"Actor: Shirley"

• Crimson Petal and the White, T | DVD | (06/06/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  If you dare enter this world you had better tread carefully. Such is the advice of Sugar the heroine of the hit BBC2 sexually charged thriller The Crimson Petal and The White. A compelling Victorian tale of revenge The Crimson Petal & The White tells the story of Sugar an alluring and intelligent young prostitute. Sugar longs for a better life and when she secures the patronage of successful businessman William Rackham she begins to hatch a scheme that will free her from her life in the slums. However as their worlds become more entwined Sugar's plans set in motion a series of events that will change both their lives forever. It is an engrossing drama with a twist that viewers will want to watch again and again.

• Tale Of Tales | Blu Ray | (08/08/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Tale of Tales unleashes a barrage of mind-bogglingly gorgeous and fantastical imagery as it brings to life the (mis)adventures of three kings.

• Two Mules For Sister Sara | Blu Ray | (09/09/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In the cactus-studded Mexican backcountry of the 1860s, a surly drifter who could easily be mistaken for the Man with No Name becomes protector and lethal helpmate to a red-haired nun wanted by the French for aiding the Juarista revolutionaries. Essentially a two-character showcase for the newly stellar Clint Eastwood and what was beginning to seem the poststellar Shirley MacLaine (subbing for Elizabeth Taylor), this sardonic study in testy collaboration, mutual deception and distrust, and slightly creepy sexual attraction is highly rated by a fairly small number of critics--chiefly, one suspects, for the dual-auteur cachet of having been directed by Don Siegel and based on a story by Budd Boetticher. Others deem it an undersauced spaghetti Western and find that the stars grate on the viewer as well as each other. Cinematography by the great Gabriel Figueroa is some consolation, but... if only Boetticher had been allowed to direct. --Richard T. Jameson

• Elsa & Fred | DVD | (04/05/2015) from £4.96   |  Saving you £13.03 (262.70%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Romantic comedy starring Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer. After his daughter (Marcia Gay Harden) persuades him to move into a new apartment, aged widower Fred (Plummer) strikes up a friendship with his eccentric 74-year-old neighbour Elsa (MacLaine), who convinces him it's never too late to keep enjoying life. Although he seemed resigned to a miserable bedridden existence, Frank embraces Elsa's youthful enthusiasm as she introduces him to the path of life and entertains him with outlandish stories about her past life. But when he discovers Elsa's terminally ill, Frank decides to accompany her on the trip of her dreams to the eternal city of Rome to help her fulfil a lifelong ambition.

• The Children's Hour (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (18/06/2018) from £16.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on Lillian Hellman's ground-breaking 1934 play and nominated for 5 Academy Awards. The Children's Hour is set at an exclusive girl's school managed by best friends Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine. When a badly behaved student starts rumours that her teachers are in a lesbian relationship, there are serious and tragic repercussions for everyone involved. Directed by William Wyler (Ben Hur, Roman Holiday) and co-starring James Garner as Hepburn's boyfriend, The Children's Hour still stands as a powerful indictment of the malice of lies and rumours in society. This is the first time the film is available on Blu-ray in the UK. Special features: Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition Extras TBC Fully illustrated booklet featuring new writing on the film and full film credits

• The Apartment | Blu Ray | (29/07/2013) from £9.50   |  Saving you £3.49 (36.74%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Romance at its most anti-romantic--that is the Billy Wilder stamp of genius, and this Best Picture Academy Award winner from 1960 is no exception. Set in a decidedly unsavoury world of corporate climbing and philandering, the great filmmaker's trenchant, witty satire-melodrama takes the office politics of a corporation and plays them out in the apartment of lonely clerk CC Baxter (Jack Lemmon). By lending out his digs to the higher-ups for nightly extramarital flings with their secretaries, Baxter has managed to ascend the business ladder faster than even he imagined. The story turns even uglier, though, when Baxter's crush on the building's melancholy elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) runs up against her long-standing affair with the big boss (a superbly smarmy Fred MacMurray). The situation comes to a head when she tries to commit suicide in Baxter's apartment. Not the happiest or cleanest of scenarios, and one that earned the famously caustic and cynically humoured Wilder his share of outraged responses, but looking at it now, it is a funny, startlingly clear-eyed vision of urban emptiness and is unfailingly understanding of the crazy decisions our hearts sometimes make. Lemmon and MacLaine are ideally matched and while everyone cites Wilder's Some Like It Hot closing line "Nobody's perfect" as his best, MacLaine's no-nonsense final words--"Shut up and deal"--are every bit as memorable. Wilder won three Oscars for The Apartment, for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay (cowritten with long-time collaborator I A L Diamond). --Robert Abele

• The Turning Point | DVD | (06/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The generations change but the choices remain the same. As young dancers they were best friends and fierce rivals. Deedee (Shirley MacLaine) left the stage for marriage and motherhood while Emma (Anne Bancroft) would become an international ballet icon. When Deedee's teenage daughter (Leslie Browne) is invited to join Emma's dance company and begins an affair with a young Russian star (Mikhail Baryshnikov in his film debut) the two women are forced to confront the choices

