DVD

Average customer rating:

A word of caution
I know Christy and she's no Christy . . . .
Christy
Christy - A new Biggining
Ok...

Christy - A New Beginning
Starring: Lauren Lee Smith , Stewart Finlay-McLennan , James Waterston , Bruce McKinnon , and Andy Stahl
Director: Chuck Bowman
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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Christy - A Change of Seasons
Christy - Return to Cutter Gap
Christy - The Complete Series
Christy
The Inheritance

ASIN: B00005LQ0W
Release Date: 2001-08-28

Amazon.com

Christy (Lauren Lee Smith) and the rest of the Cutter Gap community are just beginning to recover from a typhoid epidemic when a storm hits the rural alcove. In A New Beginning, the second of a two-part PAX production that began with A Change of Seasons, she gets stranded in the forest with Dr. MacNeill (Stewart Finlay-McLennan), and her fiancé David (James Waterston) risks life and limb to rescue her. Despite a loss of property, the town makes it through the storm relatively intact, but many have been changed by the experience. Christy, for instance, has come to see Dr. MacNeill in a new light, thus questioning her engagement to David. Will she marry the preacher or break off the engagement? Marriage is on the minds of several characters in this engaging recollection by the elderly Christy about her experiences as a young schoolteacher in the Smoky Mountains. Age 8 and older. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

A word of caution.......2007-01-31

This is a beautiful story. And well worth watching and owning. But if you already have Choices of the Heart, don't buy A New Beginning because they are identical. Apparently a studio trick to get you to buy dupes.

I know Christy and she's no Christy . . . ........2006-06-30

To be blunt, Laura Lee Smith's Christy is petulant and immature. I like Diane Ladd as an actress, but her portrayal of Alice Henderson is bland.

Thumbs up to the men -- Stewart Finaly-McLennan and James Waterson. Also, Dale Dickey did a great job with the role of Opal McHone and I thought Emily Perkins and Olivia Kelly were outstanding as Zady Spencer and Ruby Mae (respectively.

The script could have provided a much better transitions in several place. Most notably, we see the good-by to one beau. It would have been more emotionally satisfying to see her say "YES!" to the other.

While some performances were excellent, the movie must stand on the overall performance of the cast, director and screenwriters. With Christy and Alice being so central to the story, it simply doesn't make it.

We all knew who she would end up with, anyway, didn't we??? Much better to go back and watch the CBS series or better yet, read the book!

Christy.......2006-03-21

Out of the three Christy movies done starring Laurn Lee Smith, this one is the best. It's a good movie. I thought Lauren Lee Smith did a good job. The only problem was she wasn't the Christy we started out with and know and love. Kellie Martin did a great job as Christy. She and Stewart Finlay McLennan had great chemistry. If the series had starred Lauren Lee Smith as Christy from the beginning, the movies would have gone over a lot better, I think. I did not like the woman who played Miss Alice. Yuck. The guy who played the preacher did pretty well. The woman who played Fairlight-- she was okay, but you can't hardly replace main characters. Watching the new movies was almost like watching a totally different story. Since almost none of the orginal actors and actresses (save Stewart Finlay McLennan/ Doctor MacNeil) it was hard to take as an end to Christy. I enjoyed Doctor MacNeil. : ) He is a good actor and did well with Lauren Lee Smith. I do like Lauren Lee Smith, too. She just didn't start out as Christy.
We get to know who Christy chooses to marry in this movie and that's great. She picks the right man. :p Christy also kept her relationship with God in the movies, which I was glad to see. It's a romantic, adventurous movie and it's decent-- it won't burn your eyes or make you blush. Give it a try.

Christy - A new Biggining.......2006-01-25

As far as the three Christy DVD's that you are selling, I think they stink. I lived in Tennessee when they were filming the original series, and this is not the original. Amazon should let customers know that these DVD's are remakes of the original series.

Ok..........2004-07-19

The new "Christy" was ok. But the original cast with Kelly Martin and Tyn Daly will alway be Christy and Miss Alice. I just thought that the girl they got to play Christy was so bland and calm when the Character was actually a little more fiesty. But that wasn't even my main problem with it. My problem was that they had replaced all the character's which is fine, but if your going to do that. Then replace all that characters. Dr.Mcneil is played by that same actor that was in the telvision series. He had chemistry with Kelly Martin. You knew those two. They had no history with him and "NEW CHRISTY". It just didn't seem right to have him played by the same man and everyhting around him different. I might have enjoyed it more if they had gotten a different actor b/c then I wouldn't thought through the whole thing, NO THIS WRONG. We watched the series as him and Kelly battled and domewhat flirted and You were so upset when they left you hanging. But to add new people and then keep him. Just wasn't right...

