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Review Warner Home Video / Hobson's Choice [1954]
Actors & Directors
  • John Mills
  • Prunella Scales
  • Charles Laughton
  • Daphne Anderson
  • David Lean
  • Brenda De Banzie
Release date: 2000-07-03
Run time: 102 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £17.80

Review Hobson's Choice [1954] / Warner Home Video:

Britain's greatest ever film director David Lean wasn't feted for providing belly-laughs. His finest films, from Great Expectations (1946) to Lawrence of Arabia (1962) are resolutely sober, which is more than can be said of Henry Horatio Hobson in his wonderfully comic encounter with the moon in Hobson's Choice. Lean's only other comedy was Blithe Spirit (1945), but here he approaches matters of the heart with a surprising lightness of touch and wins a marvellous performance from Charles Laughton-himself soon to make his one and only film as a director, Night of the Hunter (1955). The setting is late-19th century Salford (the b/w location filming is exceptional), and widower Henry Hobson forbids his three daughters to marry to avoid paying their dowries. Romance will not be thwarted by economics, and much humorous conflict ensues, interspersed with some serious and even disturbing moments-the shaving scene when Laughton gets the DTs is a queasily unbalanced. Brenda De Banzie is splendidly spirited as the eldest daughter, Maggie, while her fiancie is played by the ever excellent John Mills, who would later win an Oscar for his part in Lean's much more serious love story, Ryan's Daughter (1970). -Gary S. Dalkin.

Review Paramount Home Entertainment / Monte Carlo or Bust [1969]
Actors & Directors
  • Peter Cook
  • Dudley Moore
  • Susan Hampshire
  • Tony Curtis
  • Jack Hawkins
Release date: 1996-07-15
Run time: 120 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £34.99

Review Monte Carlo or Bust [1969] / Paramount Home Entertainment:


Review Acorn Media / The Good Life - Series 4 - Episodes 5 To 7 - Plus The Royal Special
Actors & Directors
  • Richard Briers
  • Penelope Keith
  • Paul Eddington
  • Felicity Kendal
Release date: 2001-09-03
Run time: 135 min.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £10.00

Review The Good Life - Series 4 - Episodes 5 To 7 - Plus The Royal Special / Acorn Media:

Time has, in general, not been kind to 1970s sitcomland, but The Good Life (1975-78), while inhabiting a cosy world few would recognise today, has managed to hold its place in the British public's affection. Basically a comedy of clashing cultures, the simple premise-one set of neighbours drop out of their comfortable middle class existence to lead a self-sufficient lifestyle-nevertheless yielded some rich humour. Focusing on a mere four characters, the show succeeded (and still succeeds) through the strength of its writing (by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey) and the quality of the performances. Felicity Kendal may have found herself elevated to the status of sex symbol (she was voted "Rear of the Year" during the show's initial run), but her Barbara is easily the weakest of the quartet, too often overshadowed by her well-meaning yet dominant husband. Richard Briers is excellent as Tom, a control freak hovering on the brink of obsession. But the most memorable pairing is that of neighbours Jerry and Margo (Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith): Eddington's bemused husband would later be echoed in his Yes Minister role, while Keith's character has rightly become one of the most memorable in British television. It might look slightly creaky and archaic next to some more modern examples of the genre, but The Good Life isn't looking too bad for its age. -Phil Udell.

Review Paramount Home Video / Hear My Song
Actors & Directors
  • Ned Beatty
  • David McCallum
  • Tara Fitzgerald
Run time: 102 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £39.95

Review Hear My Song / Paramount Home Video:

Ned Beatty stars as legendary singer Jospeh Locke who fled to Ireland to escape the clutches of the taxman and Plice Chief Jim Abbot (David McCallum). Now Micky O'Neill (Adrian Dunbar) is desperate to save his ailing nightclub. The solution? To SOMEHOW bring the infamous Joseph Locke back!.

