Quick, Diana

Brideshead Revisited (25th Anniversary Collector's Edition)

Studio: Acorn Media Release Date: 10/10/2006 Run time: 659 minutes Rating: Nr

Fill a bowl with alpine strawberries, break out the Château Lafite (1899, of course), and bask in this benchmark 1981 British miniseries based on Evelyn Waugh's classic novel. Adapted for the screen by John Mortimer (Rumpole of the Bailey), this impeccable, nearly 11-hour production mesmerized American viewers during the course of its PBS run in 1982. In his breakthrough role, Jeremy Irons stars as Charles Ryder, a disillusioned Army captain who is moved to reflect on his "languid days" in the "enchanted castle" that was Brideshead, home of the aristocratic Marchmain family, whose acquaintance Charles made in the company of an Oxford classmate, the charming wild child Sebastian. Anthony Andrews costars as the doomed Sebastian, whose beauty is "arresting" and "whose eccentricities and behavior seemed to know no bounds." The "entitled and enchanted" Sebastian takes Charles under his wing ("Charles, what a lot you have to learn"), but vows early on that he is "not going to let [Charles] get mixed up with [his] family." But mixed up Charles gets. He becomes a friend and confidante, not to mention a lover, to Sebastian's sister Julia (Diana Quick). Meanwhile, the self-destructive Sebastian's life spirals out of control. Brideshead Revisited boasts a distinguished ensemble, including Laurence Olivier in his Emmy Award-winning role as the exiled Lord Marchmain, Claire Bloom as Lady Marchmain, and the magnificent John Gielgud as Charles's estranged father. Grand locations and a haunting musical score make this a memorable revisit of an irretrievable bygone era. For those who scheduled their weeks around the original Monday-night broadcasts or those visiting Brideshead for the first time, this boxed set release will be, as Charles rhapsodizes at one point while strolling the castle grounds, "very near to heaven." --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Brideshead Revisited (click for larger image)

Beyond Brideshead Revisited

The Novel

The Original Score (Soundtrack to the Movie)

The Movie in Theaters Now

Saving Grace

Imagine a Cheech and Chong pothead comedy, only instead of two scruffy lowlifes, the movie is about an aimless Scottish gardener and a middle-aged British widow with a green thumb. Grace (Brenda Blethyn of Secrets and Lies and Little Voice) has just discovered that her recently deceased husband has left her with an enormous debt when her gardener Matthew (Craig Ferguson, The Big Tease) asks her to help him tend to his small, personal-use marijuana crop. Grace soon realizes that they can turn her green house into a hydroponics laboratory and turn out a profitable crop--if only they can keep the local constables at bay and then find a dealer to actually sell the stuff. Saving Grace has well-developed characters, intelligent dialogue, a charming and capable cast, and clean, clear direction. But at heart it's still a marijuana comedy, with most of its funniest moments coming from the silly, stoned behavior of elderly ladies and other stuffy Brits. Nothing wrong with that, and Blethyn and Ferguson give the film a strong anchor. The ending goes a little over-the-top, but most of the movie is well-grounded in genuine human behavior. A subplot about Matthew's girlfriend's pregnancy is treated with respect and integrity. Sweet, silly, and sincere. --Bret Fetzer

When her husband jumped out of a plane without a parachute grace trevethen knew life would get tough but she had no idea just how tough. Left with a manor on the cornish coast a mountain of debt and dozens of creditors on her heels shes about to lose everything. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/10/2005 Starring: Brenda Blethyn Craig Ferguson Run time: 93 minutes Rating: R Director: Nigel Cole

Poirot - The New Mysteries Collection (Death on the Nile / Sad Cypress / The Hollow / Five Little Pigs)

Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 02/22/2005

Portly, mincing, gracious, and unrelenting, Hercule Poirot rivals Sherlock Holmes as the greatest sleuth of the English murder mystery genre--a form as strict as a sonnet that's part logic puzzle, part magician's misdirection, of which Agatha Christie remains the undisputed queen. The New Mysteries Collection pulls together TV-movie adaptations of four Poirot novels, each a compendium of eccentric characters, intricate plotting, sleek storytelling, and sprinklings of wit (such as a dotty matriarch's declaration, "Murder is a very awkward thing--it upsets the servants so").