Average customer rating:

"I am making this statement as an act of willful defiance of military authority."
Good adaptation of Barker's Regeneration
"He wasn't a man. He was a fighting unit...being repaired."
Excellent adaptation
Looking into the minds of the Great War poets.

Behind the Lines
Starring: Jonathan Pryce , James Wilby , Jonny Lee Miller , Stuart Bunce , and Tanya Allen
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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Trench
The Lost Battalion
THE WINTER WAR (Talvisota)
When Trumpets Fade
All Quiet on the Western Front

ASIN: B00008J2PF
Release Date: 2003-04-22

Amazon.com

This extraordinary World War I film concerns themes of heroism, sacrifice, duty, and self-knowledge as profound as any in Saving Private Ryan. The story, taken from Pat Barker's 1991 novel Regeneration and based on true events, is set in a British Army hospital in Craiglockart, Scotland, in 1917. There, a pioneering psychiatrist named Dr. William Rivers (Jonathan Pryce) works with shell-shocked soldiers in a gentle, humane manner that contrasts sharply with the brutality of his colleagues. (The film's most horrifying scene features a mute patient being forced to speak by means of electric shock.)

Among Rivers's patients is a mute, amnesiac officer named Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller), as well as the emotionally depleted poet Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce) and another poet and war hero, Siegfried Sassoon (James Wilby). Unlike the others, Sassoon is not, in fact, suffering from any disorder but is being quietly punished for writing a pamphlet denouncing the war. The army hopes Rivers can find some basis for mental incompetency in Sassoon, but the thoughtful doctor instead attempts to persuade him to add legitimacy to his criticisms of the war by returning to active duty.

Pryce brilliantly captures the cumulative effects of Rivers's responsibility--of fixing men and sending them back to their possible deaths--on the good doctor's nerves. Wilby is also fine as Sassoon, but the film belongs just as much to actors Miller and Bunce, whose characters are different kinds of men struggling to find their balance, one through a revived sense of duty and the other through his writing. Scottish filmmaker Gillies Mackinnon (The Playboys) is at the top of his form, telling a unique story about the invisible wounds of war while shedding light on the meeting of two visionary poets and one visionary physician. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

"I am making this statement as an act of willful defiance of military authority.".......2006-10-28

The film "Behind the Lines", based on the novel "Regeneration" by Pat Barker, is a fictionalized account of real-life events that occurred during WWI. The film begins with a quick scene depicting the protest of WWI poet and highly decorated soldier, Siegfried Sassoon who reads a short statement protesting the war to military officials. Sassoon's act creates a dilemma--he can either be court-martialed (and possibly shot) or declared insane and shipped off to the mental hospital at Craiglockhart in Scotland.

Thanks largely to the intervention of Robert Graves (Dougray Scott), Sassoon is shipped off to Craiglockhart, and Sassoon is angry about the decision. He knows he's perfectly sane, and to be declared insane is to diminish his protest.

The film traces the stories of several soldiers at Craiglockhart--along with their psychiatrist, the soft-spoken Dr. Rivers (Jonathan Pryce). Rivers is even ready to use guilt to persuade Sassoon to return to the front, and it's clear that Rivers' job presents a moral dilemma--as a healer, it's his goal to help restore his patients to mental health, but to do so will guarantee their return to the very situation that created their mental problems in the first place. The convoluted morality of the situation erodes Rivers' confidence in his mission at several points, and it's further complicated when he visits a professional colleague who brags about a swift 100% success rate.

Once at the hospital, Sassoon befriends fellow soldier and poet, Wilfred Owens (Stuart Bunce), and another story thread follows the treatment of mute soldier Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller) whose case illustrates the class division between treatments for enlisted men vs. officers. According to Dr. Rivers, the "lower ranks suffer from mutism" while the officer class exhibit stammers, and Rivers even argues that the dreams of enlisted men are less complicated. This is a statement based on obvious class prejudices, and of course it leads the viewer to conclude why Craiglockhart is stuffed with officers, and also ponder exactly how the lower classes were treated when it came to shell shock.

