"Actor: Alan Napier"

• The Sword In The Stone (Disney) | DVD | (18/08/2008) from £5.45   |  Saving you £0.55 (10.09%)   |  RRP £6.00

  A young scullery boy named Wart is taught amazing lessons by the wizard Merlin who turns him into a fish a bird and a squirrel so that he might understand the mysteries of life. Such lessons help the boy succeed where for centuries thousands of might men had failed. Whoever removes the wondrous golden sword embedded in a large stone will be crowned Arthur King of England! Brilliantly executed and peopled with unforgettable characters The Sword in the Stone is the best of both worlds: a legend and a Disney Classic!

• Batman - The Movie | DVD | (06/10/2003) from £5.85   |  Saving you £0.14 (2.39%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Batman: The Movie carries the high camp absurdity of the 1960s TV show to gleeful new heights. Shark Repellent Batspray, costume-removing Batpoles, a contraption that dehydrates political figures into coloured powder, and endless childishly easy conundrums. Bringing the primary-coloured show to the big screen was a natural move, since sets, costume and casting were all in place. But what elevates the movie above the series? Is it the wonderful new toys--the Batcopter, Batboat and Batbike? Is it the OTT direction, taking the Dynamic Duo on location far more than usual? Or is it the electrifying one-upmanship between Burgess Meredith (Penguin), Cesar Romero (Joker), Frank Gorshin (Riddler) and Lee Meriwether (a new Catwoman since regular Julie Newmar was busy elsewhere)? As Commissioner Gordon says, "The sum of the angles of that rectangle is too monstrous to contemplate!" Really, the best of the movie's magic is to be found in the sheer glee Adam West and Burt Ward exhibit in playing for the big screen. This was the most exciting event in their careers. And it shows in their colourful, zestful performances. On the DVD: Batman: The Movie on disc includes an affectionate commentary from the two stars ("Oh lookee!" says West repeatedly), after which the duo are heavily involved in the wealth of additional material, even recording dialogue for the interactive animated menus. Seeing them on screen in the 16-minute featurette might be a shock, though. In the restored 1.85:1 film print they look much better! Additionally there's a five-minute "Batmobile Revealed" featurette with designer George Barris, a trailer page with some very humorous inclusions and two large galleries of behind-the-scenes photos.--Paul Tonks

• The Sword In The Stone | DVD | (03/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  As far as Disney is concerned, The Sword in the Stone was a portent of things to come, with slapstick upstaging storytelling, and cultural in-jokes substituting for wonder. Based on TH White's beloved novel The Once and Future King, this Disney version chronicles King Arthur's boyish adventures. There's much to enjoy here as coach Merlin the magician shows the young Arthur, nicknamed Wart, the skills that will help him become the future ruler of the Britons. The transformation sequences, where the boy is turned into a fish, a bird and a squirrel are vintage Disney. The oft-repeated scene of Merlin battling it out with mean old Madame Mim still is worth a few chuckles, but it underlines the problem with most of the film--most of its scenes are only played for laughs. References by Merlin to television and other items of modern life also mar the generally innocuous landscape. Younger children will like it, while older kids will find it slower compared with recent Disney films. --Keith Simanton, Amazon.com

• Marnie | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £9.43   |  Saving you £0.56 (5.94%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Both visually and psychologically, Marnie is crass in comparison with Hitchcock's peak achievement in Vertigo--although it shares some of that film's characteristic obsessive themes. Sean Connery, fresh from From Russia with Love, is a Philadelphia playboy who begins to fall for Tippi Hedren's blonde ice goddess only when he realises that she's a professional thief (she's come to work in his upper-crust insurance office in order to embezzle mass quantities). His patient programme of investigation and surveillance has a creepy, voyeuristic quality that's pure Hitchcock, but all's lost when it emerges that the root of Marnie's problem is phobic sexual frigidity, induced by a childhood trauma. Luckily, Sean is up to the challenge, as it were. Not even DH Lawrence believed as fervently as Hitchcock in the curative properties of sexual release. --David Chute

• Isle of the Dead | Blu Ray | (09/10/2023) from £16.15   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Journey To The Centre Of The Earth | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £19.79   |  Saving you £-6.80 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Danger and wonder at the Earth's core! The accent is on fun and fantasy in this film version of Jules Verne's classic thriller stars James Mason Pat Boone and Arlene Dahl. With spectacular visuals as a backdrop the story centres on an expedition led by Professor Lindenbrook (Mason) down into the Earth's dark core. Members of the group include the professor's star student Alec (Boone) and the widow (Dahl) of a colleague. Along the way lurk dangers such as kidnapping death sabotag

