"Actor: Sid James"

• Hancock's Half Hour - Complete Collection | DVD | (22/10/2007) from £15.99   |  Saving you £34.00 (212.63%)   |  RRP £49.99

  This collection contains all 39 surviving episodes from 1956 to 1961 of the classic sitcom written by Galton & Simpson featuring East Cheam's most famous resident Tony Hancock. Featuring such classics as The Radio Ham The Blood Donor The Bed Sitter this collection is a must for any fan of classic comedy.

• The Lavender Hill Mob | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £7.09   |  Saving you £9.90 (139.63%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Directed by Charles Crichton, who would much later direct John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda (1988), 1951's The Lavender Hill Mob is the most ruefully thrilling of the Ealing Comedies. Alec Guinness plays a bowler-hatted escort of bullion to the refineries. His seeming timidity, weak 'r's and punctiliousness mask a typically Guinness-like patient cunning. "I was aware I was widiculed but that was pwecisely the effect I was stwiving to achieve". He's actually plotting a heist. With more conventionally cockney villains Sid James and Alfie Bass in tow, as well as the respectable but ruined Stanley Holloway, Guinness' perfect criminal plan works in exquisite detail, then unravels just as exquisitely, culminating in a nail-biting police car chase in which you can't help rooting for the villains. The Lavender Hill Mob depicts a London still up to its knees in rubble from World War II, a world of new hope but continued austerity, a budding new order in which everything seems up for grabs; as such it could be regarded as a lighter hearted cinematic cousin to Carol Reed's 1949 masterpiece The Third Man. The Lavender Hill Mob also sees the first, fleeting on-screen appearance of Audrey Hepburn in the opening sequence. --David Stubbs

• Carry On At Your Convenience | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £9.49   |  Saving you £3.50 (36.88%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In 1971 when Carry On at Your Convenience hit our screens, the series had long since become part of the fabric of British popular entertainment. Never mind the situation, the characters were essentially the same, film after film. The jokes were all as old as the hills, but nobody cared, they were still funny. But it's just too easy to treat them as a job lot of postcard humour and music hall innuendo. This tale of revolt at a sanitary ware factory--Boggs and Son, what else?--certainly chimed in with the state of the nation in the early 1970s when strikes were called at the drop of a hat. Here, tea urns, demarcation and the company's decision to branch out into bidets all wreak havoc. Kenneth Williams as the company's besieged managing director, Sidney James and Joan Sims give their all as usual, but it's the lesser roles that really add some lustre. Hattie Jacques as Sid's budgerigar-obsessed, sluggish put-upon wife and Renee Houston as a superbly domineering battleaxe with a penchant for strip poker remind us that in the hands of fine actors, even the laziest of caricatures become real human beings. --Piers Ford

• Carry On Cleo | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £6.72   |  Saving you £6.27 (93.30%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Ninth entry in the Carry On series. Ancient British slaves save Caesar (Kenneth Williams) from assassination in Rome 50 B.C. Meanwhile Mark Antony (Sid James) romances Egyptian Empress Cleopatra (Amanda Barrie). Revolting Britons include Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey while Warren Mitchell plays a partner in the slave-trading firm Markus & Spencius.

• Carry On Christmas | DVD | (14/11/2022) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All four made-for-TV Christmas specials from the 'Carry On' crew. 'Carry On Christmas' (1969) is a reworking of Charles Dickens' classic 'A Christmas Carol' while 'Carry On Again Christmas' (1970) is a new take on 'Treasure Island'. In 'Carry On Stuffing' (1972), the cast recreate a bawdy version of the classic panto 'Aladdin', and in 'Carry On Christmas' (1973), a saucy department store Santa wonders how Christmas has been celebrated through the ages. The cast includes Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Frankie Howerd, Terry Scott, Charles Hawtrey, Bernard Bresslaw and Kenneth Connor.

