"Actor: Sydney"

• The Maltese Falcon | DVD | (01/06/2006) from £6.78   |  Saving you £7.21 (106.34%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The Maltese Falcon is still the tightest, sharpest, and most cynical of Hollywood's official deathless classics, bracingly tough even by post-Tarantino standards. Humphrey Bogart is Dashiell Hammett's definitive private eye, Sam Spade, struggling to keep his hard-boiled cool as the double-crosses pile up around his ankles. The plot, which dances all around the stolen Middle Eastern statuette of the title, is too baroque to try to follow, and it doesn't make a bit of difference. The dialogue, much of it lifted straight from Hammett, is delivered with whip-crack speed and sneering ferocity, as Bogie faces off against Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet, fends off the duplicitous advances of Mary Astor, and roughs up a cringing "gunsel" played by Elisha Cook Jr. It's an action movie of sorts, at least by implication: the characters always seem keyed up, right on the verge of erupting into violence. This is a turning-point picture in several respects: John Huston (The African Queen) made his directorial debut here in 1941, and Bogart, who had mostly played bad guys, was a last-minute substitution for George Raft, who must have been kicking himself for years afterward. This is the role that made Bogart a star and established his trend-setting (and still influential) antihero persona. --David Chute END

• Scarlet Thread | DVD | (21/05/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This 1951 Nettlefold Production was directed by top British director Lewis Gilbert who directed Alfie, Shirley Valentine,Moonraker, Sink The Bismark and Reach for the Sky as well as many others..Scarlet Thread was one of his earliest works and he displays his obvious talent in this production.Laurence Harvey stars as a small time crook looking for the high life and Sydney Tafler as an educated gang boss living the high life - both take part in a robbery that goes wrong.Good scenes of Cambridge and supporting cast Harry Fowler, Kathleen Bryon and good time girl Dora Bryan make for anenjoyable British crime drama.

• 1950s Great British Movies | DVD | (22/09/2014) from £14.05   |  Saving you £5.94 (42.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Boxset of four classic films from the 1950s. 'Simba' (1955) is an adventure drama about a man who travels to post-colonial Africa to visit his brother only to find he has been killed by a Kenyan rebel group. When Alan Howard (Dirk Bogarde) arrives in Africa, he soon learns his brother has been killed by the Mau Mau, a group of rebels who are fighting against the newly imposed rule of the white man. Enraged by his brother's murder, Alan decides to stay and put all of his energy into fighting the Mau Mau who he now considers his enemy. However, along the way he falls in love with a neighbouring settler called Mary (Virginia McKenna) who disagrees with his abhorrence of the native people and tries to put an end to his prejudices. 'Sapphire' (1959) is a hard-hitting crime drama exploring racism towards immigrants among the London police and public. Sapphire (Yvonne Buckingham), a fair-skinned West Indian immigrant is discovered hiding in London and murdered. To the police, led by Superintendent Hazard (Nigel Patrick) and Inspector Learoyd (Michael Craig), the case seems clear cut - Sapphire must have been killed by a member of the black community. However, when Sapphire's brother (Earl Cameron) turns up at the police station and Sapphire's true ethnic roots become known, Hazard and Learoyd must face up to the racism of two communities and, quite possibly, their own. 'The Happy Family' stars Stanley Holloway and Kathleen Harrison as a couple who refuse to move from their house as the government reveal their plans to build a Festival Hall on the South Bank. The tenants of the local corner shop, Mr and Mrs Lord (Holloway and Harrison), are the only residents who refuse to make way for the construction - even when the police issue an eviction order. As the family barricade themselves into the shop, the bailiffs must try to think of another way to get them out. Violent Playground (1958) is a tough kitchen sink drama starring Stanley Baker and David McCallum and is set amongst the tough council estates of Liverpool.

• Changing Lanes | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The story of what happens one day in New York when a young lawyer and a businessman share a small automobile accident on F.D.R. Drive and their mutual road rage escalates into a feud...

