"Actor: Nancy Francis"

• War Hunt | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  No one is a better soldier than Pvt. Raymond Endore (John Saxon) at least in his own mind. Stationed in Korea as the conflict between the United States and the divided peninsula is coming to an end Endore sleeps while his platoon works to gear up for his nightly patrols of the area. These patrols used to bring vital information but now they have become a nightly ritual for Endore to slash the throats of suspected enemies tolerated by a Captain (Charles Aidman) who fears Endore's unstable nature. A Korean war orphan (Tommy Matsuda) befriends Endore as well as an idealistic soldier (Robert Redford) and these two soldiers must decide the fate of the child as the ceasefire is announced.... Madness in men during their tour of duty a subject also at the heart of Hell Is For Heroes and Attack! is the focus of this brutal 1961 war drama. Redford in his film debut offers a strong counterpart to the criminally underrated John Saxon (who would go on to a career of character work) who gives a stunning performance as a killer who only seems at peace after taking the life of another victim.

• Benji The Hunted | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £8.37   |  Saving you £6.62 (79.09%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A heartwarming adventure story in which canine superstar Benji is lost in the mountains after an accident at sea. While adjusting to his harsh surroundings he discovers a dead cougar's litter and begins a perilous journey to bring the cubs to safety.

• Battle Cry | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £15.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The most interesting--and entertaining--aspect of Battle Cry, a long, episodic World War II drama, is that it marked the debut of one Justus E McQueen, who subsequently took the name of the good ol' Arkansas boy he played in the movie: LQ Jones. He's only one of eight or nine marine recruits who divide the screen time with commanding officer Van Heflin and James Whitmore as a lifer sergeant named Mac, "just Mac", who ramrods their squad and also delivers the movie's overbearing narration. Unfortunately, the narration is necessary to maintain continuity as the CinemaScope production galumphs its way from rounding up the melting-pot cast to seeing them through basic training and sundry, mostly amatory misadventures in San Diego, to further training in New Zealand and finally to baptism of fire on Guadalcanal. Trouble is, among the recruits only McQueen/Jones (whose job is mostly comic relief) and Aldo Ray (as a brawling lumberjack who's never known family life) have any charisma or acting chops--and that's not forgetting Tab Hunter, whose matinee-idol status at the time does not speak well for the 50s. Battle Cry is also a cardinal example of Hollywood's penchant for buying big, lusty, profane bestsellers (by Leon Uris, in this case) and then bowdlerising all the lustiness and profanity to appease the censors. Raoul Walsh, the poet laureate of lowdown gusto, does what he can in the circumstances, and as one of the first guys ever to direct a widescreen movie (1930's The Big Trail), he makes the battle scenes roar. --Richard T. Jameson

• Battle Cry / Objective Burma / Operation Pacific | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £30.99

  Battle Cry: A tight-knit group of marines have adventures in both love and war as they progress from boot camp training to a New Zealand ops base and on to the hard-fought invasion of Saipan. Operation Pacific: 'Duke' Gifford an ultra devoted commander feeling guilty about the death of his former commanding officer and the failure of his marriage leads his submarine crew up into uncharted waters in the battle for the Pacific... Objective Burma: A crack squad of paratroopers parachute into Japanese-occupied Burma with a dangerous and important mission: to locate and blow up a radar station. When an ambush cuts off their only escape route his troop are forced into the swamp-infested hell of the Burmese jungle. The harrowing fight for survival begins in a realistic account of the grim hardships facing brave men in battle...