"Actor: Norman"

• Joyride | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  J.T. stands to inherit his father's rundown motel; it's his prison and he's serving a life term. Trying to catch the eye of the beautiful resident Tanya J.T. suggests the pair steal the car of mysterious visitor Mrs Smith and take it for a joyride only to find a corpse in the boot...

• Bloodsport / Enter The Dragon | DVD | (08/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  A well-oiled Jean-Claude Van Damme makes his starring debut in what may be one of the few kickboxing films to be based on a true story. The Muscles from Brussels plays Frank Dux, the first Westerner ever to win the extreme "whupfest" known as the Kumatai (a long-running, no-holds-barred fighting tournament in Hong Kong). While a bit deficient in the script department (to say the least), this undeniably exciting flick succeeds by letting Van Damme play to his strengths: namely, minimal acting and a lot of impossibly acrobatic splits while kicking people in the head. Bloodsport is a guilty-pleasure testosterone blast of the highest order, with a memorable villain (the massive Bolo Yeung from Enter the Dragon) and a multitude of well-choreographed fight scenes. An embarrassed-looking Forest Whitaker cameos as a hapless (and non-kickboxing) cop. --Andrew Wright

• One Good Turn | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Reunited with many of the team behind Trouble in Store (1953), his smash hit of the previous year, for his second starring role Norman Wisdom played the oldest orphan of Greenwood Children's Home. Having being raised in the home Norman has stayed on as odd-job man, a role which ideally suits his man-child persona. Not only does he have to find the money to buy one of the orphans a model car, but after a visit to Brighton he discovers Greenwood is due to be closed down by the home's own unscrupulous chairman, a property developer with plans to build a factory on the site. Also starring Thora Hird, One Good Turn was surely a film with a personal resonance for Wisdom who was himself brought-up in an orphanage after his mother died and his father was unable to raise him. As would become a tradition, he contributes a song, "Please Opportunity", and the movie, though produced by Rank, now sits easily in that classic Ealing era where the ordinary man took on the big guys and won. The innocent knockabout humour remains appealing and it is simply impossible not to like Norman Wisdom. The film's success led directly to the aptly named Man of the Moment (1955). --Gary S Dalkin

• Man Of The Moment | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £8.13   |  Saving you £1.86 (22.88%)   |  RRP £9.99

  After an uncredited cameo alongside a gallery of comedy stars in As Long As They're Happy (1955), Norman Wisdom's third hit was the appropriately titled Man of the Moment. Indeed, by 1955 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's "Little Tramp". 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. The following year cinema audiences continued to see Norman go Up In the World, while fans of that other British comedy institution, the Carry On series, will be pleased to spot Charles Hawtrey in a supporting role. --Gary S Dalkin

• The People's Passion | DVD | (01/04/2000) from £13.92   |  Saving you £4.07 (22.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The People's Passion is a BBC/NVC Arts co-production, originally shown on BBC in short instalments, but presented here as a single 50-minute programme. This is a musical version of the story of Holy Week, the narrator sung by the leading American opera star Jessye Norman, commenting on the action played-out by a very familiar British television cast. The use of modern dress and readily identifiable faces such as Robert Hardy (Pilate), Patricia Hodge (Procula), Ron Moody (The Donkey Minder) and Kevin Whatley (Judas) is an excellent device to stress the contemporary relevance of the story. Though if this is the aim, it is a brave move to refuse to "dumb down" musically, Donald Fraser's score being more in the English classical tradition of Vaughan-Williams' Pilgrim's Progress, than a populist Jesus Christ, Superstar musical. Rather old-fashioned, too, is the portrayal of Jesus, who does not speak but is danced in Spirit by Jonathan Cope, and given voice by the boys of St Paul's Cathedral Choir. With Thomas Allen also appearing as The Centurion--in rather more dignified style than John Wayne in The Greatest Story Ever Told--this is a direct, uncluttered and highly effective version of The Passion.On the DVD: The picture is presented at approximately 1.7:1 ratio, but lacking anamorphic enhancement for widescreen televisions. The sound, disappointingly for a 1999 production, is PCM stereo. The booklet offers biographies of only Jessye Norman and Jonathan Cope, but does not include the libretto, which can be printed out via a DVD-ROM. The programme can be viewed with or without English subtitles. --Gary S. Dalkin

