"Actor: Charles Vanel"

• The Wages of Fear (UHD) | Blu Ray | (19/02/2024) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based on the 1950 French novel Le Salaire de la peur and critically hailed upon its original release, The Wages of Fear propelled its director Henri-Georges Clouzot (Les Diaboliques) to international fame, and is rightly considered a classic of world cinema. In a squalid South American village, four desperate men are hired by a US oil company to embark on a treacherous journey, transporting a volatile cargo of nitro-glycerine to a massive oil well fire. Friendships and courage are pushed to the limit in this nail-biting thriller by a director who would go on to be dubbed the French Hitchcock Product Features 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) Audio commentary by film critic Adrian Martin (2017) Interview with assistant director Michel Romanoff (2005, 23 mins) Interview with Clouzot biographer Marc Godin (2005, 10 mins) Interview with Professor Lucy Mazdon (2017, 35 mins): an in-depth interview about Henri-Georges Clouzot and The Wages of Fear The Guardian Lecture: Yves Montand in conversation with Don Allen (1989, 99 mins, audio only): the star discusses his distinguished career Original theatrical trailer Other extras TBC **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet featuring writing on the film, original reviews and an appreciation of Clouzot by Paul Ryan

• Death in the Garden (1956) | Blu Ray | (19/06/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  After the relatively commercial Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Luis Buñuel returned to the surrealist and political style of his earlier works with Death in the Garden [La mort en ce jardin] the middle film in what has been described as his revolutionary triptych , a trilogy of films that study in the morality and tactics of armed revolution against a right-wing dictatorship . Amid a revolution in a South American mining outpost, a band of fugitives a roguish adventurer (Georges Marchal), a local hooker (Simone Signoret), a priest (Michel Piccoli), an aging diamond miner (Charles Vanel), and the miner's deaf-mute daughter (Michèle Girardon) are forced to flee for their lives into the jungle. Starving, exhausted, and stripped of their old identities, they wander desperately lured by one deceptive promise of salvation after another. Filmed in stunning Eastmancolor, Death in the Garden is both a rousing adventure film, and a surrealist tour de force. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this little seen classic for the first time ever on Blu-ray in a new Dual Format edition. DUAL FORMAT SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES: Stunning 1080p presentation (on the Blu-ray) Uncompressed PCM soundtrack (on the Blu-ray) Optional English subtitles A new interview with Tony Rayns An interview with actor Michel Piccoli An interview with film scholar Victor Fuentes Masters of Cinema exclusive trailer PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp, and archival imagery

• The Wages of Fear (Limited Edition Dual Format) | DVD | (23/10/2017) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In 1953, before any American studio exec used the phrase "high concept", Henri-George Clouzot's The Wages of Fear boasted a premise so literally explosive that audiences were excited before they got into the theatres. With an oil-fire burning out of control deep in the South American jungle, two lorryloads of highly unstable nitro-glycerin have to be driven through miles of unstable terrain littered with dangerous turns, crumbling planks, falling rocks and mediocre hardtop. One good jolt will vaporise truck, nitro, drivers and a substantial swathe of the countryside, so the company recruits desperate souls among the loser tramps who loiter around the nowhere town of Las Piedras, begging for any kind of work. On the road, Clouzot stages a string of unforgettable sequences: one stretch of badly paved track can only be crossed by driving at under six miles an hour or over 40; a mountain turn requires that the trucks back out onto a rickety, rotten wooden structure; a 50-ton boulder has fallen into the road, and one of the drivers calmly drains a litre of nitro into his thermos to blow it up, only remembering when the fuse is lit that this will rain pebbles all over the countryside and a few good hits on the cargo will set it off. This is perhaps as great a mix of action-adventure and contest as The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and still a textbook example of sustained suspense. On the DVD: The print is in great shape, though the image is a little soft; the menu has a clever explosive aspect and uses the same vintage artwork as the sleeve cannily combined with a snippet. There are trailers for both Wages and Clozuot's other masterpiece, Les Diaboliques, as well as biographies of the principal cast, eight stills and three posters.--Kim Newman

• Diabolique | Blu Ray | (05/06/2017) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Legend has it that Henri-Georges Clouzot beat out Alfred Hitchcock to secure the rights to this novel, which proved to be a veritable blueprint for an icy masterpiece of murder, mystery and suspense. Véra Clouzot plays the sickly wife of a callous headmaster of a provincial boarding school going to seed, and the commanding Simone Signoret is the headmaster's mistreated mistress. Together they plot and carry out his murder, a brutal drowning that director Clouzot documents in chilly detail, but the corpse disappears and a nosy detective starts sniffing around the grounds as threatening notes taunt the women. Clouzot's thriller is as precise and accomplished a work as anything in Hitchcock's canon, a film of gruelling suspense and startling shocks in an overcast, grey world of decay, but his icy manipulations lack the human dimension and emotional resonance of the master of suspense. Many critics have accused the film of being misanthropic, and Clouzot's attitude toward his characters is bitter at best, contemptuous at worst. The viewer is left on the outside looking in, but the razor precision and terrifying twists deliver a sleek, bleak spectacle worthy of attention. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

