"Actor: Sidney James"

• Too Many Crooks | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £4.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Too Many Crooks (1958) boasts an intricate plot in which Terry Thomas is being blackmailed for the hoards he's stashed away as a renowned tax dodger. Driving around in a Jaguar XK 150, a desirable sports car of the period, his intricate private life unravels as his put-upon wife, Brenda de Banzie, draws on her expertise as a wartime PT instructress to turn the tables on him by marshalling the support of a band of crooks (George Cole, Sidney James, Bernard Bresslaw and Joe Melia). Look out for the very funny court scene, where TT makes three appearances on separate charges before a bemused magistrate, John Le Mesurier. On the DVD: Too Many Crooks is in 4:3 ratio and has a mono soundtrack. The only extra feature is a trailer. More TT tomfoolery can be found in the three-disc Terry Thomas Collection. --Adrian Edwards

• Carry On Cleo | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £5.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (183.64%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Ninth entry in the Carry On series. Ancient British slaves save Caesar (Kenneth Williams) from assassination in Rome 50 B.C. Meanwhile Mark Antony (Sid James) romances Egyptian Empress Cleopatra (Amanda Barrie). Revolting Britons include Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey while Warren Mitchell plays a partner in the slave-trading firm Markus & Spencius.

• Carry On Up The Jungle | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £4.88   |  Saving you £8.11 (166.19%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Carry On Up the Jungle has worn less well than some of the others in the series, simply because the African exploration genre it parodies--with its cannibals, great white hunters and lost Amazon tribes--is so entirely out of fashion. Still, Frankie Howerd made so comparatively few films that in one which has him as an ornithologist searching for rare birds in the company of Joan Sims and Sid James is not going to be entirely without interest. He has few great moments here, but runs through his usual repertoire of groans and horse-faced sorrowful expressions with brio. The idea of Terry Scott playing Tarzan is in itself such a good joke that it hardly matters that most of what follows is him swinging, on ropes, into obstacles. --Roz Kaveney

• Last Holiday | Blu Ray | (09/03/2020) from £14.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  LAST HOLIDAY is a 1950 black comedy starring Alec Guinness in fine form as George Bird, a mild-mannered salesman, who's been told by his Doctor that he only has a short time left to live. Determined not to waste his final days, he decides to go on one last holiday to live the rest of his life to the full. Written by renowned novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley, LAST HOLIDAY is a timeless parable on the notion that life is not just about how long you live, but how well. Extras: NEW: Interview With Cultural Historian Matthew Sweet Personalities: J.B. Priestley (1944) Behind The Scenes Stills Gallery

• Three Hats for Lisa | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (66.78%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Featuring a cast and production crew that reads like a Who's Who of British Sixties talent, Three Hats for Lisa is an exuberant, whimsical and utterly irresistible musical romp set in the heart of Swinging London; Sidney Hayers directs, while Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer Leslie Bricusse supplies the songs. Three Hats for Lisa is available here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements. French movie pin-up Sophie Hardy is Lisa Milan, a gorgeous Continental film star who's ...