• The Dam Busters - Collectors Edition | Blu Ray | (04/06/2018) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A BRAND NEW RESTORATION COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORIGINAL WWII RAID A much-loved British classic, Michael Anderson's 1955 drama captures the tension and bravery of an audacious raid on the center of Nazi Germany's industrial complex and the quintessentially English combination of inventiveness and dogged determination. Split into two distinct sections, the film deals first with the fraught, but the ultimately successful development of a new bomb, by Dr. Barnes N. Wallis (Michael Redgrave). The second deals with the mission itself during the British raid on the Ruhr Dams, and its associated costs for the enemy and for the British airmen. Adapted by R.C. Sherriff from Paul Brickhill's book Enemy Coast Ahead and featuring superlative special effects photography by Gilbert Taylor (to say nothing of Eric Coates' stirring theme tune), The Dam Busters was Britain's biggest box office the success of 1955. Collector's Edition Includes a 64-page booklet with brand new essays, and photographs, plus a rare print of an ariel photograph of the Mohne dam post raid, signed by the original 617 squadron Features: RAF poster of the Chastise Lancaster's

• Bottoms Up! | Blu Ray | (20/07/2020) from £14.71   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the enormously popular television and radio sitcom Whack-O!, this uproarious comedy stars Jimmy Edwards in his signature role of a devious, cane-brandishing headmaster. Co-scripted by Michael Pertwee and Whack-O! writers Frank Muir and Denis Norden, Bottoms Up! is featured here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Chiselbury School, allegedly, is an academy 'for the sons of gentlefolk'. Far from being gentlemen, however, the boys are an undisciplined rabble... it is, in fact, a school like no other! But Chiselbury's head, Professor Jim Edwards, is about to put into action a novel scheme to raise the school's profile...

• Spiders | Blu Ray | (14/10/2013) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The City is crawling! In New York City's subway tunnel a new species of poisonous spiders is discovered. Inadvertently the spiders mutate to gigantic proportions and wreak havoc on the entire city.

• Caesar And Cleopatra | DVD | (19/06/2007) from £4.35   |  Saving you £11.64 (267.59%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Vivien Leigh is the young Cleopatra and Claude Rains is Julius Caesar in the spectacular 1945 version of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra. As Rome invades Egypt Julius Caesar (Rains) stumbles across the young and unrefined princess Cleopatra (Leigh) sheltering in the Sphinx. Impressed by her spirit and intelligence seduced by her charm he determines to make her Queen. Cleopatra learns about power and politics at the feet of a master but her downfall begins when she is se

• Getting Even With Dad | DVD | (07/04/2003) from £6.73   |  Saving you £6.26 (93.02%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Small time crook Ray Gleason just committed the perfect crime but it took one small thing to screw it up - a visit from his son. Because after a lifetime of being ignored Timmy is getting even! Macaulay Culkin and Ted Danson join forces in this hilarious and heartwarming comedy about an enterprising kid who finds the ideal way to make his father into the dad he never had; a little love a little kindness and a little blackmail...

• Children's Film Foundation Collection: Runaways | DVD | (21/04/2014) from £15.98   |  Saving you £6.00 (42.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  JOHNNY ON THE RUN | HIDE AND SEEK | TERRY ON THE FENCE For Over 30 years the Children’s Film Foundation produced quality entertainment for young audiences employing the cream of British filmmaking talent. Newly transferred from the best available elements held in the BFI National Archive these much-loved and fondly remembered films finally return to the screen after many years out of distribution in this specially curated DVD release from the BFI. Johnny on the Run a superb early work by illustrious British director Lewis Gilbert (You Only Live Twice Education Rita Alfie) follows orphaned Polish refugee Janek who runs into trouble in the shape of two scheming thieves. Starring Sydney Tafler (Carve Her Name with Pride The Spy Who Loved Me) as a cunning spiv and featuring an appearance from John Laurie (The 39 Steps Dad’s Army) Johnny on the Run is an action-packed adventure with a remarkable performance from its young lead. Hide and Seek stars a teenage Gary Kemp (The Krays) as do-gooding Chris who becomes entangled with a borstal escapee known locally as the Deptford Dodger. With friend Bev Chris traces the ungrateful Dodger’s disreputable dad. With Roy Dotrice and Robin Askwith in supporting roles this thriller is among the best of the Foundation’s 1970s output. In Terry on the Fence when our 11-year-old protagionist runs away from home he only intends to put the wind up his parents. But a gang of older bullies led by tough-nut Les soon draw him into their daunting world of break-ins and stolen goods. Based on the book by author Bernard Ashley Terry on the Fence goes far beyond the concept of goodies and baddies to the ambiguity at the heart of Terry’s moral dilemma.