• Les Diaboliques | DVD | (29/10/2007) from £25.00   |  Saving you £-5.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Les Diaboliques is an unsettling and beautifully-paced study of betrayal mistrust and guilt. Set in a decaying boarding school it shows the grim course of a peculiar relationship between two female teachers and a sadistic headmaster. Atmospherically shot in black and white its murky tones hauntingly echo the moral ambiguity of its pricipals.

• To Catch A Thief | DVD | (13/01/2003) from £5.18   |  Saving you £7.81 (150.77%)   |  RRP £12.99

  To Catch a Thief is not one of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest, but it's arguably his most stylish thriller, loved as much for the elegantly erotic banter between Grace Kelly and Cary Grant as for the suspense that ensues when retired burglar Grant attempts to net the copycat diamond thief. The action, much of it shot on location, hugs the coast of the French Riviera; John Michael Hayes' screenplay crackles with doubles entendres; and Edith Head's dresses define the aloof poise of one of cinema's more enigmatic icons. If anything is missing, it's the undertow of black humour which snags the unsuspecting viewer in so many of Hitchcock's greater films. Here, the edge is supplied by the splendid Jessie Royce Landis as Kelly's vulgar, worldly mother; her special way with a fried egg is one of those cinematic moments which linger in the mind with almost pornographic disgust. History, of course, delivered its own ironic blow years later when the then Princess Grace of Monaco died in an accident on the very road where Kelly and Grant shot their exhilarating car chase. Portents aside, she remains Hitchcock's most alluring and sophisticated heroine. On the DVD: To Catch a Thief is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, which distils the distinctive qualities of the VistaVision cinematography, and with a mono Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Interesting extras include several mini-documentaries in which Hitchcock's daughter and granddaughter, among others, reminisce about the great director, censor problems over the risqué dialogue, the talents of costume designer Edith Head, and the peculiar difficulties of shooting in VistaVision. An original theatrical trailer is another bonus. --Piers Ford

• To Catch A Thief | Blu Ray | (20/02/2023) from £8.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Cary Grant is John Robie, reformed jewel thief who was once known as The Cat, in this suspenseful Alfred Hitchcock classic; presented here newly remastered from a 4K film transfer. When Robie is suspected of a new rash of gem thefts in the luxury hotels of the French Riviera, he must set out to clear himself. Meeting pampered heiress Frances (Grace Kelly), he sees a chance to bait the mysterious thief with her mother's (Jessie Royce Landis) fabulous jewels. His plan backfires, however, but Frances, who believes him guilty, proves her love by helping him escape. In a spine-tingling climax, the real criminal is exposed. Product Features New - Filmmaker Focus: Leonard Maltin On To Catch A Thief Behind The Gates (2009): Cary Grant And Grace Kelly Commentary By: Dr. Drew Casper, Hitchcock Film Historian Original Theatrical Trailer

• Wooden Crosses | Blu Ray | (30/03/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The film that most firmly established the talent of French director Raymond Bernard before his epic adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les misérables Wooden Crosses [Le croix de bois] was widely hailed at the time of its release in 1932 for its searing depiction of the horrors of the European front during World War I; subsequently Bernard was named soldier of honour of the 39th Infantry Division. Adapted from a novel by Roland Dorgelès (a former corporal of the 39th) Wooden Crosses offers a kaleidoscope of cinematographic technique to present a visceral enveloping recreation of one regiment’s experience of battlefield hell. (Its entire cast is comprised of war veterans.) It is an epic tapestry that rivals John Ford’s Four Sons and Lewis Milestone’s All Quiet on the Western Front in both its poetry of trauma and steadfastness of conviction that war must be held in contempt. From a gorgeous new Pathé restoration carried out for the centenary for the start of the Great War Raymond Bernard’s Wooden Crosses retains a ferocity that continues to reverberate across generations. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this new restoration of the film in a special Dual Format (Blu-ray + DVD) edition. Bonus Features: New HD 1080p presentation of the film from Pathé’s astonishing 2014 restoration Video interview with historian Marc Ferro and film historian Laurent Veray A short documentary on the new restoration Documentary Wooden Crosses: A Sonic Adventure Archival interview with director Raymond Bernard Archival interview with Roland Dorgelès Vintage 1914 newsreels Documentary piece on early 20th century poster artist Adrien Barrère Documentary The Absent Battle the Omnipresent War 36-PAGE BOOKLET featuring a new and exclusive interview by film critic Emmanuel Burdeau and rare archival material

