"Director: Marcel Varnel"

• Will Hay - Good Morning Boys | DVD | (07/12/2009) from £3.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (25.06%)   |  RRP £4.99

  The headmaster of St Michael's school Dr Benjamin Twist (Will Hay) finds himself in hot water after a government inspection. He is asked to resign unless he can prove that his educational methods work, and so when he comes into possession of the French paper, he does not need much coaxing before showing it to his students. The boys pass with honours, but a congratulatory trip to Paris goes awry when they and Twist inadvertently help to steal the Mona Lisa.

• George in Civvy Street | DVD | (24/10/2011) from £2.89   |  Saving you £7.10 (245.68%)   |  RRP £9.99

  George Formby leaves us laughing in this, his final feature film now available on DVD for the very first time. A packed troopship pulls into port. George Harper (George Formby) is back in Blighty and just itching to get on with his life. After being de-mobbed, he and his dodgy pal Fingers (Ronald Shiner) head for George's family pub, The Unicorn, in the idyllic country Village of Tumbleford. The Unicorn has seen better days. The other pub in the village, The Lion, has stolen all the trade and now an unscrupulous banker and his crony are out to get George to sell up - by far means or foul. Worse still, The Lion's landlord wants to force George out too - because he's got designs on George's childhood sweetheart Mary (Rosalyn Boulter). Can George save his beloved pub... and will it 'all turn out nice again' one last time? A firm favourite with Formby fans and featuring the legendary Alice In Wonderland dream sequence.

• Get Cracking | DVD | (24/10/2011) from £3.39   |  Saving you £6.60 (194.69%)   |  RRP £9.99

  George Formby signs up for the Home Guard in this cracking wartime musical comedy which also starts Dinah Sheridan and Ronald Shiner! Watch out Adolf! George has signed up to so his patriotic duty with the Minor Wallop village Home Guard - and he's ready for you and your goose-steppers! There's only one minor problem - the Minor Wallop Home Guard are busy waging their own private war against the unit based in Major Wallop! When the rival Home Guard units are sent on battle manoeuvres, George launches his own unique style of commando raid against Major Wallop to steal a vital Vickers machine gun. The raid fails and so George and a little evacuee girl named Irene decide to fall back on 'Plan B' - to build their very own tank! One of George Formby's most popular film for Columbia studios.

• Will Hay - Old Bones Of The River / Where There's A Will | DVD | (16/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Old Bones Of The River: When Professor Benjamin Tibbets travels to Africa up river to open schools for the natives he experiences several setbacks. His new pupils are less than receptive and when the commander of the local base goes down with malaria he takes on his duties as well. Aided by the crew of the boat on which he arrived he sets about collecting taxes from the locals with hilarious results! Where There's A Will: Alcoholic lawyer Benjamin Stubbins is deep

• Girls Will Be Boys | DVD | (07/07/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This delightfully mischievous comedy was among the first films made in Britain by Paris-born director Marcel Varnel later noted for his collaborations with Will Hay Arthur Askey and the Crazy Gang. It also marked the British screen debut of Dolly Haas providing a typically androgynous role for the gamine German ingénue. Girls Will Be Boys is presented here in a brand-new digital transfer. The mere idea of a woman in his castle made the Duke of Bridgewater feel ill but behind his misogyny lay a family scandal that had left him irascible lonely and heirless. Much was his rejoicing when a letter arrived from abroad beginning 'Dear Grandfather' and signed 'Pat Caverley' it seemed to signal that the Duke had an heir after all and the old man promptly ordered Grey his secretary to fetch the boy. Much to Grey's horror however 'Pat' turned out to be 'Patricia'! Undaunted the impish Patricia cuts off her curls and dons trousers can she make everyone believe that she's a man..? SPECIAL FEATURES: [] Image Gallery

• I Thank You | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £8.07   |  Saving you £-3.08 (-61.70%)   |  RRP £4.99

