"Actor: Joan Scott"

• Carry On Up The Khyber | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £7.95   |  Saving you £5.04 (63.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Filmed in 1968 and set in British India in 1895, Carry On Up the Khyber is one of the team's most memorable efforts. Sid James plays Sid James as ever, though nominally his role is that of Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond, the unflappable British Governor who must deal with the snakelike, scheming Khasi of Khalabar, played by Kenneth Williams. A crisis occurs when the mystique of the "devils in skirts" of the 3rd Foot and Mouth regiment is exploded when one of their number, the sensitive-to-draughts Charles Hawtrey, is discovered by the natives to be wearing underpants. Revolt is in the offing, with Bernard Bresslaw once again playing a seething native warrior. Roy Castle neatly plays the sort of role normally assigned to Jim Dale, as the ineffectual young officer, Peter Butterworth is a splendid compromised evangelist, while Terry Scott puts his comedic all into the role of the gruff Sergeant. Most enduring, however, is the final dinner party sequence in which the British contingent, with the Burpas at the gates of the compound, and plaster falling all about them, demonstrate typical insouciance in the face of imminent peril. The "I'm Backing Britain" Union Jack hoist at the end, however, over-excitedly reveals the streak of reactionary patriotism that lurked beneath the bumbling double-entendres of most Carry On films. --David Stubbs

• The Invisible Woman | DVD | (16/06/2014) from £3.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (350.88%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Nelly (Felicity Jones), a happily-married mother and schoolteacher, is haunted by her past. Her memories, provoked by remorse and guilt, take us back in time to follow the story of her relationship with Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes).

• Carry On Camping | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £5.95   |  Saving you £7.04 (118.32%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Prepare for an onslaught of robust breezy humour when the Carry On team take to the great Outdoors.

• Mildred Pierce | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (143.41%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Joan Crawford delivers a critically acclaimed performance as Mildred Pierce a woman clawing her way to success to provide her daughter with everything she lacks. No sacrifice is too much - ending her middle class marriage climbing to the top of a male-dominated business world and marrying a man she doesn't love - but is murder a step too far? Based on a novel by James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice Double Indemnity) Mildred Pierce is a stylish film noir which rejuvenated screen icon Joan Crawford's career and earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

• Mildred Pierce | Blu Ray | (27/02/2017) from £23.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Melodrama casts noirish shadows in this portrait of maternal sacrifice from the Hollywood master Michael Curtiz. Its iconic performance by JOAN CRAWFORD (Johnny Guitar) as Mildred, a single mother hell-bent on freeing her children from the stigma of economic hardship, solidified Crawford's career comeback and gave the actor her only Oscar. But as Mildred pulls herself up by the bootstraps, first as an unflappable waitress and eventually as the well-heeled owner of a successful restaurant chain, the ingratitude of her materialistic firstborn (a diabolical ANN BLYTH) becomes a venomous serpent's tooth, setting in motion an endless cycle of desperate overtures and heartless recriminations. Recasting JAMES M. CAIN's rich psychological novel as a murder mystery, this bitter cocktail of blind parental love and all-American ambition is both unremittingly hard-boiled and sumptuously emotional. Special Features: New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New conversation about Mildred Pierce with critics Molly Haskell and Robert Polito Excerpt from a 1970 episode of The David Frost Show featuring actor Joan Crawford Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star, a 2002 feature-length documentary on Crawford's life and career Q&A with actor Ann Blyth from 2002, conducted by film historian Eddie Muller Segment from a 1969 episode of the Today show featuring novelist James M. Cain Trailer PLUS: An essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith Click Images to Enlarge

• Carry On Matron | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £8.22   |  Saving you £4.77 (58.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Hattie Jacques finally got to the play the title role in 1972 when Carry On Matron immortalised the character she had developed during several previous outings, most notably in Carry On Doctor. And she seized it with gusto. This is no one-dimensional performance, but a very human portrait of a woman doing her best to retain her authority in the face of mounting chaos--a raid planned by Sid James to steal the hospital's supply of contraceptive pills. Certainly, she's obsessed with regular bowel movements--this wouldn't be a Carry On film otherwise--but she remains a majestic figure of dignity with a touch of human warmth. Occasionally, too, a real hint of irony peeks through the slapstick and the innuendo. Surely scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell had his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek when he gave Barbara Windsor--then married to Ronnie Knight--the line, "I don't fancy being a gangster's moll!" Terry Scott makes a guest appearance and Sid James is at his most conniving and lecherous. Theatre impresario Bill Kenwright has a cameo role and there's an early appearance from Wendy Richard as a prototype Pauline Fowler. But it's the female stalwarts who shine. Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques were truly comic actresses of the highest order. --Piers Ford

