Dust off the vault and step into the golden eras that made us fall in love with the silver screen in the first place. StudioCanal’s Vintage Classics line isn’t just a collection; it’s a altar to cinema’s undisputed heavyweights. We’re talking about the sweeping romances that set the standard, the pulse-pounding thrillers that invented suspense, and the grand historical epics that redefined scale. These are the beautifully restored, immortal legends that built film history block by block.  

Snag two timeless masterpieces on Blu-ray for just £18 in our multibuy offer. offer ends sunday 06 september 2026.

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breathless

 

Jean-Luc Godard’s revolutionary directorial debut is a seminal masterpiece of the French New Wave that redefined modern cinema. The film follows the brief, turbulent love affair between Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a charmingly reckless petty thief modeling himself after Humphrey Bogart, and Patricia (Jean Seberg), an aspiring American journalist selling the New York Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris.

After stealing a car, Michel impulsively shoots and kills a highway patrolman. On the run, he hides out in Patricia’s apartment, trying to persuade her to flee with him to Italy. But as the net tightens and the authorities close in, Michel falls deeper in love with Patricia, oblivious to the fact that his time is rapidly running out and her loyalty is beginning to waver.

 

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Le Mépris

 

LE MÉPRIS is one of the most notable examples of the French New Wave from cinema’s original enfant terrible: Jean-Luc Godard. Featuring the style icon Brigitte Bardot (And God Created Woman, Viva Maria!) as Camille, and legendary French talent Michel Piccoli (Belle De Jour, The Things of Live) as Paul, LE MÉPRIS boasts a strong and eclectic supporting cast featuring ‘master of darkness’ Director, Fritz Lang as himself, renowned American actor Jack Palance as Jeremy, and the infamous Giorgia Moll as Francesca. Set around the extraordinary Villa Malaparte on Capri, LE MÉPRIS tells the tragic romance between Paul and his wife, Camille. Paul is enlisted the task of re-writing a film script. Whilst he becomes engrossed in writing, he appears oblivious to the film producer’s interest in his irresistibly beautiful wife, Camille. In turn, we witness the hurtful unfolding of Paul and Camille’s marriage.

 

• Bonus Footage

• Introduction by Colin McCabe

• Documentaries: Paparazzi by Jacques Rozier, Bardot Godard: The Party of Things by Jacques Rozier, Once Upon a Time There Was… Contempt

• Trailers

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diva

 

Diva (1981) marks the dazzling directorial debut of Jean-Jacques Beineix (Betty Blue). Jules (Frédéric Andréi) is a young Parisian mail courier who sneaks a high-quality recording of Cynthia Hawkins (Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez), an American opera singer who famously refuses to ever be recorded.

Jules’s life spirals out of control when a terrified woman slips a second cassette into his delivery bag just moments before she is murdered. This tape contains damning evidence exposing a major drug and prostitution ring. Suddenly, the unwitting courier finds himself relentlessly pursued through the neon-lit streets of Paris by both Taiwanese bootleggers and a thuggish gang of drug dealers who will stop at nothing to get their hands on the cassettes.

 

• Documentaries: Blue as “Diva”: Memories of a Cult Film, “Diva”: About the Film by Denis Parent

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murder on the orient express

 

An elegant, all-star production introducing Albert Finney as the first screen incarnation of Hercule Poirot. When a ruthless, no-good American tycoon is found dead in his compartment with twelve savage dagger wounds, the brilliant Belgian detective is called upon to solve the impossible crime. Trapped aboard the luxurious, snowbound Orient Express, Poirot must cross-examine a lavish train car full of eccentric, high-society suspects—but which of the passengers is the guilty party?

A masterclass in classic cinematic mystery, this acclaimed adaptation features a legendary ensemble cast and includes an Academy Award-winning performance from Ingrid Bergman.

 

• Bonus Footage

• Commentary: Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson (film historians)

• Documentaries: Agatha Christie: A Portrait, All Aboard, The Ride, The Passengers, The End of the Line

• Image Gallery

• Interviews: Jacqueline Bisset (actor), Richard Goodwin (producer)

• Trailers

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Carlton-Browne of the F.O.

 

Directed by Roy Boulting and Jeffery Dell and starring Peter Sellers and Terry Thomas, CARLTON-BROWNE OF THE F.O. follows the story of a long-forgotten British colony suddenly becoming geopolitically hot property due to its rare mineral deposits, with the Foreign Office scrambling to reassert influence. Enter Carlton-Browne (a charmingly clueless diplomat whose only qualification is his father’s legacy and a knack for accidental diplomacy). Dispatched to the island of Gaillardia, Carlton must navigate a tangled web of Cold War tensions, royal intrigue, and Morris dancing mishaps. As rival factions vie for control and foreign powers circle like vultures, Carlton stumbles through espionage, romance, and revolution – proving that sometimes, the most unlikely man can make the biggest mess… and still come out ahead.

