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SPOILER WARNING
The reviews on this page are typically of the type that
describe the plot in detail. So if you don't want to know then best avoid looking.
| Writer: Cliff Twemlow / Director: David Kent-Watson / Producers: David Kent-Watson, Cliff Twemlow | |
| Type: Crime Drama | Running Time: 73 mins |
| In Manchester a tough East End villain called Keller has moved into the area and is using his hired muscle to extort protection money from local night-clubs. The manager of The Zoo Disco, Murray Parks, is concerned his establishment will be next and he decides to hire a man called Steve Donovan (nicknamed "The Mancunian") to act as his doorman and club minder. Donovan has just come out of a six-month stretch in prison for violence and he has earned himself such a fearsome reputation that even Keller is wary of him.
Donovan is given a free-reign to keep order in the club by Murray and while working he meets and falls for a girl called Tracy and has an affair with her. While he is out with her for dinner Keller's men strike at the Zoo club and injure the assistant manager Chris whom Donovan is friends with. Donovan sees red and goes after Keller and his men killing indiscriminately any heavies who get in the way although in the end Keller's men themselves deal with their own boss in order to stop Donovan's mad rampage. Donovan then goes back to the Zoo club knowing he will be arrested and is looking at a long sentence which he knows he won't be able to handle - so when the armed police turn up he makes like he is about to shoot at them and gets himself killed. | |
| Starring: | Cliff Twemlow (as Steve Donovan), Anthony Shaeffer (as Murray Parks, Zoo Disco manager), Jane Cunliffe (as Tracy), Brett Sinclair (as Chris), Jerry Harris (Keller, villain) |
| Featuring: | Lenny Howarth (as Connor, Keller's heavy), Steve Powell (as Greg, Keller's heavy), Ian Keith (as Michael, Tracy's boyfriend) |
| Starlets: | Sharon Twemlow (Rosie), Amanda Ellis (Girl), Wendy Powell (Young Girl), Rosemary McCluire (Sue), Clara Bow (Waitress), Kim Munroe (Waitress) |
| NOTES: | |
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Brett Sinclair and Jane Cunliffe both receive "introducing" credits. |
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There was a topless love scene involving Cliff Twemlow and a woman he dreams about - There are several female credits whose character name/descriptions are not precise enough to determine who was who. Given the surname being the same then perhaps the woman in the scene was Sharon Twemlow who perhaps was Cliff Twenlow's real life wife (at a guess). She was credited as playing "Rosie" but there was no one who got called by that name. |
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As the film helpfully tells us in the opening credits GBH stands for "Grievous Bodily Harm". |
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There was a sequel film called Lethal Impact (1991) featuring the same character with Cliff Twemlow again starring (so presumably despite appearances he didn't die at the end of this film). |
| Writers: Jack Davies, Alvin Sargent / Director: Ronald Neame / Producer: Leo L. Fuchs | |
| Type: Crime Caper | Running Time: 104 mins |
| Harry Dean has styled himself as a society thief in order to carry out an audacious robbery from the world's richest man, Ahmad Shahbandar. Harry has teamed up with art dealer Emile Fournier who has financed the daring enterprise. Harry outlines his plan - they will recruit a showgirl he has spotted called Nicole Chang who will be instrumental in the plan's success. Information about the reclusive billionaire is sparse but magazine articles depict him as being a bit of a milksop who has never recovered from the death of his wife several years earlier and he dotes upon her image in the guise of a priceless bust of Burmese Empress Lissu which is over two thousand years old. Nicole is the spitting image of the late Mrs Shahbandar and Harry plans to exploit that likeness by beguiling Shahbandar with a tangible memory of his beloved. Harry calculates that Shahbandar's guard will drop as a result and the millionaire's priceless possessions will be at his mercy.
Harry manages to convince Nicole into playing along with his charade but he doesn't tell her the whole plan because she has made it clear she doesn't want to get involved in anything illegal. They fly to Damas in Syria where Shahbandar lives and book into the hotel he owns. Harry adopts a refined English accent and passes himself of as Sir Harry Dean and Nicole as his wife Lady Dean. Harry's plan involves Nicole being spotted and Shahbandar becoming intrigued enough to extend an invitation to them in his penthouse suite - then Harry will excuse himself and suggest Shahbandar show Nicole around the city leaving Harry free to return and get what he came for. However, Harry has grossly underestimated Shahbandar's intelligence and the slightly dopey public image he portrays belies the suspicious and clever mind that has allowed him to amass such a fortune. Shahbandar spots Lady Dean's uncanny resemblance to his late wife and immediately suspects some sort of confidence trick afoot. But Shahbandar feels secure enough in the electronic security precautions guarding his treasures that he decides to play along with the couple and see where it leads. Harry has to let Nicole in on the details of the whole plan and she is so angry that he lied to her that she nearly walks out on him. But during their time together she has grown fond of him and so agrees to cooperate. Shahbandar allows himself to be charmed by Lady Dean and take her out for dinner while Harry proceeds with whatever it is he has planned. Shahbandar cannot wait to see the look on Harry's face when he catches him red-handed and Harry realises he had been rumbled from the start. Harry stealthily breaks into Shahbandar's apartment and then employs a method he has devised to exploit a deficiency he has noticed in Shahbandar's electronic security measures. Nicole leaves the restaurant and joins Harry to help him. Harry quickly realises the displayed bust is a decoy copy and finds the real one behind a hidden alcove panel. The alarm goes off and next thing we see is the couple leaving the building. Shahbandar returns impressed that Harry has managed to steal his copy but is relaxed enough to allow his opponent that small victory. That is until he finds that it is the original that is missing and Harry has completely outsmarted him. He raises the alarm and news of the daring robbery hits the news headlines. Harry and Nicole flee to Hong Kong but Shahbandar lets it be known that his tentacles of influence reach a long way and he can make life very difficult for Harry. But because Harry beat him at his own game he is prepared to let the matter drop providing the bust is returned. Harry sends Shahbandar a message to say he didn't steal the bust at all and tells the billionaire where to find it hidden in the treasure room. Shahbandar recovers his prize possession and confirms it is the original but cannot fathom why Harry went to all that trouble and then not steal the bust at all. Harry meets back up with Emile and they tell Nicole the next stage of their plan. The whole operation was intended not to actually steal the bust but to create publicity that it had been stolen. Emile has made an exact replica of the bust which they now intend to sell to a private collector. No one will believe Shahbandar if he claims to have the original back because it will be assumed he has vainly had a copy made to try and recover some pride. But Nicole is appalled - she thought she knew Harry and thought they had fallen in love but now she finds out he is a swindler she decides she has had enough and walks out. Harry realises that she means more to him than money and so he picks up the bust forgery and smashes it and she is impressed enough by his gesture to remain. Harry apologises to Emile for scuttling their neatly worked out plan and making it all for nothing as he leaves arm-in-arm with Nicole. Emile appears downcast by the adverse development until they have gone and then he retrieves another copy of the bust he secretly made which he can now sell without having to split the proceeds with anyone. | |
| Comment: Early on in the film the viewer is gulled into believing Harry is actually carrying out the perfect hitch-free robbery plan on a highly gullible eccentric. Until we discover that what we have been watching was a depiction of Harry talking Emile through the plan as he perceived it would play out. But during the actual events things never go as smoothly and countless snags foul things up. | |
| Starring: | Michael Caine (as Harry Dean), Shirley MacLaine (as Nicole Chang), Herbert Lom (as Ahmad Shahbandar) |
| Featuring: | John Abbott (as Emile Fournier, Harry's cohort), Arnold Moss (as Abdul, Shahbandar's aide), Roger C. Carmel (as Hotel manager), Richard Angarola (as Colonel Salim, chief of police) |
| NOTES: | |
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From a story by Sidney Carroll |
| The Game Is Over (1966) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Jean Cau, Roger Vadim / Director: Roger Vadim / Producer: Marceau Cocinor | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 95 mins |
| A young Canadian woman called Renee is married to a much older French businessman called Alexandre Saccard and lives with him in their large Parisian mansion. Alexandre has a grown-up son called Maxime from a previous marriage who lives with them. Maxime is only a few years younger than his step-mother Renee and the two of them have a very close, fun-loving relationship more akin to an early-stage courting couple than mother and son. However they only engage in their play when Alexandre is away on business and whilst he is present in the house they are on their best behaviour and he suspects nothing.
Before long their relationship moves to the next level and they become lovers. Alexandre's frequent business trips give them ample opportunities to be free with their lovemaking and they even go away together on a holiday break as a couple. They express their love for one another but Renee is fearful that this idyllic situation cannot continue indefinitely. Renee confesses that she never really loved Alexandre and they both soon realised it was a mistake - but his pride and her personal fortune invested in his business has kept them together. Renee becomes careless and after returning from a business trip Alexandre starts to notice things that alert his suspicions that his wife and son have been carrying on. However he says nothing and allows them to continue to think he is oblivious to the situation. Alexandre arranges for the three of them to spend a weekend away at the country residence of a business acquaintance of his called Monsieur Sernet whose daughter Anne is a friend and former girlfriend of Maxime's. Renee has abandoned all caution and is willing to take outrageous risks to spend time with Maxime even though he feels slightly uneasy about so recklessly chancing discovery. By now Renee is deeply in love with Maxime and with him showing equal devotion to her she decides to finally tell Alexandre that she wants a divorce. Alexandre informs her that it would be impossible to immediately liquidate her personal assets from his business without ruining them both and it might take several years to return her capital and so she will have to wait until then. However if she waives all right to her money he will grant her an immediate divorce and pay her a reasonable alimony. Renee thinks it over and agrees to this - even though she is giving up a fortune to achieve a swift exit and clear the way for her future happiness with Maxime. Since the marriage was registered in Switzerland, Renee has to travel to Geneva to sign the divorce papers which will take a week to finalise. While she is away, Alexandre has an earnest talk with his son, telling him that his business is in some difficulties but that Maxime is in a position to help if he were to become engaged to his friend Anne, the daughter of the well-to-do Sernet family whose connections will make all the difference. Confronted with this emotional blackmail and unaware that his father knows of his affair with Renee, Maxime feels an obligation to help and in the space of the week that Renee is away the engagement is announced and a party held to mark the occasion. Renee returns home, now divorced, to be confronted by the news of her lover's engagement to another woman and she feels so broken that she contemplates suicide - but cannot go through with it and instead goes into a cataleptic shell of disbelief at how she has lost everything and gained nothing. | |
| Starring: | Jane Fonda (as Renee Saccard), Peter McEnery (as Maxime Saccard, step-son), Michel Piccoli (as Alexandre Saccard, husband) |
| Featuring: | Tina Aumont (as Anne Sernet [credited as Tina Marquand]), Jacques Monod (as Monsier Sernet, Anne's father), Ham Chau Luong (as Mr Chou, Maxime's Chinese friend), Howard Vernon (as Divorce Lawyer) |
| NOTES: | |
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Writing credits in full:- Modern adaptation by Jean Cau and Roger Vadim with the collaboration of Bernard Frechtman, dialogue by Jean Cau. Inspired by "La Curée" of Emile Zola. |
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This French/Italian film was made in both English and French language versions - most scenes had different takes (even those with no dialogue) and the level of nudity is probably a bit more revealing in the French version (going by some screenshots seen) although the English version does still contain some. The English version was the one reviewed here. This film is reviewed here because of the involvement of British actor Peter McEnery in the cast. |
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The French title is La Curée. "Curée" translates to a word like "quarry", "prey" or "booty". |
| The Games Girls Play (1974) | Previous Next |
| aka: The Bunny Caper; Sex Play | |
| Writers: James Brewer, Oppenheimer / Director: Jack Arnold / Producer: Peer J. Oppenheimer | |
| Type: Sex Comedy | Running Time: 87 mins |
| A sex-mad American teenager called Bunny is sent to an English finishing school by her father who is the US ambassador in Britain and gets herself involved in an international incident when she and her three English roommates make bets that they can sleep with some important men they have read about in the papers. | |
| Starring: | Christina Hart (as Bunny) and Drina Pavlovic, Jane Anthony, Jill Damas (as her roommates) |
| Featuring: | Erin Geraghty, Ed Bishop |
| Starlets: | Irene Peters, Bobby Sparrow, Caroline Whitaker |
| NOTES: | |
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"The Games Girls Play" is the title used at the start but is referred to as the "The Bunny Caper" in the end credits (which was the US title) |
| Writer/Director: Malcolm Leigh / Producer: Judith Smith | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: 89 mins |
| It is the 1920s and Lady Constance Chatterley and Mrs Joselyn Hill are two rival brothel Madames - they meet at a society garden party and both assert that their House is the best one. So they make an impetuous wager to pit the best girl of each brothel against one another in a competition. Lady Evelyn's nominee is her niece Constance Chatterley whilst Mrs Hill's selection is her own daughter Fanny. Together the contending Madames choose two of the most difficult-to-bed men they can think of to see how each others best girl can fare. The two girls are up for the challenge and Fanny is set the task of bedding Lady Evelyn's gay transvestite nephew Jonathan. She does this by pretending she is a man who has recently had a sex-change operation into a woman and manages to trick him into bed. Constance has to seduce an elderly Roman Catholic bishop which she manages by convincing him he needs to know what he's missing so that he can know the sins that his congregation commit.
With the first round a tie the Madames decide to select a man completely at random from a phone book and have both girls go after him to see who can bed him first. The name selected is Mr Lothran, a local wine merchant. Fanny contacts him via his business and takes him back to her place on the pretext of wanting him to stock her wine cellar; and Constance moves into the apartment next to his and introduces herself as a new neighbour. Both girls come close to success but each time when things get heated Mr Lothran makes a hasty panicky exit shouting out "not alone, not alone" which neither girl can understand. Determined to try again Fanny invites him to dinner but he asks if he can bring a guest and Fanny has to agree - and his guest turns out to be Constance. What Mr Lothran wanted was a threesome and he is quite happy to bed both girls together and turns out to be a insatiable stud of a man leaving both girls thoroughly exhausted. When Mr Lothran has departed the Madames quiz their girls on who was actually "first" but they both dreamily and happily claim that they both were - so the competition is declared a tie. | |
| Starring: | Joanna Lumley (as Fanny Hill), Penny Brahms (as Constance Chatterley), Diane Hart (as Mrs. Hill), Nan Munro (as Lady Evelyn), Richard Wattis (as Mr Lothran) |
| Featuring: | Jeremy Lloyd (as Jonathan Chatterley), John Gatrell (as the Bishop) |
| Familiar Faces: | Harold Bennett |
| Starlets: | Leda Felice, Barbara Lindley, June Palmer |
| Gates to Paradise (1968) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Jerzy Andrzejewski / Director: Andrzej Wajda / Executive Producer: Sam Waynberg | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 78 mins |
| The version of the film seen was dubbed into German with no subtitles so this summary is based on an impression of what was going on from the visuals alone combined with a few details gleaned from online sources.
