The Small World Of Sammy Lee

Digitally restored for this release, The Small World Of Sammy Lee is a historical curiosity that's also a lot of fun and will make an interesting addition to any connection of British gangster films. It's accompanied here by two interviews and a tour of the various filming locations presented by film historian Richard Dacre. This latter feature is really one for the geeks - it's very detailed and packed full of historical information, but it's also likely to be too slow and repetitive to hold the interest of the casual viewer.

The interviews will appeal to a broader audience. Star Julia Foster reflects on what she learned from working on it and how that helped her later in her career, but also recalls how stressful it was to be on set, all the time, and how it emerged that her anxious state was deliberately maintained by director Mike Hodges in order to create the character he wanted. In retrospect, she's pleased with the result. Hodges, in his turn, recalls the project with enthusiasm and challenges easy ways of looking at it, going into detail about his aims and on set tactics.