British Comedies of the 1930s Volume 6: The Black Hand Gang (1930), Old Spanish Customers (1932) DVD5

The ebullient comedy films of the 1930s brought escape and laughter to millions of British cinemagoers, enabling veteran stars of the music-hall and theatre to reach out to a wider audience making household names of performers like Leslie Fuller, Hal Gordon, Bobby Howes, Ernest Lotinga and Gene Gerrard.

Although comedy would prove to be the decade's most successful film genre, many of these classic early talkies have remained unseen since their original release.

The Black Hand Gang (1930)
Wee Georgie Wood stars with his long-term stage partner, music-hall artiste Dolly Harmer, in this very early British talkie comedy. The diminutive comic plays the leader of a gang of street urchins who have made their own "hit list" of criminals to capture. Before they do that, though, they have a party to attend...

Old Spanish Customers (1932)
Directed by Lupino Lane (The Love Parade) and featuring the ever-popular pairing of Leslie Fuller (Boys Will Be Girls) and Hal Gordon (The Amazing Adventure), this riotous comedy charts the misadventures of Bill Smithers – a henpecked husband who goes on holiday to Spain but is forced to take the bull by the horns when he's mistaken for a famous toreador!
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Shoah and 4 Films After Shoah by Claude Lanzmann: Shoah (1985), A Visitor from the Living (1999), Sobibor, Oct. 14, 1943, 4 p.m. (2001), The Karski Report (2010), The Last of the Unjust (2013) 4 x Blu-Ray and 6 x DVD9 Eureka – Masters of Cinema

To write a review of a film such as Shoah seems an impossible task: how to sum up one of the most powerful discourses on film in such a way as to make people realise that this is a documentary of immense consequence, a documentary that is not easy to watch but important to watch, a documentary that not only records the facts but bears witness. We are commanded "Never forget"; this film helps us to fulfil that mandate, reverberating with the viewer long after the movie has ended. Yes, Holocaust films are plentiful, both fictional and non-, with titles such as The Last Days, Schindler's List and Life Is Beautiful entering the mainstream. But this is not a film about the Holocaust per se; this is a film about people. It's a meandering, nine-and-a-half-hour film that never shows graphic pictures or delves into the political aspects of what happened in Europe in the 1930s and 40s but talks with survivors, with SS men, with those who witnessed the extermination of 6 million Jews.

The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Claude Lanzmann's landmark documentary about the Holocaust, Shoah, alongside the four films he made through 2013 on the subject.

Director: Claude Lanzmann
Country: France, UK
Genre: Documentary, History, War
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A Matter of Life and Death / Stairway to Heaven (1946) 2 x DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

David Niven (charming as ever) is Peter, a World War II fighter-pilot forced to abandon his burning aircraft sans parachute. Before bailing he recites poetry over the radio to June (Kim Hunter), a pretty American girl positioned in the R.A.F. control tower. Washed ashore, Peter awakes the next morning. Thinking he's in Heaven, he soon realises his mistake and encounters a girl cycling home; it's June, and naturally it's love at first sight. Only there's been a mix-up. Peter's time was up, he was meant to have been taken to Heaven but he got lost in the fog. A "Conductor" (a deceased French aristocrat, played with devilish glee by Marius Goring) is sent down to fetch him but Peter refuses to go; after all, he argues, his heart and soul now belong to June. A battle commences between this world and the next which can only be decided in one place: the divine court. Will love conquer? And is it really happening or is it all just in Peter's mind?

BD50, 2xDVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC | 01:44:27 | 44.5 Gb + 12.7 Gb
Language: English
Subtitles: English

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Cast: David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote, Kathleen Byron
Country: UK
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, War
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Bowling for Columbine (2002) 2 x DVD9 and Blu-Ray Criterion Collection

At 6:00 a.m. on April 20, 1999, two high school outcasts, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, went bowling in their peaceful hometown of Littleton, Colorado. Only hours later, they entered into Columbine High School and opened fire on their classmates and teachers, creating a deadly bloodbath that ended with their own suicides. This tragic event shook the nation, and everyone started pointing figures and putting the blame on everything from the two teens' parents, to the continuous taunting of their peers, to their easy access to firearms, to violent movies, music, and video games. The simple fact is no one knows why Klebold and Harris did what they did, nor are we ever going to know for sure.

The intrepid filmmaker Michael Moore set out to investigate the long, often volatile love affair between Americans and their firearms, uncovering the pervasive culture of fear that keeps the nation locked and loaded.

Director: Michael Moore
Cast: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Salvador Allende, George Bush, Bill Clinton
Country: USA, Canada, Germany
Genre: Documentary, Crime, Drama
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Children of the Stones (1977) 2 x DVD The Complete Series

The 1977 ITV series Children of the Stones is a brilliant mixture of elements that, sadly, would never find its way onto mainstream television today. It's intelligent, fantastical, scientific, sinister and eminently engrossing. Even though it was initially intended for kids, there's a lot for adults to enjoy as well. In fact, if you're a fan of Dr. Who, and who isn't, you may appreciate the similarities the 1978 "The Stones of Blood" episode has with Children of the Stones.

Especially for a show aimed at kids, there's an intriguing mix of real science and mystical belief as astrophysicist Adam Brake (Gareth Thomas) comes to the quaint village of Milbury with his gifted son, Matthew (Peter Demin) in order to study the ring of megalithic stones that frames the countryside. Before they can even settle in, it becomes clear that things are not what they seem...

DVD9 + DVD5 | PAL 4:3 | 175 mins | 11.1 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: none
Genre: Drama, Family, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Director: Peter Graham Scott
Cast: Gareth Thomas, Veronica Strong, Peter Demin
Country: UK
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5 Films Culte De Frederic Lansac: Echanges de partenaires / A Change of Partners (1976), La derniere nuit / Shocking! (1976), Extases extra-conjugales / Blue Ecstasy (1976), La grande baise / The Big Fuck (1977), Le sexe qui parle 2 / Pussy Talk 2 (1978) 2 x DVD9

Claude Mulot aka Frederic Lansac (1942–1986) was a French screenwriter and film director who mainly specialized in adult films but also made various attempts in other genres like horror films (The Blood Rose), comedies (Le jour se leve et les conneries commencent) or thrillers (Le Couteau sous la gorge). He accidentally drowned at the early age of 44 while his screenplay On se calme et on boit frais a Saint-Tropez was being shot by Max Pecas in Saint-Tropez in 1986.

2 x DVD9 | PAL 4:3 | 7.59 Gb + 7.57 Gb + 3% rec
Language: Francais, English
Subtitles: none
Genre: Adult, Romance, Comedy

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Vitaphone Cavalcade of Musical Comedy Shorts (1926-1939) 6 x DVD5

In 1925 Warner Brothers bought the system, dubbed Vitaphone, and started to experiment with adding synchronized sound to their films. Though the sound-on-disc system would be abandoned within a few years, Vitaphone was part of the Warner Brothers studio for decades and was responsible for their short subject releases. At first they mainly released vaudeville acts and musical numbers. It was easy to get a group or act to come in and record a bit for some quick cash, but Vitaphone shorts started evolving quickly and soon become mini-movies.

This set collects a wide variety of Vitaphone shorts, from vaudevillians at the height of their popularity, to big bands, to singers, to dramas and comedies there's something for everyone here. There are a lot of surprising films here, with just about every one offering something special.

6 x DVD5 | NTSC 4:3 | 614 minutes | 24.1 Gb + 3% rec
Language: English
Subtitles: none
Genre: Comedy, Musical

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