• Carve Her Name With Pride | DVD | (16/06/2003) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (-100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The moving and dramatic story of Violette Szabo (McKenna) a courageous WW2 secret agent who was captured in northern France... Carve Her Name With Pride is the inspiring true life story of Violette Szabo. During World War II Violette (Virgina McKenna) volunteers to parachute into France as a secret agent to aid a Resistance group. Her mission successful she joins the Resistance where she stays until captured by the Germans. Tortured by the Gestapo for information she refuses to betray her comrades... Directed by Lewis Gilbert Carve Her Name With Pride is a moving tale about the endurance of the human spirit in even the most adverse circumstances.

• The Dambusters | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Something of a cult item among British war movies (and brilliantly spoofed a few years back by a lager ad), The Dam Busters turns a minor World War II incident into a saga of heroic stiff-upper-lippery in the classic British style. A bombing raid is proposed on a strategically vital Ruhr dam, but its position is inaccessible. Enter eccentric inventor Dr Barnes Wallis (Michael Redgrave in best daffy professor mode) who comes up with a genius idea--a bomb that will bounce on water like a skimmed pebble. Naturally the top brass pooh-pooh it, but gallant Wing Commander Guy Gibson (Richard Todd) is persuaded, and between them flyer and boffin forge ahead. The touches of carefully understated emotion now verge on self-parody, but it's hard not to get caught up in the narrative sweep, especially when the bombers take off on their mission and Eric Coates' stirring march hits the soundtrack. The modelwork, state-of-the-art for its early 1950s period, still looks impressive, and the death of Gibson's beloved black Labrador (embarrassingly called Nigger) is a three-hanky moment to rival the shooting of Bambi's mum. --Philip Kemp

• Mystery Junction | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.87   |  Saving you £3.12 (45.41%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Sydney Tafler stars as a celebrated crime writer who finds life imitating art when he boards a train on which murder is a travelling companion... Also featuring Barbara Murray and soon-to-be Hollywood star Patricia Owens, Mystery Junction is a rare and inventive addition to the classic whodunnit genre. Believed to be lost for decades, it is presented here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.Miss Owens, an avid reader of detective stories, finds herself travelling in the same railway compartment as crime writer Larry Gordon neither of them realising that amongst their fellow passengers is a prisoner under escort to trial for murder. When a rescue attempt claims a policeman's life and the passengers become snowbound at a remote railway station, it's a race against time to unmask the culprit before the murderer strikes again!SPECIAL FEATURE:Image Gallery

• Fish Tank | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.81   |  Saving you £9.18 (134.80%)   |  RRP £15.99

  In "Fish Tank", 15 year old Mia's life is turned on its head when her mum brings home a new boyfriend. Starring Michael Fassbender ("300", "Inglourious Basterds") and talented newcomer Katie Jarvis.

