In 1962's On the Beat, Norman Wisdom's Pitkin, the most famous incarnation of his riotous buffoon character, is dreaming of something better as usual. Pitkin 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. 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. Terence Alexander effectively reprises his character from The Square Peg (1958), and Wisdom regular David Lodge, previously seen costarring in The Bulldog Breed (1960), is also on hand, though otherwise the supporting cast is less stellar than before. By the time of 1955's Man of the Moment, 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. 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. --Gary S Dalkin
War drama story of Franz Von Werra the German pilot who when captured refuses to remain caged. Based on real life events...
The first of the Carry On movies, 1958's Sergeant is rather different from its successors, much more a film of its time (the latter days of National Service) and rather less a bawdy picture postcard. Sergeant Grimshaw (William Hartnell long before Doctor Who) is about to retire and hopes that he can get his last platoon into shape as Champion Platoon of its intake. Unfortunately, the new recruits include the clumsy Golightly (Charles Hawtrey), the barrack-room lawyer Bailey (Kenneth Williams) and the hypochondriac Horace Strong (Kenneth Connor). Love interest is provided by Bob Monkhouse and Shirley Eaton--newlyweds separated by the call-up and reunited by her taking a job in the canteen--and by the pursuit of Horace by Dora Bryan's Nora. The film relies heavily on a mixture of slapstick and paradoxical revelations of character complexity--the obnoxious Bailey nonetheless takes the trouble to coach the incorrigibly dense Herbert (Norman Rossington); the series' later obsession with low comedy only really emerges in the scenes between Horace and the medic Captain Clark (Hattie Jacques). The platoon's eventual coming together as other than total incompetents is predictable, but likable.On the DVD: The DVD has no frills whatever except for a widescreen picture and chapter selections; it has been cleaned up however so that we get a remarkably crisp mono picture and mono sound, which brings out the quality of the military-band score by Bruce Montgomery, who was also the writer Edmund Crispin. --Roz Kaveney
A TV spin-off from The Hunger (Dir. Tony Scott 1983) Terence Stamp hosts this anthology series of lust fear and the unknown. Episodes comprise: 1. The Swords 2. Menage a Trois 3. Necros 4. The Secret Shih-Tan 5. Bridal Suite 6. Room 17 7. Anais 8. No Radio 9. But At My Back I Always hear 10. Red Light 11. I'm Dangerous Tonight 12. The Sloan Men 13. A Matter of Style 14. Hidebound 15. Fly-By-Night 16. The River of Night's Dreaming 17. The Lighthouse 18. The F
Gangster No. 1: It's 1968. Gangster has come to work for Freddie Mays the Butcher of Mayfair and he's enjoying his job. He likes the money the girls the suits the power the violence. And gangster is good at what he does very good. He frightens people and he's going to frighten Freddie Mays. The Limey: British ex-con Wilson (Terence Stamp) arrives in Los Angeles to investigate the mystery of his daughter's accidental death. His prime suspect the wealthy heavily guarded music promoter Terry Valentine (Peter Fonda) is no easy target. Propelled into an increasingly brutal search for truth Wilson with single-mindedness and terrifying precision moves unstoppably toward revenge. Sexy Beast: A contented ex-villain is forced to do one last spectacular robbery by a psychotic face from his past in this mould-breaking stylish thriller by one of the UK's hottest new talents Guinness surfer ad director Jonathan Glazer
The Limey follows Wilson (Terence Stamp), a tough English ex-con who travels to Los Angeles to avenge his daughter's death.