Death on the Nile sets an entire boatful of suspicious character afloat in Egypt, where Poirot's vacation is disrupted by a splash in the night, falling rock, missing pearls, three murders, and a boozing gargoyle named Salome Otterbourne. The plot is one of Christie's more preposterous, yet also one of her most popular. Sad Cypress opens with a murderess on trial, then flashes back to young lovers, a wealthy but stricken dowager, a spiteful anonymous letter, and a pretty young blonde. A wonderfully creepy dream haunts Poirot as he struggles to redeem the wrongly convicted killer. In The Hollow, Poirot's vacation in the English countryside gets disrupted by a philandering doctor apparently shot by his adoring wife, his blood trickling into a swimming pool clotted with leaves. But the best of the lot is Five Little Pigs, a story told almost entirely in flashback, as a young woman hires Poirot to clear her mother, who was convicted of murdering her father. Not only are the clues deftly planted and the solution cunningly worked out, it's one of the rare mysteries that inspires a genuine sorrow for its characters.

Scattered throughout are a wealth of recognizable faces, though not many recognizable names--among the better known are James Fox (The Remains of the Day), Edward Fox (The Day of the Jackal), Paul McGann (Withnail and I), Sarah Miles (White Mischief), Lysette Anthony (Husbands and Wives), and David Soul (Starsky & Hutch!). But it's David Suchet as Poirot who keeps everything in motion, his beady eyes glittering under heavy lids, constantly tending to one of the most ridiculous mustaches in literature. Poirot has been played by such stars as Peter Ustinov and Albert Finney, but Suchet has made the fastidious Belgian detective his own. He's simply magnifique. --Bret Fetzer

The Duellists

First film by director Ridley Scott barely got released in this country in the mid-1970s, but stands up, despite the rather noticeable accents of its stars. That's because Brooklynite Harvey Keitel and Westerner Keith Carradine are playing a pair of officers in Napoleon's army--oops! The plot centers on Carradine insulting Keitel and Keitel demanding vengeance. But every time they get into the middle of one of their duels, war breaks out or something else happens to interrupt. Keitel, however, is too pig-headed to let it drop and dogs Carradine over the course of 20 years. Strong performances otherwise and amazing cinematography, as well as a cast that includes Albert Finney, Edward Fox, and Tom Conti. --Marshall Fine

French hussars duel each other during the napoleonic wars. From a joseph conrad short story. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 08/19/2003 Starring: Keith Carradine Albert Finney Run time: 95 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Ridley Scott

Dandelion Dead

England 1921. The serenity of a small country town is about to be shattered by a shockiing revelation about one of its leading citizens. A family will be ruined. A private matter will become a case of great public interest. Life seems good for Major Herbert Armstrong. he is a respected solicitor with a country estate the love of his three children and a dvout pride in both his life and his garden. But every landscape has its challenges - and so does every life. In Herbert's otherwise pristine garden it's a bad case of dandelions. In his life the problems are twofold. Firstly thre's his wife. Katharine has become bad-termpered and domineering not in the least afraid to shame Herbert in public. Then there's the business. A series of unfortuante financial arrangements and the arrival in town of Oswald Martin a young ambitious rival has turned Henry's good fortune upside down. The solution to the dandelion problem is straightforward: small delicately placed servings of Arsenic will see an end to them. But what is Herbert to do about his nagging wife and the upstart Oswald.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 026359184420

The Big Sleep

Robert Mitchum is back as the legendary private investigator Philip Marlowe. This adaptation of Raymond Chandler's classic hard-boiled detective mystery features an all-star cast.Marlowe is hired by a retired general (James Stewart) to find out who has been blackmailing the old man's wild daughters (Sarah Miles and Candy Clark). At the same time he has to try to locate the missing husband of one of the daughters. Marlowe's search leads through a dangerous thicket of murder and suicide in the seedy criminal underworld straight to the headquarters of the notorious nightclub owner and gangland boss Eddie Mars (Oliver Reed). Expert storyteller Raymond Chandler spins a masterful web of deceit creating an intricate spellbinding mystery full of bare-knuckle action and heart-pounding suspense.System Requirements: Running Time 102 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 012236125358 Manufacturer No: 12535

The Leading Man

A brash young American comes to London to star in a major new production-and becomes the central character in a mystery fueled by intrigue and passion. Interactive Menus, Filmographies, Production Credits, Scene Access

The Big Sleep

Robert Mitchum is back as the legendary private investigator, Philip Marlowe. This adaptation of Raymond Chandler's classic hard-boiled detective mystery features an all-star cast, including: Richard Boone, Joan Collins, Sir John Mills, James Stewart, and Oliver Reed. Marlowe is hired by a retired general (James Stewart) to find out who has been blackmailing the old man's wild daughters (Sarah Miles and Candy Clark). At the same time he has to try to locate the missing husband of one of the daughters. Marlowe's search leads through a dangerous thicket of murder and suicide in the seedy criminal underworld straight to the head quarters of the notorious nightclub owner and gangland boss, Eddie Mars (Oliver Reed). Expert story teller Raymond Chandler spins a masterful web of deceit, creating an intricate, spellbinding mystery full of bare-knuckle action and heart-pounding suspense.

