"Director: George Sidney"

• Musicals: The Collection | DVD | (19/09/2011) from £10.29   |  Saving you £-0.30 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Titles Comprise: Annie Get Your Gun: Betty Hutton (as Annie Oakley) and Howard Keel (as Frank Butler) star in this sharpshootin' funfest based on the 1 147-performance Broadway smash boasting Irving Berlin's beloved score including Doin' What Comes Natur'lly I Got the Sun in the Morning and the anthemic There's No Business like Show Business. As produced by Arthur Freed directed by George Sidney and seen and heard in a new digital transfer from restored elements. This lavish spirited production showcases songs and performances with bull's-eye precision earning an Oscar for adaptation scoring. The story is brawling boy-meets-girl-meets-buckshot rivalry. But love finally triumphs when Annie proves that yes you can get a man with a gun! Easter Parade: When his long-time dance partner abandons him for the Ziegfeld Follies Don Hewes decides to show who's who what's what by choosing any girl out of a chorus line and transforming her into a star. So he makes his choice and takes his chances. Of course since Fred Astaire portrays Don and Judy Garland plays the chorine we know we're in for an entertainment sure thing. Calamity Jane: The Deadwood Stage is comin' to town bringing Doris Day and Howard Keel to fuss feud and fall in love as Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok in this entertainment from the golden age of movie musicals. At first curvaceous Calamity is too durned busy fighting Indians and cracking a bullwhip to pay much mind to such girlie what-alls as dresses and perfume. And Wild Bill is too danged busy wooing a dainty chanteuse to give a hoot about a hotheaded tomboy. But things change in a rootin' tootin' big way with love and romance just down the trail. There are wide-open Technicolor Western spaces lots of high-stepping terpsichory and a hummable humdinger of a score by Academy Award winning songwriters Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster who won an Oscar for the classic ballad (and '50's mega hit) 'Secret Love'. High Society: Beautiful aloof Newport heiress Tracy Lord (Kelly) is about to marry bland businessman George Kittredge (John Lund) but matters become complicated when her ex-husband C K Dexter-Haven (Crosby) moves to her neighbourhood determined to win back her hand. Things go from bad to worse for Tracy when journalist Mike Connor (Sinatra) arrives to cover the wedding for Spy Magazine. When Tracy is forced to choose between her suitors will she realise that safe doesn't always mean the best bet? Meet Me In St Louis: The wonderful Judy Garland stars in this charming musical as Esther Smith whose father comes home and announces he is going to uproot his whole family to New York on the very eve of the 1903 St. Louis World Fair. Brilliantly directed by Vincente Minnelli and full of wonderful songs - 'Trolley Song' 'Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas'.

• Annie Get Your Gun | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The story of the great sharpshooter, Annie Oakley, who rises to fame while dealing with her love/professional rival, Frank Butler.

• Musicals Collection | DVD | (22/02/2016) from £32.95   |  Saving you £-3.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.95

  Must-See Musicals - 10 DVD Film Collection 10 all time classic Musicals from Warner Brothers in a beautiful box set. Includes: 42nd Street, Meet Me in St. Louis, Easter Parade, Annie Get Your Gun, Singin' in the Rain, The Band Wagon, Calamity Jane, A Star is Born, High Society & Gypsy.

• The Gene Kelly Signature Collection (2011) | DVD | (19/09/2011) from £14.19   |  Saving you £-3.69 (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.50

