After years spent as a widower, village doctor Mr Gibson has decided to remarry; something for which his rather naive daughter, Molly, is wholly unprepared. Molly's world is soon overturned by the arrival of an unwanted stepmother and a bewitching, beautiful stepsister, Cynthia. In spite of the circumstances of their acquiantance and of being so entirely different from one another, the two girls instantly form a close relationship. But it is a friendship that is put to the test when they look set to become rivals in love. Matters are further complicated when a dangerous secret emerges from Cynthia's past in which she entangles Molly, with serious consequences for them both...
First published in 1908, Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind In The Willows' has become one of the best loved books of all time, enchanting generations of children and adults alike. Voiced by an all-star cast including DAVID JASON as Toad, MICHAEL HORDERN as Badger, RICHARD PEARSON as Mole and IAN CHARMICHAEL as Ratty with UNA STUBBS and BERYL REID. Brought to the screen by award winning animation team Cosgrove Hall, 'The Wind In The Willows' original movie introduces us, for the first time, to our...
Ian Carmichael is feckless British Soldier Stanley Windrush. Windrush abandons his college education to serve his country but after flunking out of officer's candidate school he is demoted to private. Hilarity ensues as he befriends rough-hewn fellow private Cox (Richard Attenborough). Major Hitchcock (Terry-Thomas) offers a brilliant parody of the 'Mad Dogs and Englishmen' school of military service while Dennis Price is equally amusing as a nonplussed commanding officer.
Ian Carmichael stars as the aristocratic detective Lord Peter Wimsey in this classic BBC adaptation of the novels by Dorothy L. Sayers. These five feature-length adaptations bring all the wit, elegance and style of one of England's classiest detectives to the scene of the crime - five crimes to be exact - each one presenting an interesting challenge for this sharp-witted mastermind. Join Lord Peter Wimsey as he uncovers the mysteries of: Clouds of Witness, The Unpleasantness at The Bello...
Ian Carmichael and Janette Scott star in this sparkling utterly irresistible romantic comedy – a major project for Roy Boulting who with twin brother John formed one of post-war Britain's most successful and influential film partnerships. Also featuring comedy greats Terry-Thomas Joyce Grenfell Irene Handl and John Le Mesurier Happy Is the Bride is featured in a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. David proposes to Janet in the middle of a cricket match a prospect less-than-enthusiastically received by Janet's prosperous father. The thought of his daughter's marriage to a young man of unimpressive means and hazy future is accepted with dubious grace and the two lovebirds find romance being replaced by a regiment of interfering relatives! Special Features: Original Theatrical Trailer Image Gallery Promotional Material PDF
In 'Heavens Above' a socialist parson is sent into an upper-class area where he sets about converting the wealthy...
In School for Scoundrels wimpy Ian Carmichael wants to impress girls and get one over on all-round show-off and cad Terry Thomas (playing gloriously to type). Discovering Alastair Simms' unorthodox school Carmichael happily enrols and learns the quaint tricks of the day for securing the admiration of a fair lady. Ultimately as a star pupil he teaches the Master a thing or two about true love when everything turns out just fine in the end. Appealing to all male sensibilities is the idea of a magical set of simple rules for winning someone's affections. Set in the tweed-rich environment of an English boarding school makes this an even quainter notion. To watch this classic comedy is to cock one's snoot at womanisers everywhere while unavoidably making a mental list of anything that might actually work! The three central performances are brilliantly realised, particularly the role reversal between Carmichael and Thomas. Try playing a tennis match after a viewing without calling "hard cheese". -Paul Tonks
A global byword for cinematic quality of a quintessentially British nature, Ealing Studios made more than 150 films over a three decade period. A cherished and significant part of British film history, only selected films from both the Ealing and Associated Talking Pictures strands have previously been made available on home video format - with some remaining unseen since their original theatrical release. The Ealing Rarities Collection redresses this imbalance - featuring new transfers from...
