DVD & Blu-ray review: Trevor Howard Collection (PG)

David Lean, Carol Reed, George More O'Ferrall, Roy Boulting, Herbert Wilcox DVD (486mins)

“Leave death to the professionals,” he memorably growled as Major Calloway in Carol Reed's The Third Man, quite possibly this country's finest film. The craggy, intense Trevor Howard also played the conflicted married man in David Lean's exquisite Brief Encounter, and both masterpieces are included here, along with Odette, Outcast of the Islands and Heart of the Matter (arguably the British actor's most accomplished performance). Howard once said, “I've been number two in films for donkey's years” – but what a number two, with his gruff presence always enhancing a picture.