This visual and musical masterpiece features Yul Brynner's Academy Award winning performance an unforgettable Rodgers and Hammerstein score and brilliant choreography by Jerome Robbins. This masterful musical celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2006! It tells the true story of an English woman Anna Leonowens (Kerr) who comes to Siam as schoolteacher to the royal court in the 1860s. Though she soon finds herself at odds with the stubborn monarch (Brynner) over time Anna and the Kin
This visual and musical masterpiece features Yul Brynner's Academy Award winning performance an unforgettable Rodgers and Hammerstein score and brilliant choreography by Jerome Robbins. This masterful musical celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2006! It tells the true story of an English woman Anna Leonowens (Kerr) who comes to Siam as schoolteacher to the royal court in the 1860s. Though she soon finds herself at odds with the stubborn monarch (Brynner) over time Anna and the Kin
In 1955 this lavish production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway hit The King and I, starring Yul Brynner as the King of Siam and Deborah Kerr as the governess sent to look after his children, was the most expensive film ever mounted by 20th Century Fox. The 40 sets in ripe decors by Walter M Scott and Paul S Fox included a ballroom of black marble with jade and silk tapestries and a banqueting scene with a table that gives the impression of stretching to infinity. The costumes by Irene Sharaff, notably the hoop ballroom gown for Deborah Kerr and those for the ballet "The Small House of Uncle Thomas", dazzle the eye in their delineation of Western manners and Oriental splendour. Brynner remains impressive as the King but his pidgin dialogue, inherited from Hammerstein's book, with the dropping of the definite article takes some adjustment. Alfred Newman put his unique stamp on the music: the Overture offers an example of his luminous divided string sound, the climactic ballroom scene a full bodied orchestral reprise of "Shall We Dance?" as the camera pulls away to a high angle producing an exultant visual finish to this celebrated polka. On the DVD: To view The King and I in its original format (thanks to this DVD release) is a revelation. Over the years the production values of the film have been compromised through inadequate presentation on television and video. Now the eye can appreciate once more the novelty of the wide-screen process CinemaScope 55 which offers in-depth vision, breathtaking employment of Eastman colour and an enhanced sound system that ensures a well-upholstered backdrop for the sumptuous musical arrangements under conductor Alfred Newman. DVD supplements here include the original theatrical trailer, a Movietone news of the Oscar ceremony of 56-57 and three songs lifted from the movie itself. Marni Nixon overdubbed Deborah Kerr's vocals on screen--those moments where one voice takes over from another are more clearly delineated on the DVD with the result that there is some discrepancy between Kerr's spirited playing and Nixon's over careful (rather) twee enunciation of the lyrics. --Adrian Edwards
Part historical adventure, part crime-revenge thriller, and sharing elements of Hammer's horror films, The Terror of the Tongs portrays exotic villains and shocking violence in a plot which unfolds at breakneck speed. Penned by the great Jimmy Sangster, the film is set in British-occupied Hong Kong, and concerns one man's crusade to crush the feared Red Dragon Tong gang who had brutally murdered his daughter. The Terror of the Tongs was the first film in which star Christopher Lee received top-billing in a role that he clearly relished, as Chung King, the sadistic head of the Red Dragon Tong. It was one that would also serve as a dry run for one of his most famous character portrayals in the later Fu Manchu series of films. Special Features High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with writer Jimmy Sangster, assistant editor Chris Barnes and film historian Marcus Hearn Hatchet Men: Inside 'The Terror of the Tongs' (2018, 22 mins): documentary written and directed by Hammer expert Marcus Hearn, narrated by Claire Louise Amias, and featuring film historians Alan Barnes and Jonathan Rigby Hammer's Women: Yvonne Monlaur (2018): British cinema expert Laura Mayne explores the life and career of the French-born film, stage and television actress Stephen Laws Introduces 'The Terror of the Tongs' (2018, 22 mins): scene-setting appreciation by the acclaimed horror author Hammer and Tongs (2018, 11 mins): a new appreciation of James Bernard's score by David Huckvale, author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde Shear Terror (2018, 3 mins): interview with assistant costume designer Yvonne Blake Original theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional photography and publicity material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
A later collaboration between Mason and Carol Reed, The Man Between is often considered a companion piece to The Third Man thanks to its atmospheric portrayal of a city struggling to survive in a grim post-war reality of poverty and mistrust. The action is here transposed to a divided Berlin, and to the beginning of the Cold War. Unlike the devilish Harry Lime, Mason's world-weary dealer Ivo Kerr is ultimately still a decent man, compelled by his love for a naïve schoolteacher to make one last misguided trip through the Brandenberg Gate, with potentially tragic consequences.
