The original and best version of Gaston Leroux's legendary book The Phantom Of The Opera is an awesome monument to the Golden Age of Hollywood starring ""The Man of a Thousand Faces"" Lon Chaney. In the film Chaney is Erik the horribly disfigured Phantom who leads a menacing existence in the catacombs and dungeons beneath the Paris Opera. When Erik falls in love with a beautiful prima donna (Mary Philbin) he kidnaps her and holds her hostage in his lair where he is destined to have
John Duttine stars as David Powlett-Jones who has been invalided out of the First World War and sent to work in a large public school in Devon. Utterly unconvinced of his teaching abilities he is persuaded to stay and so begins his long relationship with Bamfylde school...
On the night of his greatest triumph as a musical performer whilst surrounded by press men Tommy looks back on how he got started.... With a career in the Merchant Navy a second hand guitar an anonymous Calypso bar far far away - this is how the The Tommy Steele Story begins.
When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and story lines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep-down sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whateley's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter stating he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford
The face of WWE Randy Orton defends the newly unified WWE World Heavyweight Championship against John Cena in what could be the biggest rematch in WWE history. Awaiting the Champion of Champions will be the WWE Superstar who can outlast 29 other men in the epic 30-man Royal Rumble Match. Will the last man standing be 'The Animal' Batista who just returned to WWE after almost 4 years to reclaim his place at the top of the food chain? Plus behemoths Brock Lesnar and Big Show collide. And after infiltrating the inner sanctum of The Wyatts Daniel Bryan tries to silence the family patriarch once and for all. The road to WrestleMania begins at one of WWE's proudest traditions Royal Rumble. Matches Include: Royal Rumble Kick-off WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Cody Rhodes and Goldust Vs. New Age Outlaws Daniel Bryan Vs. Bray Wyatt Big Show Vs. Brock Lesnar WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match Randy Orton Vs. John Cena 30-Man Royal Rumble Match
Penguins Of Madagascar: The Classic Penguins Christmas Caper
Hell's Angels on Wheels takes you back to an era of drug and gasoline fuelled rebellion. Photographed by Lazlo Kovacs (Paper Moon Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and starring Jack Nicholson in one of his finest roles this movie goes hog wild! The director Richard Rush worked alongside the notorious Sonny Barger and the Oakland Hells Angels as a major background source. Adam Rourke plays Buddy the head of the Angels and Nicholson plays Poet a gas jockey who joins the brotherhood. Nicholson soon comes to realise that there are a lot of slaves in Buddy's hell and he doesn't want to be one of them. Until that realisation however he delights in the violence and the orgies - which allows Nicholson to give his baby-faced killer grin a thorough work-out.
Baby's Day out The Cotwell family arrange a family portrait only to discover that the photographers are kidnappers! Dunston Checks In An orangutan called Dunston checks into a hotel which he proceeds to turn upside down. The manager's son Kyle is determined to help Dunston escape to a new life...