• Carry On Doctor | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (160.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Bedpan humour rules in Carry On Doctor, the vintage 1968 offering from gang, assisted by guest star Frankie Howerd as bogus faith healer Francis Bigger. Hospitals, of course, always provided the Carry On producers with plenty of material. Today, these comedies induce a twinge of serious nostalgia for the great days of the National Health Service when Matron (Hattie Jacques, naturally) ran the hospital as if it was a house of correction, medical professionals were idolised as if they were all Doctor Kildare and Accident and Emergency Departments were deserted oases of calm. But even if you aren't interested in a history lesson, Talbot Rothwell's script contains some immortal dialogue, particularly when Matron loosens her stays. "You may not realise it but I was once a weak man", says Kenneth Williams' terrified Doctor Tinkle to Hattie Jacques. "Once a week's enough for any man", she purrs back. Other highlights include Joan Sims, excellent as Frankie Howerd's deaf, bespectacled sidekick, Charles Hawtrey suffering from a phantom pregnancy, 1960s singer Anita Harris in a rare film role, and Barbara Windsor at her most irrepressible as nurse Sandra May. --Piers Ford

• Bless This House | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £8.69   |  Saving you £-0.70 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Bless This House

• Carry On Matron | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £8.22   |  Saving you £4.77 (58.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Hattie Jacques finally got to the play the title role in 1972 when Carry On Matron immortalised the character she had developed during several previous outings, most notably in Carry On Doctor. And she seized it with gusto. This is no one-dimensional performance, but a very human portrait of a woman doing her best to retain her authority in the face of mounting chaos--a raid planned by Sid James to steal the hospital's supply of contraceptive pills. Certainly, she's obsessed with regular bowel movements--this wouldn't be a Carry On film otherwise--but she remains a majestic figure of dignity with a touch of human warmth. Occasionally, too, a real hint of irony peeks through the slapstick and the innuendo. Surely scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell had his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek when he gave Barbara Windsor--then married to Ronnie Knight--the line, "I don't fancy being a gangster's moll!" Terry Scott makes a guest appearance and Sid James is at his most conniving and lecherous. Theatre impresario Bill Kenwright has a cameo role and there's an early appearance from Wendy Richard as a prototype Pauline Fowler. But it's the female stalwarts who shine. Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques were truly comic actresses of the highest order. --Piers Ford

• Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 1 | DVD | (13/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Tony Hancock has been voted Britain's best ever comedy performer thirty-five years after his premature death in 1968. This DVD contains the remaining episodes from Series 2 and Series 3 plus a Christmas Special. Episodes from Series 2: 1. The Alpine Holiday Episodes from Series 3: 1. Air Steward Hancock The Last Of The Many 2. The Lawyer: The Crown vs Sidney James 3. Competitions: How To Win Money And Influence People 4. There's An Airfield At The Bottom Of My Garden The Christmas

• Pick-up Alley | Blu Ray | (04/11/2019) from £9.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Stylishly directed by genre film journeyman John Gilling (Plague of the Zombies), Pickup Alley is a long-unseen crime film gem, set amongst the seedy milieu of the international narcotics trade. Spurred on by the murder of his drug-addicted sister by ruthless crime boss Frank McNally (Trevor Howard, Brief Encounter), US agent Charles Sturgis (Victor Mature, Cry of the City) launches a transnational woman-hunt for McNally's shapely associate, Gina Broger (Anita Ekberg, Killer Nun, La dolce vita). His investigation takes him on a thrill-ride from New York to London, Lisbon, Rome, Naples and finally Athens... A globe-trotting adventure boasting a top-tier international cast, Pickup Alley affords the viewer shockingly frank portrayals of drug addiction; a glamourous travelogue of exotic locations, and intriguing depictions of sleazy villains. Produced by Irving Allen and Cubby Broccoli's Warwick Films, this British cult classic now makes a welcome return in High Definition with a heavy dose of new extras. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing The Warwick Way, writer and curator Josephine Botting on the prolific and successful production company, Warwick Films Original 1957 US theatrical release prologue by Congressman Hale Boggs, Chairman of the US Senate Committee of Narcotics Original theatrical trailer and TV spot Image gallery Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Fully Illustrated booklet with a newly commissioned essay by British cinema scholar Robert Murphy

• A Room For Romeo Brass | DVD | (25/03/2002) from £8.06   |  Saving you £4.93 (61.17%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Growing up ...fighting family ...talking out of your arse...