• Lovers-the Complete Series | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The master script-writer Jack Rosenthal created this magnificent comedy series for ITV back in 1970; starring Richard Beckinsale and Paula Wilcox as a pair of bickering lovers. Beryl (Wilcox) constantly dreams of the ideal white wedding to her sneaky boyfriend Geoffrey (Beckinsale) who'd rather like to fool around in some 'extra-curricular' fun before the big day - as his life-sized cut-out of Brigitte Bardot will testify ! As the two row and make up again Beryl's ever-present m

• Carry On Matron | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £11.50   |  Saving you £1.48 (17.39%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Hattie Jacques finally got to the play the title role in 1972 when Carry On Matron immortalised the character she had developed during several previous outings, most notably in Carry On Doctor. And she seized it with gusto. This is no one-dimensional performance, but a very human portrait of a woman doing her best to retain her authority in the face of mounting chaos--a raid planned by Sid James to steal the hospital's supply of contraceptive pills. Certainly, she's obsessed with regular bowel movements--this wouldn't be a Carry On film otherwise--but she remains a majestic figure of dignity with a touch of human warmth. Occasionally, too, a real hint of irony peeks through the slapstick and the innuendo. Surely scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell had his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek when he gave Barbara Windsor--then married to Ronnie Knight--a the line, "I don't fancy being a gangster's moll!" Terry Scott makes a guest appearance and Sid James is at his most conniving and lecherous. Theatre impresario Bill Kenwright has a cameo role and there's an early appearance from Wendy Richard as a prototype Pauline Fowler. But it's the female stalwarts who shine. Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques truly were comic actresses of the highest order. On the DVD: Presented like most of the other Carry On DVD releases in 4:3 picture format and mono soundtrack, this release has all the comfy quality of a lazy Saturday afternoon in front of the television. But where are the extras? It's one thing to launch a highly popular series of films as classic entertainment, but they deserve more than the budget treatment. As always, a cast list, some sort of documentary extra and biographies of at least the key players would really do them justice. --Piers Ford

• The Bourne Legacy | Blu Ray | (30/11/2015) from £6.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Bourne Legacy introduces a brand new hero Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) - an agent on the run from destruction and on a journey to discover the truth, in life-or-death stakes created by events of the first three Bourne Films. Cross and Dr. Shearing (Rachel Weisz) fight to survive as CIA Ops, led by Eric Byer (Edward Norton) attempt to shut down their Operation and make everyone involved disappear for good. The brains behind the previous films, Tony Gilroy, returns to take Bourne to the next level of this thrilling action series. An all-new cast is joined by veterans Albert Finney, Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Scott Glenn in The Bourne Legacy.

• Johnny Guitar (Masters of Cinema) Standard Edition Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (11/04/2022) from £13.40   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce) plays Vienna, a saloon owner with a sordid past. Persecuted by the townspeople, Vienna must protect her life and her property when a lynch mob led by her sexually repressed rival, Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge; All The King's Men), attempts to frame her for a string of robberies she did not commit. Enter Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden; Dr. Strangelove: or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb), a guitar-strumming ex-gunfighter who has a history with Vienna. Mis-understood by US audiences upon release, the film was embraced by European cineastes and is now regarded as one of the greatest western pictures of all time. An intensely stylised masterpiece from director Nicholas Ray, Johnny Guitar is re-issued on Blu-ray as part of the Masters of Cinema series. Product Features 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K restoration of the original film elements, framed in the film's originally intended aspect ratio of 1.66:1 New audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin New introduction by critic Geoff Andrew, author of The Films of Nicholas Ray: The Poet of Nightfall New video piece by Tony Rayns Never is a Long Time A new video essay by David Cairns New interview with Susan Ray Archival introduction to Johnny Guitar by Martin Scorsese Trailer PLUS: A 28-page collector's booklet featuring an essay by author Howard Hughes, and an archival interview with director Nicholas Ray