With this third season, Frasier scored an impressive hat trick, winning its third successive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. You don't need too much analysis to get to the bottom of this unprecedented success. The series was a primetime oasis of wit and sophistication, with welcome forays into farce that pricked Frasier's bubble of pomposity. His priceless reactions to the assaults on his dignity are worthy of Jack Benny. Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) can be infuriating, as in "The Focus Group," in which he is obsessed with knowing why a lone focus group participant (guest star Tony Shalhoub) doesn't like him. But he is also endearing in his delusional view of himself as, in the words of one mocking bystander, a "man of the people." Frasier meets his match in new station owner Kate Costas (Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl). Their combative relationship turns to lust over the course of the first 10 episodes. But the season's most pivotal story arc is the separation of Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Maris. "Moon Dance," which marked Grammer's directorial debut, is a series benchmark, as a crestfallen Niles tangos with his unrequited love, Daphne (Jane Leeves), at a high society ball. Not that the Crane family still doesn't have issues to work out. Frasier cannot abide being beaten at chess by Martin (John Mahoney) in "Chess Pains." Frasier and Niles ill-advisedly go into joint practice in "Shrink Rap," and find themselves on the opposite sides of a sanity hearing in "Crane vs. Crane." Lilith is sorely missed, but in this season's blast-from-the-past episode, Shelley Long returns in "The Show Where Diane Comes Back." It is a joy to see Cheers resurrected, if only in Diane's self-absorbed new play, which Frasier agrees to back. And any episode with Frasier's amoral agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris) is must-see television. Frasier's humor was character-based, rather than topical, giving it a longer shelf life. For those who lament the end of one of television's gold standard series, this box set will be excellent therapy. --Donald Liebenson
The Longest Day, producer Darryl F Zanuck's epic account of June 6, 1944, is Hollywood's definitive D-Day movie. More modern accounts such as Saving Private Ryan and the mini-series Band of Brothers are more vividly realistic, but Zanuck's production is the only one to attempt the daunting task of covering that fateful day from all perspectives. From the German high command and front line officers to the French Resistance and all the key Allied participants, the screenplay by Cornelius Ryan, based on his own authoritative book, is as factually accurate a depiction of events as possible. Zanuck picked three different directors to handle the German, French and Allied sequences respectively and the result should have been a grittily realistic semi-documentary work of unparalleled authenticity. That it is not is due to the unfortunate decision to populate the movie with an apparently endless parade of stars: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery and Kenneth Moore to name a few all pop up from time to time; while Roddy McDowall and Richard Burton, on leave from the set of Cleopatra, also get cameos. The end result is an uneasy mix of verisimilitude and Hollywood star-power. Add to that the need for every character to provide almost endless explanatory exposition and the film falls a little flat for too much of its running time. The set-piece battles are still spectacular, however, and if the landings on Omaha beach lack the graphic gore of Private Ryan they nonetheless show the sheer scale and audacity of the invasion. Despite its top-heavy cast, The Longest Day is still the best D-Day movie ever made.On the DVD: The black and white print is in excellent condition, as is the remixed Dolby 5.0. Made in 1969, the 50-minute supplementary documentary "D-Day Revisited" has producer Zanuck revisiting key locations in Normandy, chatting to the locals in rather stiff French and providing a personal narrative of the events of June 6, 1944 intercut with scenes from his film. The sight of the elderly Zanuck standing on Omaha Beach or beside the headstone of an unknown soldier is easily as poignant as the bookend scenes of Saving Private Ryan, but without the Spielbergian sentiment. --Mark Walker
When hunter Ben (Andrews) happens upon a fugitive (Brennan) and his daughter (Baxter) living in a Georgia swamp he falls in love with the girl. However for them to be together he must first somehow pursuade the fugitive to return to town... A little seen wartime gem from French maestro Jean Renoir.
A collection of four Catherine Cookson classics: The Mallen Streak: The story of Thomas the Squire of High Banks Hall who wasted his fortune and fathered many illegitimate children each marked with a flash of snowy white hair. Part 1 in the series. The Mallen Girls: The Squire of High Banks Hall has to move to a cottage with his two wards Barbara and Constance. The Squire's two bastards become regular visitors there and eventually Constance agrees to marry Donald. Then one night Barbara is savagely raped. Part 2 in the series. The Mallen Secret: Before the late Squire Thomas Mallen killed himself he left a trail of illegitimate children all over the hills of 19th Century Northumberland. One of them Miss Barbara is deaf and has been kept from the truth by her governess. Now a beautiful and wilful young woman she falls in love with her cousin Michael whose mother is also obsessed with keeping him ignorant of his own illegitimacy. Part 3 in the series. The Mallen Curse: Barbara has been rejected by her cousin Michael and enters into a loveless marriage with Dan whose family the Benshams have owned the Hall since her father Squire Mallen went bankrupt. The widowed Mr. Bensham proposes to Anna Brigmore fulfilling her ruthless ambition to be mistress of High Banks. But their happiness is soon shattered when they discover that Barbara and Michael have become lovers again. Part 4 in the series.