  Collection of four musicals starring Gene Kelly. In 'Singin' in the Rain' (1952), set in 1927, Don Lockwood (Kelly) has worked his way up from being a song-and-dance man with partner Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor) to become a top movie star. His on-screen partner, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), who believes that Don loves her for real, needs to have her awful singing voice dubbed with the arrival of talkies. The girl selected is 'serious' actress Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), for whom Don soon falls. Musical numbers include the famous title song, as well as 'Make 'Em Laugh', 'Good Morning' and 'You Were Meant for Me'. 'An American in Paris' (1951) follows American G.I. Jerry Mulligan (Kelly) who has remained in Paris after the war to become a painter. There he falls in love with Lise Bouvier (Leslie Caron), only to discover that she is engaged to his friend, Henri Baurel (Georges Guetary). With music and songs by George and Ira Gershwin, including 'I Got Rhythm' and 'Embraceable You', the film went on to win six Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In 'Anchors Aweigh' (1945) Kelly and Frank Sinatra star as two sailors looking for female companionship while on a four-day pass in Los Angeles. They meet a Hollywood extra (Kathryn Grayson) and try to help her realise her dream of being a star. The film features a famous sequence where Kelly dances with Jerry, the cartoon mouse of 'Tom and Jerry' fame. In 'On the Town' (1949) three sailors (Kelly, Sinatra and Jules Munshin) hit New York City for a 24-hour shore leave. The first order of business is to find some women to spend it with and the boys hook up with Ivy (Vera-Ellen), an aspiring dancer, Hildy (Betty Garrett), a lady cab-driver, and Claire (Ann Miller), a paleontology student, causing mayhem across Manhattan. This was the first musical to make extensive use of location shooting rather than studio bound sets and includes the song-and-dance numbers 'New York, New York' and 'Miss Turnstiles Ballet'.

• Bye Bye Birdie (1963) | DVD | (03/09/2018) from £10.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Lots of laughs and great songs have made this alltime favourite based on the hit Broadway show one of the most memorable musicals of all time. When rock star and teenage heartthrob Conrad Birdie gets drafted, the nation's teenagers go haywire and Conrad's songwriter, Albert (Dick Van Dyke), faces unemployment. So Albert and his girlfriend (Janet Leigh) organize a nationwide contest in which one lucky girl wins a farewell kiss from Conrad on the Ed Sullivan Show. Kim McAfee (AnnMargret) turns out to be the lucky teenager and Conrad's whole entourage moves into her quiet, Midwestern home much to the chagrin of her everirritable father (Paul Lynde) and her jealous boyfriend (Bobby Rydell). The result is chaos and a series of hilarious romantic complications.

• Till the Clouds Roll By | DVD | (29/07/2003) from £6.24   |  Saving you £-3.25 (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Till the Clouds Roll By was the big MGM extravaganza of 1946, purporting to be a life of the first giant of the stage musical, Jerome Kern. Great chunks of Show Boat, Sweet Adeline and Sunny dominate while, in between excerpts, reliable Robert Walker does valiant work as Kern, lending a gentle credibility to even the most extravagant licenses taken by the writers. The liberties taken with Kern's story beggar belief, but what a fine excuse this is to sit back and enjoy a procession of gems from the great American songbook, performed by genuine legends. Judy Garland has two numbers as Marilyn Miller, both directed by husband Vincente Minnelli at the peak of their creative and personal relationships. Singing "Who?", she has to float down the proverbial staircase, obviously pregnant (Liza was born a short time later). Others to shine include Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Dinah Shore and, more bizarrely, a skinny young Sinatra drafted in at the last for a rousing "Old Man River". Most poignant of all is the presence of Lena Horne who, but for the racist values of Hollywood at the time, would have been a great film star. Ever confined to guest appearances, she here sings the songs of Show Boat's tragic half-caste Julie. When MGM filmed the musical in 1951, the same part went to Ava Gardner. On the DVD: Till the Clouds Roll By may boast digital remastering, but it could have done with a deal of restoration, too. Presented in 4:3 format, the picture quality is often pixellated and the soundtrack in "HiFi Stereo" is muffled and occasionally cracked. Considering its value as an archive of great performers, some rarely seen on film, this film deserves better DVD treatment. --Piers Ford