• Orson Welles' Macbeth | DVD | (17/07/2000) from £17.46   |  Saving you £2.53 (14.49%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Orson Welles' Macbeth is an expressionist masterpiece about a doomed man of ordinary ambition who believes an evil prophecy that he will become King. The shortest of Shakespeare's tragedies, Welles long considered Macbeth to be the most filmable of the Bard's work. Produced on a slim budget over a mere 32 days, the results are consistently impressive. As depicted by Welles, the title character is not a warrior king or conscience-stricken, poetic soul on a par with Hamlet; rather, he is revealed to be a facile, superstitious man consigned to fate even as the character does not trust to fate. For her part, Lady Macbeth (Jeanette Nolan) is merely obsessed with the unimpeded exercise of her will to power, viewing her husband's life as a tale told by an idiot (she is particularly effective during the "out, damned spot" scene from Act V). Welles has also created some new scenes here, conflating several characters into a "Holy Father" (Alan Napier) while eliciting strong supporting turns from actors such as Dan O'Herlihy (Macduff) and Roddy McDowall (Malcolm). All of this unfolds within a highly disordered state in which nature itself is on the rant ("Fair is foul and foul is fair"). Though the technically poor soundtrack and the occasional indecipherable Scottish brogue make the film seem a trifle compromised at times, each moment feels preternaturally alive. There is an almost Brechtian quality here, with Welles giving us splendid pieces then leaving it to us to fit them into a theatrically coherent puzzle. Refusing to believe that Birnham Wood could ever travel to Dunsinane, Macbeth is finally exposed as a man of insufficient character. As such, some might suggest that this Macbeth is more accurately described as the story of how Malcolm became King. --Kevin Mulhall

• The Four Just Men | DVD | (13/05/2013) from £5.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (66.78%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Produced by Michael Balcon for Ealing Studios on the eve of the Second World War, The Four Just Men recounts crime novelist Edgar Wallace's tale of the clandestine band of vigilantes who have united to uphold democracy, fight tyranny and protect British interests worldwide. A patriotic remake of George Ridgeway's silent of 1921 - also inspiring ITC's cult series of 1959 - this innovative thriller sees the unconventional heroes thwarting a dictator's plan to destroy the British Empire. Origin...

• Batman: The Complete TV Series - Limited Edition | Blu Ray | (16/02/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  TV's iconic Dynamic Duo has been captured, along with a legion of abominable archenemies in a POW-erful numbered limited-edition collection. Featuring ALL 120 original broadcast episodes, ever popular guest stars like Julie Newmar and Cesar Romero, The Adam West Scrapbook, complete episode guide - and exploding with over 3 hours of all new extras - you can bring home all the crime fighting action that won generations of fans! Episodes Comprise: Season One Disc One: Hi Diddle Riddle Smack in the Middle Fine Feathered Finks The Penguin's a Jinx The Joker is Wild Batman is Riled Instant Freeze Rats Like Cheese Zelda the Great A Death Worse Than Fate A Riddle a Day Keeps the Riddler Away When the Rat's Away the Mice will Play Disc Two: The Thirteenth Hat Batman Stands Pat The Joker Goes to School He Meets his Match, the Grisly Ghoul True or False Face Holy Rat Race The Purr-fect Crime Better Luck Next Time The Penguin Goes Straight Not Yet, he Ain't The Ring of Wax Give 'em the Axe Disc Three: The Joker Trumps An Ace Batman Sets The Pace The Curse Of Tut The pharaoh's in a rut The Bookworm Turns While Gotham City Burns Death in Slow Motion The Riddler's False Notion Fine Finny Fiends Batman Makes The Scenes Season Two Disc Four: Shoot a Crooked Arrow Walk the Straight And Narrow Hot Off The Griddle The Cat And The Fiddle The Minstrel's Shakedown Barbecued Batman? The Spell Of Tut Tut's Case Is Shut The Greatest Mother Of Them All Ma Parker The Clock King's Crazy Crimes The Clock King Gets Crowned Disc Five: An Egg Grows In Gotham The Yegg Foes In Gotham The Devil's Fingers The Dead Ringers Hizzonner the Penguin Dizzoner the Penguin Green Ice Deep Freeze The Impractical Joker The Joker's Provokers Marsha, Queen Of Diamonds Marsha's Scheme Of Diamonds Disc Six: Come Back, Shame It's How You Play The Game The Penguin's Nest The Bird's Last Jest The Cat's Meow The Bat's Kow Tow Disc Seven: The Puzzles Are Coming The Duo Is Slumming The Sandman Cometh The Catwoman Goeth He Contaminated Cowl The Mad Hatter Runs Afoul The Zodiac Crimes The Joker's Hard Times He Penguin Declines That Darn Catwoman Scat! Darn Catwoman Penguin is a Girl's Best Friend Disc Eight: Penguin Sets A Trend Penguin's Disastrous End Batman's Anniversary A Riddling Controversy The Joker's Last Laugh The Joker's Epitaph Catwoman Goes to College Batman Displays His Knowledge A Piece Of The Action Batman's Satisfaction King Tut's Coup Batman's Waterloo Disc Nine: Black Widow Strikes Again Caught in The Spider's Den Pop Goes The Joker Flop Goes The Joker Ice Spy The Duo Defy Season Three Disc Ten: Enter Batgirl, Exit Penguin Ring Around The Riddler The Wail Of The Siren The Sport Of Penguins A Horse Of Another Color The Unkindest Tut Of All Louie, The Lilac The Ogg And I How to Hatch A Dinosaur Surf's up! Joker's under! Disc Eleven: The Londinium Larcenies The Foggiest Notion The Bloody Tower Catwoman's Dressed to Kill The Ogg Couple The Funny Feline Felonies The Joke's On Catwoman Louie's Lethal Lilac Time Nora Clavicle And The Ladies' Crime Club Penguin's Clean Sweep The Great Escape The Great Train Robbery I'll be a Mummy's Uncle The Joker's Flying Saucer Disc Twelve: The Entrancing Dr. Cassandra Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires Disc Thirteen: Bonus Content Disc