Featuring a collection of Peter Sellers' best films. Includes: 1. Heavens Above! (Dir. John Boulting & Roy Boulting 1963) 2. I'm Alright Jack (Dir. John Boulting 1959) 3. Only Two Can Play (Dir. Sidney Gilliat 1962) 4. Very Best Of Peter Sellers
During the Second World War the Germans put many of the Allied prisoners-of-war (POWs) who had proved consistent escapees together in a maximum security fortress, the very name of which became a legend. Based on the book by Colditz escapee Major Pat Reid, The Colditz Story (1957) documents the further, sometimes successful, escape attempts of these extraordinarily brave, resourceful and indomitable men. Starring John Mills, Eric Portman, Bryan Forbes and Anton Diffring, and co-written and directed by Guy Hamilton, who later made The Battle of Britain (1969), this is a sober, even-handed account, that is gripping and informative, yet not without humour. Sterling performances from the cast of stalwart actors adds up to a British cinema classic. Such is the fascination of Colditz that in 1972-3 the BBC made a very successful drama series staring Jack Hedley, Bernard Hempton, Robert Wagner and David McCallum, while in 2000 Channel 4 offered a superb three-part documentary, Escape from Colditz. In contrast to the semi-documentary feel of The Colditz Story David Lean's classic The Bridge on the River Kwai, from the same year, is an epic and powerful account of POW life in barbaric Japanese prison camps. --Gary S. Dalkin
In 'I'm Alright Jack' a man becomes the pawn of a corrupt management and a labour union.
Since it's first publication in 1908 Kenneth Grahame's THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS has become a best-seller throughout the world. In this unique film the award-winning animators of Cosgrove Hall have brought Grahame's characters Badger Mole Ratty and the flamboyant Toad of Toad Hall magically to life in a beautiful Edwardian country scene. Join these four lively characters in a wonderful production that captures all the fun and enchantment of a fairy tale adventure.
Andrew Davies' 1999 adaptation of Mrs Gaskell's Wives and Daughters was hailed as the rediscovery of a "forgotten" classic novel and found the BBC on the crest of a wave with costume dramas--led by Pride and Prejudice. Handsome and beautifully filmed, if anything, it surpassed the quality of even that highly praised landmark production. "We should all look pretty strange under a microscope," botanist Robert Hamley tells our heroine Molly Gibson and of course Mrs Gaskell places all her characters under intense scrutiny, with affection but without judgement. Davies' screenplay peals back the layers, giving full vent to the comedy, tragedy and satire that drive this tale of provincial life to its highly satisfactory conclusion. Justine Waddell imbues Molly with an increasingly exasperated but remarkably forbearing intelligence, while Francesca Annis, as the outrageously self-absorbed step-mother Hyacinth, paints a wonderful portrait of affectation without ever totally alienating our sympathy. Michael Gambon's immensely touching Squire Hamley won him a Best Actor BAFTA, but all the performances are uniformly excellent, contributing immeasurably to five hours of television drama of the highest calibre. On the DVD: Presented in 16:9 format with a Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack, this two-disc presentation retains all the hallmarks of the original BBC viewing experience. The picture quality is lush--the production lighting is excellent--and the sound quality sharp. The only gripe is with the extras: the Omnibus documentary "Who the Dickens is Mrs Gaskell?" is brutally truncated, cutting off talking heads like novelists Fay Weldon and Margaret Drabble in their prime and giving limited insight into how the production was made. As an audio bonus, there is also 30 minutes of John Keane's music.--Piers Ford
Enrol at the wacky College of Lifemanship where a senior host of great British comedians teach a completely uproarious course on how to come out tops in any social situation! Study with Alistair Sim and learn his valuable hints on the art of comic One-upmanship. Follow his expert advice to victimised Ian Carmichael about romance fully equipped to cope with life's hilarious humiliations without really cheating. Based on the books by Stephen Potter.