Review Universal Pictures UK / Roseanna's Grave [1997]
Actors & Directors
  • Paul Weiland
  • Jean Reno
  • Mark Frankel
  • Trevor Peacock
  • Mercedes Ruehl
  • Polly Walker (II)
Release date: 1998-06-08
Run time: 94 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Roseanna's Grave [1997] / Universal Pictures UK:


Review 2 Entertain Video / Fantasy Football Video [1994]
Actors & Directors
  • David Baddiel
  • Frank Skinner
Run time: 80 min.
Price: £12.99

Review Fantasy Football Video [1994] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Warner Home Video / Dennis [1993]
Actors & Directors
  • Lea Thompson
  • Nick Castle
  • Walter Matthau
  • Mason Gamble
  • Christopher Lloyd
  • Joan Plowright
Release date: 1994-08-01
Run time: 92 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £14.98

Review Dennis [1993] / Warner Home Video:


Review Entertainment in Video / Solitaire For 2 [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Roshan Seth
  • Mark Frankel
  • Gary Sinyor
  • Jason Isaacs
  • Amanda Pays
  • Maryam d'Abo
Release date: 1996-01-22
Run time: 100 min.
Price: £5.99

Review Solitaire For 2 [1995] / Entertainment in Video:


Review BBC Video / The Very Best Of It's A Knockout - Here Come The Belgians
Actors & Directors
  • Stuart Hall (II)
  • Eddie Waring
  • Arthur Ellis (II)
Release date: 2000-10-02
Run time: 61 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £25.00

Review The Very Best Of It's A Knockout - Here Come The Belgians / BBC Video:


Review MGM Entertainment / Moonstruck [1987]
Actors & Directors
  • Olympia Dukakis
  • Vincent Gardenia
  • Cher
  • Danny Aiello
  • Nicolas Cage
  • Norman Jewison
Release date: 2000-02-01
Run time: 98 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.85

Review Moonstruck [1987] / MGM Entertainment:

Remember the outfit Cher wore to the Oscars when she won an Academy Award for her performance in this 1987 film? Ay-yi-yi. The actress' more retiring character in this infectious comedy leaps several psychological hurdles just giving her hair a permanent. But then the original screenplay of Moonstruck, by John Patrick Shanley (Joe Versus the Volcano), is a wonderful, gently satirical tale of an Italian-American family dealing with repression and dissatisfaction against a backdrop of cultural expectations. Cher is focused and funny as a widow who feels she should marry an older fellow (Danny Aiello), but then falls for his black-sheep brother (Nicolas Cage). Olympia Dukakis and Vincent Gardenia are perfect as her parents, and John Mahoney (of TV's Frasier) has a memorable, small role as a middle-aged man on the make who gets a lecture from Dukakis's character. Shanley's dialogue is comically stylised in a way that makes one appreciate how much words can inform an actor's performance. Taking its cues from him and director Norman Jewison (And Justice for All), the cast immerse themselves in a pool of hilariously operatic emotion. -Tom Keogh.

Review 2 Entertain Video / Harry Enfield's Television Programme - Series 2: Part 1 [1990]
Actors & Directors
  • Harry Enfield
  • Paul Whitehouse
  • Geoff Posner
  • Geoffrey Perkins
  • John Birkin
  • Kathy Burke
Release date: 1996-02-26
Run time: 89 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £9.90

Review Harry Enfield's Television Programme - Series 2: Part 1 [1990] / 2 Entertain Video:


Review Vision Video Ltd. / Julian Clary-Mincing Machine Tour [1989]
Actors & Directors
  • Julian Clary
Release date: 1993-06-07
Run time: 86 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £1.95

Review Julian Clary-Mincing Machine Tour [1989] / Vision Video Ltd.:


Review Meridian Entertainment / Nuts In May [1976]
Actors & Directors
  • Stephen Bill
  • Sheila Kelley (II)
  • Anthony O'Donnell
  • Eric Allan
  • Roger Sloman
  • Mike Leigh
Run time: 81 min.
RRP: £10.99
Price: £19.70

Review Nuts In May [1976] / Meridian Entertainment:

An early masterpiece from Mike Leigh, Nuts in May is a filmed-for-TV adaptation of an earlier stage play. The cast is small (only five characters who matter), but the acting is impeccable, and the mix of wicked humour and social observation make this one of Leigh's best works. Keith Pratt, a man who fully earns his surname due to his nit-picking obsessions with order and detail, takes his partner Candice-Marie, a well-meaning but irritating hippie, on a camping trip. There they meet Trevor, a shy teacher who finds their enforced friendship intrusive but is too polite to extricate himself, and a brash young couple of bikers, Honky and Finger, whose loud and chaotic personalities lead them into conflict with the repressed and dogmatic Keith. Plot isn't the issue here, since Leigh is far more interested in teasing out the subtleties of human behaviour, which he does with forensic skill in several unforgettable scenes. Funny and painful at the same time, like all Leigh's successes, Nuts in May is brilliantly acted by all concerned, though special mention must go to Roger Sloman, for bringing to life the appalling but ultimately pitiable Keith, and Alison Steadman, whose portrayal of fey, goofy and tragi-comic Candice-Marie is every bit as memorable and nuanced as her more famous turn as Beverley in Leigh's Abigail's Party. -Andy Medhurst.

