Classic Movie

Combinations

 

 

A Bob Hope Collection Female Teamings

6 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$45 or US$45 or 23

 

Bob Hope had some great female teamings in his films

Firstly with Paulette Goddard for three outings: the haunted house double, The Cat and the Canary (1939) & The Ghost Breakers (1940) followed by Nothing But The Truth (1941).

Hope also teamed to great effect with Jane Russell for two western comedies The Paleface (1948) & Son of Paleface (1952).

Then it was Rhonda Flemings turn to partner up with Bob in another cowboy-comedy, the wonderful Alias Jesse James (1959)

 

This 6 DVD collection contains all 6 of these wonderful comedies

 

The Cat and the Canary (1939) - 72 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, John Beal , Douglass Montgomery, Gale Sondergaard & George Zucco

Directed by Elliott Nugent

Bob Hope's status as a star was assured with his role as Wally Campbell, the cowardly protector of Joyce Norman (Paulette Goddard), who must spend one night in the eerie mansion of her late, eccentric, millionaire uncle. If she can make it through the night without losing her mind, Joyce stands to inherit her uncle's entire fortune. Of course, all the other potential heirs now have a motive to drive her insane. The frights are nonstop as hands reach out from nowhere, people disappear between trap doors, the halls echo with terrifying sounds, and secret doorways lead to hidden passageways. Three people are murdered before Wally solves the mystery and sees Joyce through the night.

Creepy lighting and music aid director Elliott Nugent in crafting an effective and fun version of one the genre's archetypal stories.

 

The Ghost Breakers (1940) - 85 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Richard Carlson, Paul Lukas, Willie Best & Anthony Quinn

Directed by George Marshall

Radio personality Lawrence L. Lawrence (Bob Hope) has to flee New York to avoid being mistakenly arrested for murder. He and his manservant Alex (Willie Best) book passage on a Cuba-bound liner, where they meet lovely heiress Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard). She is heading to Cuba to take charge of her ancestral mansion, despite warnings from several sinister types that to enter this "haunted" house will mean certain death. Appointing himself Mary's protector, Lawrence investigates the mansion on his own, thereby crossing the path of a zombie (Noble Johnson) and an apparently genuine ghost. He also meets the twin brother of the man he's accused of killing (Anthony Quinn)!

 

Nothing But the Truth (1941) - 90 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, Edward Arnold, Leif Erickson & Helen Vinson

Directed by Elliott Nugent

Steve Bennett (Bob Hope) is an up and coming young stockbroker working in Florida. He makes a bet with his co-workers that he can tell nothing but the absolute truth for 24 hours, and the other bettors are determined to keep tabs on him to make sure he doesn't falter. The rest of the action takes place aboard a yacht, where Steve's undiplomatic truthfulness gets him into hot water with a wealthy client, several other influential people, and his girl friend Gwen (Paulette Goddard).

 

The Paleface (1948) - 91 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Robert Armstrong, Iris Adrian & Bobby Watson

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Painless Potter (Bob Hope) is a hopelessly inept dentist who heads west to seek his fortune. Meanwhile, buxom female outlaw Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) is engaged in undercover work on behalf of the government, in the hopes of earning a pardon for her past crimes. Jane is on the lookout for notorious gun-runner Terris (Robert Armstrong). To put up an innocent front, Jane marries the befuddled Potter, then keeps the criminals at bay by convincing everyone that Potter is a gunslinger (actually, it's Jane who's been doing all the shooting). Terrie, who has been selling guns to the Indians, arranges for Jane to be captured by the scalp-hungry tribesmen, but Potter comes to the rescue.

Somewhere along the way, Bob Hope and Jane Russell get to sing the Oscar-winning Jay Livingston/Ray Evans tune "Buttons and Bows".

 

Son of Paleface (1952) - 95 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Jane Russell, Roy Rogers, Bill Williams, Lloyd Corrigan & Trigger

Directed by Frank Tashlin

Peter Junior Potter (Bob Hope) is a Harvard-educated dude who heads West to claim the inheritance left him by his gunslinger father. Much to his chagrin, Junior discovers that his dad has left him nothing but debts. To stave off Potter Sr.'s angry creditors, Junior pretends that his father has salted away a fortune somewhere in the hills. This arouses the attention of curvaceous saloon owner Mike Delroy (Jane Russell), who doubles as a mysterious masked bandit known as The Torch. Meanwhile, federal agent Roy Barton (Roy Rogers) keeps tabs on Junior, hoping that he'll lead him to The Torch and her gang. Hope & Russell get to reprise of The Paleface's Oscar-winning "Buttons and Bows," this time performed with the help of Roy Rogers.

Oscar nominated for Best Song (Am I in Love)

 

Alias Jesse James (1959) - 92 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey, Gloria Talbot & Jim Davis

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

19th-century insurance agent Milford Farnsworth (bob Hope) has a miserable sales record and this prompts his boss to send him out West, where he can (supposedly) do little harm. But he can (do more harm) in that he manages to sell a $100,000 life insurance policy to outlaw Jesse James (Wendell Corey), one of the worst "risks" in history! In his efforts to get the policy back, Milford finds himself being mistaken for Jesse, which is all part of the outlaw's plan to get Milford killed and thereby collect the policy money himself. But with the help of beautiful Cora Lee Collins (Rhonda Fleming), Milford gains a reputation as a lightning-fast gunslinger.

In the inevitable shoot-out with the James gang, Bob Hope (as Milford) is helped out by several famous Westerners, including big screen cowboys Gary Cooper & Roy Rogers, as well as TV cowboys: Fess "Davy Crockett" Parker, James "Marshall Matt Dillon" Arness, Hugh "Wyatt Earp" O'Brian, Ward " Major Seth Adams" Bond, Jay Tonto Silverheels & Gail "Annie Oakley" Davis - and lastly Bob's "Road" companion Bing Crosby!

 

Note each of these films is available separately from within the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section

 

Disc No. 1

The Cat and the Canary (1939)

 

Disc No. 2

The Ghost Breakers (1940)

 

Disc No. 3

Nothing But The Truth (1941)

 

Disc No. 4

The Paleface (1948)

 

Disc No. 5

Son of Paleface (1952)

 

Disc No. 6

Alias Jesse James (1959)

 

 

A Bob Hope Collection "My Favorite "

3 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$30 or US$30 or 15

 

A classic set of Bob Hope comedies were his My Favorite trio of films.

Filmed across a decade when Bob was at the height of his popularity, they consisted of My Favorite Blonde (1942), My Favorite Brunette (1947) & My Favorite Spy (1951).

Each of the films lampooned a particular movie genre and teamed Bob with female co-leads (Madeline Carroll, Dorothy Lamour & Hedy Lamarr) who were able match Bob with their own brand of comedic flair. The result was three well received and very funny films.

 

This 3 DVD collection contains all 3 of these wonderful comedies

 

 

My Favorite Blonde (1942) - 78 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Madeleine Carroll, Gale Sondergaard, George Zucco & Lionel Royce

Directed by Sidney Lanfield

Two-bit vaudeville entertainer Larry Haines (Bob Hope) gets mixed up with gorgeous blonde British-spy Karen Bentley (Madeline Carroll), thanks to a mysterious ring which contains the microfilmed plans for a revolutionary new bomber. The unlikely pair are forced into hiding and then on the run when Larry is framed for murder by Nazi agents Madame Stephanie Runick and Dr. Hugo Streger (Gale Sondergaard & George Zucco).

Fabulous comedy/espionage flick which sets itself up as take-off of Alfred Hitchcocks The 39 Steps.

 

 

My Favorite Brunette (1947) - 87 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr., John Hoyt & Reginald Denny

Directed by Elliott Nugent

Awaiting execution on death row, Ronnie Jackson (Bob Hope) tells the gathered reporters how he got into his present predicament. It seems that Ronnie was once a baby photographer, his office adjacent to the one leased by a private detective (played in an amusing unbilled cameo by Alan Ladd). While hanging around the PIs office, Ronnie is mistaken for the detective by beautiful client Carlotta Montay (Dorothy Lamour). She hires Ronnie to search for her missing uncle, and also entrusts him with a valuable map. Ronnies diligent (if inept) sleuthing takes him to a shady rest sanitarium, where he runs afoul of henchman Willie (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and sinister, knife-throwing Kismet (Peter Lorre). Both are in the employ of attorney Major Simon Montague (Charles Dingle), who is responsible for the disappearance of Carlottas uncle. Escaping the sanitarium with Carlotta in tow, Ronnie follows the trail of evidence to noted geologist James Collins (Reginald Denny). The geologist is murdered, and Ronnie is accused of the crime.

Just as Bob Hope's other My Favorite films lampooned certain genre films, this one is a takeoff of the noirish "hard-boiled detective" school popularized by Raymond Chandler.

Quality Note: This Public Domain title can be purchased cheaply anywhere (for as little as $1) - all of them arent even worth a $1 because the quality is uniformly & appallingly bad.

NOT THIS PRINT! - ITS PERFECT

This print is clear with excellent contrast. With this print you can finally see what's happening in all the dark scenes. Its also much better than the TCM print!

And its about time!- cause its a great movie!

 

My Favorite Spy (1951) - 93 mins

Starring Bob Hope, Hedy Lamarr, Francis L. Sullivan, Arnold Moss & John Archer

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod

Second-rate burlesque comic Peanuts White (Bob Hope) is approached by federal agents who think that he's international spy Eric Augustine, to whom Peanuts bears a striking resemblance. When they realize that Peanuts and Eric are two different people, the FBI persuades him to travel to Africa posing as Eric and fetch a batch of microfilm that could prove vital to national security. With reluctance, Peanuts flies to Tangiers and arranges a rendezvous with Lily Dalbray (Hedy Lamarr), Eric's beautiful girlfriend and an agent of shifting alliances herself. However, Lily's superior Karl Brubaker (Francis L. Sullivan) wants the microfilm, and he will stop at nothing to get it. Peanuts tries to rescue the microfilm, make time with Lily, and avoid Karl - but things become get mightily confused when (the real) Eric escapes from hiding and re-enters the picture.

Fabulous comedy which lampoons the spy/espionage genre with the two leads having a ball!

 

 

Note each of these films is available separately from within the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section

 

Disc No. 1

My Favorite Blonde (1942)

 

Disc No. 2

My Favorite Brunette (1947)

 

Disc No. 3

My Favorite Spy (1951)

 

 

Boris Karloff / Val Lewton Combination

1 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$20 or US$20 or 10

 

When the front office at RKO Pictures informed producer Val Lewton that Boris Karloff had been procured to appear in his next suspense film Isle of the Dead (1945), he wasn't entirely pleased. Karloff was famous for his portrayal of horrific monsters & mummies, sensationalist creations not at all in tune with the psychological thrillers for which Lewton was noted. Luckily, Karloff turned out to be an inspired choice. Determined to show that he was a skilled actor (actually, he was a very fine & talented performer) he was completely in sync with what Lewton envisaged, giving a nuanced portrayal of an essentially decent man who finds himself slowly driven to a sort of despair by the forces around him. He becomes the heart of a film which wisely saves its shocks for the last few minutes, having built up to the eerie climax slowly & inexorably.

Lewton was very pleased with Karloff's work and arranged two more collaborations. With only two weeks left in filming Isle of the Dead, Karloff had to be hospitalized for serious back problems. On his release from hospital, he found Lewton was all prepared to film The Body Snatcher (1945). Karloff gave another wonderful performance, before finally finishing Isle of the Dead. The following year Karloff starred in Lewton's Bedlam (1946), completing the trio of very tidy thrillers.

 

The Body Snatcher (1945)

Starring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Henry Daniell, Edith Atwater, Russell Wade & Rita Corday

Directed by Robert Wise

In Edinburgh, renowned surgeon and now teacher of anatomy Dr. MacFarlane, has been paying John Gray, a cabman, to clandestinely bring him exhumed bodies of the recently deceased for classroom demonstration purposes. With cemeteries being increasingly guarded, Gray turns to murder to provide MacFarlane with fresh bodies. Realizing that he will never be rid of Gray, who constantly taunts him with his knowledge of MacFarland's past indiscretions, MacFarlane engages the malevolent Gray in a hand-to-hand fight to the death, the ultimate results of which provide the victor with an episode of unprecedented psychological horror.

Isle of the Dead (1945)

Starring Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helen Thimig, Alan Napier & Jason Robards Sr.

Directed by Mark Robson

On a Greek island during the 1912 war, several people are trapped by quarantine for the plague. If that isn't enough worry, one of the people, a superstitious old peasant woman, suspects one young girl of being a vampiric kind of demon called a vorvolaka.

Bedlam (1946)

Starring Boris Karloff, Anna Lee, Billy House, Richard Fraser, Glen Vernon, Ian Wolfe, Jason Robards Sr.

Directed by Mark Robson

Nell Bowen, the spirited protege of rich Lord Mortimer, becomes interested in the conditions of notorious St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum (Bedlam). Encouraged by the Quaker Hannay, she tries to bring support to reforming Bedlam, but the cruel Master Sims who runs it has her committed there. The inmates, however, have the last say.

 

 

The Boris Karloff / Val Lewton Combination Disc

The Body Snatcher (1945).

Isle of the Dead (1945)

Bedlam (1946)

 

Also available:

4 DVD Set comprising:

      A Val Lewton Horror Combination

      The Cat People Combination

      Boris Karloff / Val Lewton Combination

 

            AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

(See details of The Cat People Combination & A Val Lewton Horror Combination below)

 

 

British Comedy Combination

2 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$25 or US$25 or 13

 

Four British made comedies seemed to define the circumstances of post WWII Britain - namely that the colonial empire was contracting and increasingly, "relevance" in this brave new world seemed paramount.

This quartet of films really comprises two films and their respective sequels and they each are based on the central idea that a "small island" can still wield influence and make the outer world take notice .

