"Actor: Norman"

• Press For Time | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £7.52   |  Saving you £2.47 (32.85%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In Press for Time Norman Wisdom offered his version of the crusading reporter movie, though by 1966 time was running out for Norman's style of big-screen comedy. Wisdom had played duel roles in The Square Peg (1958) and On the Beat (1962), but perhaps a sign of his growing frustration with the formulaic nature of his pictures was that he stretched himself to play not just his usual underdog hero, but also his own mother and his grandfather, the Prime Minister. Wisdom also co-wrote the movie, and as a reporter in a small seaside town causes chaos for the council, organises a beauty parade and manages to reprise his drag act (he dressed as a female nurse in A Stitch in Time) as a suffragette. This was really the penultimate Norman Wisdom comedy, since apart from What's Good for the Goose (1969), he has only made two more features, William Friedkin's The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and the belated thriller Double X (1992). Though now nearing the end of his years as a movie star, Wisdom shows himself to still be as polished as ever at his own brand of good-natured slapstick. Fans can be sure that with Norman around there's Trouble in Store (1953). --Gary S. Dalkin

• Double X - The Name Of The Game | DVD | (25/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Arthur Clutten (Norman Wisdom) is an expert safecracker who masterminds every heist for the crime syndicate he belongs to. But when he witnesses the brutal methods of persuasion being meted out the gang's leader Ignatius Smith (Bernard Hill) Clutten decides to quit the gang. However he soon realises that the gang would rather see him dead than leave them and so he decides to steal some documents that would incriminate the criminal mastermind Edward Ross (Simon Ward) and expose his honest facade.

• Tiger On The Beat | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £39.99   |  Saving you £-23.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Chow Yun Fat stars as Francis Li a maverick and notoriously lazy HK police sergeant who is partnered with ""by the book"" rookie cop Michael Tso (martial arts legend Conan Lee). Their investigations into a drug trafficking operation lead them to a beautiful aerobics instructor Marydonna (Nina Li Chi) the sister of one of the gangsters under suspicion. When her brother is murdered by his associates for attempting to double-cross them Marydonna finds herself being sought by the same

• Inspector Morse - Disc 1 And 2 - The Dead Of Jericho / The Silent World Of Nicholas Quinn | DVD | (20/05/2002) from £5.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (150.67%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Two episodes from the popular TV detective series. The Dead Of Jericho Morse who never quite finds romance thinks that at last things will turn out differently when he meets beautiful Anne Stavely. But it is a love destined not to be when Anne is found hanging from a beam in mysterious circumstances. Morse suspects murder and sets out to discover the truth. Joining him is Sergeant Lewis and their investigation into 'The Dead Of Jericho' is the beginning of a lasting partn

• Elvis Presley Box Set (Volume 1) | DVD | (30/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £40.99

  Includes Jailhouse Rock Trouble With Girls Spinout and Double Trouble. Jailhouse Rock: Elvis stars as Vince Everett a small-time convict introduced to the music business by his cellmate a former country music singer who also teaches Vince the guitar. On his release Vince tastes success as a performer but becomes disillusioned by the record industry until he is advised to set up his own label. He is a sensation but now that he is a superstar will he forget the people who

• Barry Norman's Interactive DVD Film Quiz | DVD | (06/11/2006) from £3.41   |  Saving you £16.58 (486.22%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Barry Norman separates the true film buffs from the pretenders on this enthralling interactive film quiz.

• What's Good for the Goose | DVD | (02/04/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Norman Wisdom is an assistant bank manager who lives the routine humdrum life of taking his work home with him working as he eats meals kissing his children goodnight on the cheek his wife goodnight on her forehead and next morning work. On his way to a bankers' conference in Southport he meets hippy-happy Sally Gleeson. The brief interlude is over almost before it began but it gived the man anew look on life the chance of a better understanding with his wife and even a fresh approach to...his work. A tender mildly sexy and amusing story starring one of Britain's most loved comic actors. Also features an appearance by The Pretty Things.

• The Joe Louis Story | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £10.99   |  Saving you £-6.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  A biopic of one of the first true greats of boxing in the 20th century this film is interspersed with footage from the real Joe Louis in action. The fact that Louis is treated on equal par with the white characters in the story led to the film being banned in certain parts of southern America when originally released!

