DVD: The Proud Valley, For retail (Optimum classic)

Paul Robeson is at his charismatic best in this 1940s Ealing classic.

The actor/singer/political activist plays a man who braves an alien culture, a small coal-mining community in South Wales, to forge a kinship that transcends race and nationality amid the Depression. While his fellow actors can't match Robeson's brilliance, a spine-tingling rendition of "Deep River" lifts the pervasive sense of gloom – and, like Robeson himself, offers hope in the shape of indomitable spirit.