Elena and Vara believe they are leaving their home in Moldova one of the poorest countries in Europe for a better life in London. However they soon realise that they have in fact been sold to traffickers and are being taken to the dark and seedy side of the capital to work as sex slaves. Daniel Appleton (Simm) is a researcher and investigator for London-based charity Speak For Freedom investigating the plight of girls sold into sexual slavery. A chance meeting with Elena changes Daniel's life forever as he uncovers a potentially explosive corruption scandal involving Kernwell a private US contractor supplying troops to the international peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. When the girls' story reaches Madeleine Harlsburgh (Wendy Crewson) the wife of Kernwell's chief she starts to suspect that Kernwell employees may themselves be trafficking women. As she seeks out the truth she finds herself forced to choose between her husband's reputation and her family's happiness. The interweaving strands of this story combine in a single explosive narrative that exposes the shocking and all too real network of sex trafficking. Winner of 8 BAFTAs including Best Drama Serial and Best Actress for Anamaria Marinca.
Philip Glenister takes the role of Prison Officer David Murdoch whose life becomes complicated when on a routine visit to a Manchester hospital with female prisoner Jules Hope (MyAnna Buring) events spiral out of control. David takes a phone call, which will change his life forever, and he suddenly finds him on the wrong side of the law. With the life of his heavily pregnant daughter, Lucy (Sammy Winward), threatened, David has no alternative but to go on the run and inadvertently becomes the prey. Unaware of the danger to Emma, DS Susan Reinhardt, whose personal happiness seems forever blighted, tries to unravel why David is suddenly behaving totally out of character. With his reputation as a prison officer intact, Reinhardt attempts to unravel why he makes every effort to strenuously dodge the Police.
A train rockets across Eastern Europe. On board are agent Kristoff (Van Damme) and Galina a beautiful high-tech thief. Holding the passengers hostage are a band of terrorists who have come to steal the bioweapon on board. With the train off course and on a collision course for danger Kristoff becomes a one-man army taking on the terrorists and trying to save the lives of everyone on board.
Genghis Khan! The world trembled at his name! John Wayne stars as the Mongolian chieftain Temujin better known as Genghis Khan. The Mongol warlord must do battle against the rival tribe that killed his father however the battle pales in comparison with Temujin's home life. He must attempt to woo the heart of the red-haired Tartar prisoner Borlai (Susan Hayward) whom he captured in a raid...
Fatal Instinct is a hilarious no-holds-barred send-up of such stylish thrillers as Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction. Ned Ravine (Armande Assante) is a cop and a lawyer. His wife wants to kill him his secretary wants to sleep with him and there's a mysterious client who wants to sleep with him and kill him. That's Monday. Who knows what Tuesday will bring?
Turner And Hooch (Dir. Roger Spottiswoode) (1989):Tom Hanks stars as Scott Turner a compulsively neat detective whose tidy world goes to the dogs when he's forced to team up with a drooling slob of a junkyard pooch named Hooch. Not exactly man's best friend Hooch turns Turner's life upside down wrecking Turner's home career and budding romance! It's a hilarious non-stop test of wills between this mismatched duo leading to the most unlikely friendship you've ever seen! Splash (Dir. Ron Howard) (1984): A star-studded cast including Tom Hanks Daryl Hannah and John Candy join together for this hilarious comedy. The fun starts when a successful businessman (Hanks) falls in love with the girl of his dreams (Daryl Hannah). There's one big complication though; he's fallen hook line and sinker for a mermaid.
Fritz The Cat: A hilarious animated film following the sexual and other wild adventures of a ""long haired"" drop-out cat. A milestone in the world of cartoons - a huge critical and popular success. The Nine Lives Of Fritz: He's come a long way baby! Fritz now married and with a son is desperate to escape from the domestic hell in which he now finds himself... Lighting up a joint he begins to dream about his eight other lives hoping to find one that will provide a
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