On Saturday 14th February 1900 a party of schoolgirls from Appleyard College took a trip to Hanging Rock near Mt. Macedon in the state of Victoria. During the idyllic sun-drenched afternoon some of the party left the rest of the group and having climbed higher stopped to rest and fell asleep. They awoke as though still in a dream and silently ventured further through a passage in the imposing rock face. Some of the girls were never seen again. The film that established Peter Weir as a major filmmaker is a critically acclaimed classic of Australian cinema. With BAFTA-winning photography and a memorably haunting score Picnic at Hanging Rock remains one of the most chillingly atmospheric and beautifully enigmatic films ever made.
Sgt. Cannon and PC Ball 'run' the police station in the sleepy town of Little Botham. When the station is threatened with closure due to the lack of crime they decide to invent some crimes to justify their positions. In response they try to steal a painting from a local businessman (Kinnear) and accidentally stumble across a gang of real art thieves who have just stolen one million pounds worth of paintings. It is up to the two inept cops to stop them escaping with their haul!
On Saturday 14th February 1900 a party of schoolgirls from Appleyard College took a trip to Hanging Rock near Mt. Macedon in the state of Victoria. During the idyllic sun-drenched afternoon some of the party left the rest of the group and having climbed higher stopped to rest and fell asleep. They awoke as though still in a dream and silently ventured further through a passage in the imposing rock face. Some of the girls were never seen again. The film that established Peter Weir as a major filmmaker is a critically acclaimed classic of Australian cinema. With BAFTA-winning photography and a memorably haunting score Picnic at Hanging Rock remains one of the most chillingly atmospheric and beautifully enigmatic films ever made.
Dick Tracy's Dilemma: Super-sleuth Dick Tracy is hot on the trail of 'The Claw' a ruthless crook with a heart of stone. Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome: When a scientist's invention of a mysterious paralysing gas is taken by a villainous gang of robbers supersleuth Dick Tracy is called to the rescue. Dick Tracy vs Cueball: Cueball a monstrous bald-headed strangler is stalking Dick Tracy's girl.
Vera Cruz was only director Robert Aldrich's second Western (his first, made a few months earlier, was the revisionist, pro-Native-American Apache), but it's such an assured, stylish affair that he might have been roaming the sagebrush for decades. In the aftermath of the American Civil War two lone adventurers make their way south of the border, where Mexico is fighting a civil war of its own to rid the country of the French-imposed Emperor Maximilian. Neither the dour Benjamin Trane (Gary Cooper) nor the grinning, devil-may-care Joe Erin (Burt Lancaster) has much in the way of idealism, but Trane still retains a thin bitter edge of integrity, a quality quite alien to the cheerfully amoral Erin. In uneasy alliance, constantly looking to outwit or double-cross each other, the two find themselves escorting a beautiful French countess (Denise Darcel) and a shipment of gold across country. Cooper and Lancaster create a superb double-act, using their contrasted screen personas to point up the humour and the cynicism of the two mercenaries' relationship. Darcel makes less than she might of the femme fatale role, but there are relishable cameos from Cesar Romero as a suavely duplicitous aristo and Ernest Borgnine as another gringo with an exceptionally vicious streak. The script, according to Aldrich, was written on the run, "always finished about five minutes before we shot it", but you wouldn't guess it from the laconic wit of the dialogue. It looks great, too--Ernest Laszlo's widescreen photography makes the most of the handsome Mexican locations. With its irreverent take on the accepted moral conventions of the genre, Vera Cruz ushered in a new kind of Western, and its central love-hate relationship would be replayed in Sam Peckinpah's Ride the High Country (1962) and Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). On the DVD: Not much in the way of extras but the mono sound has been expertly remastered to the benefit of Hugo Friedhofer's spirited score. Above all, the film's presented in its full Superscope ratio (16:9), a blessed relief after all those years when it showed up panned-and-scanned on BBC1. If ever a movie needed widescreen, it's this one--if only to fit in all Burt's teeth. You can see why they called him "Crockery Joe". --Philip Kemp
The North Africa campaign. When their lorry is destroyed by enemy aircraft nine soldiers are forced to make a stand in an abandoned desert hut against almost overwhelming Italian forces.
Ignoring a strange warning a young party travelling to the Carpathian Mountains are abandoned by their coachman. Their luck changes however when another mysterious coach appears and delivers them to the hospitality of Count Dracula...