Naturally, since the film focuses on the horrors of WWI, some of the scenes are extremely graphic. And these scenes are even more horrific since they are in stark contrast to the beauty and tranquility of the Craiglockhart grounds. The sub-plot involving the romance between Prior and a local lass was somewhat distracting, but this was a decent film overall--directed by Gillies MacKinnon--displacedhuman

Good adaptation of Barker's Regeneration.......2006-01-08

I think Pat Barker's World War I trilogy is one of the finest literary works of this century. Thus it was a treat to see a film adaptation of the first of the three novels, Regeneration, in this DVD, "Behind the Lines". There were many solid strenghts to this film.

First, the cinematography and art direction was exceptional. The confined atmosphere of a Scottish mental hospital contrasted against the muddy horror of the front lines and trenches of World War I was exceptional. Scottland in quiet snow is contrasted with France in bloody mud.

Second, the acting is great. Jonathan Pryce did an excellent job of playing a humane psychiatrist that gradually assumes the psychosomatic symptoms of his patients. James Wilby and Jonny Lee Miller pay the other lead roles to perfection. However a surprize performer and performance was the great job Stuart Bunce did portraying poet Wilfred Owen.

Third, the script honored the complexity of Barker's novel. Dr. Rivers must treat shell shocked men so they can return to an insane war. The ethical and psychological issues abound from this situation. Sasoon, played by Wilby, is a hero who responds to the rising insanity of the war. He is a rational man of great courage and compassion. The fact that he is a hero makes his criticisms of the English military leadership even more biting. The contrast of the humane and gentle treatment provided by Rivers with that of one of his colleagues is amazing. A young man is repeatedly shocked with electricity around the tongue and mouth until his mute symptoms are suppressed. A very frightening demonstration of behavior modification at its worst.

My only wish would be that the second novel, "Eye in the Door" and the third novel "Ghost Road" had also been made into films.

"He wasn't a man. He was a fighting unit...being repaired.".......2005-04-10

I'm quite surprised that this incredible war film has remained so obscure since it's U.S. release, although like the previous reviewers I can see how the deceptive title of "Behind the Lines" would mislead people into thinking of daring missions and epic battle sequences rather than an asylum. Even with very few combat scenes, "Behind the Lines" is a devastating portrait of World War I and one of the best depictions of the war I've ever seen.

Jonathan Pryce stars as Dr. William Rivers, an army psychiatrist who must treat and heal shell-shocked soldiers at an asylum in Scotland so he can return them to the slaughter at the front. Although other doctors use brutal electrical shock treatment to "cure" shell-shock victims, Rivers uses patience, kindness, and understanding to treat his patients. But when he meets Siegfried (James Wilby), a decorated war hero who's sent to the asylum for publishing an anti-war pamphlet, he's faced with questioning his own beliefs about the war. As he becomes more and more attached to his troubled patients, Dr. Rivers eventually finds himself suffering from symptoms of shell-shock, and he reaches the point where he's about to break down physically and emotionally.

This gripping film about World War I's devastating impact on the brave men at the front is one that you'll never forget. The music, superb performances, and incredible cinematography combine to make this one of the greatest war films of all time. Highly recommended!

Excellent adaptation.......2005-02-17

Pat Barker's "Regeneration" brought to the screen with such care; it's like a miracle when a great book is duplicated by a screenwriter. The only thing I didn't like about the film [and the words, "didn't like" are really too strong] was Jonny Lee Miller as Prior; and that's strictly personal because he just didn't LOOK like my idea of Prior. I picture Prior as fair; resembling Jude Law possibly. Also, the way Prior is presented here, you really didn't get the hint, as you do in Regeneration, that Prior is "one of those" as his hospital roommate says! But to be fair, THAT was actually developed in the other two books in the trilogy...I suppose I was not distant enough from the books to totally appreciate this film on its own merits, although I do think it's excellent. The opening overhead shot of a field of battle, AFTER a battle, is just astounding.

Why didn't this movie get more attention in America when it was released??!! Jonathan Pryce's performance is definitely Oscar caliber.