Set in early 13th century France in medieval times. The story begins with a knight who has returned from the crusades after undergoing an epiphany which has inspired him to take up a monastic life. As a caring and devoted monk he considers it his duty to tend to the spiritual wellbeing of those he encounters on his travels. The monk crosses paths with a multitudinous group of pilgrims intent upon marching the many thousands of miles to Jerusalem. But these pilgrims are astonishingly all children. They are of all ages and are led by a serene teenage boy called Jakob whose vision of using their innocence to end the conflict has united hundreds to follow him on this common purpose. The monk finds their quest worthy and joins their cause to act as their spiritual adviser. And as the long march goes on he hears the confessions of some of the teenage children which helps to fill in the details of what went on before this great endeavour began and the things that brought it about. The monk hears the confession of Maud who has a secret love for Jakob and would do anything for him but despite her best efforts to interest him he appears stoically unsusceptible to her charms which upsets her. Robert's confession reveals that he secretly loves Maud and would do anything for her but she sees him as merely a good friend. Blanche too has an interest in Jakob but she is diverted to the lustful attentions of Alexis with whom she has a sexual encounter. Alexis is caught up in a situation he despises in which his adoptive father Count Ludovic displays improper affection towards him and generally likes the company of young boys. Alexis also has feelings for Jakob but he is angered when he discovers that the Count is carousing with Jakob and so he gets his own back by dallying with Blanche and letting the Count catch them together. When the Count falls off his horse into a river Alexis does nothing to save him and he drowns. He finds delight in telling Jakob that his lover is dead. Jakob loved the Count and in his honour he begins to recruit all the children in the land for the noble venture which had been the Count's own dream. After hearing all the revelations the monk finds himself appalled that so many of the partisans are not here because of religious devotion but because of unrequited or rejected desire. And even worse the inspiration for the endeavour was not borne by a vision from God, but from a questionable form of worldly love. For these reasons the monk knows it is doomed to fail and he tries to appeal to the children to turn around and go home. But the children pay him no heed and leave him behind as they continue towards far off Jerusalem. | |
| Starring: | Lionel Stander (as The Monk), Mathieu Carrière (as Alexis), Pauline Challoner (as Blanche), John Fordyce (as Jacob), Ferdy Mayne (as Count Ludovic) |
| Featuring: | Jenny Agutter (as Maud), Denis Gilmore (as Robert) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel Gates of Paradise by Jerzy Andrzejewski. English screenplay by Donald Kowarth. |
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The version reviewed carried the title Die Pforten des Paradieses and was dubbed into German. It lasted 78 minutes and might have been edited since IMDB indicates the English version lasts 89 minutes. |
| Genghis Khan (1965) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Clarke Reynolds, Beverley Cross / Director: Henry Levin / Producer: Irving Allen | |
| Type: Historical Drama | Running Time: 118 mins |
| In 12th century Asia, a great barren expanse of land is populated by the Mongol people. The Mongols are disposed into many rival tribes mostly ruled by ambitious chieftains hostile to one another. As a result the tribes are constantly at war trying to conquer or destroy their rivals. This instability has created a stagnant society in which political and social advancement has not come about, unlike their rich and powerful neighbours, China and Persia, who are quite content to let the Mongols go on fighting amongst themselves.
The nomadic Yestri tribe of Mongols are unlike others of their kind and its chieftain prefers peace. However when they cross the land of the warlike Merket tribe they are captured by its cruel and sadistic leader Jamuga. The Yestri leader is put to death and his young son Temujin is set to suffer the same fate until the Yestri holy man Geen intervenes and informs Jamuga that this boy has a destiny written in the stars and that to kill him would swiftly result in Jamuga's own death. Jamuga therefore stays his hand and instead keeps Temujin as his prisoner perpetually burdened with a bulky wooden yoke around his neck. Temujin has free run of the Merket camp but the heavy yoke makes his every move onerous preventing him from attempting escape. Years pass and Temujin becomes a man still Jamuga's prisoner. But he bears his burden with noble solemnity and comes to the attention of the tribal princess Bortei. She is impressed by his courteous dignity under hardship and extends a hand of friendship towards him when they happen to meet by a river in the forest. Jamuga arrives and he becomes furious that his lowly captive has dared converse with the woman he has chosen to be his future bride. Jamuga prepares to whip his helpless prisoner until Temujin goads him about how "brave" he is to thrash a chained man. In his furious state Jamuga rises to the challenge knowing he can easily best the weakened man. But as soon as Temujin is released from the yoke he launches a surprise attack on Jamuga and flees into the forest and evades recapture. Temujin is later joined by his wise adviser and holy man Geen and a loyal subject Sengal who both vow allegiance to him as the rightful ruler of their former tribe. They find a campsite on the flat vertex of a large hill and Temujin outlines his vision for the future. He envies the progress made by the rich nations neighbouring their barren land and knows that the Mongols could achieve such greatness too if only they could be united to a common purpose. Temujin believes that such an outcome is possible and thinks he is the man with the destiny to lead his people to greatness. They increase their numbers by liberating some Mongol prisoners from one of the Merket camps. They are of a different tribe to Temujin but their grateful leader Shan willingly joins him. Next they swell their numbers further by seizing a caravan of female Mongols on the road to Persia where they were to be sold as slaves. Next Temujin stealthily encroaches the Merket stronghold and kidnaps Princess Bortei. At first the princess is indignant at being seized but soon realises that Temujin is of a different mettle to the uncouth Jamuga of whom she was not fond. She falls in love with Temujin and becomes his woman and asks that her three brothers be sent for. Jamuga is enraged at the effrontery of having his future bride stolen from under his nose. He later manages to kidnap Bortei back and is triumphant for a time until Temujin launches a raid and rescues her. Temujin realises that his tribe is not yet strong enough in number to face Jamuga's army in an organised battle, so he decides they must stay out of their opponent's reach until they have raised an army. And so Temujin and his tribe begin a long journey east towards the rich land of China. The tribe trek east for many long months and some supporters question Temujin's wisdom at fleeing from danger - but Temujin seems to have a divine purpose so his leadership is ultimately respected. On the road they meet a Chinese diplomat called Kam Ling making his way back to Peking. Temujin offers Kam Ling every courtesy and agrees to escort him through dangerous territory. When they reach the magnificent Great Wall of China, Temujin is awestruck and does not understand how a nation capable of such achievements does not rule the world. Kam Ling regrets that his society is mired by complacency and is so inward-looking it has trouble ruling itself let alone others. Temujin and his men are granted entry into the citadel and are afforded an introduction to the emperor. The Emperor of China is a wanton man used to indulging his whims and he relishes the opportunity to meet a fighting man of intelligence. However Temujin soon discovers that the emperor has no intention of letting him leave. The emperor is relieved that the Mongols are disorganised and pose no threat to China and he has no desire to see the Mongol people unified according to Temujin's stated vision. Temujin is accorded freedom of the wall-bounded city but is denied permission to leave. Temujin knows they would be unable to break out of the city gates and so he decides he will bide his time and learn as much as he can about the accomplishments of this more advanced society such that one day that knowledge might be put to good use. As such Temujin soon becomes a trusted member of the emperor's inner clique able to offer useful strategic advice. Some time passes and then news comes through that the Chinese city of Hopei has been captured by Manchurians. The emperor is at a loss what to do because his people have lost their fighting spirit and he considers that maybe he should just write it off. But Temujin advises him that the city must be recaptured or others will realise that China is for the taking. Temujin offers to lead an army to retake Hopei. The emperor agrees on the condition that Bortei stays behind as a hostage to ensure Temujin returns. Bortei's three brothers are sent back into Mongol territory with Chinese gold to recruit the best fighting men available. They return with an army of the willing who are then trained according to Temujin's exacting standards and equipped with armour and swords supplied by the emperor. As Temujin and his new army approach the disputed city he discovers that his old adversary Jamuga has joined forces with the Manchurians and is leading the battle to defend their newly seized territory. Temujin employs superior tactics to draw the enemy into an ambush and defeats them. Jamuga is captured and brought back to Peking in chains and forced to wear a yoke just like the one he made Temujin wear those many years ago. The Emperor of China hails Temujin a hero for liberating Hopei and bestows upon him the title of Genghis Khan - the Prince of Conquerors. To round off the celebrations there is a firework display. Temujin is amazed by the power of the black powder used and cannot believe that the only application the Chinese have found for it is to create pretty light displays. He sees it as having military potential although he keeps that insight to himself for now. Temujin is not vindictive and offers Jamuga the opportunity to join forces with him in his ambition to unite the Mongol people. But Jamuga is intractable in his hatred for Temujin and will not even consider becoming subordinate to him. The Emperor still will not allow Temujin to leave China for he fears that the Mongol would one day return to conquer them. So Temujin resolves it is now time to escape and he and his men use the special black powder to blow off the city gates and flee. In the resulting melee Jamuga also gets away. Temujin and his army return to their homeland and he begins his plans to conquer the neighbouring lands. He sends Bortei's three brothers with suitable armies on separate campaigns - one to the South to conquer India, another East to China, and the third North into Russia. Meanwhile Temujin makes the move westwards towards Persia. Still Temujin hopes that Jamuga can be convinced to become part of his ever growing movement because the inclusion of the Merkets into their swelling ranks would be an important addition. But contrarily Jamuga is still working to impair Temujin's ambitions and has joined forces with the Shah of Khwarezm in Persia to stop Temujin in his tracks. The two armies meet on the battlefield but yet again Temujin's superior tactics and use of new gunpowder weapons routs the Merket and Persian forces. The survivors are shown mercy with the opportunity to join Temujin's army and most accept. Jamuga is captured and is again offered a high place in Temujin's council. But once again Jamuga's rage and pride make it impossible for him to ever submit to another's command. Instead he challenges Temujin to an ancient Mongol duel which Temujin is obliged to accept. The two men face each other, first on horseback, and then in hand-to-hand combat in a titanic struggle which it seems could go either way. Temujin is wounded but eventually betters Jamuga and kills him. However Temujin's wounds are severe and he knows he will die. He is glad that he lived long enough to know that his vision of a united Mongol nation has come about. He has three sons and appoints Bortei and her brothers to be their regents until they are old enough to rule. | |
| Comment: A closing narration tells us that the tide of history that Temujin, the Genghis Khan, set in motion continued into the next generation until the Mongol people had conquered Hungary, Egypt, India, and China where one of his grandsons become the great emperor Kublai Khan, founder of the Chinese Mongol dynasty. | |
| Starring: | Omar Sharif (as Temujin aka Genghis Khan), Stephen Boyd (as Jamuga, Merket leader), James Mason (as Kam Ling, Chinese diplomat), Francoise Dorleac (as Bortei, Temujin's wife), Michael Hordern (as Geen, wise and holy man), Robert Morley (as The Emperor of China), Telly Savalas (as Shan, Temujin's ally), Kenneth Cope (as Subodai, Bortei's eldest brother) |
| Featuring: | Eli Wallach (as The Shah of Khwarezm), Yvonne Mitchell (as Katke, Shah's woman), Roger Croucher (as Kassar, Bortei's brother), Don Borisenko (as Jebai, Bortei's brother), Woody Strode (as Sengal, mute warrior loyal to Temujin), Carlo Cura (as Temujin as a child) |
| Starlets: | Susanne Hsiao (as Chin Yu, Chinese emperor's daughter) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on an original story by Berkely Mather |
| George and Mildred (1980) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Dick Sharples / Director: Peter Frazer Jones / Producer: Roy Skeggs | |
| Type: Sitcom Spin-off | Running Time: 89 mins |
| Spin-off from the TV sitcom starring husband and wife George and Mildred Roper. George is a traffic warden who is happy and proud to be working class with no aspirations for anything better; Mildred does want something better but has, for whatever reason, ended up with George following a war time romance and has stuck by him ever since despite his lack of romance or ambition. She is always trying to achieve small victories over George's intransigence and George is always childishly gleeful if he manages to thwart her - although he is always wary of her sharp tongue if he steps too far out of line. Although on the surface they appear to be ill-suited they do have an unusual bond that keeps them together when other couples might have split up.
In this story the Ropers' wedding anniversary is approaching and George has forgotten. His last-minute arrangements prove disastrous and so Mildred insists that George take her to a swanky London hotel for a weekend break so they can properly celebrate with a second honeymoon. Meanwhile at the hotel they have chosen a nefarious character called Harry Pinto has hired a professional hitman to do away with a rival of his called Bridges. When the hitman is due to arrive Pinto sends his incompetent nephew Elvis to meet him in the underground carpark - but following a mix-up and a cross-purposes discussion, George is thought to be the hitman in question travelling incognito under an assumed identity. The real hitman has been killed already by one of Bridges' men called Harvey. But when Harvey sees Elvis greeting George he thinks he must have killed the wrong man and so he decides he must kill George as well to correct his mistake. Over the next day George narrowly escapes death many times at the hands of Harvey while remaining completely unaware that anything is amiss. Harvey becomes convinced that George is a super-professional whose bumbling manner is just a cunning front for a coolly efficient killer. By the time the Ropers are ready to leave Pinto has discovered his nephew's mistake and decides that George and Mildred must be eliminated because they may know too much - and Harvey is still trying to eliminate him. So as the Ropers drive home they are followed by both Harvey and Pinto's men separately determined to kill them until the two sets of criminals see one another and try to eliminate their rivals instead before crashing and being picked up by the police. The Ropers get home unaware of all the action and intrigue that has been going on around them all the while. | |
| Starring: | Yootha Joyce (as Mildred Roper), Brian Murphy (as George Roper) (also starring) Stratford Johns (as Harry Pinto), Kenneth Cope (as Harvey, Bridges hitman), David Barry (as Elvis, Pinto's nephew), Sue Bond (as Marlene, Pinto's girlfriend) |
| Featuring: | (TV series regulars) Norman Eshley (as Jeffrey Fourmile, Ropers' next door neighbour), Sheila Fearn (as Ann Fourmile, wife), Nicholas Bond-Owen (as Tristram Fourmile, their son) (others) Neil McCarthy (as Eddie, 2nd hitman), Dudley Sutton (as Jacko, biker), Garfield Morgan (as Bridges, Pinto's rival), Harry Fowler (as Fisher, Pinto's Russian henchman), Bruce Montague (as Spanish Businessman, Hotel guest), Michael Angelis (as Cafe Proprietor) |
| Starlets: | Suzanne Owens (as Hotel Croupier), Bridget Brice (as Hotel Receptionist), Caron Gardner (as Blonde girl in bed, cameo), Vicky Michelle (as Brunette Girl in bed, cameo) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the ITV sitcom which ran for 38 episodes over five series from 1976 to 1979. That series was itself a spin-off from the series Man About The House in which George and Mildred were supporting characters playing the main characters' landlords - that series ran for 39 episodes over six series from 1973 to 1976 and had its own feature film version Man About the House (1974). |
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All the parts were played by the same actors although the regular TV series supporting cast of Jeffrey and Ann Fourmile and their son Tristram (the next door neighbours) only played a small role in this film - being seen for a while at the start and then again near the end. |
| Georgy Girl (1966) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Margaret Forster, Peter Nichols / Director: Silvio Narizzano / Producers: Robert A. Goldston, Otto Plaschkes | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 94 mins |
| Georgina 'Georgy' Parkin is a dowdy girl in her early 20s with a low-opinion of her looks and always feeling overshadowed by her glamorous flatmate Meredith Montgomery who has a constant string of boyfriends after her. Georgy has a warm and lively personality and is great with children. She runs a children's dance class at the home of her father's rich employee James Leamington. Her father, Ted Parkin, had become James' live-in butler 22-years ago - he married soon after and his wife became James' housekeeper. Georgy was born after that and she grew up in James' large house which is still her second-home. James dotes on Georgy and has always treated her like a daughter.
