"Director: David Lean"

• Lawrence Of Arabia | DVD | (08/09/2003) from £16.80   |  Saving you £-2.55 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  ""A Miracle of a Film"" - Steven Spielberg This remarkable film follows the struggles of T.E. Lawrence (played by Peter O'Toole - My Favourite Year The Last Emperor) in uniting the hostile Arab factions during the First World War and leading them to victory over the ruling Turkish Empire. The film was released originally in 1962 to huge critical acclaim winning 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director for David Lean.

• Major Barbara | DVD | (06/08/2007) from £7.49   |  Saving you £12.50 (166.89%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Barbara Undershaft is the idealistic daughter of a wealthy munitions manufacturer. A major in the Salvation Army she is devoted to a crusade against capitalists such as her father and has little time for the romantic intentions of the love-struck Adolphus a Greek professor. She is shocked when the Army accepts a large donation from her father and hands back her uniform. When she agrees to take a tour of his factory there are further surprises.

• Oliver Twist | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £4.49   |  Saving you £8.50 (189.31%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Oliver Twist orphaned at birth and raised in the workhouse is expelled for daring to ask the Beadle for more food. Unhappily apprenticed to an Undertaker Oliver escaped to London where he meets the cheeky Artful Dodger the villainous Fagin the aggressive Bill Sykesand the kindly but doomed Nancy. Torn constantly between the forces of good and evil Oliver eventually seals his fate by picking the pocket of a rich gentleman.

• The Sound Barrier (Restored) | DVD | (11/04/2016) from £7.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Directed by DAVID LEAN and written by TERENCE RATTIGAN, THE SOUND BARRIER is about the men who challenged the speed of sound, told from the viewpoint of central character, Sir John Ridgefield (RALPH RICHARDSON). The oil tycoon and aircraft constructor is determined to manufacture a supersonic jet that will travel faster than the speed of sound. Ridgefield's desire to reach this goal has already led to the death of his test pilot son (DENHOLM ELLIOTT), and his daughter Susan's (ANN TODD) fighter-pilot husband (NIGEL PATRICK). Shocked at the death of her husband and her father's disregard of human life in his single-minded determination to achieve his goal, Susan walks out on him. Unperturbed, Ridgefield approaches another pilot with the challenge of piloting his test craft. The film marked a departure from the domestic or literary concerns which had characterized the director David Lean's choice of subject matter to date. Its heroics pre-empted his later films Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

• In Which We Serve | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £5.29   |  Saving you £10.70 (202.27%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Noel Coward's great British war film made at the height of World War II in 1942 tells the story of a naval destroyer and its crew as they fight for their lives in a life raft after their ship is sunk.

• Lawrence of Arabia (Restored Version) | Blu Ray | (19/10/2015) from £22.68   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Limited edition steelbook

• A Passage To India | Blu Ray | (26/09/2022) from £11.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Enter a world where cultures clash so violently that an entire country could split at any moment. Nominated for eleven Academy Awards® and winner of two, A Passage to India is a wonderfully provocative tale, full of vivid characters, all played to near perfection. With a fabulous cast that include Peggy Ashcroft, Judy Davis, James Fox, Sir Alec Guinness, and Nigel Havers, this hauntingly beautiful film is a daring triumph. When liberal-minded English ladies Mrs. Moore (Ashcroft) and Adela Quested (Davis) arrive in India, they're shocked by the extreme racial prejudice that exists here. Fortunately, kind Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee) rises above the intolerance and guides the women on a splendid tour of the mysterious Marabar caves. But the outing turns tragic when Adela suddenly comes running from one of the caves-scratched, bleeding and terribly frightened. News of the incident quickly spreads across the whole of India...igniting a powder keg of tension just waiting to explode. A rich tapestry woven of the clash between cultures, A Passage to India is supreme entertainment, and a visual wonder that is truly spellbinding!