A later collaboration between Mason and Carol Reed, The Man Between is often considered a companion piece to The Third Man thanks to its atmospheric portrayal of a city struggling to survive in a grim post-war reality of poverty and mistrust. The action is here transposed to a divided Berlin, and to the beginning of the Cold War. Unlike the devilish Harry Lime, Mason's world-weary dealer Ivo Kerr is ultimately still a decent man, compelled by his love for a naïve schoolteacher to make one last misguided trip through the Brandenberg Gate, with potentially tragic consequences.
Doctor Who And The Daleks: Eccentric scientific genius Dr. Who activates the T.A.R.D.I.S. a remarkable time machine disguised as an ordinary callbox. But when the Doctor his granddaughters and their friend Ian are transported to the mysterious planet Skaro they discover a race of innocent humanoids under siege by evil robot-like Daleks. Can the Doctor protect this peaceful society from destruction as well as save the entire universe from a diabolical invasion of the future? (Dir. Gordon Flemyng 1965) Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. The remarkable Doctor and his companions use their time machine the T.A.R.D.I.S. to travel to the Earth's future. But when they arrive they discover a battle-raveaged world where mankind has been conquered and enslaved by the diabolical Daleks. Can Doctor Who foil their fiendish plan to mine the Earth's nuclear core? (Dir. Gordon Flemyng 1966)
The Entertainer of the title is Archie Rice, a mediocre music hall artist upholding a dying tradition in an English seaside against a background of the 1956 Suez Crisis. Laurence Olivier stars and is supported by a superb cast including a young Alan Bates as his son, Roger Livesey as his kindly, now retired, always more talented and popular father, and Joan Plowright as his daughter (who, ironically given the story, married Olivier the following year). Albert Finney makes his screen debut in a tiny role and the remarkable cast also features Daniel Massey, Shirley Anne Field, Thora Hird and Charles Gray. Archie himself is a hollow man who brings pain to all around him, and while Olivier's brilliant performance reveals the layers of cynicism which disguise the emptiness inside, the emotional resonance lies with those forced to endure Rice's manipulations, adulteries and deceits. On stage John Osborne's play proved to be a signature part for Olivier, and director Tony Richardson--who filmed Osborne's equally sour Look Back In Anger (1958)--handles the material with unvarnished realism. Unfolding like a dark variation on Chaplin's Limelight (1952), the film equally casts a shadow over the less stellar Tony Hancock vehicle The Punch and Judy Man (1963), ultimately working as both family tragedy and allegory for a declining post-war England. Surprisingly an American 1976 TV movie remake starring Jack Lemmon held its own against this minor British classic. On the DVD: The Entertainer is presented letterboxed at 1.66:1, and sourced from an excellent print preserves the look of the original black and white cinematography very well. Even so a little material is clipped from either side of the image, though this is most notable on the left of the picture. The mono sound is very good. There are no features other than optional subtitles, including English for those hard of hearing. --Gary S Dalkin
Adapting a play by award-winning novelist and screenwriter Richard Llewellyn best known for his classic work How Green Was My Valley this powerful, highly acclaimed drama explores the darker side of a seemingly idyllic English hamlet. Featuring an outstanding cast, including British screen legends Flora Robson and Robert Newton, Poison Pen is featured in a High Definition transfer from the original film elements in its as-exhibited aspect ratio. The placid, harmonious life of a quiet village becomes a hotbed of paranoia and hatred as anonymous letters accusing the villagers of moral and sexual misdemeanours begin to circulate. As speculation and malicious gossip spread, suspicions begin to centre on Connie Fateley, a shy, solitary seamstress; it is only a matter of time before events take a tragic turn... SPECIAL FEATURES: Image gallery Original script PDF