• Diabolique | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Diabolique is Jeremiah Chechik's 1996 revamped version of the 1955 French film noir tale of two teachers at a boys school conspiring to kill the headmaster (played in the remake by Chazz Palminteri of Jade and The Usual Suspects). The three assemble an intriguing triangle of revenge and deceit as the headmaster's abused and humiliated wife and mistress team up to get even. Mia Baran is the fragile wife with a delicate heart condition, portrayed by Isabelle Adjani (Queen Margot), and Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct) is the plotting, contemptuous mistress. Together they set out to wreak an unfortunate revenge, but as the story reveals itself, miscalculations abound as hidden agendas and secret lives are unexpectedly exposed. Chechik's new look and timeless setting give film noir audiences something neoteric and seductive to play with. A welcomed change to the film's story line is the fresh addition of Kathy Bates as a daunting private detective. Fans of Stone's will not be disappointed with the latest version of her "I-could-give-a-damn smoldering broad" technique and anyone not yet familiar with Chazz Palminteri will love watching him succeed as the ultimately despicable headmaster. --Michele Goodson

• Sweet Charity (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (02/11/2020) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The feature debut of the great Bob Fosse based on the Broadway hit, Sweet Charity is a musical re-imagining of Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria, starring the wonderful Shirley MacLaine as a taxi dancer looking for love and escape in hippy-era New York. Special Features: 4K restoration of the 157-minute Roadshow version, complete with Overture, Entr'acte and Exit Music 4K restoration of the general release version, with the original and alternative endings Alternative 2.0 stereo, 4.0 stereo and 5.1 surround soundtrack options Audio commentary with film historians Lee Gambin, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Cara Mitchell (2020) The John Player Lecture with Shirley MacLaine (1971): archival audio recording of the celebrated actor in conversation at London's National Film Theatre From Stage to Screen: A Director's Dilemma (1969): original promotional film featuring interview material with Bob Fosse and rare behind-the-scenes footage The Art of Exaggeration (1969): original promotional film profiling the work of famed costume designer Edith Head Interview with Sonja Haney (2020): audio recording of the dance assistant in conversation with Lee Gambin Now and Then: Sammy Davis Jr (1968): archival interview featuring the actor and singer in conversation with broadcaster Bernard Braden Super 8 version: original cut-down home-cinema presentation Image gallery: publicity and promotional material Original theatrical trailer New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with new essays by Pamela Hutchinson and Bill Rosenfield, Neil Simon on Sweet Charity, archival press coverage of the film's release including an interview with Shirley MacLaine, extracts from the pressbook, Federico Fellini on Sweet Charity, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits Limited edition exclusive double-sided poster UK premiere on Blu-ray Limited edition of 3,000 copies

• Irma La Douce | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £14.18   |  Saving you £1.81 (12.76%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Irma La Douce reunited The Apartment team of Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine with director Billy Wilder in an adaptation of the stage musical of the same name which had been a hit in Paris, London and New York. The screen transfer by Wilder and his colleague--writer IAL Diamond--however, omits the show's songs, relegating them to a background score refashioned by Andre Previn with some additional themes of his own. Background here is a complimentary term, for whatever qualms one might entertain as to this move, the two sets of themes are skilfully woven together by Previn and emerge as a witty and lyrical aural delight in their own right which is given due prominence on the soundtrack. Wilder is no rush to tell prostitute Irma's story: her affair with Lemmon being the pivot of the tale as he takes on the disguise of an English Lord. Lemmon and MacLaine beautifully play their mutual attraction under Wilder's deft direction with the slapstick never allowed to get out of hand. Many will recognise Wilder's touch in his handling of the scene where Lemmon as a policeman is carted off in a van full of voracious prostitutes from the bunks-in-the-train sequence in Some Like It Hot. The handsome production, designed by Alexander Tranner--with the occasional view of the Seine thrown in for good measure--and the Panavision photography by Joseph La Shelle are further assets. On the DVD: The DVD contains a longer than usual theatrical trailer, half shot as a cartoon with characters closely resembling those Pink Panther figures who emerged at the same time from the Mirisch Brothers, a pair prominent in sustaining the unique success of United Artists, whose name was deleted, in favour of the MGM logo, in the early 1960s. It's too bad that the music on this DVD transfer sometimes strikes a coarse note particularly over the extended opening credits. --Adrian Edwards

• Three Men In A Boat | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £4.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Three friends escape their dull lives by taking a leisurely excursion along the Thames in a small boat. However their planned restful journey is interrupted by a number of comic mishaps and adventures as well as complications of a romantic nature as they cross paths with ladies.

• Carry On Nurse | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £6.66   |  Saving you £9.33 (140.09%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Carry On which caused a national sensation when a daffodil replaced a thermometer - you know where! The Carry On team have picked up their stethoscopes and bed pans for a strong dose of hospital humour. Hattie Jacques is the infamous matron doing battle with the patients in the second series of the world famous Carry On series.

