"Actor: Francis"

• A Bear's Tail - Complete Series 1 | DVD | (26/09/2005) from £9.07   |  Saving you £12.92 (142.45%)   |  RRP £21.99

  From the creators of the BAFTA-nominated award-winning Bo' Selecta! comes a brand new six-part series written by Leigh Francis which takes the traditional sitcom format and trashes it! Everyone's favourite foul-mouthed bear has a new home! He's moving in with sitcom family the Hennersons. The Bear's adopted mum her boyfriend and her grumpy teenage daughter have a tough time learning to cope with the new furry addition to their family. Enlisting the help of a celebri

• One, Two, Three (Masters of Cinema) Blu-ray edition | Blu Ray | (15/04/2019) from £12.15   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eureka Entertainment to release Billy Wilder's ONE, TWO, THREE, a witty and energetic comedic showpiece starring James Cagney, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK as a part of The Masters of Cinemas Series from 15 April 2019, featuring a Limited Edition slipcase [2000 copies ONLY]. One of director Billy Wilder's most frenetic comedies, the madcap Cold War and corporate politics satire One, Two, Three has to be one of the only films almost capable of making its Wilder predecessors Some Like It Hot and The Apartment seem sedately paced in comparison. Featuring a hilarious lead performance by James Cagney (apparently so exhausted by the rapid-fire pace that he then retired for twenty years!), One, Two, Three hasn't always been as famous as Wilder's other comedies, but it's among his best. Cagney is C.R. Mac MacNamara, a top Coca-Cola executive shipped off to (then West) Berlin and told to keep an eye on his boss' 17-year-old Atlanta socialite daughter Scarlett (Pamela Tiffin) while she visits Germany. Scarlett's tour seems endless, and Mac discovers she's fallen for a (then East) Berlin communist agitator and the young couple are bound for Moscow! Mac has to bust up the burgeoning romance before his boss learns the truth, all the while dealing with his wife Phyllis (Arlene Francis) and her own impatience with German living. With One, Two, Three, Wilder set out to make the fastest picture in the world. Mission accomplished, so hang on and try not to miss too many gags if this is your first viewing of this knockabout comedy penned by Wilder's long-time screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present yet another Billy Wilder masterpiece on Blu-ray for the first time ever in the UK. Features: Limited Edition O Card slipcase [2000 copies ONLY] 1080p presentation on Blu-ray LPCM audio (original mono presentation) Optional English SDH subtitles Brand New and Exclusive Interview with film scholar Neil Sinyard Feature Length Audio Commentary by Film Historian Michael Schlesinger PLUS: A Collector's booklet featuring new essays by film scholar Henry K. Miller, critic Adam Batty, and archival material

• PANDORA'S BOX | Blu Ray | (16/09/2024) from £16.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eureka Entertainment to re-issue G. W. Pabst's sordid melodrama PANDORA'S BOX, one of silent cinema's great masterworks, starring Louise Brooks. Presented on Blu-ray from a new restoration as part of The Masters of Cinema Series. Available from 16 September 2024.In a role intended at one point for Marlene Dietrich (The Blue Angel), 22 year-old Louise Brooks (Diary of a Lost Girl), with her fragile beauty and iconic dark bob hairstyle, gives a performance decades ahead of its time that immortalised her as an icon. Largely condemned and censored upon its initial release for its daring treatment of sexuality and female desire, Brooks' understated yet erotically charged performance endures as among the most modern of the silent era.Adapted from a pair of plays by Frank Wedekind, Pandora's Box tells the story of sex worker Lulu, a free spirit whose open sexuality breeds chaos in its wake. When Lulu's latest lover, the newspaper editor Dr Ludwig Schon (Fritz Kortner, The Hands of Orlac), announces plans to leave her to marry a more respectable woman, Lulu is devastated. Cast in a musical revue written by Schon's son, Alwa (Francis Lederer, The Return of Dracula), Lulu seduces Schon once more - only to have their tryst exposed, and Schon's plans for a more socially acceptable marriage shattered. Left with no choice but to marry Lulu, Schon meets with tragedy on their wedding night. Lulu stands trial for the incident, facing years of imprisonment. With the aid of her former pimp (Carl Goetz, Tom Sawyer), an infatuated lesbian countess (Alice Roberts, The Merry Widower) and Alwa, she flees toward a fate of increasing squalor and peril, finally crossing paths one Christmas Eve with Jack the Ripper.Reviled and bowdlerised at its debut, Pandora's Box has since been recognised as one of the masterpieces of early German cinema. A sordid melodrama made with great style, it affirms G. W. Pabst as a daring and important director and Louise Brooks as one of cinema's most exquisite and distinctive performers. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present Pabst's masterpiece in a new restoration on Blu-ray.1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a definitive 2K digital restoration | Optional English subtitles | Orchestral Score by Peer Raben | Audio commentary by critic Pamela Hutchinson | The New Woman & The Jazz Age: The Dangerous Feminine in Pandora's Box - Visual appreciation by author and critic Kat Ellinger | Godless Beasts - Video essay by David Cairns | Lulu in Wonderland - Video essay by Fiona Watson | Restoring Pandora's Box - Interview with Martin Koerber | PLUS: A 28-page collector's booklet featuring an essay by film critic and historian Imogen Sara Smith, author of Lonely Places: Film Noir Beyond the City

