"Actor: Kay Francis"

• Funny Girl / Funny Lady | DVD | (08/10/2012) from £7.99   |  Saving you £2.00 (25.03%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Funny Girl: One of the most popular movie musicals ever made, Funny Girl follows the early career of stage comedienne Fanny Brice - a role that earned Barbra Streisand the 1968 Oscar for Best Actress. As the film opens, only her mother believes Fanny can make it in show business. When she gets her first break at Keeney's Music Hall, her hilarious debut as a roller-skating chorus girl gets her hired as a comedienne. A year later Fanny is working for Florenz Ziegfeld in his famous Follie...

• TROUBLE IN PARADISE (Masters of Cinema) (DVD) | DVD | (12/11/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Jean Renoir once said of Ernst Lubitsch (Ninotchka, The Shop Around the Corner, and To Be or Not to Be): He invented the modern Hollywood. And none of the director's films has had greater influence or impact than Trouble in Paradise. With his first comedy of the sound era, Lubitsch created one of cinema's supreme visions of shimmering romance and worldly sophistication.When career thief Gaston Monescu (Herbert Marshall) meets glamorous pickpocket Lily (Miriam Hopkins), their love soon takes on a professional dimension as they initiate a plot to rob beautiful perfume magnate Mariette Colet (Kay Francis). But as Gaston gets ever closer to his intended prey, his romantic confusion, as well as the threat that his past will catch up with him, throws their plan into jeopardy.A breathtakingly nimble and elegant examination of the perils of mixing business with pleasure, this gloriously adult and witty comedy features a peerless screenplay by Samson Raphaelson, effervescent performances by its stars (including Charlie Ruggles and Edward Everett Horton), and exquisite direction by the legendary Lubitsch.

• Funny Girl | Blu Ray | (09/12/2024) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Witness the birth of a movie star as Barbra Streisand makes a screen debut for the ages in this musical spectacular. From humor to pathos, she hits every note as popular 1920s singer-comedian Fanny Brice, a young Jewish New Yorker whose spirit and supernova talent propel her to fame in the Ziegfeld Follies, but whose devotion to an unreliable gambler (a charismatic Omar Sharif) brings drama and heartbreak into her life. Adapted from a hit Broadway show and directed by Hollywood master William Wyler, Funny Girl hits emotional highs in unforgettable performances of songs like People and Don't Rain on My Parademoments that won Streisand one of the most richly deserved Best Actress awards in Oscar history.

• Oliver Twist -- Special Edition | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £12.98   |  Saving you £3.01 (23.19%)   |  RRP £15.99

  There have been many film and TV adaptations of Oliver Twist but this 1948 production from director David Lean remains the definitive screen interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. From the ominous symbolism of its opening storm sequence (in which Oliver's pregnant, ill-fated mother struggles to reach shelter before childbirth) to the mob-scene climax that provokes Bill Sikes's dreadful comeuppance, this breathtaking black-and-white film remains loyal to Dickens while distilling the story into its purest cinematic essence.Every detail is perfect--Lean even includes a coffin-shaped snuffbox for the cruel Mr. Sowerberry--and as young Oliver, eight-year-old John Howard Davies (who would later produce Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC) perfectly expresses the orphan's boyish wonderment, stern determination and waifish vulnerability. Best of all is Alec Guinness as Fagin, so devious and yet so delightfully appealing under his beak-nosed (and, at the time, highly controversial) make-up. (Many complained that Fagin's huge nose and greedy demeanour presented an anti-Semitic stereotype, even though Lean never identifies Fagin as Jewish; for this reason, the film wasn't shown in the US until three years after its British release.) Likewise, young Anthony Newley is artfully dodgy as Fagin's loyal accomplice, the Artful Dodger. Guinness's performance would later provide strong inspiration for Ron Moody's equally splendid portrayal of Fagin in the Oscar-winning Oliver! and while that 1968 musical remains wonderfully entertaining, it is Lean's film that hews closest to Dickens' vision. The authentic recreation of 19th-century London is marvellous to behold; Guy Green's cinematography is so shadowy and stylised that it almost qualifies as Dickensian film noir. Lean is surprisingly blunt in conveying Dickens's theme of cruelty but his film never loses sight of the warmth and humanity that Oliver embodies. --Jeff Shannon

• No Angels - Series 2 | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £41.99   |  Saving you £-12.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Channel 4's critically acclaimed comedy drama No Angels returns to DVD for its second outrageous series. Featuring all 8 episodes!

• The 4 Marx Brothers at Paramount | Blu Ray | (06/09/2021) from £26.79   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Marx Brothers Chico, Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo are one of the cornerstones of American comedy. Starting out in vaudeville, they conquered Broadway and the big screen in their own inimitable style, at once innovative, irreverent, anarchic, physical, musical, ludicrous and hilarious.With the advent of the 'talkies', the Brothers signed to Paramount Pictures and brought their stage act to cinema audiences. They made five films in five years, all of which are collected here: The Cocoanuts (1929), Animal Crackers (1930), Monkey Business (1931), Horse Feathers (1932) and one of the greatest comedies of all time, Duck Soup (1933).The Paramount era represents the Marx Brothers at their absolute finest, retaining all of the energy and controlled chaos of their stage shows. Plots are unimportant it's the gags, set-pieces and one-liners that matter: Why a duck? , Hello, I Must Be Going , Hooray for Captain Spaulding , That's the bunk! , Horse Feathers' Swordfish scene and classic mirror sequence in Duck Soup.Special Features:High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all five features, each scanned and restored in 4K from original film elements by UniversalOriginal 1.0 mono audioOptional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearingCommentary on The Cocoanuts by film scholar Anthony SlideCommentary on Animal Crackers by film historian Jeffrey VanceCommentary on Monkey Business by Marx Brothers historian Robert S Bader and Bill Marx, son of Harpo MarxCommentary on Horse Feathers by film critic FX FeeneyCommentary on Duck Soup by Bader and film critic Leonard MaltinThe Marx Brothers: Hollywood's Kings of Chaos, a feature-length documentary containing interviews with Leonard Maltin, Dick Cavett and others Three excerpts from NBC's The Today Show featuring interviews with Harpo Marx, Groucho Marx and Bill MarxSibling Revelry, an introduction to the Marx Brothers by critic David CairnsMONKEYNUTCRACKERDUCKFEATHERS, a video essay about the films by David Cairns

• Funny Girl | Blu Ray | (03/06/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  One of the most popular movie musicals ever made is now better than ever on Blu-ray! Funny Girl follows the early career of stage comedienne Fanny Brice a role that earned Barbra Streisand the 1968 Oscar for Best Actress. Only her mother believes Fanny can make it in show business but when she gets her first break at Keeney's Music Hall her hilarious debut gets her hired as a comedienne. Fanny becomes a star falls in love and marries Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif) a handsome gambler. The film's many memorable songs include Don't Rain on My Parade and the Streisand classic People. Special Features: All-New 4K Restoration of the Feature Film - Blu-ray Mastered from 4K Source Barabra in Movieland This is Streisand

• Funny Girl (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (09/12/2024) from £22.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Witness the birth of a movie star as Barbra Streisand makes a screen debut for the ages in this musical spectacular. From humor to pathos, she hits every note as popular 1920s singer-comedian Fanny Brice, a young Jewish New Yorker whose spirit and supernova talent propel her to fame in the Ziegfeld Follies, but whose devotion to an unreliable gambler (a charismatic Omar Sharif) brings drama and heartbreak into her life. Adapted from a hit Broadway show and directed by Hollywood master William Wyler, Funny Girl hits emotional highs in unforgettable performances of songs like People and Don't Rain on My Parademoments that won Streisand one of the most richly deserved Best Actress awards in Oscar history.

