"Actor: Virginia Bruce"

• The Railway Children | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Railway Children (1970) and Swallows and Amazons (1974) are perfect bedfellows: two classic children's novels, simply and faithfully adapted for the big screen. Together they evoke a poignant nostalgia for the periods in which they are set--Edwardian and 1920s England, respectively--and for the childhood of anyone who has grown up watching them. Sentimentality reigns, of course, but it's never cloying. The truthfulness of the juvenile performances, balanced with restrained sympathy from the adults, sees to that. Flourishing under Lionel Jeffries' delicate direction, Jenny Agutter dominates The Railway Children as the oldest daughter of a family thrown on hard times when their father is wrongly sent to prison. They avert a train disaster, save an imperilled steeple chaser and reunite an exiled Russian with his wife, all with equal enterprise. Happy endings prevail after every crisis. And no number of repeat viewings can ever diminish the impact of father's return. One of the most expert tear-duct work-outs in film history, it hits the spot every time. Perhaps the lack of such a pivotal scene has kept Swallows and Amazons in the relative shade. But its gentle appeal survives with equal charm, not least in the resourcefulness of the eponymous children and the period detail. Together this pairing makes a double bill to treasure, and a piquant reminder that Disney doesn't have a complete monopoly on the rich heritage of children's cinema. On the DVD: The Railway Children and Swallows and Amazons is presented in standard 4:3 picture format, from so-so prints, and with acceptable mono soundtracks. Both films envelope the viewer in a comforting Sunday-afternoon haze. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford

• Swallows And Amazons | DVD | (25/07/2016) from £3.82   |  Saving you £14.17 (370.94%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The Railway Children (1970) and Swallows and Amazons (1974) are perfect bedfellows: two classic children's novels, simply and faithfully adapted for the big screen. Together they evoke a poignant nostalgia for the periods in which they are set--Edwardian and 1920s England, respectively--and for the childhood of anyone who has grown up watching them. Sentimentality reigns, of course, but it's never cloying. The truthfulness of the juvenile performances, balanced with restrained sympathy from the adults, sees to that. Flourishing under Lionel Jeffries' delicate direction, Jenny Agutter dominates The Railway Children as the oldest daughter of a family thrown on hard times when their father is wrongly sent to prison. They avert a train disaster, save an imperilled steeple chaser and reunite an exiled Russian with his wife, all with equal enterprise. Happy endings prevail after every crisis. And no number of repeat viewings can ever diminish the impact of father's return. One of the most expert tear-duct work-outs in film history, it hits the spot every time. Perhaps the lack of such a pivotal scene has kept Swallows and Amazons in the relative shade. But its gentle appeal survives with equal charm, not least in the resourcefulness of the eponymous children and the period detail. Together this pairing makes a double bill to treasure, and a piquant reminder that Disney doesn't have a complete monopoly on the rich heritage of children's cinema. On the DVD: The Railway Children and Swallows and Amazons is presented in standard 4:3 picture format, from so-so prints, and with acceptable mono soundtracks. Both films envelope the viewer in a comforting Sunday-afternoon haze. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford

• The Great Ziegfeld | DVD | (16/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The ups and downs of Flo Ziegfeld who produced ever more bigger and spectacular shows and revues throughout his life...

• Classic Children's Films - Swallows and Amazons/The Railway Children | DVD | (21/08/2006) from £8.45   |  Saving you £9.54 (112.90%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The Railway Children: Three Edwardian children travel with their mother to live by a railway in Yorkshire when their father is wrongly imprisoned as a spy. Based on the novel by Edith Nesbit. (Dir. Lionel Jeffries 1971) Swallows And Amazons: Six young children experience a holiday in the Lake District during the peaceful summer of 1929.... Based on the novel by Arthur Ransome. (Dir. Claude Whatham 1974)

• Action in Arabia | DVD | (16/07/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  World War Two is raging, and the flames of conflict are spreading to the Middle East. When ace journalist Michael Gordon - George Sanders at his smoothest - lands in Damascus, he finds a city crackling with spies, double dealing and femmes fatales. Nazi agents are trying to ally the Arabs to their cause and Gordon must stop them. If he doesn't, the whole war could be lost...With a cast headed by the peerless Sanders (Man Hunt, Moonfleet) and featuring some of Hollywood's most beloved actors - Gene Lockhart (Hangmen Also Die), Alan Napier (Ministry of Fear) and Marcel Dalio (Casablanca) - Action in Arabia is a classic adventure from the Golden Age.

