"Director: Howard Hawks"

• Marilyn Monroe - The Diamond Collection | DVD | (05/08/2002) from £29.95   |  Saving you £50.04 (167.08%)   |  RRP £79.99

  Released to mark the 40th anniversary of her death in 1962, The Diamond Collection brings together all of Marilyn Monroe's films for 20th Century Fox. This handsome box set stands as a salutary reminder of the considerable achievements of an actress who still reigns supreme as the greatest screen goddess of them all. The uninitiated might be surprised at the versatility of someone whose legend is founded so much on her image as a sex symbol. In particular, her touching performance as the abused second-rate bar singer Cherie in Bus Stop (1956) is a rounded study of a woman still capable of dreaming when life has done everything to dull her. The box set as a whole offers plenty of evidence that while she certainly specialised in a unique and complex variation on the blonde bombshell stereotype--embodied in her timeless performances as Lorelei Lee (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and short-sighted Pola in How to Marry a Millionaire, both 1953--she could certainly diversify. The documentary, Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days, provides a sympathetic take on the troubles and behaviour which led to her being sacked from her final picture, Something's Got to Give. The presentation of the restored footage from that movie is less successful, though, as the glimpses of Monroe's incandescent screen presence, belying her illness and depression, leave a palpable sadness in their wake. Better by far to focus on her earlier work. Whatever the role, her luminous beauty and statuesque figure, combined with an unselfconsciously joyful sexuality and an on-screen vulnerability, were always at their best under the careful guidance of directors like Billy Wilder and Otto Preminger. These qualities continue to give her an enduring appeal. On the DVD: The Diamond Collection has been digitally restored using, for the most part, the original negatives, making this a sumptuous package for any Monroe fan. Niagara and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes are both presented in standard 4:3 ratio but the rest--filmed in Cinemascope and presented here in letterbox format--are certainly better-served by widescreen viewing. The colours, like Monroe, come alive. The sound quality is crisp and Monroe's singing--she had limited but genuine musical talent--has polished up well. Multiple extras include before-and-after restoration comparisons, trailers from various countries, stills and posters, and newsreel footage. Eleven discs of Marilyn in one box, this is a veritable feast indeed. --Piers Ford

• El Dorado | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £5.74   |  Saving you £7.25 (126.31%)   |  RRP £12.99

  El Dorado doesn't quite have the scope or ambition of Howard Hawks' greatest Westerns, Red River and Rio Bravo. But this relaxed picture, made near the end of Hawks' marvellous career, still shows the steady, sure hand of a master. Hawks reunites with John Wayne, playing a hired gun mixed up in a range war; Robert Mitchum is Wayne's old pal, now a sheriff in the midst of a hopeless drunken bender. James Caan, in one of his first sizable roles, plays a kid who can't shoot straight and wears a funny hat (every character in the movie makes fun of this hat). As the plot moves along, it begins to resemble Rio Bravo rather closely ("I steal from myself all the time", Hawks was fond of admitting). But in El Dorado the heroes are a bit older, their powers a bit weaker; at the end Wayne must revert to a bit of subterfuge in order to get the drop on the steely gunslinger (ice-cold Christopher George) he needs to put down. As relaxed as the movie is, Hawks and Wayne and company are in good spirits, with plenty of broad humour and easy camaraderie on display. Hawks and Wayne would make just one more film, the disappointing Rio Lobo, before ending their fruitful partnership. --Robert Horton

• The Cary Grant Collection | DVD | (10/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Contains the titles: Indiscreet: Wealthy American Philip and famous actress Anne meet just as Anne insists that all the best men have already been taken. Though Philip is taken Anne can't resist their instant attraction and electricity. But the rather big and unexpected secret Philip hides from his new love threatens to spoil everything. Operation Petticoat: When Adm. Matt Sherman's (Grant) submarine the Sea Tiger is damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor he nee

• Katharine Hepburn | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £9.99   |  Saving you £40.00 (400.40%)   |  RRP £49.99

  A bumper box set of classic films featuring 'The First Lady of Cinema' Katharine Hepburn! State Of The Union (Dir. Frank Capra 1948): The Flamboyant businessman Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) is persuaded by his mistress the powerful publishing heiress Kay Thorndyke (Angela Lansbury) to seek the Republican nomination in the forthcoming elections. Mary Matthews (Katharine Hepburn) joins her estranged husband to present a public portrait of a happy family for the voters

• The John Wayne Ultimate Collection | DVD | (21/09/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  The John Wayne Ultimate Collection

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (30/10/2006) from £6.48   |  Saving you £-2.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

• Marilyn Monroe - The Best Of Marilyn | DVD | (19/06/2006) from £17.58   |  Saving you £7.41 (42.15%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Celebrate the 80th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe with the delightful 4 disc boxed set featuring: 1. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes 2. The Seven Year itch 3. How To Marry A Millionaire 4. Marilyn Monroe - The Final Days For individual synopses' please refer to the individual products.

• Only Angels Have Wings | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £8.49   |  Saving you £-2.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Available for the first time on DVD! Thrilling As Love Born Amid A Thousand Fabulous Adventures! A tale of adventure and excitement directed by Howard Hawks. The story focuses on a pilot who delivers mail to remote locations by plane. But when a showgirl sets her sights on him he discovers that some women can be more dangerous than flying solo over the Andes...

• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes | DVD | (22/05/2006) from £6.96   |  Saving you £6.03 (86.64%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In this musical spectacle, Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe are the infamous 'Two Little Girls from Little Rock'; Dorothy - the sassy one looking for true love, and Lorelei - the blonde hoping to marry a millionaire.

• How To Marry A Millionaire / Seven Year Itch / Gentlemen Prefer Blondes | DVD | (19/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  How To Marry A Millionaire: Three screen goddesses - Betty Grable Lauren Bacall and Marilyn Monroe - star as golddigging models blessed with fabulous looks but limited brain power. The three blondes pool their resources and conspire to nab millionaire husbands renting an expensive penthouse to lure in their likely prey. But with Rory Calhoun Cameron Mitchell David Wayne Fred Clark Alex D'Arcy and William Powell playing the desired millionaires the ladies are pushed to

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (13/04/2009) from £11.71   |  Saving you £-2.46 (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  A newspaper editor played by Cary Grant meets his ex-wife/ex-star reporter's fiancee the day before they are set to be married. She says she will be happy to live a life where she will be treated like a real woman not a newsman. Grant spends the rest of the movie which all takes place in one day trying to lure Hildy back into the life they shared. The greatest screwball comedy of them all... a miracle of comic timing and fizzing chemistry. As close to perfection as you could possibly hope for His Girl Friday is a delirious joy. Channel 4 Film.

• The Thing From Another World | DVD | (06/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Artic researchers discover a huge frozen spaceling inside a crash-landed UFO then fight for their lives after the murderous being (a pre-Gunsmoke James Arness) emerges from icy captivity. Will other creatures soon follow? The famed final words of this film are both warning and answer: ""Keep watching the skies!""

• The Outlaw | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £4.93   |  Saving you £-0.94 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Howard Hughes with the assistance of Howard Hawks directed this racy version of the Pat Garrett vs Billy The Kid story. The publicity campaign surrounding the film's release was a masterpiece. Armed with stills of 19-year-old Jane Russell revealing a remarkable dcolletage (while stopping to pick up a pair of milk pails!) producer/director Howard Hughes spent tens of thousands of dollars purposely to agitate the censors and arouse public indignation. He released the film independently in San Francisco in 1943 after United Artists refused to distribute it; it was quickly closed down by civic groups. Meanwhile legendary publicist Russell Birdwell leased thousands of billboards from coast to coast for three years plastering a suggestive photo of the scantily clad Russell reclining on a bed of hay gun in hand. By 1946 when Hughes finally re-released the film audiences flocked to theatres: Jane Russell was now a Hollywood star and you can see why!