• Marnie | Blu Ray | (10/05/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Great Caruso, The | Blu Ray | (09/03/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Sword In The Stone | DVD | (03/06/2002) from £20.13   |  Saving you £-0.14 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  As far as Disney is concerned, The Sword in the Stone was a portent of things to come, with slapstick upstaging storytelling, and cultural in-jokes substituting for wonder. Based on TH White's beloved novel The Once and Future King, this Disney version chronicles King Arthur's boyish adventures. There's much to enjoy here as coach Merlin the magician shows the young Arthur, nicknamed Wart, the skills that will help him become the future ruler of the Britons. The transformation sequences, where the boy is turned into a fish, a bird and a squirrel are vintage Disney. The oft-repeated scene of Merlin battling it out with mean old Madame Mim still is worth a few chuckles, but it underlines the problem with most of the film--most of its scenes are only played for laughs. References by Merlin to television and other items of modern life also mar the generally innocuous landscape. Younger children will like it, while older kids will find it slower compared with recent Disney films. --Keith Simanton, Amazon.com

• The Hitchcock Collection, Volume 2 | DVD | (06/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  A welcome second volume of classics from the Master of Suspense, this seven-disc Hitchcock Collection box-set consists of the following: The Birds: Based on a Daphne Du Maurier short story, The Birds (1963) is Hitchcock at his most terrifying, as the residents of a small town are attacked by thousands of apparently homicidal birds. Marnie: Tippi Hedren and newly Bonded Sean Connery star in this excellent 1964 thriller, which finds a calculating thief who robs her employers pursued by a her new boss, who is desperate to unlock her secrets Torn Curtain: This 1966 spy thriller, pairing Paul Newman and Julie Andrews, finds Newman as a world-famous physicist intent on defecting to East Berlin in order to obtain funding for his latest project. Topaz: Based on the Leon Uris novel, Hitch's 51st film, made in 1969, concerns a CIA agent who learns of Russian missiles in Cuba. With the aid of a French agent, they negotiate a plethora of corruption and murder. Frenzy: This critically acclaimed 1972 film was Hitch's first British-made film for more than 20 years. A classic Hitch story of an innocent man accused of being the "necktie murderer"--a vicious sex criminal terrorising London--he eludes the authorities and seeks the real killer. Family Plot: Hitchcock's final film, made in 1976, is a blackly funny mix of murder, theft and kidnapping as a cab-driver and a psychic team up to find a dead man--not actually dead--in exchange for a $10,000 reward. Bonus Disc--Vertigo: An irreducible masterpiece, this 1958 double-identity thriller finds Hitch serving aces, as Jimmy Stewart's detective is drawn in to a complex plot when the girl he loves apparently falls to her death. On the DVD: Like the first volume, this is an equally impressive package that will satisfy the rotund fright-master's fans. Along with the standard selection of trailers, production notes and picture galleries, each disc houses an impressive "making of" documentary, each expertly detailing Hitch's meticulous work. The Birds features Tippi Hedren's screen test and--in storyboard form--deleted scenes and the alternative ending. Topaz has no less that three alternative endings, while Torn Curtain includes scenes scored by composer Bernard Herrmann before his music was rejected by Hitch. The Vertigo disc features an excellent group commentary from producer Herbert Coleman and restoration experts Robert A Harris and James Katz, as well as a documentary, "Obsessed with Vertigo". Housed in attractive fold-out packaging, this is an excellent opportunity to obtain a rich slice of Hitchcock's dark magic.--Danny Graydon