Looking into the minds of the Great War poets........2004-10-06

I understand the lament of some reviewers as to this film's name change from _Regeneration_ to _Behind the Lines_. The "lines" to which the title refers are not the battle lines, but the lines of poetry (and prose) of several of the film's key historical figures. (Mostly Owen and Sassoon, but Robert Graves also makes an appearance.) It is actually a very appropriate title if we understand it as investigating the cataclysm through which these authors forged their art.

This is an excellent film for anyone who wants to understand the profound psychological change the Great War imposed upon the men of this generation. It is also a good jumping-off point for a discussion of the War Poets in any history or lit class.

Average customer rating:

Splendid Doctor Finlay series continues...
A series to be watched, and watched again

Doctor Finlay - Volume 2
Starring: Raymond Ross , and Colin McCredie
Manufacturer: Bfs Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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Doctor Finlay - Set 3
Doctor Finlay
'Doctor Finlay - Days of Grace Set (3 DVD Set)
Hamish Macbeth - Series One
Foyle's War - Set 3

ASIN: B00022EEE4
Release Date: 2004-08-24

Customer Reviews:

Splendid Doctor Finlay series continues..........2007-01-03

The Doctor Finlay series was one of my FAVORITE programs to ever run on PBS. Unfortunately, PBS only showed the first two series. (Great Britain had 4 series of this program, I think.) Series 2 continues the stories of these well-drawn characters.

I was delighted to see this series available on Amazon and have purchased Series 1-3. (Note to Amazon: please make series 4 available!)

This series would appeal to fans of "All Creatures Great and Small" and to those who have enjoyed other programs about life in post-WWII Britain. The actors are superb and do a great job making you truly care about the characters and their lives. David Rintoul, who was a fantastic Mr. Darcy, and whom I still slightly prefer to the Colin Firth version of Darcy, is engaging as Dr. Finlay. His character and those played by Ian Bannen, Annette Crosbie, and Jason Flemyng are all multi-dimensional and each is endearing in his/her own way. The secondary characters are well drawn too.

The stories are very true to life with twists, turns, misunderstandings, and not always a happy ending. I love the characters in this series, the "ambience" of the time period, the scenery, and the insights into what life was truly like at that point in time. It was also interesting to me to learn more about the changes in the healthcare system in Britain and how they impacted the Brits -though deep interest in medicine is not necessary to enjoy this series.

I hope others will take a chance on a wonderful entertaining evocative series! I will be starting series 3 later this afternoon! ENJOY!

A series to be watched, and watched again.......2005-12-21

I loved the first series of Doctor Finlay - but I loved Volume 2 more. Like Series One, it is brilliantly scripted, acted, and filmed in the fictional Scottish town of Tannochbrae, and its post-World War II setting is impeccably recreated (although at a time when rationing was still in effect in Britain, there seemed to be a rather large supply of meat in Part 4 of Series One). But what I found particularly captivating about Series Two is that the episodes center on the main characters, themselves. There's square-jawed Doctor Finlay (David Rintoul), solid and focused but still unattached after his two romantic frustrations of Series One. And the retired Dr. Cameron (Ian Bannen), wise in the ways of the world, yet merry and always ready for a `wee dram.' And handsome Dr. David Neil (Jason Flemyng), the new partner: beneath his capable but feckless façade lies a young and inexperienced heart that, in both series, takes medical science's inadequacies all too personally. And last but hardly least, there's the inestimable Janet (Annette Crosbie), housekeeper for decades at `Arden House' where the doctors and their practice reside; never married, she becomes engaged to the local pharmacist in Series Two, but clearly has mixed feelings about radically altering her life at this late stage.

Series Two does not defer to the current need for satisfying `closure' on every issue. Patients with problems are introduced but, just as in real life, their stories do not necessarily resolve to our satisfaction if, indeed, they resolve at all. The series instead concentrates on the relationships among the main characters. And, as in real life, we find in them the full spectrum of emotions: love, longing, conflict, fear, all packaged in captivating tales that not only entertain us, but also enrich us by teaching us about ourselves. We could hardly ask more from a drama.