 

Whisky Galore! (1949), Rockets Galore! (1957),

The Mouse That Roared (1959), The Mouse on the Moon (1963)

 

 

Whisky Galore! (1949) - B&W - 82 mins

Directed by Alexander Mackendrick

Starring Basil Radford, Catherine Lacey, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood, Wylie Wilson, Gabrielle Blunt, Gordon Jackson , James Robertson Justice, Jameson Clark & Jean Cadell

Synopsis: Whisky Galore! (originally released in the US as Tight Little Island), is a comedy predicated on the notion that all Scotsmen like a drink of whisky. The tiny Outer Hebrides island of Todday suffers from a wartime whisky shortage. Luck of luck, a ship full of the precious liquid is wrecked on a reef. The islanders conspire to smuggle the whisky off the ship right under the noses of the pesky British revenue officials. Numerous clever comic complications occur before the happy ending which, we are told by the narrator, was not so happy once all the whisky was consumed. Whisky Galore! is regarded by devotees of British comedy as the best and most representative offering from the short-lived Ealing Studios. Based on a true story, this uproariously funny film was nominated for a BAFTA Award (Best Film)

 

Rockets Galore (1957) - Color - 94 mins

Directed by Michael Relph

Starring Jeannie Carson, Donald Sinden, Roland Culver, Catherine Lacey, Noel Purcell, Ian Hunter, Gordon Jackson, Jameson Clark & Jean Cadell

Synopsis: The small but resourceful Outer Hebrides island of Todday, introduced in the 1949 Ealing comedy Whisky Galore!, made a return visit (in color) to movie screens in 1957's Rockets Galore - although released in the U.S. as Mad Little Island. In the first film, the good people of Todday faced up to the appalling dilemma of a whisky shortage. Now we're in the space age, and Todday has been targeted as the location for a rocket-launching site. Banding together as before, the islanders do their best to sabotage the project under the unsuspecting noses of the blinkered British military.

 

 

 

Leonard Patrick O'Connor Wibberley (1915 –1983) was a prolific and versatile Irish-American author, who is best known for his satiric novels about an imaginary country, Grand Fenwick, particularly The Mouse That Roared

The novels led to two riotous British comedies The Mouse That Roared (1959) and is sequel The Mouse on the Moon (1963). The first is distinguished by the ingenuous playing of Peter Sellers who "assails" three roles: the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII, the Hereditary Prime Minister, Count Rupert of Mountjoy and the Hereditary Field Marshall and Grand Constable, Tully Bascombe. Well directed by Jack Arnold, its an extremely funny film and its success led to a sequel 4 years later: The Mouse on the Moon. The second film boats Richard Lester as director; he was later to hellm the critically acclaimed Beatles hit A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Superman II (1978). This time out there is no Peter Sellers, however his "daughter" Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII is played with great aplomb by Margaret Rutherford who at the time was in the middle of her successful 4 film Miss Marple movie series (which is also available from this website). The only actor to reappear is David Kossof  who is Professor Alfred Kokintz in both films. The character Benter is in both films being played by Leo McKern in the first and then Roddy McMillan in the second.

 

The Mouse That Roared (1959) - Color - 85 mins

Directed by Jack Arnold

Starring Peter Sellers (as Grand Duchess Gloriana XII / Prime Minister Count Rupert Mountjoy / Tully Bascombe) Jean Seberg, William Hartnell, David Kossof & Leo McKern

Synopsis: The world's smallest nation, the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, which lies on the Swiss-French border, is quietly and prosperously ruled by the Grand Duchess Gloriana XII with the assistance of the Hereditary Prime Minister, Count Rupert of Mountjoy, the Hereditary Field Marshall and Grand Constable, Tully Bascombe and the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, David Bentner. Disaster strikes, however, when the Duchy's only export, its wine, Pinot Grand Fenwick, is undercut in the United States by a Californian copy, Pinot Grand Enwick. Faced with bankruptcy, and having had no reply to its protests, the Duchy decides to declare war on the United States, Mountjoy having reasoned that it will certainly lose and will then be magnificently rehabilitated by the generous, victorious Americans.

 

The Mouse on the Moon (1963) - Color - 83 mins

Directed by Richard Lester

Starring Margaret Rutherford (as Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII), Ron Moody, Bernard Cribbins, David Kossof, Terry Thomas & Roddy McMillan

Synopsis: The Prime Minister of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick (Ron Moody) is in a bind because he has no money to renovate his castle and there is a serious problem with his small country's main export, wine. The stuff tends to explode. So the Prime Minister asks the U.S. for aid to develop space research, knowing full well they are not going to give him money to remodel his castle. Once the U.S. grants a cool million to the country, Russia adds in a used rocket, and things start popping. Like it or not, the Duchy is suddenly involved in space research and contributing to the madness is the discovery that its unique wine makes good rocket fuel!

 

 

The "Galore" Collection (Disc No. 1)

Whisky Galore! (1949)  aka Tight Little Island (1949)

Rockets Galore (1957) aka Mad Little Island (1957)

 

The "Mouse" Collection (Disc No. 2)

The Mouse That Roared (1959)

The Mouse on the Moon (1963)

 

Note that each of these DVDs is available separately from within the Movies Series section of this website (under "Galore" and "Mouse")

 

 

 

British Espionage Combination

4 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

At the turn of 20th century, the public seemed ready for stories that transcended the sedate and that postulated change. Four novels were to emerge that tapped a fear of aggression between major powers and the newly emerging art of espionage. Two were written prior to WWI, with the other two published between the wars, collectively they seem to have epitomised the notion of British Espionage. This quartet of books were:

 

The Riddle of the Sands (1903), The 39 Steps (1914), The Lady Vanishes (1936), Rogue Male (1939)

 

Each of these fabulous British espionage stories were giving the full Technicolor wide-screen movie treatment in the late 1970s - yes, there were earlier editions of some of these films: both The Lady Vanishes & The 39 Steps had been previously filmed in the 1930s in B&W by Alfred Hitchcock; Rogue Male was brought to the screen in 1941 under the title Manhunt and The 39 Steps was also remade in color in 1959.

But the late 70s editions were lavish, well mounted, "all England" affairs being extensively filmed on location and in UK's Pinewood Studios.

(Short Qualifier: Rogue Male being a BBC production wasn't given the "wide-screen" treatment)

 

Rogue Male (1976)

Starring Peter O'Toole, John Standing, Alistair Sim, Harold Pinter, Michael Byrne & Mark McManus

Directed by Clive Donner

Early in 1939 Sir Robert Thorndyke takes aim at Adolph Hitler with a high powered rifle, but the shot misses its mark. Captured and tortured by the Gestapo and left for dead, Sir Robert makes his way back to England where he discovers the Gestapo has followed him. Knowing that his government would turn him over to German authorities, Sir Robert goes underground in his battle with his pursuers.

 

The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)

Starring Robert Powell, David Warner, Eric Porter & John Mills

Directed by Don Sharp

Synopsis: Hannay (Robert Powell) is an innocent bystander, suspected by enemy agents of having intercepted their secret war plans. Pursued by both the spies and the police, Hannay runs for his life in the company of Alex (Karen Dotrice) ending with a "high and dizzy" sequence on the face of Big Ben.

 

The Lady Vanishes (1979)

Starring Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, Angela Lansbury, Herbert Lom, Arthur Lowe, Ian Carmichael & Wolf Kahler

Directed by Anthony Page

Syopsis: On an express train travelling through pre-World War II Germany, American heiress Amanda Kelly (Cybill Shepherd) befriends a cute old nanny, Miss Froy (Angela Lansbury). But when Miss Froy disappears, everyone Amanda questions denies having ever seen her. Eventually Amanda persuades American photographer Robert Condon (Elliot Gould) to help her search the train, during which they discover that Miss Froy wasn't quite what she seemed.

 

The Riddle of the Sands (1979)

Starring Michael York, Simon MacCorkindale, Jenny Agutter, Alan Badel & Wolf Kahler

Directed by Tony Maylam

Synopsis: In the early years of the 20th Century, two British yachtsmen Arthur Davies (Simon MacCorkindale) & Charles Carruthers (Michael York) stumble upon a German plot to invade the east coast of England in a flotilla of specially designed barges. They set out to thwart this terrible scheme, but must outwit not only the cream of the German Navy, but the feared Kaiser Wilhelm himself.

 

Perfect wide-screen Technicolor prints!

(Although as mentioned above, Rogue Male being a BBC production was not filmed in "wide-screen" - a further note about Rogue Male: commercial releases of this film are of poor quality and have been edited - NOT THIS PRINT! - it runs the full 104 minutes and is of very good quality, being taken off an original 16mm master)

 

Note that each of these films are available from within the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website

 

Note further that The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) is also available within The 39 Steps Combination (see below in this category) as well as an optional addition to the (Robert Powell's) Hannay TV Series which can be found in the TV Series section of this website.

And Rogue Male (1976) is also available below as part of the 2 DVD set Man Hunt / Rogue Male Combination

 

Also worth a look : The "British Espionage" Radio Shows (comprising dramatized radio versions of The Riddle of the Sands, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes & Rogue Male) - check out the Old Time Radio section of this website. These shows have been digitally restored & come on MP3 CDs which work in your DVD player. The shows are free - with conditions. Check out the Old Time Radio section for further details

 

 

The Best of British Espionage Combination Disc No. 1

Rogue Male (1976)

 

The Best of British Espionage Combination Disc No. 2

The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)

 

The Best of British Espionage Combination Disc No. 3

The Lady Vanishes (1979)

 

The Best of British Espionage Combination Disc No. 4

The Riddle of the Sands (1979)

 

 

Captain America Collection

4 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

Apart from a few animated TV series, live-action characterisations of Captain America have been confined to 4 outings only: a well-received 15 chapter serial released in 1944, two 1979 TV movies and a big budget 1990 (cinema) movie

 

Captain America (1990)

Starring Matt Salinger, Ronny Cox, Ned Beatty, Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon & Michael Nouri

Directed By Albert Pyun

During World War II, a brave, patriotic American Soldier undergoes experiments to become a new supersoldier, Captain America. Racing to Germany to sabotage the rockets of Nazi baddie "Red Skull", Captain America winds up frozen until the 1990s. He reawakens to find that the Red Skull has changed identities and is now planning to kidnap the President of the United States.

Captain America (1979)

Starring Reb Brown, Len Birman, Heather Menzies & Steve Forrest

Directed By Rod Holcomb

The ex-marine son of the original World War II hero (see the serial) has his life is saved by a super steroid endowing him with extra strength, vision, hearing and agility. Determined to carry on the duties of his late father, he dons the famed red, white & blue costume and climbs aboard a high tech motorcycle to thwart a power mad industrialist who threatens to destroy Phoenix with a neutron bomb

Captain America II (1979)

Starring Reb Brown, Len Birman, Connie Sellecca & Christopher Lee

Directed By Ivan Nagy

Christopher Lee stars as a merciless world revolutionary who threatens to unleash a drug that accelerates the aging process unless his impossible demands are met. Faced with the greatest challenge of his career, Captain America races against time to penetrate the evil terrorist's fortress of death.

Captain America (1944) - the 15 Chapter Serial

Starring Dick Purcell, Lorna Gray, Lionel Atwill, Charles Towbridge & George J. Lewis

Directed By John English & Elmer Clifton

Superhero Captain America battles the evil forces of the archvillian called The Scarab, who poisons his enemies and steals a secret device capable of destroying buildings by sound vibrations

 

The Captain America Collection Disc No. 1

Captain America (1990)

 

The Captain America Collection Disc No. 2

Captain America (1979)

 

The Captain America Collection Disc No. 3

Captain America II (1979)

 

The Captain America Collection Disc No. 4

Captain America (1944) - the 15 Chapter Serial

 

 

Cat People Combination

1 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$20 or US$20 or 10

 

Cat People (1942) is a classic. It was the first film from producer Val Lewton at RKO Radio Pictures. With it Lewton essentially created a new type of horror film - the psychological horror film. And in so doing Lewton ended completely changing approaches to the horror film. In synopsis Cat People could be any of a dozen similarly minded B-programmer werewolf variations of the same decade. The crucial difference was in Lewtons approach to horror. Lewton took any overt manifestation of the supernatural away from the audience. The approach that became a dictum to his writers and directors relied upon casting doubt, both for the characters and audience, upon whether or not the supernatural menace was real or something imagined. Whether or not Simone Simon is a were-feline or merely imagining it, the film here is cleverly ambiguous about, even at the very end.

Lewton also produced the well-received sequel The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

 

Cat People (1942)

Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph & Jack Holt

Directed by Jacques Tourneur

Irena Dubrovna, a beautiful and mysterious Serbian-born fashion artist living in New York City, falls in love with and marries average-Joe American Oliver Reed. Their marriage suffers though, as Irena believes that she suffers from an ancient curse- whenever emotionally aroused, she will turn into a panther and kill.

The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

Starring Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Jane Randolph & Ann Carter

Directed by Robert Wise & Gunther von Fritsch

This sequel to Cat People (1942) has Amy, the young daughter of Oliver and Alice Reed. Amy is a very imaginative child who has trouble differentiating fantasy from reality, and has no friends her own age as a result. She makes an imaginary friend though, her father's dead first wife Irena. At about the same time, she befriends Julia Farren, an aging reclusive actress who is alienated from her own daughter Barbara.

 

 

The Cat People Combination Disc

Cat People (1942)

The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

 

Also available:

4 DVD Set comprising:

      A Val Lewton Horror Combination

      The Cat People Combination

      Boris Karloff / Val Lewton Combination

 

            AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

(See details of Boris Karloff / Val Lewton Combination & A Val Lewton Horror Combination above & below)

 

 

A Chester Morris (non Boston Blackie) Collection

2 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$25 or US$25 or 13

 

Chester Morris will always be known as "Boston Blackie of the Movies".

He appeared as Boston Blackie in all 14 entries of that great Columbia film series commencing with Meet Boston Blackie (1941) and concluding with Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture (1949). With his Boston Blackie commitments over, Chester moved into the emerging TV medium but unfortunately never duplicated the success that he had achieved in films. Few realize that Chester was actually nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for Alibi (1929) and that he was a big star not only during his Boston Blackie run but also in the 1930s. This 2 DVD set is a selection of films from his non-Blackie alumni - all action/adventure man material with Chester in the lead. Although possibly (cruely) categorized as"B" films, 1943's Tornado actually runs for 83 minutes and was a very "profitable film.

 

Note: Check out Chester Morris' Boston Blackie films in the Movie Series section of this website - all 14 films & all fabulous prints!

 

Counterfeit (1936): A federal agent, pretending to be a murderer, goes undercover to join a gang of counterfeiters. The trouble begins when the gang kidnaps an engraver from Treasury Department and force him to make a set of plates to print the fake cash.

Flight from Glory (1937): Chester Morris stars as a fearless pilot whose misdeeds have exiled him to a remote flying field in the Andes mountains. Morris and his fellow pilots are all exiles of sorts, and as such are willing to take on the near-suicidal task of flying supplies to miners in the most treacherous mountain ranges. The all-male atmosphere is disrupted when young air ace Van Heflin shows up with his wife Whitney Bourne. Morris tries to keep the sex-starved pilots away from Whitney, buts ends up falling in love with her himself.