 

• Documentaries: Featurette with Vic Pratt and Peter Lydon

• Interviews: Seller’s Best interview footage with Roy Boulting

• Image Gallery

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nights of cabiria

 

Federico Fellini’s Academy Award-winning masterpiece is a deeply moving, bittersweet portrait of resilience on the fringes of Rome. Giulietta Masina delivers a legendary, Chaplin-esque performance as Cabiria, a fiercely independent, streetwise prostitute working in a gritty post-war Italy. Despite a life filled with exploitation and constant disappointments, Cabiria possesses an unwavering, almost childlike optimism, stubbornly believing that true love and a better life are just around the corner.

However, her bright spirit is put to the ultimate test through a series of cruel betrayals. After a fleeting, surreal encounter with a glamorous but self-absorbed movie star (Amedeo Nazzari) leaves her cast aside, Cabiria believes she has finally found her savior in Oscar (François Périer), a seemingly respectable and devoted suitor. But when Oscar proposes marriage, only to abscond with her entire life savings and leave her stranded, Cabiria is forced to confront her deepest heartbreak, culminating in one of the most poignant and celebrated final scenes in cinema history.

 

• Bonus Footage

• Interviews: Phil Kemp (film historian)

• Trailers

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le quai des brumes

 

Jean (Jean Gabin, La Grande Illusion), a disillusioned army deserter, arrives in the foggy port city of Le Havre looking for shelter before fleeing the country. Housed in a lonely dockside shed at the edge of the harbor, he encounters an eccentric painter and a mysterious, beautiful young woman named Nelly (Michèle Morgan, The Fallen Idol).

An intense, immediate passion ignites between Jean and Nelly, sparking a desperate will to live and escape together. However, Nelly is trapped in a web of dark secrets, controlled by a corrupt guardian and hunted by a cowardly local gangster. Despite his dreams of freedom, Jean finds himself pulled into a spiral of jealousy and violence, hopelessly trapped by a tragic destiny. Directed by Marcel Carné, this haunting pre-war masterpiece is a definitive pinnacle of French Poetic Realism and served as a major blueprint for American Film Noir in 1940s Hollywood.

 

• Documentaries: The Poetry of Misfortune, On the Dock

• Introduction by Ginette Vincendeau

• Alternate credits

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ran

 

One of the most important and influential film makers in cinematic history, Akira Kurosawa directed 30 films in a career spanning 57 years. His final masterpiece, RAN a reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear set in feudal Japan, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. RAN tells the story of Lord Hidetora Ichimonji (Tatsuya Nakadai – Yojimbo, Kagemusha) an aging warlord who, after spending his life consolidating his empire, decides to abdicate and divide his Kingdom amongst his three sons Taro (Akira Terao – Letter from the Mountain, Dreams), Jiro (Jinpachi Nezu – The Man in White, Red Shadow: Akakage) and Saburo (Daisuke Ryû – Tôno Monogatari, Gojo reisenki: Gojoe). This leads to a brutal and bloody war between the brothers for absolute power of the kingdom.

 

• Documentaries: A.K., Ran: The Restoration

• Interviews: Shoji Ueda (cinematographer), Mieko Harada (actor), Michael Brooke (author)

• Stage appearance at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2015

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only two can play

 

Peter Sellers stars as John Lewis, a frustrated, small-town Welsh librarian trapped in a mundane routine and a henpecked marriage. His life gets an unexpected jolt of excitement when Liz (Mai Zetterling, The Witches), the glamorous and influential wife of a local councillor, takes a romantic shine to him and offers to pull some strings for a promotion.

Seeing an opportunity for both passion and career advancement, John dives into an affair. However, despite their best efforts, none of the couple’s carefully calculated schemes for a romantic tryst ever come to fruition, constantly thwarted by a chaotic series of comic complications and near-misses. Based on Kingsley Amis’s acclaimed novel That Uncertain Feeling, Only Two Can Play is a biting, finely observed British farce featuring an exceptional supporting cast that includes John Le Mesurier and Richard Attenborough.