  More Comedic antics from Arthur Askey

• Will Hay - Ask A Policeman | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Ask a Policeman is arguably Will Hay's all-round best film, not so much for the qualities of his familiar star performance but for the mix of laughs and thrills in the manner of The Ghost Train or The Cat and the Canary. Hay plays Sgt Doubtfoot, commander of the police station in the coastal hamlet of Turnbotham Round, who hasn't made an arrest in 10 years. This is not because of the area's low crime rate, but because most of the poaching, pilfering and swindling in the village is the responsibility of his own constables, the geriatric Harbottle (Moore Marriott) and literal wide-boy Albert (Graham Moffatt). When the Chief Constable threatens to close the station, the bumbling coppers set out to investigate some crimes and go after a smuggling squire who has been using a local legend as a cover story (and planting his signal light on top of the police station itself). Director Marcel Varnel, working from a script by Sidney Gilliatt and Val Guest, manage some fine semi-horror business with "the 'earse of the 'headless 'orseman", a flaming carriage which dashes about the landscape, and a risky venture into Devil's Cave to find the old smuggler's route that turns out to lead to the cellar of Harbottle's general stores. Hay and his sidekicks are in top form, squabbling surreally over every possible filched coin from the police outing fund box or trying to sort out the plot, and there's a sublime scene as they try to get a clue out of the impossibly ancient Harbottle's even more elderly Dad (also Marriott). --Kim Newman

• South American George | DVD | (24/10/2011) from £5.38   |  Saving you £4.61 (46.10%)   |  RRP £9.99

  George Formby was Britain's biggest box office star when he signed on with Columbia to make this smashing musical comedy! Would you believe it - humble little George Butters (George Formby) is a dead ringer for the famous South American Tenor and opera star Gilli Vannetti! When Vannetti runs off, George boldly steps into his shoes and pretends to be the great man to save the day! There's just one snag - George can't sing opera... Adding to George's problems, he's being followed by two inept hit men - Swiftly and Slappy (Ronald Shiner and Alf Goddard) - and his falling hopelessly in love with Vannetti's personal assistant Miss Carole (Linden Travers)! George may not be able to sing opera - but he can certainly belt out a top comedy novelty number and South American George includes four great songs from Formby repertoire - Barmaid of the Rose & Crown, Swing Mama, My Spanish guitar and I'll Do It With A Smile.

• Band Waggon | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £7.98   |  Saving you £-2.99 (-59.90%)   |  RRP £4.99

  A spin-off movie from Askey's popular BBC radio programme of the same name in which after being evicted from Broadcasting House Askey and Richard 'Stinker' Murdoch move to a castle where they come upon television equipment which they use to put on a show - not realising that is in use by German agents. The show is of course the ideal vehicle for the variety acts from the radio show.

• Will Hay - Good Morning Boys / Hey! Hey! USA | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £6.54   |  Saving you £6.45 (49.70%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In 1937's Good Morning Boys Will Hay plays the pompous but ill-qualified headmaster of St Michael's, Dr Benjamin Twist, who befuddles his class with meaningless mathematical equations while they set their wits to constructing booby traps for him. However, when his boys pass an inter-schools examination, having seen the French paper in advance, they're invited by the French educational authorities to Paris and become involved in a plot to steal the Mona Lisa. Although it is at times too silly plot-wise even for those with a high endurance for farce, Good Morning, Boys is another fine showcase for Hay to display his well-honed repertoire of tics, double-takes and blathering half-sense. In Hey! Hey! USA!, a 1938 comedy intended to boost Hay's stock in America, he again plays Dr Twist who becomes tutor to millionaire's son Bernie Schulz aboard an Atlantic liner. Predictably the boy knows more about all aspects of history than Hay, having to remind him that Britain lost in the War of Independence against America. "Yes, but we sent our second eleven," Hay reminds him, "And we were playing away." Further capers ensue when two rival gangs attempt to capture the precocious lad, with his parents dispatching Hay to pass on the ransom money. Hey! Hey! USA!has its moments, but despite the presence of old Laurel and Hardy sidekicks Edgar Kennedy (as a dim-witted gangster) and Charlie Hall, this was too leaky a comedic vessel to transport Hay's peculiarly British UK success across the Atlantic. On the DVD: Good Morning Boys and Hey! Hey! USA! are presented on disc well restored from their original 1930s film stock, give or take the odd crackle. There are no extras except scene index. --David Stubbs

