"Actor: Daphne Anderson"

• Hobson's Choice | DVD | (05/05/2014) from £7.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Henry Horatio Hobson (Academy Award -Winner Charles Laughton) is the owner of a well-established boot shop in nineteenth century Salford Lancashire and the father of three daughters. The oldest Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) shoulders both home and business responsibilities while Hobson whiles the time away at the local pub. The younger sisters are both being courted by neighbours but Hobson refuses to give the couples settlements. Maggie becomes tired of his oafish behaviour and decides to take matters into her hands by seeking a husband. Much to the hilarity and consternation of her father aged spinster Maggie sets her sights on shy Will Mossop (John Mills) Hobson's master boot-maker. Mossop is at first stunned by the suggestion but eventually agrees to Maggie's authoritative persuasion and together they set up a rival boot shop. A timeless masterpiece that marked a temporary return to David Lean's period adaptations of Dickens (Great Expectations Oliver Twist). The film went on to win multiple awards. This film has been digitally restored to its former glory. Special Features: New and exclusive interviews with Prunella Scales and screenwriter Norman Spencer

• Hobson's Choice - 60th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (05/05/2014) from £11.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (91.74%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Henry Horatio Hobson (Academy Award -Winner Charles Laughton) is the owner of a well-established boot shop in nineteenth century Salford Lancashire and the father of three daughters. The oldest Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) shoulders both home and business responsibilities while Hobson whiles the time away at the local pub. The younger sisters are both being courted by neighbours but Hobson refuses to give the couples settlements. Maggie becomes tired of his oafish behaviour and decides to take matters into her hands by seeking a husband. Much to the hilarity and consternation of her father aged spinster Maggie sets her sights on shy Will Mossop (John Mills) Hobson's master boot-maker. Mossop is at first stunned by the suggestion but eventually agrees to Maggie's authoritative persuasion and together they set up a rival boot shop. A timeless masterpiece that marked a temporary return to David Lean's period adaptations of Dickens (Great Expectations Oliver Twist). The film went on to win multiple awards. This film has been digitally restored to its former glory. Special Features: New and exclusive interviews with Prunella Scales and screenwriter Norman Spencer

• The Prince And The Showgirl | DVD | (07/05/2001) from £6.33   |  Saving you £7.66 (121.01%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) was Marilyn Monroe's only British-made film and scores highly for curiosity value. There's something rather outrageous about this iconic American star playing a second-rate hoofer living in a theatrical boarding house in Brixton. Monroe herself is predictably good and touching as Elsie Marina, plucked from the chorus to entertain the Regent of Carpathia for the evening and ultimately smoothing his rough edges. There is, however, a rather uphill feeling all the way. The making of the movie was by all accounts a troubled experience for everybody concerned. Monroe, increasingly unreliable and exasperating, had an unsympathetic director in Laurence Olivier, also playing the Regent Charles, who hardly had the patience for a star of her mercurial talents with her own ideas of professional behaviour. His own performance as the Balkan royal is hammy and mannered and there isn't even a damp squib of sexual chemistry between them. Terence Rattigan's script, based on his successful play, is far too wordy and stage-bound. But somehow Monroe effervesces through all this adversity, aided considerably by British character actor Richard Wattis and the great Sybil Thorndyke, who became her ally during the difficult filming. Not vintage Marilyn but fascinating all the same, and she looks fantastic. On the DVD: The Prince and the Showgirl is presented in 4:3 with an occasionally muffled, apparently mono, soundtrack, giving this DVD a rather dusty quality which is in keeping with the vintage British 1950s production values. Extras include a cast list, original trailer and newsreel footage of the announcement that Marilyn was to make the film with Olivier, referred to at that stage as The Sleeping Prince. --Piers Ford

• Hobson's Choice | DVD | (11/08/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A story of feminism in 19th Century Salford Hobson's Choice deals with the empowering of female characters. Henry Hobson is a widower with a weakness for the pub and the owner of a successful bootmakers. In order to save his finances he denies his three daughters the right to marry. So in rebellion against her father eldest daughter Maggie starts up a relationship and rival bootmakers with Henry's star employee Will.

• Hobson's Choice / The Sound Barrier | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Hobson's Choice (1953) and The Sound Barrier (1952) is a double bill of cleverly juxtaposed films from David Lean's early canon, demonstrating that even without the landmark epics to come, British cinema would have been an infinitely poorer place without his tremendous contribution. Both films reflect his endlessly penetrating view of human behaviour and its perseverance through obstacles great and small. And both are effectively prisms that reflect all the aspects of that view, keeping the audience's sympathies constantly on the move. Hobson's Choice, based on Harold Brighouse's eternally popular 1916 comedy, boasts fine turns from Charles Laughton--at his brilliant, physical best--as the boot-shop owner with three troublesome daughters, and John Mills as the lowly boot maker, elevated and improved by the eldest daughter Maggie in a neat inversion of the Pygmalion fable. But both are kept in their place by Brenda de Banzie's portrayal of Maggie, a performance that glows with intelligence, truth and increasing warmth. The Sound Barrier is a drama about the race for a supersonic aeroplane. Superficially, its setting is quintessential post-World War II Britain: stiff upper lips, twin beds and clipped Rattigan dialogue. But it's prescient stuff. Ralph Richardson's aircraft manufacturer, sinister in his obsession, is an ominously skilful film performance. And Lean's take on the unthinkable cost of human achievement, interwoven with some spectacular cinematography, absorbs and unsettles. It's especially poignant now that the supersonic age has been summarily ended by Concorde's retirement. On the DVD: Hobson's Choice and The Sound Barrier are both black-and-white films presented in 4:3 picture format, from reasonable prints, and with a mono soundtrack of suitably robust quality for Malcolm Arnold's inventive scores. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford

• Gideon's Way - The Complete Series | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  The complete series of the 1960's police drama featuring the character Commander George Gideon based on the novels by John Creasey. This rarely seen series is presented here with all 26 episodes being complete and uncut. Episodes comprise: 1. State Visit 2. The V Men 3. The Firebug 4. The Big Fix 5. The Housekeeper 6. The Lady-Killer 7. To Catch A Tiger 8. Big Fish Little Fish 9. The White Rat 10. How To Retire Without Really Working 11. Subway To Revenge 12. The Great Pla

• The Beggar's Opera | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Peter Brook's bold adaptation of John Gay's opera - a cynical satire of eighteenth century London life. This weird and wonderful movie version of the first ever English musical to be written boasts a gloriously outlandish set and characters adorned in stunning primary colours that will dazzle and delight. A period piece that remains true to its original form it features non-stop sing-along songs spirited melodies and a real sense of embellished drama. The story follows the escapades of a jailed highwayman and stars Laurence Olivier Dorothy Tutin and Stanley Holloway.

• The Prince And The Showgirl | DVD | (09/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  One of the later films of her notably stellar career The Prince and The Showgirl teams Marilyn Monroe with the world's most respected thespian Sir Laurence Olivier in a humorous romp of a stately prince charming and his love for a humble but incredibly infectious performer. A fairy tale born in the Hollywood dream factory this film continues to be a lasting favourite. This Deluxe Series box set will include: DVD of 'The Prince And The Showgirl' DVD documentary 'The Legend Of Marilyn Monroe' a film Senitype'' (image from the film and 35mm film frame) US one sheet movie poster and an exclusive commemorative 16-page picture book of rare Marilyn images.