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Review Alpha Video / Murder at Dawn [1932] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Eddie Boland
  • Jack Mulhall
  • Josephine Dunn
  • Martha Mattox
  • Richard Thorpe
  • Marjorie Beebe
Release date: 2004-11-23
Run time: 52 min.
Price: £2.65

Review Murder at Dawn [1932] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Alpha Video:


Review Warner Home Video / Robin and the Seven Hoods [1964] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Frank Sinatra
  • Sammy Davis Jr.
  • Peter Falk
  • Bing Crosby
  • Gordon Douglas
  • Dean Martin
Release date: 2001-11-20
Run time: 123 min.
Price: £5.99

Review Robin and the Seven Hoods [1964] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:


Review Warner Home Video / Carry On Nurse [1958]
Actors & Directors
  • Hattie Jacques
  • Shirley Eaton
  • Charles Hawtrey
  • Gerald Thomas
  • Terence Longdon
  • Kenneth Connor
Release date: 2001-08-27
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £3.97

Review Carry On Nurse [1958] / Warner Home Video:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / The Odd Couple [1967]
Actors & Directors
  • Herb Edelman
  • Walter Matthau
  • Gene Saks
  • Jack Lemmon
  • John Fiedler
  • David Sheiner
Release date: 2001-05-07
Run time: 101 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £5.85

Review The Odd Couple [1967] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

Neil Simon's terribly funny play about roommates Oscar the slob and Felix the neurotic was first committed to film in this 1968 production, directed by Gene Saks (Barefoot in the Park). Perfectly timed, ingeniously rendered, not a hair out of place in the history-making performances of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon (or the great support cast), The Odd Couple is a movie that one just has to see every two or three years to stay happy. The poker-game sequence in which Oscar's cronies seem to be falling under the sway of fussy Felix's talent for making sandwiches is priceless. -Tom Keogh.

Review Alpha Video / Big Timer/Look out Sister [1945]
Actors & Directors
  • Louis Jordan
  • Stepin Fetchit
Release date: 2006-04-25
Run time: 102 min.
Price: £2.05

Review Big Timer/Look out Sister [1945] / Alpha Video:


Review Frank Sinatra / The Frank Sinatra Show: Welcome Home, Elvis [1960]
Release date: 2004-02-10
Run time: 60 min.
Price: £3.47

Review The Frank Sinatra Show: Welcome Home, Elvis [1960] / Frank Sinatra:


Review Warner Home Video / Carry On Cruising [1962]
Actors & Directors
  • Gerald Thomas
  • Kenneth Williams
  • Kenneth Connor
  • Sid James
  • Ralph Thomas
  • Liz Fraser
  • Dilys Laye
Release date: 2001-08-27
Run time: 86 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £4.48

Review Carry On Cruising [1962] / Warner Home Video:

Well, the gang's all here, but Carry On Cruising isn't one of the classics of the series. This may be partly due to the film's well-intentioned stab at some sort of authenticity, being set as it is on a genuine cruise liner rather than in a studio full of cheap sets. It swiftly becomes apparent that the cramped environment isn't well suited to the kind of slapstick which is usually a key ingredient in any Carry On film. Veteran couch spuds will recall that the TV series Triangle was similarly disadvantaged, except that it wasn't supposed to be funny. As ever, though, the brilliant cast-in-residence manage to make the most of the situation. The plot, such as it is, deals with the tribulations which beset a world-weary captain (James) when he realises he's been saddled with a crew of misfits and incompetents (practically everybody else) on a cruise which is of course supposed to offer its passengers every comfort and convenience. If there's a single outstanding performance it has to be that of Lance Percival's chef, whose cheeriness as he presides over his various culinary experiments is extremely funny in a menacing sort of way. On the DVD: The DVD issue has no additional features. -Roger Thomas.

