In a way, Scarlet Street is a remake. It’s taken from a French novel, La Chienne (literally, “The Bitch”) that was first filmed by Jean Renoir in 1931. Renoir brought to the sordid tale all the colour and vitality of Montmartre; Fritz Lang’s version shows us a far harsher and bleaker world. The film replays the triangle set-up from Lang’s previous picture, The Woman in the Window, with the same three actors. Once again, Edward G Robinson plays a respectable middle-aged citizen snared by the charms of Joan Bennett’s streetwalker, with Dan Duryea as her low-life pimp. The plot closes around the three of them like a steel trap. This is Lang at his most dispassionate. Scarlet Street is a tour de force of noir filmmaking, brilliant but ice-cold.

The Stranger, according to Orson Welles, “is the worst of my films. There is nothing of me in that picture”. But even on autopilot Welles still leaves most filmmakers standing. A war crimes investigator, played by Edward G Robinson, tracks down a senior Nazi to a sleepy New England town where he’s living in concealment as a respected college professor. Welles wanted Agnes Moorehead as the investigator and Robinson as the Nazi Franz Kindler, but his producer, Sam Spiegel, wouldn’t wear it. So Welles himself plays the supposedly cautious and self-effacing fugitive–and if there was one thing Welles could never play, it was unobtrusive. Still, the film’s far from a write-off. Welles’ eye for stunning visuals rarely deserted him and, aided by Russell Metty’s skewed, shadowy photography, The Stranger builds to a doomy grand guignol climax in a clocktower that Hitchcock must surely have recalled when he made Vertigo. And Robinson, dogged in pursuit, is as quietly excellent as ever.

On the DVD: sparse pickings. Both films have a full-length commentary by Russell Cawthorne which adds the occasional insight, but is repetitive and not always reliable. The box claims both print have been “fully restored and digitally remastered”, but you’d never guess. –Philip Kemp

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You know you’re going to get a different kind of superhero when you cast Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role. And Iron Man is different, in welcome ways. Cleverly updated from Marvel Comics’ longstanding series, Iron Man puts billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (that’s Downey) in the path of some Middle Eastern terrorists; in a brilliantly paced section, Stark invents an indestructible suit that allows him to escape. If the rest of the movie never quite hits that precise rhythm again, it nevertheless offers plenty of pleasure, as the renewed Stark swears off his past as a weapons manufacturer, develops his new Iron Man suit, and puzzles both his business partner (Jeff Bridges in great form) and executive assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow). Director Jon Favreau geeks out in fun ways with the hardware, but never lets it overpower the movie, and there’s always a goofy one-liner or a slapstick pratfall around to break the tension. As for Downey, he doesn’t get to jitterbug around too much in his improv way, but he brings enough of his unpredictable personality to keep the thing fresh. And listen up, hardcore Marvel mavens: even if you know the Stan Lee cameo is coming, you won’t be able to guess it until it’s on the screen. It all builds to a splendid final scene, with a concluding line delivery by Downey that just feels absolutely right. –Robert Horton

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(Passenger Power) Emergency Charger Powermonkey …… because life does not stop! Change the way you charge – forever! The Powermonkey charger is travel companion providing portable power for your gadgets when you need it most. One way to home, on an important business trip or vacation and you left your charger at home! Just use the supplied adapter to fully charge the Powermonkey and get up to 96 hours standby on your mobile phone, 40 hours on your iPod, 6 hours on your Sony PSP, 2 full charges on your PDA and more it’s fresh and original to 1600 pictures on your digital camera! The Powermonkey will even hold its charge without leakage up to a year! Features: – The lightest most versatile charger. Backup power in your pocket -. – 10 times more powerful than a conventional battery. – Up to 1 year in charge standy. – Will work in over 150 countries. – Interchangeable heads for UK, U.S., Australia and Europe. – Small, agile and powerful. – Up to 96 hours standby time (mobile phone). – 40 hours (iPod). – 6 hours (Sony PSP). Features: – Capacity: 22000mAh. Input interface -: DC 3.5 x 1.3 – Input Voltage: SV 500mA – Output Interface: D3.5 x 1.1 – Maximum Output: 1.2A – Dimensions: 88 x 39 x 37mm Contents: – 1 x Powermonkey charger. – 1 x universal mains charger working in over 150 countries and has interchangeable heads for UK, USA, Australia and Europe. – Nokia & Mini Nokia, Motorola V series, Samsung A288, Siemens C25 and Sony Ericsson wide connector. – 1 port mini USB for Motorola Razr V series, Blackberry and Bluetooth headsets. – 1 x USB for iPod, smart phones, PDAs and others. – 1 x connector for Sony PSP and most digital cameras. – 1 x black travel pouch.

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Because small devices like HD camcorders and also digital camera`s ask for a good connection to a HDTV, the new standard HDMI 1.3 provides also a new mini HDMI connector. This mini HDMI connector is as it says a smaller connector than the regular HDMI connector. This way the size of portable devices can be much smaller. HDMI mini cable;

• HDMI to HDMI Mini Connection Cable
• This mini HDMI connector is smaller than the regular HDMI connector.
• Suitable for use with HD camcorders and digital cameras which have a mini HDMI port.
• HDMI 19 Pins to Mini 19 Pins.
• Cable Length: 1.5m

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Make sure that your device is always fully charged with this handy in-car charger. Simply fit it into the cigarette lighter port in your car, plug the tangle proof cable into your device and away you go. You’ll never run out of power again – great for business trips or long journeys! Solid robust moulding with CE / ROHS certification. SAMSUNG GALAXY ACE S5830 CAR CHARGER UK SELLER PART OF THE QUBITS ACCESSORIES RANGE

• Easy and convenient way to charge your device
• CE / ROHS
• 12v / 24v compatible
• In-car charger to ensure you are never without power

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