"Actor: Gloria Charles"

• Sunset Boulevard | DVD | (07/04/2003) from £5.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (166.94%)   |  RRP £15.99

  More than half a century after its release in 1950, Sunset Boulevard is still the most pungently unflattering portrait of Hollywood ever committed to celluloid. Billy Wilder, unequalled at combining a literate, sulphurous script with taut direction, hits his target relentlessly. The humour--and the film is rich in this, Wilder's most abundant commodity--is black indeed. Sunset Boulevard is viciously and endlessly clever. William Holden's opportunistic scriptwriter Joe Gillis, whose sellout proves fatal, is from the top drawer of film noir. Gloria Swanson's monstrously deluded Norma Desmond, the benchmark for washed-up divas, transcends parody. And her literal descent down the staircase to madness is one of the all-time great silver-screen moments. Sunset Boulevard isn't without pathos, most notably in Erich von Stroheim's protective butler who wants only to shield his mistress from the stark truths that are massing against her. But its view of human beings at work in a ruthlessly cannibalistic industry is bleak indeed. Nobody, not even Nancy Olson's sparkily ambitious writer Betty Schaefer, is untainted. And neither are we, "those wonderful people out there in the dark". Norma might be ready for her close-up, but it's really Hollywood that's in the frame. No wonder Wilder incurred the charge of treachery from his peers. It's cinematic perfection. On the DVD: Sunset Boulevard lends itself effortlessly to a collector's edition of this quality. The film itself is presented in full-frame aspect ratio from an excellent print and the quality of the mono soundtrack is faultless: the silver screen comes to life in your living room. The extras are superb, including a commentary from film historian Ed Sikov and a making-of documentary which includes the memories of Nancy Olson. Interactive features such as the Hollywood location map add to the fun. --Piers Ford

• The Old Dark House | Blu Ray | (21/05/2018) from £14.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A group of weary travelers, a spooky mansion, and a madman on the loose upstairs! Director James Whale's (Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man) The Old Dark House is one of the best and most entertaining horror films of the 1930's. Dripping with atmosphere and packed to the brim with thrills, chills and gallows humor, it was considered lost for many years but is now being presented with a stunning new 4K restoration. Caught in a storm whilst journeying through a remote region of Wales, a group of travelers takes refuge in a sinister mansion inhabited by the bizarre Femm family and their mute butler, Morgan (played by the iconic Boris Karloff, Frankenstein, The Mummy). Trying to make the best of a bad situation, the group settles in for the night, but the Femm family have a few skeletons in their closet, and one of them is on the loose With an incredible cast, including Melvyn Douglas (Hud, Twilight's Last Gleaming), Gloria Stuart (Titanic) and Charles Laughton (Witness for the Prosecution, Ruggles of Red Gap), The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Old Dark House in a special Dual Format edition, the first time the film has been available on Blu-ray in the UK. Features: Limited Edition O-Card (first pressing only) featuring artwork by Graham Humphreys created especially for the 2018 UK theatrical release Gorgeous 1080p presentation from the Cohen Media Group 4K restoration (with a progressive encoding on the DVD) Uncompressed LPCM audio (On the Blu-ray) Optional English subtitles An exclusive video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns Feature length audio commentary by critic & author Kim Newman and Stephen Jones Feature-length audio commentary by Gloria Stuart Feature length audio commentary by James Whale biographer James Curtis Daughter of Frankenstein: A Conversation with Sara Karloff Curtis Harrington Saves The Old Dark House - an archival interview with director Curtis Harrington about his efforts to save The Old Dark House at a time when it was considered a lost film Eureka! trailer for the 2018 theatrical release of The Old Dark House A collector's booklet featuring the new essay by critic Philip Kemp, as well as an abundant selection of archival imagery and ephemera.

• Perfect Understanding | DVD | (25/05/2015) from £7.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Gloria Swanson and Laurence Olivier star in this 1930s comedy drama directed by Cyril Gardner. Newlyweds Judy and Nicholas Randall (Swanson and Olivier) seem to have the ideal marriage based on perfect understanding and mutual respect. While away on their honeymoon Nicholas gets drunk and sleeps with his former mistress Stephanie (Nora Swinburne). Overcome with guilt Nicholas confesses to Judy who promptly forgives him although deep down she conceals feelings of anger and betrayal. When Nicholas suspects Judy of having an affair he confronts her and the pair realise that maybe their marriage isn't perfect after all.