James and his wife Ellen were never able to have children of their own and James, who is now 49, regrets not having an heir. Georgy is totally astonished when James puts a proposition to her that she become his mistress and he adopt any children that result - he has drawn up a contract to make it all above-board. Georgy doesn't commit herself but says she'll think about it finding it all a little strange since she mainly thinks of James as a second father. She doesn't mention it again and he never brings it up. Back at her flat Georgy finds herself drawn to Meredith's latest boyfriend Jos Jones. He is a somewhat zany character with a sense of surreal humour not unlike her own. Meredith treats Jos poorly but her stunning looks overcome her icy self-centred personality and he puts up with her offhand treatment of him. Jos is often kept waiting or stood up entirely when Merdith goes out forgetting he is coming round and Georgy and Jos have plenty of time to get to know one another. Their lively characters gel perfectly although Georgy always feels a sense of resentment when the selfish but beautiful Meredith returns and he immediately returns to her side. Meredith falls pregnant by Jos - but she is far from pleased and resents the inconvenience of it all which takes her away from her busy social life. Jos and Meredith get married for the forthcoming baby's sake but she takes little interest in planning for the baby's arrival and it is left to Georgy and Jos to make all the domestic preparations which they approach with an enthusiastic gusto. They spend so much time together that they realise they are themselves falling in love. After the baby girl is born Meredith feels such contempt for the baby which put her through so much agony that she wants it adopted away. Georgy is devastated by this news because she was so looking forward to helping bring her up - there is an angry and bitter exchange in which Meredith tells her that if she wants her so much then have her. Georgy is delighted to accept and soon after that Meredith leaves with a new boyfriend never to return. Georgy and Jos bring up the baby although they are unable to marry because he is still married to Jos. Georgy is in every way the perfect mother because she simply adores children. Jos eventually leaves her and Social Services begin to raise concerns about the baby's welfare since Georgy is not an official guardian and as a single woman unfit to adopt. After six-months of wrangling it seems as though the baby is going to be taken from her until she remembers James' offer which she never took up. Since making the offer James' wife Ellen has died and so Georgy approaches James and suggests some modifications to his proposed "arrangement" which he agrees to wholeheartedly - so they get married and adopt the baby girl who becomes James's new heir. | |
| Starring: | Lynn Redgrave (as Georgy Parkin), Alan Bates (as Jos Jones, Meredith's boyfriend), James Mason (as James Leamington), Charlotte Rampling (as Meredith Montgomery, Georgy's flatmate), Bill Owen (as Ted, Georgy's father, James' butler) |
| Featuring: | Clare Kelly (as Doris, Ted's wife), Rachel Kempson (as Ellen Leamington, James' wife), Denise Coffey (as Peg, Meredith's friend), Peggy Thorpe-Bates (as Hospital Sister), Dandy Nichols (as Hospital Nurse), Dorothy Alison (as Health Visitor) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel of the same name by Margaret Forster |
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Made in Black and White |
| Get Carter (1971) | Previous Next |
| Writer/Director: Mike Hodges / Producer: Michael Klinger | |
| Type: Thriller | Running Time: 106 mins |
| Jack Carter is an efficient, ruthless and always immaculately dressed hitman who works for a pair of London gangsters - the Fletcher brothers. When Carter's brother Frank is killed in a seeming accident up in Newcastle he travels up for the funeral. Frank was nothing like Jack and lived a simple life working in a pub and certain details of his death don't add up for Carter - his brother apparently crashed a car while driving drunk but Carter knows Frank did not drink that much.
Frank had a teenage daughter called Doreen and as Jack gets deeper into the case he discovers that his brother's death was mob related. Doreen had been persuaded to feature in a porn film made with mob money and Frank had found out and threatened to expose their activities to the police and so the mob bosses made sure he met with an "accident". Jack coldly and methodically sets about killing those involved in his niece's recruitment into porn and Frank's killers and makes sure the Newcastle mob boss Cyril Kinnear is arrested by the police for serious drug and porn related charges. Carter succeeds in his mission but then is killed himself by another professional hitman hired by Kinnear shortly before his arrest. | |
| Starring: | Michael Caine (as Jack Carter), Ian Hendry (as Eric Paice, works for Kinnear), John Osborne (as Cyril Kinnear, Newcastle crime boss) |
| Featuring: | Tony Beckley (as Peter, Fletcher Brothers' thug), George Sewell (as Con, Fletcher Brothers' thug), Geraldine Moffatt (as Glenda, Kinear's girlfriend), Dorothy White (as Margaret, prostitute girlfriend of Frank), Rosemarie Dunham (as Edna, Carter's landlady), Petra Markham (as Doreen, Carter's niece), Britt Ekland (as Anna, Gerald's wife, Carter's mistress), Alun Armstrong (as Keith, Frank's colleague), Bryan Mosley (as Cliff Brumby, shady Newcastle businessman), Glynn Edwards (as Albert Swift, porn business), Bernard Hepton (as Thorpe, works for Kinnear), Terence Rigby (as Gerald Fletcher, Carter's London boss), John Bindon (as Sid Fletcher, Carter's London boss) |
| Starlets: | Geraldine Sherman (as Girl in Café) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel Jack's Return Home by Ted Lewis |
| Get 'Em Off (1976) | Previous Next |
| Writer: (none listed) / Director: William G. Walters / Producer: Charles Gibson | |
| Type: Documentary | Running Time: 31 mins |
| A short film about strippers styled as a documentary. It begins with a brief overview of striptease and titillation down the ages from its possible ancient origins in Egypt to its accidental rebirth in 1920s American cabaret; and onwards to its evolution into the modern world of racy films and glamour models.
But the work of the live striptease artiste is the focus of this film and once the legitimising factual elements are done with, the main aim of the film is to exhibit a series of strippers performing their specially staged acts in front of the camera. A pair of off-screen male narrators interject with droll remarks when the fancy takes them and banter with one another about what is occurring on screen. They deconstruct some of the important elements of a striptease performance which has its own language of moves designed to tantalise and tease and every gesture the performer makes must tell a story and mean something. We also observe a choreographer teaching a new dancer the art of removing clothes in an elegant fashion. | |
| Featuring: | Kenneth MacLeod and Hugh Scully (as Narrators) |
| Starlets: | Anne, Alby, Chastity, Cher, Carmen, Anna, Linda, Coursetta |
| NOTES: | |
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The girls featured are credited with first names only. "Carmen" is probably Carmen Sinclair who also makes an appearance in another film about strippers called The Rise and Fall of Ivor Dickie (1977). |
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Research and Choreography by Kim Kinney |
| Writer: Evan Jones / Director: Peter Medak / Producer: Gareth Wigan | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: 89 mins |
| Set in the 17th century. Dick Scratcher is a cook on the pirate vessel of Arabian captain Ras Mohammed. When the captain decides to bury his treasure hoard on an island he brings Scratcher along to feed him while he works. But Scratcher is a reprobate seething with contempt who hates the captain and seizes the opportunity to kill him. Scratcher buries the body in the ground with the treasure after having drawn a map with some materials at hand. He returns to the ship alone claiming he is now the captain because only he knows were the treasure is buried. Ras Mohammed's second in command is a dashing buccaneer called Pierre Rodriguez who finds Scratcher contemptible but has to play along with the former cook lest the treasure be lost forever. Alone in his cabin Scratcher views the map only to find the ink has mysteriously vanished! And his own muddled mind has already forgotten the details of the location. Scratcher knows he can never tell anyone he has lost the secret or else he will be lynched. So he strings everyone along with promises that one day he will recover the treasure and give everyone their share.
Scratcher proves himself an incompetent seaman and navigator although he believes himself to be the very best. Pierre humours him while secretly doing the real navigating himself. They find themselves in Ireland where they meet a boy called Jeremiah who it is claimed is afflicted by the ability to see ghosts. Scratcher figures if Jeremiah has such a gift he can help him find the treasure by spotting the location of Ras Mohammed's ghost on the island. So Scratcher abducts the boy much to the disapproval of Pierre who takes a fatherly responsibility. Jeremiah soon adjusts to ship life and looks up to Pierre as his heroic idea of what a pirate captain should really be like. Scratcher has to admit to his shipmates that the map is useless but is confident in his new plan. They dock in Algiers where the monarch (known as the Bay) is angry to hear that his protégé Ras Mohammed is dead and the treasure is hidden. The Bay is the financial sponsor of the expedition of plunder and has a mind to have the crew executed. But Pierre convinces the Bay to free them and he will make sure they bring back the treasure. In the market place Scratcher meets an old comrade of his called Bill Bombay who has met with hard times. Bill once had a hoard of treasure which he hid on the same island and plans to go back and retrieve it one day. Some time passes while Scratcher tries to incompetently navigate them back to the treasure island. When they get there it is down to Pierre's discrete seamanship although Scratcher triumphantly takes all the credit. Scratcher sets Jeremiah to work ghost spotting. But Pierre has warned Jeremiah not to reveal the true location. So when the boy hears a mysterious drunken voice injudiciously proclaiming the position of some other treasure Jeremiah gives the captain that as a location. They dig up a treasure chest and take it back to the ship only to find that all it contains are worthless cannonballs. The voice Jeremiah had heard belonged to Bill Bombay who arrived on the island the night before with his friends, and now after sleeping off a hangover has decided to retrieve his own treasure. But he finds it has already been dug up and he realises that Scratcher is to blame. He angrily tries to board the pirate vessel and Scratcher orders that he be fired upon with the worthless cannonballs most of which fall harmlessly into the sea. When Bill Bombay at last calms down he tells Scratcher that those cannonballs were his treasure because they were made of solid silver - but now they are lost to the sea. So he demands a share of Scratcher's treasure. The crew split up to search. Jeremiah, Pierre and their shipmate Andullah sit under the only Juniper tree on the island pondering the situation when Jeremiah stumbles upon the fact that Juniper juice quickly fades. The map must therefore have been written with Juniper juice and so the treasure must be buried near here. They dig around and find it hoping to keep it a secret from the murderer Scratcher. But Scratcher spots them and he and Bill Bombay fight over who should have what. While the quarrelsome pair are arguing Pierre and the crew sneak away with the treasure and maroon the troublesome twosome on the island. Pierre assumes the captaincy and sets sail for Algiers to give the Bay his share of the treasure after which he plans to return Jeremiah to Ireland although the boy expresses his desire to stay onboard and become a full-time pirate as well. | |
| Comment: The dialogue suggests that fourteen years pass before they return to the island to retrieve the treasure although this doesn't pass scrutiny because the boy Jeremiah remains the same age. | |
| Starring: | Peter Sellers (as Dick Scratcher), Anthony Franciosa (as Pierre Rodriguez), Spike Milligan (as Bill Bombay), Richard Willis (as Jeremiah, young lad) |
| Featuring: | Clive Revill (as the Bay of Algiers), Thomas Baptiste (as Andullah, pirate), Rosemary Leach (as Kate, Jeremiah's mother), James Villiers (as Captain Parsley-Freck, British navy), Murray Melvin (as Hamidos, Parsley-Freck's second officer), Peter Boyle (as Ras Mohammed, murdered captain) |
| Starlets: | Vikki Richards (as Arab Girl, very brief non-speaking cameo) |
| NOTES: | |
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Additional dialogue by Spike Milligan, based on Ghost in the Noonday Sun by Sid Fleishman |
| Ghost Story (1974) | Previous Next |
| aka: Madhouse Mansion | |
| Writers: Philip Norman, Rosemary Sutcliff, Stephen Weeks / Director/Producer: Stephen Weeks | |
| Type: Ghost Story | Running Time: 85 mins |
| In the 1920s two young men called Talbot and Duller who attended the same university are travelling to a country house to meet up with McFayden who has invited them for a weekend away. The two guests are not entirely sure why they have been invited because none of them were special friends of any sort they just knew of each other. McFayden says he has borrowed the house for the weekend and has not been there yet himself. The house is a huge baronial hall and has remained unoccupied for many years. They make themselves at home and each find a bedroom to use. Not being well acquainted the evening's conversation is a bit laboured and Talbot retires to bed early and he notices a child's Victorian doll seated on a chair in his room.
When Talbot gets up the next morning he is surprised to find two women downstairs who are dressed rather old-fashionedly and in the middle of a conversation - they don't notice him as he hides away wondering who they are. The younger woman is called Sophy and appears concerned that someone called Robert is planning to send her away somewhere - the other woman seems to be her governess and is called Miss Rennie. Then Robert returns and tells Sophy the preparations are made and she will be off soon - she pleads with him but he is adamant she must go for it is unhealthy for her here. Later Robert talks alone with a doctor called Borden who has taken her away and has taken a two year advanced payment to keep her in a secure accommodation and it becomes clear that Robert is having Sophy committed. Suddenly as a door is closed Talbot's hiding place is revealed in full view of Robert but he goes unnoticed and Talbot realises that they cannot see him and he seems to be witnessing something that happened in the house years ago. Normality resumes and Talbot asks his companions if they were playing a rag on him - but they have no idea what he's talking about. That night he puts the creepy doll away in a cupboard but as soon as his back is turned it has unaccountably returned to its position on the chair. He picks it up again and it seems to pull him out of the mansion and into the woods leading him to an isolated building housing the "Borden's Insane Asylum". Talbot goes inside and witnesses more events from the past. Dr Borden's asylum is in severe financial difficulties and even Robert's two-year advance fee has not helped for long. Borden is keeping Sophy locked up in a cell treating her as a patient. We discover Sophy and Robert are siblings and they have an unhealthy mutual attraction towards each other and so Robert wanted her committed to take temptation away from him and the cash-strapped Borden agreed to take her in even though he knew her not to be insane. Now Borden is planning to burn the place down with residents inside to claim the insurance money and start again. Governess Miss Rennie arrives hoping to buy her beloved Sophy's release and while waiting in Borden's office she manages to opportunistically get hold of the cell keys and unlocks the doors looking for Sophy - but this allows the rest of the lunatics to also escape and take over the asylum carrying out a wicked revenge on Borden for his cruel treatment on them. Sophy returns home and if she wasn't mad before it seems her period of confinement in the asylum has now tipped her over the edge and she stabs her brother to death. Back in the real time, Duller has left because he has found the company all too boring and McFayden and Talbot decide to leave the next morning as well. Talbot wonders why he is being shown these events from the past but never gets any real answers for as he is ready to leave the doll springs out at him and strangles him to death. When McFayden cannot find him he makes a hasty exit in his car but as the film ends we see that the doll has stowed away in his packing case. THE END. | |
| Comment: A somewhat perplexing conclusion with no satisfactory explanations offered for some of the events which were really needed to round it off properly. | |
| Starring: | Larry Dann (as Talbot), Murray Melvin (as McFayden), Vivian Mackerell (as Duller, [a man]) |
| Featuring: | Marianne Faithfull (as Sophy Crickworth), Leigh Lawson (as Robert Crickworth), Anthony Bate (as Dr Borden), Penelope Keith (as Miss Rennie), Barbara Shelley (as Matron at Asylum) |
| Starlets: | Sally Grace (as Robert's girlfriend) |
| NOTES: | |
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The version reviewed carried the title of Madhouse Mansion which was an obvious overlay over the original title |
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Although Marianne Faithfull and Leigh Lawson are given top pre-title billing they are not really the stars of the movie - it is the three university friends who carry the movie |
| Writers: Robert Davidson, Robert Hampton / Director: Robert Hampton / Producer: Louis Mann | |
| Type: European / Chiller | Running Time: 95 mins |
| Set in Scotland in the year 1910. Dr John Hichcock suffers from a crippling disease that has left him bound to a wheelchair and unable to move his legs. But Hichcock thinks he has a means to cure his condition although only at great risk. Hichcock believes that the deadly paralysing poison called Curalee is powerful enough to stimulate his body back into activity. He has therefore hired a young physician called Dr Charles Livingstone to administer him by injection regular fatal doses of Curalee followed swiftly by its antidote in the hope and expectation that the violent convulsions his body undergoes will expunge the disease from his system and cure him.