• On The Beat | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £8.96   |  Saving you £1.03 (11.50%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Having proved himself a war hero in The Square Peg (1958), Norman Pitkin, Norman Wisdom's most famous incarnation of his riotous buffoon character, is here demobbed and, as usual for a Wisdom movie, dreaming of something better. Norman 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. As in The Square Peg, 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. In fact, as if emphasising that On the Beat really is The Square Peg with different uniforms, Terence Alexander, who later found fame as Charlie Hungerford in the long running BBC series Bergerac, also returns, albeit playing a different character. Wisdom film-regular David Lodge, previously seen co-starring in The Bulldog Breed (1960) is also on hand, though otherwise the supporting cast is less stellar than before. Solid if very predictable feel-good entertainment, Wisdom's particular brand of charming anarchy proves again his box-office formula could withstand endless variations. --Gary S Dalkin

• Gian-Carlo Menotti - the Consul | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £24.22   |  Saving you £0.77 (3.10%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Consul.A Musical Drama in Three Acts.

• Red Dwarf : Series 8 (Limited Edition with corgi Scutter toy) | DVD | (27/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £25.99

  Featuring the complete eighth series of Red Dwarf. Episodes comprise: 1. Back in the Red (Part 1) 2. Back in the Red (Part 2) 3. Back in the Red (Part 3) 4. Cassandra 5. Krytie TV 6. Pete 7. Pete II 8. Only The Good...

• Doomwatch | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

• Karate Kill | DVD | (09/04/2001) from £16.16   |  Saving you £-3.17 (-24.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Martial Arts champion Steve Chase is lured to a desert fortress to compete in what he thinks will be an Olympic-style contest between Martial Arts champions with a prize of a fortune in diamonds. In reality the competition is a revenge scheme planned by a madman. With the woman he loves imprisoned. Chase has only one choice – to face an army of Karate Gladiators single-handed...

• Back in the day | DVD | (26/05/2008) from £6.99   |  Saving you £-1.00 (-16.70%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Back In The Day

• Boneyard | DVD | (26/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Whilst investigating a series of mysterious deaths detectives Jerry Callum and Gordon Mullin with the help of psychic Alley Oates at the county morgue unwittingly reactivate an ancient oriental curse. Joined by a trapped pathologist an orderly and a failed suicide they fight for their lives. Only the lucky don't survive as survival is a fate worse than death!

• Norman Granz Presents Improvisation | DVD | (01/12/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  In 1944 Norman Granz and Gjon Mili collaborated on a film about jazz music called ""Jammin' The Blues"". Highly successful it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Short Film and is described on the IMDB as ""Maybe the greatest film ever about jazz."" In 1950 they collaborated again on a film about jazz improvisation that was never completed. This footage has now been combined with other film of jazz improvisation shot by Norman Granz at different times and locations to create this new film simply titled ""Improvisation"". Tracklist: 1: Opening Title 2: Ballade 3: Celebrity 4: Ad Lib 5: Pennies From Heaven 6: Blues For Greasy 7: Blues For Joan Miro 8: Nob's Blues 9: Kidney Stew 10: These Foolish Things 11: Ain't Misbehavin' 12: Prelude To A Kiss 13: Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me 14: I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good 15: Ali and Frazier

• 3 Classic British Sitcoms - Rising Damp / George And Mildred / Bless This House | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Rising Damp - A genuine British comedy classic the popularity of 'Rising Damp' remains unparalleled some 25 years after the first transmission. 'Rising Damp' detailed the day-to-day events at Rigsby's dingy boarding-house in Eric Chappell's hilarious sitcom. The landlord from hell Rupert Rigsby prowled around his dilapidated eyrie poking his nose into his lodgers' affairs. In this feature length movie Rigsby (Leonard Rossiter) is still intending to make Miss Jones (Frances De La Tour) his wife but she's far more interested in the intellectual and athletic Philip (Don Warrington)... George And Mildred - George and Mildred are the ultimate odd couple the popular landlord and landlady from Man About The House who became a household name with Thames Television in the 1970's and 80's. Mildred is vain snobbish and domineering; George is shy timid frigid and henpecked. Together they make a great partnership! In this feature length movie Mildred is still trying to steer him towards romance; George still doesn't know what she's driving at... Bless This House - The movie of the successful TV series in which two arguing families discover that their respective offsprings have been having a secret affair and plan to marry...