• To Catch A Thief | DVD | (07/05/2007) from £7.75   |  Saving you £2.24 (28.90%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A supposedly reformed cat burglar out to prove himself innocent of a recent crime spree tries to capture the thief who's terrifying the French Riviera. Cary Grant is devastatingly elegant as the reformed thief John Robie and charming enough to attract the attention of the lovely Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) a wealthy and spoiled American traveling the Riviera with her widowed mother (Jessie Royce Landis). However things do not begin on a romantic note. Robie is more interested in clearing his name than in pursuing the beautiful American but the two will not go their separate ways so easily. Classic suspence and romance from director Alfred Hitchcock.

• To Catch A Thief | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £7.59   |  Saving you £8.40 (110.67%)   |  RRP £15.99

  From the undisputed master of the suspense-thriller Alfred Hitchcock's (Rear Window The Birds) To Catch A thief is a stylish and witty thriller starring Cary Grant (North by Northwest) and Grace Kelly(Rear Window). The on-screen chemistry between the two protagonists enhances Hitchcock's subtle and ambiguous story of a retired jewel thief forced to uncover the identity of a copycat thief before he is framed for the crimes himself. Grant's charm and sophistication as the retired cat-burglar set opposite the sensuous character of Kelly's socialite ensure that the atmosphere of the film is sexually charged leaving the audience with no doubt that the relationship could unravel at any point...

• Wages Of Fear | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £18.88   |  Saving you £1.11 (5.88%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In 1953, before any American studio exec used the phrase "high concept", Henri-George Clouzot's The Wages of Fear boasted a premise so literally explosive that audiences were excited before they got into the theatres. With an oil-fire burning out of control deep in the South American jungle, two lorryloads of highly unstable nitro-glycerin have to be driven through miles of unstable terrain littered with dangerous turns, crumbling planks, falling rocks and mediocre hardtop. One good jolt will vaporise truck, nitro, drivers and a substantial swathe of the countryside, so the company recruits desperate souls among the loser tramps who loiter around the nowhere town of Las Piedras, begging for any kind of work. On the road, Clouzot stages a string of unforgettable sequences: one stretch of badly paved track can only be crossed by driving at under six miles an hour or over 40; a mountain turn requires that the trucks back out onto a rickety, rotten wooden structure; a 50-ton boulder has fallen into the road, and one of the drivers calmly drains a litre of nitro into his thermos to blow it up, only remembering when the fuse is lit that this will rain pebbles all over the countryside and a few good hits on the cargo will set it off. This is perhaps as great a mix of action-adventure and contest as The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and still a textbook example of sustained suspense. On the DVD: The print is in great shape, though the image is a little soft; the menu has a clever explosive aspect and uses the same vintage artwork as the sleeve cannily combined with a snippet. There are trailers for both Wages and Clozuot's other masterpiece, Les Diaboliques, as well as biographies of the principal cast, eight stills and three posters.--Kim Newman

• Les Diaboliques | DVD | (25/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Director Henri-Georges Clouzot cast his own wife Vera as the hapless victim in this acclaimed masterpiece of the macabre. A wife plans the murder of her tyrant husband with the help of his mistress yet when his body dissappears panic and confusion ensues... The Great Suspense Film That Shocked the World... And Became A Classic.

• Le Grand jeu | DVD | (21/06/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A marvellous rediscovery from the golden age of French cinema Jacques Feyder's Le Grand jeu is a tragic doppleg'nger romance steered by the fate of the tarot card and set against the dizzying exoticism of 1930s Morocco. When scandalous Parisian playboy Pierre Martel is forced by his family to leave France and his adored lover Florence (Marie Bell) he begins a new life in the Foreign Legion as Pierre Muller. Drowning his regrets in camaraderie whores and hell-raising he is astonished at meeting Irma (also Marie Bell) a prostitute with an uncanny resemblance to his beloved and begins a fitful scheme to allow her escape. An early benchmark of poetic realism and a fascinating precursor to both Duvivier's P''p'' le Moko and Hitchcock's Vertigo Feyder's fluid masterful storytelling make this a unique classic of the screen: vividly forceful yet subtle acutely observed yet fantastic world-weary yet tender.

