"Director: David Lean"

• Brief Encounter | Blu Ray | (02/02/2009) from £5.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Noel Coward's timeless movie of a couple who meet in a railway station and must make a decision that will change their lives forever.

• John Mills - Centenary Collection | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £24.35   |  Saving you £25.64 (105.30%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Set Comprises: Great Expectations: One of the great translations of literature into film David Lean brings Dickens' masterpiece to robust on-screen life. Pip Magwitch Miss Havisham and Estella populate Lean's magnificent miniature beautifully photographed by Guy Green and designed by John Bryan. The October Man: He was Suspect Number One...while the real killer stalked the streets. Morning Departure: While hunting German shipping the Royal Navy submarine Trojan accidentally strikes an electronically-operated mine - and the race begins to save the lives of the crew of the stricken vessel. Rocked by a tremendous explosion the Trojan plunges to the sea bed. As time - and air - starts to run out the captain gathers together the survivors. A lucky few can escape immediately through emergency hatches - but the others will have to remain trapped in the dying submarine and hope that rescuers will arrive before it is too late. Those left behind must battle with terrifying fear and claustrophobia in the stricken disintegrating hulk far beneath the sea while rescuers begin a last-ditch attempt to raise the submarine to the surface. The rescue is difficult and fraught with danger at the best of times - but a storm of unprecedented ferocity is brewing which threatens to end all hope of rescue. This nail-biting and suspenseful thriller boasts a truly distinguished cast including John Mills Richard Attenborough and Nigel Patrick. Waterloo Road: As World War Two rages Jim Colter (John Mills) finds himself called up to serve in the army - but he's soon to find himself at war on two fronts. While he's away his lovely wife Tillie (Joy Shelton) attracts the amorous attention of Ted Purvis (Stewart Granger) a vicious local spiv and self-acclaimed ladies man. When Jim's sister writes informing him of what is happening Jim decides that the Nazis can wait and that an even more insidious enemy needs to be dealt with first. He breaks out of camp goes AWOL and sets off to find his wife. With the military hot on his tail Jim must make his way through war torn London to settle things once and for all. In Which We Serve: The story of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Torrin and those that serve in her. In the Battle of Crete she is dive-bombed while streaming at thirty knots and goes down fighting. We see through the memories of her survivors the ordeals achievements and gallantry of HMS Torrin from her commissioning until she sinks in her last battle.

• Hobson's Choice - 60th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (05/05/2014) from £11.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (91.74%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Henry Horatio Hobson (Academy Award -Winner Charles Laughton) is the owner of a well-established boot shop in nineteenth century Salford Lancashire and the father of three daughters. The oldest Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) shoulders both home and business responsibilities while Hobson whiles the time away at the local pub. The younger sisters are both being courted by neighbours but Hobson refuses to give the couples settlements. Maggie becomes tired of his oafish behaviour and decides to take matters into her hands by seeking a husband. Much to the hilarity and consternation of her father aged spinster Maggie sets her sights on shy Will Mossop (John Mills) Hobson's master boot-maker. Mossop is at first stunned by the suggestion but eventually agrees to Maggie's authoritative persuasion and together they set up a rival boot shop. A timeless masterpiece that marked a temporary return to David Lean's period adaptations of Dickens (Great Expectations Oliver Twist). The film went on to win multiple awards. This film has been digitally restored to its former glory. Special Features: New and exclusive interviews with Prunella Scales and screenwriter Norman Spencer

• Brief Encounter | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Noel Coward's timeless movie of a couple who meet in a railway station and must make a decision that will change their lives forever.

• Summertime (1955) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (25/07/2022) from £22.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  With this sublimely bittersweet tale of romantic longing, director David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia) left behind the British soundstage to capture in radiant Technicolor the sunsplashed glory of Venice at the height of summer. In a tour de force of fearless vulnerability, Katharine Hepburn (The Philadelphia Story) embodies the conflicting emotions that stir the heart of a lonely, middle-aged American tourist who is forced to confront her deep-seated insecurities when she is drawn into a seemingly impossible affair with a charming Italian shopkeeper (South Pacific's Rossano Brazzi) amid the ancient city's canals and piazzas. Lean's personal favorite among his own films, Summertime is an exquisitely tender evocation of the magic and melancholy of a fleeting, not-quite-fairy-tale romance. Product Features New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on New interview with film historian Melanie Williams Interview with director David Lean from 1963 Audio excerpts of a 1988 interview with cinematographer Jack Hildyard Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by film critic Stephanie Zacharek