Until that comes about he feels as if he is a living corpse who is of no use to anyone especially his young wife Margaret who cares for all his needs as would a nurse with devotion and without complaint. Hichcock has suspicions that his wife is carrying on with the young and handsome Dr Livingstone who lives on the premises in order to be nearby. But Hichcock cannot readily replace Livingstone because he was the only physician who dared to agree to practice Hichcock's radical cure technique on him. Hichcock only fully trusts his housekeeper Catherine who has been with him since before he married Margaret back when he was still fit and healthy nearly thirteen years ago. In fact, Margaret and Charles Livingstone ARE having an affair, which they pursue in secret. Margaret has grown to hate her useless husband and despises the need to feign dutiful concern. Hichcock is a rich man and Margaret wants what is his when he dies but is increasingly anxious that he may linger in his wasted state for many more years. Margaret begs her lover Charles to hasten her husband's passing for the sake of their future happiness together which can never be satisfactory whilst John still lives. Thusly when Hichcock's next treatment is due Dr Livingstone administers the deadly poison as usual, but then as John's body suffers its agonising death spasms, instead of applying the antidote he leaves the room to let events take their course. When sufficient time has elapsed he returns and confirms that there are no signs of life. As soon at the funeral has been held and the body is interred in the family crypt, Margaret and Charles enjoy the opportunity to live like a couple though they remain aware it would be unseemly if the affair were to become publicly known. So as far as the wider world is concerned Charles is her physician who has remained resident in order to help her over the trauma of her bereavement. Charles kept his fortune in money, valuable jewels and stock certificates locked in his safe. But the key is not in its usual place and despite a thorough search Margaret and Charles are unable to find it. The inscrutable housekeeper Catherine has had little to say about the death of her beloved master but has remained on to serve Mrs Htchcock. She suggests that the key may have been in the coat that Dr Hichcock was interred in. So in the dead of night Charles and Margaret enter the family crypt to check. Margaret finds the whole thing gruesome but Charles needs her there to hold the lamp. Hichcock's body has already deteriorated beyond recognition and Charles speculates the decomposition process may have been hastened by the poison. With relief they find the key and return to the house. As Charles is about to turn the key and open the safe Margaret is called out of the room by Catherine on a domestic matter which she quickly deals with. But when she returns Charles is looking ashen and shows her that the safe is completely empty! He then leaves to go on a hospital call taking his sturdy medical bag with him. Margaret becomes hysterical with anxiety. Somehow John must have anticipated what she would do and hidden all his valuables elsewhere - but they looked everywhere when searching for the key so where could they be? As her distress grows Margaret begins to see ghostly visions of her husband lurking in the shadows which seem so real. Charles thinks it must be her mind playing tricks on her. The valuables are still missing and Margaret is perplexed over how her virtually fully paralysed husband could have hidden them so proficiently. Then Catherine ventures to suggest that Dr Livingstone was briefly alone when he opened the safe and it is only his word that the safe was really found empty. He would have had time to empty the contents into his big medical bag. Margaret finds it hard to believe the man she loves could have done that but the suspicion has been planted. Then she seems to hear her husband's mocking laughter echo around the room. The echoing voice tells her to look again in the crypt. Overcoming her fears she goes alone and finds underneath the coffin a jewel box. In her desperation to prove Charles guiltless she cuts her hand trying to open the clasp and then when she opens the box it is empty - yet another infuriating dead end. When Charles returns Margaret's suspicions of him begin to gnaw away at her and Charles decides he has had enough and begins to pack his things. In his rush his medical bag tips over and out fall the missing valuables. Charles seems shocked and assures her he has no idea how they got in there but Margaret does not believe his denials and takes one of his scalpels and slashes at him with a mad ferocity until he is dead. When she recovers her composure she realises that she has killed the man she loves and is overcome with grief. She has nothing left to live for and so when she eyes her husband's poison bottles her thoughts turn suicidal. She pours herself a shot of the clear Curalee liquid in a gin glass but before she can pick the glass up to drink from it she finds herself strangely paralysed. Then from behind her a hidden door opens and out walks her husband John! He is alive and well and no longer crippled with his strength and vitality back in peak condition. He explains that his cure had worked and he was starting to get better but feigned continued paralysis when he discovered that she and Charles were having an affair. On the fateful night he replaced the poison with another potion that simulates death. A substitute dead body was buried and ever since Hichcock has been orchestrating events from secret passageways behind the walls to give the impression of the house being haunted. He had help from his faithful housekeeper Catherine who knew he was still alive and whenever necessary prodded Margaret in the right direction to keep her paranoia heightened. Charles was entirely innocent and the safe had indeed been empty and the valuables were later planted in his bag. John explains that he laced the clasp of the jewel box in the crypt with a mild dose of Curalee poison which entered her bloodstream when she cut her hand. So now she will know what it is like to be helpless and unable to move properly. John is in triumphant mood but there is a loose end to tie up. He tells Catherine to phone the police and then when she returns he thanks her for her help and then shoots her dead and presses the gun into Margaret's hand. He has set everything up so there will be no other witnesses and Margaret will get the blame for the murders. He knows that no one will believe the truth if she starts raving about her dead husband returning from the grave. By the time the police arrive he will be long gone with his valuables to start a new life. He notices the gin glass of clear liquid that Margaret set out before her paralysis took effect and decides to take a swig of the gin before he leaves. Margaret smiles wryly knowing what it really is as he downs it in one go. John realises too late it is not gin but neat Curalee and Margaret laughs at the sweet irony as John starts convulsing. With a final gasp effort he crawls out of the room into the secret passageway and closes the door. The police arrive to find Margaret laughing hysterically her mind descended into madness. We do not see John die and so his final fate is left uncertain. | |
| Starring: | Barbara Steele (as Margaret Hichcock), Peter Baldwin (as Dr Charles Livingstone), Leonard G. Elliot (as Dr John Hichcock), Harriet White (as Catherine Wood, housekeeper) |
| Featuring: | Charles Kechler (as Police Superintendent), Raoul H. Newman (as Canon Owens, priest), Reginald Price Anderson (as Albert Fisher, solicitor) |
| NOTES: | |
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This film is considered to be a kind of sequel to The Terror of Dr. Hichcock (1962). But beyond the name "Hichcock" there is no direct connection. In the first film, which is set about a decade earlier in England, Hichcock's name is "Charles" instead of "John". Barbara Steele is in both films as Hichcock's wife but with a different first name in each. |
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This was an Italian production which is reviewed here because of the starring role for British actress Barbara Steele and it being set in Britain. The version reviewed was the English version. |
| Writer: John Elder / Director: Freddie Francis / Producer: Kevin Francis | |
| Type: Chiller | Running Time: 84 mins |
| In the 1920s at a high society party a couple of the men with motor cars are encouraged by their lady friends to have a race to see who can get to Lands End first. Billy and Daphne go in one roadster and Geoffrey and Angela in the other. They are evenly matched until Geoffrey has to stop because Angela feels sick. Way out in the lead, but in the middle of nowhere, Billy and Daphne encounter thick moorland fog and then the car splutters to a halt when the petrol runs out. Daphne insists Billy venture out on foot with a canister to get some more fuel while she waits in the car.
Headstrong Daphne soon becomes impatient waiting and wanders off alone. She has an alarming encounter with a grubby yokel-type called Tom Rawlings and runs away from him in panic. She chances upon an elderly gentleman called Dr Lawrence who is out walking - he is charming and helpful and invites her back to his nearby secluded mansion to wait it out until the fog has lifted. Tom Rawlings turns out to work for Dr Lawrence as a groundsman and Dr Lawrence sends him out to look for her missing companion Billy. Tom soon finds Billy who has returned to the car and is sleeping as he waits for Daphne (who left a note saying she'd be back soon) - but Tom does not rouse him and instead proceeds to push the car with Billy inside over a steep incline to his death. Tom then returns to Dr Lawrence saying he found the car with a note in it from Billy saying that he'd decided to go home on the train. Dr Lawrence, who is complicit in this deception towards the unsuspecting Daphne, suggests to her that she therefore stay as his guest overnight. Dr Lawrence explains he was once a clergyman who travelled to India to investigate devout Buddhism but says he lost his faith amid all the degradation he discovered. He still feels mournful of his late wife and once had a son but says he no longer sees him. He employs an Indian housekeeper and (as we discover, but Daphne does not) she looks after someone or something that is kept locked away in an upstairs room. After Daphne retires to bed the housekeeper unlocks that upstairs door and a barefooted man with badly chafed skin comes out (we only see his feet) - he goes into Daphne's bedroom and brutally slays her with a ceremonial dagger before returning to his room. Her body is then taken to the kitchens where the housekeeper butchers it for meat and serves up a meal for the man in the locked room. Elsewhere, and the next day - Geoffrey and Angela who had long since given up the car race, are called by the police to identify the body of Billy (who is Angela's brother). Geoffrey is a resolute ex-army officer and he immediately sets out from the scene of the crash to search for the still-missing Daphne - although the police have all but given up on finding her alive (or even dead) amid all the treacherous marshland bogs in the area. Daphne waits for Geoffrey in the car but becomes bored and wanders off. She meets Tom and is captured by him and brought to the mansion where Dr Lawrence is angered by Tom's actions but decides she cannot now be allowed to leave because she would return with the police. She is kept locked in a bedroom awaiting her fate. Meanwhile the still-searching Geoffrey finds the mansion and stops to make enquiries about Daphne (unaware that Angela is now there as a prisoner). Dr Lawrence informs him that Daphne had indeed been with them overnight but left on the bus earlier that morning. Geoffrey is initially relieved and reassured by this good news and leaves but later becomes suspicious and forces a confession out of Tom. Geoffrey blunders back into the mansion in his forcefully authoritative manner determined to get to the bottom of the matter and save the day - he enters the locked room only to be immediately killed by the powerfully strong occupant. The occupant then enters Angela's room intending to kill her too for food but Dr Lawrence having decided that things have now gone just too far takes his pistol and shoots the killer dead. We see the attacker now and he is a bald-headed Buddhist monk with ravaged features. He was Dr Lawrence's son who was possessed by an evil Ghoul in India which turned him to cannibalism and whom Dr Lawrence has ever since reluctantly kept sustained with his horrific dietary needs in that locked room. Angela rushes out of the mansion to safety in terror at her ordeal and then Dr Lawrence turns the pistol on himself and commits suicide. | |
| Starring: | Peter Cushing (as Dr Lawrence), John Hurt (as Tom Rawling), Ian McCulloch (as Geoffrey), Alexandra Bastedo (as Angela), Veronica Carlson (as Daphne Wells-Hunter), Stewart Bevan (as Billy) |
| Featuring: | Gwen Watford (as Ayah, Indian housekeeper), Don Henderson (as The Ghoul), Dan Meaden (as Policeman) |
| NOTES: | |
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Don Henderson receives an "introducing" credits - although there is only one moment near the end when his face is actually seen (the rest of the time only his feet or arms are seen while he's walking around or attacking victims) |
| Writers: Ronald Duncan, Jack Cardiff / Director: Jack Cardiff / Producer: William Sassoon | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 87 mins |
| Rebecca is a young woman who leaves her marital home very early one morning, puts on her skin-tight black leathers and sets out on her Harley Davidson motorbike. We follow her as she makes the journey from her home in France towards Heidelberg in Germany. She has decided to leave her schoolteacher husband and along the way we are privy to her inner thoughts as she ruminates on the recent events in her life that have led her to this point.
While engaged to her husband Raymond she met a college lecturer called Daniel in her father's antiquarian bookshop and found him fascinating and subsequently had an affair with him. But she loved Raymond too and still wanted to marry him. Daniel accepted this and remained friends as he took her for a ride on his motorbike which she found a wonderful experience and got a taste for it. Daniel taught her to ride and then for a wedding present gave her the Harley Davidson she is now riding. She married Raymond two weeks ago but quickly realised she made a mistake and has become bored, craving for her lover Daniel once again. She finds the freedom and power of the motorbike a deeply empowering and almost sexual feeling of exhilaration as she races along in a reverie of growing excitement at the thought of soon being with her lover Daniel. She doesn't want to arrive too early and stops off along the way several times to have a roadside rest and also latterly at a café where she has several alcoholic drinks before continuing. She is so happy with anticipation she can barely contain her intense feelings of joy as she speeds along on the last legs of the journey having a narrow scrape or two which she manages to recover from. But she is a relatively novice rider on an over-powered machine and when she gets into heavier traffic her preoccupation with her inner thoughts and lack of proper concentration on the road cause her to fail to notice a hazard up ahead until it is too late and she crashes into the side of a lorry and is catapulted off the bike and into an oncoming car's front window where she is instantly killed. The End | |
| Starring: | Marianne Faithfull (as Rebecca), Alain Delon (as Daniel), Roger Mutton (as Raymond) |
| Featuring: | Marius Goring (as Rebecca's Father), Catherine Jourdan (as Catherine, Alpine holiday friend in flashback), Jean Leduc (as Jean, Catherine's partner) |
| NOTES: | |
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English and French language versions of this film were simultaneously filmed. The version reviewed was the English version. |
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Based on the novel La Motocyclette by André Pieyre de Mandiargues |
| Girl Stroke Boy (1971) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Caryl Brahms, Ned Sherrin / Director: Bob Kellett / Producer: Terry Glinwood, Ned Sherrin | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: approx 85 mins |
| Lettice and George Mason are a middle class couple who are expecting their 30-year old son Laurie home after a long period of estrangement. Lettice is a novelist and is very set on keeping up social appearances amongst her friends and George is a headmaster who indulges his wife's idiosyncrasies with a bemused forbearance. They are particularly pleased that Laurie is bringing home a girl called Jo, and Lettice is broad-minded enough to be unconcerned that she is known to be of West Indian origin - she is just happy he has a girl at all because up till now he has never had a partner and George cannot remember him ever having shown much of an interest in girls before.