• The Paul Newman 3 Film Collection | DVD | (01/10/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance KidOne of the most popular screen Westerns ever made, this Academy Award-winning classic blends adventure, romance and comedy to tell the true story of the West's most likeable outlaws. No-one is quicker than Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman) when it comes to get rich quick schemes, and his sidekick Sundance (Robert Redford) is a wizard with a gun. When these two bungling bank and train robbers tire of running from the law, they set out for Bolivia with Sundance's girlfriend (Katharine Ross). Though they can barely speak enough Spanish to communicate: This is a stick-up!, that's only a minor detail to the two nicest bad-guys whoever rode the West. Special Features: The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Audio Commentary by George Roy Hill, Hal David, Robert Crawford and Conrad Hall Cast and Crew Interviews Theatrical Trailers Alternative Credit Roll Production Notes Interactive Menus Scene Access The VerdictSidney Lumet’s riveting courtroom drama earned five Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor for Paul Newman's towering performance as a down-and-out alcoholic attorney who stumbles on one last chance to redeem himself. When attorney Frank Galvin (Newman) is given an open-and-shut medical malpractice case that no one thinks he can win, he courageously decides to refuse a settlement from the hospital. Instead he takes the case and the entire legal system as well, to court. James Mason, Jack Warden, Milo O'Shea and Charlotte Rampling co-star. Special Features: Audio Commentary by Paul Newman and others Featurette Theatrical Trailer Behind the Scenes Gallery Interactive Menus Scene Access The HustlerPaul Newman heads a superb cast featuring Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott and Piper Laurie in this riveting film that received an Academy Award nomination as Best Picture of 1961 and brought all four of its stars Oscar nominations. Newman (Best Actor nominee) is electrifying as Fast Eddie Felson, an arrogant, amoral hustler who haunts back street pool rooms fleecing anyone who'll pick up a cue. Determined to be acclaimed as the best, Eddie seeks out the legendary Minnesota Fats (Gleason, Supporting Actor nominee), who's backed by Bert Gordon (Scott, Supporting Actor nominee). The love of a lonely woman (Laurie, Best Actress nominee) could turn Eddie's life around, but he won't rest until he bests Minnesota Fats, no matter what price he must pay. Voted one of the year's ten best by the New York Times and Time, and distinguished by two Academy Awards, The Hustler is a dazzling cinematic triumph. Special Features: Audio Commentary by Dede Allen and others The Hustler: The Inside Story How to Make the Shot Trick Shot Analysis Theatrical Trailer Spanish Theatrical Trailer Behind the Scene Stills Gallery Interactive Menus Scene Access

• The Eddy Duchin Story | DVD | (01/11/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The era of big bands, grand ballrooms, and casino nightlife comes alive in The Eddy Duchin Story, a musical biography of the talented pianist and bandleader who set New York society on its ear in the 1930s and 40s. George Sidney directs this moving story of a man who discovers too late the real wonder of life. An emotionally rare motion picture scored to the unforgettable music of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Frederic Chopin and Oscar Hammerstein.

• Viva Las Vegas | DVD | (13/09/2007) from £7.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (116.86%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Lucky Jackson is a Vegas gambling car racing singing and dancing ladies man. But all does not go the way he plans when he finds himself distracted by the lovely pool manageress...

• Fred Astaire - Screen Legends | DVD | (05/06/2006) from £19.41   |  Saving you £5.58 (28.75%)   |  RRP £24.99

  One of the greatest music and dance stars in the history of motion pictures Fred rose from a fairly inauspicious start where a studio exec remarked: ""Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little."" Well his career and achievements speak for themselves. A remarkable talent this box set features 4 of his most-loved films. You'll Never Get Rich (Dir. Sidney Lanfield 1941): After his wife discovers a telltale diamond bracelet impresario Martin Cortland tries to

