"Actor: June Duprez"

• The Four Feathers | DVD | (19/06/2007) from £3.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (150.38%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Far too many film versions of the The Four Feathers have been made over the years, which is especially surprising considering that this 1939 Korda brothers production is surely definitive. The film simultaneously celebrates and pokes fun at British imperialism, showing the kind of dogged stiff-upper-lippery that forged an empire, but also the blinkered attitudes and crass snobbishness of the ruling classes (and those plummy accents--did people ever really talk like that?). Whatever political subtext may or may not be read into it, though, the film is best celebrated for its magnificent vistas: partially made on location in the Sudan, as well as at the famous Denham Studios, this is British cinema from the days when it thought to rival Hollywood for sheer spectacle. Vincent Korda's production design and the glorious early colour cinematography are helped greatly by fellow Hungarian émigré Miklos Rozsa's epic score. John Clements is the notional hero, the man who is determined to show the world he is not a coward after resigning his commission (even though it would surely have saved everyone a lot of bother if he had just stuck with it) but the film is stolen by Ralph Richardson, magnificent as an officer struck blind and led to safety by Clements' Harry Faversham. The latter scenes when Richardson's Captain Durrance realises the truth and its implications are the most poignant and emotionally truthful in the film. C Aubrey Smith is delightful as the old buffer who relives his battles on the dinner table; to a modern audience, however, the "blackface" casting of John Laurie as the Khalifa strikes a discordant note. But adjusting some expectations for its vintage, this is a triumph of derring-do and far and away the most gripping version of this oft-told story on film. --Mark Walker

• Thief Of Baghdad | DVD | (19/06/2006) from £7.39   |  Saving you £2.60 (35.18%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This wondrous fantasy comes out of the pages of ""A Thousand and One Nights."" When the nefarious Jaffar usurps the Sultan's throne the princess's beloved suitor Ahmad and the strong and handsome thief Abu use magic to help the king regain power. To defeat them Jaffar causes Ahmad to go blind and turns Abu into a dog. But the heroes overcome these adversities and conquer many other mortal dangers before reclaiming the kingdom. The Thief of Bagdad made quite an impact on the

• The Four Feathers | DVD | (12/02/2007) from £10.98   |  Saving you £1.00 (11.12%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The young son of a war hero is branded a coward by his friends and fiance when he resigns his military commission shortly before his regiment is due to leave for action in the Sudan. He then disguises himself as an Arab and aids his former colleagues in an attampt to redeem himself of cowardice.

• Thief of Bagdad | DVD | (26/01/2015) from £9.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (87.61%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Alexander Korda's 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad offers stirring proof that a strong story and vivid visual sense can still dazzle modern movie-goers without the aid of computer graphics or intricate special effects. Korda wrangled a virtual committee of directors (including a young Michael Powell and visionary designer and art director William Cameron Menzies) and orchestrated a still effective series of optical effects to give this Technicolor fable a striking look that mates cinematic energy with a painterly, storybook aesthetic. Even from a 21st century vantage point, this decidedly pre-digital production remains charming, distilling a familiar tale of genies, evil wizards and exotic adventures into an archetypal heroic quest. In remaking Douglas Fairbanks' hugely popular, technically ambitious 1926 silent production, Korda repositions the title character as a much younger figure with the casting of a teenaged Sabu as the youthful thief, Abu. That shift makes his enemy, the evil Jaffar (Conrad Veidt), much more threatening while giving the fable an innocence the swashbuckling Fairbanks could not supply. In Rex Ingram, the film supplies a genie with a winning contrast in his thundering voice and mischievous smile, while June Duprez provides the requisite beauty to the princess whose fate becomes Abu's test of courage. Fellow Hungarian émigré Miklós Rózsa adorns the movie with one of his earliest and most evocative music scores. It's one measure of this Thief's appeal that at least two more remakes followed, but none have trumped this adaptation. --Sam Sutherland

• The Lion Has Wings | DVD | (20/07/2015) from £7.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (62.58%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Documentary-style war feature from Alexander Korda. The story compares wartime Germany, under the domination of a fanatical madman, with the dignified calm of rural England and follows Wing Commander Richardson (Ralph Richardson) as he engages in battles in the skies while his wife (Merle Oberon) waits patiently for his return.

• The Lion Has Wings | DVD | (08/02/2010) from £12.49   |  Saving you £-2.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This documentary style film starring Ralph Richardson and Merle Oberon was made to praise the RAF at the start of World War II. It focuses on the families who have connections with the RAF. The film was sponsored by the Ministry of Information and it fulfilled its aim of inspiring confidence in the hearts of its audience.