"Actor: Sidney Poitier"

• In The Heat Of The Night | DVD | (25/02/2013) from £4.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  An African American detective is asked to investigate a murder in a racist southern town.

• Deadly Pursuit | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £4.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (200.40%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Deadly Pursuit is the polished chase thriller which marked Sidney Poitier's return to the big screen 11 years after A Piece of the Action (1977). Poitier, already 61 but not looking a day over 45, is an FBI agent hunting a killer who takes mountain guide Tom Berenger's girlfriend hostage and heads into the wilds of Washington State. Inevitably Poitier and Berenger reluctantly join forces, going through the usual mismatched buddy arguments with commendably straight faces and lending a quality of acting which elevates the movie above its routine screenplay. The girlfriend meanwhile is Kirstie Alley in one of her first major feature roles, providing little more than eye candy and enduring her ordeal with hardly a beautifully flowing tress out of place. Director Roger Spottiswoode maintains the suspense well and mounts the action set-pieces with a taut, lean style, though the film lacks the sharp edge of his Under Fire (1983) or the sheer scale of his Bond outing, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). One major asset is Michael Chapman's gorgeous mountains-and-rivers cinematography, actually filmed in British Columbia. Without the star cast and strong production values Deadly Pursuit could be any of a thousand straight-to-video action flicks, but as it stands is a superior formula adventure. The film was also released with the title Shoot to Kill. On the DVD: Deadly Pursuit comes to disc with no extras bar numerous subtitle options and a choice of a Spanish dubbed version. The original Dolby SR soundtrack has been given a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix and is effectively atmospheric, clean and clear, if lacking the firepower of a more recent equivalent. The anamorphically enhanced picture is a little soft in places and somewhat grainy, but otherwise good. The film was presented theatrically at 2.35:1 and has been reformated for DVD at 1.78:1. As the movie was shot in Super-35, a format designed to allow widescreen theatrical films to be more easily recomposed for television and video, the result here is visually quite different to the cinema original, with some shots losing information to the sides while others gain additional material at the top and bottom of the frame. Mostly the compositions look fine, as if the film had been shot at 1.85:1, though the mountain landscapes inevitably lack the sheer visual sweep and majesty of the big screen original version.--Gary S Dalkin

• The Bedford Incident | DVD | (06/12/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Cold War just got a lot hotter... Nerve-wracking suspense surrounds The Bedford Incident the tale of a U.S. naval vessel on a routine NATO patrol that ends up in a freakish showdown with a Russian submarine. Richard Widmark is Capt. Eric Finlander the maniacal commander who drives his tense crew to the brink of of nervous exhaustion. Sidney Poitier is Ben Munceford photojournalist aboard assigned to record a 'typical' mission. His moral indignation is put to the test by the

• To Sir With Love | DVD | (28/02/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Novelist James Clavell wrote, produced and directed this 1967 British film (based on the novel by E. R. Braithwaite) about a rookie teacher who throws out stock lesson plans and really takes command of his unruly, adolescent students in a London school. Sidney Poitier is very good as a man struggling with the extent of his commitment to the job, and even more as a teacher whose commitment is to proffering life lessons instead of just academic ones. The spirit of this movie can also be found in more recent films such as Dangerous Minds and Mr. Holland's Opus, but none are as moving as this. Besides, the others don't have a title song performed by Lulu, who also stars. --Tom Keogh

• Lilies Of The Field | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £24.62   |  Saving you £-11.63 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Homer Smith an itinerant handyman is driving through the Arizona desert when he meets five impoverished nuns. Stopping to fix their leaky farmhouse roof Homer discovers that not only will the Mother Superior not pay him for the job but she also wants him to build their chapel - for free! Hesitant at first Homer soon finds himself single-handedly raising the chapel and the financing. But although he will not receive monetary reward Homer knows that when his work is done he'll

• No Way Out (1950) | Blu Ray | (11/06/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A pivotal early film in the wave of racially progressive dramas of the 1950s and 60s, Joseph L. Mankiewicz's No Way Out is an electrifying film-noir about a doctor whose ethics are put to the test when he comes into conflict with a racist criminal. Dr. Luther Brooks (Sidney Poitier; The Defiant Ones) is assigned to treat two prisoners, the Biddle brothers, who were shot during an attempted robbery. Ray Biddle (Richard Widmark; Kiss of Death, Twilight's Last Gleaming) refuses to be treated by the black doctor, and when his brother John dies under Luther's care, Ray becomes consumed with vengeance. His anger and hatred ignites racial tensions within the community, and events quickly spiral out of control. Released during the early days of the civil rights movement, No Way Out received critical acclaim but faced censorship for many years due to its incendiary nature. It has since been recognised as one of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's greatest filmmaking achievements. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present No Way Out for the first time ever on Blu-ray (and in its debut on UK home video) in a special Dual Format edition. Features: 1080p presentation of the film on Blu-ray, with a progressive encode on the DVD LPCM mono soundtrack (Uncompressed on the Blu-ray) Optional English subtitles Audio Commentary by film noir historian Eddie Muller Archival Fox Movietone Newsreels Original theatrical trailer A collector's booklet featuring a new essay by Glenn Kenny Reversible Sleeve