Some Like It Hot: As well as being acknowledged as one of Marilyn Monroe's finest performances Some Like It Hot is a comedy which presents sharp satire and zany slapstick from acting talents led by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. It's Billy Wilder's film as much as anything else as the comic genius manages to offer plenty of laughs in this cross-dressing classic. Some Like It Hot bridges a gap between traditional Hollywood screwball comedies and the dawning of a saucier more permissive era. For Monroe it's her sexiest and funniest role. As well as looking great she shows natural comedy talent while Curtis and Lemmon have rarely bettered their performances. From the opening scene to the classic closing line of ""nobody's perfect"" this film is an absolute joy. The Adventures Of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert: When Anthony ""Tick""/Mitzi (Hugo Weaving) is invited to perform in Alice Springs he recruits flamboyant young stud Adam/Felicia (Guy Pearce) and the legendary refined Bernadette (Terence Stamp) to join him. Mitzi however fails to disclose one important fact to his friends: his wife is the one who invited them to Alice Springs. With one big secret about to be revealed and another one up his sleeve Mitzi is a little stressed. With long hours on the road ahead of them the trio lip-synchs campy songs on the bus creates fabulous costumes and meets a multitude of colourful characters along the way. They party with friendly aborigines are confronted by judgmental townspeople who are averse to drag queens and meet Bob (Bill Hunter) a warmhearted mechanic and drag fan who joins them for the last leg of their trip when their bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere. La Cage Aux Folles: When young Laurent returns to exotic St. Tropez he bears big news for his beloved father Renato. Laurent has found the girl of his dreams and they are engaged! What's more she and her family are on their way over for dinner at Renato's home to meet the in-laws-to-be. This traditional meeting of families seems typical but because this ultraconservative family will be expecting to meet Renato and wife they'll never be prepared for the shock of meeting Renato and his flamboyant campy outrageous lover -- and drag-queen -- Albin! So in a great effort to please his son Renato asks Albin for the performance of a lifetime...setting up an unforgettable evening that is charged and ready to detonate an explosion of zaniness and absurdity. Birdcage: Robin Williams stars as Armand the outlandish owner of a wild Miami Beach nightclub whose partner Albert is also the star attraction at the club. Gene Hackman (Crimson Tide) is the ultra conservative US Senator Keeley who faces political problems when his closest political ally dies in bed with a prostitute. When Armand's son Val announces his engagement with Keeley's daughter the scene is set for a riotous comedy of errors. Keeley sees the wedding as the opportunity to restore political fortunes by promoting ""traditional family values"". If he only knew what sort of family's his daughter was marrying into! Put the two families together and watch the sparks fly.
Do we control our destiny or do unseen forces manipulate us? Matt Damon stars in the thriller The Adjustment Bureau as a man who glimpses the future Fate has planned for him and realises he wants something else. To get it he must pursue the only woman he's ever loved across under and through the streets of modern-day New York. On the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate ambitious politician David Norris (Damon) meets beautiful contemporary ballet dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt)-a woman like none he's ever known. But just as he realizes he's falling for her mysterious men conspire to keep the two apart. David learns he is up against the agents of Fate itself-the men of The Adjustment Bureau - who will do everything in their considerable power to prevent David and Elise from being together. In the face of overwhelming odds he must either let her go and accept a predetermined path...or risk everything to defy Fate and be with her. The Adjustment Bureau is written for the screen and directed by George Nolfi (writer of Ocean's Twelve co-writer of The Bourne Ultimatum). It is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick (Total Recall Minority Report and Blade Runner).
John Cusack stars as Danny an all round nice guy who plans to spend some quality time in the Caribbean with his girlfriend Lori (Wendy Gazelle). But although they've been planning their trip for months it only takes a few minutes for it all to go wrong! To start Danny misses his plane. Then for all his attempts to catch up with Lori he finds himself in ever more bizarre situations. From jailbreaks and jungles to hurricanes and hijacking his only companion is roguish old sea dog Captain MacLaren (Robert Loggia). She promised him ten days together in paradise. He never dreamed how far he'd have to go!
