reasonably sharp 4:3 ratio with good mono sound. Blimp comes with a 25-minute documentary feature that tells us nothing revelatory about making the film, but has good new interviews with cinematographer Jack Cardiff (then an apprentice) and eloquent admirer Stephen Fry. Text biographies and stills are also included. Life and Death has no extras. --Mark Walker
Originally broadcast in 1971 the intriguing detective drama The Moonstone is a series based on the hugely popular novel by Wilkie Collins. Starring Robin Ellis (The Negotiator) and Colin Baker (Doctor Who) the plot centres around The Moonstone an Indian treasure given to Rachel Verrinder as an 18th birthday present. It has been stolen from a temple in colonial India and a number of misfortunes have followed it into the hands of Rachel. The Moonstone goes missing and the plot
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