• Hobson's Choice | DVD | (11/08/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A story of feminism in 19th Century Salford Hobson's Choice deals with the empowering of female characters. Henry Hobson is a widower with a weakness for the pub and the owner of a successful bootmakers. In order to save his finances he denies his three daughters the right to marry. So in rebellion against her father eldest daughter Maggie starts up a relationship and rival bootmakers with Henry's star employee Will.

• Classic Films Triple - The Battle Of The River Plate/In Which We Serve/We Dive At Dawn | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  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 evacuates his men and as a succession of explosions light the night Graf Spee becomes a burning inferno Langsdorff has scuttled the pride of the German fleet in the belief that he was facing impossible odds. The killer of the Atlantic would strike no more. 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. We Dive At Dawn - When all leave is cancelled for the crew of the British submarine Sea Tiger the men know they are in for an important mission. Their target: the German warship Brandenburg located in the Baltic and surrounded by mines and escorting destroyers. Picking up three German airmen who have been shot down they learn the exact position of the Brandenburg and head for it. Now they must face the mines the destroyers and perhaps the biggest threat of all - the Brandenburg's own deadly torpedoes!

• Brief Encounter | DVD | (02/04/2001) 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.

• David Lean Box Set | DVD | (20/11/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A collection of David Lean's finest films. Include: 1. The Sound Barrier (1952) 2. Hobsons Choice (1954) 3. Blithe Spirit (1945) 4. Brief Encounter (1945) 5. Great Expectations (1946) 6. Oliver Twist (1948) 7. Madeleine (1950) 8. The Passionate Friends (1949) 9. This Happy Breed (1944)

• Classic Films Triple - Great Expectations/Oliver Twist/A Tale Of Two Cities | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £12.13   |  Saving you £0.86 (7.09%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Great Expectations (1946) - David Lean directed this stylish film presentation of Charles Dickens' heart warming story of a young man befriending an escaped convict who becomes his unknown benefactor and of the consequences for the young man as he establishes himself in the world. A Tale Of Two Cities - Dickens' epic tale set during the French Revolution follows the fortunes of a disillusioned English lawyer Sidney Carton (Dirk Bogarde) whose solace is drink and who bears an uncanny resemblance to a young French aristocrat named Darnay. Carton defends Darnay but ends up falling in love with Darnay's fiancee Lucy. When Darnay is imprisoned by the revolutionary mob Carton is given the chance to redeem himself as he leaves for Paris for Darnay's aid. A truly gripping tale incomparably told and flawlessly performed. Oliver Twist - Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) orphaned at birth and raised in the workhouse is expelled for daring to ask the Beadle (Francis L. Sullivan) for more food. Unhappily apprenticed to an Undertaker Oliver escaped to London where he meets the cheeky Artful Dodger (Anthony Newly) the villainous Fagin (Alec Guiness) the aggressive Bill Sykes (Robert Newton) and the kindly but doomed Nancy (Kay Walsh). Torn constantly between the forces of good and evil Oliver eventually seals his fate by picking the pocket of a rich gentleman (Henry Stephenson).

• The Sound Barrier (Restored) | Blu Ray | (11/04/2016) from £11.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (91.74%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Directed by DAVID LEAN and written by TERENCE RATTIGAN, THE SOUND BARRIER is about the men who challenged the speed of sound, told from the viewpoint of central character, Sir John Ridgefield (RALPH RICHARDSON). The oil tycoon and aircraft constructor is determined to manufacture a supersonic jet that will travel faster than the speed of sound. Ridgefield's desire to reach this goal has already led to the death of his test pilot son (DENHOLM ELLIOTT), and his daughter Susan's (ANN TODD) fighter-pilot husband (NIGEL PATRICK). Shocked at the death of her husband and her father's disregard of human life in his single-minded determination to achieve his goal, Susan walks out on him. Unperturbed, Ridgefield approaches another pilot with the challenge of piloting his test craft. The film marked a departure from the domestic or literary concerns which had characterized the director David Lean's choice of subject matter to date. Its heroics pre-empted his later films Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962).

