One of the classics of the noir psychological thriller, In a Lonely Place is one of Humphrey Bogart's finest performances. He is almost unbearably intense as Dixon Steele, a screenwriter with high standards and a nasty temper who finds himself under suspicion when Mildred, a hat-check girl he knows, is found murdered. Immediately he gets an alibi from a neighbour, Laurel, and equally quickly, he recognises that this is a woman who meets his standards: the question is, as suspicion of his involvement in Mildred's death continues, can he make himself meet hers? This is a wonderful study in trust and suspicion and the limits of love; Bogart's performance is impressive simply because he is prepared to go well over the limits of our sympathy in the name of emotional truth. The scene where he explains imaginatively to a cop and his wife how the murder might have happened is a spine-chilling, creepy portrait of amoral artistic brilliance. Gloria Grahame is equally fine as the woman who lets herself love him, for a while. On the DVD: In a Lonely Place comes with an excellent documentary in which Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential) explains the importance of the film to him and discusses its place in the work of Bogart and the director Nicholas Ray; there is also a quick interesting documentary about the restoration and digitisation of classic films. The film is presented with a visual aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and with restored Dolby Surround sound that does full justice to the film's snappy dialogue and the moody George Antheil score. --Roz Kaveney
One of the top five screwball comedies of the 1930s, this helped to cement a genre that waxed golden until the end of the Second World War. Director Leo McCarey won an Oscar for Best Director for this 1937 romantic comedy--one of the most successful films of his career. Irene Dunne and Cary Grant are a squabbling couple who separates because of supposed infidelities on both sides. They part, but cannot really keep away from each other. Grant finds himself hooked up with a socialite, Dunne becomes engaged to a millionaire hick played by the hapless Ralph Bellamy (as if he ever stood a chance as the "other" man!). When not dating others or baiting one another in a verbal war, Grant and Dunne wage a custody battle over their pathetic pooch. Gags, double entendre, witty remarks, snide comments, and fast-paced dialogue helped this to garner six Academy Award nominations. The Awful Truth was awfully good to Dunne and Grant, as both were breaking out of much more serious moulds and this secured their positions. --Rochelle O'Gorman
Leprechaun Box Set
This masterpiece by Preston Sturges is perhaps the finest movie-about-a-movie ever made. Hollywood director Joel McCrea tired of churning out lightweight comedies decides to make O Brother Where Art Thou-a serious socially responsible film about human suffering. After his producers point out that he knows nothing of hardship he hits the road as a hobo. He finds the lovely Veronica Lake; and more trouble than he ever dreamed of!
Cary Grant and Irene Dunne charm in Leo McCarey's Oscarwinning screwball comedy In this Oscar®winning farce, Cary Grant (in the role that first defined the Cary Grant persona) and Irene Dunne (Love Affair) exude charm, cunning, and artless affection as an urbane couple who, fed up with each other's infidelities, resolve to file for divorce. Try as they each might to move on, the mischievous Jerry can't help but meddle in Lucy's ill matched engagement to a cornfed Oklahoma businessman (His Girl Friday's Ralph Bellamy), and a mortified Lucy begins to realize that she may be saying goodbye to the only dance partner capable of following her lead. Directed by the versatile Leo McCarey (Make Way for Tomorrow), a master of improvisation and slapstick as well as a keen and sympathetic observer of human folly, The Awful Truth is a warm but unsparing comedy about two people whose flaws only make them more irresistible. Features: New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New interview with critic Gary Giddins about director Leo McCarey New video essay by film critic David Cairns on actor Cary Grant's performance Illustrated 1978 audio interview with actor Irene Dunne Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of the film from 1939, starring actor Claudette Colbert and Grant PLUS: An essay by film critic Molly Haskell
Ebulliently imaginative and far more cleverly presented than you would expect from a TV miniseries, this adaptation of Gulliver's Travels succeeds by never pandering to the lowest common denominator. Closely based on Jonathan Swift's 1726 classic, it is enhanced by dazzling special effects from Jim Henson Productions and a superb, multi-ethnic cast. The biggest surprise is Ted Danson in the title role--one of his best performances, even if he is the only person in England with an American accent. He conveys amusement, amazement and intelligence as he travels from one strange country into another. Not that anyone back in Blighty believes Mr Gulliver's tales of little people or giants. The story is told in flashback from an insane asylum, where he is forcibly confined. This far outshines several previous adaptations of Swift's satirical novel. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com
