"Actor: Ivie Anderson"

• Rebecca | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £14.98   |  Saving you £-8.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Last night, I dreamt I went to Manderley again..." From the first classic line of this unforgettable film, Rebecca casts its spell. David O. Selznick brought Alfred Hitchcock to the United States in order to give this adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel the proper atmosphere. The resulting film is a stunning marriage of their sensibilities. It paid off critically and financially as well. Like Gone with the Wind, which Selznick released a year earlier, Rebecca won the Academy Award for Best Picture.Laurence Olivier stars as Maxim de Winter, who, reeling from the recent and unexpected death of his glamorous wife Rebecca, impulsively marries a young and adoring governess (Joan Fontaine). The new Mrs de Winter tries to fit into her role as mistress of the great house Manderley, but every step she takes is haunted by Rebecca's spirit. The ghost's brooding presence is personified by the insanely meticulous Mrs Danvers, brilliantly portrayed by Judith Anderson. As Fontaine's character begins to uncover the dark secrets of the de Winter clan, the house seems to take on a life of its own.Passionate love and romance blend seamlessly with typically Hitchcockian emphases on guilt, sexuality and Gothic horror. The production values are stunning and the cast is excellent, down to the least of the supporting players. While Rebecca has enough surprises to captivate even the most jaded of moviegoers, it is also one of those rare films that improves with each viewing. --Raphael Shargel

• Rebecca | DVD | (01/01/2008) from £16.99   |  Saving you £-11.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Whilst on holiday, young timid ladies companion (Joan Fontaine) meets handsome and wealthy widower Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier) whose wife Rebecca has recently died in a boating accident.The two fall in love and marry. However, her joy is short lived when she returns to the de Winter estate and soon discovers that Rebecca still has a strange, unearthly hold over everyone there.

• Unfaithful | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £6.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (129.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A middle-aged wife and mother has an unexpected and torrid affair with a handsome younger man. After her husbands discover they must face the consequences of their actions...

• The Prince And The Showgirl | DVD | (07/05/2001) from £6.33   |  Saving you £7.66 (121.01%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) was Marilyn Monroe's only British-made film and scores highly for curiosity value. There's something rather outrageous about this iconic American star playing a second-rate hoofer living in a theatrical boarding house in Brixton. Monroe herself is predictably good and touching as Elsie Marina, plucked from the chorus to entertain the Regent of Carpathia for the evening and ultimately smoothing his rough edges. There is, however, a rather uphill feeling all the way. The making of the movie was by all accounts a troubled experience for everybody concerned. Monroe, increasingly unreliable and exasperating, had an unsympathetic director in Laurence Olivier, also playing the Regent Charles, who hardly had the patience for a star of her mercurial talents with her own ideas of professional behaviour. His own performance as the Balkan royal is hammy and mannered and there isn't even a damp squib of sexual chemistry between them. Terence Rattigan's script, based on his successful play, is far too wordy and stage-bound. But somehow Monroe effervesces through all this adversity, aided considerably by British character actor Richard Wattis and the great Sybil Thorndyke, who became her ally during the difficult filming. Not vintage Marilyn but fascinating all the same, and she looks fantastic. On the DVD: The Prince and the Showgirl is presented in 4:3 with an occasionally muffled, apparently mono, soundtrack, giving this DVD a rather dusty quality which is in keeping with the vintage British 1950s production values. Extras include a cast list, original trailer and newsreel footage of the announcement that Marilyn was to make the film with Olivier, referred to at that stage as The Sleeping Prince. --Piers Ford

• The Beggar's Opera | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Peter Brook's bold adaptation of John Gay's opera - a cynical satire of eighteenth century London life. This weird and wonderful movie version of the first ever English musical to be written boasts a gloriously outlandish set and characters adorned in stunning primary colours that will dazzle and delight. A period piece that remains true to its original form it features non-stop sing-along songs spirited melodies and a real sense of embellished drama. The story follows the escapades of a jailed highwayman and stars Laurence Olivier Dorothy Tutin and Stanley Holloway.

• Pat Donohue - Jazz Classics For Fingerstyle Guitar - Vol. 1 | DVD | (01/01/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  The overall theme of these lessons is to show the roots of Classic Jazz using archival footage; how to arrange a jazz composition and then how to improvise around the arrangement using various techniques. Pat Donohue is a master of fingerstyle jazz guita

• Mario Bava - Vol. 1 | DVD | (23/05/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This collection features a trio of films directed by 'the master of the macabre' Mario Bava. Black Sabbath (1963): Italian horror master Mario Bava's spine-tingling horror anthology. In the first tale A Drop Of Water a woman steals a ring off of the finger of a corpse only to be haunted by the angry spirit of the ring's owner. In The Telephone a woman is harassed by phone calls from the dead. Finally Boris Karloff plays a vampire-like creature in The Wurdalak who feeds off the blood of its family. The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963 aka The Evil Eye): The mystery of the Alphabet Murders in Rome was left unsolved ten years ago. When Nora Davis (Roman) travels there on vacation she gets tangled in a web of death starting with Edith an old friend of the family. As Nora tries to find some help for Edith she witnesses the stabbing murder of yet another woman. She soon discovers that the murder actually happened ten years ago to Emily Craven and that the Alphabet Murderer is looking for is still looking for the letter 'D'. The Mask of Satan (1960 aka Black Sunday/Revenge of The Vampire): Buxom B-movie queen Barbara Steele stars in this atmospheric film about the long dead evil Princess Asa and her brother who are accidentally brought back to life. Asa goes on a quest to murder her twin descendent Princess Katia (also played by Steele) and seduces many unknowing victims along the way.

• The Prince And The Showgirl | DVD | (09/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  One of the later films of her notably stellar career The Prince and The Showgirl teams Marilyn Monroe with the world's most respected thespian Sir Laurence Olivier in a humorous romp of a stately prince charming and his love for a humble but incredibly infectious performer. A fairy tale born in the Hollywood dream factory this film continues to be a lasting favourite. This Deluxe Series box set will include: DVD of 'The Prince And The Showgirl' DVD documentary 'The Legend Of Marilyn Monroe' a film Senitype'' (image from the film and 35mm film frame) US one sheet movie poster and an exclusive commemorative 16-page picture book of rare Marilyn images.