• Mighty Aphrodite | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £10.94   |  Saving you £4.05 (37.02%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Released in 1995, Mighty Aphrodite was arguably Woody Allen's most successful film since Hannah and Her Sisters almost a decade earlier. The story follows Allen's neurotic New York sports writer Lenny, who becomes obsessed with tracking down his adopted son's birth mother, Linda. His odyssey is narrated and commented upon with coruscating wit by a Greek chorus led by F Murray Abraham. Despite their dire warnings at his rather ham-fisted attempts at hubris, there is nothing tragic in the ultimately uplifting tale. Lenny eventually locates Linda (an Oscar-winning performance from the enchanting Mira Sorvino) and discovers that she's caught up in just about every aspect of the sex trade. Without revealing his reasons, he sets about improving her life with hilarious results. Sorvino is a wonder as the tall, alluring and vulnerable Linda, who talks with candid innocence of her adventures in vice (she offers a blow job as if it was a pound of apples) and clearly deserves a better hand than she has been dealt. Helena Bonham Carter, not entirely convincing as a driven Manahattanite, plays Allen's ambitious art dealer wife whom Lenny ultimately realises is the love of his life. And a host of stars including Claire Bloom, Gwenn Verdon and Olympia Dukakis (Jocasta) contribute shining moments to this intelligent and touching comedy. When the chorus bursts into "When You're Smiling" at the end, it's like the sun coming out. On the DVD: The widescreen (1.85:1) presentation gives the location-shot chorus scenes marvellous resonance, although the Dolby Digital mono soundtrack is occasionally rather flat. Both picture and sound quality, however, preserve the intimacy which is the trademark of Allen's finest work. There are no extras beyond a choice of subtitles and the usual scene selection menu.--Piers Ford

• Mildred Pierce | Blu Ray | (09/09/2024) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Melodrama casts noirish shadows in this portrait of maternal sacrifice from Hollywood master Michael Curtiz. Joan Crawford's iconic performance as Mildred, a single mother hell-bent on freeing her children from the stigma of economic hardship, solidified Crawford's career comeback and gave the actor her only Oscar. But as Mildred pulls herself up by her bootstraps, first as an unflappable waitress and eventually as the well-heeled owner of a successful restaurant chain, the ingratitude of her materialistic firstborn (a diabolical Ann Blyth) becomes a venomous serpent's tooth, setting in motion an endless cycle of desperate overtures and heartless recriminations. Recasting James M. Cain's rich psychological novel as a murder mystery, this bitter cocktail of blind parental love and all-American ambition is both unremittingly hard-boiled and sumptuously emotional. FILM INFO- United States- 1945- 111 minutes- Black & White- 1.37:1- English 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES- 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features- Conversation with critics Molly Haskell and Robert Polito- Excerpt from a 1970 episode of The David Frost Show featuring actor Joan Crawford- Joan Craw¬ford: The Ultimate Movie Star, a 2002 feature-length documentary- Q&A with actor Ann Blyth from 2006, presented by filmmaker Marc Huestis and conducted by film historian Eddie Muller- Segment from a 1969 episode of the Today show featuring Mildred Pierce novelist James M. Cain- Trailer- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing- PLUS: An essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith- Cover by Sean Phillips

• Johnny Guitar (Masters of Cinema) Limited-Edition Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (20/09/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce) plays Vienna, a saloon owner with a sordid past. Persecuted by the townspeople, Vienna must protect her life and her property when a lynch mob led by her sexually repressed rival, Emma Small (Mercedes McCambridge; All The King's Men), attempts to frame her for a string of robberies she did not commit. Enter Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden; Dr. Strangelove: or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb), a guitar-strumming ex-gunfighter who has a history with Vienna. Mis-understood by US audiences upon release, the film was embraced by European cineastes and is now regarded as one of the greatest western pictures of all time. An intensely stylised masterpiece from director Nicholas Ray, Johnny Guitar makes its UK debut on Blu-ray as part of the Masters of Cinema series. Special Features Hardbound Slipcase 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K restoration of the original film elements, framed in the film's originally intended aspect ratio of 1.66:1 Brand new commentary by critic Geoff Andrew, author of The Films of Nicholas Ray: The Poet of Nightfall, newly recorded for this release Brand new video piece by Tony Rayns Brand new video essay by David Cairns Brand new interview with Susan Ray Archival introduction to Johnny Guitar by Martin Scorsese Trailer PLUS: 60-page collector's book featuring new essays on the making of Johnny Guitar and on female gunslingers in the western genre, both by western expert Howard Hughes; an essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum; and archival writing and ephemera *All extras subject to change

