Vic's Rare Films

17/07/2026

STAGE FRIGHTS (1945 - 1947?)
Children's Entertainment / Comedy

I'm collating a lot of old footage I've been sent over the last 25 years and I came across this, the dvd is a transfer from 16mm film. What I found incredible is this has no imdb listing. The actors are all imdb listed.

This was based on the screenplay by Harry Hughes and Henry Passmore. It was produced at Nettlefold Studios at Walton-on-Thames.

The year 1945 - 47 is based solely on one website that mentions this film, I cannot find any other reference to it. A forgotten gem it seems. The same article also credits this as a J.Arthur Rank film but there is no mention of this in the credits.

I have uploaded it to youtube, it is free to watch

I'm collating a lot of old footage I've been sent over the last 25 ...

10/07/2026

Who remembers this classic from 1989 ?

07/07/2026

Youtube, ok.ru and daily motion music and videos can be converted to physical media.

03/07/2026

Precious Bane [1989] [DVD]
https://www.vicpine.co.uk/Precious-Bane-1989.htm

Precious Bane is an historical romance by Mary Webb, first published in 1924. It won the Prix Femina Vie Heureuse Prize in 1926. In 1989 it was released as a BAFTA nominated BBC TV drama starring John Bowe, Janet McTeer and Clive Owen.

"Prue is born with a 'hare lip' and is outcast from birth. The people in her village accept her somewhat but always fear that she is "from the Devil's smithy" and are quick to turn on her. Especially when a lot of bad luck befalls her family. She is strong and courageous but shies away from Kester Woodseaves, a traveling weaver who catches her eye. Partly because she fears rejection and also because she thinks he is so virile that he should have a wife who is as lovely as a lily. Kester is a modern man who does not believe in the superstitions of the time and he speaks his mind and follows his heart."

27/06/2026

Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959)

Imagine if this film were to be remade again today. After seeing all the bs on facebook the past few years, in the new movie, the earth would be flat and our expeditioners would be lost in a few hours because they don't know what 'down' is!

27/06/2026

When the Whales Came (1989) - Paul Schofield and Helen Mirren
Get your dvd here:
https://www.vicpine.co.uk/When-the-Whales-Came-1989.htm

When the Whales Came, based upon Michael Morpurgo's charming story, is a beautiful well-meaning film. The cinematography and scenery are gorgeous, and so is the enchanting music score.

The story takes place in the remote, but beautiful Scilly islands. They are inhabited by people that eke a life out of a hostile environment. Two children, Gracie and Daniel are intrigued by the mysterious man, the Birdman, who lives in a remote shack, but who, sensing their curiosity, begins leaving them a few of his wood carvings. As they get to meet the man, he encourages them to follow his example. Then one day, whales beach themselves and the Birdman pleads with the children and the other folks to help him in getting these gentle giants back into the ocean where they belong.

This is a superb film, designed for the entire family. A fascinating script, first-rate acting, glorious scenery (shot on location in remote islands off of England), and memorable music help make this film a classic. It is set in 1914, and World War One plays a role in the story. But the time is basically irrelevant; the place is not. The story is about a legendary curse, a man who survived it, and an opportunity to lift it, focusing on the destruction and preservation of an extremely rare form of whale.

26/06/2026

Name a hard to find film you'd like to see on our website.

26/06/2026

New title: Two Blondes and a Redhead (1947)
https://www.vicpine.co.uk/Two-Blondes-and-a-Redhead-1947.htm

Socialite Cathy Abbott (Jean Porter) is working in the chorus of a Broadway show instead of being enrolled at an exclusive girls' school as her parents think. When the show closes, she brings two of her chorus friends, Patti Calhoun (June Preisser) and Vicki Adams ('Judy Clark'), home with her. In addition to trying to make her friends acceptable to the snooty society of which her family is part, she is also being blackmailed by a rival. She and her two friends win over the blue-bloods with a couple of chorus routines, and she discloses she will be marrying the butler, Tommy Randell (Jimmy Lloyd), rather than the pompous Freddie Ainsley (Rick Vallin).

26/06/2026

Crash Landing: The Rescue of Flight 232 [1992] [DVD]
https://www.vicpine.co.uk/Crash-Landing-The-Rescue-of-Flight-232.htm

Charlton Heston, James Coburn, Richard Thomas.

First having aired on TV in 1992, CRASH LANDING is a highly well-made dramatization of the saga of United Airlines Flight 232 which, while enroute from Denver to Chicago on July 19, 1989, suffered a catastrophic explosion in its tail engine which severed all the plane's hydraulic lines. This meant that the crew, led by Captain Al Haynes, had almost no control over the aircraft, and that they would have to come in for an extremely difficult landing at Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa. With no way to stop, the plane broke up on impact, scattering debris across the runway and into nearby cornfields. But miraculously, of the 296 people onboard, including Haynes and his crew, 184 managed to survive the horrific ordeal.

Although it is a TV movie, the story and cast are all ably directed by veteran Lamont Johnson, with a good script by Harve Bennett (STAR TREK III). CRASH LANDING (later retitled A THOUSAND HEROES) is one of the best true-life airline disaster survival stories ever put on TV, and is well worth seeing.

26/06/2026

New title: Echo of Barbara (1961)
https://www.vicpine.co.uk/Echo-of-Barbara-1961.htm

Ronald Hines plays duplicitous and selfish Mike Roscoe whose father Sam (the wonderful Mervyn Johns, as always) has recently been released from a long prison sentence for robbery but won't say where he hid the money. Mike pays stripper Paula to impersonate 'Barbara', Sam's long lost daughter, in hope of obtaining the money. Other hoodlums, led by sinister and bullying Caledonia (well played by Paul Stassino) are also after the money, and they kidnap Barbara. But is everyone who they seem? Whose motives can be believed? A genuinely tense and gritty thriller with some rough violence for the time. Maureen Connell, as Laura pretending to be Barbara gives an excellent gritty performance but it's difficult to fault anyone. No spoilers at all, but clever and moving finale adds a great touch. At just under 1 hour, this B movie thriller is well worth a watch.