13 Rue Madeleine DVD

Advantages: vintage Hitchcock, suspenseful, enigmatic
Disadvantages: some scenes seem dated, though I don't mind

...Vertigo (1958) stars James Stewart as John Ferguson, known as Scottie to his acquaintances, a retired San Francisco detective. Scottie retired from the force after a rooftop scene in which a colleague of his died, the trauma and guilt leaving Scottie with a bad case of vertigo. A man of independent means, he spends his days doing next to nothing but chatting away the hours with his best mate and former date, Midge. Scottie is brought out of his half-life by old friend Gavin Estler, who asks Scottie to trail his suicidal wife Madeleine, played by Kim Novak. Madeleine has been acting extremely strangely for some time, and often disappears for hours on end. Estler believes her behaviour to have a supernatural base, and is afraid she will kill herself. Scottie agrees to follow Madeleine, partly because Estler is an old friend... Read review

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Advantages: classic childrens tv
Disadvantages: none

...This is without a doubt my absolute favourite childrens tv character ever! I have fond memories of watching Bagpuss as a kid - especially because at beginning of each episode the narrator says "and Emily loved him" (mainly because I used to think it was about me!!) The Complete Bagpuss available on DVD contains all 13 episodes ever made (not nearly enough in my opinion) The episodes are: Ship in a bottle (my personal fav) The owls of Athens The frog Princess The ballet shoe The Hamish The Wise Man The elephant The Mouse Mill The Giant The old Man's beard The Fiddle Flying Uncle Feedle The DVD is fantastic as it captures all of the lovely characters, including Professor Yaffle the Woodpecker, Madeleine the Rag Doll, the Magical Mouse Organ Mice and Gabriel the toad for the first time ever. It is hard to believe that this was made way... Read review

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Advantages: Good scary fun. Vincent Price!
Disadvantages: Not available in high street shops

..., even at the end. There is no vast crumbling of the house and the final scene is of some curtains burning. Even for 1960, the effects are lame. The director also made "The Pit and the Pendulum" later and that was a slightly better effort. The other problem I have with it, is that while it's atmospheric in places, at times, it seems to be in glorious Technicolor! But I suppose it serves to show how pale and sickly Vincent Price's character is. Really, Price looks nothing like himself. I would recommend borrow this before buying or at least, get it on the cheap somehow. The video is available from Amazon second hand though and the DVD is £13.... Read review

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