"Actor: Day"

• 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

• There Will Be Blood (2 Disc) | DVD | (07/07/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.99

  A story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century Texas prospector (Daniel Day-Lewis) in the early days of the business.

• Lincoln (Blu-ray + UV Copy) | Blu Ray | (10/06/2013) from £8.93   |  Saving you £16.06 (179.84%)   |  RRP £24.99

  As with the great John Ford (Young Mr. Lincoln) before him, it would be out of character for Steven Spielberg to construct a conventional, cradle-to-grave portrait of a historical figure. In drawing from Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, the director instead depicts a career-defining moment in the career of Abraham Lincoln (an uncharacteristically restrained Daniel Day-Lewis). With the Civil War raging, and the death toll rising, the president focuses his energies on passage of the 13th Amendment. Even those sympathetic to the cause question his timing, but Lincoln doesn't see the two issues as separate, and the situation turns personal when his son, Robert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), chooses to enlist rather than to study law. While still mourning the loss of one son, Mary (Sally Field) can't bear to lose another. Playwright Tony Kushner, who adapted the screenplay, takes a page from the procedural handbook in tracing Lincoln's steps to win over enough representatives to abolish slavery, while simultaneously bringing a larger-than-life leader down to a more manageable size. In his stooped-shoulder slouch and Columbo-like speech, Day-Lewis succeeds so admirably that the more outspoken characters, like congressman Thaddeus Stevens (Tommy Lee Jones) and lobbyist W.N. Bilbo (James Spader), threaten to steal the spotlight whenever they enter the scene, but the levity of their performances provides respite from the complicated strategising and carnage-strewn battlefields. If Lincoln doesn't thrill like the Kushner-penned Munich, there's never a dull moment--though it would take a second viewing to catch all the political nuances. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

• Too Many Crooks | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £4.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Too Many Crooks (1958) boasts an intricate plot in which Terry Thomas is being blackmailed for the hoards he's stashed away as a renowned tax dodger. Driving around in a Jaguar XK 150, a desirable sports car of the period, his intricate private life unravels as his put-upon wife, Brenda de Banzie, draws on her expertise as a wartime PT instructress to turn the tables on him by marshalling the support of a band of crooks (George Cole, Sidney James, Bernard Bresslaw and Joe Melia). Look out for the very funny court scene, where TT makes three appearances on separate charges before a bemused magistrate, John Le Mesurier. On the DVD: Too Many Crooks is in 4:3 ratio and has a mono soundtrack. The only extra feature is a trailer. More TT tomfoolery can be found in the three-disc Terry Thomas Collection. --Adrian Edwards

• Jazz On A Summer's Day | DVD | (10/09/2001) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-4.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The 1959 Newport Jazz Festival was a true musical watershed, as Jazz on a Summers Day reveals. This 75-minute film captures an event poised on the cusp of a new era, as the cool jazz of Jimmy Guiffre and the effortless scat of Anita ODay intermingle with the hard bop of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and the smouldering fusion overtones of the Chico Hamilton Quintet. Theres a crisp contribution from Chuck Berry, a typically feel-good set from Louis Armstrong--including a hilarious duo with Jack Teagarden--and, as evening shades into night, a heartfelt performance from Mahalia Jackson, closing with a melting rendition of "The Lords Prayer". Bert Stern has assembled all these and more into a satisfying sequence, complete with footage of an enthusiastic and informal audience. Shots of the yachting line-up from the Americas Cup round out a blissful and what now seems blissfully naïve occasion. On the DVD: Colour picture quality has worn well, whereas sound has deteriorated notably at times: Thelonius Monks quarter-tones could easily be a semitone flat! Even so, its worth putting up with this to enjoy a tour through music-making whose relaxed spontaneity would be impossible to emulate today. --Richard Whitehouse

• Andy's Wild Adventures - The Complete Series (6 disc) | DVD | (03/10/2016) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All 20 episodes from Series One of Andy's Wild Adventures which sees Andy Day and Kip the cat go all around the world in search of weird and wonderful animals. Episodes featured: 'Emperor Penguins', 'Elephants', 'Black Bears', 'Meerkats', 'Grasscutter Ants', 'Mountain Gorillas', 'Chinstrap Penguins', 'Flamingos', 'Capuchin Monkey', 'Sengi', 'Grizzy Bears', 'Fruit Bats', 'Caiman', 'Australian Adventures', 'Monarch Butterflies', 'Macaques', 'Ostriches', 'Strawberry Dart Frogs', 'Whitebark Pine Tree' and 'New Zealand Penguins'.

