Universal Double Bills - The Memorable TV DVD Review

WHAT’S IT ABOUT THEN?

This month universal released a whole raft of classic British movie double bills, mostly dating from the 1950s and early 1960s, ranging from classic drama to full on farce, it’s great to see these movies getting a release, they are all pretty well known and feature some of the greats of the British acting profession, the double bills include:-

Alastair Sim Double Feature – The Green Man and School For Scoundrels:- The Green Man features Sim as a mild mannered assassin whose latest hit is interrupted by vacuum cleaner salesman George Cole. School for Slowdrels is a real joy as sim runs the college of one-upmanship where Ian Carmichael is planning to get revenge on the dastardly Terry–Thomas who has stolen his girlfriend, the lovely Janette Scott.

Tony Hancock Double Feature:-

The Rebel was to be Hancock’s big screen debut, written by his regular TV writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, the story sees Hancock, playing his famous TV character pretty much, as a would be artist who pretends that the paintings by his more talented friend are his:

The Punch and Judy Man is a much sadder affair as Hancock decided that he could do better himself and co-wrote this melancholic black and white tale of a punch and judy man working in a small coastal resort and going through marriage problems.

David Lean Double Feature :-

The Sound Barrier sees Ralph Richardson as Sir John Ridgefield, an oil tycoon determined to invent a machine capable of breaking the sound barrier. This strong drama also features Denholm Elliot, Ann Todd and Nigel Patrick.

Hobson’s Choice is a rollicking comedy starring Charles Laughton, set in nineteenth century Salford, Laughton is a shopkeeper who is determined to rule his three daughters with an rod of iron and stop them getting married to avoid paying out on dowry’s: this is a lovely comedy and both movies are vastly different from Leans later epics but just as engrossing and enjoyable.

St Trinians Double Feature :-

Both Pure Hell of St. Trinians and The Great Trinians Train Robbery are interchangeable, the wildcat girls of St Trinians manage in the first to burn their school down and have the sixth formers kidnapped by Arabian slave traders whilst in the second the naughty school girls get mixed up with train robbers who have stashed their loot on school grounds. George Cole headlines in his proto Arthur Daley character Flash Harry but support also comes from such stalwarts as Dora Bryan, Frankie Howard and the legendary Joyce Grenfell

Children’s Classic Double Features :-

Two wonderful period children’s / family movies round off these double bills, The Railway Children directed by Lionel Jeffries is a heartwarming tale of three Victorian children ( Jenny Agutter , Sally Thomsett and Garry F. Warren ) determined to discover the real facts about their father’s strange disappearance whilst getting involved with the goings on at the village railway; Swallows And Amazons is the famous five like classic by Arthur Ransome in which four children have an adventure whilst on holiday with their mother (Virginia Mckenna) in the lake district in 1929.

These nicely priced double bills are a great way to add to your British movie collection.