• Carry On Cowboy | Blu Ray | (02/06/2014) from £8.00   |  Saving you £14.99 (187.38%)   |  RRP £22.99

  A hilarious romp through the bars and bedrooms of the Wild West with the Carry On gang! Sid James is on top form as the Rumpo Kid an outlaw who shakes up the sleepy residents of Stodge City. Kenneth Williams is the puritanical judge and Jim Dale plays Marshall P. Knutt a hapless plumber mistakenly sent to clean up the town. This is classic Carry On with a full cast of Carry On favourites including Charles Hawtrey as the firewater-guzzling Chief Big Heap Joan Sims and Bernard Bresslaw. Special Features: Audio Commentary Trailer

• Blood On The Sun | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Newspaper editor Nick Condon (James Cagney) is the crusading chief of the Tokyo Chronicle in 1920s Japan. He has his suspicions about Japanese plans for future expansion suspicions that are confirmed when he runs an article accusing Japanese Premier Tanaka (John Emery) and Colonel Tojo (Robert Armstrong) of planning world conquest and gets a visit from the Imperial Police. Then one of his reporters Ollie Miller (Wallace Ford) and his wife Edith (Rosemary DeCamp) are murdered shortly

• The House Across the Lake | DVD | (18/08/2014) from £10.99   |  Saving you £-1.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  American screen siren Hillary Brooke is a consummate femme fatale in this British noir thriller of 1954 – an early feature by Emmy-winning writer-director Ken Hughes (adapting his own novel High Wray) and one of a series of now highly regarded B-movies jointly financed by Hammer Films and American producer Robert L. Lippert. Co-starring Alan Wheatley – soon to feature in an enduring TV role as the Sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood – and a pre-Carry On Sid James The House Across the Lake (a.k.a. Heat Wave) is presented in a brand new transfer from original film elements in its original aspect ratio. The bungalow which author Mark Kenrick has rented to toil over his new novel is quiet but for the sounds coming from a lively party across the lake at the exclusive home of Beverley Forrest and his young ex-model wife Carol. When she calls Mark to ask if he would collect some stranded guests he obliges but is shocked to find that Carol is both calculating and manipulative... and he is about to find out just how far she is prepared to go in order to get what she wants! Special Features: Image gallery Original Theatrical trailer

• Carry On Cleo | Blu Ray | (05/05/2014) from £7.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (187.73%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Kenneth Williams' Julius Caesar is having a bad day in the funniest toga party of all time - a historical and hysterical take on the life and loves of the Queen of the Nile. Follow the amorous adventures of Sidney James' Mark Anthony as he clinches with the gorgeous Amanda Barrie's sultry Cleopatra in by far the most lavish looking of all the Carry On films. With a brilliant Carry On cast including Jim Dale Jon Pertwee Charles Hawtrey Joan Sims and Kenneth Connor as Hengist Pod inventor of the square wheel! Special Features: Audio Commentary Trailer Stills Gallery

• Carry On Abroad | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £14.98   |  Saving you £-4.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  One of the last decent Carry On movies, Carry On Abroad is a 1972 venture into the world of package holidays. After this, the series descended into unfunny coarseness as opposed to camply laboured double entendre, culminating in the dreadful Carry On Emanuelle. Here, publican Sid James and dutiful mother's son turned sex maniac Charles Hawtrey are among a brace of Brits heading for the "paradise island" of Elsbels. Kenneth Williams is the out-of-his-depth tour operator, reverting to the sort of effete types he played in the 1950s, Peter Butterworth a pre-Manuel-style manager of a half-built hotel. A series of disasters ensue, with the entire gang landing up in jail following a fracas in a brothel at one point, but everyone finds romantic and sexual fulfilment in a quaint disco finale. This includes a gay character who is "dissuaded" from his homosexuality in a typical example of the thoroughly reactionary subtext that constitutes the really naughty bit of most Carry On films. Nonetheless, this throwback to an imaginary time when the lewdest innuendo of a dirty old man was greeted by young females with a flirty "Ooh, saucy!" is enjoyable on condition that you enter into its seaside-postcard spirit. June Whitfield is fine as a sexually uptight wife, Kenneth Connor a model of red-faced frustration as her wimpish husband. On the DVD: Sadly, no extra features except scene selection. The picture is a 4:3 ratio full-screen presentation. --David Stubbs