• The Doris Day Anthology : The Pajama Game, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Lucky Me, On Moonlight Bay, Tea for Two, Lullaby of Broadway, April in Paris. | DVD | (02/07/2007) from £79.95   |  Saving you £-28.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £50.99

  7 classic musical titles in one sumptuous collection for the first time on DVD! Films comprise: Pyjama Game April In Paris By The Light Of The Silvery Moon Lucky Me On Moonlight Bay Tea For 2 Lullaby Of Broadway

• The Boxer | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £5.05   |  Saving you £0.94 (18.61%)   |  RRP £5.99

  When Danny Flynn returns to his Belfast neighbourhood after 14 years in prison all he wants is to find peace resume his career and reclaim the love of the woman who has remained etched in his mind. As they slowly embrace the possibilities of renewed romance they realise cultural taboos stand in the way and fighting for love could cost them their lives.

• Hell Drivers | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Hell Drivers sees James Bond (Sean Connery), Doctor Who (William Hartnell), one of the men from UNCLE (David McCallum), the Prisoner (Patrick McGoohan) and a Professional (Gordon Jackson), all supporting Stanley Baker in this hard-as-nails British action picture realistically set in a bleak late-1950s England. Baker plays Tom Yately, an ex-con who takes the only job he can get--truck driving at breakneck speeds for a corrupt manager (Hartnell) and brutal foreman (McGoohan). The constant short runs and competition between the drivers makes for an intense atmosphere which inevitably explodes into violence. Baker's only friend is an Italian ex-POW played sensitively by Herbert Lom, while Peggy Cummings is a remarkably free-spirited heroine for a British film of the time. Baker himself is superb, quietly tough, and broodingly charismatic, McGoohan is compellingly malevolent and Hartnell simply chilling. The film is consistently engrossing and often exciting, even when the plot spirals into melodrama towards the finale. One has to wonder where the police are during all this mayhem, but the fact that the screenplay, by John Kruse and Cy Endfield, received a BAFTA nomination suggests the scenario was at least reasonably realistic. Endfield also directed this, the second of six films he would helm for Baker, the most famous of which would be the all-time classic, Zulu (1964). On the DVD: Hell Drivers is presented in an anamorphically enhanced ratio of 1.77:1. This means a little of the original 1.96:1 VistaVision (70mm) image is cropped at the sides, which is just noticeable in a few shots. The print used is excellent, with only very minor damage, and the mono sound is fine. The disc also includes Look in on Hell Drivers, a 1957 TV programme that offers interviews with Stanley Baker, Cy Endfield and Alfie Bass, as well as comments from genuine truck drivers confirming the realism of the story, and a contemporary 15-minute television interview with Baker, which focuses on Hell Drivers, Sea Fury(1958) (also directed by Cy Endfield) and Violent Playground (1958). The original trailer rounds out an excellent package. --Gary S Dalkin

• American High School | DVD | (17/09/2012) from £5.38   |  Saving you £-0.39 (-7.80%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Every once in a while a movie comes along that touches the soul and sweeps you away on a wave of emotion...THIS IS NOT THAT MOVIE! American High School is in the tradition of American Pie and Porky's where plenty of things besides the soul are being touched! It's the final week of senior year at American High School and the race for prom queen is heating up. The popular and sweet girl Gwen (Jillian Murray - Wild Things) and her exhibitionist husband are headed for divorce. Her rich ri...

• Hollywood Musicals Of The 40's | DVD | (01/09/2000) from £9.47   |  Saving you £-3.48 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  In the 1940s America was just emerging from The Great Depression. War engulfed half the world and the future looked uncertain. The Hollywood musical had the recipe to make things better. With the Hollywood musical people still believed that dreams really do come true. Glamour spread across the screen. In glorious colour and even in black and white the screen glittered. Join the biggest stars as we celebrate the great musicals of the 1940s when Hollywood put its best feet forw

• The LEGO® Movie 2 | Blu Ray | (03/06/2019) from £6.51   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The much-anticipated sequel to the critically acclaimed, global box office phenomenon that started it all, The LEGO® Movie 2, reunites the heroes of Bricksburg in an all new action-packed adventure to save their beloved city. It's been five years since everything was awesome and the citizens are facing a huge new threat: LEGO DUPLO® invaders from outer space, wrecking everything faster than they can rebuild. The battle to defeat them and restore harmony to the LEGO universe will take Emmet, Lucy, Batman and their friends to faraway, unexplored worlds, including a strange galaxy where everything is a musical. It will test their courage, creativity and Master Building skills, and reveal just how special they really are.