• The Smallest Show On Earth | DVD | (08/07/2002) from £20.37   |  Saving you £-7.38 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An amiable knock-off of the Ealing comedy style, The Smallest Show on Earth starts with aspiring novelist Bill Travers and his "nice gel" wife Virginia McKenna inheriting a cinema from a hitherto unknown uncle and discovering that it isn't the sumptuous modern Grand, which specialises in those "smash 'em in the face, knock 'em over the waterfront" pictures, but the decrepit Bijou, known locally as "the fleapit". The initial plan, set up by lawyer Leslie Phillips, is to sell off the cinema to the owner of the Grand so he can knock it down to make a car park, but our heroes are put off by the arrogant bullying of the rival manager (Francis De Wolff) and succumb to the inept charms of the crazed, aged staff--drunken projectionist Peter Sellers, doddery commissionaire Bernard Miles and dotty ticket lady Margaret Rutherford (who joined the team as a piano accompanist). In the 1950s, there was a run of gentle British comedies in which outmoded and broken-down local institutions (steam trains, tugboats, vintage cars) were saved by collections of committed eccentrics who despised the new-fangled bus services or soulless council bureaucracies and were willing to resort to a little larceny (in this case, arson). The Smallest Show slots in perfectly with the cycle, getting laughs from the Bijou's already outmoded programme of scratchy Westerns and desert dramas (which increase ice cream sales) and sentiment over the staff's midnight screenings of silent movies that remind them of better days. It's likeable rather than hilarious, with Sellers and Miles buried under crepe hair and fake wrinkles competing to out-dodder each other and losing the picture to the inimitable Rutherford, who doesn't have to fake her eccentricity. Pin-up, June Cunningham, is the glamorous usherette and Sid James plays her annoyed Dad. On the DVD: The Smallest Show on Earth is presented in a decent print, but with no extras. The film is also available as part of the four-disc Peter Sellers Collection. --Kim Newman

• Carry On Girls | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Carry On Girls was the last really successful film in the epic series of British film comedies. It's studded with gems of cameo performances and boasts a tremendously innuendo-laden Talbot Rothwell script which is easily the equal of any of its predecessors. The setting, a beauty contest to raise the profile of the dismal resort Fircombe-on-Sea, is ripe for politically incorrect activity of the sort that could only be conducted by Sid James at the height of his lecherous powers. Enter Bernard Bresslaw in a corset, Wendy Richard as Ida Downs, Barbara Windsor as Miss Easy Rider and a host of other semi-clad lovelies and watch as the whole thing rises to a slapstick climax of frisky old colonels, bikinis, bosoms and itching powder. In the smaller roles, Joan Hickson (BBC television's Miss Marple) is hilarious as an elderly woman who believes she is a man-magnet, and the always under-used Patsy Rowlands excels as the downtrodden mayor's wife, a worm who finally turns. But in many ways this is June Whitfield's film: as the terrifying reactionary councillor Mrs Prodworthy, with a butch lesbian sidekick, she plots the downfall of her male colleagues with classic lines. "Rosemary, get the candle", she orders as Patsy Rowlands requests initiation. --Piers Ford

• Comedy Capers: Trouble with Eve & Double Bunk | DVD | (18/02/2019) from £9.45   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Two classic British comedies from the 1960s. Trouble with Eve: Scandal rips through a quiet British village after a woman converts her cottage into a tearoom. Double Bunk: When newlyweds Jack and Peggy face eviction, they are tricked into buying a rundown houseboat. After rebuilding the engine, they take their friends Sid and Sandra on a trip down the river to Folkestone, but somehow they end up in France. Starring Sid James and Liz Fraser.

• Bless This House | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The classic sitcom about the Abbotts a family with generation gap problems. Starring the unforgettable Sid James as Sidney Abbott the series revolves around his doomed efforts to get with it for his children whilst being constantly thwarted in pursuing his love of birds booze and football. This DVD contains the first five episodes in colour from the first series. Episodes: The Day Of Rest Make Love... Not War Charity Begins At Home If The Dog Collar Fits... Wear It The Morning After The Night Before.

• Carry On Up The Khyber | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Filmed in 1968 and set in British India in 1895, Carry On Up the Khyber is one of the team's most memorable efforts. Sid James plays Sid James as ever, though nominally his role is that of Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond, the unflappable British Governor who must deal with the snakelike, scheming Khasi of Khalabar, played by Kenneth Williams. A crisis occurs when the mystique of the "devils in skirts" of the 3rd Foot and Mouth regiment is exploded when one of their numbers, the sensitive-to-draughts Charles Hawtrey, is discovered by the natives to be wearing underpants. Revolt is in the offing, with Bernard Bresslaw once again playing a seething native warrior. Roy Castle neatly plays the sort of role normally assigned to Jim Dale, as the ineffectual young officer, Peter Butterworth is a splendid compromised evangelist, while Terry Scott puts his comedic all into the role of the gruff Sergeant. Most enduring, however, is the final dinner party sequence in which the British contingent, with the Burpas at the gates of the compound, plaster falling all about them, demonstrates typical insouciance in the face of imminent peril. The "I'm Backing Britain" Union Jack hoist at the end, however, over-excitedly reveals the streak of reactionary patriotism that lurked beneath the bumbling double entendres of most Carry On films. On the DVD: Sadly, no extra features except scene selection. The picture is 4:3 full screen. --David Stubbs