• Will Hay - Old Bones of the River | DVD | (30/09/2010) from £6.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  A film starring Will Hay, Graham Moffatt, Moore Marriott. Directed by Marcel Varnel. Year of production 1938 Rereleased by Granada Ventures Limited

• The Arthur Askey Collection - Back Room Boy/Band Waggon/Bees In Paradise/King Arthur Was A Gentleman/Miss London Ltd/I Thank You | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £49.99   |  Saving you £-25.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A six disc collection from Arthur Askey including: Back Room Boy Band Waggon Bees In Paradise King Arthur Was A Gentleman Miss London Ltd I Thank Yo

• Will Hay - Hey Hey USA! | DVD | (07/12/2009) from £5.59   |  Saving you £-0.60 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  A film starring Will Hay, Edgar Kennedy, Tommy Bupp, David Burns. Director Marcel Varnel. Writer Marriott Edgar, Val Guest. Year of production 1938. Rereleased by Granada Ventures Limited

• Get Cracking | DVD | (17/09/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Get Cracking

• King Arthur Was A Gentleman | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  A British soldier saves his friends with what he thinks is King Arthur's Excalibur.

• Bell-Bottom George | DVD | (17/09/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Bell Bottom George

• Will Hay - Good Morning Boys | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £6.06   |  Saving you £5.19 (108.12%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The headmaster of St Michael's school Dr Benjamin Twist (Will Hay) finds himself in hot water after a government inspection. He is asked to resign unless he can prove that his educational methods work and so when he comes into possession of the French paper he does not need much coaxing before showing it to his students. The boys pass with honours but a congratulatory trip to Paris goes awry when they and Twist inadvertently help to steal the Mona Lisa.

• Will Hay - Convict 99 | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  One of Will Hay’s brisker comic efforts, 1936’s Convict 99 sees Dr Benjamin Twist, Hay’s clueless schoolmaster, caught in a case of mistaken identity and invited to head up a prison for especially hard-boiled criminals. Unable to believe his luck, Dr Twist celebrates his success with a few drinks, is still drunk when he arrives to take up his post and, confused with a new batch of inmates, ends up behind bars himself. There he makes the acquaintance of Moore Marriott as "Jerry the Mole", who has been digging an escape tunnel for nigh on 40 years and is only a fortnight away from his release date. When eventually reinstated as governor, Hay runs a loose ship, with inmates waited on by wardens, allowed to bet and even play the stock market. However, when a criminal on the outside attempts to defraud Twist, their indignation is naturally aroused. Convict 99 is a typical outtake from Hay’s bizarrely lawless universe, in which for all his harrumphing and bluster, he’s unable to exercise any sort of discipline whatsoever over the men in his charge. Hay plays exactly the same character from film to film, one so ill-equipped for any situation he’s equally suited for all. Whereas Twist is an incompetent who somehow muddles through, Hay the comic actor is a master of timing and double-takes who knows precisely how to create the air of a shambles. On the DVD: the original 1930s film stock has been well restored, give or take the odd crackle. But there are no extras, except scene index. --David Stubbs

• Will Hay - Old Bones Of The River | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  When Professor Benjamin Tibbets (Will Hay) travels to Africa up river to open schools for the natives he experiences several setbacks. His new pupils are less than receptive and when the commander of the local base goes down with malaria he takes on his duties as well. Aided by the crew of the boat on which he arrived (Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt) he sets about collecting taxes from the locals with hilarious results.

• Will Hay - Hey! Hey! USA! | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Dr. Benjamin Twist (Will Hay) is invited to act as tutor to the son of a millionaire in the United States of America after posing as a famous professor. Twist discovers that two gangs of villains are out to kidnap his precocious young pupil Bernie Schultz...