• Show Boat (1936) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (14/09/2020) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  JEROME KERN and OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II's immortal musical adaptation of EDNA FERBER's sprawling novel receives its most faithful and enduring cinematic adaptation under the elegant direction of JAMES WHALE (Bride of Frankenstein). A rich portrait of changing American entertainment traditions and race relations, Show Boat spans four decades and three generations as it follows the fortunes of the stage-struck Magnolia (The Awful Truth's IRENE DUNNE), an aspiring actor whose journey takes her from her family's humble floating playhouse in the 1880s South to the height of fame in the 1930s North. The cast of show-business legends includes HELEN MORGAN (Applause), HATTIE McDANIEL (Gone with the Wind), CHARLES WINNINGER (Beyond Tomorrow), and the great PAUL ROBESON (The Emperor Jones), whose iconic, soul-shaking rendition of Ol' Man River is one of the crowning glories of the American stage and screen. Special Features: New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary from 1989 featuring American musical historian Miles Kreuger New interview with James Whale biographer James Curtis Recognizing Race in Show Boat, a new interview program featuring professor and author Shana L. Redmond Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist (1979), an Academy Awardwinning short documentary by Saul J. Turell, newly restored Two performances from the sound prologue of the 1929 film version of Show Boat, plus twenty minutes of silent excerpts from the film, with audio commentary by Kreuger Two radio adaptations of Show Boat, featuring stage and screen cast members Allan Jones, Helen Morgan, and Charles Winninger; actor Orson Welles; and novelist Edna Ferber PLUS: An essay by critic Gary Giddins

• Magical Musicals Collection | DVD | (28/09/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Titles Comprises: Annie Get Your Gun (1950): Betty Hutton and Howard Keel star in this sharpshootin' funfest based on the 1 147-performance Broadway smash boasting Irving Berlin's beloved score including Doin' What Comes Natur'lly I Got the Sun in the Morning and the anthemic There's No Business like Show Business. Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954): When rugged frontiersman Adam sweeps local beauty Milly off her feet the whole town is turned upside-down. But no one's more shocked than Milly who discovers that she's now expected to cook and clean not only for Adam but for his six rowdy brothers too! Well Milly's no pushover and soon she has those boisterous boys whipped into groomhood and dancing for joy over six brides of their own! Singin' In The Rain (1952): Starring Gene Kelly Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds and featuring unforgettable song and dance classics like 'Singin' in the Rain' 'Make 'Em Laugh' and 'All I Do Is Dream of You' it has just about everything you could ask for in a movie musical Sunday Review. Gigi (1958): A scruffy tomboy is transformed into a radiant high society beauty in this glorious musical from MGM. Scored by the talented team of Lerner and Lowe the movie features splendid musical numbers like Thank Heaven for Little Girls and I Remember It Well. The Wizard Of Oz (1939) We click our heels in anticipation. There's no place like home and no movie like this one. From generation to generation The Wizard Of Oz brings us together - kids grown-ups families friends. The dazzling land of Oz a dream-come--true world of enchanted forests dancing scarecrows and singing lions wraps us in its magic with one great song-filled adventure after another. Calamity Jane (1953): The Deadwood Stage is comin' to town bringing Doris Day and Howard Keel to fuss feud and fall in love as Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok in this entertainment from the golden age of movie musicals. At first curvaceous Calamity is too durned busy fighting Indians and cracking a bullwhip to pay much mind to such girlie what-alls as dresses and perfume. And Wild Bill is too danged busy wooing a dainty chanteuse to give a hoot about a hotheaded tomboy. But things change in a rootin' tootin' big way with love and romance just down the trail. High Society (1956): Beautiful aloof Newport heiress Tracy Lord is about to marry bland businessman George Kittredge but matters become complicated when her ex-husband C K Dexter-Haven moves to her neighbourhood determined to win back her hand. Things go from bad to worse for Tracy when journalist Mike Connor arrives to cover the wedding for Spy Magazine. When Tracy is forced to choose between her suitors will she realise that safe doesn't always mean the best bet? Meet Me In St Louis (1944): The wonderful Judy Garland stars in this charming musical as Esther Smith whose father comes home and announces he is going to uproot his whole family to New York on the very eve of the 1903 St. Louis World Fair. Brilliantly directed by Vincente Minnelli and full of wonderful songs - 'Trolley Song' 'Have yourself A Merry Little Christmas'. An American in Paris (1951): Jerry Mulligan is an American G.I. who decides to stay in Paris after the Second World War. Keen to sample some of the city's legendary romantic lifestyle he becomes an art student and joins a colony of painters living in a Montmartre garret. Penniless and starving his pursuit of the experience of the great artists is fast becoming a little too realistic when he is discovered by wealthy heiress Milo Roberts...