• The Defiant Ones (1958) (Eureka Classics) Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition | Blu Ray | (11/06/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Stanley Kramer's ground-breaking film starring Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier... Nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture, Stanley Kramer s The Defiant Ones broke new ground by delivering its message of racial tolerance through a fast-moving blend of action and suspense. It remains a raw, powerful film that is as exciting as it is moving, real and literate. John Joker Jackson (Tony Curtis;The Vikings, Some Like It Hot) and Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night) are two convicts on the run. Escaping from a Southern work gang, the two men are bound together by an unbreakable iron chain and separated by an unbridled hatred towards each other. Relentlessly pursued by a bloodthirsty posse, they must put aside their differences if they are going to survive. Highly acclaimed upon release for its directing, writing, cinematography and acting, (Sidney Poitier won numerous awards for his role, including the coveted Silver Bear for Best Actor) The Defiant Ones remains one of the most influential films of its era, and Eureka Classics is proud to present the film on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK in a special Dual Format edition. DUAL FORMAT SPECIAL FEATURES: 1080p presentation of the film on Blu-ray, with a progressive encode on the DVD Uncompressed LPCM audio (on the Blu-ray) Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing A new video interview with critic & author Kim Newman Original theatrical trailer

• The Defiant Ones | DVD | (15/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This 1958 variation on Huck Finn's adventures with Jim finds a white convict (Tony Curtis) chained to a black convict (Sidney Poitier) as they both escape their captors. With each man literally stuck with the other, racial conflicts take a back seat to survival. Directed by Stanley Kramer (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner), the film's obvious consciousness-raising is mitigated by a pair of raw performances from the stars, memorable appearances by Lon Chaney Jr. and Cara Williams, and Kramer's strong storytelling abilities. The Defiant Ones' award-winning script was cowritten by blacklisted writer-actor Nedrick Young. --Tom Keogh

• Guess Who's Coming To Dinner | DVD | (04/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn (who won the Academy Award as Best Actress for her performance) are unforgettable as perplexed parents in this landmark 1967 movie about mixed marriage. Joanna (Katharine Houghton) the beautiful daughter of a crusading publisher Matthew Drayton (Tracy) and his patrician wife Christina (Hepburn) returns home with her new fiancee John Prentice (Sidney Poitier) a distinguished black doctor. Christina accepts her daughter's decision to marry John but Matthew is shocked by this interracial union; and the doctor's parents are equally dismayed. Both families must sit down face to face and examine each other's level of intolerance. In 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner' director Stanley Kramer has created a masterful study of society's prejudices.

• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (25/05/2020) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Stanley Kramer's landmark study of racial prejudice stars the ace comic duo of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as perplexed parents. When Joanna (Katharine Houghton) returns home with her new fiancé John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), a distinguished black doctor, her mother accepts her daughter's decision, but her father is shocked by the prospect of the interracial union. With the doctor's parents equally dismayed, both families must meet to explore the limits of their intolerance. Extras High Definition restoration Original mono audio Multichannel surround sound option Four Introductions (2007): Karen Kramer (3 mins); Steven Spielberg (1 min); Tom Brokaw (3 mins); Quincy Jones (3 mins) A Love Story for Today (2007, 30 mins): production retrospective A Special Kind of Love (2007, 17 mins): documentary featuring archival recordings of Katharine Hepburn Stanley Kramer: A Man's Search for Truth (2007, 17 mins): a look at Kramer's vision Stanley Kramer Accepts the Irving Thalberg Award (1961, 2 mins) 2007 Producers Guild Stanley Kramer Award Presentation to An Inconvenient Truth (5 mins) Isolated score: experience Frank DeVol's original soundtrack music Image gallery: promotional photography Original theatrical trailer Teaser trailer New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• Buck and the Preacher (1972) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (26/09/2022) from £21.84   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  !With his rousingly entertaining directorial debut, SIDNEY POITIER (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) helped rewrite the history of the western, bringing Black heroes to a genre in which they had always been sorely underrepresented. Combining boisterous buddy comedy with blistering, Black Powerera political fury, Poitier and a marvellously mischievous HARRY BELAFONTE (Carmen Jones) star as a tough and taciturn wagon master and an unscrupulous, pistol-packing preacher, who join forces in order to take on the white bounty hunters threatening a westward-bound caravan of recently freed enslaved people. A superbly crafted revisionist landmark, Buck and the Preacher subverts Hollywood conventions at every turn and reclaims the western genre in the name of Black liberation. Special Features New digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack New interview with Mia Mask, author of Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western Behind-the-scenes footage featuring actor-director Sidney Poitier and actor Harry Belafonte Interviews with Poitier and Belafonte from 1972 episodes of Soul! and The Dick Cavett Show New interview with Gina Belafonte, daughter of Harry Belafonte English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing PLUS: An essay by critic Aisha Harris

