"Actor: Byron"

• Various Composers - Classic Archive (Janis) | DVD | (02/10/2001) from £18.88   |  Saving you £-2.89 (-18.10%)   |  RRP £15.99

• The Stranger | DVD | (18/10/1999) from £4.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (160.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The legendary story that hovers over Orson Welles' The Stranger is that he wanted Agnes Moorehead to star as the dogged Nazi hunter who trails a war criminal to a sleepy New England town. The part went to Edward G. Robinson, who is marvellous, but it points out how many compromises Welles made on the film in an attempt to show Hollywood he could make a film on time, on budget and on their own terms. He accomplished all three, turning out a stylish if unambitious film noir thriller, his only Hollywood film to turn a profit on its original release. Welles stars as unreformed fascist Franz Kindler, hiding as a schoolteacher in a New England prep school for boys and newly married to the headmaster's lovely if naive daughter (Loretta Young). Welles, the director, is in fine form for the opening sequences, casting a moody tension as agents shadow a twitchy low-level Nazi official skulking through South American ports and building up to dramatic crescendo as Kindler murders this little man, the lovely woods becoming a maelstrom of swirling leaves that expose the body he furiously tries to bury. The rest of the film is a well designed but conventional cat-and-mouse game featuring an eye-rolling performance by Welles and a thrilling conclusion played out in the dark clock tower that looms over the little village. --Sean Axmaker

• One Of Them | DVD | (13/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When five friends discover the old Marquez Academy they have enterded a mysterious world of terror a world where the line between reality and the supernatural is blurred... In this remote setting there exists a macabre world of ancient and terrifying rituals carried out to perpetuate evil and spread it to the living. A man searching for a missing relative is their only lifeline. He stubbornly tries to uncover the mystery of the 'chosen ones'... Together they must survive and

• Home Town Story | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £4.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

• Classic Archive - Byron Janis | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Byron Janis: The Classic Archive

• The Sorcerer's Apprentice | DVD | (02/11/2009) from £7.90   |  Saving you £-2.91 (-58.30%)   |  RRP £4.99

  The decision a group of men make on a fishing trip has far reaching effects in this acclaimed drama.

• Latex | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

• The Stranger | DVD | (17/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  The Stranger, according to Orson Welles, "is the worst of my films. There is nothing of me in that picture. I did it to prove that I could put out a movie as well as anyone else." True, set beside Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, or even The Trial, The Stranger is as close to production-line stuff as the great Orson ever came. But even on autopilot Welles still leaves most filmmakers standing. The shadow of the Second World War hangs heavy over the plot. A war crimes investigator, played by Edward G Robinson, tracks down a senior Nazi, Franz Kindler, to a sleepy New England town where he's living in concealment as a respected college professor. The script, credited to Anthony Veiller but with uncredited input from Welles and John Huston, is riddled with implausibilities: we're asked to believe, for a start, that there'd be no extant photos of a top Nazi leader. The casting's badly skewed, too. Welles wanted Agnes Moorehead as the investigator and Robinson as Kindler, but his producer, Sam Spiegel, wouldn't wear it. So Welles himself plays the supposedly cautious and self-effacing fugitive--and if there was one thing Welles could never play, it was unobtrusive. What's more, Spiegel chopped out most of the two opening reels set in South America, in Welles' view, "the best stuff in the picture". Still, the film's far from a write-off. Welles' eye for stunning visuals rarely deserted him and, aided by Russell Metty's skewed, shadowy photography, The Stranger builds to a doomy grand guignol climax in a clock tower that Hitchcock must surely have recalled when he made Vertigo. And Robinson, dogged in pursuit, is as quietly excellent as ever. On the DVD: not much in the way of extras, except a waffly full-length commentary from Russell Cawthorne that tells us about the history of clock-making and where Edward G was buried, but precious little about the making of the film. Print and sound are acceptable, but though remastering is claimed, there's little evidence of it. --Philip Kemp

• Self Titled | DVD | (08/11/2004) from £12.89   |  Saving you £12.10 (93.87%)   |  RRP £24.99

  For this their fourth film the good ol'boys that brought you 'Second Coming' and 'Riders Anonymous' have taken two steps backwards to rediscover why we ride.