Smashing the Rackets (1938): Jim 'Socker' Conway, former boxer and FBI hero, is maneuvered for political reasons into a do-nothing job in the district attorney's office. Meanwhile, he meets wild debutante Letty Lane, girlfriend of mob mouthpiece Steve Lawrence; and Letty's much nicer sister Susan. Now the slot machine gang brutally beats Jim's friends Franz and Otto. Now Jim must find a way to use his nominal position to go into the racket-busting business without putting Letty in deadly peril.

Blind Alley (1939): A chilling psychological drama in the film-noir tradition reminiscent of the fine melodrama The Desperate Hours. Hal Wilson (Chester Morris) is an escaped killer who hides out in the home of noted psychologist Dr. Shelby (Ralph Bellamy). While Wilson's gang holds Shelby's family and servants hostage, the pipe-smoking mental doctor calmly tries to discover the reasons for Wilson's murderous proclivities. As gun moll Mary (Ann Dvorak) covers Shelby, Wilson willingly allows the doctor to psycho-analyze him, using hypnosis to trace the killer's childhood. Once Shelby forces Wilson to confront his inner demons, the lifelong criminal is never able to kill again. Blind Alley works well as a "film noir," complete with surrealistic dream sequences. A taut story and moody cinematography by Lucien Ballard, with sharp direction from Charles Vidor and superlative acting by Morris and Bellamy earn this film noir entry a top spot in the genre. The film was remade scene-for-scene in 1949 as The Dark Past, with William Holden as the killer and Lee J. Cobb as the unflappable head shrinker

Tornado (1943): Chester Morris stars as coal miner Pete Ramsey, who falls in love with, and secretly marries, scheming showgirl Victory Kane. Anxious to escape her poverty-stricken surroundings, Victory urges Pete to lobby for the position of mine superintendent. Climbing ever upward on the social and economic ladder, Victory has an affair with wealthy mine operator Gary Linden.

I Live on Danger (1942): A fast-moving thriller with strong performances and top-notch direction by former screenwriter Sam White. Jeff Morrell (Chester Morris) is a newscaster who gets involved in saving wrongly accused Eddie Nelson (Edward Norris) from a murder charge. Nelson's sister, Susan Richards (Jean Parker) and Jeff  make for a fine romantic pair as they fight to save the innocent man.

Double Exposure (1944): This breezy actioner sees Chester Morris as Larry Burke, editor for a weekly photo magazine. Impressed by the work of photojournalist Pat Marvin, Burke hires Marvin sight unseen, only to discover that "he" is a "she" (Nancy Kelly). Burke insists that the shutterbug racket is no job for a "dame", but Pat intends to prove him wrong. In the process, she becomes the prime suspect in a murder case, forcing Burke to come out from behind his desk and solve the mystery himself

 

Chester Morris Disc No. 1 (the "before" Boston Blackie titles)

Counterfeit (1936)

Flight from Glory (1937)

Smashing the Rackets (1938)

Blind Alley (1939)

 

Chester Morris Disc No. 2 (the "during" Boston Blackie titles)

I Live on Danger (1942)

Tornado (1943)

Double Exposure (1944)

 

 

 

 

"Cheyenne" on the Big Screen

3 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$30 or US$30 or 15

 

Warner Bros allowed Clint Walker to make only three films (all westerns) during his successful as Cheyenne on TV: Fort Dobbs (1958), Yellowstone Kelly (1959) and Gold of the Seven Saints (1961).

Each of trio afforded Clint the opportunity to shine and convey significant screen presence under the tight direction of Gordon Douglas.

 

As well, each of the titles are also available separately from within the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website.

 

Further the Cheyenne TV Series (Seasons One & Two) is available in 4 DVD & 6 DVD sets respectively from the TV Series section of this website

 

This 3 DVD set consists of these 3 films - all excellent prints

 

 

Fort Dobbs (1958) - 93 mins

Starring Clint Walker, Virginia Mayo, Brian Keith, Richard Eyer & Russ Conway

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Gar Davis (Clint Walker) is a wanted man who having eluded a posse rescues Celia Gray (Virginia Mayo) and her young son, Chad (Richard Eyer) from a Comanche attack. He then escorts the pair to the (presumed) safety of U.S. Cavalry Fort Dobbs. Along the way Celia (and then Chad) begin to believe that their rescuer was in fact responsible for the recent death of her husband.

Big screen debut for Clint Walker.

 

 

Yellowstone Kelly (1959) - 91 mins

Starring Clint Walker, Edd Byrnes, John Russell, Ray Danton & Claude Akins

Directed by Gordon Douglas

During the late 1870s, fur-trapper Luther Yellowstone Kelly (Clint Walker), who once saved the life of a Sioux chief, is allowed to set his traps in Sioux territory. Reluctantly he takes on a tenderfoot assistant Anse Harper (Edd Byrnes) and together they give shelter to runaway Arapaho woman, Wahleeah. Tensions develop when Anse falls in love with the woman and when Sioux chief Gall (John Russell) arrives with his warriors to re-claim her.

Yep - thats Edd Cookie Byrnes from 77 Sunset Strip

 

 

Gold of the Seven Saints (1961) - 88 mins

Starring Clint Walker, Roger Moore, Letcia Romn, Robert Middleton, Chill Wills & Gene Evans

Directed by Gordon Douglas

Fur-trapper Shawn Garrett (Roger Moore) gets out of a horse-stealing charge in a small, frontier town by agreeing to buy the horse with a gold nugget. This nugget attracts the attention of McCracken who, with his gang, secretly follows Garrett across the desert in the hope of finding the source of his gold. Garrett joins up with his partner, Jim Rainbolt (Clint Walker), and together they manage to hold off McCracken's gang long enough to hide their gold before seeking refuge in the hacienda of a landowner, Amos Gondora (Robert Middleton). Gondora soon finds out about the gold, however, and Rainbolt and Garrett now find themselves in a fight to save their gold and their lives as well!

Yep - thats Roger James Bond Moore: he was at the time appearing as Beau Maverick in Warners Maverick TV series (with James Garner) before heading back to his native England to begin a seven year stint as TVs The Saint

 

 

 

"Cheyenne" on the Big Screen Disc No. 1

Fort Dobbs (1958)

 

"Cheyenne" on the Big Screen Disc No. 2

Yellowstone Kelly (1959)

 

"Cheyenne" on the Big Screen Disc No. 3

Gold of the Seven Saints (1961)  

 

 

 

 

Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon Combination

2 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$25 or US$25 or 13

 

Dashiell Hammett (1894-1961) is recognized as the first master of hard-boiled detective fiction. His lean writing style, cynical characters and complex plots brought a new energy to pulp magazines then went on to define the genre in movies, radio and television where the private eye series became an entertainment staple.

The Maltese Falcon is a 1930 detective novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally serialized in the magazine "Black Mask". The main character, Sam Spade, appears only in this novel and in three lesser known short stories, yet is widely cited as the crystallizing figure in the development of the hard-boiled private detective genre. Sam Spade combined cold detachment, keen eye for detail, and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice. He is the man who has seen the wretched, the corrupt, the tawdry side of life but still retains his "tarnished idealism".

The Maltese Falcon begins its story when Sam Spade and fellow PI Miles Archer are hired by a woman to follow a man called Thursby. When Archer is murdered and Thursby gunned down, the police and Spade are keen to get answers. When the woman reveals she was lying about her motivations and her identity, Sam finds out that she and Thursby were hiding a valuable gold-encrusted life-sized statue of a falcon. The situation gets more complex when Sam and the woman come under pressure from other sources that also want the falcon for themselves - namely the pompous Kasper Gutman and the weasely Joel Cairo.

 

The novel has been filmed three times. The first was titled The Maltese Falcon (1931) but more often was known as Dangerous Female, starring Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels. Satan Met a Lady (1936) became the second adaptation although this time it was done as a light-comedy starring Bette Davis and with Warren "Perry Mason / The Lone Wolf" William playing "Ted Shane" (rather than Sam Spade)

In 1941, the third version, titled The Maltese Falcon was released to incredible acclaim. Considered to be a film noir classic, it starred Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade  with Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet filling out a heavy cast under John Huston's brilliant direction

 

Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon Combination Disc No. 1

Dangerous Female (1931)

Satan Met a Lady (1936)

 

Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon Combination Disc No. 2

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

 

 

 

Dick Powell "Drama" Combination

Volume One - 6 DVD (Disc Nos. 1 to 6) Boxed Set price: AU$45 or US$45 or 23

Volume Two - 5 DVD (Disc Nos. 1 to 5) Boxed Set price : AU$40 or US$40 or 20

Volume Three - 1 DVD (Disc No. 6) Boxed Set price : AU$20 or US$20 or 10

 

 

Dick Powell was a "song and dance" man on the big screen until he was cast in that incredible Philip Marlowe drama: Murder, My Sweet (1944). He proved such a hit in this role (many felt he even topped the great Bogie in playing writer Raymond Chandler's most illustrious character) that Powell went on to film a further 9 dramatic excursions at the movies before moving on to directing and producing. All 10 films cast Powell in the lead role and his charismatic performances meant for sure-fire box office success.

In the midst of this successful run, he also teamed with real-life wife June Allyson for two romantic / comedy / dramas in 1950: The Reformer and the Redhead & Right Cross - The Dick & June Combination

Here are those ten fine dramas & the two films with June Allyson:

Murder My Sweet (1944) - 95 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger and Mike Mazurki. Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Synopsis: This adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel 'Farewell, My Lovely', has private eye Philip Marlowe hired by Moose Malloy, a petty crook just out of prison after a seven year stretch, to look for his former girlfriend, Velma, who has not been seen for the last six years. The case is tougher than Marlowe expected as his initially promising enquiries lead to a complex web of deceit involving bribery, perjury and theft, and where no one's motivation is obvious, least of all Marlowes.

Cornered (1945) - 102 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Walter Slezak, Micheline Cheirel, Nina Vale & Luther Adler. Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Synopsis: Consolidating his transformation from soft tenor to hard-boiled private eye in Dmytryk's Murder My Sweet the year before, Powell is even more dour as a tough, cynical loner in search of the man who killed his French wife during the Second World War. The action moves from France to Switzerland to Buenos Aires where a colony of corrupt Europeans is living in splendour. One of its members is the man he is after - a Nazi collaborator. The exciting climax has Powell, prone to attacks of amnesia, unknowingly beating the man to death. The noir atmosphere is sustained well throughout.

Johnny O'Clock (1947) - 96 mins (yes, 96 mins!). Starring Dick Powell, Evelyn Keyes, Lee J. Cobb, Ellen Drew, Nina Foch & Jim Bannon. Directed by Robert Rossen. Synopsis: Three years after song-and-dance man Dick Powell reshaped his nice-guy image by playing hard-boiled gumshoe Phillip Marlowe in Murder My Sweet, he returned to film noir with this crime-based thriller. Johnny O'Clock (Dick Powell) and his partner Pete Marchettis (Thomas Gomez) operate a gambling casino that has seen better days. Chuck Blayden (Jim Bannon), a cop on the take, wants in on the casino, and he makes friends with Pete while trying to convince him that Johnny, the smarter of the two, should go. When Chuck's girlfriend Harriet (Nina Foch) is found dead, a supposed suicide, his sister Nancy (Evelyn Keyes) smells a rat, especially after Chuck skips town. Nancy is convinced that her sister was murdered, and she asks Johnny to help her prove it. Johnny, who already has a number of women in his life including Nelle (Ellen Drew), Pete's wife figures that one more can't hurt and agrees to help her. But Police Inspector Koch (Lee J. Cobb), convinced that Johnny and Pete were behind Harriet's death, is making it hard for Johnny to do much investigating, and matters get worse when Chuck's body is found floating in the river. Screenwriter Robert Rossen made his directorial debut with this film, 14 years later, he would return to this film's tough, gritty style for his best picture, The Hustler.

To the Ends of the Earth (1948) - 109 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Signe Hasso, Ludwig Donath, Vladmir Sokoloff & Edgar Barrier . Directed by Robert Stevenson. Synopsis: Based on the files of the United States Department of Treasury. Commissioner Michael Barrows is an American Government Agent. On board a Coast Guard boat off the California coast he chases a ship. The Captain of the ship, the Kira Maru, panics and ruthlessly sends 100 Chinese slaves to a watery death. Barrows recovers a live preserver that tells him the ship is out of Shanghai. He travels there to track down the ship's captain and discovers that these deaths point to a huge drug smuggling operation. In Shanghai, while searching for the captain of the Kira Maru, he becomes suspicious of a woman, Ann Grant, believing she's Jean Hawks the narcotics ringleader. He follows the narcotics trail "to the ends of the Earth" taking him from Shanghai to Cairo, Beirut and Havana to stop the drugs and the Jean Hawks ring at the US border. A great adventure story!

Pitfall (1948) - 84 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr & John Litel. Directed by Andre de Toth.  Synopsis: The darker side of the American dream is explored in this fascinating film noir. Dick Powell stars as John Forbes, a successful insurance man with a trophy wife named Sue (Jane Wyatt) and a model child named Tommy (Jimmy Hunt). Despite all that he's achieved in life, Forbes feels somehow unfulfilled. During an attempt to recollect illegally purchased goods by a convicted bank robber, Forbes falls for his glamorous client Mona Stevens and this sparks an affair between them. Forbes suffers the pangs of guilt, a fact immediately capitalized upon by the seedy private eye MacDonald (Raymond Burr), who is upset because Mona has rejected him. If adultery has been committed, can murder be far behind?

Station West (1948)  - 80 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Jane Greer, Tom Powers, Steve Brodie, Raymond Burr & Agnes Morehead. Directed by Sidney Lanfield. Synopsis: Dick Powell stars as Haven, an undercover military intelligence officer assigned to investigate the murders of two cavalrymen. Travelling incognito, Haven arrives in a small frontier outpost, where saloon singer Charlie (Jane Greer) controls all illegal activities. After making short work of Charlie's burly henchman (Guinn Williams), Haven gets a job at her gambling emporium, biding his time and gathering evidence against the gorgeous crime chieftain Cast as a philosophical bartender, Burl Ives is afforded at least one opportunity to sing. A western, yes but a great story has been developed into a great screenplay, here and the cast is terrific

Rogues' Regiment (1948) - 86 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Marta Toren, Vincent Price, Stephen McNally & Edgar Barrier. Directed by Robert Florey. Synopsis: After World War II, ex-soldiers trickle into French Saigon to join the Foreign Legion, among are Nazi war criminal Carl Reicher. American secret agent Whit Corbett joins the Legion in order to track down Reicher in French Indo-China. Hampering his search is a native uprising and Mark Van Ratten, an erudite art collector who sidelines in gunrunning. Nice action scenes include anti-guerrilla jungle warfare.