• His Girl Friday | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £9.88   |  Saving you £-4.89 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  His Girl Friday is one of the five greatest dialogue comedies ever made. Howard Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Rosalind Russell, not Hawks' first choice to play Hildy Johnson--the ace newsperson whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Cary Grant's Walter Burns is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T Jameson, Amazon.com

• The Big Sky | DVD | (08/08/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Kirk Douglas stars in this well-loved Western. Frontiersman Jim Deakins (Douglas) is travelling up the wide Missouri river with his best friend Boone Caudill (Dewey Martin) to trade with the Black Feet Indians. Boone's uncle Zeb (Academy Award nominee Arthur Hunnicutt) is travelling with them; he's returning kidnapped Black Foot princess Teal Eye (Elizabeth Threatt) to her people. It's a perilous journey pitting them against the brutal elements and rival traders who want them dead and just when their troubles couldn't get even worse - Jim realises he's in love with Teal Eye. Directed by Howard Hawks (Red River Rio Bravo) this classic adventure is filled with excitement humour and larger than life characters.

• Bogart And Bacall Signature Collection - The Big Sleep/To Have And Have Not/Key Largo/Dark Passage | DVD | (25/06/2007) from £25.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (15.39%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The Big Sleep:One of the most satisfying and sheerly entertaining movies ever to come out of Hollywood this marvellous 1946 classic adaptation of Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled novel is the perfect vehicle for the real-life team of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall whose sultry zingy dialogue adds spice to what has to be the most intricate and most exciting thriller plot ever filmed. In the hands of screen play writers William Faulkner Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman and master director Howard Hawks who slings the lamps low and keeps violence crackling this movie zips along down Chandler's mean Los Angelino streets as Bogie's world-weary cynical private eye Philip Marlowe begins a search for a missing chauffeur that turns into a blackmail hunt with a pretty girl at each turn and a corpse on each corner. The sexual undercurrents are torrid the repartee remarkable the whole just simply terrific. To Have And Have Not:Help the Free French? Not world-weary gunrunner Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart). But he changes his mind when a sultry siren-in-distress named Marie asks ""Anybody got a match?"" That red-hot match is Bogart and 19-year-old first-time film actress Lauren Bacall. Full of intrigue and racy banter (including Bacall's legendary whistling instructions) this thriller excites further interest for what it has and has not. Cannily directed by Howard Hawks and smartly written by William Faulkner and Jules Furthman it doesn't have much similarity to the Ernest Hemingway novel that inspired it. And it strongly resembles Casablanca: French resistance fighters a piano-playing bluesman (Hoagy Carmichael) and a Martinique bar much like Rick's Cafe Americaine. But first and foremost it showcases Bogart and Bacall carrying on with a passion that smolders from the tips of their cigarettes clear through to their souls. Key Largo:A hurricane swells outside but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) holes up and holds at gunpoint hotel owner Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall) and ex-GI Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart). McCloud's the one man capable of standing up against the belligerent Rocco. But the postwar world's realities may have taken all the fight out of him. John Huston co-wrote and compellingly directs this film of Maxwell Anderson's 1939 play with a searing Academy Award winning performance by Claire Trevor as Rocco's gold-hearted boozy moll. In Huston's hands it becomes a powerful sweltering classic. The Dark Passage:Bogey's on the lam and Bacall's at his side in Dark Passage Delmer Daves' stylish film-noir thriller that's the third of four films Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made together. Bogart is Vincent Parry a prison escapee framed for murder who emerges from plastic surgery with a new face. Bacall is Irene Jansen Vincent's lone ally. In a supporting role Agnes Moorehead portrays Madge a venomous harpy who finds pleasure in the unhappiness of others. The chemistry of the leads is undeniable and they augment it here with exceptional tenderness. Exceptional too are the atmospheric San Francisco locations and the imaginative camera work that shows Vincent's point of view - but not his face - until the bandages are removed. Lest Irene get ideas the post-surgery Vincent tells her: ""Don't change yours. I like it just as it is.""