• 20th Century Epics: Ben Hur / Gone With The Wind / Doctor Zhivago | DVD | (05/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Three of the 20th century's greatest cinematic spectacles, 1939's Gone with the Wind, 1959's Ben-Hur and 1965's Doctor Zhivago, are collected here in one irresistible box set. Long before computers turned every crowd scene and every grandiose backdrop into a pixellated virtual construct, these movies did it all for real. Nothing can substitute for their authentic sense of what really makes an epic: strong characters, emotionally involving storytelling and the grandest, most romantic sense of large-scale moviemaking. All three contain sequences and images that are indelibly burned into popular consciousness. Just recall Vivien Leigh's walk through the wounded of Atlanta, or her pledge never to be hungry again silhouetted against an achingly vivid sunset. Remember Charlton Heston rowing the Roman galley, or charging round the arena in his chariot. Or the enigmatic beauty of Julie Christie, the train ride to the Urals and the charge into No Man's Land. On the DVDs: These priceless treasures from the MGM archives have been preserved and restored so marvellously that all three almost look like they were made last year, not decades ago. The vivid colours and detail of Gone with the Wind look astoundingly fresh in this anamorphic 1.33:1 print (just let your eyes drink in those burnished skies). Both Ben-Hur and Zhivago, too, benefit from anamorphic widescreen presentations that reveal every last gorgeous detail. All three discs also contain the full music scores, complete with Overtures and Intermission music: Max Steiner's immortal "Tara Theme" sounds as good as ever on the rich mono soundtrack; Miklos Rozsa's magnificent music for Ben-Hur is deservedly regarded as one of cinema's finest, while Maurice Jarre's famous "Lara's Theme" can even be heard in a separate music-only track on Zhivago. There are no extras on the Gone with the Wind disc, but the other two contain commentaries (from Charlton Heston and Omar Sharif respectively) and new, in-depth making-of documentaries. Zhivago also comes with a second bonus disc that has several contemporary behind-the-scenes pieces. The only moan is the infamous Warner packaging, which consists of their notorious cardboard sleeves that are easily damaged when trying to cram them into the thin cardboard slipcases. --Mark Walker

• Lawrence Of Arabia | DVD | (31/01/2011) from £9.98   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  In 1962 Lawrence of Arabia scooped another seven Oscars for David Lean and crew after his previous epic, The Bridge on the River Kwai, had performed exactly the same feat a few years earlier. Supported in this Great War desert adventure by a superb cast including Alex Guinness, Jack Hawkins and Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole gives a complex, star-making performance as the enigmatic TE Lawrence. The magnificent action and vast desert panoramas were captured in luminous 70mm by Cinematographer Freddie Young, here beginning a partnership with Lean that continued through Dr Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970). Yet what made the film truly outstanding was Robert (A Man For All Seasons) Bolt's literate screenplay, marking the beginning of yet another ongoing collaboration with Lean. The final partnership established was between director and French composer Maurice Jarre, who won one of the Oscars and scored all Lean's remaining films, up to and including A Passage to India in 1984. Fully restored in 1989, this complete version of Lean's masterpiece remains one of cinema's all-time classic visions. --Gary S Dalkin On the DVD: This vast movie is spread leisurely across two discs, with Maurice Jarre's overture standing in as intermission music for the first track of disc two. But the clarity of the anamorphic widescreen picture and Dolby 5.1 soundtrack justify the decision not to cram the whole thing onto one side of a disc. The movie has never looked nor sounded better than here: the desert landscapes are incredibly detailed, with the tiny nomadic figures in the far distance clearly visible on the small screen; the remastered soundtrack, too, is a joy. Thanks are due to Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg who supervised (and financed) the restoration of the picture in 1989; on disc two Spielberg chats about why David Lean is his favourite director, and why Lawrence had such a profound influence on him both as a child and as a filmmaker (he regularly re-watches the movie before starting any new project). Other features include an excellent and exhaustive "making-of" documentary with contributions from surviving cast and crew (an avuncular Omar Sharif is particularly entertaining as he reminisces about meeting the hawk-like Lean for the first time), some contemporary featurettes designed to promote the movie and a DVD-ROM facility. The extra features are good--especially the documentary--but the breathtaking quality of both anamorphic picture and digital sound are what make this DVD package a triumph. --Mark Walker

• Oliver Twist -- Special Edition | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £12.98   |  Saving you £3.01 (23.19%)   |  RRP £15.99

