CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Macbeth

starring: Jon Finch, Francesca Annis, Martin Shaw, Terence Bayler, John Stride
directed by: Roman Polanski

Release Date May 07, 2002
Will's play is pretty good. Polanski's film, not so much. Yep, the Scottish play was meant to be a dark one, and Polanski gives us lots of glowering skies, but I just didn't feel much depth of character in this rendering. I'd love to see what Zefferelli would do with Macbeth... or the Cohen brothers....

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Death on the Nile

starring: Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow
directed by: John Guillermin

Release Date February 27, 2001
Death on the Nile (1978)

A good mix of American and European actors.
Older audiences will recognize the cast of the day.

Mia Farrow
Betty Davis
Angela Lansbury (Murder She Wrote)--> who brings some humor to the story
Olivia Hussey (Romeo and Juliet 1968)
Lois Chiles (James Bond Moonraker)
Peter Ustinov
David Niven

David Suchet, the current Poirot of 2004, is definitely the better Poirot.

Maybe with a little CGI technology and reinacting, Suchet can be included with the 1978 film.
Far fetched? It worked with an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space 9. The cast went back in time to the days of Kirk and Spock in "Trouble with Tribbles" episode. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Agatha Christie Mysteries (Death on the Nile / Evil Under the Sun / The Mirror Crack'd)

starring: Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Simon MacCorkindale, James Mason, Maggie Smith
directed by: Guy Hamilton, John Guillermin

Release Date April 29, 2003
I bought this set because I wanted to collect every Peter Ustinov portrayal of Hercule Poirot. Two of the movies are fabulous. As for "The Mirror Cracked", Ustinov is not in the cast and I could do without the plot as well. Nonethe less, I'm glad I purchased the set.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

BBC Shakespeare Histories (Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, Henry V, Richard II, Richard III) DVD Giftbox

starring: Derek Jacobi, John Gielgud, Jon Finch, Wendy Hiller, Charles Gray
directed by: David Giles (III)

Release Date August 03, 2004
This set of plays is well worth the price. Top notch actors make Shakespeare accessible and ever more fascinating in this set. Particularly nice is the continuity of characters/actors in the second tetralogy (Richard II, Henry IV part one, Henry IV part two, and Henry V). The actor playing Falstaff is fantastic! He alone is worth buying the set. I will say, however, that the BBC shied away from producing Henry V in its entirety, and therefore -- as usual with the production of this play -- made the play more patriotic than Shakespeare's in-tact play. If that were not the norm, it might be worth taking away half a star from the overall review.

Overall, well worth watching! And also a gem to show students!

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Frenzy

starring: Jon Finch, Barry Foster, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Anna Massey, Alec McCowen
directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Release Date June 20, 2006
Alfred Hitchcock - The Legend Begins (20 Movie Classics)
I saw FRENZY from my Dad's collection. Hitchcock has that rare ability to evoke the most devastating fear with a minimum of on-screen blood and violence. My Dad used to say of Hitchcock films, " It's not what you see, but what you don't see that is so frightening." Hitchcock delights in turning macabre scenes into black comedy. Such is the scene in which a corpse's stiff leg refuses to be neatly packed, intact with its body, into a sack of potatoes. Hitchcock is taking something attractive and making it repugnant by its content and, in a sinister way, rather funny. Hitchcock thoroughly enjoys having a go at the audience by solving the complicated plot in the last ten seconds.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile

starring: Harry Andrews, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow

Release Date April 08, 2008
This is a good adaptation from the book. After watching "Evil under the Sun" (1982) and "Appointment with Death" (1988) you naturally think of Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot. The whole movie is packed with great actors, yet even thought you recognize them they do not distract from the characters that they play.

I thought that it was a nice touch when the kids along the shore mooned Mrs. Van Schuyler (Bette Davis) as kids would do everywhere.
Simon (Simon MacCorkindale) and his new bride Linnet (Lois Chiles) are being perused by Jacqueline De Bellefort (Mia Farrow) the girl he jilted. Once onboard a boat going down the Nile bodies are dropping like flies. Everyone is a suspect. Everybody could have done it as we see the proof acted out. ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Frenzy

starring: Michael Bates, John Boxer (II), Bernard Cribbins, Jon Finch, Barry Foster

Release Date March 06, 2001
Alfred Hitchcock - The Legend Begins (20 Movie Classics)
I saw FRENZY from my Dad's collection. Hitchcock has that rare ability to evoke the most devastating fear with a minimum of on-screen blood and violence. My Dad used to say of Hitchcock films, " It's not what you see, but what you don't see that is so frightening." Hitchcock delights in turning macabre scenes into black comedy. Such is the scene in which a corpse's stiff leg refuses to be neatly packed, intact with its body, into a sack of potatoes. Hitchcock is taking something attractive and making it repugnant by its content and, in a sinister way, rather funny. Hitchcock thoroughly enjoys having a go at the audience by solving the complicated plot in the last ten seconds.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

The Horror of Frankenstein

starring: Ralph Bates, Kate O'Mara, Veronica Carlson, Dennis Price, Jon Finch
directed by: Jimmy Sangster

Release Date August 07, 2001
The character of Victor Frankenstein in "Horror of Frankenstein" is the youngest, handsomest and evilest one I've seen. Victor will do anything to get what he wants, even kill his own father and best friend. This one has a reprobate mind; he is very dispassionate about the plights of others. He displays a flippant, contrite attitude whenever a "friend" is harmed. When questioned by authority, his sarcastic remarks are often humorous. Victor kills anyone who might reveal his secret hobby of bringing the dead back to life.

The acting in this gothic horror film from Hammer Production is quite good. The stellar cast consists of Hammer regulars including Ralph Bates ("Lust for a Vampire"), Kate O'Mara ("The Vampire Lovers"), Veronica Carlson ("Frankenstein ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Death on the Nile

starring: Harry Andrews, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow

Release Date January 27, 2009
The character of Victor Frankenstein in "Horror of Frankenstein" is the youngest, handsomest and evilest one I've seen. Victor will do anything to get what he wants, even kill his own father and best friend. This one has a reprobate mind; he is very dispassionate about the plights of others. He displays a flippant, contrite attitude whenever a "friend" is harmed. When questioned by authority, his sarcastic remarks are often humorous. Victor kills anyone who might reveal his secret hobby of bringing the dead back to life.

The acting in this gothic horror film from Hammer Production is quite good. The stellar cast consists of Hammer regulars including Ralph Bates ("Lust for a Vampire"), Kate O'Mara ("The Vampire Lovers"), Veronica Carlson ("Frankenstein ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Diagnosis Murder

starring: Tony Beckley, Jon Finch, Judy Geeson, Dilys Hamlett, Colin Jeavons
directed by: Sidney Hayers

Release Date June 12, 2007
The character of Victor Frankenstein in "Horror of Frankenstein" is the youngest, handsomest and evilest one I've seen. Victor will do anything to get what he wants, even kill his own father and best friend. This one has a reprobate mind; he is very dispassionate about the plights of others. He displays a flippant, contrite attitude whenever a "friend" is harmed. When questioned by authority, his sarcastic remarks are often humorous. Victor kills anyone who might reveal his secret hobby of bringing the dead back to life.

The acting in this gothic horror film from Hammer Production is quite good. The stellar cast consists of Hammer regulars including Ralph Bates ("Lust for a Vampire"), Kate O'Mara ("The Vampire Lovers"), Veronica Carlson ("Frankenstein ... Read More: