"Actor: Laura La Plante"

• Early Universal VOL. 1 (Masters of Cinema) 2-Disc Blu-ray Edition | Blu Ray | (13/09/2021) from £14.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present three early silent features from Universal Pictures, all fully restored as part of the studio's ongoing restoration program. Skinner's Dress Suit (dir. William A. Seiter, 1926) Reginald Denny stars as a shy clerk who asks his boss for a raise at the urging of his wife. His request is rejected, but he lies to his wife, who immediately goes out and buys an expensive suit, an act that upends his once-ordered life. (4K Restoration) The Shield of Honor (dir. Emory Johnson, 1927) The LAPD has a new method of fighting crime, the Air Police! Their newest recruit, young hotshot pilot Jack MacDowell (Neil Hamilton), is tasked with catching a gang of jewellery thieves. (2K Restoration) (Worldwide Debut on Blu-ray) The Shakedown (dir. William Wyler, 1929) Dave Roberts (James Murray) is a fighter better known for taking falls in fixed fights than for taking home the prize money. But then he falls head-over-heels for a fiery waitress (Barbara Kent) and a rough-and-tumble orphan (Jack Hanlon), and he begins to dramatically alter his life inside and outside of the ring. (4K Restoration) Special Features: Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from restorations undertaken by Universal Pictures (Skinner's Dress Suit and The Shakedown restored in 4K, The Shield of Honor restored in 2K) Skinner's Dress Suit score by Leo Birenberg The Shield of Honor score by Alex Kovacs The Shakedown score by Michael Gatt Audio Commentary tracks on all three features A collection of additional materials from the early era of Universal Pictures, with complimentary analysis by silent film experts and historians PLUS: A Collector's Booklet featuring new writing on the films included in this set * All extras subject to change

• THE LAST WARNING (Masters of Cinema) Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (15/02/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eureka Entertainment to release Paul Leni's THE LAST WARNING, the final film from one of German cinema's great filmmakers, presented on Blu-ray from a 4K restoration on home video for the first time in the UK as a part of The Masters of Cinema Series from 15 February 2021. The first print run of 2000 copies will feature a Limited-Edition O-card Slipcase. Adapted from Thomas F. Fallon's 1922 Broadway play of the same name, The Last Warning is based on the story The House of Fear by Wadsworth Camp and centres on an unsolved murder that occurs during a live Broadway performance. When the victim's body goes missing, the death remains unsolved and the theatre is condemned. That is, until years later when a suspicious new producer arrives to restage the play with the original cast and crew. The Last Warning was Paul Leni's final film before his untimely death, and a prime showcase for Universal's leading lady of the era, Laura La Plante (The Cat and the Canary, Skinner's Dress Suit). A visual artist at the peak of his career, Leni's camera never stops shifting, offering cutaways and trick shots involving nervous could-be culprits, a highly suspicious sleuth, and cast members who suddenly disappear in the darkened theatre. The result is a cinematic funhouse that restlessly cross-examines the suspense of the story's stage play against the real murder mystery saga, all unfolding amid the outstanding production design of Charles D. Hall. Part of Universal's ongoing silent restoration initiative, The Last Warning honours the studio's rich film history that has spanned more than a century. Universal's team of restoration experts conducted a worldwide search for The Last Warning's available elements, ultimately working with materials from the Cinémathèque française and the Packard Humanities Institute Collection in the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The Masters of Cinema series is proud to present the completed 4K restoration on Blu-ray, the first time the film has ever been available on home video in the UK. Special Edition Features: Limited Edition O-card Slipcase (First Print Run of 2000 Copies Only) | 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from Universal's 4K restoration, available for the first time ever on home video in the UK | Score by composer Arthur Barrow | Brand new audio commentary with horror and fantasy authors Stephen Jones and Kim Newman | Paul Leni and The Last Warning video essay by film historian and author John Soister on Leni's final film | Rare stills gallery | PLUS: A Collector's Booklet featuring a new essay by Philip Kemp and a short essay by composer Arthur Barrow on his score for the film

