"Director: J. Lee Thompson"

• Kenneth More Collection | DVD | (15/10/2007) from £29.99   |  Saving you £-7.47 (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.52

  Affable bright and breezy Kenneth More epitomised the traditional English virtues of fortitude and fun. At the height of his fame in the 1950s he was Britain's most popular film star and had appeared in a string of box office hits including Genevieve (1953) Doctor in the House (1954) Reach for the Sky (1956) and A Night to Remember (1958). Like many British actors he commuted between film and theatre and steadily became of or Britain's most treasured actors. This 8 disc collection celebrates some of his greatest work. Films include: Chance of a Lifetime (1950): The workers in a small plough factory take over the firm but when a large order falls through the old management come back to help out. Genevieve (1953): Two friends race their vintage cars on the annual London to Brighton rally. But once they place a 'friendly' wager on who will win the race the competitive juices start flowing! Genevieve is the name of one of the cars which like her competitor runs into one problem after another. A Night to Remember (1958): Based on the best selling book by Walter Lord this is the true story of the R.M.S. Titanic which struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Europe to New York in 1912. The Galloping Major (1951): An elderly pet shop owner who sets up a scheme to buy ""Montana Mist "" a race horse who promises to finish in the money. When the animals are switched at an auction his lifelong dream comes crashing down - unless the old glue horse he has purchased turns out to be more than meets the eye. North West Frontier (1959): Captain Scott (More) is sent by the British Governor in India to rescue a five year old Hindu prince and his American governess (Bacall) when a rebellion breaks out among the tribesmen. Pursued by the abductors the trio commandeer a derelict steam train to take them 300 miles through the mountains to safety... Reach for the Sky (1956): A story of one man's indomitable courage and endurance. As a young sports-loving Pilot Officer Douglas Bader loses both legs in a flying accident. Not only does he overcome his devastating disability; he goes on to become a Battle of Britain ace. Eventually Bader is shot down and imprisoned in Germany. In 1945 when three hundred aircraft fly in triumph over London led by a solitary Spitfire the honour of leading the fly-past goes to Douglas Bader. This is the story of one of the few to whom so many owed so much.

• Ice Cold In Alex | Blu Ray | (13/06/2011) from £59.99   |  Saving you £-40.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The title Ice Cold in Alex refers to the beer the heroes of this 1958 British World War Two classic plan to drink in Alexandria, once they have escaped from the Germans, negotiated minefields and survived both mechanical failure and the killing heat of the North African sands. The setting is Libya in 1942, at the height of the campaigns featured in The Desert Fox (1951) and The Desert Rats (1953), and a disparate group in a military ambulance--which include a Nazi agent to add tension of one kind and a beautiful nurse to add tension of another--must make an epic journey to safety. Staring John Mills, Sylvia Sims, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews the terror and poignancy comes from our certainty that not everyone will survive, such that the suspense sometimes reaches near unbearable levels. Director J Lee-Thomson was clearly inspired by the then recent French masterpiece, The Wages of Fear (1952) and handles both the character drama and set-pieces with great skill. He would go on to make another great war adventure, The Guns of Navarone (1961), also starring Anthony Quayle, who then returned to the desert for the ultimate British war classic, Lawrence of Arabia (1962). --Gary S. Dalkin

• King Solomon's Mines | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £19.93   |  Saving you £-3.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  King Solomon's Mines had been filmed several times before, but this 1985 adaptation of H Rider Haggard's novel is far and away the most absurdly tongue-in-cheek. Making no disguise of riding Indiana Jones's coattails, the adventure starts fast and grows ever wilder. Richard Chamberlain wears Allan Quatermain's fedora and expression of grim determination. Supposedly concerned with the novel's quest for lost gold, the movie is really an excuse to string together numerous sight gags and low-budget attempts to upstage Raiders of the Lost Ark (hardly surprisingly, it fails). Pursued by a wax-moustachioed and Wagner-obsessed Herbert Lom, Quatermain and a dizzily blonde Sharon Stone escape an avalanche and crocodiles before being boiled in a cauldron with plastic vegetables at the Village of the Upside Down People. Nothing lingers in the memory, though, than the sight of Chamberlain skiing behind a locomotive. Cheap and rudely plagiaristic it may be, but Indy never got to be as (un)intentionally hilarious. On the DVD: King Solomon's Mines has come up exceptionally well on disc in this widescreen print. Sound is in Dolby 2.0 and is a faithful representation of the effort put into the film's sound design. The only extra is the original trailer. --Paul Tonks

• Planet Of The Apes Collection | Blu Ray | (01/12/2008) from £54.99   |  Saving you £20.00 (36.37%)   |  RRP £74.99