• Viva Las Vegas | DVD | (30/08/2004) from £5.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (133.56%)   |  RRP £13.99

  It's pretty tough to beat Jailhouse Rock in terms of sheer entertainment, but Elvis lovers are particularly fond of this 1964 hit. The Big E plays race-car driver Lucky Jackson, who arrives in Las Vegas for an upcoming Grand Prix race. Lucky's car needs a new engine, so he gets a waiter job at a casino and starts working his crooning charms on Rusty Martin (Ann-Margret). It's their on-screen chemistry that makes this flick a lot of fun; Presley never had a better co-star than Ann-Margret, and their race-car romance is quintessential 1960s fluff. Then there are the songs, of course, including the snappy title tune, a rockin' rendition of Ray Charles's "What'd I Say?" and "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Viva Las Vegas is one of the Elvis movies that stands the test of time, when the legend was still at his peak. --Jeff Shannon

• Till The Clouds Roll By | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £15.10   |  Saving you £-9.11 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Till the Clouds Roll By was the big MGM extravaganza of 1946, purporting to be a life of the first giant of the stage musical, Jerome Kern. Great chunks of Show Boat, Sweet Adeline and Sunny dominate while, in between excerpts, reliable Robert Walker does valiant work as Kern, lending a gentle credibility to even the most extravagant licenses taken by the writers. The liberties taken with Kern's story beggar belief, but what a fine excuse this is to sit back and enjoy a procession of gems from the great American songbook, performed by genuine legends. Judy Garland has two numbers as Marilyn Miller, both directed by husband Vincente Minnelli at the peak of their creative and personal relationships. Singing "Who?", she has to float down the proverbial staircase, obviously pregnant (Liza was born a short time later). Others to shine include Kathryn Grayson, June Allyson, Dinah Shore and, more bizarrely, a skinny young Sinatra drafted in at the last for a rousing "Old Man River". Most poignant of all is the presence of Lena Horne who, but for the racist values of Hollywood at the time, would have been a great film star. Ever confined to guest appearances, she here sings the songs of Show Boat's tragic half-caste Julie. When MGM filmed the musical in 1951, the same part went to Ava Gardner. On the DVD: Till the Clouds Roll By may boast digital remastering, but it could have done with a deal of restoration, too. Presented in 4:3 format, the picture quality is often pixellated and the soundtrack in "HiFi Stereo" is muffled and occasionally cracked. Considering its value as an archive of great performers, some rarely seen on film, this film deserves better DVD treatment. --Piers Ford

• Judy Garland Collection | DVD | (28/09/2009) from £36.25   |  Saving you £-21.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Titles Comprise: A Star Is Born: A Star Is Born marked Judy Garland's return to movies after a four year absence director George Cukor's first musical and first colour film and a showcase for the great Harold Arlen/Ira Gershwin songs in state-of-the-art stereo. Garland is singer Esther Blodgett an undeniable talent on the rise. She catches the eye of Norman Maine (James Mason) an alcoholic actor in a career decline. Their intense love transforms them both. Only one will survive Hollywood's slings and arrows... For Me & My Gal: Gene Kelly and Judy Garland star as Jo and Harry two vaudeville artists. Harry deliberately injures himself to avoid being drafter into Word War I but he later makes amends. Harvey Girls: Vittles songs and dance are amply ladeled out when Judy Garland headlines The Harvey Girls a joyous musical slice of Americana celebrating the restaurants that brought extra helpings of civilization to Old West rail passengers. Highlights include Garland holding saloon patrons at jittery gunpoint to retrieve stolen beefsteaks Ray Bolger's loose-limbed comic hoofing. Virginia O'Brien's sure-shot comic timing Angela Landsbury stylish wickedness as a saloon singer and the On the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe romp. All Board! In The Good Old Summertime: Starring Judy Garland and Van Johnson this musical remake of The Shop Around the Corner set in a Chicago music store finds a sales girl (Garland) corresponding through a dating service with a man (Johnson) who turns out to be the manager she detests. Love Finds Andy Hardy: Love Finds Andy Hardy is the fourth film in the series and finds Andy (Mickey Rooney) frantically trying to juggle two girlfriends (Ann Rutherford and Lana Turner) at the same time. It's the new kid next-door (Judy Garland in the first of three fondly remembered Andy Hardy appearances) who helps Andy out of his jam and sings such delightful songs as In Between It Never Rains But What It Pours and Meet the Beat of My Heart. Ziegfeld Girl: The greatest musical extravaganza of all time! An elevator operator a wife of a struggling concert violinist a born-in-the-trunk vaudevillian: they're three different women on three different paths of life yet they soon share one dream: to become a Ziegfeld Girl.