  There have been many film and TV adaptations of Oliver Twist but this 1948 production from director David Lean remains the definitive screen interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. From the ominous symbolism of its opening storm sequence (in which Oliver's pregnant, ill-fated mother struggles to reach shelter before childbirth) to the mob-scene climax that provokes Bill Sikes's dreadful comeuppance, this breathtaking black-and-white film remains loyal to Dickens while distilling the story into its purest cinematic essence.Every detail is perfect--Lean even includes a coffin-shaped snuffbox for the cruel Mr. Sowerberry--and as young Oliver, eight-year-old John Howard Davies (who would later produce Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC) perfectly expresses the orphan's boyish wonderment, stern determination and waifish vulnerability. Best of all is Alec Guinness as Fagin, so devious and yet so delightfully appealing under his beak-nosed (and, at the time, highly controversial) make-up. (Many complained that Fagin's huge nose and greedy demeanour presented an anti-Semitic stereotype, even though Lean never identifies Fagin as Jewish; for this reason, the film wasn't shown in the US until three years after its British release.) Likewise, young Anthony Newley is artfully dodgy as Fagin's loyal accomplice, the Artful Dodger. Guinness's performance would later provide strong inspiration for Ron Moody's equally splendid portrayal of Fagin in the Oscar-winning Oliver! and while that 1968 musical remains wonderfully entertaining, it is Lean's film that hews closest to Dickens' vision. The authentic recreation of 19th-century London is marvellous to behold; Guy Green's cinematography is so shadowy and stylised that it almost qualifies as Dickensian film noir. Lean is surprisingly blunt in conveying Dickens's theme of cruelty but his film never loses sight of the warmth and humanity that Oliver embodies. --Jeff Shannon

• The Passionate Friends | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £5.95   |  Saving you £7.04 (118.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Through her marriage to a wealthy financier Mary Justin has the freedom and comfort she has always yearned for but her life is one that lacks emotional fulfilment. On a visit to Switzerland she runs into an old friend Steven Stratton with whom she once had a passionate love affair many years before her marriage. Her meeting with Steven rekindles old memories of a friendship of the most beautiful kind. If only they could begin again...

• A Passage to India | DVD | (06/05/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  From the acclaimed director of Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and The Bridge on the River Kwai, A Passage To India was Sir David Lean's last ever feature film and a winner of two Oscars®.

• This Happy Breed | DVD | (26/01/2009) from £17.85   |  Saving you £-1.86 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This Happy Breed (2 Discs)

• Rank 70 Years | DVD | (18/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  During the 1940s the Rank Organisation was a phenomenal success in the film world boasting five studios two newsreels a great many production companies a staff of 31 000 650 cinemas and an incredible turnover of 45 million. To celebrate 70 years of Britain's most acclaimed film studio this fantastic collection encompasses some of Ranks most prestigious and successful films. The Red Shoes The tragic and romantic story of Vicky Page the brilliant young dancer who must giv

• The Great Epics | DVD | (17/10/2016) from £38.99   |  Saving you £-16.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Based on the true story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold's superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean's career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson's Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984). On the DVD: Too often the best extras come attached to films that don't really warrant them. Not so here, where a truly great film has been given the attention it deserves. The first disc presents the film in the original extra-wide CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, in an anamorphically enhanced transfer which does maximum justice to the film's superb cinematography. The sound has been transferred from the original six-track magnetic elements into 5.1 Dolby Digital and far surpasses what many would expect from a 1950s' feature. The main bonus on the first disc is an isolated presentation of Malcolm Arnold's great Oscar-winning music score, in addition to which there is a trivia game, and maps and historical information linked to appropriate clips. The second disc contains a new, specially produced 53-minute "making of" documentary featuring many of those involved in the production of the movie. This gives a rich insight into the physical problems of making such a complex epic on location in Ceylon. Also included are the original trailer and two short promotional films from the time of release, one of which is narrated by star William Holden. Finally there is an "appreciation" by director John Milius, an extensive archive of movie posters and artwork, and a booklet that reproduces the text of the film's original 1957 brochure. --Gary S Dalkin

• 3 Classic World War 2 Naval Battles - The Battle Of The River Plate / In Which We Serve / We Dive At Dawn | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £10.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (63.69%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The Battle Of River Plate - Ten days before World War II Germany's crack battleship Admiral Graf Spee sails with orders to carry out action against Allied merchant shipping in the South Atlantic. Captained by Hans Langsdorff (Peter Finch) Graf Spee with her superior speed sinks ship after ship. Meanwhile the net is tightening round the German Killer. Outwitted by British Intelligence the Germans are convinced Graf Spee is trapped by a massive naval force. The captain eva