• Three Men In A Boat (Vintage Classics) | Blu Ray | (19/08/2024) from £10.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Three London gentlemen take a vacation rowing down the Thames, encountering various mishaps and misadventures along the way.Tracing the Source: An interview with Jeremy NicholasMessing Around on the River: An interview with Matthew SweetB&W Stills GalleryOriginal Trailer

• Life During Wartime | DVD | (12/07/2010) from £18.99   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Joy (Shirkey Henderson) is married to a man with an unresolved 'affliction' and recieves visitations from her deceased ex-lover. Her sister Trish (Allison Janney) meets an unlikely new suitor (Michael Lerner) who she hopes will bring stability to her family while her husband (Ciaran Hinds) is just out of prison and keen to reconnect with his son. Helen (Ally Sheedy) the third sister is feeling intense pressure from her family and her Hollywood success. Ten years after the critically acclaimed Happiness director Todd Solondz returns to the familiar themes and characters with Life During Wartime and presents us with a tale thats poignant funny disturbing shocking and sad while creating a resonant portrait of modern life and love.

• South Pacific / Oklahoma / Carousel | DVD | (19/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  South Pacific: Blessed with a treasure of timeless songs South Pacific combines the passionate heartwarming romance of a naive young Navy nurse (Mitzi Gaynor) and an older French plantation owner (Rossano Brazzi) with South Seas splendour and a world at war while the breathtaking score is highlighted by some of the most romantic songs ever written. Oklahoma!: Rodgers and Hammerstein's charming and vigorous tale of romance and adventure set in the Wild West. Songs include 'People Will Say We're In Love' 'Oh What A Beautiful Morning' and the title song 'Oklahoma!' Carousel: Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones are reunited in this second classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. In this bittersweet love story Billy Bigelow (MacRae) a smooth-taking carny barker falls in love with a milworker (Jones) in a little town on the coast of Maine. Although Billy is killed during a robbery before the birth of his daughter years later he is allowed to return to earth for one day to redeem himself - and to teach his daughter one very important lesson. This the most poetic and lyrical of all the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals features the classics If I Loved You and You'll Never Walk Alone.

• Set Fire To The Stars | Blu Ray | (02/03/2015) from £22.93   |  Saving you £-0.94 (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  Inspired by a true story... Set in 1950's New York and starring Elijah Wood as John Malcolm Brinnin, the aspiring young American poet who finds his ordered world shaken when he embarks on a week-long retreat to save his hell raising hero, Dylan Thomas, played by Celyn Jones. Directed by BAFTA-nominated director, Andy Goddard this visually stunning film, shot entirely in black and white monochrome, is a cautionary tale about meeting your heroes, the dirty business of celebrity and about what may have happened in an East Coast boathouse when an earnest ingénue shared cabin space with his idol, the greatest living poet of the twentieth century. Special Features - Deleted Scenes - Dylan Thomas Poems - ˜And Death Shall Have No Dominion', If I Were Tickled by the Rub of Love', and ˜In My Craft or Sullen Art' ready by Celyn Jones, ˜Love In The Asylum' read by the cast - Gruff In Metropolis

• Angel Eyes | DVD | (25/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  When Chicago police officer Sharon Pogue (Jennifer Lopez) is saved from a bullet by a mysterious stranger, it proves a life-changing experience.

• The Naked Truth | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £6.73   |  Saving you £3.26 (48.44%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In 1957's The Naked Truth Terry Thomas plays a dodgy peer of the realm being blackmailed in the company of Peter Sellers, Peggy Mount and Shirley Eaton by a gutter press journalist, Dennis Price ("Don't try to appeal to my better nature, because I haven't one"). One fascinating element in this picture is the portrayal of those relationships that could be only suggested in a period of tighter censorship, such as Peter Sellers' TV personality and Kenneth Griffith as his dresser, whose gay relationship is only faintly etched in here. More overt is the characterisation of a masculine looking authoress, known only by her initials, but sporting Agatha Christie's hairdo. The moments of slapstick are brought off to a tee, as when the larger-than-life Peggy Mount attempts a suicide drop from her window to be saved by an awning on a shop front. On the DVD: The Naked Truth comes to DVD in 4:3 ratio and with a mono soundtrack. The only extra feature is a trailer. More TT tomfoolery can be found in the three-disc Terry Thomas Collection. --Adrian Edwards

• The Trouble With Harry | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Trouble with Harry is a lark, the mischievous side of Hitchcock given free reign. A busman's holiday for Alfred Hitchcock, this 1955 black comedy concerns a pesky corpse that becomes a problem for a quiet, Vermont neighbourhood. Shirley MacLaine makes her film debut as one of several characters who keep burying the body and finding it unburied again. Hitchcock clearly enjoys conjuring the autumnal look and feel of the story, and he establishes an important, first-time alliance with composer Bernard Herrmann, whose music proved vital to the director's next half-dozen or so films. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Sleeping Beauty : Deluxe Collector's Edition | DVD | (13/01/2003) from £17.97   |  Saving you £10.01 (66.82%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Disney's 1959 Sleeping Beauty was the studio's most ambitious effort to date, a lavish spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapted from the music of Tchaikovsky. In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her sixteenth birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Fortunately, some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are on hand to assist. It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here, alongside Malificent's castle, which, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke, Amazon.com