Cry Danger (1951) - 79 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman, William Conrad & Regis Toomey. Directed by Robert Parrish.  Synopsis: Rocky Mulloy, back in town after serving 5 years of a life sentence for armed robbery, hopes to clear his friend Danny Morgan who's still in prison for the same crime. It won't be easy. Even the witness who cleared Rocky thinks he's guilty; Danny's glamorous wife Nancy, living in a sleazy trailer court, seems lukewarm about getting Danny back; cynical cop Gus Cobb just wants to stir things up in hopes that the missing "hot" $100,000 will surface. Plenty of tough talk, night scenes, deceptive dames and double crosses in this atmospheric film noir

The Tall Target (1951) - 78 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson, Ruby Dee & Will Geer. Directed by Anthony Mann. Synopsis: Based on a true story: the attempted assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln, even before he was able to assume his duties in Washington. Dick Powell stars as New York detective John Kennedy, who learns of the assassination plot early on. When his superiors refuse to believe his wild tale, Kennedy quits the force and boards the Presidential train, hoping to prevent the killing on his own. The problem: who can he trust on board, and who can't be trusted? Ginny Beaufort (Paula Raymond), the sister of the would-be assassin, might be able to prevent the tragedy -- if she isn't in on the conspiracy, that is. The film's nail-biting climax is brilliantly handled by Anthony Mann, whose directorial expertise was becoming sharper with each successive film in the early 1950s

The Reformer and the Redhead (1950) - 90 mins. Starring June Allyson, Dick Powell, David Wayne, Cecil Kellaway & Ray Collins. Directed by Melvin Frank & Norman Panama. Synopsis: MGM's The Reformer and the Redhead was the first directorial collaboration of longtime screenwriting partners Norman Panama and Melvin Frank. The reformer is Andrew Rockton Hale (Dick Powell), a mayoral candidate. Hale butts heads with a corrupt political machine, which has recently ordered the firings of several innocent city employees, including zookeeper Kevin Maguire (Cecil Kellaway). The redhead in the case is Maguire's daughter Kathleen (June Allyson), who joins Hale's election team, only to turn on him after a series of misunderstandings.

Right Cross (1950) - 90 mins. Starring June Allyson, Dick Powell, Ricardo Montalban, Lionel Barrymore, Teresa Celli & Tom Powers. Directed by John Sturges. Synopsis: Dick Powell stars as cynical sportswriter Rick Gavery and June Allyson as boxing manager Pat O'Malley who is filling in for her incapacitated father (Lionel Barrymore). Pat is grooming prizefighter Johnny Monterez (Ricardo Montalban) for the championship, but Johnny holds a grudge against the world because he feels that his Mexican heritage has made him an outcast. Gradually, Pat falls in love with the tempestuous Monterez, while Gavery, who's always carried a torch for Pat, observes from the sidelines.

 

 

Dick Powell Drama Combination Disc No. 1

Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Cornered (1945)

 

Dick Powell Drama Combination Disc No. 2

Johnny O'Clock (1947)

To The Ends of the Earth (1948)

 

Dick Powell Drama Combination Disc No. 3

Pitfall (1948)

Station West (1948)

 

Dick Powell Drama Combination Disc No. 4

Rogues' Regiment  (1948)

Mrs. Mike (1949)

 

Dick Powell Drama Combination Disc No. 5

Cry Danger (1951)

The Tall Target (1951)

 

The Dick & June Combination Disc No. 6

The Reformer and the Redhead (1950)

Right Cross (1950)

 

Note that each of the above titles are also available separately (one movie per DVD) from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website

 

 

 

Disney's Fabulous Adventures

3 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$30 or US$30 or 15

 

Walt Disney has always been synonymous with Disneyland & Mickey Mouse. But he was also responsible for some of the very best adventure films ever made. No amount of money was spared in the quest for authenticity and eye-popping color cinematography. The writing was uniformly compelling with each action packed story carefully crafted to appeal to the adventurous spirit in us all.

 

Three films which really captured the essence of Disney's Fabulous Adventures (for Trev, at least) were:

   The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), Third Man on the Mountain (1959) & Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

 

The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) - 85 mins. Starring Fess Parker, Jeffrey Hunter, Jeff York, John Lupton & Kenneth Tobey. Directed by Francis D. Lyon. Synopsis: A dramatic retelling of the actual Civil War events involving James J. Andrews (Fess Parker), the famous Union spy who masterminded the theft of an entire Confederate train. To accomplish this mission, Andrews and his cohorts pose as Kentuckians, board the train, and bide their time until they can pull off the robbery. Unfortunately for the Northerners, plucky young conductor William A. Fuller (Jeffrey Hunter), resentful that his train was stolen out from under him, pursues Andrews' raiders by foot, handcar, and locomotive. No matter what obstacles are placed in his way by Andrews' men, Fuller persists in his chase. Eventually captured, Andrews and his cohorts plan a daring escape, which serves as the film's pulse-pounding climax.

Filmed on location in Georgia.

Third Man on the Mountain (1959) - 105 mins. Starring Michael Rennie, James MacArthur, Janet Munro, James Donald, Herbert Lom & Laurence Naismith. Directed by Ken Annakin. Synopsis: A Swiss youth, Rudi Matt (James MacArthur ) vows to be the first to scale a formidable Matterhorn-like mountain called The Citadel. The fact that Rudi's father was killed attempting a similar climb only strengthens the boy's resolve. Though discouraged by his mother and uncle, Rudi prepares for his ascent by taking practice climbs with his friends, learning vital lessons about safety and cooperation along the way. Finally, Rudi begins making his way up The Citadel in the company of four seasoned professionals led by Captain John Winter (Michael Rennie).

Based on the novel Banner in the Sky by James Ramsey Ullman.

Filmed on location in Switzerland.

Swiss Family Robinson (1960) - 126 mins. Starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Janet Munro, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran & Sessue Hayakawa. Directed by Ken Annakin. Synopsis: With the shipwreck of the Robinson family occurring as the credits roll across the screen, Swiss Family Robinson is down to business. Fashioning a raft, the family heads to a lush tropical island. While the mother (Dorothy McGuire) isn't too happy about being a castaway, the father (John Mills) and the sons Fritz, Ernst & Francis (James MacArthur, Tommy Kirk & Kevin Corcoran respectively) are thrilled at the prospect of carving out a new life for themselves. In short order, the industrious Robinsons have constructed a treehouse with all the creature comforts and "utilities" of their home in Switzerland. Later on, the little party is joined by Roberta (Janet Munro), the daughter of a sea captain who has been captured by pirate Kuala (Sessue Hayakawa) and his band. After a series of adventures calculated to arouse the envy of every viewer, the film comes to a rousing conclusion as the Robinsons resourcefully fend off Kuala and his pirates with a variety of jerry-built booby traps.

Filmed on location in Trinidad and Tobago

A box-office winner to the tune of $30 million!

Adapted from the novel of the same name by Johan Wyss

 

Please note that each is also available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website.

 

Disney's Fabulous Adventures Disc No. 1

The Great Locomotive Chase (1956)

 

Disney's Fabulous Adventures Disc No. 2

Third Man on the Mountain (1959)

 

Disney's Fabulous Adventures Disc No. 3

Swiss Family Robinson (1960)

 

 

The Doug McClure Sci-Fi Combination

 

Volume One - 5 DVD (Disc Nos. 1 to 5) Boxed Set price: AU$40 or US$40 or 20

Volume Two - 4 DVD (Disc Nos. 1 to 4) Boxed Set price : AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

The Land That Time Forgot (1975) was the first of three Edgar Rice Burroughs tales that were adapted for film by British production house Amicus under the direction of Kevin Connor and starring American actor Doug McClure (remember Trampas from the 60's TV series The Virginian ?). The second was At The Earth's Core (1976), which also starred Peter Cushing and the lovely Caroline Munro, and the last was The People That Time Forgot (1977), a sequel to the first film in which Patrick Wayne goes in search for Doug. The Land That Time Forgot is also significant because well known Fantasy writer Michael Moorcock worked on the screenplay. A fourth Connor / McClure film in this series of period lost world films was also produced : Warlords Of Atlantis (1978). Although not based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, it followed fairly much the formula set by the other films in the series - a journey by stalwart period English scientists into a lost world filled with monsters, a voyage that takes places in a marvellous vehicle of period technology.

McClure then returned to US TV but within two years was back on the big screen in the outrageous Humanoids from the Deep (1980). From the Roger Corman (low-budget shocker) stable this film achieved dubious notoriety for its gratuitous and uncompromising approach to the genre

The films all also feature charismatic acting from lantern-jawed lead man Doug McClure and talented support players.

 

The Land That Time Forgot (1975) : Its 1916 and the US Montrose is fired on and sunken by a German U-boat. However the survivors manage to sneak aboard and capture the U-boat. In between subsequent coups, the British and Germans agree to an uneasy truce until they can reach a neutral port. But they become lost and instead arrive on the mythical continent of Caprona where dinosaurs and cavemen still roam. Amid this savage, primitive environment they attempt to survive and repair the submarine.

At The Earth's Core (1976) : In England around the turn of the century, Dr Abner Perry unveils his invention - The Mole, a giant vehicle designed for exploring the center of the Earth by drilling through the ground. He and engineer David Innes take it on its maiden voyage but it goes out of control and they end up in the prehistoric land of Pellucidar at the Earth's core. There they are captured by The Mahars, intelligent, telepathic flying reptiles which keep primitive humans as their slaves via mind control. David falls for the beautiful slave girl Dia. But when she is chosen as a sacrificial victim in the Mahar city, he organizes the humans to rebellion to save her.

People That Time Forgot (1977) : Major Ben McBride (Patrick Wayne) organises a mission to the Antarctic wastes to search for his friend (Doug McClure) who has been missing in the region for several years. McBride's party find themselves in a world populated by primitive warriors and terrifying prehistoric creatures, all of whom they must evade in order to get back safely to their ship.

Warlords Of Atlantis (1978) : In 1896 the aging Professor Aitken and his son charter an expedition aboard the Texas Rose and descend into the depths in an experimental bathysphere designed by engineer Greg Collinson. But under the water they are snatched by a giant octopus and taken down to one of the five remaining of the seven sunken cities of Atlantis. As they marvel at the Atlantean super-science, they learn that the Atlanteans are really survivors from a dying Mars who are using their superior mental abilities to influence the outcome of human history and bring out mankinds most warlike tendencies.

Humanoids from the Deep (1980): In a Pacific Northwest town, experiments with genetically treated salmon backfire when they are eaten by coelacanths, who mutate into humanoid monsters with giant craniums and sharp claws: halfman, halffish which terrorize a small fishing village by killing the men, raping & mating with the women and eventually creating total pandemonium at the annual salmon festival. This is the UK version which is uncut and has been re-titled Monster!

 

 

The Doug McClure Sci-Fi Combination Disc No. 1

The Land That Time Forgot (1975)

 

The Doug McClure Sci-Fi Combination Disc No. 2

At The Earth's Core (1976)

 

The Doug McClure Sci-Fi Combination Disc No. 3

People That Time Forgot (1977)

 

The Doug McClure Sci-Fi Combination Disc No. 4

Warlords Of Atlantis (1978)

 

The Doug McClure Sci-Fi Combination Disc No. 5

Humanoids from the Deep (1980)

 

 

The "Galore" Movie Series (ie "Whisky & Rockets Galore")

1 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$20 or US$20 or 10

 

These two British comedies released 8 years apart endure today as excellent examples of the genre - they are both set (and filmed) in Britain's Outer Hebrides Island group off the west coast of Scotland and a lot of the cast of the first backed up 8 years later for the second: Whisky Galore! (1949) and Rockets Galore (1957)

 

The first was originally released in the US as Tight Little Island, Whisky Galore!, is a comedy predicated on the notion that all Scotsmen like a drink of whisky. The tiny Outer Hebrides island of Todday suffers from a wartime whisky shortage. Luck of luck, a ship full of the precious liquid is wrecked on a reef. The islanders conspire to smuggle the whisky off the ship right under the noses of the pesky British revenue officials. Numerous clever comic complications occur before the happy ending which, we are told by the narrator, was not so happy once all the whisky was consumed. Whisky Galore! is regarded by devotees of British comedy as the best and most representative offering from the short-lived Ealing Studios. Based on a true story, this uproariously funny film was nominated for a BAFTA Award (Best Film)

Directed by Alexander Mackendrick

Starring Basil Radford, Catherine Lacey, Bruce Seton, Joan Greenwood, Wylie Wilson, Gabrielle Blunt, Gordon Jackson , James Robertson Justice, Jameson Clark & Jean Cadell

B&W - 82 mins

 

The small but resourceful Outer Hebrides island of Todday, introduced in the 1949 Ealing comedy Whisky Galore!, made a return visit (in color) to movie screens in 1957's Rockets Galore - although released in the U.S. as Mad Little Island. In the first film, the good people of Todday faced up to the appalling dilemma of a whisky shortage. Now we're in the space age, and Todday has been targeted as the location for a rocket-launching site. Banding together as before, the islanders do their best to sabotage the project under the unsuspecting noses of the blinkered British military.

Directed by Michael Relph

Starring Jeannie Carson, Donald Sinden, Roland Culver, Catherine Lacey, Noel Purcell, Ian Hunter, Gordon Jackson, Jameson Clark & Jean Cadell

Color - 94 mins

 

The "Galore / Little Island" Collection

Whisky Galore! (1949)  aka Tight Little Island (1949)

Rockets Galore (1957) aka Mad Little Island (1957)

 

 

NEW NEW NEW NEW

 

"Gritty mid 60s Spy Films"

6 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$45 or US$45 or 23

 

In the mid to late 1960s there was a concerted effort to reappraise the espionage / spy genre in the face of the outrageous success of the James Bond films.

What resulted could best be described as Gritty 60s Spy Films

As a group they were seen as being more realistic and ultimately the antithesis of the James Bond view of the genre. They drew from the works of such popular authors as John le Carr & Len Deighton and presented complex and intriguing plotting wrapped in a sometimes uncomfortable view of betrayal, deliciousness and the double, triple-cross!

The formal beginning of this sequence of films can be traced to one, outstanding example of the genre:

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) - a stark, realistic and wonderfully played cold war story set in perhaps the epicentre of the spy/counterspy world: Berlin. It was based on the international best seller of the same name by John le Carr, who himself had worked for MI5 & MI5 during the 1950s - Richard Burton (in an Academy Award nominated role) is sensational!