• Sneakers | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £14.44   |  Saving you £-4.45 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This enjoyable thriller, written and directed by Phil Alden Robinson (the screenwriter of Field of Dreams), follows a raggedy group of corporate security experts who get in over their heads when they accept an assignment poaching some hot hardware for the National Security Agency. Robert Redford plays the group's guru, an ageing techno-anarchist who has been hiding from the feds since the early 1970s; his companionable gang of freaks includes Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell, the late River Phoenix, and Sidney Poitier, as a veteran CIA operative turned "sneaker." The technological black box that everybody is after, an array of computer chips that can decode any encrypted message, isn't a very plausible invention, but it's a serviceable McGuffin, and the megalomania of the master plotter played by Ben Kingsley has more resonance than most. Modest inferences can be drawn about the very latest high-tech threats to civil liberties. --David Chute, Amazon.com

• A Raisin In The Sun | Blu Ray | (01/10/2018) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The classic film version of Lorraine Hansberry's revelatory dramastarring Sidney Poitier and Ruby Deenewly restored. LORRAINE HANSBERRY's A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by a black woman to be on Broadway and is now an immortal part of the theatrical canon. Two years after its premiere, the production came to the screen, directed by DANIEL PETRIE. The original starsincluding SIDNEY POITIER (In the Heat of the Night) and RUBY DEE (Do the Right Thing)reprise their roles as members of an African American family living in a cramped Chicago apartment, in this deeply resonant tale of dreams deferred. Following the death of their patriarch, the Youngers await a life insurance check they hope will change their circumstances, but tensions arise over how best to use the money. Vividly rendering Hansberry's intimate observations on generational conflict and housing discrimination, Petrie's film captures the high stakes, shifting currents, and varieties of experience within black life in midcentury America. Features: New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Interview from 1961 with playwright and screenwriter Lorraine Hansberry New interview with Imani Perry, author of Looking for Lorraine, on the reallife events on which the play is based Episode of Theater Talk from 2002 featuring producer Philip Rose and actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis Excerpt from The Black Theatre Movement: From A Raisin in the Sun to the Present, a 1978 documentary, with a new introduction by director Woodie King Jr. New interview with film scholar Mia Mask, editor of Poitier Revisited Trailer PLUS: An essay by scholar Sarita Cannon

• The Greatest Story Ever Told | DVD | (25/03/2024) from £12.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Jackal | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £6.20   |  Saving you £9.79 (157.90%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Bruce Willis is The Jackal - the greatest assassin in history - out to eliminate a top U.S. government official. Declan Mulqueen an imprisoned underground operative is the only man who can stop him. Now the Deputy Director of the FBI is taking the biggest risk of all . . . he's releasing one criminal to stop another in this terrifically explosive totally intrigueing suspense thriller.

• Paris Blues (DVD + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (24/10/2016) from £14.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ram Bowen (Paul Newman The Hustler) and Eddie Cook (Sidney Poitier In the Heat of the Night) are jazz musicians who live for music. Their Paris is one of underground, smoke-filled Jazz bars and the rain-drenched streets of the Left Bank at night. However their carefree idyll is disturbed when two American tourists (Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll) enter their lives, and against the backdrop of music and moonlight, they find themselves falling in love. All too soon however, romance is put to the test, as the men find themselves torn between their love for the women, and their passion for music. Featuring the legendary Louis Armstrong as Wild Man Moore, the film's score by the incomparable Jazz musician Duke Ellington was Oscar nominated in 1962. Extras Original trailer Fully illustrated booklet with new writing on the film