 

• Featurette with Vic Pratt and Peter Lydon

• Behind the Scenes: Only Two Can Play

• Image Gallery

• Interviews: Extract from the BEHP audio interview with producer Sidney Gilliat

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the lion in winter

 

THE LION IN WINTER (1968) stars Katharine Hepburn in her Academy Award-winning role as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Peter O’Toole in a powerhouse performance as King Henry II. Anthony Hopkins makes his feature film debut as Richard the Lion Heart and Timothy Dalton stars as Philip II King of France. England, the 12th Century. After the death of his son and heir, King Henry II (Peter O’Toole) is obsessed with finding a new successor, so summons his three remaining sons. Also summoned is his wife, the formidable Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), who he has kept imprisoned for the last ten years. As the Royal couple scheme and cajole with their sons their passions turn from tenderness to fury as they determine who should be the future King of England.

 

• Scene Access

• Behind the Scenes

• Bonus Footage

• Image Gallery

• Trailers

• Audio Commentary by Anthony Harvey (director)

• Interviews with Anthony Hopkins (actor), Robin Vidgeon (camera assistant), John Castle (actor), John Bloom (editor)

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the african queen

 

Adapted from the novel by C.S. Forester, The African Queen (1951) directed by John Huston stars Humphrey Bogart in his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Charlie Allnut, the slovenly, gin-swilling captain of a tramp steamer called the African Queen, which ships supplies to small East African villages during World War I. Katharine Hepburn plays Rose Sayer, the maiden-lady sister of a prim British missionary (Robert Morley). When invading Germans kill the missionary and level the village, Allnut offers to take Rose back to civilization. She can’t tolerate his drinking or bad manners; he isn’t crazy about her imperious, judgmental attitude. However, it does not take long before their passionate dislike turns to love. Together the disparate duo work to ensure their survival on the treacherous waters and devise an ingenious way to destroy a German gunboat. Along with masterful direction from John Huston, the wonderful script makes this a rare treat indeed. Winner of Best Actor Oscar, nominated for 3 further Oscars and 2 BAFTA Awards.

 

• Bonus Footage

• Audio Commentary by Angela Allen (script supervisor) and Ian Christie; Jack Cardiff (cinematographer)

• Documentaries: Sir John Woolf On the Making of ‘The African Queen’, Embracing Chaos: Making ‘The African Queen’

• Image Gallery

• Interviews with Peter Viertel (co-screenwriter), John Huston (director), Kim Newman (critic), Neil Sinyard (historian)

• 2010 NFT Q&A with Anjelica Huston and Angela Allen

• Lux Radio Theatre adaptation from 1952 with Humphrey Bogart and Greer Garson

• Trailers

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The Wicker Man

 

THE WICKER MAN has had an enduring fascination for audiences since its release in 1973. A unique and bone-fide horror masterpiece, brilliantly scripted by Anthony Schaffer (Sleuth, Frenzy) and featuring an astounding performance by the legendary Christopher Lee. Director Robin Hardy’s atmospheric use of location, unsettling imagery and haunting soundtrack gradually builds to one of the most terrifying and iconic climaxes in modern cinema. When a young girl mysteriously disappears, Police Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) travels to a remote Scottish island to investigate. But this pastoral community , led by the strange Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee) is not what it seems as the devoutley religious detective soon uncovers a secret society of wanton lust and pagan blasphemy. Can Howie now stop the cults ultimate sacrifice before he himself comes face to face with the horror of THE WICKER MAN?

 

• Revisiting the Locations of ‘The Wicker Man’

• ‘The Wicker Man’ at 50

• The Music of ‘The Wicker Man’

• Worshipping ‘The Wicker Man’

• Burnt Offerings: The Cult of ‘The Wicker Man’

• ‘Wicker Man’ Enigma

• Image Gallery

• All three cuts of the film included: Final Cut, Director’s Cut and Theatrical Cut

• Trailers

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Peeping Tom

 

From Michael Powell, the acclaimed director of A Matter of Life and Death and The Red Shoes, Peeping Tom was, upon its release, one of the most controversial films ever made in Britain – a masterpiece of psychological terror. By day, Mark Lewis (Karlheinz Böhm) works as a modest focus-puller in a film studio. But he also shoots glamour photographs for a seedy Soho newsagent, and by night he seeks victims for his most gruesome obsession – filming the face of mortal fear, moments before death.  Written by British cryptographer and playwright Leo Marks, Peeping Tom also stars Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Shirley Anne Field, real-life Glamour Queen Pamela Green and Michael Powell’s son Columba as the young Mark. The film was shot by celebrated Director of Photography Otto Heller (The Queen of Spades, The Ladykillers, Victim).

