Classic Films

• Brighton Rock | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £9.25   |  Saving you £6.74 (72.86%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Hard to imagine now but long before Richard Attenborough became Lord Dickie, benevolent patriarch of British moviedom, he specialised in playing weaselly little thugs and punks. Brighton Rock, adapted from Graham Greene's classic novel, offered him one of his best early roles as Pinkie, juvenile leader of a seedy gang of racetrack crooks in the Sussex seaside town. When it seems an innocent young waitress may know too much about one of their killings, Pinkie decides to keep her quiet by marrying her. But in Greene's world of guilt-ridden Catholicism and inexorable doom, it was never going to be that easy. Is the famous twist ending a cop-out? That depends just how much irony you read into it. But the Brighton atmosphere, all tawdry gaiety shot through with a crackling undercurrent of fear, is so vivid you can smell it. Made with a cool, dispassionate eye by the Boulting Brothers (before they turned jokey with the likes of I'm Alright Jack, for instance) and superbly shot by Harry Waxman, this is one of Britain's few great contributions to the noir thriller cycle. Young Dickie, twitchy, vicious and terrified, is a revelation--and don't miss William Hartnell, the original Dr Who, as his cynical sidekick. --Philip Kemp

• To Catch A Thief | DVD | (07/05/2007) from £5.81   |  Saving you £4.18 (71.94%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A supposedly reformed cat burglar out to prove himself innocent of a recent crime spree tries to capture the thief who's terrifying the French Riviera. Cary Grant is devastatingly elegant as the reformed thief John Robie and charming enough to attract the attention of the lovely Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) a wealthy and spoiled American traveling the Riviera with her widowed mother (Jessie Royce Landis). However things do not begin on a romantic note. Robie is more interested in clearing his name than in pursuing the beautiful American but the two will not go their separate ways so easily. Classic suspence and romance from director Alfred Hitchcock.

• Great British Movies of the 1960s | DVD | (26/07/2021) from £15.76   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Minotaur | DVD | (29/09/2008) from £35.53   |  Saving you £-4.28 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  This world premiere of a gripping new work by composer Harrison Birtwistle and librettist David Harsent, commissioned by The Royal Opera, brings the monstrous, Greek mythological character to the stage. The Minotaur, part man, part beast, trapped in his labyrinth, longs to discover his true identity and his own voice. Theseus, sent as part of a debt sacrifice to the monster, is determined to kill him; he attracts the attention of Ariache, half-sister and keeper of The Minotaur, and it is her help than ensures his success.

• Mandy | DVD | (28/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The touching story of a young girl who was born deaf and the tussle between her parents over how she should be educated.

• The Glass Mountain | DVD | (14/04/2008) from £6.23   |  Saving you £3.76 (60.35%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Glass Mountain is a classic British film romance enriched with the sublime music of Italian opera. Shot down over the Italian Alps during the Second World War RAF pilot Richard Wilder (Michael Dennison) is rescued and nursed back to health by Alida (Valentina Cortesa) a beautiful young partisan girl. She shares with him the local fables of The Glass Mountain and he in turn spins them into an enchanting opera...

• Poor Cow | Blu Ray | (25/07/2016) from £10.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (109.19%)   |  RRP £22.99

  "I fell in the family way when I was 18 and I got married to a right bastard". Ken Loach's debut feature tells the story of Joy, a young mother (Carol White) whose chauvinistic thug of a husband is thrown into prison. She takes up with one of his friends, lovable, kind-hearted burglar Terence Stamp, but he too ends up in jail.It's intriguing to compare Poor Cow with Cathy Come Home, which Loach made for TV with the same actress at around the same time. Both are about mums trying to make a go of their lives in adverse circumstances. Cathy Come Home, shot in black and white, is an altogether tougher film. Poor Cow, with its Donovan music, gaudy colour photography, star names, and incongruously bawdy humour, seems lightweight by comparison. Certain sequences--Joy making love in the hay or posing half-naked for lecherous amateur photographers--must surely make Loach grimace now. There are some powerful moments--Joy desperately looking for her son who has wandered off, unattended, onto a building site, or trying to escape from her abusive husband--which anticipate such later Loach films as Ladybird, Ladybird or Raining Stones. The scenes between Joy and Stamp are played with real tenderness and humour. Don't be surprised if you think you've seen them before--some of the footage of Stamp was used in Steven Soderbergh's recent thriller, The Limey. --Geoffrey Macnab

• Ziegfeld Follies | DVD | (26/06/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• It's A Wonderful Life | DVD | (17/11/2014) from £6.17   |  Saving you £13.82 (223.99%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Now perhaps the most beloved American film, It's a Wonderful Life was largely forgotten for years, due to a copyright quirk. Only in the late 1970s did it find its audience through repeated TV showings. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density. George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. Frustrated by his life, and haunted by an impending scandal, George prepares to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. A heavenly messenger (Henry Travers) arrives to show him a vision: what the world would have been like if George had never been born. The sequence is a vivid depiction of the American Dream gone bad, and probably the wildest thing Capra ever shot (the director's optimistic vision may have darkened during his experiences making military films in World War II). Capra's triumph is to acknowledge the difficulties and disappointments of life, while affirming--in the teary-eyed final reel--his cherished values of friendship and individual achievement. It's a Wonderful Life was not a big hit on its initial release, and it won no Oscars (Capra and Stewart were nominated); but it continues to weave a special magic. --Robert Horton