• My Dream Is Yours | DVD | (06/06/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Crucible | DVD | (19/04/2004) from £9.78   |  Saving you £3.21 (32.82%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Salem witch hunts are given a new and nasty perspective when a vengeful teenage girl uses superstition and repression to her advantage, creating a killing machine that becomes a force unto itself. Pulsating with seductive energy, this provocative drama is as visually arresting as it is intellectually engrossing. Arthur Miller based his classic 1953 play on the actual Salem witch trials of 1692, creating what has since become a durable fixture of school drama courses. It may look like a historical drama but Miller also meant the work as a parable for the misery created by the McCarthy anti-Communist hearings of the 1950s. This searing version of his drama delves into matters of conscience with concise accuracy and emotional honesty. Three passionate cheers for Miller, director Nicholas Hytner and costars Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. --Rochelle O'Gorman

• Calamity Jane / Seven Brides For Seven Brothers / My Fair Lady | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £22.95   |  Saving you £-3.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

  This 1953 musical is very much a vehicle for Doris Day, in the title role, as a wild cowgal who can out-shoot and out-sing any boy on the range. When an actress arrives in Deadwood and uses her feminine charms on Jane's secret love, Wild Bill Hickock (Howard Keel), Jane tries to mend her tomboy ways. Not exactly up to the feminist code of honour, this is still energetic and Day is very perky. Of course, one could almost detect a homosexual undercurrent with the cross-dressing Jane, but this was Hollywood in the 1950s, so we best not. Calamity Jane won an Oscar for Best Song--"Secret Love", by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster. --Rochelle O'Gorman

• Green Day - American Idiot - World's Greatest Albums | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £6.37   |  Saving you £6.62 (103.92%)   |  RRP £12.99

  American Idiot is the Grammy award-winning album which cemented the superstar status of Green Day and transformed the group into global superstars capable of filling the biggest stadiums on earth. Featuring clips of rare concert footage and the reflections of the band alongside the views of a leading team of music critics and studio insiders this is the independent critical review of the album that rocked the world... the how and why of American Idiot and how it works its magic. F

• A Kid For Two Farthings (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (19/08/2019) from £10.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A Kid For Two Farthings (DVD + Blu-ray) Directed by Carol Reed Carol Reed's last film for the legendary Alexander Korda and his first in colour is the whimsical tale of a young boy, Joe, who buys a small goat in the belief it's a magical unicorn that will grant him and his friends wishes. Counter-balancing this is the equally childlike romance of Sonia (Diana Dors) and her body-building boyfriend Sam (Joe Robinson), and the latter's misguided involvement with crooked wrestling promoter Blackie Isaacs (Lou Jacobi). A very rare example of an Anglo-Jewish film, it was partly shot on location in Petticoat Lane in London's East End, at the heart of what was still a thriving Jewish community. Special features: Presented in High Definition and Standard Definition ***FIRST PRESSING ONLY*** fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film and full film credits Other extras TBC

• The BBC Sherlock Holmes Collection | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £34.88   |  Saving you £5.11 (14.65%)   |  RRP £39.99

  A collection of BBC adaptations featuring Arthur Conan Doyle's celebrated super-sleuth. A Study In Scarlet: Peter Cushing stars as the intrepid private eye Sherlock Holmes and has to perform a little forensic investigation. The Boscombe Valley Mystery: Peter Cushing stars as Sherlock Holmes in another unfathomable mystery story with Nigel Stock as his faithful sidekick. The Hound Of The Baskervilles: Classic two-part story starring Peter Cushing and Nigel Sto

• All For Mary | DVD | (08/04/2013) from £6.09   |  Saving you £6.90 (113.30%)   |  RRP £12.99

  1950s British comedy following two men who compete for the affections of the same woman in a Switzerland skiing resort. While holidaying in the Swiss Alps Clive (Nigel Patrick) and Humpy (David Tomlinson) both fall for Mary (Jill Day). They each try different ways to win her over without much success and when they contract chicken pox they find themselves in quarantine under the watchful eye of Humpy's old nanny Miss Cartwright (Kathleen Harrison). Their situation becomes even more complicate...

• Purple Rain (Two Disc Special Edition) | DVD | (18/10/2004) from £14.20   |  Saving you £-0.21 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  While "rock musical" remains a phrase used by sadistic parents to give their offspring nightmares the genre does occasionally throw up the odd gem, Purple Rain being perhaps the shiniest example. Given the theatricality of Prince's stage shows, it was only a matter of time before the diminutive pop potentate found himself a big-screen vehicle but few could have predicted that Purple Rain would become nothing less than a cultural phenomenon. The story, co-written by one-time Starsky & Hutch scripter William Blinn, may be a somewhat hackneyed tale with His Purpleness overcoming a troubled background and musical rival Morris Day to achieve his dreams of rock stardom. However, the cast, which also includes Prince protegée Appollonia, rises above the clichés to hand in a set of performances which, while never likely to trouble the Oscars, prove that all concerned can at least play a rough approximation of themselves with minimal difficulty. What really helped push the film's box-office receipts through the roof, however, was its soundtrack featuring a clutch of hit singles--notably "When Doves Cry"--and which cemented our pint-sized hero's position as one of the globe's premiere performing artists. Sadly, subsequent attempts to re-bottle this particular brand of lightning with Under a Cherry Moon and Graffiti Moon would prove substantially less successful but Purple Rain still looks--and, more importantly sounds--rarely less than funktastic. --Clark Collis