Writer-director Preston Sturges's third feature, 1941's Sullivan's Travels, remains the antic auteur's most ambitious screen effort. Having added the producer's stripe to his duties, Sturges combines breezy romantic comedy, arch Hollywood satire, and social essay into a single, screwball story line. The titular pilgrim is John L. Sullivan (Joel McCrea), an Ivy League grad who's enjoyed a meteoric rise as the director behind escapist movies like Ants in Your Pants of 1938, but is now determined to raise his sights toward more exalted, serious-minded cinematic art. His proposed breakthrough, portentously titled O Brother, Where Art Thou?, elicits a studio response closer to "Oh, brother," given the director's utter lack of first-hand experience on the wrong side of the tracks. Instead of capitulating, Sullivan sets off disguised as a tramp, ready to meet life's crueler lessons face-to-face--albeit followed at a discreet distance by a motor home filled with studio handlers and reporters. His ludicrous odyssey may give the boy director no real insight, but it gives Sturges the chance to inject some reliably fine gags and a romantic subplot featuring the luminous Veronica Lake. It's at this juncture that Sturges the writer's darker objective throws a jolting shift in tone. Suffice it to say that just when a comic, upbeat denouement seems imminent, Sullivan travels instead from the sunlit California of the comedy's early reels toward a darker, relentlessly downbeat world influenced more by the social realism of the movies the hero desperately wants to make. By the final reel, Sturges has flirted with real tragedy, turning his conclusion into a meditation on his own seemingly carefree, dizzily comic art. --Sam Sutherland
A horrific Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) goes on a rampage after his precious bag of gold coins is stolen. He uses all of his magical destructive powers to trick terrorize and kill anyone who is unlucky enough to hinder his relentless search. In a frantic attempt to survive the wrath of the Leprechaun Tori (Jennifer Aniston) and her friends scramble to find the only weapon known to kill this Irish monster... a four leaf clover. However until they discover a four leaf clover or return all the gold taken from the rainbow's end their fairy tale nightmare has only just begun.
Dan Ballard, a respected citizen in the western town of Silver Lode, has his wedding interrupted by four men led by Fred McCarty, an old acquaintance who, as a US Marshal, arrests Ballard for the murder. Ballard seeks to stall McCarty while tracking down evidence that will prove his innocence: but the townspeople's loyalty to him gradually begins to waver under McCarty's accusations.
A comedy-adventure film best described as Indiana Jones meets Monty Python and the Holy Grail. With nods to the Matrix, Lord of the Rings and The Goonies it's a treat for fans of science-fiction and fantasy. Starring new YouTube superstar Stuart Ashen, alongside established stars such as Warwick Davis (Harry Potter, Return of the Jedi) and Robert Llewellyn (Red Dwarf), the film follows Ashens' insane search for a piece of electronic tat. the fabled Game Child console. He is accompanied by f.
Based upon the true story of John Philip Clum (Audie Murphy) Walk The Proud Land is one of the few Westerns of the 1950's to take a sympathetic and historically accurate view of the Native American Indian's fight with the white settlers. Clum is an Indian agent sent to the San Carlos Apache reservation in Arizona in 1874 to prevent further bloodshed and stop the renegade chief Geronimo (Jay Silverheels) from encouraging young Indian braves to take up their weapons and fight once more. Clum's struggle is made worse by the townsfolk and cavalry who believe that the only good Indian is a scalped one. But whilst Clum makes enemies of the governor cavalry officers and the more headstrong Apache braves he begins to win the trust of the elders by talking of the government's new peace plan for Indian autonomy rather than submission and prevent the reservation from siding with Geronimo.
In an early lead role Robert Newton stars in a compelling murder melodrama charting a struggling novelist's desperate bid to start life anew - in a dead man's clothes... Released in 1939 Dead Men Are Dangerous captures the richly talented British stage star at a point of transition as West End acclaim gave way to burgeoning film success; Newton's pre-War achievements would be consolidated with iconic portrayals of Bill Sikes and Long John Silver in the 1940s and '50s. This rare London-set thriller is presented here in a brand-new digital transfer from the original film elements. Aylmer Franklyn an unsuccessful writer saddled with debts seizes the chance to change his identity after discovering a corpse under a fallen branch. Faking his own death he swaps his clothes for those of the dead man and even attends his own inquest. But the events that result make him only too happy to resume his own identity... Special Features: Image Gallery
After Southern belle Elizabeth Lloyd runs off to marry Yankee Jack Sherman her father a former Confederate colonel during the Civil War vows to never speak to her again. Several years pass and Elizabeth returns to her home town with her husband and young daughter. The little girl charms her crusty grandfather and tries to patch things up between him and her mother.
This box set features a collection of some of Bogie's finest efforts in the 'film noir' genre. Sirocco (Dir. Curtis Bernhardt 1951): In 1925 Damascus Harry Smith (Bogart) runs guns to the rebels under Emir Hassan. The French arrest him along with others and force him to sell weapons to them where hHe develops an dangerous interest in French intelligence officer Feroud's mistress Violette... Dead Reckoning (Dir. John Cromwell 1947): Rip Murdock (Bogart) and Johnny
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