This book examines twenty major British films from a 70-year time span, offering a lively account of what has made them valuable and provocative over many viewings. It aims both to communicate a critical enthusiasm and to stimulate readers, large numbers of whom will know and value these films, many of them classics of their kind. The author's personal engagement with such titles as The Lady Vanishes, Brief Encounter and Four Weddings and a Funeral will be likely to call up the readers' own responses. Each film focuses on a particular strength significant in the history of British cinema. This may, for instance, reflect its strong ties with literature, or represent a high spot in British comedy or some other genre in which it has excelled, or it could be a matter of rescuing a 'B' film from obscurity and critical condescension, or of celebrating a star performance. There will inevitably be something strongly personal about any such choice, and any defence of that choice. These are films that have stayed in the mind, when hundreds of others are forgotten. They speak of a rich national cinema too often undervalued as a poor relation of Hollywood. This book, then, has an element of celebration, but it also examines these twenty films rigorously both in their contexts and as individual texts. The book will be useful to anyone studying these films but above all it is to be accessible to a much wider audience with an interest in and affection for British film.

Product Description: Not many can boast of careers that lasted successfully for nearly 70 years, but that is what was achieved by Australian actors Googie Withers and John McCallum. Withers acted everything, from brazen murderesses to Lady Bracknell, as well as a broad range of everyman characters, such as blonde nitwits, wartime Resistance workers, lady farmers, and Shakespearean women...read more

Product Description: Peter Puck, hockey’s most lovable expert, has returned to the ice, to living rooms across Canada every Saturday night — and now to the pages of his highly anticipated book, Peter Puck's Big Book of Hockey. With fast-paced humor, fascinating facts, and entertaining tales from deep within the vaults of hockey’s past and present, Peter Puck's Big Book of Hockey introduces fans to the game all over again...read more

Product Description: It's 1936, and Max and Marty's twin cousins Bert and Barry Kapuskasing are players in an era when scouts moved from rink to rink seeking fresh talent for NHL teams. The twins prove to be a perfect fit for the rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs, but, tempted by big city nightlife and some unsavory characters, one of the twins disappears...read more

Product Description: Max and Marty find themselves back in time, in the year 1905, rubbing shoulders with legendary One-Eyed Frank McGee and the famous Stanley Cup champions, the Ottawa Silver Seven. The brothers learn about the history of hockey and the origins of the Stanley Cup...read more

Max and Marty witness The Great Farini's incredible tightrope feats over the Niagara Falls, an act so perilous it leads him to the very brink of death.

Max and Marty's Uncle Jack invite them to Storm Valley for the annual winter carnival, but when Jack has a heart attack, Max must stand in for their uncle in the sled dog race, which will be difficult with interference from the Bummer brothers.

When two star baseball players are wrongly accused of theft and are thrown in jail, Max and Marty Mitchell must follow a dangerous path in order to track down the real culprits.

Product Description: It is a special honor when Max and Marty Mitchell are invited as guests to the annual tribal gathering and lacrosse tournament in the village of Tumbling Waters! But the boys discover it is not all fun and games. In a friendly athletic contest Max and Marty slip from a rope bridge when the rope snaps...read more

When their parents buy a farm with a horse named Wizard, Max and Marty discover that Wizard may have a future in harness racing, but before Max can take the reins, Wizard is stolen.

For brothers Max and Marty there isn't a lot to do in the summer but sit in the shade and wait for hockey season to begin, until a fire breaks out in town, leaving hundreds of families homeless and Max on the top of the list of suspects. Original.

Product Description: Translation and interpretation of the script.

After moving to the mill town of Indian River, brothers Max and Marty Mitchell soon learn that there is no one to sponsor the hockey team, so the brothers decide to create their own team. Original.