 

• Visions of Voyeurism: Peeping Tom by Sir Christopher Frayling

• Take Me To Your Cinema: A conversation between film writers Rhianna Dillon and Anna Bogutskaya

• Restoring Peeping Tom

• Introduction by Martin Scorsese (2007)

• Interview with Thelma Schoonmaker (2007)

• Audio Commentary by Professor Ian Christie

• The Eye of The Beholder – Scorsese, Schoonmaker and Christie among others talking about the film

• Behind the Scenes stills gallery

• Original trailer

• 2023 trailer

A Kid for Two Farthings

 

 

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WWII, 1943, the Russian front. An arrogant aristocratic Prussian Officer named Stransky (Maximilian Schell) is assigned as the new commander of a German platoon, his only ambition is to win the Iron Cross, in order to maintain his family honour. When Stransky falsely claims credit for bravely leading the squad into a bloody battle against the Russians, he names gutsy Sergeant Rolf Steiner (James Coburn) as his witness. When Steiner refuses to be complicit, a battle of wills between the two men from very different backgrounds ensures. Then Stransky purposefully fails to relay an order to the squad to fall back from their position, leaving them surrounded by Russian troops and suffering heavy bombardment. Knowing that defeat is inevitable their only goal is survival….

Heralded as the most anti-war war film ever made, Cross of Iron is a bloody and thought-provoking depiction of the horrors of war. As writer and director of this and other such provocative classics as The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs, Sam Peckinpah has served as an inspiration for everyone from Tarantino to Kathryn Bigelow.

 

• Filming Steiner

• Filming Steiner pt 2

• Steiner in Colour

• Steiner on Set

• Promoting Steiner

• Audio Commentary by filmmaker and historian Mike Siegel

• Passion & Poetry – Sam Peckinpah’s War: A documentary by Mike Siegel featuring James Coburn, Senta Berger, David Warner, Vadim Glowna, Roger Fritz, Katy Haber & Sam Peckinpah

• 1976 on set audio interviews: Sam Peckinpah (5:06) / James Coburn (5:30) / James Mason (6:05) / Maximilian Schell (4:35)

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Starring a young David Essex in the role that launched his film career and featuring a who’s who of British music in a supporting cast including Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, Dave Edmunds and Adam Faith, That’ll Be The Day recreates perfectly the experience of being a young music fan in the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s and is a unique insight into a time where the world was changing so rapidly.

Produced by the great David Puttnam (Melody, The Mission, Chariots of Fire), the film boasts a soundtrack that capture the music of the era perfectly and feature timeless music by David Essex, Billy Fury, Bobby Darin, the Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis.

Nominated for two BAFTAs on release in 1973, That’ll Be The Day tells the story of Jim MacLaine (David Essex – Stardust, Silver Dream Racer). Abandoned by his father when he was young, Jim, a suburban school dropout, leaves home and drifts through a succession of dead- end jobs until he finds an outlet for his frustration in rock ‘n’ roll. Tossing away the chance of a university education much to the consternation of his mother (Rosemary Leach – A Room with a View, Turtle Bay), alienated MacLaine becomes a lowly deckchair attendant before streetwise friend Mike (Ringo Starr – A Hard Day’s Night, Help!) gets him a job firstly as a barman and then with the fun fair. The initially shy MacLaine quickly becomes a heartless fairground Romeo leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

 

• Interview with David Puttnam

• Interview with Ray Connolly

• Interview with author Bob Stanley

• Stills gallery

• English SDH

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the wrong arm of the law

 

Directed by Cliff Owen and scripted by the incomparable British comedy writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson (Hancock’s Half Hour, Steptoe and Son) with John Antrobus, The Wrong Arm of the Law brings together a Who’s Who of familiar faces from British film and television of the 60s and 70s, not least the legendary Peter Sellars (I’m Alright Jack, The Ladykillers).

In London, a group of Australian gangsters disguised as “Bobbies”, led by Jack Coombes (Bill Kerr, The Dam Busters), are diverting the ill-gotten gains of the local criminal gangs. Gang leader “Pearly” Gates (Sellers), who operates from the cover of a French couturier, finds his takings severely cut. Initially he blames rival crook “Nervous” O’Toole (Bernard Cribbins, The Railway Children) but when it emerges that they are both being scammed by the same gang, they form an unlikely alliance with Scotland Yard Police Inspector “Nosey” Parker (Lionel Jeffries, Nowhere to Go) – to eliminate the so-called “I.P.O. mob” (I.P.O. – Impersonating a Police Officer) and return things to “normal”.

 

• The Long Arm of the Screenwriter – John Antrobus Remembers The Wrong Arm of The Law

• Behind the Scenes stills gallery

• Original Trailer

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