When Laurie arrives Jo is introduced and Lettice is dumbstruck because although putting on superficial feminine graces she looks suspiciously like a man in dandy clothes. But Laurie continually talks of her in the feminine and appears oddly convinced about her gender and they seem to be a loving couple. Lettice was expecting other dinner guests to join them that evening but wishing to avoid social ruin she makes George turn them away at the door by pretending they have a communicable disease and are all in quarantine. Over dinner Lettice drops barely veiled questions commenting on areas of perceived masculinity to try and draw out some sort of confirmation of her suspicions but Jo's responses confound her with their vagueness. When the couple go out Lettice decides to search Jo's suitcase for some signs of feminine attire despite George's objections who is himself a bit unsure about the matter but says he's prepared to believe she's a girl if she says she is - but he indulges his wife's increasingly agitated persistence. Amongst Jo's belongings Lettice triumphantly finds a bible with an inscription "To Joseph, my beloved son" and confronted with this even George is prepared to surrender the slender benefit of the doubt he was allowing. When the couple return, Lettice and George broach the subject by means of a cryptic conversation about sex being best enjoyed with a member of the opposite sex and Laurie agrees but doesn't understand the point of them mentioning it and so infuriated with dilly-dallying around Lettice produces the "incriminating" bible and asks for an explanation and Jo confoundingly tells them she packed her brother's bible by mistake. Then Laurie drops a bombshell saying that the he and Jo were married the day before. Lettice is flabbergasted that the evidence of her eyes is so contradicted and remains inwardly sceptical but decides to put a brave face on it and in conversation with her equally doubtful friends she puts on a show of being 100% certain of her daughter-in-law's gender. | |
| Comment: The viewer's doubt is firmly on Lettice's side since Jo is played by an effeminate male actor but the real truth of her gender is never made 100% certain although presumably their ability to get married (back in 1971) must mean that she was a woman. At the end some doubt is reintroduced when Laurie says he needs to wash and shave and Jo says "me too!" | |
| Starring: | Joan Greenwood (as Lettice Mason), Michael Hordern (as George Mason), Clive Francis (as Laurie Mason), Peter Straker (as Jo Delaney) |
| Familiar Faces: | Patricia Routledge (as Lettice's friend), Rudolph Walker (as Jo's father) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the play Girl Friend by David Percival. |
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Peter Straker is credited simply as "Straker". |
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The version reviewed was missing the first few minutes hence the approximation of running time. |
| Girl with Green Eyes (1964) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Edna O'Brien / Director: Desmond Davis / Producer: Oscar Lewenstein | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: 88 mins |
| In Ireland in the 1960s Kate and Baba are two former convent girl friends who now room together in Dublin. Kate works in a grocers store and would like to meet someone more sophisticated than the type of lads with whom she usually socialises. While out on a jolly with a friend of theirs on a delivery run Kate and Baba have occasion to exchange a few words with the landowner Eugene Gaillard. He is an Englishman who has travelled widely in Africa and written a book about his experiences. Kate is intrigued by the man but worried he won't find her of much interest being half his age and not intellectual enough to hold her own with his type of conversation.
Nevertheless she seeks out his book in a shop and when she spots him around town she gets talking with him again and soon they meet up socially for a chat over some tea. He finds her an imponderable and is not sure he wants to get involved with a girl half his age but they go out on several dates. They soon become close and she starts spending nights with him although can never bring herself to consummate their relationship which frustrates him. He is married but separated and his wife lives in America. A poison pen letter back home alerts Kate's staunchly catholic father to her goings on with a married man and he drags her back home to the country insisting she never see this man again who is considered to be dangerous corrupting company with whom she is committing mortal sin. Kate does not consider herself wicked and as soon as she can heads back to Dublin. She and Eugene continue their affair and finally have sex. They get engaged pledging themselves to each other for as long as they are both happy. But as time wears on the novelty wears off for both of them and she becomes jealous of his wife to whom he is still married. When Eugene is considering flying over to the States to visit his wife and child Kate thinks this means he cannot love her anymore. She wants him to decide between them but he finds her behaviour childish. She walks out on him to see if he will come to get her back - but he does not and it becomes clear the relationship no longer works for him because she is no longer the imponderable he fell for and they have outgrown each other. So Kate moves on and goes with Baba to start a new life in London but now feeling more confident knowing she is a woman with a past and no longer a blank canvas. | |
| Starring: | Rita Tushingham (as Kate Brady), Peter Finch (as Eugene Gaillard), Lynn Redgrave (as Baba Brennan) |
| Featuring: | Maire Kean (as Josie Hannigan, Eugene's housekeeper), Arthur O'Sullivan (as James Brady, Kate's father), Julian Glover (as Malachi Sullivan, Eugene's friend), Yolande Turner (as Mary Maguire, friend of Eugene and Malachi), T.P. McKenna (as Father Warren, a Priest) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on Edna O'Brien's own novel entitled The Lonely Girl. |
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Made in Black and White. |
| Writer: Ernest Hotch / Director/Producer: Arne Mattsson | |
| Type: Drama / Thriller | Running Time: 103 mins |
| In Stockholm a young and attractive 14-year-old blonde schoolgirl called Pat approaches a much older man in the street during her lunch break and clumsily offers herself to him if he will pay her 300 crowns. He is a married man called John Berg and is rather taken aback by her offer and with a fatherly sort of concern he takes her up to his town apartment and gives her the money she wanted. She is a pleasantly personable girl and John gives her lunch and she becomes puzzled about when they are going to find time to have the sex before her lunchtime is over until she realises he has no intention of sleeping with her and is just hoping she will find the money useful and not need to try and sell her body again. He tells her that he has never had to pay for sex and has no intention of starting now. Pat refuses his money saying she doesn’t want his charity and leaves. But back at school she finds the money has been inserted into her text book and so she makes use of it.
John Berg is a 40-something lawyer and legal adviser for a real estate dealer called Graudenz who has gone missing amid rumours of a financial scandal and later on that same day a journalist called Bill Lindberg working for the Stockholm Evening News visits John at his office to ask some probing questions - the reporter thinks he is onto a story about Graudenz illegally taking vast amounts of Swedish currency out of the country. But John is tight-lipped and denies any knowledge of such a thing or the whereabouts of his employer. Back at home (not the apartment) John has nothing to hide and tells his wife Eva about the incident with the young girl. She wonders if it was wise to actually give her the money thinking she may get romantic ideas. What John doesn't know is that Eva has a young lover of her own - a taxi-driver in his early 20s called Hans. Next day Lindberg is following up on a smaller story of a military General's daughter who had been caught shoplifting a blouse worth 300 crowns but had no charges brought against her when it was later paid for. Lindberg implied in his article that the General brought his influence to bear. It turns out the General's daughter is the schoolgirl Pat and that is what she had needed the money for. She despises her father whom she thinks of as a professional killer, and a mother who is so rapt up in her committees and charities that she barely has time to say good morning to her. To annoy her parents and cause them embarrassment she tells the journalist that she paid for it herself and when quizzed at how she managed to get the money so soon after the theft she sardonically tells him she became a hooker in her lunch break meaning it to sound like a joke - and elaborates that he was a real man with a proper job, a lawyer, so if you need one she can put in a good word with Mr Berg for you. Lindberg's reporter's instincts light up at that throwaway line which reveals to him more truth in her words than she realised they would and wonders to himself if it could possibly be the same lawyer called Mr Berg he was talking to the day before in connection with his big Graudenz story - and if it turns out Berg is into young girls then that might enable some pressure to be brought to bear to get at the truth. Pat works part time in a café and manages to quickly save up some money. She visits John at his offices to repay his "loan" because she doesn't wish to be in debt to anyone. He tells her it wasn't necessary but perhaps she could use the money to buy him dinner instead. John tells his wife he is working late and he and Pat go to a restaurant. Afterwards they stop off at his town apartment - he thinks she should phone her parents but she says they don't care about her and asks to stay there tonight - she makes it clear to him he can have her if he wants and takes all her clothes off as she walks to the bedroom - and temptingly saying wouldn't he like a really young mistress. He starts to leave but then finds himself drawn to her and they begin a sexual relationship. Soon afterwards John is off to Italy on a business trip. The purpose of his visit is to surreptitiously take more money out of the country to his boss Graudenz who pays him a handsome commission. After the exchange he stays in Italy for a holiday and goes to a villa on a small secluded island he has rented and where Pat is waiting for him. She had flown out separately so they could be alone together for a holiday - there is no one else on the island and no telephone and the only visitor is a boatman who brings supplies every few days. They have a idyllic time together in romantic bliss. Back in Stockholm Pat has been reported missing and when Lindberg the reporter discovers that John Berg is also away on a business trip he wonders if there is a connection. He manages to track John down to the island and travels out with the boatman on his next supply trip and when he sees Pat IS there he knows he is onto something. He and John talk in private - what the reporter really wants is the exposure of Graudenz for his illegal money dealings - but implies the story of a lawyer and his underage girlfriend will make a nice second best if he can't make any progress with his first story. Pat is furious that this annoying little journalist is trying to break up their happy times and believes that SHE is the only reason for his journalistic interest knowing nothing of the financial scandal herself. She and John know they are safe as long as the reporter stays on the island since he has no means of communication or way of getting off until the boatman next arrives. They control the only other boat which they tell him is broken after John has removed the battery. Pat decides to deal with Lindberg herself and while John makes himself scarce she goes to the beach where Lindberg follows her and she seduces him into having sex with her - then on the ground with him on top of her she reaches to her sides and using two knives she had previously hidden she stabs him in the back to death. John burns his body and disposes of his belongings. John has strong pangs of guilt when he discovers Lindberg had a little girl to support but Pat says they had no choice - he was going to spoil everything for them. Back at home Eva is having problems with her relationship with Hans - he has become abusive and nasty to her and possessively refuses to let her break away when she says she wants to end it. They are using the apartment while John is away and Hans refuses to return his key to Eva. John and Pat return home to Stockholm. John goes home to his wife where he starts to have trouble sleeping. John tells Pat he has wrestled with his conscience and is going to come clean to the police and tell them what happened although he will keep her out of it - but she tells him the boatman will remember her - she suggests they spend another final night together in the apartment before he confesses. After he has gone to sleep she gets up and turns on the gas stove without ignition and leaves after clearing up all traces of her presence. Next morning Eva's abusive young lover Hans uses his key to enter the apartment thinking Eva is there and discovers John's dead body and turns off the gas and calls the police. But the police don't believe it was a discovered suicide - they question Hans about why he has a key to the apartment and say his fingerprints are everywhere and accuse him of murder. Hans says he has an alibi as he was with Eva assuming she will cover for him - but when Eva is called in she pointedly denies everything leaving Hans to his fate. Pat is later seen reading the story of the arrested taxi driver accused of murder and calmly carries on with her life as she returns to school. | |
| Starring: | Franco Nero (as John Berg), Clare Powney (as Pat), Bernice Stegers (as Eva Berg), Frank Brennan (as Lindberg, reporter) |
| Featuring: | Mark Robinson (as Hans Larsen, Eva's lover), Lenore Zann (as Viveka, the Berg's au-pair), Sam Cook (as Antonio the boatman), Clifford Rose (as General Carlsson, Pat's father), Rosie Jauckens (as Mrs Carlsson, Pat's mother), Derek Benfield (as Janitor), Sara Key (as Adriana, the mute maid) |
| Star-Turns: | Christopher Lee (as Peter Storm, detective) |
| NOTES: | |
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Clare Powney receives an "introducing" credit |
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The characters live in Sweden although they all talk in English, some with accents (such as Franco Nero), most with regular British voices - but it would seem that they are meant to be Swedish people rather than Brits living abroad and although speaking in English they are probably "in reality" meant to be talking Swedish. |
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Although Christopher Lee is quite highly billed (5th) he doesn't actually first appear until the final 6 minutes of the film playing a detective looking into John's suicide/murder and isn't really much of a role. |
| Girls Come First (1975) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Gordon Exelby, David Grant, Joseph McGrath / Director: Croisette Meubles / Producer: David Grant | |
| Type: Sex | Running Time: 43 mins |
| A men's magazine publisher wants to make his publication classier by including some erotic art. He offers the job to an artist called Alan Street whose girlfriend is a bit concerned about the nature of the work and the young attractive models he will be meeting. But Alan accepts the offer and moves into the publisher's studio flat to carry out the work which is held-up while various models throw themselves at him and he fairly readily obliges them. Eventually his girlfriend finds out but forgives him and they get married. | |
| Comment: A fairly insubstantial story which is probably most notable for having amongst the cast of naked starlets the soon to be famous punk-era singer Hazel O'Connor. | |
| Starring: | John Hamill (as Alan Street), Bill Kerr (as Hugh Jampton, publisher) |
| Featuring: | Sue Longhurst (as Sue, Alan's girlfriend), Burt Kwouk (as Jampton's chauffeur), Rikki Howard (as Miss Drysdale, Jampton's secretary) |
| Starlets: | Bobbie Sparrow, Cheryl Gilham, Hazel O'Connor, Heather Deeley (as the models) |
| NOTES: | |
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Rikki Howard receives an "introducing" credit. Hazel O'Connor is credited as Hazel Glyn. Burt Kwouk is credited as "Bert Kwouk". Heather Deeley is uncredited. |
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This film is a sequel story for the character first introduced in The Over-Amorous Artist (1974). John Hamill and Sue Longhurst reprised their roles. |
| aka: Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly | |
| Writer: Brian Comport (based on a play by Maisie Mosco) / Director: Freddie Francis / Producer: Ronald J. Kahn | |
| Type: Chiller | Running Time: 101 mins |
| Girly and Sonny are siblings in their teenage years but their general behaviour and worldly outlook is of fun-loving children half their age. They roam the parks playing and looking for men to befriend and take home with them to have more fun with. The men so chosen find the teenagers' childlike behaviour incongruous but are swayed by the innocent seductive potency of Girly's good looks as the pair of them wear down any objections and get the men to agree to come home for tea with them.
Home is a large house on a private estate where they live with Mumsy and Nanny who wait with eager anticipation for whatever new "friend" the children might bring home. Mumsy is a flawlessly neat bourgeoisie with a permanent cheery condescending air talking down to all as if they were naughty children and Nanny is her mollycoddling, good natured companion. But the cloying normality is underlayed with sinister intent and once a new "friend" arrives he is never allowed to leave - friends are made to play games with the children and told they must follow the rules. If they disobey or try to escape they will be put on trial and sent to the angels. Girly and Sonny meet a new man at the playground - he is with his girlfriend - but as they get the couple playing with them on the playground slides the teenagers conspire to push the girlfriend to her death while making the man think he did it. They help him back to their home telling him they will keep him safe and that he can't leave otherwise the police will find him. The man known only as "New Friend" finds the household bizarre as he is made to wear a school blazer and warned not to be naughty and that he must follow the rules and play the game. He is subjected to a barrage of pranks by the children whose energy and childish glee at their own antics seems boundless. And at night he discovers that Mumsy wants to play more grown-up sort of games with him. He sees what happens when another "friend" who tries to escape is hunted down and killed and realises he is in trouble. So New Friend decides to start playing the game his way. He gets Girly alone and seduces her, awakening her emerging sexual desire and then he starts dropping veiled hints to each of the women of the house that cause bitter jealousies to spring up between them. Only Sonny sees the game New Friend is playing but when he tells Girly she kills him in a sudden turn of violent rage. Nanny is disappointed in Mumsy and Girly for breaking the rules and becoming involved with a "friend" and sets about with murderous intent - but Girly deals with her. With only Mumsy and Girly left they agree on a pact that, with the onset of Girly's own burgeoning sexual awakening and needs, they will share New Friend between them on alternate days through the week. As we leave them New Friend remains a prisoner but perhaps he is turning things around to suit him or perhaps his situation has just become worse - it is left in the air as Girly sets out once more to find another new "friend" to bring home. | |
| Comment: This film was once thought to be lost but has now been rediscovered. It is a deceptively effective film that definitely deserves a wider recognition. | |
| Starring: | Michael Bryant (as New Friend), Vanessa Howard (as Girly), Howard Trevor (as Sonny), Ursula Howells (as Mumsy), Pat Heywood (as Nanny) |
| Featuring: | Michael Ripper |
| Starlets: | Imogen Hassall |
| Give Us Tomorrow (1978) | Previous Next |
| Writer/Director/Producer: Donovan Winter | |
| Type: Crime Drama | Running Time: 90 mins |
| Bank manager Martin Hammond arrives at work one morning and finds armed masked raiders waiting. Their accomplices are holding his family hostage in their home in order to force him to comply with their demands to open up the safe.