• Charles Dickens Box Set (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist & A Tale Of Two Cities) | DVD | (06/02/2012) from £9.74   |  Saving you £3.25 (33.37%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In Celebration of Charles Dickens' Bi-Centenary, this box set brings together some of the finest ever adaptations of his classic novels: Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and A Tale Of Two Cities Great Expectations:David Lean's adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale of an orphan boy, Pip, who aspires to be a gentleman, won Oscars(r) for Best Art Direction and Cinematography and was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing. Great Expectations stars John Mills as Pip, Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham, Jean Simmons, Finlay Currie and Alec Guinness. Oliver Twist:David Lean's lavish adaptation of Oliver Twist, one of Charles Dickens enduringly popular tales, fully restored. Alec Guinness provides a masterly performance as arch villain Fagin. Also stars Anthony Newley, John Howard Davies, Robert Newton, Kay Walsh and Diana Dors.A Tale Of Two Cities:Highly Acclaimed and digitally remastered adaptation of Charles Dickens' powerful story of love and redemption during the French Revolution, starring Dirk Bogarde as Sidney Carton, a disillusioned lawyer, whose world is turned upside down when events in France encroach on his decadent London life. Dorothy Tutin stars as Lucie Manette.

• Lawrence of Arabia - Two Disc Set | DVD | (09/04/2001) from £4.87   |  Saving you £20.12 (413.14%)   |  RRP £24.99

  In 1962 Lawrence of Arabia scooped another seven Oscars for David Lean and crew after his previous epic, The Bridge on the River Kwai, had performed exactly the same feat a few years earlier. Supported in this Great War desert adventure by a superb cast including Alex Guinness, Jack Hawkins and Omar Sharif, Peter O'Toole gives a complex, star-making performance as the enigmatic TE Lawrence. The magnificent action and vast desert panoramas were captured in luminous 70mm by Cinematographer Freddie Young, here beginning a partnership with Lean that continued through Dr Zhivago (1965) and Ryan's Daughter (1970). Yet what made the film truly outstanding was Robert (A Man For All Seasons) Bolt's literate screenplay, marking the beginning of yet another ongoing collaboration with Lean. The final partnership established was between director and French composer Maurice Jarre, who won one of the Oscars and scored all Lean's remaining films, up to and including A Passage to India in 1984. Fully restored in 1989, this complete version of Lean's masterpiece remains one of cinema's all-time classic visions. --Gary S Dalkin On the DVD: This vast movie is spread leisurely across two discs, with Maurice Jarre's overture standing in as intermission music for the first track of disc two. But the clarity of the anamorphic widescreen picture and Dolby 5.1 soundtrack justify the decision not to cram the whole thing onto one side of a disc. The movie has never looked nor sounded better than here: the desert landscapes are incredibly detailed, with the tiny nomadic figures in the far distance clearly visible on the small screen; the remastered soundtrack, too, is a joy. Thanks are due to Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg who supervised (and financed) the restoration of the picture in 1989; on disc two Spielberg chats about why David Lean is his favourite director, and why Lawrence had such a profound influence on him both as a child and as a filmmaker (he regularly re-watches the movie before starting any new project). Other features include an excellent and exhaustive "making-of" documentary with contributions from surviving cast and crew (an avuncular Omar Sharif is particularly entertaining as he reminisces about meeting the hawk-like Lean for the first time), some contemporary featurettes designed to promote the movie and a DVD-ROM facility. The extra features are good--especially the documentary--but the breathtaking quality of both anamorphic picture and digital sound are what make this DVD package a triumph. --Mark Walker

• Great Expectations | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (116.86%)   |  RRP £12.99

  David Lean's masterpiece based on Charles Dickins' timeless novel about Pip, a blacksmith's apprentice who suddenly comes into great fortunes.

• David Lean Collection | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A collection of classic films from famed British director David Lean. Bridge On The River Kwai (1957): When British P.O.W.s build a vital railway bridge in enemy occupied Burma Allied commandos are assigned to destroy it in David Lean's epic World War II adventure The Bridge on the River Kwai. Spectacularly produced The Bridge on the River Kwai captured the imagination of the public and won seven 1957 Academy Awards including Best Picture Be

• This Happy Breed | Blu Ray | (18/06/2012) from £16.98   |  Saving you £5.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Noel Coward's celebration of the strength and humour of the British working class in times of crisis struck a resounding impact with viewing audiences when first released, and still does to this day. Chronicling the trials and tribulations of the Gibbons family from the end of World War One, Coward's anthem to British resilience became the most successful film of 1944.This Happy Breed was David Lean's first credit as a solo director and was the first in a succession of worldwide hits for him and his distinctive visual style. Both Robert Newton and Celia Johnson preside over the ups and downs of their family with great humour and patience, ably supported by John Mills and Stanley Holloway. This is a High Definition digital restoration from the original film elements.

• Madeleine | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £5.55   |  Saving you £7.44 (134.05%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Lean's accomplished film of the famous Scottish Madeleine Smith case in which a woman from a wealthy family is accused of the murder of her lover.