• Goodbye & Amen (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (29/01/2024) from £17.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  John Dannahay (Tony Musante, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), a CIA agent stationed in Rome, is preparing to overthrow an African government. But his plan goes wrong when a corrupt colleague starts shooting people from the roof of a hotel, taking an innocent couple hostage. Director Damiano Damiani (How to Kill a Judge) wields expert tension in this gripping espionage thriller, twisting and turning its tight plot to its sensational finale. Featuring a fantastic supporting cast including Claudia Cardinale (The Day of the Owl), John Steiner (The Case is Closed: Forget It) and Wolfango Soldati (The Heroin Busters), Goodbye & Amen is one of the great 1970s Italian action thrill rides, set to a haunting score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis (Torso, Keoma). Product FeaturesLIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURESNew 2023 restoration of the film from the original camera negative presented with Italian and, for the first time on home video, English audio optionsUncompressed mono PCM audioAudio commentary by Eurocrime experts Nathaniel Thompson and Howard Berger (2023)Interview with editor Antonio Siciliano (2023)Archival interview with Wolfango Soldati (2013)New and improved English subtitles for Italian audio and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for English audioReversible sleeve featuring designs based on original postersLimited edition booklet featuring new writing by by Italian crime cinema expert Lucia RinaldiLimited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

• Citizen Kane: 80th Anniversary Collectors Edition | Blu Ray | (13/12/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Hailed by critics and fans alike as one of the greatest films ever made, Citizen Kane continues to influence filmmakers and astound viewers 80 years later. Nominated for nine 1941 Academy Awards, with a win for Best Original Screenplay, Orson Welles' controversial masterpiece uses innovative flashbacks and ground-breaking cinematography to follow the epic rise and fall of wealthy newspaper magnate. For any fan of films, this is an essential viewing experience. 4k Ultra HD Collector's Edition Includes: Feature Film on 4k and Blu-ray 48-Page Book 20-Page Souvenir Programme Reprint of Press Release Excerpts Two-Sided Poster 5 Collectable Art Cards 3 Photo Stills Special Features on Blu-ray: Separate Commentaries by Roger Ebert and Peter Bogdanovich Interviews with Ruth Warrick and Robert Wise Opening: World Premiere of Citizen Kane Still Photography with Commentary by Roger Ebert and More

• Doris Day - Essential Collection | DVD | (05/09/2011) from £27.71   |  Saving you £22.28 (80.40%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Titles Comprise:Young at Heart: Doris Day and Frank Sinatra in Young at Heart with Gig Young Ethel Barrymore Dorothy Malone Robert Keith Elisabeth Fraser Alan Hale, Jr. Includes songs by Cole Porter George Gershwin Ira Gershwin Harold Arlen Johnny Mercer Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein and Lenore Coffee Adaptation by Liam O'Brien From a story by Fannie Hurst Produced by Henry Blanke Directed by Gordon DouglasThat Touch of Mink: A breezy, stylish comedy that's rich with romantic delights. Co-starring Cary Grant.Lover Come Back: Romantic comedy with Doris Day and Rock Hudson as two Madison Avenue advertising rivals.Pillow Talk: The uninhibited story of a carefree bachelor and a carefree career girl and the hilarious things that happen when they tangle.

• A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | DVD | (26/09/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Peter Nichols adapts his award-winning play to devastating effect in Peter Medak's powerful black comedy about an ordinary couple struggling to cope with a severely disabled child. School teacher Brian (Alan Bates - A kind of Loving, Georgy Girl) and his wide Sheila (Janet Suzman - Nicholas And Alexandra, The Draughtsman's Contract) are the parents of young Jo (Elizabeth Rabillard), a child afflicted with cerebral palsy. Caring for Jo threatens to overwhelm their loves, and to stay sane they rely on dark humour. But while Sheila tries to ensure that her daughter has some quality of life, Brian is increasingly obsessed with the idea that she might be better off dead...

• Sunset Boulevard | Blu Ray | (04/02/2013) from £6.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (185.98%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Intense, enthralling, and unforgettable, Sunset Boulevard stars Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, a faded silent-movie star, and William Holden as Joe Gillis, a down-on-his-luck screenwriter whom she enlists to help her make her triumphant return to the screen. Directed and co-written by acclaimed filmmaker Billy Wilder, this mesmerising Hollywood classic won three Academy Awards.

