"Actor: Harold Kasket"

• The Key Man | DVD | (10/11/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In an attempt to reconstruct a murder case radio host Lionel Hulme advertises for information as to the whereabouts of ex-convict Arthur John Smithers who had served a seven-year prison sentence for the manslaughter of his partner. Between them they had perpetrated one of the most daring robberies of all time escaping with a large sum of money; Smithers was subsequently tried and convicted but the stolen notes were never recovered. It is with the ulterior motive of obtaining the money that Hulme is now investigating the case… Canadian Lee Patterson stars as the crime-show host tangling with real-life gangsters in this classic B-movie thriller directed by genre stalwart Montgomery Tully. Also featuring British players Hy Hazell Colin Gordon and Harold Kasket The Key Man (also known as Life at Stake) is featured here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Special Features: Original Theatrical Trailer Image Gallery PDF Material

• The Mouse That Roared | DVD | (05/08/2002) from £22.90   |  Saving you £-9.91 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Mouse That Roared, originally released in 1959, is mostly remembered as a tour-de-force from peerless comic actor Peter Sellers, playing all three of the principal roles. It's worth seeing for that alone, but the film is also one of the most memorable satires of nuclear geopolitics produced during the Cold War and, along with another Sellers vehicle, Dr Strangelove, provides an unbeatable illustration of the paranoia and helplessness engendered by that period. The Mouse That Roared tells the story of the fictional European principality of Grand Fenwick. Finding itself on the wrong end of a trade dispute with the United States, and noting America's generosity in rebuilding the countries it had fought in World War II, Grand Fenwick's rulers hit upon the idea of declaring war on the US, losing, and then reaping a Marshall Plan-style hand-out. The plan, proposed by Grand Fenwick's prime minister (played by Peter Sellers), is approved by the monarch (also played by Peter Sellers), who dispatches an invasion force of chain mail-clad archers under the command of Grand Fenwick's hapless Field Marshal (also played by Peter Sellers). Due to a series of happenstances and misunderstandings, Grand Fenwick's plan goes terribly wrong, and they inflict a surprising defeat on America, with curious consequences. On the DVD: The Mouse That Roared is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen; sound is mono. Soundtracks are available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, and subtitles in all those as well as most other major European languages, Hebrew and Arabic. Special features include a scene selector, and three theatrical trailers: one for this film (English audiences will get a kick out of the 1950s American announcer raving about "an hilarious new personality, Peter Sellers"), one for Sellers' much bleaker (and much funnier) Cold War satire Dr Strangelove, and one for his slight horror spoof Murder By Death. --Andrew Mueller

• The Seventh Voyage Of Sinbad | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £6.73   |  Saving you £3.26 (48.44%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A major Columbia Pictures release in glorious Technicolor, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad was one of Hollywood's first modern fantasy action blockbusters. On a mission to rescue his fiancée, the Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant), Kerwin Mathews acquits himself well as Sinbad, while Torin Thatcher is a suitably malevolent magician who has shrunken the princess in a bid to get Sinbad to undertake a perilous quest. Truth be told, no one remembers Ray Harryhausen films for the script or the acting; the real stars are the still impressive action set-pieces, a battle with a cyclops, a giant Roc, a dragon, and a duelling skeleton; this last anticipating a much more lavish battle with skeleton warriors in Jason and the Argonauts. The cast may be all-American rather than Arab but even so, everything about this film works, from the fabulous set design of the Sultan's palace which evokes a real fairytale atmosphere, to Bernard Herrmann's truly classic score. On the DVD: The film exhibits a strong anamorphically enhanced 1.85-1 ratio image, with powerful mono sound. At about 80 minutes, the extras last almost as long as the movie. The most important and extensive addition is "The Harryhausen Chronicles", a documentary, while "This is Dynamation" gives an introduction to the stop-motion animation process itself. Ray Harryhausen is an affable host, a modest man who talks engagingly about his work in a way that really makes one appreciate the sheer ingenuity and skill which went into making not just The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, but also Jason and the Argonauts, the subject of a further featurette on the disc. On top of this there are trailers for the aforementioned films, plus one for the disappointing but still fun Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Overall, a first-class film on an equally good DVD. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Arabesque | DVD | (05/05/2008) from £12.65   |  Saving you £-2.66 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Gregory Peck stars as hieroglyphics expert Professor David Pollock in this hugely enjoyable tongue-in-cheek espionage-thriller. Sophia Loren stars alongside as the beautiful but suspect Yasmin Asir the lover of Pollock's employer. David Pollock's routine is turned upside down when he's hired to translate an ancient message written in an obscure mysterious text. Soon everyone from a wealthy oil magnate to a foreign government pursue Pollock for his knowledge desperate to uncover the meaning behind the message. Featuring a score by Henri Mancini and a stylish colourful interpretation of London and the culture of the time Arabesque is never less than a hugely enjoyable witty thriller.

• One Good Turn | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Reunited with many of the team behind Trouble in Store (1953), his smash hit of the previous year, for his second starring role Norman Wisdom played the oldest orphan of Greenwood Children's Home. Having being raised in the home Norman has stayed on as odd-job man, a role which ideally suits his man-child persona. Not only does he have to find the money to buy one of the orphans a model car, but after a visit to Brighton he discovers Greenwood is due to be closed down by the home's own unscrupulous chairman, a property developer with plans to build a factory on the site. Also starring Thora Hird, One Good Turn was surely a film with a personal resonance for Wisdom who was himself brought-up in an orphanage after his mother died and his father was unable to raise him. As would become a tradition, he contributes a song, "Please Opportunity", and the movie, though produced by Rank, now sits easily in that classic Ealing era where the ordinary man took on the big guys and won. The innocent knockabout humour remains appealing and it is simply impossible not to like Norman Wisdom. The film's success led directly to the aptly named Man of the Moment (1955). --Gary S Dalkin

• Moulin Rouge | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £9.94   |  Saving you £3.05 (30.68%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A lively biopic of French artist Toulouse Lautrec directed by John Huston. Deformed in early age when his legs stop growing dwarfish Parisian Lautrec (Jose Ferrer who also plays Lautrec's father) goes on to become one of the masters of Impressionism. 'Moulin Rouge' is famous for its incredibly exhilarating twenty minute can-can sequence which sets the tone for a series of high energy dance routines.