• Carry On Matron | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £11.50   |  Saving you £1.48 (17.39%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Hattie Jacques finally got to the play the title role in 1972 when Carry On Matron immortalised the character she had developed during several previous outings, most notably in Carry On Doctor. And she seized it with gusto. This is no one-dimensional performance, but a very human portrait of a woman doing her best to retain her authority in the face of mounting chaos--a raid planned by Sid James to steal the hospital's supply of contraceptive pills. Certainly, she's obsessed with regular bowel movements--this wouldn't be a Carry On film otherwise--but she remains a majestic figure of dignity with a touch of human warmth. Occasionally, too, a real hint of irony peeks through the slapstick and the innuendo. Surely scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell had his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek when he gave Barbara Windsor--then married to Ronnie Knight--a the line, "I don't fancy being a gangster's moll!" Terry Scott makes a guest appearance and Sid James is at his most conniving and lecherous. Theatre impresario Bill Kenwright has a cameo role and there's an early appearance from Wendy Richard as a prototype Pauline Fowler. But it's the female stalwarts who shine. Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques truly were comic actresses of the highest order. On the DVD: Presented like most of the other Carry On DVD releases in 4:3 picture format and mono soundtrack, this release has all the comfy quality of a lazy Saturday afternoon in front of the television. But where are the extras? It's one thing to launch a highly popular series of films as classic entertainment, but they deserve more than the budget treatment. As always, a cast list, some sort of documentary extra and biographies of at least the key players would really do them justice. --Piers Ford

• Carry On Don't Lose Your Head | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £6.64   |  Saving you £6.35 (95.63%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Carry On Don't Lose Your Head parodies the adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel, with crinkly cackling Sid James as master of disguise the Black Fingernail and Jim Dale as his assistant Lord Darcy. He must rescue preposterously effete aristocrat Charles Hawtrey from the clutches of Kenneth Williams' fiendish Citizen Camembert and his sidekick Citizen Bidet (Peter Butterworth). The Black Fingernail is assisted in his efforts to thwart the birth of the burgeoning republic by the almost supernatural stupidity of his opponents, who fail to recognise the frankly undisguisable Sid James even when dressed as a flirty young woman. What with an executioner who is tricked into beheading himself in order to prove the efficacy of his own guillotine, it's all a little too easy. As usual, no groan-worthy pun is left unturned, or unheralded by the soundtrack strains of a long whistle or wah-wah trumpet. This is pretty silly stuff even by Carry On standards, with most of the cast barely required to come out of first gear and an overlong climactic swordfight sequence hardly raising the dramatic stakes. Most of the humour here resides neither in the script nor the characterisation but in the endlessly watchable Williams' whooping, nasal delivery (occasionally lapsing into broad Cockney) and the jowl movements of the always-underrated Butterworth. --David Stubbs

• Buck and the Preacher (1972) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (26/09/2022) from £21.84   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  !With his rousingly entertaining directorial debut, SIDNEY POITIER (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) helped rewrite the history of the western, bringing Black heroes to a genre in which they had always been sorely underrepresented. Combining boisterous buddy comedy with blistering, Black Powerera political fury, Poitier and a marvellously mischievous HARRY BELAFONTE (Carmen Jones) star as a tough and taciturn wagon master and an unscrupulous, pistol-packing preacher, who join forces in order to take on the white bounty hunters threatening a westward-bound caravan of recently freed enslaved people. A superbly crafted revisionist landmark, Buck and the Preacher subverts Hollywood conventions at every turn and reclaims the western genre in the name of Black liberation. Special Features New digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New interview with Mia Mask, author of Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western Behind-the-scenes footage featuring actor-director Sidney Poitier and actor Harry Belafonte Interviews with Poitier and Belafonte from 1972 episodes of Soul! and The Dick Cavett Show New interview with Gina Belafonte, daughter of Harry Belafonte English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Aisha Harris

• The Big Job | DVD | (21/02/2011) from £8.00   |  Saving you £7.99 (99.88%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A gang of hapless crooks led by Sidney James successfully perpetrate a robbery only to be caught after the fact. Fifteen years later they emerge from prison intent on retrieving their stolen loot - and discover a police station has been built over its hiding place. Sylvia Syms Dick Emery Jim Dale and Joan Sims co-star.