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Review Universal Studios / Bing Crosby: Screen Legend Collection [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Bob Burns
  • Bing Crosby
  • George Barbier
  • Martha Raye
  • Frank Tuttle
  • Theodore Reed
  • Shirley Ross
  • Mark Sandrich
  • David Butler
Release date: 2006-11-14
Run time: 462 min.
Price: £11.28

Review Bing Crosby: Screen Legend Collection [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Universal Studios:


Review Warner Home Video / Carry On Cruising [1962]
Actors & Directors
  • Kenneth Williams
  • Ralph Thomas
  • Liz Fraser
  • Gerald Thomas
  • Kenneth Connor
  • Sid James
  • Dilys Laye
Release date: 1997-08-18
Run time: 86 min.
RRP: £6.99
Price: £3.24

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 Warner Home Video / Hobson's Choice [1954]
Actors & Directors
  • Daphne Anderson
  • Prunella Scales
  • David Lean
  • John Mills
  • Charles Laughton
  • Brenda De Banzie
Release date: 2000-07-03
Run time: 102 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £10.00

Review Hobson's Choice [1954] / Warner Home Video:

Britain's greatest ever film director David Lean wasn't feted for providing belly-laughs. His finest films, from Great Expectations (1946) to Lawrence of Arabia (1962) are resolutely sober, which is more than can be said of Henry Horatio Hobson in his wonderfully comic encounter with the moon in Hobson's Choice. Lean's only other comedy was Blithe Spirit (1945), but here he approaches matters of the heart with a surprising lightness of touch and wins a marvellous performance from Charles Laughton-himself soon to make his one and only film as a director, Night of the Hunter (1955). The setting is late-19th century Salford (the b/w location filming is exceptional), and widower Henry Hobson forbids his three daughters to marry to avoid paying their dowries. Romance will not be thwarted by economics, and much humorous conflict ensues, interspersed with some serious and even disturbing moments-the shaving scene when Laughton gets the DTs is a queasily unbalanced. Brenda De Banzie is splendidly spirited as the eldest daughter, Maggie, while her fiancie is played by the ever excellent John Mills, who would later win an Oscar for his part in Lean's much more serious love story, Ryan's Daughter (1970). -Gary S. Dalkin.

Review Odeon Entertainment / One Wild Oat [1951]
Actors & Directors
  • Robertson Hare
  • Stanley Holloway
  • Charles Saunders
  • Audrey Hepburn
Release date: 2007-09-24
Run time: 90 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £7.21

Review One Wild Oat [1951] / Odeon Entertainment:


Review Revelation Films / The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Season Two [1962]
Actors & Directors
  • Dick Van Dyke
Release date: 2007-05-21
Run time: 825 min.
RRP: £29.99
Price: £12.57

Review The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Season Two [1962] / Revelation Films:


Review Universal Pictures UK / Road To Morocco [1943]
Actors & Directors
  • David Butler
  • Bing Crosby
  • Dorothy Lamour
  • Bob Hope
Release date: 2006-10-02
Run time: 78 min.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £6.92

Review Road To Morocco [1943] / Universal Pictures UK:

Road to Morocco, number three in the series of breezy comedies teaming Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, may be the funniest of the bunch. Bing and Bob find themselves Morocco-bound ("like Webster's dictionary"), caught in an elaborately faked-up world of harems, palm trees, and other Arabian Nights bric-a-brac. Naturally, Dorothy Lamour is also there, as she was the customary target of male rivalry in the Road scenarios. There is something so loose and ingratiating about the patter between Hope and Crosby that it doesn't ultimately matter if half the jokes don't land; these guys had their own comfortable rhythm, fueled by cheerful one-upmanship. Their sense of spontaneity broke the fourth wall between movie and audience in a way only the Marx Brothers had really accomplished before, and audiences-feeling in on the joke-ate it up. Songs (including "Moonlight Becomes You"), topical references, and ancient vaudeville routines fill out the program. -Robert Horton.

Review Warner Home Video / Tony Hancock: The Rebel / The Punch And Judy Man [1960]
Actors & Directors
  • Jeremy Summers
  • John Le Mesurier
  • Sylvia Syms
  • Tony Hancock
  • Ronald Fraser
  • Robert Day
  • Barbara Murray
Release date: 2003-04-14
Run time: 189 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £21.75

Review Tony Hancock: The Rebel / The Punch And Judy Man [1960] / Warner Home Video:

The Rebel (1961) and The Punch and Judy Man (1963) are the only two feature films made expressly as star vehicles for the great television comic Tony Hancock. The Rebel is by far the more ambitious, being in colour with Parisian locations, a large cast, and not least a supporting role for international star George Sanders. The opening rebellion against office life surely inspired The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, while references follow to Look Back in Anger (1958) and Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960) and Some Like It Hot (1959). Hancock goes to Paris to follow his artistic muse and as he rises through the art world his naivety is taken for genius, allowing for some very funny moments and spot-on satire, which are just as relevant today as 40 years ago. Filmed in black-and-white in Bognor Regis, The Punch and Judy Man is a more modest yet evocative portrait of life in a small coastal resort. Hancock is the titular beach entertainer who is happy to live from day to day with the affable companionship of John Le Mesurier and Hugh Lloyd. The problem is he's burdened with a socially ambitious wife, Sylvia Syms. Gentle humour comes from Hancock's frustrations as a proto-Basil Fawlty, and the film, packed with familiar British character actors, has an old-fashioned charm. It makes for an enjoyable supporting feature to The Rebel, which is undoubtedly a minor classic. On the DVD: Tony Hancock Double Feature presents both films at 4:3 ratio. [+]
The earlier film looks decidedly cropped in several scenes, though the latter survives the reformatting largely unscathed. The Rebel's colour is faded and the image grainy, while The Punch and Judy Man generally has a much stronger black and white image. Even so, there is some flickering and print damage. The music is distorted in The Rebel but the mono sound is fine during The Punch and Judy Man. There are no extras. -Gary S Dalkin.

Review Warner Home Video / The Long, Long Trailer [1954] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Walter S. Baldwin
  • Desi Arnaz
  • Vincente Minnelli
  • Lucille Ball
  • Richard Alexander
  • Robert Anderson
Release date: 2006-05-02
Run time: 96 min.
Creator: Adolph Deutsch
Price: £4.80

Review The Long, Long Trailer [1954] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:


Review Dd Home Entertainment / Let George Do It [1940]
Actors & Directors
  • Garry Marsh
  • Marcel Varnel
  • Phyllis Calvert
  • Romney Brent
  • Bernard Lee
  • George Formby
Release date: 2000-09-25
Run time: 78 min.
Price: £10.99

Review Let George Do It [1940] / Dd Home Entertainment:


Release date: 2001-10-01
RRP: £9.99
Price: £2.52

Review Carry On Cabby / Carry On Nurse [1963] / Warner:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Breakfast At Tiffany's [1961]
Actors & Directors
  • Blake Edwards
  • Mickey Rooney
  • Audrey Hepburn
  • Martin Balsam
  • George Peppard
  • Buddy Ebsen
Release date: 2006-06-05
Run time: 109 min.
RRP: £15.99
Price: £4.75

Review Breakfast At Tiffany's [1961] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review 4 Front Video / It Happened One Night [1934]
Actors & Directors
  • Frank Capra
  • Clark Gable
  • Roscoe Karns
  • Walter Connolly
  • Jameson Thomas
  • Claudette Colbert
Release date: 2002-07-01
Run time: 101 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £4.99

Review It Happened One Night [1934] / 4 Front Video:

Director Frank Capra (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) took home every Oscar in the book (well, okay, all the major ones) for this seminal 1934 comedy starring Clark Gable as a hard-bitten reporter who stays close to a runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert) so not to lose a good story. Funny and sexy, the film is full of memorable scenes often referred to in other films, such as the "Wall of Jericho" (a mere bedcover hung on a clothesline down the middle of the room), and Colbert's famous flash of thigh to stop a speeding car in its tracks. Capra's brisk, urbane brand of wit was a perfect complement to his populist faith in the common man (in this case, Gable's character), and this inspiration makes this film a spirited entertainment and an uplifting experience. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review Universal Studios / On the Road With Bob Hope and Bing Crosby: The Franchise Collection (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Victor Schertzinger
  • Bing Crosby
  • Dorothy Lamour
  • Una Merkel
  • Hal Walker
  • Bob Hope
  • Eric Blore
  • David Butler
Release date: 2004-05-04
Run time: 351 min.
Price: £6.46

Review On the Road With Bob Hope and Bing Crosby: The Franchise Collection (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Universal Studios:


Review Paramount / It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [1966] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Peanuts Gang
  • Bill Melendez
Release date: 2000-09-12
Run time: 25 min.
Creator: John Scott Trotter
Price: £5.59

Review It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [1966] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Paramount:


Review Uca Catalogue / It Happened One Night [1934]
Actors & Directors
  • Claudette Colbert
  • Walter Connolly
  • Roscoe Karns
  • Clark Gable
  • Jameson Thomas
  • Frank Capra
Release date: 2004-08-16
Run time: 101 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £26.25

Review It Happened One Night [1934] / Uca Catalogue:

Director Frank Capra (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) took home every Oscar in the book (well, okay, all the major ones) for this seminal 1934 comedy starring Clark Gable as a hard-bitten reporter who stays close to a runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert) so not to lose a good story. Funny and sexy, the film is full of memorable scenes often referred to in other films, such as the "Wall of Jericho" (a mere bedcover hung on a clothesline down the middle of the room), and Colbert's famous flash of thigh to stop a speeding car in its tracks. Capra's brisk, urbane brand of wit was a perfect complement to his populist faith in the common man (in this case, Gable's character), and this inspiration makes this film a spirited entertainment and an uplifting experience. -Tom Keogh, Amazon. com.

