"Actor: Lillian Hall Davis"

• Alfred Hitchcock | DVD | (28/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Secret Agent (1936): Alfred Hitchcock filmed Somerset Maugham's WWI spy story 'Ashenden' with his typical mix of ironic humour and suspenseful set pieces. Novelist Edgar Brodie (John Gielgud) has his death faked by British Intelligence. Giving him a new identity as Richard Ashenden they persuade him to undertake an espionage commission in Switzerland. Accompanied by beautiful Elsa Carrington (Madeleine Carroll) posing as his wife and the General (Peter Lorre) an insane professional killer Brodie/Ashenden becomes embroiled in murder intrigue and a pursuit through the Swiss Alps... The Farmer's Wife (1928): Samuel Sweetland (Jameson Thomas) is a condescending farmer who finds himself all alone. His wife has died and his daughter has just gotten married. To find a new spouse Sweetland and his housekeeper Minta (Lillian Hall-Davis) make a list of the women who live nearby assuming that any one of them would kill to be his bride. But farmer Sweetland is in for a big surprise--and his ego is in for a major bruising--until the lovelorn Sweetland can acknowledge that he is secretly admired by his housekeeper. Gordon Harker gives an amusing performance as the old farmhand in this faithful adaptation of a play by Eden Phillpotts. Rich And Strange (1931): Mixing silent film techniques with the new element of sound - only one-fifth of the film offers dialogue - Rich And Strange tells the charming story of Fred Hill (Henry Kendall) and his wife Emily (Joan Barry) a small-town British couple who inherit some money from a rich uncle and suddenly decide to take a world cruise. Both however find themselves out of their element and their attempts at extramarital adventures fail miserably. Their newfound sophistication having backfired the couple will have to try to return to good old England but their journey will be full of mishaps and unexpected disaster. Released under the title East Of Shanghai in the United States the film was based on the novel by Dale Collins and was a departure for Hitchcock in both style and tone. Juno And The Paycock (1930): Juno And The Paycock is set in Ireland chronicling the financial and emotional ups and downs of the Boyle clan. When the father learns that he is about to inherit a fortune he and his family go shopping with a vengeance and rack up some serious debts. Furthermore the promise of wealth also makes the Boyles very haughty and they even dump their working-class friends. However the Boyles find themselves in big trouble - financially and otherwise - when it is revealed that there is no inheritance after all. Juno And The Paycock was the first solo screenwriting credit for Alma Reville Hitchcock's wife and lifelong collaborator. The film was based on Sean O'Casey's hit play; it was released in the United States under the title The Shame Of Mary Boyle. The Lady Vanishes (1938): Intrigue and espionage and the effects on the lives and futures of passengers aboard a Trans-Continental Express emerge when a girl traveller (Margaret Lockwood) returning from a holiday strikes up an acquaintance with a middle-aged English governess who during the journey mysteriously disappears from her compartment. The girl seeking an explanation for the disappearance is accused of hallucinating and is nearly convinced that her new friend does not exist. However further enquiries made among the passengers reveal the curious behaviour of a group of foreign government agents who are also travelling as passengers... Classic Hitchcock!

• Farmer's Wife | DVD | (24/07/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A