Classic British Films On Ntsc Dvd (region 1)

[Jim S.]

U.S. and Canadian fans of classic British cinema can discuss what is available and what is coming to region 1 DVD.

[Jim S.]

Through Netflix, I just got the 1978 Quatermass TV shows with John Mills. I haven't watched it yet. I understand the 1950's Quatermass TV serials are being released in the UK this year. Maybe they will appear on our shores as well sometime soon. I understand they are quite good and am looking forward to them.



With the help of Netflix I am also working my way through the British World War II collection that arrived here this year. In my queue I have reserved the new set of Ealing comedies (Whiskey Galore, Titfield Thunderbolt, Passport to Pimlico, The Maggie and a Run for Your Money). Between those two sets are 10 movies that to my knowledge have never been available here in DVD or VHS!



In June, I am looking forward to a couple of new Doctor Who restorations: Ghost Light and the Leisure Hive.

[The_Late_Peter_Cook]

Originally posted by Jim S.@Apr 29 2005, 07:45 PM

. In my queue I have reserved the new set of Ealing comedies (Whiskey Galore, Titfield Thunderbolt, Passport to Pimlico, The Maggie and a Run for Your Money). Between those two sets are 10 movies that to my knowledge have never been available here in DVD or VHS!

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I don't think that A RUN FOR YOUR MONEY has ever been available over here either! Though it has cropped up on tv over the years. I was very disappointed that it was only available as part of a box set as I already owned the other four movies.



Over the last few years I have imported quite a large number of British movies/v shows back into Britian, either on VHS (the Peter Cook-Dudley Moore BEDAZZLED, THE INNOCENTS) or on DVD (NIGHT OF THE DEMON, TUNES OF GLORY, THE HORSE'S MOUTH) which have been seldom (if ever) commercially released over here.



I think my best ever investment was in multi-region DVD and video players! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img]

[A Pemberton]

I agree, the canadian and american markets are indeed well served when it comes to British films.Play USA currently have a 6 disc Peter Sellers collection with Two way stretch,ths smallest show on earth,Im alright jack,hoffman,heavens above and carlton browne of the F.O,an multi region dvd player is a must now ,with Heavens Above one of my favourites this disc collection will go in my wanted list.

[Jim S.]

Funny, I think our selection of British cinema is rather skimpy. You really have to search for lesser known films and pick them up when you see them because they may only last in stores for a couple months and then are off the shelves for good. Then only available through Amazon and I suspect many will go out of print eventually. I would love to see many of the movies mentioned on this board.



Criterion does a great job of making British films available but they are rather pricey. I can get them from our Library and run off a copy which is nice.



Last year a music company named Shanachie came out with their British Collection on DVD. I was able to get The Man Who Changed his Mind, Across the Bridge, Wrong Arm of the Law and Crackerjack. Wrong Arm of the Law is either Ealing Studios or an Ealing knock off. Not top quality but funny enough for my recomendation. Crackerjack in a nice little "B" picture.



The U.S. is well served with the great BBC productions. I have nearly complete collections of Holmes, Poirot, Campion, Marple, Morse, The Saint, Danger Man and others.



The Lee/Cushing Hammer films are all readily available. I gather Hammer has a lot of movies in the vault that haven't been released to DVD even in Region 2.





Cartlon of the F.O. is in my Netflix queue!

Just wondering, does britain have a mail order rental company such as Netflix? For $17.95 a month one gets "unlimited" rentals from a selection of 44,000 DVD titles which includes all the TV series currently on DVD, documentaries etc. Postage both ways is prepaid. A great way to fill out your collection.



Also do you get Alpha Video product in the UK? They have 100s of budget priced DVDs. About 2.6GBP each in your money. Many obscure "Poverty Row" features from the US and a few British movies as well. Some Edgar Wallace movies, 6 volumes of the Robin Hood TV show, etc. Picure and sound quality is consistantly awful.

[The_Late_Peter_Cook]

Originally posted by Jim S.@Apr 30 2005, 09:18 PM

Funny, I think our selection of British cinema is rather skimpy. You really have to search for lesser known films and pick them up when you see them because they may only last in stores for a couple months and then are off the shelves for good.

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I think it depends on what aspects of British cinema your interested in. For example, when I got my multi-region player in 2002, the only way I could purchase DVD copies of Hammer's DRACULA, THE MUMMY, FRANKENSTEIN CREATED WOMAN and the non-Hammer related PEEPING TOM, CITY OF THE DEAD and NIGHT OF THE DEMON was to import it, using either PlayUSA or Amazon.com. Even today the likes of SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN or THE TOMB OF LIGIA are only available on R1.



Of course in the years since then a few have resurfaced over here, but quite often in inferior editions. For example SCARS OF DRACULA isn't a particulary good film, but worth having for the Christopher Lee-Roy Ward Baker commentary, which is missing on the R2 version.



As a fan, I find I still need to turn to the American market for certain titles (even buying North American video versions of the likes of THE INNOCENTS, which does not seem even to have had a video release over here) such as the Kerr-Cushing-Mills version of THE END OF THE AFFAIR or the Michael Redgrave- Joseph Losey TIME WITHOUT PITY (the last couple of months I've imported not only those two, but the likes of NIGHT AND THE CITY, THE RIVER , THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE and GIRL WITH GREEN EYES which you can't get here for love or money).



I agree that there are probably more British movies available over here, but I personally find I purchase titles equally from both regions (I've even gone to the extent of importing from Austriala now and again!) And of course, a lot of American titles are also better served on R1 (for example the R1 SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS is a far better package than the new R2 release and I actually got it a couple of pounds cheaper too!)

[The_Late_Peter_Cook]

Originally posted by Jim S.@Apr 30 2005, 09:18 PM

Just wondering, does britain have a mail order rental company such as Netflix? For $17.95 a month one gets "unlimited" rentals from a selection of 44,000 DVD titles which includes all the TV series currently on DVD, documentaries etc. Postage both ways is prepaid. A great way to fill out your collection.



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I think we have a few who do that, but personally I avoid doing that (or buying second hand DVD's or videos) as I don't want to risk damaging my players (as they are the main source of my entertainment and I'd be lost with out having something decent to watch!)

[Hackett]

Also do you get Alpha Video product in the UK? They have 100s of budget priced DVDs. About 2.6GBP each in your money. Many obscure "Poverty Row" features from the US and a few British movies as well. Some Edgar Wallace movies, 6 volumes of the Robin Hood TV show, etc. Picure and sound quality is consistantly awful.

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No. But we do get Video and DVD products from Aphra.

[Rob Compton]

Re Alpha: their products can be obtained through the US company www.oldies.com (incriminating name!). I haven't actually tried them, but they do ship internationally. Also some are obtainable through Amazon.



rgds

Rob [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/happy.gif[/img]

[Steve Crook]

Originally posted by HACKETT+May 2 2005, 11:49 AM-->

(HACKETT @ May 2 2005, 11:49 AM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-Jim S.

@Apr 30 2005, 10:18 PM



Also do you get Alpha Video product in the UK? They have 100s of budget priced DVDs. About 2.6GBP each in your money. Many obscure "Poverty Row" features from the US and a few British movies as well. Some Edgar Wallace movies, 6 volumes of the Robin Hood TV show, etc. Picure and sound quality is consistantly awful.

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No. But we do get Video and DVD products from Aphra.

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Very good [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/thumbsup.gif[/img]



Steve