• Classic Films Triple - Rebecca/Brief Encounter/Mansfield Park | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £11.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (30.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Titles Comprise: Rebecca: Based on Daphne du Maurier's classic novel this Masterpiece Theatre adaptation stars Emilia Fox as Mrs. De Winter the second wife of the aging aristocrat Maxim De Winter (Dance). Mrs. De Winter a young middle class girl met her husband while he was traveling and the two almost instantly fell in love even though Maxim was still grieving over his wife Rebecca that died only one year earlier. The two impulsively decide to get married and enjoy a blissful romance until the two return to Manderlay Maxim's estate and Mrs. De Winter finds that Rebecca still has a strange hold on everyone there especially the sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (Rigg) who goes so far as to refer to her as the second Mrs. De Winter. Brief Encounter: Noel Coward's sensitive portrayal of what happens when two happily married strangers played by Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson meet and their acquaintance deepens into affection and eventually into love. It is the story of two people thrown together by the chance meeting of the title helpless in the face of their emotions but redeemed by their moral courage. Over the years few films have equalled the compassion and the realism of Brief Encounter. Mansfield Park: At 10 Fanny Price goes to live at Mansfield Park the estate of her aunt's husband Sir Thomas. Clever studious and a writer with an ironic imagination and fine moral compass she becomes especially close to her cousin Edmund Thomas's younger son. Fanny is soon possessed of beauty as well as a keen mind and comes to the attention of a neighbor Henry Crawford. Thomas promotes this match but to his displeasure Fanny has a mind of her own asking Henry to prove himself worthy. As Edmund courts Henry's sister and as light shines on the link between Thomas's fortunes and New World slavery Fanny must assess Henry's character and assert her heart as well as her wit.

• Oliver Twist / Great Expectations | DVD | (17/03/2008) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-4.54 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An astonishingly good David Lean double-bill featuring his two Dickensian adaptations, Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), this is a reminder that cinema does not necessarily have to debase its literary sources, sometimes it can enhance them. Lean's painterly eye for evocative locations--be they windswept marshes or bustling London streets--provides the backdrop, but his focus on smaller details--the ominous tree in the graveyard with its almost human face, the reaction of Bill Sikes' dog to Nancy's murder--adds the vital ingredient that brings both place and character to life. Starring a youthful John Mills as Pip, Lean's Great Expectations is an unadulterated delight, a serendipitous gelling of screenplay, direction, cinematography and acting that produces an almost perfect film. The cast is exemplary, with Alec Guinness in his first (official) role as Pip's loyal pal Herbert Pocket; Martita Hunt is a cadaverous Miss Havisham; Finlay Currie transforms himself from truly threatening to entirely sympathetic as Magwitch; while the young Jean Simmons makes more of an impact as the girl Estella than Valerie Hobson does as the older incarnation. Perhaps best of all, though, is Francis Sullivan as the pragmatic but kindly attorney Jaggers. The cinematography alone (courtesy of Guy Green) would qualify Oliver Twist as a classic: the opening sequence of a lone woman struggling through the storm is an indelible cinematic image. Fortunately, Lean's film has many more aces up its sleeve thereafter, notably Alec Guinness' grotesque Fagin--a caricature certainly, but a three-dimensional one--and Robert Newton's utterly pitiless Bill Sikes. The skewed angles and unsettling chiaroscuro lighting transform London itself into another threatening character. --Mark Walker