• Hearts of Darkness | Unknown | (28/07/2025) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In the late seventies celebrated director Francis Ford Coppola and his cast and crew ventured into the dense jungles of the Philippines to begin work on what would eventually become his masterpiece, Apocalypse Now. But the journey from page to screen soon spiralled into a hellish, life-threatening nightmare that echoed the film's narrative. Plagued with adversity, one of the most influential films ever made had one of the most notorious shoots in cinema history that few survived unscathed. Compiled from rare on set footage filmed by Coppola's wife Eleanor and interviews with the cast, Hearts Of Darkness is the ultimate feature-length documentary, capturing the explosive events that lead to Apocalypse Now becoming an acknowledged classic.

• The Day Will Dawn | DVD | (25/05/2015) from £4.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (160.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Hugh Williams, Ralph Richardson and Deborah Kerr star in this British wartime drama. As Hitler invades Poland in 1939, British journalist Colin Metcalfe (Williams) is appointed as Norway's new foreign correspondent. During a sea voyage of his new home, his boat comes under fire from a German U-boat despite the country's neutrality. But when he reports the attack to the British embassy they disbelieve him and - to add insult to injury - remove him from his post. When German forces later invade Norway, Metcalfe returns, determined to uncover what is going on and to stop the Nazis in their tracks.

• Troy: Fall of a City (BBC) | DVD | (23/04/2018) from £5.99   |  Saving you £5.70 (95.16%)   |  RRP £11.69

  This eight-part retelling of the fall of Troy sweeps back to the judgement of Paris, his scandalous love affair with Helen and the ill-starred prophecy surrounding his birth. When the baby Paris is born, the omens foretell that he will bring about the downfall of the city. Queen Hecuba and King Priam are forced to choose whether to abandon their newborn son to the wolves or save him, but risk the safety of their kingdom. Their choice will decide not only the fate of their child, but the very existence of Troy. Told from the perspective of the Trojan royal family at the heart of the siege, the story's main themes are love, intrigue, betrayal and belonging. Louis Hunter(The Fosters) and Bella Dayne (Humans) will star as Paris and Helen, the lovers whose passionate affair plunges Greece and Troy into war. David Threlfall (Shameless) is Paris father, King Priam of Troy, alongside Frances O Connor (The Missing) as Hecuba, Queen of Troy, and Tom Weston-Jones (Dickensian) as their eldest son Hector. Game Of Thrones Joseph Mawle plays as Odysseus; Chloe Pirrie (War & Peace) is Andromache; Johnny Harris (This Is England 86-90) is Agamemnon; David Gyasi (Interstellar) is Achilles; and Jonas Armstrong (Ripper Street) plays Menelaos, the King of Sparta whose marriage to Helen is destroyed when Paris arrives in his city. Includes subtitles for the Hard of Hearing

• Rancho Notorious | DVD | (04/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Frontiersman Vern Haskell (Arthur Kennedy) wanders the West obsessed with finding the culprits responsible for murdering his fiancee. His quest leads him to Chuck-a-Luck - the film's original title - a combination horse ranch and criminal hideout overseen by saloon chanteuse Altar Keane (Marlene Dietrich). Posing as an escaped criminal Haskell falls in with murderous gunslinger Frenchy Fairmont (Mel Ferrer) and gradually becomes indistinguishable from the men he is hunting. Made in

• Bo Selecta - Series 3 | DVD | (01/03/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Celebrity stalker Avid Merrion returns with a third instalment of Bo' Selecta! featuring a host of brand new celebrities immortalised in latex including Kat 'Slater' Moon from EastEnders the over-sized Jordan Justin from The Darkness and Simply Red's Mick Hucknall. And there'll be a very welcome return of old favourites including Craig David Michael Jackson and Mel B. And Avid takes on the role of the chat show host with guest appearances from real celebrities as well as backstage antics with the Bear and celebrity agent Keith Lemon. Bo' Selecta! promises more eclectic stories from the world of celeb interviews and gossip in Avid's own unique style. Thank you please!