At the family home Mrs Hammond and her 16-year-old daughter Nicola, and younger son Jamie, are being held hostage by two masked men who burst in just as the children were getting ready to leave for school. Mrs Hammond shows her haughty and reckless disdain for the leader Ron as she openly criticises his outrageous actions accusing him of being envious of success and unwilling to earn it the normal way. Ron in his turn despises anyone who works for a living but takes her goading in reasonably good jest knowing she's no real threat as they wait for a phone call from their bank raiding accomplices to tell them the family can be released. Ron's cohort is a younger lad, barely a man, whom it transpires is only doing this for a bit of extra cash - he has been unable to get work since leaving school and has resorted to petty crime and this seemed a good way of making a quick stash. Schoolgirl daughter Nicola feels somewhat attracted to him and when he accompanies her upstairs to mind her when she needs the lavatory she openly flirts with him and goes to her bedroom to change out of her school clothes as he watches without objection from her. At the bank the raiders get away with the loot but not before killing a bank clerk who was going for an alarm button. Martin Hammond rushes home to be with his family. He tells the intruders that the raid is over and they can go but Ron is suspicious not understanding why his cohorts haven't called to confirm as planned - he suspects a trap (although there isn't one) and they remain in the house. But the police soon launch their investigations into the raid and are round at the Hammond house wanting to speak to Martin - and when he refuses to come out and speak to them properly they suspect something is wrong and the house is surrounded by an armed response team. Meanwhile Ron has been drinking some of the family's liquor and has become more aggressive and knows his situation is more serious now that a man has died to which they will be held as accessories. To really annoy Mrs Hammond he cruelly suggests that his young cohort goes upstairs and has his way with Nicola as it might be his last time for a while - Mrs Hammond is devastated that her young daughter is to be molested but secretly Nicola is rather pleased because she has fallen for the lad and doesn't find the idea at all repellent - they go upstairs and she loses her virginity to him willingly and declares she loves him and discovers that he is basically a nice lad who has just fallen in with the wrong crowd but is far from a hopeless case. With nothing to lose Ron negotiates with the police for a getaway car and taking the two female hostages with them the two criminals go to the car and start to drive off - but without warning a marksman kills the young lad and then Ron also gets shot and killed as he is trying to get back into the house. Nicola is left in the car with the dead lad she has fallen for, crying and vehemently complaining to the police accusing them of not giving him a chance. | |
| Starring: | Sylvia Syms (as Wendy Hammond, wife), James Kerry (as Martin Hammond, husband, bank manager), Derren Nesbitt (as Ron, hostage taker), Donna Evans (as Nicola Hammond, daughter), Alan Guy (as unnamed younger hostage taker), Matthew Haslett (as Jamie Hammond, young son) |
| Featuring: | Richard Shaw and Derek Ware (as Bank Raiders), Mark Elwes and Gene Foad (as Bank Staff), Victor Brooks, Derek Anders, Ken Barker and Chris Holroyd (as Police) |
| Starlets: | Carol Shaw (as Girl Driver, bank raider's accomplice) |
| NOTES: | |
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Donna Evans and Alan Guy both receive "introducing" credits. Alan Guy's character is never given a name and is called simply "The Boy" in the credits although he's a young man. |
| Go for a Take (1972) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Alan Hackney / Director: Harry Booth / Producer: Roy Simpson | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: 85 mins |
| Wilfred Stone and Jack Foster are a couple of chancers who are in debt to a local casino-owning hoodlum called Generous Jim - owing him £500 which gambling addict Jack lost . They are currently working as waiters and when they spot Jim and his gang of heavies waiting outside for them they make a hasty exit still in their waiters uniforms. Jim and his men give chase across London but eventually Wilf and Jack manage to give them the slip by hiding in a removal van. But then the van is closed up and drives away they are trapped inside and when it is reopens they find it was a props van that has driven into the backlot of Starwood Film Studios.
In their waiter's uniforms Wilf and Jack are mistaken for extras in a film and told to report to a soundstage for a banquet scene. Afterwards they get paid for this work and Jack thinks they have struck lucky and could stay and work here remaining safe from Jim. So the two friends begin working on a succession of different films to earn the money owed to Jim - during the nights they hide out on the sets and sleep on-site. When Jack finds out that the pay for working as a stuntman is ten times what they earn as extras he persuades Wilf to begin doing stunts so they can earn the money faster. Meanwhile Jack acts as his "manager" and at the same time tries to woo a young starlet by posing as a film producer able to offer her a part. A famous actress called Angel Montgomery is acting in a movie at the studio and is going to be wearing her own expensive diamond necklace for one of her scenes - this is reported in a newspaper article and Wilf and Jack decide that they could steal the necklace and claim the reward for later "finding" it. They devise a plan whereby Wilf will distract her with a stunt and Jack will grab the jewels mid-scene - and because she is supposed to scream during the scene anyway her cries of protest won't be heeded. However Generous Jim has also read the same newspaper report and is also planning on stealing the necklace. Wilf and Jack's plan works and they get the necklace and when Jim and his men arrive moments later with their guns to make the hold-up they find the jewels already taken - they spot Wilf and Jack and give chase. The two lads disguise themselves in drag and get away in an army vehicle being used for a film accompanied by a young girl called Tiger who appears in TV series being made at the studio. Once safe the lads decide they have gone too far with their robbery and let Tiger take the jewels back to the studio with the story that they had known of the imminent hold-up and had nabbed the jewels only to prevent Jim's gang getting them. Now outside the studios they still fear Jim's vengeance. They realise they enjoyed the filmmaking lifestyle but know they are unlikely to be let back into Starwood - and so as the story ends they find another film studio and blag their way in to resume their extra/stunt related work. | |
| Starring: | Reg Varney (as Wilfred Stone), Norman Rossington (as Jack Foster), Patrick Newell (as Generous Jim) |
| Featuring: | Sue Lloyd (as Angel Montgomery, famous actress), Julie Ege (as April, actress in Dracula film), Anouska Hempel (as Suzi Eckman, budding actress), Debbie Russ (as Tiger), David Lodge (as Graham, Jim's driver), Aubrey Morris (as Director) |
| Familiar Faces: | John Levene (as Assistant Director), Melvyn Hayes (as Ambulance man), Johnny Briggs (as Assistant Director), Bill Fraser (as TV Studio Gateman), Bob Todd (as Security Guard), John Clive (as Hotel waiter), David Prowse (as an Actor, uncredited speaking cameo) |
| Star-Turns: | Dennis Price (as Dracula, actor) |
| Starlets: | Penny Meredith (as Harem Girl, extra in a film) |
| NOTES: | |
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Original story by Harry Booth and Alan Hackney. |
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Dennis Price appears as "himself" playing an actor playing "Dracula". |
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One of the film sets featured is the red bus clubhouse set belonging to the TV series Here Come the Double Deckers which consisted of 17 episodes first broadcast in 1970. It's possible therefore that this film was made a few years earlier than first released for them to have considered including the Double Deckers references as a series that was supposedly currently in production. Only the very young girl "Tiger" appeared in the film and (from memory only) she seemed to be of a similar age to how she appeared in the series. Her role here is more than a mere cameo however and she features in two scenes including the climatic chase scene where she teams up with the leads. Debbie Russ remains in character as "Tiger" all the time (rather than an actress playing "Tiger") but also remains aware that she (and her clubhouse friends) are part of a TV series. This film's writer/director Harry Booth was also the creator and director of the Double Deckers TV series - and Roy Simpson was producer on both. Melvyn Hayes features in the film but not as his Double Deckers character. |
| Writers: David Bake, Steve Collins / Director: Steven Collins / Producers: Kenneth F. Rowles, Simon Brent | |
| Type: Adventure | Running Time: 27 mins |
| This was actually made as a British TV series for HTV in 1970. Thirteen episodes were made but they were never broadcast and now only this opening episode still exists. It was made on film on location in Spain. | |
| Pilot episode "Give Me A Ring Sometime"
Carol and her two friends Martine and Jackie are go-go dancers at a Spanish night-club. During a dancing break a Spanish man called Juan who says he is being followed asks Carol to urgently fetch an envelope from his hotel room which he says contains something worth a fortune. But when Carol returns with the envelope he has gone. She tells her boyfriend Adam who is the manager and DJ at the club and curiosity gets the better of them and they open it to find a map marking a location on a remote and uninhabited offshore island. They travel out to the island unaware that Rick the boatman is after the same treasure and has already done away with Juan. Eventually Adam and Carol discover a diamond ring at the indicated location and manage to overcome the efforts of Rick to appropriate it from them. | |
| Comment: It must have been intended that the three girls were the regular stars because they are named in the opening title sequence - although only Luan Peters is prominent in this episode with the other two featuring very little. Taking this episode in isolation the second lead is Simon Brent although he is billed as a guest star. Whether he appeared in any other episodes is not clear although he was the co-producer of the show so it's entirely possible. | |
| Starring: | Luan Peters (as Carol), Simon Brent (as Adam) |
| Featuring: | Susan Shifrin (as Jackie), Françoise Pascal (as Martine), George Margo (as Rick), Walter Randall (as Juan) |
| NOTES: | |
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Short animated sequences punctuate some of the action. |
| The Go-Between (1971) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Harold Pinter / Director: Joseph Losey / Producers: John Heyman, Norman Priggen | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 111 mins |
| Set in Norfolk in the early 1900s. For the summer holidays 12-year old schoolboy Leo Colston comes to stay at the country home of his best friend at school Marcus Maudsley. The Maudsleys are a wealthy upper-class family and their home is a grand mansion with a vast estate. Leo does not come from quite such a privileged background but he is nevertheless a well-spoken and politely mannered middle-class boy. Leo is quite taken by Marcus' beautiful older sister Marian upon whom he develops a crush. Marian is pleasant to him and does not mind his attentiveness - in fact she cultivates his friendship because it is a diversion from being with the other adults and having to spend too much time thinking about her courtship with Viscount Hugh Trimingham whom her family expect her to marry but which she is none too enthused about.
Marcus falls ill with measles and has to stay quarantined in his room for a time and so Leo is left without a playmate and goes ambling off on his own for long aimless walks. He comes upon a farm and meets the tenant farmer Ted Burgess, a powerfully built working-class man with a kindly manner whom Leo finds impressively charismatic. After establishing a rapport Burgess asks Leo if he wouldn't mind delivering Marian a letter and Leo agrees assuming it is some sort of business matter. When Leo hands Marian the letter she behaves very furtively and makes him promise not to tell anyone else about it. She gives Leo a reply which he takes back to Ted. Over the next couple of weeks Leo regularly passes messages between the two of them wondering what it could all be about because (being of a more innocent age) he doesn't really understanding the ways of grown-ups. Mrs Maudsley is growing suspicious of Marian's absences but Leo loyally covers for her supplying confirmation of innocent explanations when Marian calls upon him for affirmation of her activities. Leo finally realises that Marian and Ted are secret lovers although he remains unsure what that entails. The notes he is passing are for times when they can secretly rendezvous. Leo is hurt by this realisation because he feels it is unfair on Hugh whom Leo has found to be a nice chap. He refuses to continue to be the couple's secret postman and only carries on very reluctantly when Marian gets angry at him for his disloyalty. When Marian is late home for dinner one day because of a thunderstorm the family send a carriage to pick her up from where she had said she was going - but when it is reported back that she is not there Mrs Maudsley feels her worst suspicions confirmed and demands that Leo tell her what he knows. Leo has no choice but to lead Mrs Maudsley to an old abandoned farm building where he knows the lovers meet and Marian and Ted are caught in the throws of their lovemaking. | |
| Comment: The story ends at that point but in an epilogue set in the present day a grown-up Leo is visiting a now-elderly Marian. We discover that Marian did indeed end up marrying Hugh but was carrying Ted's baby - and Marian asks Leo if, because of his knowledge of what really happened all those years ago, he wouldn't mind doing her one last favour and tell her grown-up grandson the truth of his bloodline - about how her love for Ted was a beautiful one and he must not feel ashamed to be descended from such a gloriously loving union. | |
| Starring: | Dominic Guard (as Leo Colston), Julie Christie (as Marian Maudsley), Alan Bates (as Ted Burgess), Michael Gough and Margaret Leighton (as Mr and Mrs Maudsley, Marian's parents) |
| Featuring: | Edward Fox (as Hugh Trimingham, Marian's fiancé), Richard Gibson (as Marcus, Marian's brother, Leo's friend), Simon Hume-Kendall (as Denys, another son or family relation, small role), Amaryllis Garnet (as Kate, Marian's friend, small role) |
| Familiar Faces: | Roger Lloyd Pack (as Charles, family relation, cameo role) |
| Star-Turns: | Michael Redgrave (as Leo Colston, as an adult in present day, small role) |
| NOTES: | |
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Dominic Guard receives an "introducing" credit |
| Writers: Wilbur Smith, Stanley Price / Director: Peter Hunt / Producer: Michael Klinger | |
| Type: Thriller | Running Time: 119 mins |
| Set in South Africa in the present day at the Sonderditch Gold mine which is one of the richest in the world consisting of 500 miles of subterranean passages at various levels deep underground. When a deep-level blasting accident kills the mine's general site manager, the current underground manager Rod Slater is promoted to take his place. He is chosen for the job by the mine's managing director Manfred Steyner who is married to Teresa (Terry) Steyner, the granddaughter of the company chairman Hurry Hirschfeld. Steyner selected Slater above a more experienced candidate in a calculated move as part of a nefarious scheme he is secretly part of to destabilise the world's gold prices and provide a huge profit to a syndicate of businessman who intend to have their stock portfolios aligned to take full advantage when the "event" occurs.