• Oliver Twist / Great Expectations | DVD | (17/03/2008) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-4.54 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An astonishingly good David Lean double-bill featuring his two Dickensian adaptations, Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), this is a reminder that cinema does not necessarily have to debase its literary sources, sometimes it can enhance them. Lean's painterly eye for evocative locations--be they windswept marshes or bustling London streets--provides the backdrop, but his focus on smaller details--the ominous tree in the graveyard with its almost human face, the reaction of Bill Sikes' dog to Nancy's murder--adds the vital ingredient that brings both place and character to life. Starring a youthful John Mills as Pip, Lean's Great Expectations is an unadulterated delight, a serendipitous gelling of screenplay, direction, cinematography and acting that produces an almost perfect film. The cast is exemplary, with Alec Guinness in his first (official) role as Pip's loyal pal Herbert Pocket; Martita Hunt is a cadaverous Miss Havisham; Finlay Currie transforms himself from truly threatening to entirely sympathetic as Magwitch; while the young Jean Simmons makes more of an impact as the girl Estella than Valerie Hobson does as the older incarnation. Perhaps best of all, though, is Francis Sullivan as the pragmatic but kindly attorney Jaggers. The cinematography alone (courtesy of Guy Green) would qualify Oliver Twist as a classic: the opening sequence of a lone woman struggling through the storm is an indelible cinematic image. Fortunately, Lean's film has many more aces up its sleeve thereafter, notably Alec Guinness' grotesque Fagin--a caricature certainly, but a three-dimensional one--and Robert Newton's utterly pitiless Bill Sikes. The skewed angles and unsettling chiaroscuro lighting transform London itself into another threatening character. --Mark Walker

• No Angels | DVD | (21/03/2005) from £5.99   |  Saving you £19.00 (317.20%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Every day the girls face life death and lunacy on the wards of St. Margaret's; every night they let off steam with a dangerous appetite for uncomplicated sex and unruly misbehaviour. Anji is set on an arranged marriage and Beth is determined to settle down with a rich consultant. In the meantime however they're both happy to practice their bedside manners. For single mum Lia juggling work and home can prove tricky. And acting sister Kate soon finds out that juggling work and love is even trickier... Still they can always rely on each other. And if the drugs don't work it's probably because the junior doctor's taken them. Featuring every episode from the first series!

• Funny Girl | Blu Ray | (17/09/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Oliver Twist | DVD | (11/10/1999) from £6.47   |  Saving you £3.52 (54.40%)   |  RRP £9.99

  There have been many film and TV adaptations of Oliver Twist but this 1948 production from director David Lean remains the definitive screen interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. From the ominous symbolism of its opening storm sequence (in which Oliver's pregnant, ill-fated mother struggles to reach shelter before childbirth) to the mob-scene climax that provokes Bill Sikes's dreadful comeuppance, this breathtaking black-and-white film remains loyal to Dickens while distilling the story into its purest cinematic essence.Every detail is perfect--Lean even includes a coffin-shaped snuffbox for the cruel Mr. Sowerberry--and as young Oliver, eight-year-old John Howard Davies (who would later produce Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC) perfectly expresses the orphan's boyish wonderment, stern determination and waifish vulnerability. Best of all is Alec Guinness as Fagin, so devious and yet so delightfully appealing under his beak-nosed (and, at the time, highly controversial) make-up. (Many complained that Fagin's huge nose and greedy demeanour presented an anti-Semitic stereotype, even though Lean never identifies Fagin as Jewish; for this reason, the film wasn't shown in the US until three years after its British release.) Likewise, young Anthony Newley is artfully dodgy as Fagin's loyal accomplice, the Artful Dodger. Guinness's performance would later provide strong inspiration for Ron Moody's equally splendid portrayal of Fagin in the Oscar-winning Oliver! and while that 1968 musical remains wonderfully entertaining, it is Lean's film that hews closest to Dickens' vision. The authentic recreation of 19th-century London is marvellous to behold; Guy Green's cinematography is so shadowy and stylised that it almost qualifies as Dickensian film noir. Lean is surprisingly blunt in conveying Dickens's theme of cruelty but his film never loses sight of the warmth and humanity that Oliver embodies. --Jeff Shannon

• Vipco's Vaults Of Horror | DVD | (03/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Vaults Of Horror - Shogun Assassin/Burning/Mutilator

• 3 Leading Ladies Of The Silver Screen - Vol. 2 - Of Human Bondage / Behave Yourself / Home Town Story | DVD | (01/11/2004) from £3.93   |  Saving you £1.06 (26.97%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Of Human Bondage: The love that lifted a man to paradise and hurled him back to earth again! This film is based on W. Somerset Maugham's classic novel of a young medical student's strange infatuation with a cheap and vulgar cockney waitress (Bette Davis). The infatuation turns into a mutually destructive affair. This is the film that brought Bette Davis to fame and secured her future roles as a tough domineering woman. Fine acting by the entire cast with Davis an absolu