• The Stranger | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Stranger, according to Orson Welles, "is the worst of my films. There is nothing of me in that picture. I did it to prove that I could put out a movie as well as anyone else." True, set beside Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, or even The Trial, The Stranger is as close to production-line stuff as the great Orson ever came. But even on autopilot Welles still leaves most filmmakers standing. The shadow of the Second World War hangs heavy over the plot. A war crimes investigator, played by Edward G Robinson, tracks down a senior Nazi, Franz Kindler, to a sleepy New England town where he's living in concealment as a respected college professor. The script, credited to Anthony Veiller but with uncredited input from Welles and John Huston, is riddled with implausibilities: we're asked to believe, for a start, that there'd be no extant photos of a top Nazi leader. The casting's badly skewed, too. Welles wanted Agnes Moorehead as the investigator and Robinson as Kindler, but his producer, Sam Spiegel, wouldn't wear it. So Welles himself plays the supposedly cautious and self-effacing fugitive--and if there was one thing Welles could never play, it was unobtrusive. What's more, Spiegel chopped out most of the two opening reels set in South America, in Welles' view, "the best stuff in the picture". Still, the film's far from a write-off. Welles' eye for stunning visuals rarely deserted him and, aided by Russell Metty's skewed, shadowy photography, The Stranger builds to a doomy grand guignol climax in a clock tower that Hitchcock must surely have recalled when he made Vertigo. And Robinson, dogged in pursuit, is as quietly excellent as ever. On the DVD: not much in the way of extras, except a waffly full-length commentary from Russell Cawthorne that tells us about the history of clock-making and where Edward G was buried, but precious little about the making of the film. Print and sound are acceptable, but though remastering is claimed, there's little evidence of it. --Philip Kemp

• Victim of Rage | DVD | (22/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  Jaclyn Smith plays an abused wife in this revenge drama based on a true story. When her husband (Brad Johnson) becomes increasingly violent Donna Yaklich (Smith) must resort to extreme measures...

• Savannah R.N | DVD | (27/01/1997) from £7.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (62.58%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Filmed in the temple of Aphrodite but you can learn the basic moves involved in Egyptian in the privacy of your home home! Each segment of the dance is clearly explained including the camel and Egyptian walks snaky arms and shimmies and finishes with a section on the veil. Hilary Thacker is a professional Egyptian style dancer and percussionist. She performs throughout Britain as well as in the Middle East dancing at weddings balls cabarets corporate events and hotels often with Arabic musicians. She is also a teacher of the Alexander Technique and is interested in the therapeutic side of this dance.

• Belly of the Beast/Half Past Dead/the Foreigner/the Patriot | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Belly Of The Beast (2003): Steve Seagal is Jake Hopper once an operative on the inside on his way to retirement when he receives some startling news. While vacationing in Thailand his daughter has been kidnapped by a notorious terrorist group Abu Karaf. The C.I.A. launches an attack mission to save her but that's not good enough for Hopper. He has never been one to play by the rules and this time - there are no rules. Half Past Dead (2002): When Alcatraz re-opens the first inmate scheduled for the electric chair has vital information on the whereabouts of the proceeds of his last crime. Unwilling to let this fotune go up in smoke a criminal commando (Chestnut) infiltrates the prison to find out where the 0 million stash of gold is hidden. However an undercover FBI agent (Seagal) becomes the fly-in-the-ointment of this would-be raid... The Foreigner (2002): Jon Cold is a freelance secret agent who's as cunning as he is deadly. When Cold is hired to deliver a mysterious package from France to Germany some very dangerous people will stop at nothing to stop him. But getting in his way is a decision they might not live to regret... With exotic locations and blistering action The Foreigner is heart-pounding entertainment that'll keep you on the edge of your seat! The Patriot (1998): Dr. Wesley McClaren (Seagal) was the government's top immunologist before giving it all up for a quiet practice in a small Montana community. But the peace is abruptly shattered when a violent extremist group unleashes a rapidly spreading lethal biological agent and takes over the town! As more and more people die from a baffling illness the edge-of-your-seat suspense only intensifies as McClaren races to outsmart the militiamen and find a cure before the insidious disease spreads world-wide!

• Steamboat Bill, Jr. | DVD | (26/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.36

  Steamboat Bill Jr dates from 1928 and is the last great film Buster Keaton made before he gave up his independence and signed for MGM. Buster is the rather fey son of an elderly steamboat owner who is being driven out of business by a wealthy competitor. More by accident than intention Buster turns things around and gets the girl as well. The last 15 minutes are truly astonishing: a storm sequence in which a whole town is blown apart, with Buster experiencing a series of amazing escapes as buildings fall down around his ears. On the DVD: The print is a good one, best seen in the 4:3 ration, with unobtrusive organ music added. As a nautical extra there's The Boat, a 1921 short (the print not in such a good state as the feature), in which in the course of launching his newly built craft Buster manages to wreck his house, tip his car into the river and sink the boat. And that's only the beginning. --Ed Buscombe

• Emma | DVD | (16/08/2021) from £7.05   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  This delightfully fun and lighthearted comedy is based on Jane Austen's classic novel. Dazzling Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare In Love) shines as Emma a mischievous young beauty who sets up her single friends. Funny thing is...she's not very good at it! So when Emma tries to find a man for Harriet (Toni Collette Knives Out) she makes a hilariously tangled mess of everyone's lives. You'll enjoy all the comic confusion... until Emma herself falls in love, finally freeing everyone from her outrageously misguided attempts at matchmaking!