Len Deightons slightly crumpled, bespectacled-wearing anti-hero, Harry Palmer was the subject of three excellent big budget efforts which followed on the success of le Carrs success: The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966) & Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

Throw into the mix another John le Carr adaptation: The Deadly Affair (1966) - starring James Mason in the George Smiley role - and finally one from Trevor Dudley-Smith (writing under the name "Adam Hall"): The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - with George Segal - and we have a neat half dozen entries in this always interesting genre.

Other links include that all 6 films were UK made, were well scripted & directed and peopled with nicely balanced international casts.

Additionally, each was gorgeously (though realistically) filmed in wide-screen Technicolor, with the exception of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) which was filmed in B&W (most likely, deliberately so).

 

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) - 112 mins

Starring Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner, Sam Wanamaker, George Voskovec & Rupert Davies

Directed by Martin Ritt

Alec Leamas (Richard Burton) is a dispirited, end-of-tether British secret agent. He comes in from "the cold" (meaning he is pulled out of field operations) to act as an undercover man behind the Iron Curtain. To make his staged defection seem genuine, Alec goes on an alcoholic binge, is imprisoned and publicly humiliated. Once he has been accepted into East German espionage circles, Alec discovers that what he thought was his mission was a mere subterfuge - and that he's been set up as a pawn for an entirely different operation.

Based on the novel by John Le Carre with crosses, double-crosses and double-double crosses!

 

The Ipcress File (1965) - 109 mins

Starring Michael Caine, Nigel Green, Guy Doleman, Sue Lloyd, Gordon Jackson & Aubrey Richards

Directed by Sidney J. Furie

Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) has no real love of espionage, but he doesn't really know any other life. With studied insolence, he takes on the case of locating missing doctor Radcliffe (Aubrey Richards), who has in his possession a valuable file that would prove injurious to the Free World should it fall in the wrong hands. The government also fears that Radcliffe will be brainwashed by the enemy, as has happened to two previous British scientists. While Palmer is off doing everyone else's dirty work, his superior, Dalby (Nigel Green) is making a deal with duplicitous information "broker" Frank Gatliff to win Radcliffe's release. The price for this would seem to be Palmer, who is captured by the enemy and subjected to a gruelling brainwashing session. Palmer escapes, whereupon he confronts a traitor in his midst in the climactic exchange of gunfire.

 

Funeral in Berlin (1966) - 102 mins

Starring Michael Caine, Paul Hubschmid, Oskar Homolka, Guy Doleman & Eva Renzi

Directed by Guy Hamilton

Colonel Stok ((Oscar Homolka) is a Soviet intelligence officer responsible for security at the Berlin Wall. He appears to want to defect but the evidence is contradictory Stok wants the British to handle his defection and asks for one of their agents, Harry Palmer (Michael Caine), to smuggle him out of East Germany. Palmer is dispatched to Berlin to look into this highly suspicious turn of events.

 

Billion Dollar Brain (1967) - 111 mins

Starring Michael Caine, Karl Malden, Ed Begley, Oskar Homolka, Guy Doleman & Franoise Dorlac

Directed by Ken Russell

Having left Britain's espionage service, Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) is scraping out a living as a private investigator, but his old boss Colonel Ross (Guy Doleman) offers a raise and promotion if he'll return. Which he does - reluctantly - and one of his first assignments is to deliver an apparently innocent thermos flask to old friend Leo Newbigen (Karl Malden) in Helsinki. That assignment immerses Palmer in a deadly game of deception, double-dealing, and triple-crosses on all sides, as he finds that Leo is working for a privately operated intelligence network, set up by a rabidly right-wing Texas oil man, General Midwinter (Ed Begley)

The billion-dollar super-computer of the title, built by Midwinter, runs a network of spies and assassins aimed at the destruction of the Soviet Union. That interests Palmer's old friend, Soviet security chief Colonel Stok (Oskar Homolka).

Big scale conclusion to the Harry Palmer Trilogy!

 

The Deadly Affair (1966) - 115 mins

Starring James Mason, Simone Signoret, Maximillian Schell, Harriet Andersson & Harry Anderson

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is a British secret agent puzzled by the sudden suicide of Foreign Office higher-up Samuel Fennan (Robert Flemyng). Dobbs had worked on Fennans security clearance himself, and can't fathom what personality quirk he might have missed. The agent suspects that the dead man's wife Elsa (Simone Signoret), a concentration camp survivor, may hold the answer to Samuels despair.

But the Foreign Office wants Dobbs to drop the case, so he hires retiring Inspector Mendel (Harry Andrews) to do some private detective work. What Dobbs and Mendel find out is more insidious than they've imagined

John le Carr's Call for the Dead was the basis for this complex spy story. In it George Smiley, the central character of the novel and many other of le Carr's books, is renamed Charles Dobbs.

 

The Quiller Memorandum (1966) - 104 mins

Starring George Segal, Alec Guinness, Max von Sydow, Senta Berger, George Sanders & Robert Helpmann

Directed by Michael Anderson

American agent, Quiller (George Segal) who is working with the British Secret Service is assigned to Berlin to ferret out a treacherous neo-Nazi gang. The last two men given this job have already been killed and the agent soon realizes he can't trust anyone, not even the people on his own side. He becomes involved in a cat & mouse game between his superior Pol (Alec Guinness) and head Oktober (Max Von Sydow).

Adapted from the 1965 spy novel The Berlin Memorandum, by Trevor Dudley-Smith under the name "Adam Hall" (with a screenplay by Harold Pinter).

 

Note each of these films are also available separately from within the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section.

 

Also Len Deightons Harry Palmer trilogy is also available from within the Movie Series section of this website (Under H for Harry Palmer)

 

 

"Gritty mid 60s Spy Films" - Disc No. 1

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965)

 

"Gritty mid 60s Spy Films" - Disc No. 2

The Ipcress File (1965)

 

"Gritty mid 60s Spy Films" - Disc No. 3

Funeral in Berlin (1966)

 

"Gritty mid 60s Spy Films" - Disc No. 4

Billion Dollar Brain (1967)

 

"Gritty mid 60s Spy Films" - Disc No. 5

The Deadly Affair (1966)

 

"Gritty mid 60s Spy Films" - Disc No. 6

The Quiller Memorandum (1966)

 

 

James Stewart & Anthony Mann their "psychological" western series

5 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$40 or US$40 or 20

 

James Stewart & Anthony Mann: their 5 westerns together from 1950 to 1955 have been dubbed "psychological" in that presented a basically decent hero driven to the brink of insanity by dark forces from the past. Played out against breathtaking landscapes that reflect the emotional turmoil of the main characters, Mann's westerns give us Stewart's finest performances. Together they rewrote the cowboy story for the big screen - their's were tough, uncompromising though lyric masterpieces of western cinema - beautifully photographed and expertly written stories with intriguing characters and realistic action - a blueprint for westerns of the 50s (and embraced by Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott in their excellent collaborations in the late 1950s - see the Randolph Scott section of this website)

This quintet of Stewart / Mann westerns consists of Winchester '73 (1950), Bend of the River (1952), The Naked Spur (1953), The Far Country (1954) & The Man from Laramie (1955) with legendary scriptwriter Borden Chase writing the first two and the fourth. The Oscar-nominated screenplay for the third of the series, The Naked Spur, was cowritten by Sam Rolfe, who was later one of the creative forces responsible for the similarly no-nonsense TV western series Have Gun, Will Travel.

Winchester '73 was filmed in B&W whilst the remaining 4 were shot in Technicolor.

 

All 5 are presented here in a very nice 5 DVD set - all perfect prints

 

Please note that each is also available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website.

 

Winchester '73 (1950) - 92 mins. Starring James Stewart, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally & Millard Mitchell. Directed by Anthony Mann. Synopsis: Lin McAdam (James Stewart) and his friend High-Spade (Millard Mitchell) arrive in Dodge City for a shooting contest, in which the prize is a perfectly manufactured Winchester repeating rifle, referred to as "One of a Thousand" - a gun so fine that Winchester won't sell it. Lin runs across Dutch Henry Brown (Stephen McNally) in a saloon and the two would kill each other right there but for the fact that town marshal Wyatt Earp has everyone's guns. Lin wins the rifle in an extraordinary marksmanship match-up with Brown, but the latter steals the prize from him and sets out across the desert. Thus begins a battle of wits and nerves, and a pursuit to the death. The roots and raw psychological dimensions of that chase are only exposed gradually, across a story arc that includes references to Custer's Last Stand, run-ins with marauding Indians, a heroic stand with a a shady but well-intentioned grifter and a meeting with murderous sociopath named Waco Johnny Dean, plus a romantic encounter with a young, golden-hearted frontier woman.

Perfect B&W Print

Bend of the River (1952) - 91 mins. Starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Rock Hudson, Jay C. Flippen, Julie Adams & Lori Nelson. Directed by Anthony Mann. Synopsis: Glyn McLyntock (James Stewart) is a former outlaw, now working as trail guide for a group of Oregon-bound farmers. He is aided in this endeavor by Emerson Cole (Arthur Kennedy), a far-from-reformed horse thief. Upon arriving in Portland, McLyntock gets in the middle of a scam operated by a trader who has reneged on his promise to ship goods to the settlers. Unable to take action through legal channels, McLyntock and farmer Jeremy Baile steal the provision and scurry back to the settlement by boat. On their return, they discover that Cole has sold out to the trader and intends to reclaim the supplies, taking Baile and his daughter Laura as hostages to ensure safe passage.

Perfect Technicolor Print

The Naked Spur (1953) - 91 mins. Starring James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker & Millard Mitchell. Directed by Anthony Mann. Synopsis: Howard Kemp (James Stewart) is a taciturn frontiersman who loses his home while he's off fighting the Civil War. To raise enough money for a new grubstake, Stewart becomes a bounty hunter in Colorado territory. His first quarry is fugitive, killer Ben Vandergroat (Robert Ryan). Kemp's efforts to bring in Vandergroat and collect the reward are compromised by the presence of Vandergroat's loyal girl friend Lina Patch (Janet Leigh) and Kemps's two disreputable sidekicks, wily prospector Jesse Tate (Millard Mitchell) and disgraced Union-officer Roy Anderson (Ralph Meeker). There's plenty of "cat and mouse" byplay between Kemp and Vandergroat before the brutal climax; the drama is intensified by the fact that both men are on the outer rim of total insanity.

Perfect Technicolor Print

The Far Country (1954) - 97 mins. Starring James Stewart, Ruth Roman, Corinne Calvert, Walter Brennan, John McIntire & Jay C. Flippen. Directed by Anthony Mann. Synopsis: Set in the Yukon, Jeff Webster (James Stewart) and his friends are driving cattle to market from Wyoming to Canada, where the boom towns pay top dollar for beef. When they arrive in Skagway, the corrupt sheriff of the town, Gannon (John McIntire) steals the cattle and Webster is forced to fight for their herd. Together with Ronda Castle (Ruth Roman), owner of The Skagway Castle & Dawson Castle saloons, they find themselves up against an evil they were not prepared for. When Webster's friend is killed, he is forced to go up against the evil Gannon.

Perfect Technicolor Print

The Man From Laramie (1955) - 104 mins. Starring James Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Donald Crisp, Cathy O'Donnell & Alex Nicol. Directed by Anthony Mann. Synopsis: Will Lockhart (James Stewart) is obsessed with finding the man who sold automatic rifles to the Apaches, resulting in the death of his brother. Will enters the town of Coronado, NM, ruled by the blind and aging patriarch Alec Waggoman (Donald Crisp). Unaware that he is trespassing on Waggoman's land, he finds himself accosted by Alec's sociopathic son, Dave (Alex Nicol), who brutally beats Will and is ready to kill him. But Will is rescued at the last minute by Waggoman's adopted son, Vic Hansbro (Arthur Kennedy). Will finds that Waggoman has become increasingly concerned over who will inherit his vast empire.

Perfect Technicolor Wide-Screen Print

 

 

James Stewart & Anthony Mann their "psychological" westerns Disc No. 1

Winchester '73 (1950)

 

James Stewart & Anthony Mann their "psychological" westerns Disc No. 2

Bend of the River (1952)

 

James Stewart & Anthony Mann their "psychological" westerns Disc No. 3

The Naked Spur (1953)

 

James Stewart & Anthony Mann their "psychological" westerns Disc No. 4

The Far Country (1954)

 

James Stewart & Anthony Mann their "psychological" westerns Disc No. 5

The Man From Laramie (1955)

 

 

 

John Ford & John Wayne the "Cavalry" Trilogy

3 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$30 or US$30 or 15

 

John Ford directed John Wayne in a superb trilogy of "Cavalry" westerns in the late 1940s: Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) & Rio Grande (1950).  They form a set apart because each consists of a great story, superb photography, excellent script and a wonderful cast carefully knitted together by director Ford and led by Wayne.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) was the only one to be shot in color.

 

All 3 are presented here in a very nice 3 DVD set - all perfect prints

 

Please note that each is also available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website.

 

Fort Apache (1948) - 125 mins. Starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Shirley Temple, Pedro Armendriz, Ward Bond, George O'Brien, Victor McLaglen & John Agar, Directed by John Ford. Synopsis: Fort Apache stars John Wayne as Capt. Kirby York and Henry Fonda as Lt. Col. Owen Thursday. Resentful of his loss in rank and transfer to the West after serving gallantly in the Civil War, the vainglorious Thursday insists upon imposing rigid authority on rough-and-tumble Fort Apache. He is particularly anxious to do battle with the local Indians, despite York's admonitions that the trouble around the fort is being fomented not by the so-called savages but by corrupt white Indian agents. Thursday nonetheless ends up in a climactic set-to with Indian chief Cochise

Perfect B&W Print

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) - 103 mins. Starring John Wayne, Joanne Dru, John Agar, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen & George O'Brien. Directed by John Ford. Synopsis: John Wayne stars as Capt. Nathan Cutting Brittles, who in his last days before his compulsory retirement, must face the possibility of a full-scale attack from the Arapahos. This Indian tribe have been stirred up by the recent defeat of Custer and by double-dealing Indian agents. After a series of minor victories and major frustrations, Brittles decides to ride into the Arapaho camp, there to smoke a pipe of peace with his old friend, Chief Pony That Walks

Perfect Technicolor Print

Rio Grande (1950) - 105 mins. Starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen & Chill Wills. Directed by John Ford. Synopsis: Rio Grande stars John Wayne as Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke whose devotion to duty has cost him his marriage to his beloved Kathleen (Maureen O'Hara). Yorke gets word that his son, Jeff has been dropped as a cadet from West Point, and that he lied about his age to enlist in the cavalry, in an effort to redeem himself. By chance, the boy is then assigned to his father's post. Once more, as a function of his duty as a cavalry officer, Yorke must sacrifice his love of family as he cannot show any preferential treatment to the boy, or exhibit any sign of love and affection. But Jeff is too strong to be injured by his father's actions, and already enough of a man that he is befriended by two older recruits, troopers Tyree (Ben Johnson) and Boone (Harry Carey Jr.), who watch out for him while taking him in as a virtual equal. Yorke's resolve is further tested when his estranged wife, Kathleen, arrives at the post, the better to look after her son and possibly to buy back the boy's enlistment, which Yorke, as commanding officer in a remote post with a critical shortage of men, can't and won't permit. After an attack by the Apaches, Yorke orders the post's women and children to be moved to safety, and Jeff is assigned as part of the troop conducting the caravan, despite his wish to participate in the planned action against the Apaches.