Floodtide is a romantic drama from 1949 directed by Frederick Wilson about the son of a Scottish farmer who dreams of a life in the city. Against his father's wishes David Shields obtains a job in the shipyards where his flair for design moves him swiftly up the ladder. This is resented by many of his colleagues as is his impatience and dislike for performing menial tasks. However David designs a revolutionary ship which impresses his boss whose daughter he is deeply in love with. Will he succeed in all he wishes to achieve? This DVD edition features a restored version of the film.
A collection of eight classic Ealing studio British comedies comprising: Hue And Cry: A group of criminals use a boy's paper as a means of messages and information. This ploy is discovered by a group of East End boys who take exception to the crooks use of their favourite read! Kind Hearts And Coronets: Sir Alec Guinness gives a virtuoso performance in his Ealing comedy debut playing all eight victims standing between a mass-murderer and his family fortune. Considered by some to be Ealing's most perfect achievement of all the Ealing films. The Ladykillers: Alexander Mackendrick's third Ealing farce is the final comedy produced by the famous British studio and one of its most celebrated. The Lavender Hill Mob: Mr. Holland (Alec Guinness) has supervised the bank's bullion run for years. He is fussy and unnecessarily overprotective but everyone knows he is absolutely trustworthy. And so on the day the bullion truck is robbed he is the last person to be suspected. But there is another side to Mr. Holland; he is also Dutch the leader of the Lavender Hill Mob. The Magnet Centred on Johnny Brent (James Fox) a boy who fleeces a younger child out of his beloved magnet. In its place he offers an 'invisible' timepiece and there begins the chain of chaos in which the young swindler absconds from his home with the mistaken belief that he has somehow caused the young child's death. Unbeknownst to him he has become the town hero and as the unsung victor remains on the run the community are left to make sense of the goings on from speculation and gossip... The Man In The White Suit: Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness) works quietly at Michael Corland's textile mill until his mysterious costly lab experiment is discovered. sacked Stratton takes a menial job at Alan Brinley's mill in order to continue his work on the sly. When Daphne Corland's fianc''e and Birnley's daughter discovers his secret she threatens to expose Stratton. The desperate scientist reveals to Daphne that he has invented an indestructible cloth that never gets dirty... Passport To Pimlico: An archaic document found in a bombsite reveals that the London district of Pimlico has for centuries technically been part of France. The local residents embrace their new found continental status seeing it as a way to avoid the drabness austerity and rationing of post-war England. The authorities do not however share their enthusiasm... The Titfield Thunderbolt: When an antiquated railway line is threatened with closure the villagers decide to run it themselves and enter into frenzied competition with the local bus route with hilarious consequences!
As the third in what became a series of eight, Prince of Darkness was distinguished among the Hammer Dracula movies for several reasons. It was the third and last directed by Terence Fisher and his familiarity with the mythos and studio practices meant the rushed production still came out looking spectacular in places. Moving into the tail end of the 1960s, Hammer looked for ways of cost cutting: the film's dramatic finale on a frozen river takes place on a two-for-one set being used simultaneously for another shoot. This was also the series entry that included a substitute for the Renfield character missing from the first movie. Thorley Walters as Ludwig is a colourful cameo and that's also all that can be said of Christopher Lee. Despite top billing, the mute monster occupies but a fraction of the overall on-screen time. The real frights come from gaunt butler Klove who scares the life (literally) out of hapless travellers Alan, Charles, Helen and Diana. Surely their fate would ensure no-one else took the mountain pass to Carlsbad? But only two years later, audiences discovered Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. On the DVD: apart from scene access there's nothing making use of the DVD format here. The 2.55:1 presentation is certainly welcome, and the mono audio somehow feels appropriate. --Paul Tonks
A superb box set featuring 4 golden Ealing classics. Includes: 1. The Lavender Hill Mob (Dir. Charles Crichton 1951) 2. Titfield Thunderbolt (Dir. Charles Crichton 1953) 3. Hue & Cry (Dir. Charles Crichton 1947) 4. Dead of Night (Dirs. Alberto Cavalcanti & Charles Crichton 1945)
Based on the unique real life story Charles Bronson stars as Machine Gun Kelly a cold blooded sadist whose 1930's rampage earned him the title of Public Enemy Number One by the FBI. His homicidal tendencies are linked to his personal sensitivity of his height. Together with his ever loving partner Flo Kelly decides to crown his criminal achievements with a high profile kidnapping. Unfortunately Kelly takes too great a gamble and his intended farewell to the criminal world results in his own bloody downfall.
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