"Actor: Mickey Spillane"

• Columbo - Season 3 | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £27.99

  Oh, just one more thing, mystery mavens--get ready to be mystified and entertained by the award-winning third season of Columbo, starring Peter Falk as the rumpled but unbeatable Lieutenant. Having taken home Emmys for outstanding limited drama and lead actor in its '71-'72 debut season, Columbo was again named best drama for its third season ('73-'74). The reason for the repeat success? The formula remained the same: intelligent, engaging scripts and direction, guest performances by top actors, and, of course, Falk at center stage as Columbo, the most unlikely of supersleuths, but unquestionably one of the sharpest (the role would later earn Falk three more Emmys between 1975 and 1990). The 10 episodes compiled in this two-disc set again feature top talent from film and television: directors include veterans Jeannot Swarc and Boris Sagal, as well as actors Nicholas Colasanto (better known as Coach from Cheers) and Ben Gazzara (Falk's frequent co-star in the films of John Cassavetes), while the season's scripts feature contributions from Stephen J. Cannell, Steven Bochco, and Larry Cohen. And in regard to co-stars, Falk matched wits with the likes of Donald Pleasance, Martin Sheen, Vincent Price, Robert Culp (in one of four turns on the series), Jose Ferrer, Ida Lupino, and in two novel but effective casting choices, Johnny Cash and hard-boiled mystery scribe Mickey Spillane. And there's even a bonus feature in the form of an episode of the spinoff series Mrs. Columbo, starring Kate Mulgrew as the Lieutenant's oft-mentioned better half. In short, it's 11 hours of solid sleuthing for armchair detectives. --Paul Gaita, Amazon.com

• Columbo - Season 4 | DVD | (18/09/2006) from £11.44   |  Saving you £19.81 (194.60%)   |  RRP £29.99

  ""Oh just one more thing..."" Peter Falk dusts down his trenchcoat for another season of Columbo. Again there's a veritable smorgasbord of stars and big-names behind each episode... Featuring all the cigar-chewin' episodes from Columbo Season 4 including the Emmy-award winning episodes By Dawn's Early Light and Playback! Episodes Comprise: 1. An Exercise In Fatality 2. Negative Reaction 3. By Dawn's Early Light 4. Troubled Waters 5. Playback 6. A Deadly State Of Mind

• The Girl Hunters | DVD | (24/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer murder mysteries have sold millions of copies worldwide and it is Spillane himself that brings this tough gritty character to the screen in this film noir thriller. Mike Hammer's secretary has been kidnapped by a ruthless band of communist spies who want Hammer dead prepare for some rough ripping action as he goes in search of her even more dangerous is the bikini clad widow who's caught Hammer's eye!

• Ring Of Fear | DVD | (14/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Terror takes the center ring under the big top in this suspense thriller from John Wayne's Batjac Production Company. After escaping from a mental institution a homicidal maniac named Dublin O'Malley (Sean McClory) integrates himself among comfortable familiar surroundings of the past - the famed Clyde Beatty Circus. When a series of accidents and close calls threaten to wreck the show owner/trainer Clyde Beatty (playing himself) and circus manager Frank Wallace (Pat O'Brien) decide to call in crime expert and celebrated detective novelist Mickey Spillane to help solve the mystery. Spillane's sleuthing uncovers the apparent target of the frightening mayhem - beautiful aerialist Valerie St. Dennis (Marian Carr) who has become the obsession of the deranged O'Malley. Amid the roar of the lions and melodious tones of the calliope come screams of fear in this taut and exciting drama.