With a cast featuring British film icons Dennis Price, Ian Carmichael and Cecil Parker, screenplay and direction by Anthony Kimmins and a score by legendary composer John Barry, The Amorous Prawn is a stellar feature in every respect. Starring Joan Greenwood as a general's wife whose moneyspinning manoeuvre causes ructions in their Highlands HQ, this entertainingly boisterous comedy adapting Kimmins' long-running West-End stage hit is featured here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.When General Fitzadam receives his final posting in the remote Scottish Highlands, his wife decides to turn their residence into a hotel for wealthy Americans. Unfortunately Lady Fitzadam declines to brief the General on 'Operation Lolly' an attempt to raise the cash needed to buy their dream cottage and smouldering confusion explodes into a full-scale riot when he makes an unexpected return to find amorous advances among the flower beds, suspicious shenanigans in the greenhouse and blatant bribery on the salmon lake!SPECIAL FEATURE:Image GalleryOriginal Promotional Material PDFs
HAPPY IS THE BRIDE David proposes to Janet in the middle of a cricket match, a prospect less-than-enthusiastically received by Janet's prosperous father and the two lovebirds find romance being replaced by a regiment of interfering relatives! INTO THE BLUE Mr and Mrs Fergusson are relaxing on board a yacht off the coast of France their only crew, the skipper-owner and his adopted daughter. On taking a turn around the deck, however, Mr Fergusson is put-out to discover a stowaway helping himself to the comforts of their dinghy! FATHER'S DOING FINE A widowed mother has to contend with the love affairs of her two unmarried daughters, some worthless shares, a thieving butler, the unpaid rent, the matrimonial difficulties of a third daughter and the imminent motherhood of the eldest! THE MARCH HARE Sir Charles Hare gambles everything on one of his horses at Ascot and loses everything, including the racing stud that was the chief delight of his life! However, his aunt attends the sale and buys a promising foal which she intends to raise in secret for Charles...
First published in 1908, Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind In The Willows' has become one of the best loved books of all time, enchanting generations of children and adults alike. Narrated by IAN CARMICHAEL and voiced by an all star cast including DAVID JASON as Toad, MICHAEL HORDERN as Badger, RICHARD PEARSON as Mole and PETER SALLIS as Ratty. Brought to the screen by award winning animation team Cosgrove Hall, 'The Wind In The Willows' brings to life the charming adventures of our four intrepid...
A battered houseboat on the Thames provides the setting for this romantic British comedy. Two newlyweds rent the leaky floating home but the trouble begins when the husband decides to move the boat to a better location; as fog descends they lose all sense of direction and eventually end up in France! Fortunately their landlord's yacht is moored nearby and the pair are able to borrow some petrol from him; not without the condition though of a race back across the Channel...
With a remarkable cast headlined by Ian Carmichael, Richard Attenborough, Dennis Price and Terry Thomas, WWII army comedy Private's Progress was one of the major British hits of 1956. Carmichael is Stanley Windrush, a naïve young soldier who during training falls in with the streetwise Private Cox (Attenborough). Windrush's uncle is the even more ambitiously corrupt Colonel Tracepurcel (Price), who plans to divert the war effort to liberate art treasures already looted by the Germans. The first half of the film is quite pedestrian, though the pace picks up considerably once the heist gets underway, and the cheery tone masks a really rather dark and cynical heart. Carmichael's innocent abroad quickly wears thin, but Attenborough and Price steal the film, as well as the paintings, with typically excellent turns. With a nod in the direction of Ealing's The Ladykillers (1955) the film also anticipates the attitudes of both The League of Gentlemen (1959) and Joseph Heller's novel Catch 22 (1961), though lacks the latter's greater sophistication. The cast also contains such British stalwarts as William Hartnell, Peter Jones, Ian Bannen, John Le Mesurier, Christopher Lee and David Lodge, and was sufficiently popular to reunite all the major players for the superior sequel, I'm Alright Jack (1959). On the DVD: Private's Progress is presented in black and white at 4:3 Academy ratio, though the film appears to have been shot full frame and then unmasked for home viewing so there is more top and bottom to the images than at the cinema. The print used shows constant minor damage and is quite grainy, though no more than expected for a low-budget film of the time. The mono sound is average and unremarkable, and there are no special features. --Gary S Dalkin
In School for Scoundrels wimpy Ian Carmichael wants to impress girls and get one over on all-round show-off and cad Terry Thomas (playing gloriously to type). Discovering Alastair Simms' unorthodox school Carmichael happily enrols and learns the quaint tricks of the day for securing the admiration of a fair lady. Ultimately as a star pupil he teaches the Master a thing or two about true love when everything turns out just fine in the end. Appealing to all male sensibilities is the idea of a magical set of simple rules for winning someone's affections. Set in the tweed-rich environment of an English boarding school makes this an even quainter notion. To watch this classic comedy is to cock one's snoot at womanisers everywhere while unavoidably making a mental list of anything that might actually work! The three central performances are brilliantly realised, particularly the role reversal between Carmichael and Thomas. Try playing a tennis match after a viewing without calling "hard cheese". -Paul Tonks
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