Heat of the Sun 2 - Hide in Plain Sight

Former Scotland Yard detective Albert Tyburn (Trevor Eve) finds himself in colonial Nairobi, the setting of Out of Africa, as head of a new criminal investigation unit. Imagine an athletic Hercule Poirot in the heat of the Kenyan sun. Superintendent Tyburn's unrelentingly independent policing style is remarkably effective against the murder, arson, blackmail, slave-trading, and other crimes that await him. The most serious impediments to Tyburn's investigations come from pompous Police Commissioner Ronald Burkitt (Michael Byrne) and the elitist, expatriate community's secret passions and vices. The outstanding cast includes Tyburn's talented crime-solving assistants, Constable Jonah Karinde (Freddie Annobil-Dodoo) and Assistant Superintendent James Valentine (Julian Rhind-Tutt), and his romantic interest, Emma Fitzgerald (Susannah Harker). The attractive, strong-willed biplane pilot Fitzgerald bears remarkable similarity to the real-life Beryl Markham, who recounted her experiences in West with the Night. The three episodes, "Private Lives," "Hide in Plain Sight," and "The Sport of Kings," are well written and action-packed. Mobil Masterpiece Theatre's Heat of the Sun will delight fans of fine detective work. --Tara Chace

Superintendent Albert Tyburn's (Trevor Eve, The Politician's Wife) investigation of the death of a young African girl at local Christian mission pits him against a killer-and a powerful witch doctor who puts a curse on him. As Tyburn tries to shake off the frightening side effects of tribal wrath, he follows a trail of faked evidence, blackmail, and secret identities, certain it is leading him to something evil-but of what origin? Tyburn's flirtation with spirited aviatrix Emma Fitzgerald (Susannah Harker, Pride and Prejudice) takes off.

Special DVD features include: link to the Mystery! Web site; scene selections; and closed captions.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.

Heat of the Sun 1 - Private Lives

Former Scotland Yard detective Albert Tyburn (Trevor Eve) finds himself in colonial Nairobi, the setting of Out of Africa, as head of a new criminal investigation unit. Imagine an athletic Hercule Poirot in the heat of the Kenyan sun. Superintendent Tyburn's unrelentingly independent policing style is remarkably effective against the murder, arson, blackmail, slave-trading, and other crimes that await him. The most serious impediments to Tyburn's investigations come from pompous Police Commissioner Ronald Burkitt (Michael Byrne) and the elitist, expatriate community's secret passions and vices. The outstanding cast includes Tyburn's talented crime-solving assistants, Constable Jonah Karinde (Freddie Annobil-Dodoo) and Assistant Superintendent James Valentine (Julian Rhind-Tutt), and his romantic interest, Emma Fitzgerald (Susannah Harker). The attractive, strong-willed biplane pilot Fitzgerald bears remarkable similarity to the real-life Beryl Markham, who recounted her experiences in West with the Night. The three episodes, "Private Lives," "Hide in Plain Sight," and "The Sport of Kings," are well written and action-packed. Mobil Masterpiece Theatre's Heat of the Sun will delight fans of fine detective work. --Tara Chace

When Superintendent Albert Tyburn (Trevor Eve, The Politician's Wife) is thrust into an investigation of the disappearance of millionairess Lady Daphne Ellesmere, he penetrates the closed world of Nairobi's "Happy Valley" set to question Daphne's aviatrix sister, Emma Fitzgerald (Susannah Harker, Pride and Prejudice); Daphne's estranged husband, Lord Harry; and her suspected lover, Viscount Guy "Boy" Cameron. Tyburn soon becomes tangled in a web of murder, arson, and a secret love affair, which holds a surprising fate for his sidekick, Clive Lanyard. Meanwhile, Tyburn's own secret is revealed in a romantic moment with Emma.

Special DVD features include: link to the Mystery! Web site; scene selections; and closed captions.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.