  Filled with iconic images fierce epic battles and breathtaking twists these action-packed films revolutionized science fiction...and remain as thrilling and timely as ever! Planet Of The Apes: Charlton Heston stars as an astronaut lost in a world run by evolved apes in this highly influential Oscar'-winning and epic film! (1968) Beneath The Planet Of The Apes: James Franciscus discovers new horrors on the Planet of the Apes including a subterranean world of highly advanced humans who worship a WMD! Escape From The Planet Of The Apes: Refugee chimps from the feature Cornelius and Zira (Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter) are hunted down as an evolutionary threat in twentieth-century America. (1971) Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes: In the not-too-distant future an ape named Caesar (Roddy McDowall) defies his human masters launching a revolt that will change the way the world is run...and by whom. (1972) Battle For The Planet of The Apes: The peaceful coexistence of man and ape is shattered when militant factions of both species clash igniting an explosive final conflict! (1973)

• 10 to Midnight | Blu Ray | (19/10/2020) from £12.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Charles Bronson is a hero all the way as a rogue cop pursuing a deranged killer in this action-packed suspense thriller. Serving up vigilante justice as only he can. Bronson delivers one of his most riveting performances in this exceedingly well-made film. Bronson plays Leo Kessler, a cynical Los Angeles cop on the trail of Warren Stacey (Gene Davis), a homicidal maniac who turns rejection from beautiful women into the ultimate revenge. When the legal system sets Stacey free, Kessler plants evidence to put him behind bars for good. But Kessler's plan backfires, leaving him with only one option: to hunt down Stacey on his own... before the crazed killer strikes again! Extras: Producing Bronson interview with producer Lance Hool (12:41) Remember Bronson interview with actor Robert F. Lyons (6:00) Knife and Death interview with actress Jeana Tomasina (6:55) Charlie's Partner interview with actor Andrew Stevens (10:46)

• War Box Set 2 | DVD | (06/11/2006) from £34.90   |  Saving you £-14.91 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Films comprise: 1. I Was Monty's Double (Dir. John Guillermin 1958) 2. Ice Cold In Alex (Dir. J. Lee Thompson 1958) 3. Went The Day Well? (Dir. Alberto Cavalcanti 1942)

• The Great Epics | DVD | (17/10/2016) from £38.99   |  Saving you £-16.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Based on the true story of the building of a bridge on the Burma railway by British prisoners-of-war held under a savage Japanese regime in World War II, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) is one of the greatest war films ever made. The film received seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Director, Performance (Alex Guinness), for Sir Malcolm Arnold's superb music, and for the screenplay from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote Monkey Planet, the inspiration for Planet of the Apes). The story does take considerable liberties with history, including the addition of an American saboteur played by William Holden, and an entirely fictitious but superbly constructed and thrilling finale. Made on a vast scale, the film reinvented the war movie as something truly epic, establishing the cinematic beachhead for The Longest Day (1962), Patton (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977). It also proved a turning-point in director David Lean's career. Before he made such classic but conventionally scaled films as In Which We Serve (1942) and Hobson's Choice (1953). Afterwards there would only be four more films, but their names are Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Dr Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970) and A Passage to India (1984). On the DVD: Too often the best extras come attached to films that don't really warrant them. Not so here, where a truly great film has been given the attention it deserves. The first disc presents the film in the original extra-wide CinemaScope ratio of 2.55:1, in an anamorphically enhanced transfer which does maximum justice to the film's superb cinematography. The sound has been transferred from the original six-track magnetic elements into 5.1 Dolby Digital and far surpasses what many would expect from a 1950s' feature. The main bonus on the first disc is an isolated presentation of Malcolm Arnold's great Oscar-winning music score, in addition to which there is a trivia game, and maps and historical information linked to appropriate clips. The second disc contains a new, specially produced 53-minute "making of" documentary featuring many of those involved in the production of the movie. This gives a rich insight into the physical problems of making such a complex epic on location in Ceylon. Also included are the original trailer and two short promotional films from the time of release, one of which is narrated by star William Holden. Finally there is an "appreciation" by director John Milius, an extensive archive of movie posters and artwork, and a booklet that reproduces the text of the film's original 1957 brochure. --Gary S Dalkin

• What a Way to Go! | DVD | (02/07/2012) from £24.60   |  Saving you £-14.61 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  What A Cast! What A Past! What A Show!This black comedy opens with Louisa Foster donating a multimillion dollar check to the IRS. The tax department thinks she's crazy and sends her to a psychiatrist. She then discusses her four marriages, in which all of her husbands became incredibly rich and died prematurely because of their drive to be wealthy...

• Planet of the Apes: Evolution Collection | Blu Ray | (12/12/2011) from £39.99   |  Saving you £40.00 (100.03%)   |  RRP £79.99

  Titles Comprise:Planet Of The Apes: Charlton Heston stars as an astronaut lost in a world run by evolved apes in this highly influential, Oscar-winning and epic film! (1968)Beneath The Planet Of The Apes: James Franciscus discovers new horrors on the Planet of the Apes, including a subterranean world of highly advanced humans who worship a WMD! Escape From The Planet Of The Apes: Refugee chimps from the feature, Cornelius and Zira (Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter), are hunted down as an evolutionary threat in twentieth-century America. (1971)Conquest Of The Planet Of The Apes: In the not-too-distant future, an ape named Caesar (Roddy McDowall) defies his human masters, launching a revolt that will change the way the world is run...and by whom. (1972)Battle For The Planet of The Apes: The peaceful coexistence of man and ape is shattered when militant factions of both species clash, igniting an explosive final conflict! (1973)Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes: Set in present day San Francisco, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes is a reality-based cautionary tale, a science fiction/science fact blend, where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.

• No Trees in the Street | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £8.29   |  Saving you £1.70 (20.51%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Sylvia Syms and Herbert Lom star in this hard-hitting drama set in the slums of pre-war London. Directed by Oscar nominee J. Lee-Thompson and adapted by Dixon of Dock Green creator Ted Willis from his own play No Trees in the Street earned BAFTA nominations for Best British Actress for Syms and Best British Screenplay for Willis. It is presented here in a brand-new digital transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Encouraged by his mother Jess Tommy opts to earn money the easy way by working for Wilkie a local racketeer who preys on the families of Kennedy Street; Jess also tries to force daughter Hetty to marry Wilkie. Unable to bear her squalid existence any longer Hetty tries to leave home... Bonus Features: Original theatrical trailer Image gallery Promotional material PDFs

• The Evil That Men Do | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Holland (Charles Bronson) a professional killer is persuaded to come out of retirement when his friend a Latin American journalist is tortured to death by his country's dictator - the sadistic Dr. Clement Moloch. The journalist's widow Rhiana (Theresa Saldana) and her daughter Sarah provide cover for Holland by posing as his family. As Holland gets closer to Moloch and his coterie he begins to fear more for 'his' family's safety and insists they leave so he can get on with his deadly mission but the idealistic Rhiana is determined to witness the death of her husband's killer.

• Cape Fear Box Set (1962 & 1991 versions) | DVD | (14/01/2002) from £49.99   |  Saving you £-25.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The original 1962 version of Cape Fear is directed by J Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone) in a deliberately Hitchcockian manner, and stars Robert Mitchum as a creepy ex-con angry at the attorney (Gregory Peck) whom he believes is responsible for his incarceration. After Mitchum makes clear his plans to harm Peck's family, a fascinating game of crisscrossing ethics and morality takes place. Superior to Martin Scorsese's punishing 1991 remake, which seems trapped in its explicitness, Thompson's film accomplishes a lot with a more economical and telling use of violence. The result is a rich character study that explores the nature of guilt. Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake dabbles a bit in some fascinating psychological crosscurrents between its characters, but it finally trades in all that rich material for extensive and gratuitous violence. Robert De Niro plays a serial rapist released from prison after 14 years. Angry because his appalled attorney (Nick Nolte) made it easy for him to be convicted, this monster is out to hurt Nolte's character through his wife (Jessica Lange) and daughter (Juliette Lewis). The themes of interlocking guilt and anger between these people suggests a smart film in the making. But the final act, set on a boat with De Niro's vengeful pervert attacking Nolte and the two women, takes a more unfortunate direction. The stars of the original film, Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck, each make a cameo appearance. --Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• Mackenna's Gold | DVD | (12/04/2004) from £17.22   |  Saving you £-11.23 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A U.S. Sheriff entrusted with a map of the legendary Valley of Gold is attacked by an unruly bandit gang and his own local townspeople. They are all fired by greed and gold lust but bound together by a fear of their common enemy - the Apache. Based on a novel by Will Henry with music by Quincy Jones.