Running alongside the Sonderditch mine is a huge underground ocean held back by a thick area of igneous rock called a dike. This is a well-known geological feature of the area and no blasting is undertaken in that direction. However the syndicate's plan involves deliberately blasting through to that intensely pressurised water thereby completely flooding all levels of the mine rendering it unworkable. This will cause a stock market crash on Sonderditch shares and a subsequent rise for unaffected mines. Steyner wants to use Slater's lesser experience to have him organise the work required to do this. To this end he has prepared two geological reports - the real one and another false report to give to Slater which indicates that the water only represents a hazard down to a certain depth below which is rock and a vast untapped vein of gold which the company wish to mine out. The blasting is expected to take about ten days of intense day and night shifts at one of the mine's lower levels to reach the edge of the dike and break through to the vein of gold (or water). Steyner tells him the haste is due to the need to be able to reach and confirm the new gold reserves and announce it to the stock market before the news leaks by other means. Slater is not a fool however and although he is convinced by the report's authenticity he decides to be careful and take the precaution of ordering the face of the shaft they are blasting to be laced with explosives so that in the event of a problem it can be detonated to seal it off from any uncontrolled ingress of water. Steyner did not expect this initiative and pays a corrupt miner to make sure the wires to these charges are cut ahead of the final day of blasting. Meanwhile Slater, who is also an inveterate ladies' man, has begun a clandestine affair with Steyner's wife Terry. Steyner finds out about it but does nothing to stop them because he decides it will be useful to have Slater otherwise occupied and well out of the way on the day the final blasting takes place lest he do something unexpectedly heroic and scupper the carefully laid plans. While Slater is off enjoying himself with Terry at her family's game reserve, news comes through that the mine has suffered a disaster when the drilling cracks through to the "unanticipated" mass of water creating an uncontrollable surge. The safety explosives wire has been cut as arranged and the mine starts to flood trapping thousands of men. The water is pouring down into the lower levels first but once it floods above the level of the ingress it will be impossible to stem the surge. Slater hears about the disaster on a radio and rushes back from his love-nest in double quick time and mounts a daring attempt to reach the flooding shaft and reconnect the wire. Together with tough mine worker King they struggle against the flow of incoming water in a dinghy and manage to re-establish the broken circuit. But there is insufficient time to return topside for a remote detonation and so King bravely sacrifices himself to explode the charges manually after cutting the protesting Slater adrift in the dinghy to be carried away to safety in the current. The explosion brings down enough rock to seal the water off, Slater survives, and the mine is saved and will be salvageable once the water has been pumped out. Steyner is killed by the syndicate for his bumbling of the operation and once his part in the scheme is exposed chairman Hurry Hirschfeld (who was not involved in the conspiracy) gives new lovers Slater and Terry his tacit blessing. | |
| Starring: | Roger Moore (as Rod Slater), Susannah York (as Teresa 'Terry' Steyner), Bradford Dillman (as Manfred Steyner, managing director, Terry's husband), Ray Milland (as Hurry Hirschfeld, chairman, Steyner's boss, Terry's grandfather) |
| Featuring: | John Gielgud (as Farrell, Syndicate leader in London), Tony Beckley (as Stephen Marais, Steyner's associate), Simon Sabela (as Big King, mineworker), Bernard Horsfall (as Dave Kowalski, corrupt miner) |
| Familiar Faces: | Patsy Kensit (Little girl, daughter of German Syndicate member, uncredited cameo) |
| Starlets: | Paddy Norval (as Slater's one-night stand) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel Gold Mine by Wilbur Smith |
| The Golden Lady (1979) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Joshua Sinclair / Director: José Larraz / Producers: Keith Cavelle, Paul Cowan | |
| Type: Thriller | Running Time: 90 mins |
| A lucrative oil concession is being sold by an Arab prince from the Emirate of Kubran and there are four international businessmen bidding for the rights. A German financier, a leading Greek shipbuilder, an American who heads a consortium of US companies, and an English tycoon called Charles Whitlock.
Whitlock has hired a private agency specialising in corporate espionage to investigate the dealings of the other three parties. The agency is run by Julia Hemingway and Whitlock tasks her with discovering any skeletons she can find in the other bidders' emotional closets by which Whitlock can gain an upper hand. Julia's agency is staffed by beautiful women operatives - her right hand woman is Lucy, computer expert and trained field agent; Dahlia, a mercenary specialist in all forms of mobile combat; and Carol whose good looks can get more information out of a man than most other methods. As Julia's people investigate the high-powered bidders it becomes increasingly clear that there is more going on than a simple oil deal. All four parties are playing for high stakes, and blackmail, kidnap and murder are all in the rules as they make and break deals and double-cross partners. Julia works out that the CIA and KGB are in the picture as well and dealing with the emirate is really to make sure the Persian gulf remains open. In the end Julia discovers a plot to kill the Kubran prince when he arrives in London to sign the deal but her operatives manage to foil the assassination plot. The prince signs with the Americans and Julia gets the prince's thanks and a considerable commission. | |
| Starring: | Christina World (as Julia Hemingway), June Chadwick (as Lucy), Suzanne Danielle (as Dahlia), Anika Pavel (as Carol) |
| Featuring: | Patrick Newell (as Charles Whitlock, English bidder), Stephen Chase (Max Rowlands, American bidder), Edward de Souza (as Yorgo Praxis, Greek bidder), Dave King (as Dietmar Schuster, German bidder), Richard Oldfield (Wayne Bentley, Schuster's boyfriend), Ava Cadell (as Anita, Praxis' girlfriend) |
| Familiar Faces: | Desmond Llewelyn |
| Starlets: | Nina Carter and Jilly Johnson (performing as Blonde on Blonde) |
| NOTES: | |
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Desmond Llewellyn makes a brief one-scene cameo as a boffin supplying some gadgetry to Julia's London-based agency. He is named as Professor Nixon, but a sly allusion is made regarding the actor's association with Q from the Bond films. When he has gone Julia asks her assistant "Haven't I met him somewhere before?" to which the assistant replies "Possible, I believe he is quite well known in his trade". |
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Christina World receives an "introducing" credit. Although under the name Ina Skriver she had appeared in several prior films including Take an Easy Ride (1976) and Emily (1977). |
| Writer: Brian Clemens / Director: Gordon Hessler / Producers: Charles H. Schneer, Ray Harryhausen | |
| Type: Fantasy / Adventure | Running Time: 100 mins |
| Set in the mystical past. Captain Sinbad and his crew are sailing in open seas when an unusual bird-like creature flies overhead as if spying on them. They fire an arrow and the bird accidentally drops a golden talisman it is carrying. Sinbad keeps it as a charm. Soon afterwards a storm sweeps them off course and towards Mirabia where they disembark and meet the country's beleaguered Vizier who recognises the talisman as being similar to one of his own. The pieces join together to form two-thirds of a larger amulet and when their shadow is cast upon a wall it displays a nautical chart showing the location of Lemuria - a mystical continent long submerged under the waves except for one remaining mountain peak still above the sea. Legend foretells that the bearer of the amulets will be granted immense power at this special place. The Vizier hires Sinbad to find the island and obtain the power for him so that he can reunite his kingdom. Sinbad and his crew set sail on their dangerous voyage taking along the Vizier.
But Sinbad is not the only one on the quest - his path is followed by the evil Prince Koura, practitioner of dark magic, whose spy-bird had dropped the first amulet accidentally into Sinbad's possession. Prince Koura is seeking the power to wrest control of Mirabia for himself - each time he uses his magic it weakens and ages him but he considers it a price worth paying to obtain the untold power that awaits him. Sinbad and his crew find Lemuria and discover an ancient temple where the Oracle of All Knowledge gives them further directions to the precise location of the third piece and from there the Fountain of Power where the pieces will be exchanged for the gifts of power. Prince Koura overhears the details and gets to the final location first and enthrals the cannibalistic natives with his powers by animating the stone statue of their six-armed goddess Kali. When Sinbad and co arrive they are taken prisoner and Sinbad is forced to fight Kali - Sinbad wins and when the statue shatters the third and final segment of the amulet is discovered. Prince Koura gets it first and escapes with all three pieces leaving Sinbad to contend with a Cyclops Minotaur. Prince Koura finds the Fountain of Power and achieves the first two gifts which reinvigorates his youth and make him invisible. With these advantages he fights with Sinbad but makes a fatal mistake by stepping into the fountain and betraying his invisible location enabling Sinbad to run him through with his sword. Sinbad collects the final amulet's gift of a crown of untold power but instead of wearing it himself he hands it to the Vizier so he can rule his kingdom properly as a Sultan. Sinbad has no wish of such powers himself as he knows that a king is never truly free. | |
| Starring: | John Phillip Law (as Sinbad), Tom Baker (as evil Prince Koura), Caroline Munro (as Margiana, slave girl), Kurt Christian (as Haroun, Hakim's son who travels with Sinbad) |
| Featuring: | Douglas Wilmer (as Vizier of Mirabia), Martin Shaw (as Rachid, sailor on Sinbad's vessel), Takis Emmanuel (as Achmed, Prince Koura's servant), Grégoire Aslan (as Hakim, Mirabian trader) |
| NOTES: | |
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Another Sinbad film from the same production team followed a few years later entitled Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) - none of the same characters appeared, except of course for Sinbad who was played instead by Patrick Wayne. Kurt Christian appeared again but as a different character. |
| Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Terence Rattigan / Director: Herbert Ross / Producer: Arthur P. Jacobs | |
| Type: Drama / Musical | Running Time: 130 mins |
| It is 1924 and Arthur Chipping is a schoolmaster in his early 50s who teaches Latin at Brookfield public school for boys. His formal approach to teaching reflects his generally dull personality which is not best suited for small-talk and idle chatter which make him feel very ill-at-ease.
An ex-pupil called Lord Johnny Longbridge, whose easygoing manner appreciated the academic efforts of Mr Chipping (or "Chips" as he calls him), invites him to the theatre to point out the woman in the cast he wants to marry. The production is a musical comedy called "Flossie From Fulham" and the woman is the lead actress Katherine Bridges. After the performance he is introduced to her as "Chips" and she decides to call him "Mr Chips". Mr Chipping is unintentionally tactless in his boorish critique of the play and makes a poor impression with her. It is clear that Katherine is not as happy with her life as she might, despite being a success and having many gentleman suitors vying for her attention - of which Johnny is just one. At the end of term Mr Chipping goes on holiday alone to Italy to look at the ruins of Pompeii. He unexpectedly meets Katherine who is also on holiday and in much better spirits away from the limelight. She finds Mr Chipping's awkward attempts at conversation delightfully charming and asks him to be her guide. Her gaiety keeps things ticking along and overcomes Mr Chipping's natural reluctance to engage and they spend the rest of the holiday together. It turns out that although Katherine loves performing she despises the showbiz glitz that accompanies it and wants a complete change. She can think of nothing she'd like better than to be a schoolmaster's wife and soon after they return home they become married. Katherine's arrival at the school creates quite a stir as no one thought Mr Chipping was the marrying sort especially to so attractive a woman. She proves popular with the boys and Mr Chipping mellows and becomes less-stuffy in his lessons. However one of the rich governors called Lord Sutterwick decides that Katherine's tartish background makes her of low-moral character and not suitable to have contact with the boys and he threatens to withdraw his funding unless Mr Chipping is dismissed. Katherine forestalls this by suggesting to the Lord that he has certain past indiscretions with a friend of hers in the acting fraternity that he would rather not be known about by his wife and he backs down - although she allows Mr Chipping to believe that it was his manly chat with the lord that did the trick. Time moves on fifteen years to 1939 as Britain faces imminent war. Mr Chipping is now the most senior schoolmaster and very popular with the pupils. Katherine has become a much-loved part of the school and helps the boys with their end of term revues. Their marriage is as strong as ever and they are still very much in love. Mr Chipping is almost certain to succeed the imminently retiring headmaster - but the now government minister Lord Sutterwick still holds a grudge and blocks his appointment in favour of a younger master called Baxter by promising to use his influence to ensure that Brookfield, with its proximity to London, is not requisitioned by the army. Mr Chipping feels very hurt by the snub and threatens to resign and is only persuaded to remain out of a sense of patriotic duty because with war coming schoolmasters will be hard to find. A few more years pass and the school carries on amid bombing raids and the threat of V-2 rockets which have everyone scurrying for cover when they are heard overhead on their way to London - some fall short as their fuel supply expires too soon and explosions are regularly heard in the medium distance. Katherine helps with the war effort by performing for the troops at a nearby RAF base to keep up morale. Mr Chipping is told that he is to be made headmaster because Mr Baxter has been appointed to a government education committee. He rushes to tell Katherine the good news but just misses her as she leaves to perform for the troops - he will have to wait till later to tell her. His lessons continue amid a particularly intense wave of V-2 rockets - one blast sounds particularly close from a prematurely falling missile. Not long afterwards an ARP warden delivers tragic news to Mr Chipping that the missile scored a direct hit on the RAF base where Katherine was performing and she is amongst the dead. Mr Chipping is devastated at his loss and never properly recovers and as soon as the war is over he decides to retire. His immense popularity with the boys earns him a rousing "three cheers" in his final assembly. | |
| Starring: | Peter O'Toole (as Arthur Chipping), Petula Clark (as Katherine Bridges) |
| Featuring: | Michael Redgrave (as The Headmaster), George Baker (as Lord Sutterwick, a school governor), Michael Culver (as Lord Johnny Longbridge, ex-pupil friend of Mr Chipping), Jack Hedley (as William Baxter, games master, later new headmaster), Siân Phillips (as Ursula Mossbank, luvee actress), Michael Bryant (as Max Staefel, schoolmaster) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel by James Hilton |
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The "musical" aspect is fairly low-key and it is mostly a straight drama. The songs are on an introspective level when characters are by themselves revealing their private thoughts and aspirations - they do not leave the narrative to unaccountably sing to each other or perform choreographed song-and-dance numbers. |
| The Gorgon (1964) | Previous Next |
| Writer: John Gilling / Director: Terence Fisher / Producer: Anthony Nelson Keys | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 80 mins |
| In the small German town of Vandorf in 1910 there have been a series of seven unsolved murders dating back over five years in which the victims have been literally turned to stone. The latest victim is a young woman called Sascha whose boyfriend Bruno Heitz is found hanged. The local police conclude that Bruno was responsible for the deaths and then hanged himself in a fit of remorse. However his father Professor Jules Heitz arrives determined to clear his son's name. He is an expert on mythology and is convinced that there is a link to the legend of the Gorgons. Legend has it that a Gorgon woman called Megaera was in this area 2000 years ago and he believes that her spirit has possessed a human host. The Gorgon sisters were hideous looking women with snakes in place of hair and anyone looking directly into their eyes would be turned to stone.
The town pathologist Dr Namaroff gives evidence at Sascha's inquest that suggests a conventional death and Professor Heitz finds the citizens are unwilling to discuss the matter which they clearly find unspeakable and he is met by a conspiracy of silence and told in no uncertain terms to leave. But Heitz persists and on a night of a full moon explores a nearby uninhabited castle. He catches a glimpse of the Gorgon and only very briefly looks into her eyes but that is enough to seal his fate. Because the glance was fleeting the Gorgonising effect is gradual and he has just enough time to write down his findings and send them in a letter to his other son Paul before he succumbs and is turned to stone. Paul Heitz works at a University for a Professor Karl Meister and he is given leave to go to Vandorf to sort out his father's affairs. Paul meets with Dr Namaroff who gives him a more conventional account of the manner of his father's death. Paul also meets Namaroff's nurse assistant Carla Hoffman whom he finds very attractive. Paul takes up his father's line of inquiry and at night during another full moon goes to the same castle - he too sees the Gorgon but only looks into her eyes via a reflection. Although it does not kill him he spends several days in a coma and when he awakes his hair has turned ashen. In hospital Carla cares for him and they become close and fall in love. Professor Meister arrives in town concerned about Paul's long absence and when he has been brought up to speed with the goings on he stays to help investigate the matter. Dr Namaroff's willingness to lie in court makes him the prime suspect and Meister believes he is hiding a secret and perhaps knowingly shielding the human host of the Gorgon. Attacks seem to take place only during the full moon and Meister concludes this is when the Gorgon must manifest. Meister and Paul consult the town's records and discover that Carla arrived there seven years ago. Meister breaks into Namaroff's office and discovers from her medical records that she suffered memory loss five years ago but was apparently cured soon afterwards. This coincides with the first unsolved murder and Meister wonders if Carla was really cured or whether Dr Namaroff is covering something up. Meister is convinced Carla is the unwitting human host of the Gorgon. It is the night of a full moon and Meister keeps Paul locked in his room for his own safety to prevent him meeting with Carla. But Paul escapes through the window and starts looking for her - he goes to the castle and encounters Dr Namaroff who has a sword and has clearly decided that he cannot cover for Carla/Megaera any longer and she must die. The two men fight and Dr Namaroff wins but then looks into the Gorgon's eyes and is killed. Paul knows not to look directly at the creature but in her presence finds a memorising force is compelling him to look at her. As as he does so Professor Meister comes up behind her with Namaroff's discarded sword and beheads the creature. But it is too late to save Paul who begins to turn to stone, living just long enough to see the detached head turn back into Carla's. | |
| Comment: The torch of "lead" protagonist passes several times in the film from Professor Heitz to Paul Heitz and then to Karl Meister. The Gorgon is not played by Barbara Shelley in makeup but by a different actress. | |
| Starring: | Christopher Lee (as Professor Karl Meister), Peter Cushing (as Dr Namaroff), Richard Pasco (as Paul Heitz), Barbara Shelley (as Carla Hoffman), Michael Goodliffe (as Professor Jules Heitz, father of Paul and Bruno) |
| Featuring: | Patrick Troughton (as Police Inspector Kanof), Jack Watson (as Hospital Orderly), Joseph O'Conor (as Coroner), Jeremy Longhurst (as Bruno Heitz, artist), Toni Gilpin (as Sascha Cass, first victim, Bruno's girlfriend), Prudence Hyman (as The Gorgon) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on an original story by J. Llewellyn Devine |
| Got It Made (1974) | Previous Next |
| aka: Sweet Virgin | |
| Writer/Director/Producer: James Kenelm Clarke / Co-Writer: Michael Robson / Co-Producer: Philip Meheux | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 82 mins |
| Tessa Carmichael is due to be married soon. She lives in a large family estate house in Norwich with her widowed mother Margaret and Aunt Olive. Tessa is 20-years-old and fiancé David is her first boyfriend introduced to her by her mother in the period following the death of Tessa's beloved father four years beforehand. Aunt Olive is busy, enthusiastically organising the preparations for the big wedding day that forthcoming weekend, but Tessa seems strangely unconcerned showing only mild, polite interest in the arrangements. She exhibits no real enthusiasm or excitement for what should be the happiest day of her life and mainly looks a bit sad and ambivalent about the forthcoming events as she watches the giant marquee being erected in their grounds. The other member of their household is an Austrian girl called Anna who is a semi-regular houseguest and best friend of Tessa although currently she is away.