• Henri-Georges Clouzot Collection | DVD | (25/06/2007) from £22.95   |  Saving you £2.04 (8.89%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Quai Des Orfevres (1947): Blacklisted for his daring ""anti-French"" masterpiece Le Corbeau Henri-Georges Clouzot returned to cinema four years later with the provocative 1947 crime fiction adaptation Quai des Orfevres. Set within the vibrant dancehalls and historic crime corridors of 1940s Paris ambitious performer Jenny Lamour her covetous piano-playing husband Maurice Martineau and their devoted confidante Dora Monier attempt to cover one another's tracks when a sexually ogreish high-society acquaintance is murdered. Enter Inspector Antoine whose seasoned instincts lead him down a circuitous path in this classic whodunnit murder mystery. Le Corbeau (1943): An anonymous series of poison-pen letters spread suspicion and fear amongst the population of a small French town. The author of the letters who signs himself ""The Raven "" has enough defamatory information to provoke tension and suicide... Wages of Fear (1952): The film that continues to serve as the benchmark for Clouzot's magnificent career. The Wages of Fear established the writer-director on a truly international level after carrying off major prizes at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals. Part road movie part suspense thriller the plot is high-tension simplicity itself. In the South American jungle supplies of nitro-glycerine are urgently needed at a remote oil field. The unscrupulous American oil company pays four out-of-work men (Yves Montand Charles Vanel - the creepy cop in Les Diaboliques Folco Lulli and Peter Van Eyck) to deliver the supplies in two sets of drivers: a tension magnified thousand fold by the unforgiving heat the lure of filthy lucre and the rough and rocky roads where the slightest jolt can result in agonising death. Which of the disparate desperate desperadoes will survive the white-knuckle journey and claim the loot and the glory?

• Les Diaboliques | Blu Ray | (25/04/2011) from £16.18   |  Saving you £8.81 (54.45%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Legend has it that Henri-Georges Clouzot beat out Alfred Hitchcock to secure the rights to this novel, which proved to be a veritable blueprint for an icy masterpiece of murder, mystery and suspense. Véra Clouzot plays the sickly wife of a callous headmaster of a provincial boarding school going to seed, and the commanding Simone Signoret is the headmaster's mistreated mistress. Together they plot and carry out his murder, a brutal drowning that director Clouzot documents in chilly detail, but the corpse disappears and a nosy detective starts sniffing around the grounds as threatening notes taunt the women. Clouzot's thriller is as precise and accomplished a work as anything in Hitchcock's canon, a film of gruelling suspense and startling shocks in an overcast, grey world of decay, but his icy manipulations lack the human dimension and emotional resonance of the master of suspense. Many critics have accused the film of being misanthropic, and Clouzot's attitude toward his characters is bitter at best, contemptuous at worst. The viewer is left on the outside looking in, but the razor precision and terrifying twists deliver a sleek, bleak spectacle worthy of attention. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

• Les Diaboliques | DVD | (24/10/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Legend has it that Henri-Georges Clouzot beat out Alfred Hitchcock to secure the rights to this novel, which proved to be a veritable blueprint for an icy masterpiece of murder, mystery and suspense. Véra Clouzot plays the sickly wife of a callous headmaster of a provincial boarding school going to seed, and the commanding Simone Signoret is the headmaster's mistreated mistress. Together they plot and carry out his murder, a brutal drowning that director Clouzot documents in chilly detail, but the corpse disappears and a nosy detective starts sniffing around the grounds as threatening notes taunt the women. Clouzot's thriller is as precise and accomplished a work as anything in Hitchcock's canon, a film of gruelling suspense and startling shocks in an overcast, grey world of decay, but his icy manipulations lack the human dimension and emotional resonance of the master of suspense. Many critics have accused the film of being misanthropic, and Clouzot's attitude toward his characters is bitter at best, contemptuous at worst. The viewer is left on the outside looking in, but the razor precision and terrifying twists deliver a sleek, bleak spectacle worthy of attention. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

• Wages Of Fear | DVD | (22/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The film that continues to serve as the benchmark for Clouzot's magnificent career. 'The Wages of Fear' established the writer-director on a truly international level after carrying off major prizes at the Cannes and Berlin film festivals. Part road movie part suspense thriller the plot is high-tension simplicity itself. In the South American jungle supplies of nitro-glycerine are urgently needed at a remote oil field. The unscrupulous American oil company pays four out-of-work men (Yves Montand Charles Vanel - the creepy cop in 'Les Diaboliques' Folco Lulli and Peter Van Eyck) to deliver the supplies in two sets of drivers: a tension magnified thousand fold by the unforgiving heat the lure of filthy lucre and the rough and rocky roads where the slightest jolt can result in agonising death. Which of the disparate desperate desperadoes will survive the white-knuckle journey and claim the loot and the glory?