This is a beautiful series that I will treasure as part of my collection. I plan to watch it again, and I'm sure I will enjoy it even more the second time around

'Doctor Finlay - Days of Grace Set (3 DVD Set)

Average customer rating:

'Doctor Finlay - Days of Grace Set (3 DVD Set)
Starring: David Rintoul
Manufacturer: Bfs Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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Doctor Finlay - Set 3
Doctor Finlay - Volume 2
Doctor Finlay
Midsomer Murders - Set Eight
Foyle's War - Set 4

ASIN: B000LC4ZP8
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Description

A MASTERPIECE THEATRE PRESENTATION

"...genuine drama... sharp entertainment... acting's superb..." - VARIETY

"Highly enjoyable." - ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

A village doctor's tales of challenges, caring and trust

David Rintoul, Annette Crosbie and Ian Bannen star in the continuing all-new adaptation of one of the most popular programmes on British TV.

Five years have now passed since the end of the war and the Arden House medical team function with well-practiced efficiency, servicing the residents of Tannochbrae, who for the most part, have gradually come to trust their doctors and follow their advice. Even so, as the post-war era unfolds, Doctors Finlay, Cameron and Napier face many interesting dilemmas in their caseloads, while struggling to cope with the demanding challenges of their personal lives.

Starring: David Rintoul (Horatio Hornblower) as Dr. John Finlay, Ian Bannen (Waking Ned Devine) as Dr. Alexander Cameron, Annette Crosbie (Calendar Girls) as Janet Livingstone-MacPherson and Jessica Turner (The Cazalets) as Dr. Jennifer Napier

Based on the characters created by A.J. Cronin

Episodes: Home Truths / All Jock Tamson's Bairns / Days of Grace / A Simple Operation / Mercury / The Life of Men / Still Waters

Special Features: Cast Trivia / Cast Profiles

Description

Captain Chris Baldry has suffered the injuries of many during the war, lost in a state of young love he struggles through the overpowering presence of all of the women in his life. Trapped in his past with his true love, his present wife, cousin and woman of his dreams all compete to bring him back to the present as each see fit for him to live out his life.

Customer Reviews:

Not Full Screen as Advertized.......2006-09-22

When I read that this DVD was "full screen" I opted to rent it rather than buy it. If you care about the film as I always have, you'll be pleased to know that the "Tinity Home Entertainment" transfer is excellent and in WIDESCREEN.

"If only knowing were the same as feeling.".......2005-11-23

Based on the novel by Rebecca West, the film "The Return of the Soldier" is the story of a man who returns from WWI with severe shell shock resulting in memory loss. When the film begins, Chris's wife Kitty (Julie Christie) and cousin Jenny (Ann Margret) are in the splendid Baldry home when they receive a visitor, Mrs. Margaret Grey (Glenda Jackson). The visitor is clearly uncomfortable, and at first it seems that perhaps this can be blamed on her poverty. But then Mrs. Grey breaks the news that Captain Chris Baldry is ill in hospital. Naturally Kitty and Jenny both wonder why the war office didn't inform them, and Kitty takes her skepticism one step further by accusing Mrs. Grey of possessing ulterior motives.

Some of the mystery is solved when Kitty and Jenny travel to London to collect Captain Baldry (Alan Bates). He's shell-shocked, and has lost the memory of the past 20 years of his life. He has no recollection of his wife or his marriage, and instead thinks he's still in the throes of a mad passionate love affair with Margaret Grey--or Margaret Allington as he knew her 20 years ago when she was the daughter of an inn-keeper.

"The Return of the Soldier" is a stunningly beautiful, sad novel, and it's translated to the screen very well in this film version with most of the book's dialogue remaining intact. Cousin Jenny narrates the novel, so her insights and observations are gone for the film, and the script wisely enhances Kitty's character slightly in recompense. Kitty is portrayed as a shallow woman who is humiliated by her husband's rejection of their relationship. A few bitter moments show both Kitty's anger (directed at her husband and Margaret) and snobbery (spitefully directed towards Margaret). The prejudice against shell shock is shown in others' treatment of Baldry, and even Kitty in frustration argues that "if he just made an effort," he'd remember. When a psychologist (Ian Holm) is called to the scene, he gently argues against a cure. Why bring Captain Baldry's mind back across the abyss of time and memory when so much he has to remember will simply make him unhappy?