• Hired Wife | DVD | (06/06/2016) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Five-time Golden Globe winner Rosalind Russell (His Girl Friday, Auntie Mame) stars in this 1940 romantic comedy as Kendal Browning, the crafty and quick-witted assistant to business tycoon Stephen Dexter (Brian Aherne, Juarez). When Stephen a bigwig bachelor with a penchant for blondes faces a hostile takeover from a rival company, he's advised to enter into a sham marriage, putting his assets in a new wife's name to avoid bankruptcy. Though the CEO fancies model Phyllis Walden (Virginia Bruce), Kendal whose love for Stephen has burned secretly for months has other ideas about her boss's impending engagement. As Kendal wards off Phyllis and Stephen fights to keep his business afloat, sparks fly, and fizzle, and fly again while laughs abound throughout it all. With strong supporting performances from John Carroll (Go West) and Robert Benchley (Foreign Correspondent), who ˜comes close to stealing the show as a comic lawyer-pal' (The Times), Hired Wife remains a timeless, sparkling showcase of some of the era's brightest comic talents.

• Pardon My Sarong / Who Done It | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £10.94   |  Saving you £2.04 (25.66%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Pardon My Sarong: Bud and Lou play a couple of bus drivers who quickly get in trouble. Who Done It?: The stooges are private detectives looking for a missing millionaire. They wander around the millionaire's spooky mansion confronting various crooks and a dangerous dame. The stooges vanquish the crooks (Shemp uses his ""trusty shovel"") and find the missing man.

• Abbott And Costello Collection - Pardon My Sarong/Buck Privates/Here Come The Co-Eds/Who Done It?/One Night In The Tropics/ | DVD | (20/09/2010) from £10.78   |  Saving you £14.21 (56.90%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Get ready for big laughs with Abbott and Costello undeniably the most popular comedy team of all time! Now the classic films of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello are available on DVD in this hilarious collection. Set Comprises: Here Come The Co-Eds (1945): Bud and Lou head to campus and attempt to save Bixby College from closing down. In Society (1944): The boys find themselves in hot water after a plumbing job goes wrong at a high society bash. Buck Privates

• Evil Dead / Hills Have Eyes | DVD | (06/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Evil Dead (Dir. Sam Raimi 1982): In the literary tradition of Stephen King and the cinematic mode of George Romero (Night of the Living Dead) The Evil Dead is a visual and aural attack on the senses which requires a strong stomach and a healthy sense of humour! Whilst holidaying in the Tennessee woodlands five innocent teenagers unwittingly unleash the spirit of the evil dead. One by one the teenagers fall victim to the frenzied flesh-eating monsters amidst a tour-de-force display of stunning special effects. The Hills Have Eyes (Dir. Wes Craven 1977): The Carter family taken a wrong turn when crossing the desert for California and are attacked by a savage group of cannibals. For the Carters who have to revert to their own primitive instincts it is a battle for survival: the lucky ones died first...

• Reluctant Bride | DVD | (16/07/2012) from £9.45   |  Saving you £3.54 (37.46%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The First Ever Release of This Classic British Film on DVD.This 1955 tempean production was directed by Henry Cass and stars American's John Carroll and Virginia Bruce. It was also produced by the prolific duo of Robert S Baker and Monty Berman.In this romantic comedy, four children are seemingly orphaned and remanded to their Aunt and Uncle's custody after their parents, renowned explorers, are lost. The proper English Aunt a sensitive, dignified entomologist, Laura Weeks (Virginia Bruce), is the sister of the missing mother; the Uncle a playboy money-to-burn and girl-chasing Texas oilman Jeff Longstreet, (John Carroll) is the brother of their father. Naturally, the disparate duo dislike each other at first...