British label Network will add a number of new titles to its Blu-ray catalog in early 2020. Amongst them are: Basil Dearden's The League of Gentlemen (1960) and The Square Ring (1953), Ralph Thomas' The Love Ban (1973), and Michael Winner's Play It Cool (1962).
The Iron Maiden
Synopsis: Aviation designer Jack Hopkins is notably absent from his creation's latest test flight. He is, in fact, many miles away indulging his greatest passion: an old showman's traction engine called The Iron Maiden! Jack has his heart set on entering the prestigious Annual Steam Rally at Woburn Abbey, but hadn't reckoned on some fierce and devious opposition!
Michael Craig is the engineering genius whose hobby spells trouble for boss Cecil Parker, with Alan Hale Jr. as the tycoon who eventually comes to share his passion in this stellar comedy from Carry On's Gerald Thomas. The Iron Maiden is presented here as a brand-new High Definition restoration from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW RESTORATION
UK and foreign trailer material
Alternative U.S. Titles (mute)
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 27.
I Live in Grosvenor Square (US Title: A Yank in London)
Synopsis: One of the most successful British films ever made, this emotionally moving wartime romance was a popular hit on both sides of the Atlantic – where its idyllic imagery did much to influence the public perception of England's green and pleasant land. Starring Anna Neagle, Rex Harrison and Dean Jagger, I Live in Grosvenor Square is presented here as a brand-new High Definition remaster from original film elements in its as-exhibited aspect ratio.
Billeted in a ducal mansion in Grosvenor Square, Staff Sgt. John Patterson – late of Flagstaff, Arizona – finds himself very much a fish out of water. Sharing digs with the aforementioned Duke has its ups as well as downs, but when John meets the Duke's lovely granddaughter he's hard-pushed to know which is which!
Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW RESTORATION
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 27.
The League of Gentlemen
Synopsis: A rogues gallery of the cream of British acting star in Basil Dearden's much-loved crime caper The League of Gentlemen. Jack Hawkins gives a memorable performance as an embittered former army officer, alongside Roger Livesey, Nigel Patrick, Richard Attenborough and Bryan Forbes - who also wrote the BAFTA-nominated screenplay. The film is presented here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
After being 'retired' from the army, an ex-Colonel nurtures a bitter resentment at his country's ingratitude. Luckily for him he's not the only one and he assembles a small group of bankrupt or embittered ex-army officers in a bid to stage an ingenious bank robbery.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW RESTORATION
Audio commentary with Bryan Forbes
The South Bank Show: Richard Attenborough
Theatrical trailer
Image galley
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 13.
Play It Cool
Synopsis: Featuring the big-screen debut of Liverpudlian pop idol Billy Fury – 'Britain's Elvis Presley' – this charming, pre-Beatles-era musical feature was among Michael Winner's earliest films. A 1962 box-office hit spawning a Top-Ten single and EP, Play It Cool features cameos from some of the most recognisable stars of the Sixties, with Bobby Vee, Helen Shapiro and Shane Fenton (aka Alvin Stardust) among the artistes encountered by Fury and his fictional band. The film is presented here as a brand-new High Definition restoration from original film elements.
Billy Universe and the Satellites, a happy-go-lucky rhythm and twist group, are en route to Brussels to compete in a song contest; on the same flight is Ann Bryant, who's being sent abroad by her wealthy father to try to curb her infatuation with disreputable popster Larry Granger. When fog forces the plane to return to the airport, Billy and friends persuade Ann to join them in the West End, where they will search for Larry. What follows is a whirlwind musical tour of London's nightclubs!
Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW RESTORATION
Theatrical Trailer
Image galley
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 20.
Seance on a Wet Afternoon
Synopsis: Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough give outstanding performances in this classy British thriller, with Attenborough winning a BAFTA for Best British Actor and Stanley scoring an Oscar nomination. Written and directed by Bryan Forbes - who also won a Writers Guild award, an Edgar and a BAFTA nomination - Seance on a Wet Afternoon is presented here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Myra Savage, a highly-strung spiritual medium, convinces her weak-willed husband to fake a child kidnapping so she can offer her services to the parents when all seems lost. Though horrified at the prospect, he reluctantly goes along with the plan - but becomes more convinced than ever that Myra is losing her grip on reality...
Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW RESTORATION
Audio commentary with Bryan Forbes
Memories on a Wet Afternoon – an interview with Bryan Forbes
Theatrical trailer
Image galley
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
The Duke Wore Jeans
Synopsis: British pop icon Tommy Steele stars in a wonderfully exuberant musical comedy as a Cockney who wins the heart of a princess when he poses as an aristocrat! Featuring songs written by Lionel Bart, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) star Mike Pratt and Steele himself, The Duke Wore Jeans' soundtrack album scored a number one hit in 1958. The film is presented here as a High Definition transfer from the original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
When the son of an impoverished aristocrat is manoeuvred into a potential arranged marriage under guise of selling access to their famous prize bull, he finds salvation in a chance meeting with a chirpy Cockney lad who happens to be his exact likeness...
Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW RESTORATION
Theatrical trailer
Image galley
PDF material
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 20.
The Square Ring
Synopsis: This hard-hitting portmanteau drama from Michael Relph and Basil Dearden depicts the emotion, excitement and broad humour of one night's boxing at a downmarket London stadium. Starring Jack Warner as the dressing-room attendant who links the stories together – and co-starring Robert Beatty, Maxwell Reed, Joan Collins and Kay Kendall – Ealing Studios' The Square Ring is presented here as a High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Danny Felton, Adam's Stadium's dressing-room "handler" has seen many fighters come and ago, rise and fall – and tonight's line-up is no exception. Up-and-comers, would-be contenders, "comeback kids", champions-in-waiting – out into the ring they go, and back to his dressing-room they return – bruised, batter, chastened or triumphant.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW RESTORATION
Image galley
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 27.
Cottage To Let
Synopsis: Leslie Banks stars alongside Alastair Sim, John Mills and a very young George Cole in this thrilling wartime espionage drama from award-winning director Anthony Asquith. Adapted from Geoffrey Kerr's smash West End play (which also starred Banks, Sim and Cole), Cottage to Let is presented here as a brand-new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
Working in secret for the Air Ministry at his remote country house laboratory, John Barrington is key to the ongoing war effort against the Nazis. Barrington's household, however, has been infiltrated by enemy agents - who plan to take him back to Berlin as prisoner.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
BRAND NEW RESTORATION
Image galley
Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature
STREET DATE: JANUARY 27.
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