• Waiting/Van Wilder Party Liaison/Just Friends | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Waiting: No one's gonna make it big here. Always remember the cardinal rule of eating out: Never mess with people who handle your food! Ryan Reynolds (The Amityville Horror) Anna Faris (Scary Movie) and Justin Long (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) star in this hilarious comedy about the band of mischievous waiters waitresses and cooks just waiting to show guests how extraordinary the service at ShenaniganZ restaurant can be. Just Friends: Some friends are just friends. Others you get to see naked. When Chris a likable high-school loser finally gathers the courage to reveal his love to Jamie - the girl of his dreams and a super cool cheerleader - she rejects him saying she just wants to be friends. So he moves across the country and transforms himself into a selfish womanizing and successful music executive. But 10 years later circumstances bring him back to his home town and fate reconnects him with the ""just friends"" girl of his dreams. Suddenly Chris has the chance to undo the past but unbelievably he finds it more difficult to romance Jamie than it was 10 years ago. Can one escape the clutches of the ""friend zone?"" Is it possible to go from ""just friend"" to boyfriend? Chris is about to find out the hard way. Van Wilder: Ryan Reynolds gives a charismatic performance as a seventh year senior Van Wilder who wants nothing more than to continue his cushy life at Coolidge College as ""Campus Legend."" With a personal assistant and a panache for throwing parties graduation is the furthest thing from his mind. But when Gwen Pearson (Tara Reid) enters his life could his priorities start changing?

• Captain Scarlet - Complete Series Box Set | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £75.99

  First broadcast in 1967, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons was the most grown-up of all Gerry Anderson's SuperMarionation adventures. There are gadgets and toy-friendly machines galore, of course--like the Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle, the Angel Aircraft and Cloudbase itself--but, unlike the colourful fantasies of Stingray and Thunderbirds, this series' concern with an implacable, vengeful enemy, conspiracies and double-agents drew its inspiration from James Bond and the Cold War spy dramas of the 1960s. Special effects whiz Derek Meddings imbues the action sequences with a truly Bondian grandeur and, like the sinister Spectre of the Bond films, the Martian Mysterons seem all the more hostile for their unseen presence, their agents infiltrating every organisation dedicated to their destruction just as it seemed the Soviets were doing at the time. The indestructible Captain Scarlet is killed then resurrected every week (though not like South Park's Kenny), and more often than not the unstoppable Mysterons emerge triumphant, and always undefeated. The varied cast of Spectrum agents and their voice characterisations also aim at verisimilitude (Captain Scarlet, voiced by Francis Matt hews, sounds like a grim Cary Grant), while the puppetry is more realistic than ever. This box set contains all 32 episodes, with newly remastered picture and Dolby 5.1 surround sound. The DVD box also includes extra features on each disc, plus a sixth documentary disc, "Captain Scarlet: S.I.G.". In its new digital incarnation, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons still looks and sounds like the epitome of 60s cool. --Mark Walker

• M.R. James - Casting The Runes | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  M.R. James: Casting The Runes

• Oliver Twist -- Special Edition | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £12.98   |  Saving you £3.01 (23.19%)   |  RRP £15.99

  There have been many film and TV adaptations of Oliver Twist but this 1948 production from director David Lean remains the definitive screen interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. From the ominous symbolism of its opening storm sequence (in which Oliver's pregnant, ill-fated mother struggles to reach shelter before childbirth) to the mob-scene climax that provokes Bill Sikes's dreadful comeuppance, this breathtaking black-and-white film remains loyal to Dickens while distilling the story into its purest cinematic essence.Every detail is perfect--Lean even includes a coffin-shaped snuffbox for the cruel Mr. Sowerberry--and as young Oliver, eight-year-old John Howard Davies (who would later produce Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC) perfectly expresses the orphan's boyish wonderment, stern determination and waifish vulnerability. Best of all is Alec Guinness as Fagin, so devious and yet so delightfully appealing under his beak-nosed (and, at the time, highly controversial) make-up. (Many complained that Fagin's huge nose and greedy demeanour presented an anti-Semitic stereotype, even though Lean never identifies Fagin as Jewish; for this reason, the film wasn't shown in the US until three years after its British release.) Likewise, young Anthony Newley is artfully dodgy as Fagin's loyal accomplice, the Artful Dodger. Guinness's performance would later provide strong inspiration for Ron Moody's equally splendid portrayal of Fagin in the Oscar-winning Oliver! and while that 1968 musical remains wonderfully entertaining, it is Lean's film that hews closest to Dickens' vision. The authentic recreation of 19th-century London is marvellous to behold; Guy Green's cinematography is so shadowy and stylised that it almost qualifies as Dickensian film noir. Lean is surprisingly blunt in conveying Dickens's theme of cruelty but his film never loses sight of the warmth and humanity that Oliver embodies. --Jeff Shannon

