Britmovie » New DVDs

Her Private Hell (1967) from BFI Flipside

Britmovie — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:35:59 +0000

Her Private Hell
A film by Norman J Warren

This cautionary tale of an innocent girl abroad caught up in London�s sleazy world of modelling was Britain’s first narrative sex film. Previously unreleased, it finally comes to DVD and Blu-ray for the first time on 20 February 2012 in a Dual Format Edition on the BFI�s celebrated Flipside label. The new, director-approved High Definition transfer is accompanied by a wealth of rare and fascinating extra features and a comprehensive booklet.

Starring the Italian actress Lucia Modugno (Il generale Della Rovere, Danger: Diabolik), and directed by Norman J Warren, Her Private Hell put Britain on the map in the realm of home-grown adult features. The storyline features beautiful but na�ve Marisa who arrives from the continent for a job as a fashion model, but soon discovers she�s being groomed for a different purpose.

By the late 1960s, British producers had begun to realise the commercial potential of sex and to test the limits of what the censors would permit on screen. Producer Bachoo Sen, a distributor who imported art-house titles to the UK, set up Piccadilly Pictures with cinema-owner Richard Schulman and financed Her Private Hell. It premiered at London�s Cameo-Royal cinema on 4 January 1968 and was so popular that it ran for over a year.

The film was the debut feature for young director Norman J Warren (Satan’s Slave, Prey and Terror). Looking back at it now, 45 years on, he says: �Why it got so much publicity and why it was so successful was that the sex situation in this country was so na�ve and innocent and you were so restricted.�

Her Private Hell features a screenplay by Glynn Christian, best known as BBC Breakfast Time�s resident chef in the 1980s, and a distinctive jazz soundtrack by renowned musician and composer John Scott.

Among the extensive extras are new cast and crew interviews, original screen tests (including one with a young Udo Kier), two early shorts by Norman J Warren and the rarely-seen The Anatomy of a Pin-up (1971), a lively documentary about �Penthouse Pets� and nude modelling in Britain. All extras are presented in High Definition.

Special features
Presented in both High Definition and Standard Definition
Original Her Private Hell trailer
Alternative US sequences (1967, 3 mins) uncensored footage
Screen tests (4 mins, mute): including footage of Udo Kier
Inside Her Private Hell (2011, 15 mins): cast and crew interviews
Incident (Norman J Warren, 1959/2007, 13 mins): Warren�s enigmatic first film
Fragment (Norman J Warren, 1966, 11 mins): exquisite short about a woman�s unhappiness after a failed love affair
The Anatomy of a Pin-up (David Cohen, 1971, 31 mins) modish documentary about Britain�s nude modelling industry
Illustrated 34-page booklet with new essays and contributions from Norman J Warren, Josephine Botting, David Cohen, Lynn Barber; original promotional materials and full film credits.

blog comments powered by Disqus

A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979)

Britmovie — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:01:17 +0000

Pinky is released from prison and has decided to go straight from now on, but accidentally getting himself a job as a maintenance man at a large bank, gives him a lot of undue attention from Ivan the Terrible, the local hoodlum. By using Pinky, Ivan hopes to rob the bank and Pinky starts to like to the idea of going back to his old ways!

blog comments powered by Disqus

Quest For Love (1971)

Britmovie — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:42:51 +0000

After a scientific experiment goes horribly wrong during a demonstration, a scientist finds himself trapped in an alternate reality that bears some similarities to our own, but has some striking differences. In this other reality the Second World War had never occurred, mankind had not yet travelled into Space and Mt. Everest had not yet been conquered, just to name a few things.

In this other reality he is no longer a scientist but rather a well known author. He also finds that he is married to a beautiful woman who he instantly falls in love with but who his alternate self never cared for. He has some difficulty convincing anyone that he is not actually who they think he is. With the help of a physics professor who believes his story, he finally manages to convince his ‘wife’ that he is not the man she knew before. After a personal tragedy in this alternate world, he finds himself back in his own world and desperately trying to locate the woman he fell in love with in the other world. Little does she know, however, that her life depends on him finding her.

Based on the story Random Quest by John Wyndham.

blog comments powered by Disqus

The Story of Shirley Yorke (1950)

Britmovie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:23:19 +0000

The first ever release of this classic British title on DVD.

This 1948 Nettlefold production was Directed by Maclean Rogers and stars nurse Shirley Yorke, (Dinah Sheridan) who must assist her boss Dr Napier, (John Robinson) the only person able of effecting a new treatment on the ailing wife of a British Lord.

The woman dies and the finger is very strongly pointed at Sister Shirley, the main reason being because she and the Lord were former lovers. Later she is tried, and much damning evidence is presented against her. However, fortunately, the good doctor proves that neither he nor she are guilty of the crime. His evidence results in the capture of the real killer. Also stars Derek Farr and a good supporting cast including Charles Hawtrey.

blog comments powered by Disqus

The High Bright Sun (1964)

Britmovie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:10:45 +0000

Set in Cyprus in 1957, against the background of Cyprus’ determined struggle for independence from British rule, Dirk Bogarde stars as a British Intelligence Officer whose sense of duty imperils the life of the woman he loves. Betty Box produces and Ralph Thomas directs in their ninth collaboration with Bogarde.

blog comments powered by Disqus

The Shakedown (1959)

Britmovie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:55:22 +0000

The first ever release of this classic British title on DVD.

Terence Morgan stars in this 1959 British production. Directed and co written by John Lemont which was distributed by Rank.

Morgan plays “Augie” a crook just released from prison and intent on getting his rackets back from “Gollar” (Harry H Corbett). Augie sets up, down and out photographer (Donald Pleasence) in a studio with blackmail in mind.

Well shot, this gritty crime flic is a must for crime buffs with a good supporting cast, Bill Owen, Robert Beatty and Hazel Court, whose first role in 1944 was a tipsy champagne drinker and her last role, in 1981 was a champagne drinker!

blog comments powered by Disqus

Hunted (1952)

Britmovie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:35:57 +0000

One of Bogarde’s finest films! A child stumbles across an edgy man in an abandoned warehouse. Fearing that the boy has witnessed the murder he has just committed, he grabs him and they go on the run. From this taut beginning, the film develops into a study of the pair on the run and of the demons that pursue them.

Bogarde, in one of his earlier starring roles, bristles with abrupt violence and fiery magnetism as the everyday man who has stepped outside the law, and his gradual redemption and growing fondness for young Robbie (played by Jon Whitely) is believable and touching.

Directed by Charles Crichton, the film produces a tense, forbidding atmosphere with imagery and occasionally echoing that of Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Twice Round the Daffodils (1962)

Britmovie — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:35:08 +0000

From the team behind the Carry On films Twice Around The Daffodils focuses on the nurses and patients of a British TB ward.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Turn The Key Softly (1953)

Britmovie — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:42:23 +0000

Turn the Key Softly is a 1953 British drama dealing with the first 24 hours of freedom for three women, of widely differing backgrounds, who are released on probation on the same morning.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Woman In A Dressing Gown (1957)

Britmovie — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:19:06 +0000

A middle aged women who is content with her marriage is shocked when she finds out her husband has fallen in love with a beautiful younger woman and plans to leave their marriage to continue his passionate romance with her.