John Steed partnered with Tara King sees out the Sixties in style! Eight more episodes see elegant confrontations between our cool heroes and a variety of evil blaggards. This is 'The Avengers' at their most surreal and imaginative! Episode titles include: Super Secret Cypher Snatch Game False Witness Noon-Doomsday The Morning After Love All Take Me To Your Leader Stay Tuned
A relic has been fought over by the forces of light and darkness for two thousand years. Missing for centuries, the sacred artefact turns up in the back of a camper van in 2001. A powerful secret society is slaughtering innocents to get hold of it. M
By his dying father's last wish Joe is sent to the Wild West to become a real guy. The dreamy young man despises guns and fights, likes poems and prefers bicycles to horses. Now his three teachers, footpads all of them, shall teach him otherwise. This doesn't work, until Joe has to defend himself against gunman Morton, who's jealous of Joe's love to rancher Ohlsen's beautiful daughter
The League of Gentlemen is a sardonic crime drama in which Jack Hawkins plays an embittered retired army officer who recruits seven fellow ex-soldiers to carry out a bank raid with military precision. The film presents an England between post-war austerity and the more liberated 1960s where traditional moral certainties were rapidly being discarded; a London where ex-officers left on the scrapheap at war's end could justify turning their military experience to armed robbery. Unfortunately the tale is neither particularly amusing or thrilling, with an overlong central detour via an army camp prefacing the exciting heist and a largely anti-climactic ending. Nevertheless Hawkins effectively subverts his heroic officer type from The Cruel Sea (1953) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and there's excellent support from a great cast including Nigel Patrick, Richard Attenborough and Roger Livesey. Bryan Forbes not only wrote the cynical screenplay but costarred with wife Nanette Newman in her first significant screen role. More influential than truly classic, The League of Gentlemen has lent its name to a modern BBC comedy, an "Extraordinary" comic strip-turned-movie, and proved the template for heist films ever since, including both versions of The Italian Job (1969 and 2003). On the DVD:The League of Gentlemen is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 16:9 transfer from an excellent condition print and mostly looks and sounds fine. There's minimal print damage, though sadly Philip Green's ironically patriotic main title music suffers from significant distortion. The only extra is the original trailer, which is now something of a period piece itself. --Gary S Dalkin
A college prank at an abandoned house accidentally awakens a frightening spirit. A supernatural horror which revolves around a group of college students who take a trip to an old ranch house in the desert as part of an initiation of two sorority women. Their fun trip soon descends into the weekend from Hell when a caretaker who has been digging for gold digs up more than he bargained for when he discovers the grave of a murdered witch who wants vengeance on the descendants and friends of her former husband.
The first ever release of this classic British title on DVD.Terence Morgan stars in this 1959 British production. Directed and co written by John Lemont which was distributed by Rank.Morgan plays Augie a crook just released from prison and intent on getting his rackets back from Gollar (Harry H Corbett). Augie sets up, down and out photographer (Donald Pleasence) in a studio with blackmail in mind.Well shot, this gritty crime flic is a must for crime buffs with a good supporting cast, Bill Owen, Robert Beatty and Hazel Court, whose first role in 1944 was a tipsy champagne drinker and her last role, in 1981 was a champagne drinker!
Chasing Liberty: Every family has a rebel. Even the First Family! She's the President's daughter. But she just wants to be herself. Multi-talented Mandy Moore makes her romantic comedy debut as Anna who finally gets Dad (Mark Harmon) to reduce the number of agents while she goes to a music club. But when Anna arrives at the club she realizes her father has backed out of the deal she ditches the agents and goes on the run with Ben a handsome photographer she meets. Anna does
Terrence Morgan stars in the classic 1960's action adventure series - Sir Francis Drake. Drake is a freebooter adventurer expert swordsman and defender of the crown during Britain's war with Spain during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I a war which he wages from the bridge of his ship The Golden Hind. Presented here is the entire series of 26 action-packed episodes of this classic action show. This thrilling adventure series will appeal to people who enjoyed Network's previous releases of The Adventures Of Robin Hood and archive television fans.... Episodes: 1. The Prisoner 2. The Lost Colony Of Virginia 3. Mary Queen Of The Scots 4. Doctor Dee 5. Bold Enterprise 6. The English Dragon 7. Boy Jack 8. The Garrison 9. Visit To Spain 10. The Flame Thrower 11. The Governor's Revenge 12. The Slaves Of Spain 13. The Doughty Plot 14. King Of America 15. The Irish Pirate 16. Beggars Of The Sea 17. Drake On Trial 18. The Bridge 19. Johnnie Factotum 20. Mission To Paris 21. The Reluctant Duchess 22. The Gypsies 23. Court Intrigue 24. Gentlemen Of Spain 25. The Fountain Of Youth 26. Escape
Two crazy modern-day outlaws, searching for adventure and fortune set out on a wild chase through the Amazonian forest.
Eric Mason's only ambition is to become an astronaut. When he meets a young waitress he discovers to his delight that her father was the thirteenth man on the moon...
One of the biggest hits of Sergio Leone's career 'My Name Is Nobody' brings together two Western icons: Henry Fonda and 70s Italian superstar Terence Hill. Fonda plays ageing gunslinger Jack Beauregard and nobody is faster than Beauregard - until he meets a man called Nobody (Hill) who has been hired to kill him. However Beauregard was Nobody's childhood hero and the wily young gun starts planning a way that Jack can go down in the history books. Directed by Leone's former assi
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