In the mid-1960s, with Dalekmania sweeping Britain, BBC TV's Doctor Who materialised on the silver screen. Doctor Who and the Daleks replaced William Hartnell with Peter Cushing and remade the Daleks' TV debut with a much bigger budget in Technicolor and Techniscope. With his two granddaughters, Roberta Tovey and Jennie Linden (and Roy Castle along for comic relief), the Doctor becomes an intermediary in a conflict between the robotic Daleks and angelic Thals on the almost dead world of Skaro. A huge hit on release, the film remains an enjoyable, well-produced family adventure, though somewhat lacking the menace of the TV original. Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD remakes the second Dalek TV serial and finds the Doctor and companions in a ravaged future London where a resistance movement has literally gone underground to fight the Nazi-like alien invaders. Peter Cushing once more makes a kindly, dependable Doctor, though Bernard Cribbins is given a cringe-making comedy routine impersonating a "roboman", and the jazzy soundtrack is wildly out of place. Nevertheless this is a superior sequel, offering lavish production values, better action set-pieces and a higher suspense and fear factor than its predecessor. The best moments remain surprisingly chilling even today. On the DVD: Doctor Who and the Daleks--the first disc--has a fun, very well-made 1995 documentary running 57 minutes and recounting the production of both feature films. Included are interviews with various surviving cast members. There is also an affectionate commentary with Roberta Tovey and Jennie Linden, hosted by Jonathan Southcote, author of The Cult Films of Peter Cushing. Sadly Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD has no substantial extra features, but both discs include the respective trailer, presented anamorphically enhanced, and a DVD-ROM reproduction of the relevant cinema brochure. The mono sound is good and the pin-sharp, vibrantly colourful, anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 transfers are all but flawless, making both films look good as new. --Gary S Dalkin
Released a year prior to the outbreak of World War II, this espionage thriller taps into the fears and concerns of the time and features imposing screen and stage star Geoffrey Toone as a Naval commander who alone is entrusted with secret information that might foil an enemy invasion. Also starring Clifford Evans, Judy Kelly and comedian Albert Burdon, The Luck of the Navy is featured here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements, in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. International relations are strained; there is a strong possibility of war and, should diplomacy fail, Britain must be prepared to strike the first, and hopefully decisive, blow. The British Navy is the instrument, and Commander Clive Stanton the man chosen for a special and secret mission. He receives sealed orders as he is about to go ashore to dine with Mrs Maybridge, a local socialite and wife of a retired admiral unaware that the house has been infiltrated by fifth columnists...
This visual and musical masterpiece features Yul Brynner's Academy Award winning performance an unforgettable Rodgers and Hammerstein score and brilliant choreography by Jerome Robbins. It tells the true story of an English woman Anna Leonowens (Kerr) who comes to Siam as schoolteacher to the royal court in the 1860s. Though she soon finds herself at odds with the stubborn monarch (Brynner) over time Anna and the King stop trying to change each other and begin to understand one another. Winner of six Academy Awards The King And I contains some of the most lavish sets in Hollywood and some of the world's best-loved songs including ''Getting To Know You'' ''I Whistle A Happy Tune'' ''Hello Young Lovers'' and ''Shall We Dance?'' Bonus CD Tracklisting: 1. Main Title 2. I Whistle A Happy Tune 3. My Lord And Master 4. March Of The Siamese Children 5. Anna And The Royal Wives 6. Hello Young Lovers 7. Puzzlement 8. Getting To Know You 9. Garden Rendezvous 10. We Kiss In A Shadow 11. I Have Dreamed 12. Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You 13. Something Wonderful 14. Prayer To Buddha 15. Waltz Of Anna And Sir Edward 16. Small House Of Uncle Thomas 17. Song Of The King 18. Shall We Dance 19. Letter 20. Something Wonderful 21. Overture
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