• Hard Days Night | DVD | (25/04/2011) from £8.08   |  Saving you £11.91 (59.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Available for the first time on DVD and with re-mastered sound and picture A Hard Day's Night is due once again to take the world by storm. Arriving as a two disc set packed with highly collectable exclusive bonus material this is a must-own DVD for all Beatle fans and DVD enthusiasts. The year is 1964 and four young lads from Liverpool are set to make history; if only they could escape from their hotel room...

• Chiller Theatre Features | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It's difficult sometimes to fathom how compilers think. This Chiller Theatre threesome consists of two classic silent horror films, plus a low-budget B-movie from the early 1960s. The connection? You decide! Yet these are films that belong in any self-respecting collection, and this package is a good way of acquiring them. Of those featuring Lon Chaney, it's the original 1923 The Hunchback of Notre Dame that comes across best. Chaney's grotesquerie is shot-through with pathos, and Patsy Ruth Miller's Esmeralda has enduring freshness. Wallace Worsley handles crowd scenes and cathedral stunts with aplomb, and there's an atmospheric "posthumous" soundtrack, though anyone looking for accuracy in the depiction of medieval French society is in for a shock. 1925's The Phantom of the Opera is slow-moving and uneventful by comparison, with Rupert Julian's direction never escaping the narrow Gothic trappings of the novel. Chaney cranks (or is that camps?) up his range of gestures to the limit, and Mary Philbin is an eye-catching heroine, but the denouement in the Paris sewers seems endless--with looped extracts of Schubert and Brahms as a hardly appropriate soundtrack. Cut to 1962, and The Carnival of Souls--made in Kansas for under $100,000--is an undeniable cult classic. Herk Harvey sustains the increasingly surreal narrative with ease, Candace Hilligoss is striking (if a tad gauche) as the young organist caught on the cusp of this world and the next, and Gene Moore's organ soundtrack is a masterly backdrop for the motley assemblage of ghouls who pursue her around the seaside pier in a memorable closing sequence. On the DVD: Chiller Theatre is very acceptably remastered--with 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 12 chapter headings per film--and decently if minimally packaged. --Richard Whitehouse

• Ooh... You Are Awful! | DVD | (24/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  After cheating the Mafia out of a fortune comedy conman Dick Emery trusts his partner to stash the loot in a Swiss bank. As the number of the account is tattooed on the rear of one of his girlfriends a cheeky undercover operation begins. The bottom line is to photograph the evidence for posterity or he'll make a complete ass of himself. And Dick Emery butting in with all his other impersonations could mean another bum rap!

• Inspector Morse - Disc 17 And 18 - Fat Chance / Who Killed Harry Field | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £10.93   |  Saving you £4.06 (37.15%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and story lines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep-down sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whateley's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter stating he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• Sherlock Holmes - The Devil's Foot / Silver Blaze | DVD | (09/06/2003) from £5.98   |  Saving you £4.01 (67.06%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Devil's Foot: While recuperating in Cornwall Holmes becomes involved in the tragedy of the Tregennis family. Silver Blaze: A kidnapped racehorse poses particular problems for Holmes and Watson.

• The Phantom Of The Opera | DVD | (29/05/2001) from £10.99   |  Saving you £2.00 (18.20%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Please Note: The studio has not sealed this disc in shrinkwrapped plastic. Please rest assured you that these discs are new. This early version of The Phantom Of The Opera is regarded by many as the first great horror film and certainly the best of the silent era. Lon Chaney is Erik the horribly disfigured Phantom who leads a menacing existence in the catacombs and dungeons beneath the Paris Opera. When Erik falls in love with a beautiful primadonna he kidnaps her and

• Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell | DVD | (09/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Doctor Helder (Briant) is sent to an asylum for experimenting on cadavers. There he is rescued by Doctor Carl Victor (Cushing) the original Doctor Frankenstein now living under a new identity who learns that a new monster is set to walk the earth...