• Borderline | DVD | (22/05/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Charles Bronson stars as a US Border Guard who is trying to protect the country from the millions of illegal Mexicans immigrants who attempt to cross the border annually. He becomes involved in a murder hunt when his partner and a poor youth are murdered.

• The Square Peg | DVD | (05/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Square Peg marks a slight departure for Norman Wisdom, being his first comedy to be set, however recently, in the past. He plays one of a pair of council workmen, who while repairing the road outside an army base come to illustrate the oxymoronic nature of the phrase "military intelligence". Finding themselves drafted, the workmen are sent to repair the roads ahead of the Allied advance through war-torn Europe by the sergeant they previously embarrassed. Norman finds himself behind the German lines, joins-up with French Resistance, gets captured then sets out to rescue British prisoners from a German military HQ by impersonating General Schreiber. Of course Wisdom plays Schreiber too, offering the sort of comedy stereotyping which Basil Fawlty in best "Don't mention the war" mode would appreciate. The Square Peg is the film which introduced Norman Wisdom's famous catch-phrase, "Mr. Grimsdale!" for whenever disaster struck. The long suffering Mr Grimsdale is played by Edward Chapman, who would reprise the role in Wisdom's A Stitch in Time (1963) and The Early Bird (1965), as well as playing Mr Philpots in The Bulldog Breed (1960). Hattie Jacques gets to sing a remarkable duet with Wisdom, and a pre-Goldfinger (1964) Honor Blackman provides the love interest.--Gary S. Dalkin

• Lethal Ninja | DVD | (17/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Deep in the heart of the Dark Continent something evil is taking place. Someone is poisoning the water and many innocent people may die. A ninja power is at work... But who controls this evil force?

• Victim | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Victim is quite simply a watershed moment in cinema history. The first mainstream film to portray sympathetically and realistically homosexual society, it did so at a time when homosexuality was still a crime in Britain. Janet Green and John McCormick's screenplay makes Dirk Bogarde's Melville Farr a deeply conflicted man; married and in love with his wife, he also has relationships with men; while as a lawyer he is bound to uphold the law, even as he is compelled to break it. When Jack Barrett (a young Peter McEnery) commits suicide to avoid the consequences of blackmail, Farr sees this as murder, and decides to end the extortion even if it costs him his career. Rather more skilfully plotted than it initially appears, Victim generates considerable tension, and boasts fine performances from an ensemble cast including Sylvia Syms as Farr's wife, Norman Bird, Donald Churchill and John Barrie. Basil Dearden, who memorably featured Bogarde in an early role in The Blue Lamp (1950), directs with professional assurance. Not just a historical document--though the location footage of central London circa 1961 is fascinating in its own right--Victim was instrumental in changing attitudes, which led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality. A turning point for Bogarde too, the film marked a move from matinee idol to the more serious fare of The Servant (1963) and Darling (1965). On the DVD: Victim is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 16:9 transfer, which beautifully captures the noir-ish black-and-white cinematography of Otto Heller. There is occasional print damage, but it is minimal and doesn't distract from the film. The mono sound is very good. The disc also includes the original trailer, an annotated gallery of production photographs and a 28-minute television interview with Dirk Bogarde. This excellent feature was filmed in the actor's house just prior to the release of Victim and finds him discussing his career with particular reference to Hunted (1952), the Doctor comedies, Song Without End (1960) and his latest, "bitterly controversial" picture, which he says couldn't have been made even two years earlier. --Gary S Dalkin

• The John Thaw Tribute Collection | DVD | (11/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A tribute to John Thaw which includes: 'Inspector Morse - The Dead Of Jericho' in which Morse investigates the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Anne Stavely. Based on the novel by Colin Dexter. 'Kavanagh QC - Nothing But The Truth' which centres on James Kavanagh who has climbed to the top of his profession as one of the leading criminal advocates in London. He takes on the defence of a student accused of raping a middle-aged housewife. 'Goodnight Mister Tom' finds To

• The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (The Kurt Russell Collection) | DVD | (14/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A