Perfect B&W Print

 

 

John Ford & John Wayne the "Cavalry" Trilogy Disc No. 1

Fort Apache (1948)

 

John Ford & John Wayne the "Cavalry" Trilogy Disc No. 2

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

 

John Ford & John Wayne the "Cavalry" Trilogy Disc No. 3

Rio Grande (1950)

 

 

Man Hunt / Rogue Male Combination

2 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$25 or US$25 or 13

 

In 1941, Fritz Lang (and writer Dudley Nichols) made "Manhunt," a taut thriller about an English hunter (Walter Pidgeon) who tries to shoot Hitler and then becomes himself the prey of the Nazis, and, on English soil, traitors too. The film was adapted from Geoffrey Household's equally tense novel "Rogue Male." Then in 1976 came a remake, as a TV-movie directed by Clive Donner, scripted by Frederic Raphael, and starring Peter O'Toole, Alastair Sim, Harold Pinter. It is, once again, a most watchable, exciting film, also full of tensions, and very well played. Film buffs who compare the two versions will find, among other things, that the new version is more detailed as well as more somber, in part because in 1941 the wishful thinking of killing of Hitler was still a remote possibility, and because in 1976 we were all aware of Hitler's wartime crimes. Pidgeon and O'Toole both are uppercrust characters, stiff upper lip and all that, with O'Toole who, according to the books he wrote, was obsessed with the terror of Hitler in his childhood, delivering the more personal, intense performance.

But then again the first has the legendary Fritz Lang as director of proceedings.

 

(A note about the quality of Rogue Male: commercial releases of this film are of poor quality and have been edited - NOT THIS PRINT! - it runs the full 104 minutes and is of very good quality, being taken off an original 16mm master)

 

Note that Rogue Male (1976) is also available above as part of the British Espionage Combination (includes other 1970s editions of The Riddle of the Sands, The Thirty-Nine Steps & The Lady Vanishes)

 

Also worth a look : The "British Espionage" Radio Shows (comprising dramatized radio versions of The Riddle of the Sands, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes & Rogue Male) - check out the Old Time Radio section of this website. These shows have been digitally restored & come on MP3 CDs which work in your DVD player. The shows are free - with conditions. Check out the Old Time Radio section for further details

 

 

Disc No. 1

Man Hunt (1941)

 

Disc No. 2

Rogue Male (1976) - colour

 

 

 

Milton Berle's Mystery-Comedy Combination

1 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$20 or US$20 or 10

 

Milton Berle was a well known comedian who made a string of comedy films in the 40's before moving into television. In 1942 he made a nice duet of mystery-comedy films which were well received and quite fun to watch.

In Over My Dead Body (1942), Milty plays Jason Cordry, a none-too-bright mystery writer with a big failing: he can't think up solutions to his plots. When he accidentally frames himself for murder, he realizes he hasn't got a solution to this story either!

Whispering Ghosts (1942) has him playing a "radio detective" who, with his sidekick get it into their heads to try to solve a murder that had been committed several years previously.

 

 

Milton Berle's Mystery-Comedy Combination Disc

Over My Dead Body (1942)

Whispering Ghosts (1942)

 

 

 

O.S.S. Trilogy, The

3 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$30 or US$30 or 15

 

The Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) was formed when Franklin Roosevelt decided once and for all we needed a separate intelligence organization if in fact we were going into World War II. And in the postwar era we needed one to compete with both friends and enemies who had been at this for centuries more than we had.

During the war the cloak of secrecy was firmly wrapped around the OSS, but after VJ Day a whole bunch of films came out about some of their behind the lines spy missions. The best of these films were Cloak and Dagger (1946), OSS (1946) and 13 Rue Madeleine (1947)

 

Please note that each is also available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website.

 

Cloak and Dagger (1946) - 106 mins

Starring Gary Cooper, Lilli Palmer, Robert Alda & Vladimir Sokoloff .

Directed by Fritz Lang

Near the end of World War II, the Allies must find out how much the Axis knows about building atomic bombs. The OSS recruits a physicist, Alvah Jesper, to reach his former colleague, Katerin Lodor, now in Switzerland, and bring her out for debriefing. Certainly one of the better movies of its type for that era. It's exciting as well as entertaining and not as dated as one would imagine. Gary Cooper is excellent as a nuclear physicist who turns smoothly into a secret agent. There is a fair amount of action (mainly good old-fashioned shoot-outs), a rather conventional romance and one superbly executed fight sequence.

 

O.S.S. (1946) - 105 mins.

Starring Alan Ladd, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Patric Knowles, John Hoyt & Richard (TV's "Captain Midnight") Webb.

Directed by Irving Pichel.

John Martin is part of an American spy team dropped into France during World War II to destroy the French railway system. After successfully blowing up a tunnel he runs back to save Ellen and is told "Never come back for me again." Later he must choose whether or not to obey her wishes. A first rate action film and spy yarn with Alan Ladd doing what he does best. This film later became the blueprint for Ron Randell's successful TV series of the same name.

 

13 Rue Madeleine (1947) - 95 mins

Starring James Cagney, Annabella, Richard Conte, Frank Latimore & Walter Abel.

Directed by Henry Hathaway.

During the training of a group of O.S.S. agents for WWII work behind enemy lines, it is discovered that of them is a German "mole". Group leaders Gibson and Sharkey are aware of this and scheme to feed him false info about the invasion of Europe, while the real agents go to France to find a secret V-2 rocket depot. But the German spy outsmarts them and rejoins his people knowing too much; Bob Sharkey takes the risk of going in after him. A great spy yarn with a "typical" Cagney ending.

 

 

The O.S.S. Trilogy Disc No. 1

Cloak and Dagger (1946)

 

The O.S.S. Trilogy Disc No. 2

O.S.S. (1946)

 

The O.S.S. Trilogy Disc No. 3

13 Rue Madeleine (1947)

 

 

 

Philip Marlowe at the Movies

4 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

Raymond Chandler's archetypical private eye: Philip Marlowe ("I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like 'em myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them long winter evenings"). Marlowe was extensively assayed in dozens of short stories, but its the novels for which he is best remembered. There were 7 in total: The Big Sleep (1939), Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The High Window (1942), The Lady in the Lake (1943),  The Little Sister (1949), The Long Goodbye (1953) & Playback (1958) - an eighth Poodle Springs (1959) was incomplete at the time of Chandler's death.

The first six books were turned into major motion pictures showcasing the loneliness, the quick, sarcastic cynical jibes masking a battered romantic, the love/hate relationship with the cops set against the corruption that exists in all levels of society.

Eight films in all encompass the Philip Marlowe "at the Movies" Combination, with the first six films covering each of the first six Marlowe novels. The final two films are British made color remakes of  earlier films. They each star Robert Mitchum and are much closer to the corresponding books than the earlier entries.

 

Murder My Sweet (1944) - 95 mins. Starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger and Mike Mazurki. Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Synopsis: This adaptation of the Raymond Chandler novel 'Farewell, My Lovely', has private eye Philip Marlowe hired by Moose Malloy, a petty crook just out of prison after a seven year stretch, to look for his former girlfriend, Velma, who has not been seen for the last six years. The case is tougher than Marlowe expected as his initially promising enquiries lead to a complex web of deceit involving bribery, perjury and theft, and where no one's motivation is obvious, least of all Marlowes.

The Big Sleep (1946) - 114 mins. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, Regis Toomey & Dorothy Malone. Directed by Howard Hawks. Synopsis: Private-eye Philip Marlowe is hired to keep an eye on General Sternwood's youngest daughter, Carmen, who has fallen into bad company and is likely to do some damage to herself and her family before long. He soon finds himself falling in love with her older sister, Vivien, who initially takes a deep dislike to Mr Marlowe. However, the plot thickens when murder follows murder.

Lady in the Lake (1947) - 105 mins. Starring Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, Leon Ames & Jayne Meadows. Directed by Robert Montgomery. Synopsis: Magazine editor Adrienne Fromsett wants Marlowe to find the missing wife of her boss, Mr. Kingsby. Marlowe accepts the job and goes looking for clues at the home of the wife's sometime lover, Chris Lavery. When Marlowe gets knocked out and picked up for drunk driving, he decides to drop the case. He is drawn back in, however, when Adrienne suggests that Kingsby's wife is responsible for the murder of a mysterious lady in the lake.

The Brasher Doubloon (1947) - 72 mins. Starring George Montgomery, Nancy Guild, Conrad Janis, Roy Roberts & Fritz Kortner. Directed by John Brahm. Synopsis: Philip Marlowe gets involved when Leslie Murdock steals a rare doubloon from his mother to give to a newsreel photographer in exchange for film that is being used for blackmail purposes. Marlowe's involvement has him encounter a girl who goes into hysterics when touched by a man; a husband-killing woman; three corpses; a couple of scuffles and a secretary who thinks she has killed her boss. Previously considered "as just a B movie" this adaptation of Chandler's The High Window and the have seen it elevated in status to its rightful place alongside the bigger budgeted Marlowe films.

Marlowe (1969) - 96 mins. Starring James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O'Connor, Rita Moreno, Sharon Farrell & William Daniles. Directed by Paul Bogart. Synopsis: Based on The Little Sister, this first color excursion into Chandler's world  involves the detective's efforts to locate the missing brother of Orfamay Quest. He follows the clues to two men who deny any knowledge of the brother's existence. Since both men soon find themselves on the wrong end of an ice pick, Marlowe deduces that there's more to this caper than a mere missing-person case.

The Long Goodbye (1973) - 112 mins. Starring Elliott Gould, Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson, Jim Bouton & David Arkin. Directed by Robert Altman. Synopsis: Philip Marlowe is certain that his friend Terry Lennox isn't a wife-killer, even after the cops throw Marlowe in jail for not cooperating with their investigation into Lennox's subsequent disappearance. Once he gets out of jail, Marlowe starts to conduct his own search when he discovers that mysterious blonde Eileen Wade, who hired him to find her alcoholic novelist husband Roger on the same Malibu street as the absent Lennox and his deceased spouse.

Farewell, My Lovely (1975) - 97 mins. Starring Robert Mitchum, Charlotte Rampling, John Ireland, Sylvia Miles, Harry Dean Stanton & Sylvester Stallone. Directed by Dick Richards. Synopsis: Marlowe attempts to locate Velma, a former dancer at a seedy nightclub, and the girlfriend of Moose Malloy, a petty criminal just out of prison. Marlowe finds that once he has taken the case events conspire to put him in dangerous situations, and he is forced to follow a confusing trail of untruths and double crosses before he is able to locate Velma.

The Big Sleep (1978) - 100 mins. Starring Robert Mitchum, Candy Clark, Oliver Reed, Sylvia Miles, Richard Boone, James Stewart, Joan Collins, Edward Fox & John Mills. Directed by Michael Winner. Synopsis: Marlowe is asked by the elderly (and near death) General Sternwood to investigate an attempt at blackmail on one of his daughters. He soon finds that the attempt is half hearted at best and seems to be more connected with the disappearance of the other daughter's husband, Rusty Regan. Rusty's wife, seems unconcerned with his disappearance, further complicating the mystery. Only General Sternwood seems concerned as mobsters and hired killers continue to appear in the path of the investigation.

 

 

Philip Marlowe at the Movies Disc No. 1

Murder, My Sweet (1944)

The Big Sleep (1946)

 

Philip Marlowe at the Movies Disc No. 2

Lady in the Lake (1947)

The Brasher Doubloon (1947)  

 

Philip Marlowe at the Movies Disc No. 3

Marlowe (1969)

The Long Goodbye (1973)

 

Philip Marlowe at the Movies Disc No. 4

Farewell, My Lovely (1975)

The Big Sleep (1978)

 

Note that each of the above titles are also available separately (one movie per DVD) from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website

 

Also worth a look : The Philip Marlowe Radio Shows - check out the Old Time Radio section of this website. These shows have been digitally restored & come on MP3 CDs which work in your DVD player.

The shows are free - with conditions. Check out the Old Time Radio section for further details

 

 

 

 

NEW NEW NEW NEW

 

Planet of the Apes more than a Movie Series

5 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$40 or US$40 or 20

 

Planet of the Apes is a 1968 science fiction film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and based on the novel by Pierre Boulle, which was first published in 1963. The film stars Charlton Heston and features Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly and Linda Harrison. The film tells the story of an astronaut crew who crash-land on a strange planet in the distant future. Although the planet appears desolate at first, the surviving crew members stumble upon a society in which apes have evolved into creatures with human-like intelligence and speech. The apes have assumed the role of the dominant species and humans have been subjugated into slavery.

The script was originally written by Rod Serling but had many rewrites before eventually being made. Changes included character names and a more primitive ape society, instead of the more expensive idea of having futuristic buildings and advanced technology. The film's producer Arthur P. Jacobs, upon the advice of Charlton Heston, chose Franklin J. Schaffner to direct the film.

The film was groundbreaking for its prosthetic makeup techniques by artist John Chambers, and was well received by critics and audiences, launching a film franchise, which included four sequels, as well as a TV series.

Roddy McDowall, in particular, had a long-running relationship with the Apes series, appearing in the original series of five films (one only via stock footage from an earlier film), and also in the television series.

 

The five Planet of the Apes films are presented here in a 5 DVD set - all excellent wide-screen Technicolor prints

 

Please note that each is also available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website.

 

Please note further that the complete Planet of the Apes TV Series is available from the TV Series section of this website

 

Planet of the Apes (1968) - 112 mins

Starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore & James Daly

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

Charlton Heston is Colonel George Taylor, one of several astronauts on a long, long space mission whose spaceship crash-lands on a remote planet, seemingly devoid of intelligent life. Soon the astronaut learns that this planet is ruled by a race of talking, thinking, reasoning apes who hold court over a complex, multilayered civilization. In this topsy-turvy society, the human beings are grunting, inarticulate primates, penned-up like animals. When ape leader Dr. Zaius (Maurice Evans) discovers that the captive Taylor has the power of speech, he reacts in horror and insists that the astronaut be killed. But sympathetic ape scientists Cornelius (Roddy McDowell) and Dr. Zira (Kim Hunter) risk their lives to protect Taylor - and to discover the secret of their planet's history that Dr. Zaius and his minions guard so jealously.

 

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - 95 mins

Starring James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison & Charlton Heston

Directed by Ted Post

Sometime after the events of the first Planet of the Apes, the climax of which is repeated at the beginning of this sequel, another group of astronauts arrives on the Ape Planet. This time it's John Brent (James Franciscus) who survives the crash landing and learns that evolved simians have taken over the world, post-apocalypse. After hooking up with Nova (Linda Harrison), the mute, fur bikini-clad beauty who spent the first film being squired by astronaut Colonel George Taylor (Charlton Heston), Brent confers with Zira (Kim Hunter) and Cornelius (David Watson, giving Roddy McDowall his only break during the five-film series), the ape scientists whose adherence to scientific principles makes them friendly to the possibility of intelligent human life. Something of a military coup has taken place among the apes, who dispatch an army to the desolate "Forbidden Zone" where Taylor has coincidentally disappeared. With the apes and the humans both scouring about in the ruins of 20th century civilization, it's only a matter of time before they all find out what happened to the other survivors of the nuclear holocaust.

 

Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971) - 98 mins

Starring Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman, Natalie Trundy & Ricardo Montalban

Directed by Don Taylor

At the end of the second film, the centuries-in-the-future world colonized by simians was destroyed, but apes Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter) were able to escape in the space vessel left behind by 20th century astronaut Colonel George Taylor (Charlton Heston). Cornelius and Zira pass through another time warp, finding themselves in the Earth of the 1970s. When they reveal their ability to speak, the apes are first treated as curiosities and then as threats when the government, believing the story that the Earth will eventually be inherited by monkeys, tries to prevent the birth of Zira's baby.

 

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) - 88 mins

Starring Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, Ricardo Montalban, Natalie Trundy & Hari Rhodes

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

Set in 1991, 20 years since the assassination of talking, time-traveling apes Cornelius and Zira at the end of Escape From the Planet of the Apes - the couple's infant son, Caesar (Roddy McDowall), has grown to adulthood in the care of kindly circus owner Armando (Ricardo Montalban). Meanwhile, a plague has wiped all dogs and cats from the face of the Earth; speechless primitive apes have therefore been domesticated and turned into first pets, then servants of humankind. Caesar becomes outraged at the treatment of these simian slaves and accidentally reveals his powers of speech in front of the militaristic authorities,

 

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) - 93 mins

Starring Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Natalie Trundy, John Huston & Lew Ayres

Directed by J. Lee Thompson

Caesar led his brethren in a revolution against their human masters earlier, but humanity has since nearly destroyed itself in a nuclear apocalypse, and survivors are second-class citizens within ape society. Now a beneficent ruler of his people, Caesar encourages a fragile, peaceful coexistence with humans, despite the protests of militaristic gorilla leader General Aldo (Claude Akins). When Caesar learns that recordings of his murdered parents may exist in the Forbidden City, he journeys to the irradiated wasteland. Although Caesar finds what he's looking for, he also attracts unwanted attention: mutant humans who still dwell underground in the devastated war zone follow the search party back home, leading to a climactic battle

Note the cameo by famed director John Huston as an ape named "The Lawgiver.

 

 

Planet of the Apes more than a Movie Series Disc No. 1

Planet of the Apes (1968)

 

Planet of the Apes more than a Movie Series Disc No. 2

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

 

Planet of the Apes more than a Movie Series Disc No. 3

Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971)

 

Planet of the Apes more than a Movie Series Disc No. 4

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

 

Planet of the Apes more than a Movie Series Disc No. 5

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

 

 

 

The Powell, Pressburger & Veidt Combination

1 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$20 or US$20 or 10

 

Director Michael Powell, writer Emeric Pressburger & star Conrad Veidt combined to great effect in two similarly themed UK films in 1939/40. Valerie Hobson was the female lead in each of these films which dealt with spy and saboteurs.

Powell & Pressburger were to team up again for 49th Parallel (1941), One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942) & The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) whilst Veidt went onto further success in US films such as Escape (1940), Whistling in the Dark (1941), All Through the Night (1941), Nazi Agent (1942), Casablanca (1942) & Above Suspicion (1943). All of these films are available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website - except for Whistling in the Dark (1941) which is in the Movies Series section as part of the Red Skelton "Whistling" set.

 

The Spy in Black (1939) aka U-Boat 29 - 79 mins

Starring Conrad Veidt, Sebastian Shaw, Valerie Hobson, Marius Goring, June Duprez & Athole Stewart

Directed by Michael Powell

A German World War I submarine captain (Conrad Veidt) is given a mission to discover British intelligence secrets. Once he arrives in the Orkney Islands, he meets up with a female schoolteacher (Valerie Hobson), who happens to be a German agent. Veidt falls in love with Hobson before discovering she's actually a double agent for the British.

In USA, The Spy in Black was originally released under the title U-Boat 29

 

Contraband (1940) aka Blackout - 88 mins

Starring Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Hay Petrie, Joss Ambler & Raymond Lovell

Directed by Michael Powell

The Danish freighter Helvig approaches English waters in early 1940 and, in keeping with the needs of British security, it is boarded by customs and naval officials in search of contraband cargo. Her skipper, Captain Anderson (Conrad Veidt), is compelled to ascede to British demands, but dreads the delay, pointing out that the medical supplies in his cargo are vital. Anderssen is a dedicated seaman, all business, even where Mrs. Sorenson (Valerie Hobson), a headstrong passenger, is concerned. Then, on their first night in port, Mrs. Sorenson and a Mr. Pidgeon (Esmond Knight) disappear from the ship with Anderson's landing papers, the captain is in hot pursuit. Forced to join the woman in what seems a mad chase across London by night, he plunges into the eerie world of the blacked out city, following a set of clues through the maze of darkened streets and uncover a Nazi spy ring operating out of a basement in Soho.

In USA, Contraband was originally released under the title Blackout

 

 

The Powell, Pressburger & Veidt Combination

The Spy in Black (1939) aka U-Boat 29

Contraband (1940) aka Blackout

 

Note: See also below: Powell & Pressburger their War Films

 

 

 

Powell & Pressburger their War Films

4 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

Director Michael Powell, writer Emeric Pressburger came together and filmed a wonderful series of 5 War movies from 1939 thru to 1943:

 

The Spy in Black (1939) aka U-Boat 29 - 79 mins

Starring Conrad Veidt, Sebastian Shaw, Valerie Hobson, Marius Goring, June Duprez & Athole Stewart

Directed by Michael Powell

A German World War I submarine captain (Conrad Veidt) is given a mission to discover British intelligence secrets. Once he arrives in the Orkney Islands, he meets up with a female schoolteacher (Valerie Hobson), who happens to be a German agent. Veidt falls in love with Hobson before discovering she's actually a double agent for the British.

In USA, The Spy in Black was originally released under the title U-Boat 29

 

Contraband (1940) aka Blackout - 88 mins

Starring Conrad Veidt, Valerie Hobson, Hay Petrie, Joss Ambler & Raymond Lovell

Directed by Michael Powell

The Danish freighter Helvig approaches English waters in early 1940 and, in keeping with the needs of British security, it is boarded by customs and naval officials in search of contraband cargo. Her skipper, Captain Anderson (Conrad Veidt), is compelled to ascede to British demands, but dreads the delay, pointing out that the medical supplies in his cargo are vital. Anderssen is a dedicated seaman, all business, even where Mrs. Sorenson (Valerie Hobson), a headstrong passenger, is concerned. Then, on their first night in port, Mrs. Sorenson and a Mr. Pidgeon (Esmond Knight) disappear from the ship with Anderson's landing papers, the captain is in hot pursuit. Forced to join the woman in what seems a mad chase across London by night, he plunges into the eerie world of the blacked out city, following a set of clues through the maze of darkened streets and uncover a Nazi spy ring operating out of a basement in Soho.

In USA, Contraband was originally released under the title Blackout

 

49th Parallel (1941) aka The Invaders - 123 mins

Starring Lawrence Olivier, Richard George, Eric Portman, Raymond Lovell, Niall MacGinnis & Finlay Currie

Directed by Michael Powell

A damaged U-boat is stranded in a Canadian bay in the early years of World War II. The Fanatical Nazi captain and his crew must reach the neutral United States or be captured. Along the way they meet a variety of characters each with their own views on the war and nationalism. In this film director, Michael Powell and writer Emeric Pressburger show their ideas of why the United States should join the Allied fight against the Nazis.

Originally released in the US as The Invaders

Oscar winner for Best Original Story. Nominated for Best Picture and Best Screenplay

 

One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942) - 102 mins

Starring Eric Portman, Godfrey Tearle, Hugh Willimas, Bernard Miles, Hugh Burden & Emrys Jones

Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

Six British bomber crewmen are obliged to bail out over Holland. To escape detection from the Nazis, the crewmen accept the hospitality of several Hollanders, all dedicated to the freedom-fighting activities of the Underground. The film is constructed along the lines of the earlier Powell-Pressburger film 49th Parallel except that the escapees are British rather than German and their Dutch contacts are willing rather than reluctant co-conspirators.

The austere photography by Ronald Neame is complemented by the to-the-point editing of future director David Lean. Oscar Nominated for Best Writing, Original Screenplay & Best Special Effects

 

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) - 163 mins

Starring James McKecknie, Neville Mapp, Vincent Holman, Anton Walbrook & Deborah Kerr

Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

This much-lauded two and a half hour plus epic which satirizes British traditionalism, stirred up impassioned hostilities and indignations among the Brits when released in 1943. The sweeping story covers several decades. It begins at the tail end of the Boer War, when handsome young British officer Clive Candy, recently back from the battlefront, is infuriated by his discovery that Deutschland papers have played up the British atrocities in South Africa. He grows so irate, in fact, that he travels to Germany to address the problem. Once there, he meets an attractive British educator, Edith Hunter (Deborah Kerr) who spends her days teaching English as a second language to German students. They grow close, but Candy so aggravates the local indigenes that he winds up in a duel with a German officer, Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff (Anton Walbrook). The men wound each other and are sent to the same hospital, where they become friends. Candy - who doesn't yet realize he's fallen in love with Edith senses that Theo and Edith are attracted to one another, and encourages the couple's marital union. Candy subsequently returns to England, then falls for and marries Barbara (again played by Kerr), a nurse who bears a strong resemblance to Edith. She later dies, but Candy meets a third woman during WWII, Johnny (Kerr a third time), assigned to drive him from one locale to another during his campaigns. Meanwhile, Theo - disgusted by Nazi atrocities - absconds to England, where he reencounters his old friend, now a prattering old shuffler rapidly approaching the end of his career and raving continuously about Nazi conduct (or lack thereof) in battle.

 

 

Note all 5 of these films are available separately within the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website.

 

 

Powell & Pressburger their War Films Disc No. 1

The Spy in Black (1939) aka U-Boat 29

Contraband (1940) aka Blackout

 

Powell & Pressburger their War Films Disc No. 2

49th Parallel (1941) aka The Invaders

 

Powell & Pressburger their War Films Disc No. 3

One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942)

 

Powell & Pressburger their War Films Disc No. 4

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)

 

Note: See also above: The Powell, Pressburger & Veidt Combination

 

 

Sanders Jungle Tales

2 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$25 or US$25 or 13

 

Edgar Wallace (1875 - 1932) was a prolific British crime writer, journalist and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and countless articles in newspapers and journals. Over 160 films have been made of his novels, more than any other author. He is most famous today as the co-creator of "King Kong", writing the early screenplay and story for the movie, as well as a short story "King Kong" (1933).

But it was the publication of Sanders Of The River in (1911), about an African representative of Great Britain Foreign Office, that established his fame as a writer. Wallace then wrote several additional stories using his African experiences as background. His attitudes reflect uncritically popular opinions of the time, which could be simply characterized under the title "imperialist ideology". In the stories about Bosambo, a devious tribal king, Mr. Commissioner Sanders loses often the battle of wits, although Bosambo in one scene tells that he has always wanted to be a chief under the British rule. However, he manages to steal Sanders's binoculars. Sanders's method to keep up peace is straightforward: he uses whip and he has a reputation for hanging rebellious chiefs. There were 12 The Sanders of the River books commencing with Sanders of the River (1911) and concluding with Again Sanders (1928).

The stories became the basis for 3 successful films across 30 years - the first co-starred famous baritone Paul "Ol' Man River" Robeson whilst the other two saw top UK actor Richard Todd appearing as Sanders in big budget color outings:

 

Sanders of the River (1935)

Starring Leslie Banks, Paul Robeson, Nina Mae McKinney, Martin Walker & Robert Cochran

Directed by Zoltan Korda

Leslie Banks stars as the title character, a British officer who manages to keep the peace between the African tribes loyal to His Majesty and those loyal to the African king. His right-hand man, one of the tribal leaders, played by Paul Robeson, does all he can to help Banks maintain the peace, but when Banks takes a trip away from the region, all hell breaks loose. Robeson tries his best to stem the tide of revolution against the British in Sanders' absence.

 

Death Drums Along the River (1963)

Starring Richard Todd, Marianne Koch, Vivi Bach, Albert Lieven & Walter Rilla

Directed by Lawrence Huntington

In the first of two films based on Edgar Wallace's Sanders of the River character, Richard Todd plays the British police investigator working in Africa. While counting the clues in a hospital murder case, Sanders is led to hidden diamond mine.

 

Coast of Skeletons (1965)

Starring Richard Todd, Marianne Koch, Dale Robertson, Heinz Drache & Derek Nimmo

Directed by Robert Lynn

Richard Todd is back as Harry Sanders in another African adventure from the pen of Edgar Wallace. This time he comes upon an insidious scheme to steal the valuables from the sunken ships.

 

 All three are excellent quality prints

 

Sanders Jungle Tales Disc No. 1

Sanders of the River (1935)

 

Sanders Jungle Tales Disc No. 2

Death Drums Along the River (1963)

Coast of Skeletons (1965)

 

Note that each of the above titles are also available separately (one movie per DVD) from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of this website

 

 

 

Sinbad His Fantastic Voyages

4 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

The stories about Sinbad were compiled from a variety of sources, including sailors' yarns and nursery stories, making Sinbad a sort of composite character upon which these tales could be projected. These stories are probably Persian in origin, and they are included in some collections of the Arabian Nights.

Sinbad is such a distinctive character that stories about him were sometimes published alone, and he has inspired other books in addition to films and musical performances.

According to the stories, Sinbad took to the sea because he spent all of his inheritance, and he needed to earn money to survive. He went on seven voyages in all before managing to make his money back, and got caught up in a wide assortment of exotic adventures around Africa and Asia.

(One may also see Sinbad's name spelled with an additional D, as Sindbad, reflecting the imperfections inherent in transliterating from Arabic into English)

Four Sinbad films stand out from the rest they had good-sized budget, nice production values and cutting edge (at the time) special effects:

 

Sinbad The Sailor (1947)                             The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad (1958),

The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad (1974)        Sinbad And The Eye Of The Tiger (1977)

 

All 4 are presented here in a very nice 4 DVD set - all perfect color prints

 

Please note that each is also available from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website.

 

Sinbad the Sailor (1947) - 117 mins. Starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, Walter Slezak & Jane Greer. Directed by Richard Wallace

Synopsis: A ship which is saved by Sinbad, has a treasure map to the treasure of Alexander the Great, but it mysteriously disappears from the ship. The beautiful Shireen, the woman who has stolen the heart of Sinbad, the evil Amir who wants the treasure for himself to own the world and the deadly Melik, who will stop at nothing and kill anyone to have the treasure, all provided challenges for Sinbad

There follows a perilous voyage to a mysterious island where the treasure is said to be held.

The great Douglas Fairbanks Jr at his swashbuckling best!

 

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) - 88 mins. Starring Kerwin Mathews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Torin Thatcher & Alec Mango. Directed by Nathan Juran

Synopsis: Whilst Sinbad is on his way to Baghdad, transporting the Princess Parisa, who is to become his bride and secure peace between her kingdom and his, the ship encounters the isle of Colossa. Sinbad and his men are attacked by a gigantic, bestial one-eyed Cyclops, and are saved only when the mysterious magician Sokurah appears and uses a magic lamp to protect Sinbad's men. But in the process of escaping harm, Sokurah loses the lamp to the Cyclops. He desperately wants to retrieve it and tries to persuade Sinbad to put about and return to Colossa - but the captain won't jeopardize the safety of the princess or the success of his mission, and the Caliph of Baghdad feels the same way, even after Sokurah amazes the court by conjuring up a snake-woman. It is only when the princess is shrunk by an evil spell, the breaking of which requires the shell from the egg of the giant Roc - which resides on Colossa - that Sokurah can get his expedition mounted, with Sinbad in command.

The first of special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen's three Sinbad epics.

 

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) - 105 mins. Starring John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro, Tom Baker, Douglas Wilmer & Martin Shaw. Directed by Gordon Hessler

Synopsis: Sinbad and his crew intercept a homunculus carrying a golden tablet. Koura, the creator of the homunculus and practitioner of evil magic, wants the tablet back and pursues Sinbad. Meanwhile Sinbad meets the Vizier who has another part of the interlocking golden map, and they mount a quest across the seas to solve the riddle of the map, accompanied by a slave girl with a mysterious tattoo of an eye on her palm. They encounter strange beasts, tempests, and the dark interference of Koura along the way

The second of special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen's three Sinbad epics, features "Dynamation" highlights such as a six-armed statue, a one-eyed centaur and a flying griffin.

 

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) - 113 mins. Starring Patrick Wayne, Taryn Power, Margaret Whiting, Jane Seymour & Patrick Troughton. Directed by Sam Wanamaker

Synopsis: Famed stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen concocts a collection of fantastic creatures - including a saber-tooth tiger, a chess-playing baboon, a giant walrus and three banshees - for this follow-up to The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. Patrick Wayne stars as Sinbad, who seeks the hand of Princess Farah (Jane Seymour) in marriage but cannot get her brother, Prince Kassim (Damian Thomas), to agree to the match because he has been turned into a baboon by his evil stepmother. In order to receive the blessing of Farah's brother, Sinbad must travel to a far away realm and find a wizard named Melanthius (Patrick Troughton), the only one who can break the evil spell placed upon Kassim.

The third of special-effects wizard Ray Harryhausen's three Sinbad epics.

 

 

 

Sinbad His Fantastic Voyages Disc No. 1

Sinbad the Sailor (1947)

 

Sinbad His Fantastic Voyages Disc No. 2

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

 

Sinbad His Fantastic Voyages Disc No. 3

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974)

 

Sinbad His Fantastic Voyages Disc No. 4

Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

 

 

39 Steps Combination, The

3 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$30 or US$30 or 15

 

The perfect combination of fine writing and suspense-filled plot makes Buchans The Thirty-Nine Steps an engaging novel of intrigue, which was adapted to the screen by Hitchcock in 1935. Written in 1915, we follow protagonist Richard Hannay through England and the lowlands of Scotland as he eludes spies and keeps Europe from war. Said to be one of Hitch's best efforts, it was inevitable that remakes would follow. In 1959 Kenneth Moore took on the role for a big-budget color excursion, whilst Robert Powell played Hannay in a 1978 effort (costarring a typically malevolent David Warner). All three films are notable for their adherence to Buchan's story - and all three appear to have been right for the times in which they were filmed - a great story done justice on 3 occasions over 40 years - ripe for another remake ?

 

Note: The "Hannay" TV series (1988-89): thirteen 50 minute color episodes across 2 seasons - the full run! - is available from the TV Series section of this website

 

Note further that The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), along with The Lady Vanishes (1979) & The Riddle of the Sands (1979) are available in a 3 DVD set titled British Espionage from within this section of the website (see above)

 

Also worth a look : The "British Espionage" Radio Shows (comprising dramatized radio versions of The Riddle of the Sands, The 39 Steps, The Lady Vanishes & Rogue Male) - check out the Old Time Radio section of this website. These shows have been digitally restored & come on MP3 CDs which work in your DVD player. The shows are free - with conditions. Check out the Old Time Radio section for further details

 

The 39 Steps (1935)

Starring Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll. Lucie Mannheim & Peggy Ashcroft

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

 

The 39 Steps (1959)

Starring Kenneth Moore, Taina Elg, Brenda De Banzie & Barry Jones

Directed by Ralph Thomas.

 

The 39 Steps (1978)

Starring Robert Powell, David Warner, Eric Porter & John Mills

Directed by Don Sharp.

 

The 39 Steps Disc No. 1

The 39 Steps (1935)

 

The 39 Steps Disc No. 2

The 39 Steps (1959)

 

The 39 Steps Disc No. 3

The Thirty Nine Steps (1978)

 

 

 

Tom The Falcon Conway now a very English PI

Special 4 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$30 or US$30 or 15

 

After filming 1953s Tarzan and the She Devil (with Lex Barker), Tom Conway who had achieved world-wide fame in The Falcon mid 40's movie series, had travelled to Britain where he was to play a Private Investigator in four UK productions. First up was Park Plaza 605 (1953) (aka Norman Conquest), followed by Blood Orange (1953) (aka Three Stops to Murder). In 1955 he created the character of suave private detective, Tom 'Duke' Martin for two British productions in which he was essentially playing The Falcon again: Barbados Quest (aka Murder on Approval) & Breakaway.

The production company (Tempean Films) had hopes of more 'Duke' Martin movies and even a TV series with Conway in the lead but it never came about - a pity as the character essayed by Tom Conway is always interesting and at times quite compelling in a "suave sort-of way"

All 4 are also available here in this nice specially priced boxed set.

 

Please note that that all 4 of the films are available individually from the INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website. The Falcon Movie Series is available in the Movie Series section of this website

 

BTW: Whilst in London and between Blood Orange (1953) and Park Plaza 605 (1955), Conway played the role of Sir Kay in 20th Century Foxs Henry Hathaway directed Sir Valiant (1954) which was filmed at various castles in England and Scotland - this title is also available from this INDIVIDUAL MOVIE TITLES section of the website

 

 

Park Plaza 605 (1953) (aka Norman Conquest) - 75 mins

Starring Tom Conway, Eva Bartok, Joy Shelton, Sid James & Richard Wattis

Directed by Bernard Knowles

Suave PI, Norman Conquest, intercepts a secret message and meets a beautiful but mysterious blonde Nadina Rodin in Room 605 of the Park Plaza Hotel in London. When Conquest wakes up next to a dead body, he becomes the police's number one suspect and the blonde is nowhere to be seen. Conquest enlists the aid of Pixie Everard (Joy Shelton) in attempting to solve the crime that seems to also involve a cache of stolen diamonds and a gang of communist spies.

 

Blood Orange (1953) (aka Three Steps to Murder) - 76 mins

Starring Tom Conway, Mila Parly, Naomi Chance, Eric Pohlmann, Andrew Osborn & Richard Wattis

Directed by Terence Fisher

Tom Conway (Tom Conway) stars as a former FBI agent, living in contented retirement in London. Conway's quietude is interrupted when gorgeous model Delphi Lawrence who has information for him, is murdered. Now acting as a private investigator, Conway learns that the girl's death was tied in with a jewel theft. The film's title refers to the most valuable of the stolen gems.

 

Barbados Quest (1955) (aka Murder on Approval) - 70 mins

Starring Tom Conway, Delphi Lawrence, Brian Worth, Michael Balfour, Campbell Cotts & John Horsley

Directed by Bernard Knowles

J. D. Everleigh, a wealthy American, purchases a rare stamp in London from Geoffrey Blake, who says he represents Robert Coburn, a stamp agent. Everleigh begins to suspect the stamp is a counterfeit and hires special investigator, Tom Martin to investigate. Martin enlists the aid of reformed crook, Barney Wilson (Michael Balfour) and learns that the real stamp is still in the hands of Lady Hawksley but she refuses to show it to him. Martin gets friendly with Lady Hawksley's secretary, Jean Larson, and learns that Blake is a crooked nephew of Lady Hawksley. Murder also rears its ugly head as Martin finds clues that seem to indicate that everybody he encounters is involved in one way or another with stamp counterfeiting.

Director Bernard Knowles had previously combined with star Tom Conway in Park Plaza 605 (1953)

 

Breakaway (1956) - 72 mins

Starring Tom Conway, Michael Balfour, Honor Blackman, Brian Worth & Bruce Seton

Directed by Henry Cass

When Johnny Matlock whisks away a cold war secret from under the noses of Berlin's top agents, his every move is shadowed as he returns to England. He is summarily set upon and knocked unconscious by enemy agents and his girlfriend is kidnapped. But her handbag is discovered at the scene of the crime by aristocratic PI, Duke Martin (Tom Conway). Duke discovers the secret formula that the agents are searching for and then proceeds to play a deadly game of double bluff as he schemes to effect the girl's safe return

 

 

Tom The Falcon Conway now a very English PI Disc No. 1

Park Plaza 605 (1953) (aka Norman Conquest)  

 

Tom The Falcon Conway now a very English PI Disc No. 2

Blood Orange (1953) (aka Three Steps to Murder)

 

Tom The Falcon Conway now a very English PI Disc No. 3

Barbados Quest (1955) (aka Murder on Approval)

 

Tom The Falcon Conway now a very English PI Disc No. 4

Breakaway (1956)

 

 

Val Lewton Horror Combination, The

2 DVD Boxed Set price : AU$25 or US$25 or 13

 

In 1942, Val Lewton was named head of the horror unit at RKO studios. RKO was suffering financial difficulties at the time, and decided to follow the example of Universal and start a unit that would make horror B-movies that were so inexpensive that they were almost sure to make a profit. They would choose a title through marketing tests, then Lewton was to make a movie to go with that title. They wanted shorter films (under 75 minutes) and with a very small budget, to be shown as one half of a double-bill. Because of the (relatively) tiny budgets, the studio allowed him a fairly free hand, preferring to spend their effort monitoring larger investments. Despite the fact that his only screen credit was as "producer," Lewton didn't fit the non-creative, "guy-with-the-checkbook" stereotype often applied to producers. He was definitely an artistic force behind his movies who could have claimed diverse credits on his productions, but he was afraid it would look like a producer using his power to get more credit than he deserved.

RKO was doubtlessly surprised at how literary and intelligent his movies were. In general, Lewton concentrated on atmosphere and suggestion rather than just showing the "monster", to get the viewer to conjure up their own mental terrors.

 

I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

Starring Francis Dee, Tom Conway, James Ellison & Edith Barrett

Directed by Jacques Tourneur

Betsy, a young Canadian nurse comes to the West Indies to care for Jessica, the wife of Pat, a plantation manager. Jessica seems to be suffering from a kind of mental paralysis as a result of fever. When she falls in love with Paul, Betsy determines to cure Jessica even if she needs to use a voodoo ceremony, to give Paul what she thinks he wants.

 

The Leopard Man (1943)

Starring Dennis O'Keefe, Margo, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell & James Bell

Directed by Jacques Tourneur

Kiki Walker, a nightclub performer in New Mexico, at the encouragement of her manager, takes a leashed leopard into the club as a publicity gimmick. But her rival, angered by the attempt to upstage, scares the animal and it bolts. In the days that follow, people are mauled and the countryside is combed for the loose creature. But Kiki and her manager begin to wonder if maybe the leopard is not responsible for the killings.

 

The Seventh Victim (1943)

Starring Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, Kim Hunter, Evelyn Brent & Hugh Beaumont

Directed by Mark Robson

Mary Gibson, a naive orphan, goes to Manhattan to find her missing sister Jacqueline. Her investigation leads her to Jacqueline's secret husband, and also to a strange cult of Diabolists who are also hunting Jacqueline - an unsettling and genuinely eerie Film Noir.

 

The Ghost Ship (1943)

Starring Richard Dix, Russell Wade, Edith Barrett, Ben Bard & Edmund Glover

Directed by Mark Robson

Tom Merriam signs on the ship Altair as third officer under Captain Stone. At first things look good, Stone sees Merriam as a younger version of himself and Merriam sees Stone as the first adult to ever treat him as a friend. But after a couple strange deaths of crew members, Merriam begins to think Stone is a psychopathic madman obsessed with authority. He tries to tell others, but no one believes him.

 

 

The Val Lewton Combination Disc No. 1

I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

The Leopard Man (1943)

 

The Val Lewton Combination Disc No. 2

The Seventh Victim (1943)

The Ghost Ship (1943)

 

 

Also available:

4 DVD Set comprising:

      A Val Lewton Horror Combination

      The Cat People Combination

      Boris Karloff / Val Lewton Combination

 

            AU$35 or US$35 or 18

 

(See details of Boris Karloff / Val Lewton Combination & The Cat People Combination above)

 

 

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