• Sinatra: 100th Anniversary | Blu Ray | (16/11/2015) from £21.99   |  Saving you £20.00 (100.05%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Anchors Aweigh Given free rein in choreographing Anchors Aweigh, Gene Kelly was eager to do the unexpected. But what? How about doing a dance witha cartoon? collaborator and friend Stanley Donen asked. How about it, indeed. Kelly's live-action fancy footwork with animated Jerry (of Tom and Jerry) remains a milestone of movie fantasy. Frank Sinatra and Kathryn Grayson also headline this wartime tale of two sailors on leave in Hollywood. Sinatra's I Fall in Love Too Easily , the exuberant Kelly/Sinatra We Hate to Leave and other highlights helped Anchors Aweigh weigh in with a 1945 Academy Award for Best Scoring of a musical Picture, plus four more Oscar nominations, inlcuding Best Picture and Actor (Kelly). On the Town New York, New York, it's a wonderful town - especially when sailors Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin have a 24-hour shore leave to see the sights...and when those sights include Ann Miller, Betty Garrett and Vera-Ellen. Robin and the 7 Hoods Robin and the 7 Hoods mirthfully gives the Robin Hood legend a Depression-era, mobtown Chicago setting. There, North Side boss Robbo (Frank Sinatra) hopes to get a leg up in his power struggle with rival racketeer Guy Gisborne (Peter Falk). Robbo sets himself up as a latter-day Robin Hood with philanthropic fronts enabling him to scam the rich, take his cut out and then give to the poor.

• Who Was That Lady? | DVD | (18/09/2006) from £3.00   |  Saving you £9.99 (76.90%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A wayward chemistry professor (Curtis) and his friend (Martin) imitate spies in a desperate attempt to justify a kiss between Curtis and one of his students to his jealous wife JANET Janet Leigh. The situation becomes chaotic once the pair are mistaken for genuine FBI agents by real Russian spies!

• Pal Joey | DVD | (18/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  First born in the pages of The New Yorker, then translated into a hit Rodgers and Hart Broadway musical, the title character of Pal Joey had undergone quite a transformation by the time he hit the movies in 1957. He was a singer, rather than a dancer, but more importantly he'd had his rough edges sweetly softened; the callous heel dreamed up by novelist John O'Hara was more of a naughty scamp in the film version. However, Pal Joey remains delightfully watchable for two very good reasons: a terrific song score and a surplus of glittering star power. Frank Sinatra, at the zenith of his cocky, world-on-a-string popularity, glides through the film with breezy nonchalance, romancing showgirl Kim Novak (Columbia Pictures' new sex symbol) and wealthy widow Rita Hayworth (Columbia Pictures' former sex symbol). The film also benefits from location shooting in San Francisco, caught in the moonlight-and-supper-club glow of the late 50s. Sinatra does beautifully with the Rodgers and Hart classics "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "I Could Write a Book" and his performance of "The Lady Is a Tramp" (evocatively shot by director George Sidney) is flat-out genius. Sinatra's ease with hep-cat lingo nearly outdoes Bing Crosby at his best, and included in the DVD is a trailer in which Sinatra instructs the audience in "Joey's Jargon", a collection of hip slang words such as "gasser" and "mouse." If not one of Sinatra's very best movies, Pal Joey is nevertheless a classy vehicle that fits like a glove. --Robert Horton