• The House Across the Lake | Blu Ray | (13/06/2022) from £16.21   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  American screen siren Hillary Brooke plays the consummate femme fatale in this gritty '50s Brit Noir from Hammer Films shot just a year before they made their name with The Quatermass Xperiment. An early feature by Emmy-winning writer-director Ken Hughes, The House Across the Lake is featured here as a brand new High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.Author Mark Kenrick's plan to hide out in a quiet bungalow and thrash out his new novel is disrupted by the noise coming from a lively party at an exclusive home across the lake from his retreat. He is shocked to find the lady of the house both calculating and manipulative... and learns the hard way just how far she will go to get what she wants!Product FeaturesTheatrical trailerAlternate TitlesThe House Across the Thames: interview with Continuity Supervisor Renee GlynneThe Dame Wore Tweed: Barry Forshaw examines Brit NoirScotland Yard: The Drayton CaseImage galleryLimited edition booklet written by Neil Sinyard

• Watch Your Stern | DVD | (24/05/2004) from £14.86   |  Saving you £-0.87 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  All hands on deck for Titanic seaside laughs with the saucy Carry On crew! When an accident-prone sailor damages a secret blueprint his only hope is to get another from London. But then the Admiral arrives and he's forced to pose as a scientist - a female scientist!

• Carry On At Your Convenience | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In 1971 when Carry On at Your Convenience hit the screen, the series had long since become part of the fabric of British popular entertainment. Never mind the situation, the characters were essentially the same, film after film. The jokes were all as old as the hills, but nobody cared, they were still funny. But it's just too easy to treat them as a job lot of postcard humour and music hall innuendo. This tale of revolt at a sanitary ware factory--Boggs and Son, what else?--certainly chimed in with the state of the nation in the early 1970s when strikes were called at the drop of a hat. Here, tea urns, demarcation and the company's decision to branch out into bidets all wreak havoc. Kenneth Williams as the company's besieged managing director, Sidney James and Joan Sims give their all as usual, but it's the lesser roles that really add some lustre. Hattie Jacques as Sid's budgerigar-obsessed, sluggish put-upon wife and Renee Houston as a superbly domineering battleaxe with a penchant for strip poker remind us that in the hands of fine actors, even the laziest of caricatures becomes a real human being. On the DVD: Presented in 4:3 format with a good clean print and standard mono soundtrack, Carry On at Your Convenience feels as comfortable as an old pair of shoes. But where's the context? The lack of extras leaves the viewer wanting biographies and some documentary sense of the film's position in the series. The scene index is often arbitrary and the budget packaging means that we don't even get a full cast list. --Piers Ford

• Carry On Regardless | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £6.66   |  Saving you £-0.67 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  It's non stop romps as the Carry On team deliver the goods in one of the rudest and funniest of the Carry On films. The cast are all on top form as a bunch of no-hoppers who join an agency in the search for a job. The anarchy mounts as they do a series of odd jobs including a chimps tea party trying to stay sober at a wine tasting and demolishing a house.