• Sidney Poitier Collection - In The Heat Of The Night/Lilies Of The Field/The Organization/They Call Me Mr Tibbs! | DVD | (22/01/2007) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-2.97 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.03

  In The Heat Of The Night (Dir. Norman Jewison 1967): The winner of the 1967 Oscar for Best Picture ""In the Heat of the Night"" is set in a small Mississippi town where an unusual murder has been committed. Rod Steiger plays sheriff Bill Gillespie a good lawman despite his racial prejudices. When Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) a well-dressed African-American and Philadelphia police detective comes to town the two must betray culturally dictated conclusions of the other to grudgingly work together to solve the murder case. Lilies Of The Field (Dir. Ralph Nelson 1963): Homer Smith an itinerant handyman is driving through the Arizona desert when he meets five impoverished nuns. Stopping to fix their leaky farmhouse roof Homer discovers that not only will the Mother Superior not pay him for the job but she also wants him to build their chapel - for free! Hesitant at first Homer soon finds himself single-handedly raising the chapel and the financing. But although he will not receive monetary reward Homer knows that when his work is done he'll leave that dusty desert town a much better place than when he found it. The Organization (Dir. Don Medford 1971): Sidney Poitier reprises his role as Lt. Virgil Tibbs in this taut drama that exposes the ruthless high-stakes world of international drug trafficking. Co-starring Raul Julia this action-packed crime thriller delivers edge-of-the-seat entertainment. Under the cover of darkness six masked figures raid a seemingly respectable furniture factory - and steal a multimillion-dollar cache of heroin! But these are no ordinary crooks. They're a passionate band of former users-turned-vigilantes whose frustration with the law's inability to combat the city's drug problem spurs them to take on a powerful narcotics ring. After contacting Tibbs they confess to the break-in beg him to keep silent and ask for his help. But once he reluctantly agrees to operate outside the law Tibbs soon finds himself at odds with the police and a ruthless drug syndicate that will stop at nothing to silence him! They Call Me Mr. Tibbs (Dir. Gordon Douglas 1970): In this suspenseful sequel to In The Heat Of The Night Sidney Poitier reprises his role as the intrepid investigator who this time must solve a puzzling murder in the City by the Bay. Featuring an original score by Quincy Jones and co-starring Martin Landau and Edward Asner They Call Me Mister Tibbs! is an absorbing mystery that ranks as one of the best. When a prostitute is murdered in San Francisco's ritzy Nob Hill district an anonymous tip implicates minister and political crusader Reverand Logan Sharpe (Landau). Lt. Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) who has known Sharpe for many years asks to be assigned to the case in hopes of clearing his friend's name. So begins the detective's journey through a twisted maze of baffling evidence frantic chases deadly gunfire and bad alibis. Before long Tibbs finds himself bitterly torn between his duty as a cop... and his loyalty to a friend.

• To Sir, with Love (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (26/04/2021) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Sidney Poitier gives one of his finest performances as Thackeray, an out-of-work engineer who decides to try his hand at teaching, only to be faced with a class full of unruly teens (including Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall, and Lulu) intent on breaking his spirit. But Thackeray, no stranger to hostility, meets the challenge by treating the students as young adults. When offered an engineering job, Thackeray must decide if he wants to stay. Extras 2K restoration Audio commentary with Judy Geeson and film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman Audio commentary with novelist E.R. Braithwaite and author/teacher Salome Thomas-El Those Schoolboy Days (2016, 24 mins): interview with actor Christian Roberts Look and Learn (2016, 11 mins): interview with art director Tony Woollard E.R. Braithwaite: In His Own Words (2011, 24 mins): the writer discusses his life and work Lulu and the B-Side (2011, 5 mins): interview with the acclaimed singer Miniskirts, Blue Jeans and Pop Music! (15 mins): a look at the swinging sixties To Sidney with Love (2011, 5 mins): agent Marty Baum on Sidney Poitier Principal El: He Chose to Stay (2011, 11 mins): interview with teacher and author Thomas-El Isolated score: experience Ron Grainer's original soundtrack music Image gallery: promotional material Original theatrical trailer New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• Duel At Diablo | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £7.96   |  Saving you £5.03 (63.19%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Sidney Poitier and James Garner put in excellent performances as men on either side of the colour divide forced to fight side by side against the might of the Apache Indians...

• Long Ships | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Viking brothers Rolfe (Widmark) and Orm (Russ Tamblyn) steal the Norse king's funeral ship, as well as his beautiful daughter Gerda (Beba Loncar), and head off in search of the fabled 'Mother of Voices,' a huge solid-gold bell and battle a maelstrom, a mutinous crew and vengeful Moorish troops...