• 3 Ninjas - High Noon At Mega Mountain / Kick Back / Knuckle Up | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  3 Ninjas High Noon At Mega Mountain: When dastardly villains Medusa and Lothar Zogg and their evil cohorts invade a family fun park and take its summer visitors hostage it's up to the three ninjas to save the day with a little help from an aging action movie hero who needs to pull off the rescue to regain his street credibility. 3 Ninjas Kickback: Colt Rocky and Tum Tum are back in another action-packed story where they travel with their grandfather to Japan in search of a secret cave of gold closely followed by a band of heavy metal rockers. 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up: Rocky Colt and Tum Tum find themselves in action again as they get drawn into a struggle between an American Indian tribe and a ruthless businessman who is dumping toxic waste on their land.

• Batman - The Movie | DVD | (01/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Philanthropic entrepreneur Bruce Wayne (Adam West) and his youthful ward Dick Grayson (Burt Ward) lead a double life: they are the Caped Crusaders crime-fighting duo Batman and Robin. A secret Batpole in the Wayne mansion leads to the Batcave where Police Commissioner Gordon calls the fearless duo on the Batphone with the latest emergency threatening Gotham City. Racing to the scene of the crime in the Batmobile Batman and Robin must (with the help of trusty Bat-Gadgets) thwart the efforts of a variety of master criminals. The dastardly deeds begin when The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) uses his flipper-powered submarine to steal a super-dehydrator which extracts all moisture from humans and reduces them to particles of dust. But the Antarctic Anarchist is not working alone gentle reader! No a plot this size requires the combined evil thinking caps of four costumed criminals: The Penguin himself The Riddler (Frank Gorshin) The Joker (Cesar Romero) and Catwoman (Lee Meriwether). And as Commissioner Gordon (Neil Hamilton) puts it The sum of the angles of that rectangle is too monstrous to contemplate! Using the super dehydrator the United Underworld (as they dub themselves) suck the moisture out of the nine-member United Nations Security Council leaving nine multicolored piles of dust. Can no one stop this blueprint of badness? This design of devilry? Two men can (well one man and one boy wonder) with the help of their trusty butler Alfred (Alan Napier). But first they'll have to defeat a ticking time bomb an exploding octopus and a shark with a six-foot vertical leap. Can the Dynamic Duo stop the fearsome foursome in time? Will Bruce Wayne fall under the spell of lovely Miss Kitka exotic correspondent for the Moscow Bugle who happens to be Catwoman in disguise? Can the man-eating shark be stopped with Batman's Shark-Repellent Bat-Spray? Will Commissioner Gordon decipher the Riddler's criminal conundrums?

• Lured | DVD | (14/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A serial killer in London lures young women into his clutches by posting ads in the personal columns of newspapers. After each murder he informs the police by means of a cryptic poem earning himself the tag the 'Poet Killer'. But when the poet killer murders a dancer her best friend decides to assist the police by answering one of his ads...

• Wild/Brother Bear | DVD | (01/10/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Robin Hood:The legend of Robin Hood one of the most popular stories of all time is brought magically to life in this full length animated Disney classic. The spirit of fun and romance abounds as Robin Hood the swashbuckling hero of Sherwood Forest and his valiant sidekick Little John plot one daring adventure over another. The Sword In The Stone:A young scullery boy named Wart is taught amazing lessons by the wizard Merlin who turns him into a fish a bird and a squirrel so that he might understand the mysteries of life. Such lessons help the boy succeed where for centuries thousands of might men had failed. Whoever removes the wondrous golden sword embedded in a large stone will be crowned Arthur King of England! Brilliantly executed and peopled with unforgettable characters The Sword in the Stone is the best of both worlds: a legend and a Disney Classic!

• Journey To The Centre Of The Earth | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In this 1959 adaptation of the Jules Verne novel Journey to the Centre of the Earth, James Mason plays Professor Oliver Lindenbrook, a scientist hoping to find the world's core. He leads his unusual party on an expedition to the centre of the earth, by way of a volcano in Iceland. On the way, they encounter enormous mushrooms and giant prehistoric monsters. Produced by Michael Todd with then-spectacular special effects, the story was modernised to suit 1950s sensibilities and graced by a suitably outlandish Bernard Herrmann score. Mason gives this class, while Arlene Dahl and Diane Baker are the romantic interests. And Pat Boone is more palatable than you might expect as a secondary lead. You can watch this with your children and not be bored, and they will surely love it. --Rochelle O'Gorman