"Actor: Derek Elphinstone"

• The Four Feathers | DVD | (19/06/2007) from £3.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (150.38%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Far too many film versions of the The Four Feathers have been made over the years, which is especially surprising considering that this 1939 Korda brothers production is surely definitive. The film simultaneously celebrates and pokes fun at British imperialism, showing the kind of dogged stiff-upper-lippery that forged an empire, but also the blinkered attitudes and crass snobbishness of the ruling classes (and those plummy accents--did people ever really talk like that?). Whatever political subtext may or may not be read into it, though, the film is best celebrated for its magnificent vistas: partially made on location in the Sudan, as well as at the famous Denham Studios, this is British cinema from the days when it thought to rival Hollywood for sheer spectacle. Vincent Korda's production design and the glorious early colour cinematography are helped greatly by fellow Hungarian émigré Miklos Rozsa's epic score. John Clements is the notional hero, the man who is determined to show the world he is not a coward after resigning his commission (even though it would surely have saved everyone a lot of bother if he had just stuck with it) but the film is stolen by Ralph Richardson, magnificent as an officer struck blind and led to safety by Clements' Harry Faversham. The latter scenes when Richardson's Captain Durrance realises the truth and its implications are the most poignant and emotionally truthful in the film. C Aubrey Smith is delightful as the old buffer who relives his battles on the dinner table; to a modern audience, however, the "blackface" casting of John Laurie as the Khalifa strikes a discordant note. But adjusting some expectations for its vintage, this is a triumph of derring-do and far and away the most gripping version of this oft-told story on film. --Mark Walker

• 3 Classic World War 2 Naval Battles - The Battle Of The River Plate / In Which We Serve / We Dive At Dawn | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £10.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (63.69%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The Battle Of River Plate - Ten days before World War II Germany's crack battleship Admiral Graf Spee sails with orders to carry out action against Allied merchant shipping in the South Atlantic. Captained by Hans Langsdorff (Peter Finch) Graf Spee with her superior speed sinks ship after ship. Meanwhile the net is tightening round the German Killer. Outwitted by British Intelligence the Germans are convinced Graf Spee is trapped by a massive naval force. The captain eva

• In Which We Serve | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £5.29   |  Saving you £10.70 (202.27%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Noel Coward's great British war film made at the height of World War II in 1942 tells the story of a naval destroyer and its crew as they fight for their lives in a life raft after their ship is sunk.

• World War II Classics - Above Us The Waves / In Which We Serve | DVD | (29/10/2001) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-5.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Even if all written and documentary evidence were to disappear, you could still get a real insight into Britain's involvement in the Second World War through feature films such as Above Us the Waves (1955) and In Which We Serve (1942). Directed by Ralph Thomas, Above Us the Waves tells of a Royal Navy mission to sink the "invincible" German battleship Tirpitz off the Norwegian coast. John Mills is calm and confident as the mission commander, with strong support from John Gregson and Donald Sinden--all treated by the German personnel as fellow gentlemen when captured. Despite stirring music from Arthur Benjamin, the action sequences are visually no more than adequate, and the film is only a partial success compared with the naval and domestic drama of the earlier In Which We Serve. Noël Coward wrote the screenplay and musical score, co-directed (with David Lean) and gave possibly his finest screen performance as the commander of HMS Torrin. His speech to the survivors of the sunken ship, as they prepare for reassignment, is just the highlight of a film packed with memorable visuals and perceptive dialogue. On the DVD: Though there are no additional features the black-and-white prints have come up excellently in the 4:3 video aspect ratio. There are 15 access points for each film, though the lack of subtitles is an unfortunate omission. These are period pieces that capture the mood of an era.--Richard Whitehouse

• In Which We Serve | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £14.64   |  Saving you £-4.65 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Noel Coward's great British war film made at the height of World War II in 1942 tells the story of a naval destroyer and its crew as they fight for their lives in a life raft after their ship is sunk.