• Carry On Henry | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £24.99   |  Saving you £-12.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Shot in the bright postal colours of a seaside postcard, 1971's Carry On Henry applies the usual Carry On sniggering to the married life of Henry VIII. Talbot Rothwell's script is standard bedroom farce and full of jokes about choppers, while the threat of beheading and the actuality of torture are constantly present but only as the terrible things that happen to cartoon characters who will be back next time. Sid James turns in one of his better performances as the endlessly lecherous and fickle Henry, married to Joan Sims and lusting after Barbara Windsor. There is a genuine sexual chemistry between James and Windsor, which at times almost breaks open the farce formula. The usual regulars--Kenneth Williams as Thomas Cromwell, Terry Scott as Cardinal Wolsey, Charles Hawtrey as Sir Roger--do their usual turns; Williams is more subdued than usual, while Hawtrey hugely enjoys playing the Queen's secret lover. This was not one of the high points of the series, but it has its own curious charm. --Roz Kaveney

• Johnny Guitar | DVD | (04/04/2005) from £10.80   |  Saving you £5.19 (48.06%)   |  RRP £15.99

  One of the stranger westerns to come out of Hollywood the title character is played by the imposing Sterling Hayden. Johnny Guitar is the former lover of Arizona saloon owner Vienna (Joan Crawford). Although her bar isn't bringing in any money Vienna knows that when the railroad is complete customers won't be a problem anymore. Righteous local Emma Small is most unhappy about Vienna's bar and the prospect of more settlers. Emma will do almost anything to purge the town of Vien

• Friends With Money | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £5.91   |  Saving you £17.07 (584.59%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jennifer Aniston stars in this drama about three married women, their husbands and their lone single friend.

• Carry On Up The Jungle | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Carry On Up the Jungle has worn less well than some of the others in the series, simply because the African exploration genre it parodies--with its cannibals, great white hunters and lost Amazon tribes--is so entirely out of fashion. Still, Frankie Howerd made so comparatively few films that one which has him as an ornithologist searching for rare birds in the company of Joan Sims and Sid James is not going to be entirely without interest; he has few great moments here, but runs through his usual repertoire of groans and horse-faced sorrowful expressions with brio. The idea of Terry Scott playing Tarzan is in itself such a good joke that it hardly matters that most of what follows is him swinging, on ropes, into obstacles. On the DVD: The DVD has no special features whatever. It is presented in 1.77:1 ratio with mono sound. --Roz Kaveney

• Carry On Loving | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £11.27   |  Saving you £1.72 (15.26%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Setting a Carry On film in a marriage bureau has a certain self-serving obviousness, so it's hardly surprising that Carry On Loving milks the idea for all it's worth. The Wedded Bliss Agency is of course a pretty dubious outfit, being run by Sid (James) and Sophie Bliss (Hattie Jacques), who together are the worst possible example for both marriage and their own profession: they constantly snipe at each other, they aren't actually married and their sophisticated computer matching system is in fact a complete fake. The remainder of the team are mostly cast as hapless clients, with predictable but often very funny situations arising from the various mismatches engineered by the agency, such as the inevitable misunderstanding over one client's interest in modelling. Yes, the humour is about as subtle as a flatulent elephant, but you can't help entering into the spirit of the thing. If there's an outstanding performance it has to be that of Imogen Hassall, who handles her transformation from round-shouldered frump to well-bred love goddess with considerable expertise and a genuine sense of fun. --Roger Thomas

• Carry On Up The Jungle | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £4.88   |  Saving you £8.11 (166.19%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Carry On Up the Jungle has worn less well than some of the others in the series, simply because the African exploration genre it parodies--with its cannibals, great white hunters and lost Amazon tribes--is so entirely out of fashion. Still, Frankie Howerd made so comparatively few films that in one which has him as an ornithologist searching for rare birds in the company of Joan Sims and Sid James is not going to be entirely without interest. He has few great moments here, but runs through his usual repertoire of groans and horse-faced sorrowful expressions with brio. The idea of Terry Scott playing Tarzan is in itself such a good joke that it hardly matters that most of what follows is him swinging, on ropes, into obstacles. --Roz Kaveney

• Affair To Remember, An / Kiss Them For Me / People Will Talk / Born To Be Bad | DVD | (31/05/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £11.99

  This box set features four classic Cary Grant films. An Affair To Remember: In this poignant and humorous love story nominated for four Academy Awards Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr meet on an ocean liner and fall deeply in love. Though each is engaged to someone else they agree to meet six months later at the Empire State Building if they still feel the same way about each other. But a tragic accident prevents their rendezvous and the lovers' future takes an emotional and unce