Review Momentum Pictures / Hoffman [1969]
Actors & Directors
  • Peter Sellers
  • Jeremy Bulloch
  • David Lodge
  • Sinéad Cusack
  • Alvin Rakoff
  • Ruth Dunning
Release date: 2002-07-08
Run time: 107 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £3.22

Review Hoffman [1969] / Momentum Pictures:

Hoffman is an odd cross between There's a Girl in My Soup and The Collector and is clearly one of the few film projects Peter Sellers took seriously enough to work hard on, rather than one of the many he breezed through on a talent for funny voices and unleashed chaos. The set-up is that secretary Miss Smith (Sinead Cusack) is blackmailed by meek, middle-aged Mr Hoffman (Sellers) into spending a week of domesticity with him in his flat, while she tells her fiance (Jeremy "Boba Fett" Bulloch) that she's with her gran in Scarborough. At first, the tone is creepy as Cusack dreads the terrors of sharing a bed with Sellers and he mutters darkly about an absent wife in terms that recall Crippen and the brides-in-the-bath murderer, but it becomes more poignant as both characters learn to see each other as people. The worst Sellers does in bed is snore loudly, while the unattainably glamorous young woman suffers from minor ailments like a bruised heel and night-time constipation, and the at-first simple relationship between them deepens as the girl comes to understand the half-life Hoffman has been leading. The script gives Sellers a lot of funny business, acid lines and whimsical turns, but he plays Hoffman as a repressed soul half-ashamed of his attempts to be funny, telling genuinely good jokes as if he expects no one will laugh. Cusack, more interesting than the expected dolly bird, keeps up with her co-star, and almost makes the strangely upbeat last reel believable. On the DVD: Hoffman comes to disc in a nice widescreen print. Otherwise, nada. The film is also available as part of the four-disc Peter Sellers Collection. -Kim Newman.

Review Warner Home Video / Baby Doll [1956] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Eli Wallach
  • Elia Kazan
  • Carroll Baker
  • Karl Malden
  • Lonny Chapman
  • Mildred Dunnock
Release date: 2006-05-02
Run time: 114 min.
Price: £7.34

Review Baby Doll [1956] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:


Actors & Directors
  • Sally Anne Howes
  • Cecil Parker
  • Diane Cilento
  • Kenneth More
  • Gerald Harpur
Run time: 90 min.
Price: £64.99

Review The Admirable Crichton aka Paradise Lagoon (1957) / Columbia Pictures:

Lord Loam has modern ideas about his household; he believes in treating his servants as his equals - at least sometimes. His butler, Crichton, still believes that members of the serving class should know their place and be happy there. But when the Loam family are shipwrecked on a desert island with the self-reliant Crichton and lady's maid Tweeny, the class system is put to the test.

Review Warner Home Video / Wife Versus Secretary [1936] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Errol Taggart
  • May Robson
  • George Barbier
  • Myrna Loy
  • Clark Gable
  • Clarence Brown
  • Jean Harlow
Release date: 2006-06-20
Run time: 87 min.
Price: £8.11

Review Wife Versus Secretary [1936] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:


Review Warner Home Video / The Man In The White Suit [1951]
Actors & Directors
  • Cecil Parker
  • Ernest Thesiger
  • Joan Greenwood
  • Alexander Mackendrick
  • Michael Gough
  • Alec Guinness
Release date: 2004-06-21
Run time: 81 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £3.94

Review The Man In The White Suit [1951] / Warner Home Video:

Ealing Comedy-cosy, gentle and whimsical, right? In this case, think again. Alexander Mackendrick was always the most politically aware of the Ealing directors, and in The Man in the White Suit he takes the studio's favourite theme of the little man up against the system and gives it a sharp satirical twist. Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness at his most unworldly), a maverick scientist working in a Northern textile mill, invents a fabric that never gets dirty and never wears out. He's hailed as a genius-until management and unions alike realise what his brainwave implies. Mackendrick's humour is exact and pointed, and the satire turns savage as a lynch mob of bosses and workers hunt Sidney down through dark narrow streets. Mackendrick's disenchanted view of hidebound, class-ridden British society still rings horribly true, and he draws note-perfect performances from the cream of British character actors: Cecil Parker as the liberal mill-owner (based it's said, on Ealing boss Michael Balcon); Ernest Thesiger as the evil old godfather of the industry; and, wittily sensual as Sidney's confidante, the ever-wonderful Joan Greenwood. Plus, listen out for the "voice" of Sidney's bizarre apparatus, the funniest and most unforgettable sound effect ever devised. -Philip Kemp.