"The Return of the Soldier" is a marvelously realized film--the contrast of Baldry's peaceful, magnificent estate against the horrors and ugliness of WWI are seen in powerful opposition to one another. The film sensibly concentrates on the visual--Baldry's shock when looking in a mirror, and the way in which a train whistle startles him. The main characters are well cast, and although I imagined Margaret physically quite different, Glenda Jackson's steely presence and moral courage capture the essence of the character. Alan Bates' quietly restrained performance accentuates the pain of a kind, good-hearted man managing to drift through his daily obligations with just the vaguest recollection of who everyone is. Fans of the novel will not be disappointed--displacedhuman

Glenda Jackson at her finest.......2005-11-02

This film had limited distribution when released and the HBO
video was not around long. The dvd is most welcome. Alan Bates
portrays a shell shocked soldier during World War I. His family
fears that if he gets his memory back his life will never be the
same. Glenda Jackson portrays Margaret, his first love, and the
only person Bates remembers. She gives one of her finest
performances. In an ugly raincoat and an even uglier hat she still
manages to be more attractive than the beautifully coifed and
dressed Julie Christie who stars as Bates wife who wants him to
get his memory back.. Ann-Margret also turns in another fine
performance. Many thanks to Trinity for putting this out on
DVD.

Average customer rating:

Doctor Finlay
This is a superb series, nicely presented on DVD
Honk if you love Scotland.....

Doctor Finlay
Starring: Raymond Ross , and Colin McCredie
Manufacturer: Bfs Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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Doctor Finlay - Volume 2
Doctor Finlay - Set 3
'Doctor Finlay - Days of Grace Set (3 DVD Set)
The Last Detective - Series 1
Hamish Macbeth - Series One

ASIN: B00006C7GE
Release Date: 2002-10-22

Customer Reviews:

Doctor Finlay.......2007-03-21

I purchased this for my wife, who enjoys English programs from the 70's when we lived there.

She is quite pleased with the CD.

An aside, the National Health scheme in the UK as with all others, is a disaster. If you want good care on a timely basis you must go private.

This is a superb series, nicely presented on DVD.......2003-01-21

This series ranks well with those productions--Hope and Glory, All Creatures Great and Small--which depict a changed and changing British society during and after WWII. The stories focus movingly on how the war affected individuals within virtually every class of society from the very poor to the upper levels, from the indigent (and the dropouts) to the professionals. The principal actors (David Rintoul, Jason Flemyng, Annette Crosbie and the now late Ian Bannon) are beyond praise, as are the scripts by a whole series of writers. And the sound, the photography and the editing are truly wondrous, as are the lush orchestrations of the Scottish National Symphony. This is a superb series, the kind one wishes would never end.

Honk if you love Scotland............2002-10-25

The Dr. Finlay series was filmed in Auchtermuchty Scotland and stars David Rintoul the fellow who played "Darcy" in the BBC version of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE shot in the 1980s. You may also recall Rintoul from the FIVE RED HERRINGS, a Peter Wimsey tale also dramatized by the BBC. In addition to Rintoul, the cast includes Annette Crosbie and Ian Bannon(??) the recently deceased actor who played the lead in WAKING NED DEVINE.

The series begins as Dr. Finlay returns to his hometown following a stint in the Royal Army Medical Corps during WWII. Finlay arrives just in time to discover his long-time girl friend and ex-fiance involved with an America GI who is about to ship out to the States and wants to take her home as his bride.

Finlay's village has changed dramatically while he was away, and he soon discovers life is just as turbulent in his home town after the war, as it was at his last posting. For one thing, the village has acquired many new inhabitants. In addition to U.S. Army personnel, who are in the process of demobilizing, a collection of German War Prisoners lives in nearby ex-prison encampment. Seems no one has an interest in them any longer, but they still need medical care.

Finlay's private medical practice is about to become part of the National Medical Service, his old friend and partner is about to retire, and a new young doctor has arrived to begin his practice -- literally. On top of everything else, the long-time spinster housekeeper, who has kept everything organized for ages, is about to become a married woman and leave housekeeping permanently.

In some ways, the characterization of three doctors in a small Scotish village in the 1940s is very reminscient of the series ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL where three bachelor veternarians have set up practice in Yorkshire. However, Dr. Finlay was a Masterpiece Theater production based on the book by A.J.Cronin, whom I seem to recall was a Scottish physician himself and probably the basis for the story, just as the CREATURES series about James Herriot was based on a real vet's life in Yorkshire.