• Scrooge | DVD | (22/11/2004) from £5.45   |  Saving you £10.54 (193.40%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A mixed bag as variations on A Christmas Carol go, this 1970 British musical tells the usual story of Scrooge (Albert Finney) and his spirits on Christmas Eve, although the whole thing is set to music by Leslie Bricusse. Except for Finney's feisty and involved performance, however, there isn't much to recommend this. The songs, which absorb so much of the evolving story line and emotions, are not all that good. Plenty of support, however, from the likes of Roy Kinnear (Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory) and Dame Edith Evans (Tom Jones), the handsome production is directed by veteran Ronald Neame (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie). --Tom Keogh

• The Keith Lemon Sketch Show Series 1 | DVD | (15/06/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  AS SEEN ON ITV2 A fast-paced sketch show in which Keith Lemon affectionately spoofs the world of TV film and famous faces. Featuring One Direction Holly Willougby and Kim Kardashian as you've never seen them before. Guests throughout the series include Paddy McGuinness Carrie Fisher Jonathan Ross Fearne Cotton Phillip Schofield Christine Bleakley Dermot O'Leary and many many more. Plus an ensemble cast of Emily Atack Adam C.Booth Tom Davis Zoe Guilford Tommy Nice Pat Oliver Hank Osasuna George Potts Angela Simpson and John Thomson

• Whitstable Pearl: Series 1-2 | DVD | (25/03/2024) from £24.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Thunderbirds | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Tracy boys and their flying mean machines are back to do battle with master criminal The Hood in this big-screen adventure based on the beloved 1960s TV series.

• Hannibal | DVD | (20/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Anthony Hopkins Oscar winning pyschopath Hannibal Lector comes back into the life of FBI Agent Clarice Starling in this long awaited sequel to The Silence Of The Lambs.

• The Revenge of Frankenstein (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (19/07/2021) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  One of Hammer's most enduring and successful releases, 1958's The Revenge of Frankenstein was a swift sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein, their box-office smash of the year before. It ushered in Hammer's most commercially lucrative period, and secured their new-found reputation as purveyors of gruesome Gothic horror. Expertly and ingeniously re-working the classic tale, Jimmy Sangster's script sees the titular doctor continue his grisly experiments under a new guise in a pauper's hospital. Peter Cushing, in sparkling form, clearly relishes the role of Dr Frankenstein creating an enduring anti-hero that would come to define both Hammer's, and his own, on-screen personas. Special Features 4K restoration Original mono audio Audio commentary with film historians Marcus Hearn and Jonathan Rigby (2019) Audio commentary with horror and fantasy authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman Back from the Dead: Inside ˜The Revenge of Frankenstein' (2019, 20 mins): exclusive documentary featuring Alan Barnes, Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby, exploring aspects of the film's production A Frankenstein for the 20th Century (2019, 27 mins): video essay by film historian Kat Ellinger and editor Dima Ballin Hammer's Women: Eunice Gayson (2019, 8 mins): profile of the Hammer star by film historian Pamela Hutchinson Arpeggios of Melancholy (2019, 13 mins): appreciation of composer Leonard Salzedo's score by David Huckvale, the author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde Outtakes reel (1958, 12 mins, mute): rare, unseen on-set footage Super 8 version (8 mins, b&w, mute): cut-down home cinema presentation Original theatrical trailer Joe Dante trailer commentary (2013, 3 mins): short critical appreciation Image gallery: extensive promotional and on-set photography, poster art and marketing materials New and improved subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• I Am | DVD | (18/02/2013) from £9.43   |  Saving you £3.56 (37.75%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Change your life... and change the world. I Am is the incredible story of how one man went from riches to rags and it changed his life for the better. One of Hollywood's leading comedy directors, Tom Shadyac is the creative force behind such blockbusters as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor and Bruce Almighty. However, in I Am, Shadyac steps in front of the camera to recount what happened to him after a cycling accident left him incapacitated, possibly for good. Meeting with a variety of thinkers from the worlds of science, philosophy, academia, and faith - including Noam Chomsky and Archbishop Desmond Tutu - Shadyac emerges with a new sense of purpose, determined to share his own awakening to his prior life of excess and greed and investigate how he as an individual, and we as a race, could improve the way we live our lives. The result is a fresh, energetic, and life-affirming film that that poses two practical and provocative questions: what's wrong with our world, and what can we do to make it better?

• The Caine Mutiny | DVD | (27/09/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Humphrey Bogart is heartbreaking as the tragic Captain Queeg in this 1954 film, based on a novel by Herman Wouk, about a mutiny aboard a navy ship during World War II. Stripped of his authority by two officers under his command (played by Van Johnson and Robert Francis) during a devastating storm, Queeg becomes a crucial witness at a court martial that reveals as much about the invisible injuries of war as anything. Edward Dmytryk (Murder My Sweet, Raintree County) directs the action scenes with a sure hand and nudges his all-male cast toward some of the most well-defined characters of 1950s cinema. The courtroom scenes alone have become the basis for a stage play (and a television movie in 1988), but it is a more satisfying experience to see the entire story in context. --Tom Keogh