• Murphy's Law | DVD | (03/05/2004) from £13.09   |  Saving you £-0.10 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Murphy's Law is a thoroughly unpleasant 1986 thriller stars Charles Bronson as a cop systematically framed for one murder after another. The killings, though, turn out to be the work of a female nutcase (Carrie Snodgress) he had once sent away to prison. Everyone involved in this leans on the atrocity-and-revenge formula, particularly Bronson and director J Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone), two Hollywood guys who once upon a time made plenty of classic films. Snodgress's performance is unhinged, interesting but hard to watch, as we never really got to know her onscreen after Diary of a Mad Housewife. Just think of this movie as having come from the same creepy planet as the Death Wish series. --Tom Keogh

• Ice Cold In Alex | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £6.59   |  Saving you £7.40 (112.29%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The title Ice Cold in Alex refers to the beer the heroes of this 1958 British World War Two classic plan to drink in Alexandria, once they have escaped from the Germans, negotiated minefields and survived both mechanical failure and the killing heat of the North African sands. The setting is Libya in 1942, at the height of the campaigns featured in The Desert Fox (1951) and The Desert Rats (1953), and a disparate group in a military ambulance--which include a Nazi agent to add tension of one kind and a beautiful nurse to add tension of another--must make an epic journey to safety. Staring John Mills, Sylvia Sims, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews the terror and poignancy comes from our certainty that not everyone will survive, such that the suspense sometimes reaches near unbearable levels. Director J Lee-Thomson was clearly inspired by the then recent French masterpiece, The Wages of Fear (1952) and handles both the character drama and set-pieces with great skill. He would go on to make another great war adventure, The Guns of Navarone (1961), also starring Anthony Quayle, who then returned to the desert for the ultimate British war classic, Lawrence of Arabia (1962). --Gary S. Dalkin

• Yield To The Night | DVD | (28/01/2008) from £10.35   |  Saving you £2.64 (25.51%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A young woman who has been abused and taken advantage of by all the men in her life finally finds a man she believes truly loves her but she snaps when she finds out that he too is cheating on her.

• The Weak and the Wicked | DVD | (10/08/2015) from £12.98   |  Saving you £-1.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Glynis Johns Diana Dors and Sybil Thorndike star in this powerful sympathetic drama tracing the contrasting lives and often faltering progress of the inmates of a women's prison. Based on the best-selling semi-autobiographical novel by Joan Henry – a writer and former debutante who further drew upon her own prison experience for the novel and classic film Yield to the Night – The Weak and the Wicked is directed by Henry's future husband Oscar-nominated J. Lee-Thompson. The film is featured here in a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio. Jean Raymond an upper-class woman with a gambling addiction is given a twelve-month prison sentence resulting from her inability to pay her debts. At first she is overwhelmingly depressed by life in the women's prison; gradually however her misery is relieved by the many close friends she makes there. Features: Original theatrical trailers Image gallery Promotional material PDF  

• Woman In A Dressing Gown | DVD | (13/08/2012) from £7.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (100.13%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A middle aged women who is content with her marriage is shocked when she finds out her husband has fallen in love with a beautiful younger woman and plans to leave their marriage to continue his passionate romance with her. Special Features: Interview with Sylvia Syms Introduction by Author Restoration comparison Stills gallery

• British War DVD Collection | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The four films presented in The British War Collection unapologetically embody the dogged spirit and pluck of an embattled nation during its greatest crisis; that they also represent the zenith of post-war British cinema is a testament to both their quality and veracity. First in chronological order is The Cruel Sea (1953), a rivetingly faithful adaptation of Nicholas Monsarrat's gripping novel (itself semi-autobiographical) in which Jack Hawkins is the epitome of determined professionalism in the face of ever-present disaster. Moving from sea to air, The Dam Busters (1954) uses the same documentary-style approach to storytelling, though combined here with the more overt patriotic appeal of Eric Coates' famous march theme. A similar never-say-die spirit pervades both The Colditz Story (1955)--an authentic retelling of PR Reid's narrative--and Ice Cold in Alex (1958). Coincidentally or not, both films star the always indomitable John Mills. In Colditz, Mills heads a distinguished ensemble of British thespians as they attempt to escape from the infamous fortress, while in Alex he and his marvellously tight-knit cast journey painstakingly towards what is probably the most famous glass of lager in the world. On the DVDs: The British War Collection comes in a neat fold-out package with postcard-style cards for each movie. All four discs are presented in their original aspect ratios (Cruel Sea and Dam Busters, 1.33:1; Alex and Colditz, 1.66:1). The black and white prints are in pretty good condition, and are accompanied by reasonably clean mono soundtracks. Other than the original theatrical trailers there are no extras. --Mark Walker

• Planet Of The Apes - Primal Collection (Eight Films Box Set) | Blu Ray | (24/11/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.00

  Packed with nonstop action iconic imagery and thrilling twists and turns the Planet of the Apes Primal Collection contains all eight films. See how it all began — and ended — as legendary stars including Charlton Heston Roddy McDowall Kim Hunter Ricardo Montalban James Franciscus and Claude Akins dominate the screen in these spectacular adventures that belong in every movie lover’s library!