Description

DOCTOR FINLAY - NO TIME FOR HEROES - Journey into a world of healing, humanity and hope. - Dr. John Finlay survived the war only to find himself fighting more challenging battles on the home front. Leaving behind the senseless bloodshed that darkened his stint in the Royal Army Medical Corps, his homecoming to the small Scottish town of Tannochbrae is not what he expects. One of the most popular series ever aired on the BBC, Doctor Finlay forges ahead in the continuing all-new adaptation based on the vivid characters created by A. J. Cronin. Starring David Rintoul (Horatio Hornblower), Annette Crosbie (Calendar Girls) and Ian Bannen (Waking Ned Devine), this Masterpiece Theatre presentation is an intriguing journey into the world of healing, humanity... and hope. DVD Features: Cast Trivia / Cast Profiles

Customer Reviews:

What are "Episode Titles" of this grand series ?.......2007-05-28

What are the episode titles of this set ?

- x - x - x - x -
By the Way ... I DO very much LIKE the two seasons/series of the story which I have viewed already.

- x - x - x - x -
Also, By The Way -- I continue to be amazed, that Amazon rarely includes the titles of the episodes on dvd items -- while Amazon DOES almost-always, include titles of songs on cd items. There must be an official reason. but: what could the reason be ? AND why won't they tell us what the reason is ? AND why can't they fix that reason and begin supplying episode titles ? SIGH.

Average customer rating:

Arch of Triumph
Starring: Martin Benson , Joyce Blair , Alexander Davion , Lesley-Anne Down , and Frank Finlay
Director: Waris Hussein
Manufacturer: Direct Source Label
ProductGroup: DVD
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Similar Items:

Bloody Che Contra
One Man's War
The Good Father
Return of the Soldier
Royal Hunt of the Sun

ASIN: B0007R4T9O
Release Date: 2004-04-01

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The Perils Of Self Intoxication
Medical History film a treasure among very few
Karloff & Lee - together!
Best of the later Karloff's.

Corridors of Blood
Starring: Boris Karloff , Betta St. John , Finlay Currie , Francis Matthews , and Adrienne Corri
Director: Robert Day
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

The Haunted Strangler
The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key)
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ASIN: 6305080259
Release Date: 1998-07-08

Amazon.com

"Pain and the knife are inseparable!" That's what incredulous colleagues keep telling Dr. Bolton (Boris Karloff), a respected surgeon who is determined to develop a successful anesthetic to bring pain-free surgery to 1840s England, when brutal amputation is a bloody and commonplace procedure. Bolton keeps testing his latest "inhalations" on himself, and his son's warnings against addiction remain unheeded. Before long, the tenacious doctor is hooked on his own elixir, barred from further practice and the drugs needed for research, and so desperate to prove the validity of his work that he agrees to a Faustian bargain: In exchange for the necessary chemicals, he signs bogus death certificates for local body-snatchers Black Ben (Francis De Wolff) and Resurrection Joe (Christopher Lee), who earn cash by supplying medical schools with fresh cadavers.

Robert Day (who also directed Karloff in The Haunted Strangler) handles this morbid plot with professional restraint, adding some routine hallucinatory interludes when Karloff's delirium results in a barrage of fevered visions. Otherwise this is a well-crafted but rather bland affair, noteworthy for its early display of blood (which is utterly tasteful by later standards) and also for giving Karloff one of his juicier roles, which the veteran horror icon tackles with admirable vigor and appropriate obsessiveness. On the strength of his early films for Hammer Studios, Christopher Lee was given prominent billing when this film (shot in 1958) was finally released in 1962, and while his eerie presence is keenly felt, his role is a relatively minor one. Still, this makes Corridors of Blood something of a milestone in the genre, signaling the passage of Karloff's era and the beginning of Lee's. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Boris Karloff is a surgeon in search of a viable anesthetic, in the days when patients were strapped down with leather bands while fully conscious. The doctor soon becomes addicted to his newly-discovered gas. In his desperation to get the drug, Karloff must make a diabolical bargain with body snatchers to feed his growing habit. "A natural for horror addicts, if they can stand all that blood!"--Daily Cinema.

Customer Reviews:

The Perils Of Self Intoxication.......2006-05-04

Plot: Dr. Bolton (Boris Karloff), highly respected surgeon in mid-19th century England believes in the possibility of painless surgery dispite the derision of his unbelieving colleages. In his obsessive desire to discover the right mix of chemicals for his proposed anesthetic he risks his reputation and life by acting as the guinea pig for his experimental concoctions.