• Friday The 13th: Part 3 | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-7.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  From the people who brought you ""Friday the 13th parts 1 and 2"" comes the most hair-raising horror yet - Part 3. An idyllic summer turns into a nightmare of unspeakable terror for yet another group of naive counsellors. Ignoring Camp Crystal Lake's bloody legacy one by one they fall victim to the maniacal Jason who stalks them at every turn... ""Friday the 13th part 3"" will have you frozen with fear as Jason finds his way into your living room.

• Shirley Temple Triple Pack 1 | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Dimples: Temple stars as a young singer who entertains the New York crowds providing the window of opportunity for her pick pocket of a grand father to carry out his work. A rich lady sees the young girl peforming - and after discovering her grim existence with her grand father - offers her an opportunity to rise out of lifestyle... The Littlest Rebel: Shirley Temple's father a rebel officer sneaks back to his rundown plantation to see his family and is arrested. How

• Love Scenes - The Romance Classics Collection | DVD | (14/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Here are a dozen of Hollywood's most memorable romance classics spanning four decades. The collection includes such top titles as The Sheik A Farewell to Arms My Man Godfrey and Love Affair and features legendary heartthrobs like Gary Cooper Gloria Swanson James Stewart Myrna Loy Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert - just to name a few. As a special bonus each of the five discs contains an original documentary about the stars featured in this extraordinary collection. Films Comprise: The Sheik (1921) Indiscreet (1931) A Farewell to Arms (1932) Bird of Paradise (1932) Animal Kingdom (1932) I Cover the Waterfront (1933) My Man Godfrey (1936) Love Affair (1939) Made For Each Other (1939) Beyond Tomorrow (1940) Penny Serenade (1941) Cyrano de Bergerac (1950)

• Lady Of Burlesque | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £8.52   |  Saving you £-1.54 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

• Poor Little Rich Girl | DVD | (20/02/2006) from £6.98   |  Saving you £6.01 (86.10%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Shirley is a motherless rich girl who runs away from her father and lands in the home and stage act of a husband and wife team of entertainers. Her father's desperate mission to find his daughter is aided when he hears her performing on the radio.

• Suzanne | DVD | (05/07/2005) from £4.91   |  Saving you £-0.92 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  A young actress becomes totally obsessed with the part she is playing and before long art and reality start to blur. Based on a song by Leonard Cohen (which is used in the film).

• For Love Or Country | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  After many years of living under the repressive regime of Fidel Castro's Cuba his musical talents stifled by state control jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval finally faces up to the grim reality that he must flee his homeland. But escape is not easy. A celebrity prized for his propaganda value he is watched day and night. Not only that Cuba is home to his wife Marianela and their children and Arturo cannot bring himself to tear the family apart until a twist of fate triggers a dange

• Brain From Planet Arous, The / Teenage Monster / Space Cadet | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  You have to credit the folks who put this double bill together. The Brain from Planet Arous, a low-budget alien invasion 1958 film, is one of those programmes that lingers in the memory as much for its title and impressively ludicrous giant-staring-transparent-brain monster as for its poverty row dramatics, in which the usually stiff John Agar grins evilly and flashes contact lenses when possessed by the creature and a good guy brain shows up to take over his dog to thwart the renegade cerebrum's plan for world domination. For this release, Brain is teamed with its original co-feature, a movie so bad you wouldn't buy it on its own but whose presence here is a pleasing extra. Whereas Brain from Planet Arous delivers exactly what its title promises, Teenage Monster is a cheat: rather than feature a mutant 1950s delinquent in a leather jacket, it's a melodramatic Western in which prospector's widow Anne Gwynne keeps her hulking caveman-like son (who seems to be well into middle-age) hidden, only for a scheming waitress to use the goon in her murder schemes. Brain is snappily directed, even when staging disasters well beyond its budget, while Teenage Monster drags and chatters and moans until its flat finale. On the DVD: The Brain from Planet Arous/Teenage Monster double bill disc is a solid showing for such marginal items, featuring not only the trailers for these attractions but a clutch of other 1950s sci-fi pictures (Phantom from Space, Invaders from Mars, etc.) and a bonus episode ("The Runaway Asteroid") from a studio-bound, live-broadcast juvenile space opera of the early 50s (Tom Corbett, Space Cadet) in which hysterical types in a capsule break off from the space programme to deliver ringing endorsements of gruesome-looking breakfast foods. --Kim Newman