Review Universal Pictures UK / An Audience With Ken Dodd [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Ken Dodd
Release date: 1995-10-30
Run time: 90 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £13.85

Review An Audience With Ken Dodd [1995] / Universal Pictures UK:


Review Entertainment in Video / Up 'n' Under [1998]
Actors & Directors
  • John Godber
  • Samantha Janus
  • Neil Morrissey
  • Richard Ridings
  • Gary Olsen
  • Ralph Brown
Release date: 1999-01-25
Run time: 98 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £16.99

Review Up 'n' Under [1998] / Entertainment in Video:


Review Vision Video Ltd. / Sinderella - Live [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Diane Lee
  • Charlie Drake
  • Jess Conrad
  • Jim Davidson
  • Mia Carla
Release date: 1995-10-16
Run time: 96 min.
RRP: £14.99
Price: £10.99

Review Sinderella - Live [1995] / Vision Video Ltd.:


Review Warner Home Video / In The Bleak Midwinter [1995]
Actors & Directors
  • Nicholas Farrell
  • Kenneth Branagh
  • Mark Hadfield
  • Joan Collins
  • Richard Briers
  • Hetta Charnley
Release date: 2001-08-06
Run time: 94 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £34.95

Review In The Bleak Midwinter [1995] / Warner Home Video:


Actors & Directors
  • Virginia Madsen
  • Steve Barron
  • Don Fellows
  • Maxwell Caulfield
  • Bud Cort
  • Lenny von Dohlen
Release date: 1991-08-12
Run time: 92 min.
Price: £10.99

Review Electric Dreams / Vision Video Ltd.:


Actors & Directors
  • GEORGE SEGAL
Run time: 106 min.

Review A Touch Of Class (1972) / Brut Productions:


Review 4 Front Video / The Quiet Man [1952]
Actors & Directors
  • John Wayne
  • Maureen O'Hara
  • Victor McLaglen
  • Ward Bond
  • John Ford
  • Barry Fitzgerald
Release date: 1999-10-01
Run time: 124 min.
RRP: £5.99
Price: £6.21

Review The Quiet Man [1952] / 4 Front Video:

Blarney and bliss, mixed in equal proportions. John Wayne plays an American boxer who returns to the Emerald Isle, his native land. What he finds there is a fiery prospective spouse (Maureen O'Hara) and a country greener than any Ireland seen before or since-it's no surprise The Quiet Man won an Oscar for cinematography. It also won an Oscar for John Ford's direction, his fourth such award. The film was a deeply personal project for Ford (whose birth name was Sean Aloysius O'Fearna), and he lavished all of his affection for the Irish landscape and Irish people on this film. He also stages perhaps the greatest donnybrook in the history of movies, an epic fistfight between Wayne and the truculent Victor McLaglen-that's Ford's brother, Francis, as the elderly man on his deathbed who miraculously revives when he hears word of the dustup. Barry Fitzgerald, the original Irish elf, gets the movie's biggest laugh when he walks into the newlyweds' bedroom the morning after their wedding and spots a broken bed. The look on his face says everything. The Quiet Man isn't the real Ireland but as a delicious never-never land of Ford's imagination, it will do very nicely. -Robert Horton.

Models & Brands:
Hobson's Choice [1954], Monte Carlo or Bust [1969], The Good Life - Series 4 - Episodes 5 To 7 - Plus The Royal Special, Hear My Song, Roseanna's Grave [1997], Fantasy Football Video [1994], Dennis [1993], Solitaire For 2 [1995], The Very Best Of It's A Knockout - Here Come The Belgians, Moonstruck [1987], Harry Enfield's Television Programme - Series 2: Part 1 [1990], Julian Clary-Mincing Machine Tour [1989], Nuts In May [1976], An Audience With Ken Dodd [1995], Up 'n' Under [1998], Sinderella - Live [1995], In The Bleak Midwinter [1995], Electric Dreams, A Touch Of Class (1972), The Quiet Man [1952]

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