• War Hunt | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  No one is a better soldier than Pvt. Raymond Endore (John Saxon) at least in his own mind. Stationed in Korea as the conflict between the United States and the divided peninsula is coming to an end Endore sleeps while his platoon works to gear up for his nightly patrols of the area. These patrols used to bring vital information but now they have become a nightly ritual for Endore to slash the throats of suspected enemies tolerated by a Captain (Charles Aidman) who fears Endore's unstable nature. A Korean war orphan (Tommy Matsuda) befriends Endore as well as an idealistic soldier (Robert Redford) and these two soldiers must decide the fate of the child as the ceasefire is announced.... Madness in men during their tour of duty a subject also at the heart of Hell Is For Heroes and Attack! is the focus of this brutal 1961 war drama. Redford in his film debut offers a strong counterpart to the criminally underrated John Saxon (who would go on to a career of character work) who gives a stunning performance as a killer who only seems at peace after taking the life of another victim.

• Dragonslayer | DVD | (20/07/2004) from £8.25   |  Saving you £6.74 (81.70%)   |  RRP £14.99

  In the Dark Ages a young would be sorcerer sets out to slay Vermithrax the terrifying dragon that has reigned supreme throughout the land.... Abounding in fantasy and science fiction Dragonslayer is lit by magic and from it's medieval alchemy emerges an entertainment bursting with suspense - an awesome adventure that sends the imagination soaring to new heights!

• Westerns Collection | Blu Ray | (17/09/2012) from £14.99   |  Saving you £20.00 (133.42%)   |  RRP £34.99

  The Searchers With The Searchers, John Wayne and director John Ford forged an indelible saga of the frontier and the men and women who challenged it. Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, an ex-Confederate who sets out to find his niece, captured by Comanches who massacred his family. He won't surrender to hunger, thirst, the elements or loneliness. And in his obsessive quest, Ethan finds something unexpected: his own humanity. One of the most influential movies ever made. Pale Rider In ...

• Creature From The Black Lagoon | DVD | (02/10/2002) from £4.49   |  Saving you £5.50 (55.10%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Scientists drug and capture the creature who becomes enamoured with the head scientist's female assistant. The lonely creature escapes and kidnaps the object of his affection. leaving it up to the chief scientist to rescue his assistant and cast the ominous creature back to the depths from which he came.

• Eyes Wide Shut | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Visually beautiful, Stanley Kubrick's last completed film Eyes Wide Shut blends the sinister, the sensual and the clinical in a combination that is rather too personal and idiosyncratic to be entirely successful as the final statement about gender and sexuality he intended it to be. Adapted by Frederick Raphael from the Dream Story of Freud's friend Schnitzler, it shows a young successful couple confront the dangers that lurk beyond monogamy; Nicole Kidman's Alice does little more than fantasise, flirt and dream, but even this causes guilt and pain. Doctor Bill (Tom Cruise) does rather more--he visits a whore, crashes an orgy and continues to ask questions when warned off; if no disaster ensues, and it is possible that two people die as a result, it is only luck that averts it. Much of the best of what is here is to be found in occasional moments of stillness--Cruise walking through a morgue--or wild comedy--Cruise's attempt to hire a costume in the middle of the night interrupts major shenanigans at the fancy-dress shop. Cruise and Kidman do what they can with material that never means as much as it aspires to, and the standout performance is Sydney Pollack's, as a worldly wise client. On the DVD: Eyes Wide Shut on DVD is presented in lavish Dolby Sound that makes the most of the obsessive Ligeti piano piece and Shostakovich waltz that dominate the score, and in the 1.33:1 ratio that was Kubrick's considered choice. It has subtitles in English, Arabic, Bulgarian and Rumanian, two TV spots and informative interviews with Kidman and Cruise, as well as with Steven Spielberg, to whom Kubrick had talked at length about his artistic intentions. --Roz Kaveney

• Passport To Pimlico | DVD | (21/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  An archaic document found in a bombsite reveals that the London district of Pimlico has for centuries technically been part of France. The local residents embrace their new found continental status seeing it as a way to avoid the drabness austerity and rationing of post-war England. The authorities do not however share their enthusiasm... A whimsical and charming British film 'Passport To Pimlico' is one of the finest examples of the classic Ealing comedies.