"Actor: Eddie Golden"

• Black Beauty | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £14.25   |  Saving you £-8.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  It would be easy to pass by this movie, based on Anna Sewell's famous novel Black Beauty, on the assumption that it's dated and twee. Well, perhaps it is a little, but the sheer quality of the whole enterprise places it in the front rank of children's cinema classics. Screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz's ability to harness both literary and popular techniques in the same work (also true of his written fiction) remains unsurpassed in this captivating tale of Beauty's eventful life, from being raised as a foal by the devoted Joe (Lester), then passing through the hands of various owners before being purchased by, supposedly, Miss Sewell herself, to be once more cared for by a now-adult Joe who is in her employ. Along the way, Beauty passes through the hands of gypsies, a circus owner, a family of aristocrats and is even ridden into war, with each episode being expertly cast (Mower is in particularly fine form as a mad, bad and dangerous army officer) and produced to the highest cinematic standards--even the exterior lighting is perfect. Absolutely recommended. The 4:3 DVD is a transfer of exceptionally high quality and includes the cinema trailer, an image gallery of stills and collector-enthusing promotional ephemera (presented in a thumb-saving slideshow format) and, rather incongruously, a trailer for Help! I'm a Fish!--Roger Thomas

• SEODA | DVD | (22/11/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Seoda, a new series of films from the Irish Film Archive. The series features a host of newly-restored gems which have been selected from thousands of films preserved in the national collection for their cultural and entertainment value. The season offers a glimpse of Irish life and times from 1948-1970: travelling alongside President Kennedy on his 1963 cavalcade visiting Dublin, Wexford and Galway; a tram journey from Howth in the company of Cyril Cusack; contrast the bustle of 1950s Dublin (Portrait of Dublin) with the quietly abandoned village of Crookhaven in Cork; and the renditions of traditional music keenly observed by Louis Marcus in Flea Ceoil (1957). The eleven films in the series cover a broad range of topics including emigration; politics; personal saving; TB; diphtheria; architecture. The programme themes are deeply rooted in Irish culture, heritage and experience and many are presented here as Gaeilge. Introductions to the programmes have been written by Ireland's leading documentary historian Dr. Harvey O'Brien and are presented in Irish by highly-respected actor Niall Toibin. The series, produced by the Irish Film Institute and IFI Curator Sunniva O'Flynn in collaboration with Lotus Films, is distinguished by the technical excellence of the archival images - all of the titles have undergone meticulous pictorial and audio restoration from original film formats using latest transfer technologies. IFI Curator, Sunniva O'Flynn said: "Seoda opens a window on the collections of the Irish Film Archive and provides access for a larger audience than ever before. The films are guaranteed to fascinate, educate and illuminate". "Intriguing.....a wealth of unique images"...Sunday Business Post