• Rio Bravo | Blu Ray | (25/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  On one side is an army of gunmen dead-set on springing a murderous cohort from jail. On the other is Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) and two deputies: a recovering drunkard (Dean Martin) and a crippled codger (Walter Brennan). Also in their ragtag ranks are a trigger-happy youth (Ricky Nelson) and a woman with a past (Angie Dickinson) - and her eye on Chance. Director Howard Hawks lifted the Western to new heights with Red River. Capturing the legendary West with a stellar cast in peak form he does it again here.

• Cary Grant Collection | DVD | (04/06/2007) from £72.88   |  Saving you £77.11 (51.40%)   |  RRP £149.99

  Episodes Comprise: 1. That Touch of Mink (1962) 2. The Grass Is Greener (1960) 3. Indiscreet (1958) 4. Father Goose (1964) 5. Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) 6. Bringing Up Baby (1938) 7. None But The Lonely Heart (1944) 8. Mr Lucky (1943) 9. Once Upon A Honeymoon (1942) 10. In Name Only (1939) 11. Gunga Din (1939) 12. The Toast Of New York (1937) 13. Sylvia Scarlett (1935) 14. Charade (1963) 15. I'm No Angel (1939) 16. She Done Him Wrong (1933) 17. Blonde Venus (1932) 18. Operation Petticoat (1959) 19. My Favorite Wife (1940) 20. The Last Outpost (1935) 21. Suspicion (1941)

• Complete Marilyn Collection | DVD | (03/11/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Collection of classic films and a documentary featuring Marilyn Monroe. Films include: As Young As You Feel Bus Stop Lets Make It Legal Dont Bother To Knock Love Nest Niagra Lets Make Love River Of No Return Theres No Business Like Show Business Were Not Married Monkey Business The Seven Year Itch Gentlemen Prefer Blondes And How To Marry A Millionaire. In 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' (1953) Lorelei Lee (Monroe) and her showgirl partner Dorothy (Jane Russell) are a pair of gold-diggers who go to Paris in search of rich husbands and set their sights on the wealthy male passengers on their transatlantic liner crossing. In the meantime they must fend off unsuitable beaux - including the US Olympic team. In 'How to Marry a Millionaire' (1953) three models (Lauren Bacall Monroe and Betty Grable) rent an expensive New York apartment and set out to catch millionaire husbands. Suitable millionaires prove to be thin on the ground however and all three find that true love wins out after all - especially for Bacall whose choice turns out to have been a millionaire all along. In 'The Seven Year Itch' (1955) happily-married Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) is left in New York City while his wife and child go on summer vacation. His lively imaginings of what a summer of freedom has in store seem to have some validity when a beautiful and sensuous young girl (Monroe) moves into the sublet upstairs. Finally 'Marilyn Monroe: The Final Days' looks back at the life and career of Monroe including her final project 'Something's Got to Give' one of the most talked about unfinished films in history.

• O'Henry's Full House | DVD | (12/11/2012) from £9.46   |  Saving you £5.53 (58.46%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Hollywood's top stars and directors were assembled for this stunning 1952 adaptation of O.Henry's finest short stories, each with a delicious twist in the tail! The Cop and The Anthem (Directed by Henry Koster) A tramp decides to spend winter in a nice warm jail cell - only to find it impossible to get arrested! Guest-starring Marilyn Monroe. The Clarion Call (Directed by Henry Hathaway) A cop (Dale Robertson) discovers an old friend (Richard Widmark) is a murderer - an old friend to whom he owes a big debt... The Last Leaf (Directed by Jean Negulesco) An artist (Gregory Ratoff) must find a way to help a young girl dying of a broken heart and her desperate sister (Anne Baxter and Jean Peters)... The Ransom of Red Chief (Directed by Howard Hawks) Two city slickers (Fred Allen and Oscar Levant) decide to kidnap a country boy for ransom. After all, kids are easier to control... aren't they? The Gift of The Magi (Directed by Henry King) On Christmas Eve, an impoverished young couple decide to buy each other Christmas presents they can't possibly afford... Special Features: Digitally Remastered Picture and Sound Commentary by Dr Jenny Lind Porter The Life and Writing of O'Henry Featurette Stills Gallery 2 Additional O'Henry Shorts Collectors Booklet