• Masters Of The Cinema | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Titles Comprise: Ben Hur: Having swept the board at the Academy awards Ben Hur achieved an outstanding feat in film history winning eleven oscars in 1959 including Best Picture Best Actor and Best Director. After a ten month production schedule and a then massive million budget this 1950''s epic movie has always represented a cinematographic feat that has rarely been bettered. Doctor Zhivago: Omar Sharif stars in the title role of Doctor Zhivago portraying the surgeon-poet over a half-century period. Zhivago who is married to Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin) an aristocratic girl with whom he raises a family is also in love with Lara (Julie Christie) a nurse whose life has been destroyed by tragedy. Repeatedly brought together and separated from each woman by war and revolution Zhivago is torn apart by conflict. He loves Tonya deeply but his poetic soul belongs to Lara. Much like his beloved country Zhivago's spirit becomes battered by the devastation of war as he struggles to maintain his individualism in the face of overwhelming odds. Gone With The Wind: David O. Selznick's production of Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize winner Gone With The Wind is the pinnacle of Hollywood moviemaking ( Leonard Maltin of Entertainment Tonight) . And in Maltin's view it looks better than it has in years. This sweeping Civil War-era romance won an impressive 10 Academy Awards (including Best Picture) and its immortal characters Scarlett (Vivian Leigh) Rhett (Clark Gable) Ashley (Leslie Howard) Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) Mammy (Hattie McDaniel) and Prissy (Butterfly McQueen) populate as epic story of enduring appeal across generations.

• Hobson's Choice / The Sound Barrier | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Hobson's Choice (1953) and The Sound Barrier (1952) is a double bill of cleverly juxtaposed films from David Lean's early canon, demonstrating that even without the landmark epics to come, British cinema would have been an infinitely poorer place without his tremendous contribution. Both films reflect his endlessly penetrating view of human behaviour and its perseverance through obstacles great and small. And both are effectively prisms that reflect all the aspects of that view, keeping the audience's sympathies constantly on the move. Hobson's Choice, based on Harold Brighouse's eternally popular 1916 comedy, boasts fine turns from Charles Laughton--at his brilliant, physical best--as the boot-shop owner with three troublesome daughters, and John Mills as the lowly boot maker, elevated and improved by the eldest daughter Maggie in a neat inversion of the Pygmalion fable. But both are kept in their place by Brenda de Banzie's portrayal of Maggie, a performance that glows with intelligence, truth and increasing warmth. The Sound Barrier is a drama about the race for a supersonic aeroplane. Superficially, its setting is quintessential post-World War II Britain: stiff upper lips, twin beds and clipped Rattigan dialogue. But it's prescient stuff. Ralph Richardson's aircraft manufacturer, sinister in his obsession, is an ominously skilful film performance. And Lean's take on the unthinkable cost of human achievement, interwoven with some spectacular cinematography, absorbs and unsettles. It's especially poignant now that the supersonic age has been summarily ended by Concorde's retirement. On the DVD: Hobson's Choice and The Sound Barrier are both black-and-white films presented in 4:3 picture format, from reasonable prints, and with a mono soundtrack of suitably robust quality for Malcolm Arnold's inventive scores. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford

• The Bridge On The River Kwai | Blu Ray | (04/12/2017) from £19.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (15.01%)   |  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

• Doctor Zhivago | DVD | (23/03/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Omar Sharif stars in the title role of Doctor Zhivago portraying the surgeon-poet over a half-century period. Zhivago who is married to Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin) an aristocratic girl with whom he raises a family is also in love with Lara (Julie Christie) a nurse whose life has been destroyed by tragedy. Repeatedly brought together and separated from each woman by war and revolution Zhivago is torn apart by conflict. He loves Tonya deeply but his poetic soul belongs to Lara. Much like his beloved country Zhivago's spirit becomes battered by the devastation of war as he struggles to maintain his individualism in the face of overwhelming odds.

• 3 Classic Charles Dickens Films - Great Expectations / A Tale Of Two Cities / Oliver Twist | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Great Expectations (1946) - David Lean directed this stylish film presentation of Charles Dickens' heart warming story of a young man befriending an escaped convict who becomes his unknown benefactor and of the consequences for the young man as he establishes himself in the world. A Tale Of Two Cities - Dickens' epic tale set during the French Revolution follows the fortunes of a disillusioned English lawyer Sidney Carton (Dirk Bogarde) whose solace is drink and wh