Review Optimum Home Entertainment / Boudu Saved From Drowning [1932]
Actors & Directors
  • Marcelle Hainia
  • Jean Renoir
  • Max Dalban
  • Michel Simon
  • Sévérine Lerczinska
  • Jean Gehret
Release date: 2003-01-27
Run time: 80 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £6.94

Review Boudu Saved From Drowning [1932] / Optimum Home Entertainment:


Review Walt Disney Home Video / Mr Magoo [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Jim Backus
  • Jerry Hausner
  • Pete Burness
Release date: 2006-02-06
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £4.63

Review Mr Magoo [1997] / Walt Disney Home Video:

Someone got the rather inspired (but ultimately misguided) idea to match Hong Kong action director Stanley Tong with comedy stalwart Leslie Nielsen in this dim-witted live-action Disney version of the vintage cartoon, in which the very near-sighted tycoon bumbles his way into the heist of a giant, priceless ruby known as the Star of Kuristan. The result is an abundance of slapstick humour related to Mr. Magoo's visual impairment (prompting a brief protest during the film's 1997 release by the National Federation of the Blind) and a tired plot involving a lovely jewel thief (Kelly Lynch) who'll stop at nothing to get her stolen jewel back. Of course, Magoo manages to foil the thieves at every turn, even though he's frequently unaware of his unintentional heroics. This standard family fare from Disney (best suited for kids 12 and under) will probably play better on home video, but you'll have to watch and listen closely for the few jokes that really pay off. -Jeff Shannon, Amazon. com.

Review Warner Home Video / Carry On Spying [1964]
Actors & Directors
  • Kenneth Williams
  • Eric Barker
  • Bernard Cribbins
  • Charles Hawtrey
  • Barbara Windsor
  • Gerald Thomas
Release date: 2001-08-27
Run time: 84 min.
RRP: £13.99
Price: £3.25

Review Carry On Spying [1964] / Warner Home Video:

While the later chapters of the Carry On series have received fairly constant exposure, some earlier examples such as 1964's Spying remain relatively unseen. Given the brash production and ensemble playing of the more well-known films, this black and white version of the Carry On world seems oddly low-key in comparison. Four of the soon-to-be-regular cast are in attendance-Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey-and there are many signs of a formula in development (the double entrendres, bad puns, Windsor's ill-fitting clothing). Of course, with its obsession with sex and bodily functions it's all very English and parts have dated horribly, not least the casual racism of some of the secondary characters, but fans of this most unique of genres will find much to tickle their fancy. And don't they look so young?On the DVD: Given the long history and colourful characters of the series, there must be scope for much behind the scenes and documentary footage, but this disc is totally bereft of any extras bar scene selection. There is also little to add to the original black and white film stock, although the soundtrack, chock full of humorous instrumentation, sounds pretty good. -Phil Udell.

Review Warner Home Video / The F-Troop: The Complete Second Season (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Gary Nelson
  • Hal March
  • Gene Nelson
Release date: 2007-05-29
Run time: 784 min.
Price: £18.17

Review The F-Troop: The Complete Second Season (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:


Review Turner Home Entertainment / Flying Down to Rio [1933] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Dolores del Rio
  • Gene Raymond
  • Ginger Rogers
  • Fred Astaire
  • Raul Roulien
  • Thornton Freeland
Release date: 2006-10-24
Run time: 89 min.
Price: £7.54

Review Flying Down to Rio [1933] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Turner Home Entertainment:

In 1933, RKO Pictures had the bright idea of pairing Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond for their new musical blockbuster, Flying Down to Rio. The film was a smash, but not for the reasons anyone expected. The fourth and fifth-billed stars were an RKO bit player and a Broadway man breaking into Hollywood. Their names were Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, and their pairing in this and eight subsequent RKO films would help to rewrite cinematic history. Most of Rio's screen time is spent on a humdrum romantic triangle involving Del Rio, Raymond and Raul Roulien, but Fred (as Fred Ayres) and Ginger (as Honey Hayes) are still able to establish many of the trademarks of their later films. Ginger fronts the band (with Fred on accordion) in the saucy "Music Makes Me", and Fred does some solo tap then sings and leads the band for the spectacular airborne finale featuring chorus girls perched on the wings of biplanes. The heart of the film is "The Carioca", a company dance extravaganza that would be imitated by "The Continental" and "The Piccolino" in later films. Here Fred and Ginger take the floor together for the first time; their eyes meet and their foreheads touch. Their dance lasts only a few minutes, but it was the highlight of the film and audiences wanted more. A prophetic moment occurs toward the beginning of the dance, when, after watching for a while, Fred grabs Ginger and tells her, "I want to try this. [+]
Come on, Honey". She declares, "We'll show 'em a thing or three". They did indeed. It was magic, and it was only the beginning. -David Horiuchi, Amazon. com.