• Fred Astaire - Swing Time/Top Hat/You'll Never Get Rich/You Were Never Lovelier | DVD | (27/09/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  One of the greatest music and dance stars in the history of motion pictures Fred rose from a fairly inauspicious start where a studio exec remarked: Can't sing. Can't act. Slightly balding. Can dance a little. Well his career and achievements speak for themselves. A remarkable talent this box set features 4 of his most-loved films. Swing Time (Dir. George Stevens 1936): Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers star in arguably their finest film together; packed with exhilarating dance routines and a marvellous score this is an indispensable musical classic! Swing Time is full of magical moments including a complex and delightful routine to 'Pick Yourself Up' a luminous turn to 'Waltz In Swing Time' and Astaire's breathtaking solo to 'Bojangles Of Harlem'. Top Hat (Dir. Mark Sandrich 1935): Following a case of mistaken identity dancer Jerry (Astaire) follows Dale (Rogers) the girl of his dreams to Europe and tries to win her heart through song and dance routines. This most lavish of musicals from Hollywood's golden era features lyrics and music by Irving Berlin. You'll Never Get Rich (Dir. Sidney Lanfield 1941): After his wife discovers a telltale diamond bracelet impresario Martin Cortland tries to show he's not chasing after showgirl Sheila Winthrop. Choreographer Robert Curtis gets caught in the middle of the boss's scheme. Army conscription offers Robert the perfect escape from his troubles - or does it? You Were Never Lovelier (Dir. William A. Seiter 1942): In this lavish Hollywood musical the headstrong daughter (Hayworth) of a powerful Argentine hotelier has to contend with her father's attempts to get her to marry...

• Gene Kelly Collection | DVD | (28/09/2009) from £61.99   |  Saving you £-47.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Titles Comprise: Singin' In The Rain: Musician Don Lockwood (Kelly) rises to stardom during Hollywood's silent-movie era - paired with the beautiful jealous and dumb Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). When Lockwood becomes attracted to young studio singer Kathy Selden (Reynolds) Lamont has her fired. But with the introduction of talking pictures audiences laugh when they hear Lockwood speak for the first time - and the studio uses Selden to dub her voice. An American In Paris: Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron sing and dance to the music of George and Ira Gershwin in this winner of six Academy Awards including Best Picture. When ex-GI Jerry Mulligan (Kelly) remains in Paris to pursue life as an artist he is discovered by a wealthy patroness interested in more than his art. But Mulligan falls in love with a French shop girl (Caron) who is engaged to his best friend. Anchors Aweigh: Frank Sinatra Gene Kelly and Jerry the Mouse star in this charming musical mix of live action and animation. Two sailors (Sinatra and Kelly) in Hollywood looking for glamorous movie starlets find romance dance with a cartoon mouse and help a young starlet get discovered - all during one shore leave. On The Town: Three sailors - Gabey (Gene Kelly) Chip (Frank Sinatra) and Ozzie (Jules Munshin) - are let loose in New York City on 24 hour leave. On a subway Gabey sees a poster of Miss Turnstiles of the Month - a woman named Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen). Thinking she's a high society girl the trio spend the day looking for her. Along the way they run into a cab driver Hilde (Betty Garrett) who is attracted to Chip and a gorgeous anthropologist named Claire (Ann Miller). The Three Musketeers: To the cry of all for one and one for all comes a version of the Alexandre Dumas classic that's fun for all - a rousing swashbuckling adaptation that was Gene Kelly's favorite among his non-musical movies. Kelly plays country lad D'Artagnan who comes to Paris with heady ambition and duels his way into the ranks of King Louis XIII's musketeers. He swashes-and-buckles with brio bringing to action scenes of the virile athleticism that set him apart as a dancer in movie musicals. A top cast - Vincent Price as unctuous Cardinal Richelieu Lana Turner as villainous Lady de Winter June Allyson as Constance and Angela Lansbury as Queen Anne - joins Kelly in this exuberant tale filmed in luscious Technicolor.