• THE CAT AND THE CANARY (Masters of Cinema) Special Edition Blu-ray | Blu Ray | (22/04/2024) from £20.59   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  4K restoration of Paul Leni's definitive haunted house thriller Eureka Entertainment to release THE CAT AND THE CANARY, Paul Leni's ground-breaking masterpiece of early cinematic horror. Presented for the first time ever on Blu-ray from a glorious 4K restoration, as part of the Masters of Cinema Series. Available from 22 April 2024, the first print run of 2000 copies will feature a Limited-edition O-card slipcase. Paul Leni (The Man Who Laughs) directs one of the most important and influential films in the early history of American genre cinema, which perfected the old dark house formula and set the stage for the Universal horror cycle of the 1930s. Twenty years after the death of millionaire Cyrus West, his surviving relatives are called together in a decaying mansion on the Hudson River. There, they gather to hear West's lawyer Roger Crosby (Tully Marshall) read his last will and testament and discover that West has left everything to his niece Annabelle (Laura La Plante). That is, at least, on the condition that she is judged to be legally sane. As the family settles in for the evening, tensions rise when they are informed that a murderer nicknamed the Cat has escaped from a nearby asylum and is suspected to be somewhere on the grounds. Crosby soon disappears in mysterious circumstances, which proves to be just the first in a series of horrifying events that will punctuate a long, dark night of terror during which Annabelle's sanity will be called into question again and again. Based upon the 1922 stage production by John Willard, The Cat and the Canary is a perfect blend of horror and black comedy and stands at the apex of a cycle of films adapted from mystery plays throughout the 1920s. It later inspired James Whale's The Old Dark House and has been remade several times but never bettered. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present this cornerstone of horror cinema for the first time ever on Blu-ray from a glorious 4K restoration. Product Features Limited-edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Graham Humphreys [First print run of 2000 copies only] | 1080p HD presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K digital restoration of the original negatives supplied by MoMA | DTS-HD MA 5.1 score by Robert Israel; compiled, synchronised and edited by Gillian B. Anderson, based on music cue sheets compiled and issued for the original 1927 release | Brand new audio commentary by author Stephen Jones and author / critic Kim Newman | Brand new audio commentary by Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby | Mysteries Mean Dark Corners brand new video essay by David Cairns & Fiona Watson | Pamela Hutchinson on The Cat and the Canary brand new interview with writer and film critic Pamela Hutchinson | Phuong Le on The Cat and the Canary brand new interview with film critic Phuong Le | A Very Eccentric Man & Yeah, a Cat! extracts from John Willard's original play | Lucky Strike Paul Leni gives a full-throated endorsement to the product that got him through filming The Cat and the Canary | PLUS: A collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Richard Combs, Craig Ian Mann, and Imogen Sara Smith

• King of Jazz | Blu Ray | (09/07/2018) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A spectacular songanddance revue filmed in luminous early Technicolorrediscovered and newly restored Made during the early years of the movie musical, this exuberant revue was one of the most extravagant, eclectic, and technically ambitious Hollywood productions of its day. Starring the bandleader PAUL WHITEMAN, then widely celebrated as the King of Jazz, the film drew from Broadway variety shows of the time to present a spectacular array of sketches, performances by such acts as the Rhythm Boys (featuring a young BING CROSBY), and orchestral numbers overseen by Whiteman himself (including a largerthanlife rendition of GEORGE GERSHWIN's Rhapsody in Blue)all lavishly staged by veteran theatre director JOHN MURRAY ANDERSON and beautifully shot in early Technicolor. Long available only in incomplete form, King of Jazz appears here newly restored to its original glory, offering a fascinating snapshot of the way mainstream American popular culture viewed itself at the dawn of the 1930s. Features: New 4K digital restoration by Universal Pictures, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New audio commentary featuring jazz and film critic Gary Giddins, music and cultural critic Gene Seymour, and musician and bandleader Vince Giordano New introduction by Giddins New interview with musician and pianist Michael Feinstein Four new video essays by authors and archivists James Layton and David Pierce on the development and making of King of Jazz Deleted scenes and alternate openingtitle sequence All Americans, a 1929 short film featuring a version of the Melting Pot number that was restaged for the finale of King of Jazz I Know Everybody and Everybody's Racket, a 1933 short film featuring Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra Two Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from 1930, featuring music and animation from King of Jazz

• King of Jazz (The Criterion Collection) | Blu Ray | (27/03/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A