Tessa meets David at lunchtime in town to attend a wedding ceremony rehearsal and she appears to genuinely like him but there seems to be no sign of unadulterated love between them. Afterwards he goes back to his work as a busy ambitious estate agent and she wanders around town and chances to meet a street musician called Mike who is from America. They get talking and she enjoys his easy going company - he seems to understand her as they chat for a while before she has to leave. Anna returns home and Tessa perks up a bit with her friend to talk to again. Anna is 10 years older than Tessa who probably has a bit of a hero-worship crush on her although there is never a suggestion of anything sexual. Both women are straight and Anna even admits to Tessa that she and David once went out together - before Tessa was old enough to care about such things. Tessa and Anna go out for the evening and come across a club where American Mike is playing - Tessa renews her acquaintance with him and they become friendlier. Mike listens to her concerns about how events are taking over her life and he tells her she needn't do anything she doesn't want to. He tells her she has got it made with her money, good looks and education - so what's stopping her? And she tells him it is other people and the expectations placed upon her. He tells her she should do only what she wants and go in the direction that most pleases her and makes her happy. Mike makes it all sound so easy but when she returns home and sees all the hard work and preparations that other people have put in on her behalf to make her big day as happy for her as possible she sinks to the ground and knows she can never pull out from the course of events now mapped out for her that she has become helplessly trapped into. | |
| Starring: | Lalla Ward (as Tessa Carmichael), Michael Latimer (as David, fiancé), Douglas Lambert (as Mike, musician), Katya Wyeth (as Anna, Austrian friend) |
| Featuring: | Fabia Drake (as Aunt Olive), Barbara Markham (as Margaret Carmichael, Tessa's mother), Michael Feast, Michael Lees |
| Story Format: John Junkin / Director: Doug Smith / Production: Kent Walwin, Tim Stone | |
| Type: Non-Fiction | Running Time: 52 mins |
| A video record of a live stage event in a Blackpool theatre of a strip dancing competition. Hosted by comedian Bernard Manning with assistance from a (pre-Hi-Di-Hi fame) Su Pollard who was there to pick up the strippers' discarded clothing after each round and banter with Manning.
The sixteen competitors were supposedly everyday girls although most of them were actually starlets who had a track-record of appearing in Sex-Comedy type films and/or models - (they were introduced on stage with their own names and were all listed in the end credits). The first round had two girls at a time stripping while dancing to music - some doing their own thing and others stripping cooperatively. The striptease dances ended with full nudity (not just topless) The audience were then asked to vote and the number was whittled down to eight semi-finalists who were interviewed "Miss World" style by Manning before they all did a mass strip all on stage at the same time. The audience voted again and the top three were announced in reverse order (each doing another solo strip). The winner was Lucienne Camille who received £500. | |
| Featuring: | Bernard Manning (Compère), Su Pollard (Hostess, [first name spelt "Sue" on credits]) |
| Starlets: | (The Competitors - in the order they first appear) Julia Rushford (a semi-finalist, 3rd place), "Linda" (uncredited and unknown), Lucienne Camille (a semi-finalist, overall winner), Christine Shaw (volunteering audience member), Gloria Brittain (a semi-finalist), Vicki Scott, Bobby Buckley (a semi-finalist), Loraine Lorelei, Jane Lucas (a semi-finalist, 2nd place), Diane Foster, Lisa Taylor, Shirley Knight (a semi-finalist), Rosalind Edwards (a semi-finalist), Veronica Plunkett, Nina West (a semi-finalist), Cheryl Gilham ([first name spelt as "Cherril" on credits]) |
| NOTES: | |
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Although there were 16 girls one of them is not actually credited at the end - she was introduced as "Linda" who danced first with Julia. |
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Someone called "Paula" was announced in the pairing with Lucienne but when she didn't come out Bernard Manning called for a member of the audience to volunteer to compete - and the girl who came forward was called "Christine" who is credited at the end as Christine Shaw - whether this was staged is not clear, but she seemed to know what she was doing and not at all shy. |
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Another film along the same lines was Mary Millington's World Striptease Extravaganza (1981) |
| Great Catherine (1968) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Hugh Leonard / Director: Gordon Flemyng / Producer: Jules Buck | |
| Type: Historical Drama | Running Time: 98 mins |
| Set in St Petersburg, Russia in 1776 during the reign of Catherine II, the empress of all Russia (known as Catherine The Great). Captain Charles Edstaston of the British Light Dragoons is in Russia visiting the British ambassador whose daughter Claire is his fiancée. During his visit he has been tasked to have an audience with the Empress to relate his firsthand account of the taking of Bunker Hill in the Americas in the British efforts to quell the rebellion there.
The unmarried Empress has an imperious reputation and her every whim is obeyed by her obedient servants. When Charles makes his initial visit he is horrified to discover that Catherine has taken a liking to his refined English sensibilities and wants to adopt him as a lover. Charles carries out his orders and gives the Empress a presentation on the tactics employed at Bunker Hill. Catherine listens with interest and they re-enact the battle with a model layout she has built which descends into tomfoolery and he worries at the familiarity she is showing him. Afterwards Charles fears for the safety of Claire if the Empress should feel his fiancée stood in the way of her desire for him. Charles attempts to leave the country with Claire with all due haste. But his carriage is stopped and given delivery of a royal summons to a Grand Ball he cannot refuse. At the lavish ball he dances with Claire and expresses his unflatteringly negative opinions about the Empresses behaviour which she unfortunately overhears. She appears to overlook it but later she has him trussed up and brought to a special boudoir chamber in the dungeons that she uses to trifle with her fancies. She toys with him mercilessly until he decides the best course is to play along with her and do what she wants. He portrays the humility she demands and performs the services she requires. Meanwhile Claire cannot find Charles and learns he has been taken to the dungeons to be tortured. She seeks him out and discovers him dallying with the Empress and she storms away vowing never to speak to him again. Catherine has now sated her lust for Charles and gives him leave to depart. Charles advises her to find herself a strong reliable husband to support her as she moves into the later stages of her life. Charles and Claire patch up their differences and they leave to an exuberant farewell as Catherine silently watches him depart from her bedroom window. | |
| Comment: Although the film uses historical characters it is not attempting to dramatise real events and the story is invented (as the opening caption admits). | |
| Starring: | Peter O'Toole (as Captain Charles Edstaston), Jeanne Moreau (as Empress Catherine), Zero Mostel (as Prince Patiomkin) |
| Featuring: | Angela Scoular (as Claire Gorse, Charles' fiancée), Kate O'Mara (as Varinka, Patiomkin's niece), Jack Hawkins (as Sir George Gorse, British Ambassador), Kenneth Griffith (as Naryshkin, Catherine's aide), Akim Tamiroff (as Prince's aide), Marie Lohr (as Dowager Lady Gorse, Sir George's wife), Marie Kean (as Princess Dashkoff, Catherine's lady-in-waiting) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on a play by Bernard Shaw |
| The Great McGonagall (1974) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Joseph McGrath, Spike Milligan / Director: Joseph McGrath / Producer: David Grant | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: 85 mins |
| Set in Dundee, Scotland in the 1890s. William McGonagall is an impoverished unemployed weaver living with his wife and two young children. He has lofty aspirations to become a great poet but unfortunately his ambition outweighs his talent although he does not realise this himself. His clanking sense of rhyme makes him an object of ridicule although a few find his published book of poems to be interesting.
After a recital some upper class fops think it a lark to treat him as if he were a genius and during this time he receives a letter from Queen Victoria herself inviting him to Balmoral to give a personal recitation. Unfortunately (although he doesn't know it), the fops are playing a practical joke on him. McGonagall embarks on an epic 60-mile walk to Balmoral which takes him several days as he endures the bitterly cold snowy conditions. During his journey he dreams of the grand reception he will receive and how the queen will make him poet laureate (the viewer is led to believe he has really arrived at Balmoral and that the dream is the real thing until it is revealed to be a dream). But when he really arrives at the gates of Balmoral he is turned away because he is not expected and has to walk back home again crestfallen after a completely wasted journey. He publishes an account of his epic journey which is received with some acclaim but he soon falls dangerously ill. He is visited by Lord Tennyson on behalf of Queen Victoria to apologise for him being turned away from Balmoral. He also gets a visit from a foreign native king who has become an admirer of his work and makes him poet laureate of the Andaman Islands. McGonagall dies of his fever soon after (and possibly the final turn of fortunes was just a deathbed dream). | |
| Comment: Unfortunately some of the dialogue is a bit unintelligible due to the thick Scottish accent that Spike Milligan adopts for his character. | |
| Starring: | Spike Milligan (as William McGonagall) |
| Featuring: | Julia Foster (as Mrs McGonagall, William's wife), Peter Sellers (as Queen Victoria) (other actors in small multiple roles) John Bluthal, Victor Spinetti, Valentine Dyall, Julian Chagrin, Clifton Jones, Charlie Atom |
| NOTES: | |
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This film is based on a true story |
| aka: Sewers of Gold | |
| Writers: Bernie Cooper, Francis Megahy / Director: Francis Megahy / Producer: Martin McKeand | |
| Type: Crime Caper | Running Time: 101 mins |
| The main events are set in the South of France in 1976. But leading up to that we see how the main character (called only "The Brain" in the credits) was an ex-soldier and right-wing political activist who joined a banned political protest group called OAS and made friends with another ex-soldier called Jean. The Brain spent some time in prison as a result of his early involvements and when he got out (in 1976) he rejoined his small outfit of extremist sympathisers and started to think of ways to help the cause they all believe in.
The Brain decides that the best way to contribute is to provide the party with a huge injection of funds and so he proposes to Jean that they attempt to rob the security deposit vault of a large bank. The Brain discovers that the underground vault of the Societe Generale is not internally alarmed because it is considered secure with external security and surrounding concrete walls over five feet thick. But the Brain realises that the vault runs near to the city's sewer and a group of determined specialists could tunnel their way from the sewers directly into the vault. The Brain plans the operation with military-like discipline and precision although he has to join forces with a local hoodlum called Rocco to gain access to some specialist cutting equipment. The gang spend the next several weeks patiently tunnelling, making slow but gradual progress each night. At last they are through and go in on a Friday night so they have a whole weekend to plunder the vault before the bank reopens on Monday. Their haul is one of the largest thefts ever and the police are under pressure to find the culprits. Eventually the police get a break and find and arrest The Brain. The Brain decides to tell all about how he planned the operation although refuses to give any names of the others involved. He is taken to the magistrate's office and he makes every show of cooperating as he relates his story - but it was a pre-planned contingency and before he can be stopped he jumps from the magistrate's first story window and makes his speedy escape on a waiting motorbike ridden by one of his uncaptured gang. The Brain is never recaptured and is thought to have gone to South America. Most of the stolen money was never recovered and The Brain is believed to have donated most of it to the funding of the political cause he believed in. | |
| Comment: The lead character (played by Ian McShane) is never given a name and although not referred to as such in the film he is credited at the end as "The Brain". Although set in France everyone including officials and shopkeepers speak unaccented English - so it must be assumed that the gang are all meant to be French citizens as well and not Brits abroad. | |
| Starring: | Ian McShane (as The Brain), Warren Clarke (as Jean), Stephen Greif (as Rocco) (other gang members) Christopher Malcolm, Nigel Humphreys, Eric Mason, Matthew Long, Alain Guano |
| Featuring: | Gary Waldhorn (as Ministry Official), Bernard Kay (as Commissaire of police), Bernice Stegers (as Woman Detective), Peter Birrell (as Senior Detective), Sheila Ruskin (as Bank Clerk), Arnold Diamond (as Town Hall insider) |
| Starlets: | Laraine Humphrys (as Girl at Villa), Deirdre Costello (as Tobacconist shop assistant), Carole Mowlam (as Jean's Wife), Gail Harrison (as Town Hall Clerk) |
| NOTES: | |
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The version reviewed was titled Sewers of Gold |
| Writer/Director: Julien Temple / Executive Producers: Jeremy Thomas, Don Boyd | |
| Type: Documentary / Music | Running Time: 100 mins |
| An apparent documentary which may or may not have elements of retrospective foresight. Sex Pistol's Manger Malcolm McClaren turns actor as he takes the viewer through the 10 essential steps of a "Master Plan" he followed to fool the rock n roll industry by creating a "band who couldn't play" and building up a such a groundswell buzz about them that record companies were clamouring to sign them even though they consistently behaved appallingly to the record companies and fans alike which (according to this) was a deliberate policy to perpetuate their notoriety. The film implies that Punk Rock sprung from this scam and was part of the master plan to create a generational divide.
It seems more likely that although documented events are clearly what actually occurred that a lot of those events just "happened" the way they did by fortuity and it is this film just giving a mischievous fictional retrospective spin of there being a carefully stage-managed plot to subvert a generation. As well as McLaren some of the Pistols take on acting roles in the film but overall the film seems to wander around aimlessly and seems to lose its way somewhat in the latter sections. It includes many full performances of the Sex Pistols in concert and some of the songs are actually quite good (although some of the tunes begin to sound a bit samey when heard in quick succession). It does not go into the inner workings of the group or their interpersonal relationships - I didn't gain any insight as to who actually wrote the songs which just seem to spring from nowhere. Because there are actors involved in some fictionalised scenes it is hard to know what to believe and is probably best taken as entirely fictional. | |
| Featuring: | (as themselves) Malcolm McLaren, