"Actor: Russell Porter"

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 2 | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The ultimate depiction of workplace perdition has to be Whitbury Leisure Centre in The Brittas Empire, despite the later claim of The Office to the title. And while David Brent seems all too uncomfortably real, Chris Barrie's Gordon Brittas carried the gung-ho officiousness of mediocre middle-management to its surreal conclusion. The Brittas Empire could never quite make up its mind if it was a quasi-realistic sitcom or a fantasy comedy, and it's this uneasy mixture that invites you to question whether there's anything terribly funny about unplanned single parenthood, childcare problems, assault in the workplace and women who are addicted to prescription drugs (see also Waiting for God) because of their partners' behaviour. Then, just as you're pondering all this, Brittas comes out with another mouthful of managerial psychobabble that makes you realise that only this kind of tragi-comic exaggeration is robust enough to stand up to Barrie's monstrous creation. This second series treads a fine line between the merely bleak and the really rather nasty with exquisite precision. It opens with the news that Brittas has been killed abroad in an industrial accident, prompting his tranquillizer-addled wife to mourn him for less time than it takes her to remarry--except, of course, that Brittas is alive and well. Along the way, receptionist Carole attempts to murder Brittas with a JCB when she mistakenly thinks he's assaulted her baby, which she keeps in a cupboard under her desk. On the DVD: The Brittas Empire, Series 2 carries all seven episodes on two discs, together with several extras including a gallery, a profile and a Brittas Management Quiz (don't ask!). --Roger Thomas

• His Girl Friday | Blu Ray | (16/01/2017) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Winner of both the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or, MARCEL CAMUS' Black Orpheus (Orfeu negro) brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the twentieth-century madness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. With its eye-popping photography and ravishing, epochal soundtrack, Black Orpheus was a cultural event, kicking off the bossa nova craze that set hi-fis across America spinning. SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES: New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Optional English-dubbed soundtrack Archival interviews with director Marcel Camus and actress Marpessa Dawn New video interviews with Brazilian cinema scholar Robert Stam, jazz historian Gary Giddins, and Brazilian author Ruy Castro Looking for Black Orpheus, a French documentary about Black Orpheus's cultural and musical roots and its resonance in Brazil today Theatrical trailer PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Michael Atkinson Click Images to Enlarge

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 4 | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A fourth series of leisure centre management mishaps with Gordon Brittas. Episodes comprise: 1. Not A Good Day... 2. The Christening 3. Biggles Tells A Lie 4. Mr Brittas Changes Trains 5. Playing With Fire 6. Shall We Dance? 7. The Chop 8. High Noon

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (09/12/2002) from £3.51   |  Saving you £10.74 (477.33%)   |  RRP £12.99

  His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (30/10/2006) from £6.48   |  Saving you £-2.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £9.88   |  Saving you £-4.89 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 1 | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £12.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (53.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Broadcast between 1991 and 1997, The Brittas Empire is a sitcom set in Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. It stars Chris Barrie as Gordon Brittas, the prattish, blazered manager who remains loudly oblivious to the fact that his high-handed efforts at running the place result in utter calamity. As his gin-supping, nervous wreck of a wife observes, he thinks he's the oil that lubricates the machine but in reality he's "a bag of grit". This first series introduces Brittas, whose arrival at the new Centre prompts a rash of resignations as his petty and pedantic managerial methods constantly rebound on him. Mishaps in these episodes include a malfunctioning set of automatic doors, a disastrous wedding in the pool and a lost baby. Somehow, however, Brittas' strange sense of idealism keeps him bobbing up as all others sink into despair. The Brittas Empire could either be seen as a satire on the new tier of superfluous middle-management types who flourished in Tory Britain, or a 90s update of the old stereotype of the bureaucratic buffoon. Compared to, say, Alan Partridge, Brittas seems a bit broad and one-dimensional, a sketch-show character stretched beyond its limits. The rest of the cast don't offer much in the way of resistance or support and Brittas very swiftly becomes very annoying. Despite all problems, however, The Brittas Empire was an immense success, attracting over eight-million viewers at its peak. On the DVD: The Brittas Empire include some perfunctory, text-only items, including a Chris Barrie biography and a Brittas Fitness Quiz, as well as a sketch performed at the Royal Variety Performance of 1996, in which Brittas reveals himself as an enthusiast for conformity with EEC regulations. --David Stubbs

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (07/02/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A newspaper editor uses every trick in the book to keep his ace reporter ex-wife from remarrying.

• Cary Grant - His Girl Friday / Cary Grant On Film | DVD | (01/11/1999) from £12.99   |  Saving you £-9.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

• He Who Dares: The Downing St Siege | Blu Ray | (05/01/2015) from £5.49   |  Saving you £9.50 (173.04%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Simon Phillips and Tom Benedict Knight star in this British action thriller sequel to Paul Tanter's 2013 film 'He Who Dares'. Following on, six months after the SAS carried out a successful rescue mission to recover the Prime Minister's kidnapped daughter from a terrorist group, the UK's most wanted criminal, Alexander Holt (Phillips), escapes from prison and starts putting plans in place to get revenge for his time spent behind bars. His plan: kidnap the Prime Minister (Russell Kilmister). While SAS Captain Chris Lowe (Knight) faces an inquiry into his and his team's actions in the kidnapping case, Holt takes advantage of the lack of security and attacks 10 Downing Street, taking the Prime Minister hostage. Can Holt and Lowe put their differences aside and negotiate a reasonable agreement that allows the PM to get out alive?

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (07/08/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

• The Brittas Empire - Series 2 | DVD | (07/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  In this television sitcom Gordon Brittas (Chris Barrie) is the manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. He means well wants to do well and wants to be a good manager. Unfortunately his best talent is to continually create recipes for total disaster. Deep down Brittas cares for his staff but all he ever seems to do is make their lives more difficult. Trying to rise above this and to keep the Leisure centre running smoothly is his assistant Laura (Julia St John). Behind every good man so the saying goes is a good woman and behind any maniac is a good woman losing her sanity! Helen Brittas (Philippa Haywood) is no different as she struggles to cope with the mania of her husband.

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (01/12/2003) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-0.54 (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

• 3 Classics Of The Silver Screen - Vol. 1 - His Private Secretary / His Girl Friday / The Amazing Adventure | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  His Private Secretary: Dick Wallace (John Wayne) a millionaire's son tends to chase rather dubious women causing his father to despair of him. When he really falls in love his father assumes the girl is a gold digger... His Girl Friday: A classic unrelenting hilarious war of the sexes comedy in which a reporter and her ex-husband editor helps a condemned man escape the law - while at the same time furthering their own ends as they try to get the big scoop on politica

• Penny Serenade / His Girl Friday | DVD | (08/05/2006) from £2.68   |  Saving you £2.31 (86.19%)   |  RRP £4.99

  His Girl Friday (Dir. Howard Hawks 1940): Perhaps the funniest comedy ever made. This inspired adaptation adds an extra dimension of exploitation by turning Hildy Johnson into Walter Burns ex-wife. A classic unrelenting hilarious war-between-the-sexes comedy in which a reporter and her ex-husband editor helps a condemned man escape the law - while at the same time furthering their own ends as they try to get the big scoop on political corruption in the town. One of Howards H