• Women in Love | Blu Ray | (22/08/2016) from £18.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Before director Ken Russell's name became synonymous with cinematic extravagance and overkill, he actually directed what is one of the most passionate and involving adaptations of DH Lawrence in recent memory. Oliver Reed and Alan Bates star as friends who fall in love with a pair of sisters (Jennie Linden and Glenda Jackson, who won an Oscar for the role). But the relationships take markedly different directions, as Russell explores the nature of commitment and love. Bates and Linden learn to give themselves to each other; the more withdrawn Reed cannot, finally, connect with the demanding and challenging Jackson. Shot with great sensuality, Women in Love was surprisingly frank for its period (1970) and includes one of the most charged scenes in movie history: Bates and Reed as manly men, wrestling nude by firelight. --Marshall Fine

• Caught | DVD | (08/09/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Max Ophuls is widely regarded to be one of the greatest and most revered directors in the history of cinema. His trademark array of lavish fluid camera movements would influence generations of filmmakers to come. Among the many who have had praised his genius are Francois Truffaut Jean-Luc Goddard Martin Scorsese Stanley Kubrick who believed 'his camera could pass through walls' and more recently directors such as Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine Far From Heaven) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights Magnolia) who called him his 'idol'. Idealistic Leonora is looking for the dream life and believes she's found it when introduced to millionaire Smith Uhlrig. Quickly married she soon discovers him to be a domineering tyrant. In trying to escape this loveless existence she finds hope in the arms of a caring doctor but her psychotic husband doesn't give up his possessions so easily. Ophul's film noir classic is an intense melodrama played to perfection by the fine casting of James Mason Robert Ryan and Barbara Bel Geddes.

• Vertigo | Blu Ray | (23/09/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Dreamlike and nightmarishly surreal, Vertigo is Hitchcock's most personal film because it confronts many of the convoluted psychological issues that haunted and fascinated the director. The psychological complexity and the stark truthfulness of their rampant emotions keeps these strangely obsessive characters alive on screen, and Hitchcock understood better than most their barely repressed sexual compulsions, their fascination with death and their almost overwhelming desire for transcendent love. James Stewart finds profound and disturbing new depths in his psyche as Scotty, the tortured acrophobic detective on the trail of a suicidal woman apparently possessed by the ghost of someone long dead. Kim Novak is the classical Hitchcockian blonde whose icy exterior conceals a churning, volcanic emotional core. The agonised romance of Bernard Herrmann's score accompanies the two actors as a third and vitally important character, moving the film along to its culmination in an ecstasy of Wagnerian tragedy. Of course Hitch lavished especial care on every aspect of the production, from designer Edith Head's costumes (he, like Scotty, was most insistent on the grey dress), to the specific colour scheme of each location, to the famous reverse zoom "Vertigo" effect (much imitated, never bettered). The result is Hitch's greatest work and an undisputed landmark of cinema history. On the DVD: This disc presents the superb restored print of this film in a wonderful widescreen (1.85:1) anamorphic transfer, with remastered Dolby digital soundtrack. There's a half-hour documentary made in 1996 about the painstaking two-year restoration process, plus an informative commentary from the restorers Robert Harris and James Katz, who are joined by original producer Herbert Coleman. There are also text features on the production, cast and crew, plus a trailer for the theatrical release of the restoration. This is an undeniably essential requirement for every DVD collection. --Mark Walker

• THX 1138 | Blu Ray | (07/12/2020) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The visionary first film from George Lucas in a director's cut A chilling exploration of the future is also a compelling examination of the present in George Lucas's THX 1138, starring Robert Duvall as a man whose mind and body are controlled by the government. THX makes a harrowing attempt to escape from a world where thoughts are controlled, freedom is an impossibility and love is the ultimate crime. The real excitement of THX 1138 is not really the message but the medium the use of film not to tell a story so much as to convey an experience. Stunning dazzling chilling and terribly powerful (Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times). SPECIAL FEATURES Commentary by George Lucas and Walter Murch Theatre of Noise Experience: Isolated Sound Effects Track Master Sessions: Docupod Gallery Showcasing Murch's Pioneering Work 2 Documentaries: A Legacy of Filmmakers: The Early Years of American Zoetrope and Artifact from the Future: The Making of THX 1138 Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB: Lucas' Original Student Film Vintage Production Featurette Bald Theatrical Trailers

• The Joan Crawford Collection | DVD | (17/09/2012) from £29.94   |  Saving you £0.05 (0.17%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Mildred PierceA classic American novel published to tie-in with a major new SKY series starring Kate Winslet.Whatever Happened to Baby JanePossessed

• To Catch A Thief | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £7.59   |  Saving you £8.40 (110.67%)   |  RRP £15.99

  From the undisputed master of the suspense-thriller Alfred Hitchcock's (Rear Window The Birds) To Catch A thief is a stylish and witty thriller starring Cary Grant (North by Northwest) and Grace Kelly(Rear Window). The on-screen chemistry between the two protagonists enhances Hitchcock's subtle and ambiguous story of a retired jewel thief forced to uncover the identity of a copycat thief before he is framed for the crimes himself. Grant's charm and sophistication as the retired cat-burglar set opposite the sensuous character of Kelly's socialite ensure that the atmosphere of the film is sexually charged leaving the audience with no doubt that the relationship could unravel at any point...