• The Early Bird | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £16.24   |  Saving you £-3.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Norman Wisdom reprises his best-loved character, the comically inept Pitkin, in 1965's The Early Bird, ably supported once again by Edward Chapman in his final appearance as Mr Grimsdale. This time around Wisdom is the only milkman working for Grimsdale's Dairy, a small business threatened by a menacing large corporation in the shape of Consolidated Dairies and their electric milk floats. Grimsdale and Pitkin must evoke the Dunkirk spirit to save their family firm from the grasp of the faceless giant. Of course, the wafer-thin plot is the merest excuse for a series of calamitous set pieces in which Wisdom wreaks havoc in his trademark bumbling manner. The best bits involve a disastrous game of golf, the usual shenanigans with a fire hose and a virtuoso tour de force opening sequence as the household struggles to wake up in the morning. Wisdom's own brand of Jerry Lewis-inspired clowning, with mugging and pratfalls aplenty, is all good clean fun with little or none of the smutty innuendo that characterised the contemporary Carry On series. He carries this film, as he does all his others, solely on the strength of his winningly naïve charm: this is innocent comedy from the days before supermarkets really did wreck all the local businesses, not to mention from the days before The Godfather gave a whole new spin on the comedy value of going to bed with your horse. On the DVD: There are no extra features on this disc at all. Given Wisdom's household-name status and the longevity of these much-loved movies, this seems like a sadly missed opportunity. The 4:3 picture has not been digitally remastered and shows its age, as does the muddy mono soundtrack. Only Ron Goodwin's wonderfully tongue-in-cheek music score comes across reasonably well. --Mark Walker

• Worzel Gummidge - The Crowman / A Little Learning / Worzel Pays A Visit | DVD | (23/09/2002) from £4.90   |  Saving you £1.09 (22.24%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Worzel has misplaced one of his turnip heads; this time it's his 'learning' head which makes him very clever. Meanwhile Mr Peters working on the school roof makes a welcome discovery...

• Mother Night | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Mother Night is the third movie from director Keith Gordon (The Chocolate War, A Midnight Clear). The 35-year-old director who started as an actor (Christine) has turned into one of the more assured directors working today. His films are ambitious in plot and tone. With Mother Night he works with his first major star, Nick Nolte. In 1961, the fictitious Howard W Campbell Jr., an American by birth, shares the same deserted prison with Adolph Eichmann. As he prepares to stand trial for war crimes, the former playwright scribes his memoirs. Now this is the same Howard W. Campbell Jr. who was a notorious voice on German radio during the war, tearing into American policy and spreading Nazi propaganda. Was he a wilful participant or an American spy? Campbell, who romanticises at the drop of a hat, tells his story of indifference, morality, and love. His days of notoriety in Berlin give way to anonymity back in the States. He purrs about his true love (Sheryl Lee) and tells truths with his shrewd neighbour in New York (Alan Arkin). The movie is based on Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 novel of the same name. Gordon and screenwriter Robert E. Weide have an uncommon insight into Vonnegut's material: the mesh of fact and fiction, the sweeping themes, the tragic goofiness. The movie is perfectly suited to Nolte's gruff style with a husky voice that pierces the night. The film is a cherished companion piece to Slaughterhouse Five. --Doug Thomas

• Inspector Morse - Disc 25 And 26 - Cherubim And Seraphim / Deadly Slumber | DVD | (09/09/2002) from £5.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (150.67%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and storylines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep down, sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whately's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter said he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• On The Beat / Man Of The Moment | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £6.23   |  Saving you £6.76 (108.51%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In 1962's On the Beat, Norman Wisdom's Pitkin, the most famous incarnation of his riotous buffoon character, is dreaming of something better as usual. Pitkin wants to follow in his father's footsteps and become a policeman, but being decidedly on the short side, has to settle for washing police cars. Of course it's not long before Norman is impersonating an officer of the law. Wisdom also plays his nemesis here, the German General Schreiber, as well as the chief suspect in a series of jewel robberies which only Pitkin's chaotic antics can solve. Terence Alexander effectively reprises his character from The Square Peg (1958), and Wisdom regular David Lodge, previously seen costarring in The Bulldog Breed (1960), is also on hand, though otherwise the supporting cast is less stellar than before. By the time of 1955's Man of the Moment, Wisdom was firmly established as Britain's favourite movie comedian, his shy, helpful and good-natured "gump" character forever unintentionally causing catastrophe in the great tradition of Charlie Chaplin. However, while Chaplin ventured into politics in Modern Times (1936) for satirical purposes, when Norman's minor civil servant here accidentally becomes the UK delegate at a conference in Geneva the emphasis is on farce and pratfalls. The plot sees Norman sticking up for the rights of the fictional kingdom of Tawaki against less-than-honest government interests, while his new-found status brings the attention of the ladies, including the return of his Trouble in Store (1953) costar Lana Morris. Continuing his collaboration with veteran director John Paddy Carstairs, the film is a polished laughter machine that continues to entertain. --Gary S Dalkin