THE LAVENDER HILL MOB U

1951 ★★★★★ OUT 29 MARCH CINEMAS 22 APRIL 4K UHD, DIGITAL

EXTRAS ★★★★★

Commentary, Intro, Featurettes, Gallery, Booklet, Posters, Art cards

One of the biggest jewels in the Ealing crown, this tale of larceny remains hugely enjoyable. Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway are, respectively, the bank clerk and artist who plot to steal gold bullion with help from crims Sid James and Alfie Bass, but whose efforts go enthrallingly awry. With director Charles Crichton expertly marshalling his sublime cast, this is 24-carat comedy. Extras contribs include Martin Scorsese and Paul Merton.

ALL THAT MONEY CAN BUY PG

1941 ★★★★★ OUT 8 APRIL BD

EXTRAS ★★★★★

Commentary, Featurettes, Radio adaps, Essays

Based on Stephen Vincent Benét’s story The Devil and Daniel Webster, William Dieterle’s folksy Faustian fable has been known by many names – a bit like the evil one himself, here called Mr. Scratch and played with Oscar-nommed impishness by Walter Huston. Imposing work, too, from Edward Arnold as the lawyer trying to break farmer James Craig’s deal with the devil. Meanwhile, there are enough eerie touches – Satanic lullabies, smoky visuals, startling cutaways – to offset the general preachiness.

GREEN ROOM 18

2015 ★★★★★ OUT NOW BD, 4K UHD, DUAL FORMAT

EXTRAS ★★★★★ Commentaries, Featurettes, Visual essay, Art cards, Book

The late Anton Yelchin co-stars with fellow Star Trek alumnus Patrick Stewart (playing against type) in this claustrophobic siege thriller, in which a punk band is pitted against a gang of neo-Nazis in a remote club. On top of the expected visual upgrade, Green Room’s 4K do-over adds plenty of new extras, including a fascinating chat with writer/director Jeremy Saulnier that takes a poignant turn when the subject shifts to the joy of ‘capturing Anton in his prime’.

ON THE WATERFRONT PG

Still acontender…

1954 ★★★★★ OUT 5 APRIL CINEMAS

Elia Kazan is a problematic figure, remembered as both an incredible director but also for naming names during the Hollywood blacklist era. Lovingly restored to 4K for its 70th birthday, On the Waterfront is not just one of his greatest films, rivalled only by A Streetcar Named Desire and East of Eden (which featured – respectively – Marlon Brando and James Dean’s breakthrough roles), it’s arguably one of the greatest films ever made, filled with the complex moralities and antiheroes that were Kazan’s stock in trade.

Reunited with Kazan, Brando plays Terry Malloy, a boxer who dreams of being ‘a contender’ but is surrounded by corrupt labour unions and mob bosses who scupper his hopes. It’s down to Terry to figure out whether he wants to accept the rotten system around him or fight it. Brando is utterly phenomenal in the role, resembling a living Rodin sculpture in his muscular expressiveness. Kazan captures the waterfront of the New Jersey shore with crisp precision, suggesting that violence and corruption lie around every corner.

It’s a film that could be read as Kazan’s attempt at self-justification, implying that he viewed himself – like Terry – as someone who was calling out potential communists because it was down to the individual to stand up for what they believed, no matter how unpopular. That’s not a justification that has aged particularly well, but the film remains a masterpiece.

THE VERDICT Elia Kazan’s tragic tale of an ex-prizefighter in New Jersey has lost none of its punching power.

FOOTLOOSE 15

1984 ★★★★★ OUT NOW 4K UHD

EXTRAS ★★★★★

Commentaries, Featurettes

The quintessentially 80s flick that launched Kevin Bacon to stardom and taught teens how to overcome totalitarianism through the power of dance may not be the greatest movie ever made (sorry, Star-Lord), but it is an absolute blast. And having danced its way onto 4K UHD in time for its 40th anniversary, Footloose finally looks like an actual film again, rather than the over-processed, digitised mess released on Blu-ray back in 2011. A lively 5.1 mix, meanwhile, ensures that the soundtrack (the title track, Let’s Hear It for the Boy, et al) truly sings.