• For Better, For Worse | DVD | (04/08/2014) from £5.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (66.78%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Boasting some of post-war Britain's most accomplished screen stars this gentle romantic comedy charts the tribulations of a materially challenged but deeply loving young couple. Starring Dirk Bogarde Cecil Parker and Dennis Price For Better For Worse is co-scripted and directed by Oscar-nominated Jack Lee-Thompson and received two BAFTA nominations in 1954. The film is presented here in a brand-new digital transfer in its original aspect ratio from original film elements. When impoverished young graduate Tony Howard proposes to Anne Purves in the cinema he is readily accepted. Her father listens patiently to Tony when he asks for his daughter's hand but upon receiving far from satisfactory answers to the usual father-in-law questions he agrees to the marriage only on the condition that Tony finds both a job and a flat... Special Features: Original Theatrical Trailer Image Gallery Promotional Material PDF

• Carry On Cruising | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £10.42   |  Saving you £3.57 (34.26%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Well, the gang's all here, but Carry On Cruising isn't one of the classics of the series. This may be partly due to the film's well-intentioned stab at some sort of authenticity, being set as it is on a genuine cruise liner rather than in a studio full of cheap sets. It swiftly becomes apparent that the cramped environment isn't well suited to the kind of slapstick which is usually a key ingredient in any Carry On film. Veteran couch spuds will recall that the TV series Triangle was similarly disadvantaged, except that it wasn't supposed to be funny. As ever, though, the brilliant cast-in-residence manage to make the most of the situation. The plot, such as it is, deals with the tribulations which beset a world-weary captain (James) when he realises he's been saddled with a crew of misfits and incompetents (practically everybody else) on a cruise which is of course supposed to offer its passengers every comfort and convenience. If there's a single outstanding performance it has to be that of Lance Percival's chef, whose cheeriness as he presides over his various culinary experiments is extremely funny in a menacing sort of way. On the DVD: The DVD issue has no additional features. --Roger Thomas

• The Organization | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Organization was the second and final sequel to 1967's In the Heat of the Night and sees Sidney Poitier's homicide detective Virgil Tibbs called in to investigate the murder of a factory manager. In a lengthy, dialogue-free opening (the film's best sequence), it appears that we are witnessing the culprits in action. However, this group turns out to be a gang of idealistic young vigilantes who knew that the factory was a front for an international drugs cartel--the Organization of the title--and have made off with a haul of heroin secreted there. Suspected of the manager's murder, they meet Tibbs and seek his cooperation. He agrees to help them, pitting himself not only against the Organization but his own police department. Set in San Franscisco, The Organization invites invidious comparisons with Bullitt: its somewhat cheesy contemporary soundtrack, derived from Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, certainly marks it as a piece of its period, as do the occasionally less-than-convincing action sequences, risible acting and far-fetched plot. Poitier, as ever, lends the film a certain dignity and poise, worthy of better material to work with than this. The film is also notable for providing early showcases for two of Cop TV's most famous Captains: Daniel J Travanti (Hill Street Blues) and Bernie Hamilton (later Captain Dobey in Starsky & Hutch) are both assigned minor roles here. On the DVD: The Organization comes to disc in an adequate transfer, though still a little grainy. The sole extra is the original trailer. --David Stubbs

• Desert Mice | DVD | (22/03/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A fantastic cast star in this World War II comedy farce featuring the antics of an eclectic mix of entertainers of an organisation that called itself Entertainment National Service Association. Known as ENSA for short or rather cruelly Every Night Something Awful! Fresh from the music halls they certainly give the camp the run around in more ways than one and bumble their way to triumph!

• Peter Sellers - Hoffman / The Smallest Show On Earth / Carlton-Browne Of The F.O./ Two Way Stretch | DVD | (15/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Featuring the films: 'Hoffman' 'The Smallest Show On Earth' 'Carlton-Browne Of The F.O.' and 'Two Way Stretch'. Hoffman *(WS 1.85:1 Anamorphic 1970 1 hour and 47 Minutes Colour): Peter Sellers is Hoffman a middle aged misfit who blackmails his young attractive secretary into spending a week with him. Although he behaves like a creep throughout the weekend he actually emerges as a sympathetic character in the end. Two Way Stretch *(FS 1960 1 hour and 23 minutes B&W):

• Bless This House | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The movie of the successful TV series in which two arguing families discover that their respective offsprings have been having a secret affair and plan to marry...