Brief Encounter

This looks good.


SCREEN ICONS:
RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH COLLECTION

Out To Own On DVD on 14th July 2008

Featuring:
BRIGHTON ROCK
THE SHIP THAT DIED OF SHAME – UK DVD Premiere
THE ANGRY SILENCE
THE MAN UPSTAIRS – UK DVD Premiere
DUNKIRK

Richard Attenborough needs no introduction as the elder statesman of British cinema. Beginning his acting career in the classic war film In Which We Serve and continuing for the next 5 decades, Attenborough has had a distinguished acting career that is celebrated, not before time, in this box-set. Featuring a range of his best roles, from the iconic Carol Reed / Graham Greene collaboration Brighton Rock, a BAFTA nominated turn in The Angry Silence to his everyman in stirring wartime classic Dunkirk, this collection salutes an actor whose onscreen talents deserve to be lauded as richly as his considerable achievements in directing.

Tech specs:
Extras: None
Cert: PG
Total Feature running time: 485 mins approx
B&W PAL
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: various
Mono
English Language
Cat No: OPTD1210
RRP: £34.99


BRIGHTON ROCK (1947)

This classic Graham Greene story stars Richard Attenborough in perhaps his most iconic onscreen role as Pinkie: a small time hoodlum running a protection racket at a Brighton racecourse. Following the murder of a visiting journalist, Pinkie becomes involved with Rose (Carol Marsh) a café waitress and potentially dangerous witness. Marrying her seems to ensure her silence, but events escalate and a trail of killings and double-crossings eventually lead to Pinky’s undoing and a thrilling and memorable climax. Also starring Hermoine Baddeley and William Hartnell, the film was produced and directed by the Boulting Brothers.

Extras: none

Cert: PG
Running time: 89 mins approx
Aspect ratio: 4x3
B&W PAL
Region 2
Mono
English Language


THE SHIP THAT DIED OF SHAME (1955) – UK DVD Premiere

Attenborough plays George Hoskins, one of a trio of ex-Navy men who profit from the post-War poor economic climate in Britain by operating a low key smuggling ring bringing in innocuous items such as wine. When Hoskins falls in with the corrupt Major Fordyce however, he insists on stepping up their activities to include arms and counterfeit currency, a move that awakens the morals in other of the ship’s crew who decide to put a stop to the escalating criminal activity… Directed by Ealing stalwart Basil Dearden and also starring Bill Owen, Virginia McKenna and George Baker,

Extras: none

Cert: PG
Feature running time: 88 mins approx
B&W PAL
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Mono
English Language

THE ANGRY SILENCE (1960)

Co-written by Bryan Forbes (The L-Shaped Room, The Raging Moon) The Angry Silence is a thought-provoking study of a man who stands up for what he believes in in direct opposition to the wishes and actions of his co-workers. When an unofficial strike is declared at a factory Tom Curtis (Attenborough), struggling to make ends meet and with another baby on the way, refuses to stop work. Despite thinly veiled threats of violence, Curtis refuses to give in, and after the first strike ends he is comprehensively outcast by all his co-workers. Soon a second strike looms and Curtis’ determination and moral stance is again put to the test, but are the stakes higher this time? Co-starring Pier Angeli and Bernard Lee, the film’s screenplay was nominated for an Oscar and won a BAFTA, as well as other prizes at the Berlin Film Festival that year.

Extras: none

Cert: PG
Total Feature running time: 91 mins approx
B&W PAL
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Mono
English Language

THE MAN UPSTAIRS (1958) – UK DVD Premiere

In a intriguing premise, Attenborough stars as the eponymous hero of the title, who wakes in the middle of the night, stricken by pain and unexplained mental anguish. He reaches out to his neighbours for help, but lapses in and out of reason and aggressive behaviour, so the police and mental health officers are called. A standoff ensues, in which the Police Inspector (Bernard Lee) leans heavily toward a violent solution whilst the neighbours, headed by young mother Mrs Barnes (Dorothy Alison) and the Man’s girlfriend (Virginia Maskell) strive for a peaceful approach. A British version of the French classic Le Jour Se Leve.

Extras: none

Cert: PG
Total Feature running time: 85 mins approx
B&W
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Mono
English Language


DUNKIRK (1958)

Attenborough plays Holden, a cowardly garage owner doing nicely out of the war until he is called upon by his country, as the owner of a small boat, to help in the sudden evacuation of British troops from the beaches of Normandy. Alongside a cast of British luminaries such as John Mills and Bernard Lee, Attenborough shines as a man who eventually stands up to be counted and to typify the British fighting spirit that became the most celebrated aspect of the Dunkirk operation.

Extras: none

Cert: PG
Feature running time: 134 mins approx
B&W PAL
Region 2
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Mono
English Language

faginsgirl

Thanks for that!

xx

We`re changin` lodggggggggings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

moonfleet

He also played a british general in the great indian director,Satyajit Ray's "Les Joueurs d'Echecs" (...I don't know the english tittle, only the bengali one, sorry ), about two indian/muslim friends countinuing to play chess while british army invade the country.

"Very difficult !" "Craazy!"

penfold

A straight translation from the French...The Chess Players. not to be confused with the french silent masterpiece, The Chess Player, set in 18thC Poland and St Petersburg...

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

moonfleet

Jean Dreville's one ?....I don't know about it, but, looking in my cine-dictionary I saw there's Conrad Veidt in, playing already an automaton-creator, as later on, but with magic helping, in "Thief of Bagdad".....
M.

"Very difficult !" "Craazy!"

faginsgirl

Seance on a wet afternoon was on this afternoon too.

xx

We`re changin` lodggggggggings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dpgmel

I've never seen "The Man Upstairs", sounds intriguing has anyone got any memories of this ?

Brief Encounter

Anyone bought this?

penfold

No, Raymond Bernard's version from '27 -

Amazon.com: The Chess Player: Pierre Blanchar,...

Dreville's was the remake. Sounds interesting though....

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

MrT

Yes, and although I haven't been able to watch all the titles yet it looks ok. One packaging improvement on this set is that each disc is housed in a separate slim line case rather than the "open out" folder containing all discs that Optimum has used previously. "The ship that died of shame" looks like a good clear transfer and is the one film in the set to retain the opening British Board of Film Censors intro.

Mike (MrT)