Review Vision Video Ltd. / Laurel And Hardy - Helpmates / Towed In A Hole / Busy Bodies [1933]
Actors & Directors
  • Dick Gilbert
  • Charlie Hall
  • Oliver Hardy
  • George Marshall
  • James Parrott
  • Lloyd French
  • Jack Hill (II)
  • Stan Laurel
Release date: 1998-09-07
Run time: 61 min.
Price: £10.99

Review Laurel And Hardy - Helpmates / Towed In A Hole / Busy Bodies [1933] / Vision Video Ltd.:


Review MGM / Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow/The Ghost In the Invisible Bikini (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Russ Bender
  • Don Weis
  • Henry McCann
  • Elaine DuPont
  • William J. Hole Jr.
  • Martin Braddock
  • Jody Fair
Release date: 2005-02-15
Run time: 148 min.
Price: £5.28

Review Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow/The Ghost In the Invisible Bikini (REGION 1) (NTSC) / MGM:


Review Cult Epics/Haamster Films / Slogan [1969] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Henri-Jacques Huet
  • Serge Gainsbourg
  • Daniel Gélin
  • Pierre Grimblat
  • Jane Birkin
  • Andréa Parisy
Release date: 2008-05-20
Run time: 90 min.
Price: £8.04

Review Slogan [1969] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Cult Epics/Haamster Films:


Review Paramount Home Entertainment / The Brady Bunch - Series 2 [1969]
Actors & Directors
  • Robert Reed
  • Susan Olsen
  • Eve Plumb
  • Michael Lookinland
  • Maureen McCormick
Release date: 2008-03-24
Run time: 576 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £16.76

Review The Brady Bunch - Series 2 [1969] / Paramount Home Entertainment:

The Brady Bunch never scored high ratings during its five year run, but this friendly family comedy has remained in reruns ever since, while bigger hits have slipped into oblivion. Pretty much everyone who grew up in the 1970s or '80s knows the show inside and out: a vision of suburban family life so utopian it's as fantastical as Neverland or Santa's workshop. And just like these imaginary realms, it casts a spell over every kid who wished all problems could be resolved with a few wise words, a good-natured shrug, or a winsome smile. The Brady Bunch: The Complete Second Season is indistinguishable from every other season but the reassuring formula is crucial to the show's appeal. Eldest brother Greg (Barry Williams) may decide he's all grown up and wants a groovy bachelor pad, or eldest sister Marcia (Maureen McCormick) may get all riled up about women's lib and decide to join the Frontier Scouts, or super-maid Alice (Ann B. Davis, whose persona is hilariously similar to Ellen DeGeneres) may fantasize about running off with an old flame but by the end of the show you know everything will return to a zen-like domestic harmony. It's all pretty bizarre when you realize that both halves of the family have suffered the death of a parent! The most angst to be found is the relentless identity crisis of middle sister Jan (Eve Plumb), who tries to remove her freckles with lemon juice and buys a curly brunette wig to forge a new self-image. Nowadays Jan would be a prime candidate for bulimia but in the Brady world such psychodrama is unthinkable. This even emotional keel could have been creepy and antiseptic but due to the charm of the kids and the smooth yet earthy presence of Robert Reed and Florence Henderson as parents Mike and Carol Brady, The Brady Bunch just seemed nice. You wanted that to be your family. [+]
If you watched the show in your childhood, watching The Brady Bunch: The Complete Second Season as an adult will lull you into a sweet, blissful dream. -Bret Fetzer.

Review Warner Home Video / Father of the Bride [1950] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actors & Directors
  • Joan Bennett
  • Spencer Tracy
  • Vincente Minnelli
  • Elizabeth Taylor
  • Don Taylor
  • Billie Burke
Release date: 2003-05-13
Run time: 106 min.
Price: £4.89

Review Father of the Bride [1950] (REGION 1) (NTSC) / Warner Home Video:


Models & Brands:
Bing Crosby: Screen Legend Collection [2006] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Carry On Cruising [1962], Hobson's Choice [1954], One Wild Oat [1951], The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Season Two [1962], Road To Morocco [1943], Tony Hancock: The Rebel / The Punch And Judy Man [1960], The Long, Long Trailer [1954] (REGION 1) (NTSC), Let George Do It [1940], Carry On Cabby / Carry On Nurse [1963], Breakfast At Tiffany's [1961], It Happened One Night [1934], On the Road With Bob Hope and Bing Crosby: The Franchise Collection (REGION 1) (NTSC), It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown [1966] (REGION 1) (NTSC), It Happened One Night [1934], Laurel And Hardy - Helpmates / Towed In A Hole / Busy Bodies [1933], Ghost Of Dragstrip Hollow/The Ghost In the Invisible Bikini (REGION 1) (NTSC), Slogan [1969] (REGION 1) (NTSC), The Brady Bunch - Series 2 [1969], Father of the Bride [1950] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

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