Review Warner Home Video / Cabin in the Sky [1943] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
  • Lena Horne
  • Busby Berkeley
  • Vincente Minnelli
  • Louis Armstrong
  • Rex Ingram
  • Ethel Waters
Release date: 2006-01-10
Run time: 98 min.
Price: £7.98

Review Cabin in the Sky [1943] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:

The first film directed by Vincente Minnelli (who directed the original Broadway version), this musical offers its pleasures but also may make you squirm at the racial stereotypes that were considered both acceptable and entertaining in 1943. A story of the struggle between good and evil for the soul of a man named Little Joe (Eddie "Rochester" Anderson), the film plays with the same kind of racial notions that made Stepin Fetchit a star. Still, there's much to recommend it, particularly performances by some of the greatest musical stars of the day: Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington, among others. The film also includes a terrific score, a combination effort by Ellington, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke and E Y Harburg that includes the song "Taking a Chance on Love. " -Marshall Fine.

Review Connoisseur Video / Marx Brothers - A Night In Casablanca [1946]
Actors & Directors
  • Lois Collier
  • Chico Marx
  • Harpo Marx
  • Archie Mayo
  • Groucho Marx
  • Charles Drake
Release date: 1996-10-14
Run time: 85 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Marx Brothers - A Night In Casablanca [1946] / Connoisseur Video:


Review Warner Home Video / Carry On Teacher [1959]
Actors & Directors
  • Gerald Thomas
  • Joan Sims
  • Kenneth Williams
  • Charles Hawtrey
  • Leslie Phillips
  • Kenneth Connor
Release date: 2001-08-27
Run time: 83 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £3.75

Review Carry On Teacher [1959] / Warner Home Video:

When Carry On Teacher was released in 1959, the series was still in its infancy but all the familiar constituent parts were already in place. Innuendo, naturally, reigns supreme and on the brink of the permissive 1960s it's surprising what Peter Rodgers and the gang were able to get away with. "Are you satisfied with your equipment, Miss Allcock?", child psychologist Leslie Phillips asks gym mistress Joan Sims. Naturally, it isn't five minutes before Miss Allcock's shorts have split, leading to a series of pants gags. And we're off. For Carry On fans, Teacher contains many of the funniest lines and certainly some of the best performances from the whole series. Kenneth Williams is still acting rather than giving his mannerisms a good work out. Hattie Jacques is establishing her gorgon-with-a-soft-centre-for-the-right-man persona and Charles Hawtrey's birdlike twitching makes him ideal as the precious music teacher. A youthful Carol White and Richard O'Sullivan are among the scheming pupils. But you don't have to be a diehard Carry On fan to appreciate the boisterous, sub-St Trinians comedy. [+]
And thanks to Ted Ray's poignant acting as the headmaster, there's a real moment of Mr Chips-style bathos at the very end. On the DVD: Carry On Teacher doesn't gain much from being presented in widescreen. Much of its appeal lies in its familiarity. All we ask for is a clear print-and in black and white this is diamond sharp-and decent sound quality. The whole thing fits like a comfortable old shoe. But apart from the scene index there are no extras on the disc. Given the cult status of the Carry On films, and the wealth of documentary material which has been made about them and their stars, you'd think something extra could have been offered with the DVD releases to make them a more worthwhile alternative to the video. -Piers Ford.

Models & Brands:
Murder at Dawn [1932] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Robin and the Seven Hoods [1964] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Carry On Nurse [1958], The Odd Couple [1967], Big Timer/Look out Sister [1945], The Frank Sinatra Show: Welcome Home, Elvis [1960], Carry On Cruising [1962], Hoffman [1969], Baby Doll [1956] (REGION 1) (NTSC), The Admirable Crichton aka Paradise Lagoon (1957), Wife Versus Secretary [1936] (REGION 1) (NTSC), The Man In The White Suit [1951], Boudu Saved From Drowning [1932], Mr Magoo [1997], Carry On Spying [1964], The F-Troop: The Complete Second Season (REGION 1) (NTSC), Flying Down to Rio [1933] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Cabin in the Sky [1943] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Marx Brothers - A Night In Casablanca [1946], Carry On Teacher [1959]

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