"Actor: Richard Garrick"

• High Society | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (100.14%)   |  RRP £13.99

  MGM's bold idea to remake George Cukor's Oscar-winning upper-class romantic farce, The Philadelphia Story, into a star-studded technicolor musical with Cole Porter tunes somehow works splendidly and remains an underrated gem. Even the plot and character names--and some bits of dialogue--all remain the same as the original. Crooning Bing Crosby replaces Cary Grant as the wealthy ex-husband trying to win back his soon-to-be-remarried ex-wife, spoiled ice queen Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly, stunning and aloof in her last film role, originated in the earlier comedy by Katherine Hepburn). Unlike Grant, however, Crosby has jazz great Louis Armstrong, playing himself, in his corner for quixotic persuasion. Frank Sinatra (cocky in James Stewart's former role) and Celeste Holm add support as the nosy reporters covering, and subsequently complicating, the upcoming wedding. Sure, High Society lacks the original's witty satire, sarcasm and character complexity; but it's assuredly paced and wonderfully acted, and contains enough romantic chemistry to keep the plot engaging. And then there's the music. Unlike the grandiose production numbers of many 40s and 50s musicals, High Society's musical sequences are considerably low-key and intimate, focusing on Porter's lyrical content and the style in which it's delivered by the charismatic performers. Armstrong kicks the film off in telling style: he sings the title track, a calypso tune outlining the plot like a Greek chorus--not as an elaborately choreographed song-and-dance number, but instead stuffed claustrophobically in the back of a limousine with his jazz band. Other musical standouts include Sinatra and Crosby playfully tossing barbs during "Well, Did You Evah?"; Crosby and Armstrong teaming up for an energetic clash of styles in "Now You Has Jazz"; the two soaring, archetypal ballads by the leads--Crosby's "I Love You, Samantha" and Sinatra's superior "You're Sensational"; and, finally, the satirical Sinatra/Holm duet, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", the closest High Society ever comes to social or class-commentary. --Dave McCoy, Amazon.com

• Viva Zapata | DVD | (01/01/2001) from £14.27   |  Saving you £-5.29 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The life and times of the legendary Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata are brought to the screen in this powerful production of John Steinbeck's screenplay. Marlon Brando gives a stunning portrayal of the outlaw turned revolutionary leader with the film also boasting Anthony Quinn's Oscar-winning performance as Zapata's brother and intelligent direction by Elia Kazan.

• A Streetcar Named Desire | DVD | (23/03/2020) from £15.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Looking for a benchmark in movie acting? Breakthrough performances don't come much more electrifying than Marlon Brando's animalistic turn as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. Sweaty, brutish, mumbling, yet with the balanced grace of a prize-fighter, Brando storms through the role--a role he had originated in the Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's celebrated play. Stanley and his wife, Stella (as in Brando's oft-mimicked line, "Hey, Stellaaaaaa!"), are the earthy couple in New Orleans's French Quarter whose lives are upended by the arrival of Stella's sister, Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh). Blanche, a disturbed, lyrical, faded Southern belle, is immediately drawn into a battle of wills with Stanley, beautifully captured in the differing styles of the two actors. This extraordinarily fine adaptation won acting Oscars for Leigh, Kim Hunter (as Stella) and Karl Malden (as Blanche's clueless suitor), but not for Brando. Although it had already been considerably cleaned up from the daringly adult stage play, director Elia Kazan was forced to trim a few of the franker scenes he had shot. In 1993, Streetcar was re-released in a "director's cut" that restored these moments, deepening a film that had already secured its place as an essential American work. --Robert Horton

• Sleeping Dogs Lie | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £19.95   |  Saving you £-13.96 (-233.10%)   |  RRP £5.99

  It's 1919; at the height of his career, wealthy impresario Ambrose Small sends his wife to the bank with a cheque for over a million dollars - then vanishes without a trace.

• A Streetcar Named Desire (2 Disc Special Edition) | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.99

  Tennessee Williams based his screenplay on Oscar Saul's adaptation of Williams' own Pulitzer Prize-winning play set in a grimy New Orleans project. The story of the fragile sentimentalism of a woman who visits her sister only to be taunted mercilessly by her childish brother-in-law. This classic film garnered 12 Academy Award Nominations (including Best Picture Best Director Best Actor (Marlon Brando) and Best Screeplay) winning 4 including Best Actress (Vivien Leigh) Best Supporting Actress (Kim Hunter) and Best Supporting Actor (Karl Malden). This version features three minutes of footage that was deleted from the final 1951 release version upon demands made by the Production Code footage thought lost until its rediscovery in the early 1990s. This DVD release is the fully restored version of Elia Kazan's original cut and the documentary 'Desire And Censorship' on Disc 2 describes his struggle in getting the past the censors.

• A Streetcar Named Desire | Blu Ray | (28/01/2013) from £19.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A Streetcar Named Desire is the 1951 Elia Kazan/Tennessee Williams triumph that earned 12 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, while also courting controversy with some last-minute edits undertaken to appease the censorship board. Marlon Brando made his first indelible mark on audiences in this powerful adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Gone With the Wind's Vivien Leigh is the neurotic belle Blanche du Bois who struggles to hold on to her fading Southern gentility against the brutish badgering of her brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski (Brando). Leigh, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden and the rich black-and-white cinematography were all awarded Oscars for this cinematic classic. While Brando was the only one of the film's four Oscar-nominated actors not to secure a win, his passionate cries of Stella! Stella! Stella! remain etched forever in Hollywood history. Special Features: Commentary by Karl Malden, Rudy Behlmer and Jeff Young Elia Kazan: A Director's Journey (1995 First Run documentary) A Streetcar on Broadway A Streetcar in Hollywood Censorship and Desire North and the Music of the South An Actor Named Brando Marlon Brando Screen Test Outtakes Audio Outtakes Warner Bros. (1951) 20th Century Fox (1958 Reissue) United Artists (1970 Reissue)