"Actor: Ralph Truman"

• The Malta Story | DVD | (17/05/2004) from £6.19   |  Saving you £3.80 (61.39%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In 1942 Malta is of critical importance to the Allied forces for it keeps the vital shipping supply lines open. As Peter Ross (Guinness) lands on the island and is attached to the local regiment he discovers aerial photographs that indicate Italian units are preparing to invade. Ross is selected to trace and destroy the enemy convoy before it is too late...

• Treasure Island | DVD | (12/02/2001) from £5.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (166.94%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Strap on your pantaloons and prepare to travel with Jim Hawkins and Blind Pew to one of the most famous fictional islands in history, Treasure Island. Walt Disney's 1950 adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's swashbuckling masterpiece has held up extremely well, with action and characterisations that feel freshly minted (although it's unlikely that the Mouse of today would sanction the high level of booze flowing throughout the picture). Great fun, with nary a wasted frame and, in the character of Robert Newton's much-imitated Long John, one of cinema's most boisterously crowd-pleasing villains ever. (Proving that you can't keep a good--er, bad man down, Newton would return with director Byron Haskins for the enjoyable sequel, Long John Silver.) Watching this classic is like having a flashback to some perfect Technicolor childhood. --Andrew Wright

• Henry V | DVD | (17/03/2003) from £6.44   |  Saving you £3.55 (55.12%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Laurence Olivier was Oscar-nominated for his mesmerising performance as King Henry V which was made to boost the morale of British troops during World War Two.

• The Man Who Knew Too Much | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.22   |  Saving you £3.77 (60.61%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 remake of his own 1934 spy thriller is an exciting event in its own right, with several justifiably famous sequences. James Stewart and Doris Day play American tourists who discover more than they wanted to know about an assassination plot. When their son is kidnapped to keep them quiet, they are caught between concern for him and the terrible secret they hold. When asked about the difference between this version of the story and the one he made 22 years earlier, Hitchcock always said the first was the work of a talented amateur while the second was the act of a seasoned professional. Indeed, several extraordinary moments in this update represent consummate film-making, particularly a relentlessly exciting Albert Hall scene, with a blaring symphony, an assassin's gun, and Doris Day's scream. Along with Hitchcock's other films from the mid-1950s to 1960 (including Vertigo, Rear Window, and Psycho), The Man Who Knew Too Much is the work of a master in his prime. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• 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

• 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

• The Man Who Knew Too Much | DVD | (04/06/2007) from £10.12   |  Saving you £-0.13 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  James Stewart and Doris Day in a rare dramatic role are superb in this brilliant suspense thriller from the undisputed master Alfred Hitchcock. Stewart and Day play Ben and Jo McKenna innocent Americans vacationing in Morocco with their son Hank. After a French spy dies in Ben's arms in the Marrakech market the couple discovers their son has been kidnapped and taken to England. Not knowing who they can trust the McKennas are caught up in a nightmare of international espionage assassinations and terror. Soon all of their lives hang in the balance as they draw closer to the truth and a chilling climatic moment in London's famous Royal Albert Hall.

• Laurence Olivier - Hamlet / Henry V | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £7.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (87.61%)   |  RRP £14.99

  In 'Hamlet' we find Olivier acting and directing Shakespeare's immortal story of murder intrigue madness and despair. 'Henry V' is one of Shakespeare's most compelling histories complete with the great Battle Of Agincourt and directed by Olivier in lush technicolour became the most expensive film made by a British studio...

• 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

• Hitchcock Classics - The Man Who Knew Too Much / The 39 Steps | DVD | (29/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  39 Steps: Alfred Hitchcock considered The 39 Steps to be one of his favourite films partly because it launched his classic theme of the innocent man on the run from villains and lawmen. Robert Donat stars as Richard Hannay in this freely adapted version of John Buchan's story. Despite repeated remakes Hitchcock's riveting original remains unequalled. The Man Who Knew Too Much: A husband and wife's holiday in Switzerland goes horribly wrong when their daughter is kidnapped leading them into a web of mystery and intrigue...

• The Man Who Knew Too Much | DVD | (05/05/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  James Stewart and Doris Day star in this exciting Hitchcock suspense yarn complete with murder assassination plots kidnapping and a hair raising climax. Dr Ben Mackenna (Stewart) and his wife Jo (Day) take their ten year old son on holiday to Morocco and get caught up in a web of intrigue when he is kidnapped. They are forced to travel to London to find him which results in a memorable murder sequence at the Royal Albert Hall. 'Que Sera Sera' sung by Doris Day won an Oscar (Best Song 1955).

• Blackbeard's Ghost / Treasure Island | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Blackbeard's Ghost (Dir. Robert Stevenson 1968): Award-winning actor Peter Ustinov stars in this hilarious fantasy as the ghost of the legendary pirate Blackbeard. The once blackhearted scoundrel materializes in a small New England town cursed to wander in limbo until he performs a good deed. He gets his chance when he decides to help a local college track team... that hasn't a ghost of a chance of winning! Blackbeard finds himself full of team spirit and dispensing his own brand of invisible coaching... in this warmhearted comedy that will have you laughing from his first fade-in to his final fade-out! Treasure Island (Dir. Byron Haskin 1950): In this swashbuckling high-seas adventure Walt Disney has vividly brought to life Robert Louis Stevenson's thrilling tale of buccaneers and buried gold - presented for the first time in it's original uncut theatrical version! Authentic locales and musket-roaring action set the stage for the stouthearted heroics of young Jim Hawkins (Bobby Driscoll) and the skullduggery of that wily one-legged pirate Long John Silver.