This '58 film is not some much a horror movie as it's a tale of how complusion and lack of self restriant can lead one down the road to addiction and depravity. 'Corridors of Blood' chronicles Dr. Bolton steady descent into an intoxicating, hallucinatory realm as his continued inhalation of his elixir slowly overshadows his senses.

This film was directed by Robert Day who was also responsible for directing Karloff's obsessive-complusive performance in 'The Haunted Strangler.' You'll notice the similarities in both movies immediately. Directorial style, cinematic approach, the background settings of 19th century London and Karloff's characterization are all but identical. This film is also noteworthy for bringing Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee together for the first time, two of the great classic actors of the horror genre.

Yvonne Romain and Betta St. John have small roles but add a much needed touch of beauty to an otherwise dark and unseamly tale.

Medical History film a treasure among very few.......2003-10-03

this film is excellent from a Historical point of view, Times of events, ect are changed, but for detail, correct in everyway. I only have one complaint at the end of the film it says 1840 instead of 1846, but that is a personel fault of mine, !I'm too picky for Medical Historical correctness" Definately based On Horance Wells, (His attempt at painless surgery failed in 1844, too litle gas). there are not enougth Medical History films and this one I watch a lot, Never mind who is in it if you like History films, especially Medical ones add this to your collection.

Karloff & Lee - together!.......2001-02-14

Poor Dr. Thomas Bolton (Karloff). He's a compassionate, elderly British surgeon in the days before anesthesia. Tired of seeing his patients undergo excruciating agonies on the operating table, Bolton is working doggedly to concoct a drug which will banish pain and allow his patients to feel nothing during surgery. A failed and humiliating demonstration of his new drug before his professional peers makes Bolton even more determined to prove them wrong when they insist, "Pain and the knife are one."

Alas, as Bolton conducts experiments upon himself in pursuit of his dream, he becomes addicted to his own formula. His hands - once known for their speed with a knife in the surgical theatre - shake and betray him. His memory fails him; he can't remember what happens to him while under the sway of his formula. He begins to deteriorate.

The hospital's executive committee denies Bolton another chance to prove his work's validity and puts him, more or less, on "informal leave", suspending his privileges at the hospital's dispensary - the only place he can get the drugs necessary for both his research and his addiction.

Bolton falls in with a reprehensible crowd of no-gooders, including the elegant but menacing Resurrection Joe (Christopher Lee), a soulless killer with a penchant for smothering his victims with pillows. In return for getting Dr. Bolton the drugs he now craves both for his experiments and for himself, these body snatchers, who have been murdering drunken alehouse customers and passing them off as natural deaths, manipulate Bolton into a Faustian bargain to sign the death certificates of their hapless victims so they might sell the bodies to the hospitals for teaching purposes and collect the money.

The reason I gave this DVD only 4 stars, rather than 5, had nothing whatsoever to do with my total enjoyment of this film. Indeed, the print is excellent and the sound quality clear and distinctive. The one complaint I have is that there is only one "extra" on the DVD - the film's original theatrical trailer. I would have liked to have seen at least an interactive cast listing and additional information on the film itself.

Other than that, it's great to see Karloff and Lee in the same production. They just ... belong together in a movie frame, I think. The violence is more implied than shown, making poor Bolton's situation even more tragic, and Karloff plays him sympathetically yet strongly.

I think anyone who is a fan of Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee or horror films in general will delight in seeing "Corridors of Blood".

Best of the later Karloff's........1999-12-08

This is an old favorite of mine; it also happens to be one of Karloff's best later performances. He's perfect as the kind elderly doctor who gets involved with the wrong people, one of them being Christopher Lee as grave-robber Resurrection Joe (!). And the always good Francis Matthews is, well, good as always. (The film is actually close in tone to "The Body Snatcher", but Karloff's part here is a quite different one.) You really feel deeply for the poor doc, thanks to the great Boris. The b/w movie may look like a Hammer film, but I wouldn't call it a Horror movie. -Sure, it's got some "horrific" scenes, but overall it looks more like a nice period drama stuck with a misleading title. (-If they had to give it such an awful title; something like "Corridors Of Pain" might have been a better choice, considering there are more screams heard than blood seen.) It's not only the best of his last films, but among the very best of his massive and impressive body of work.

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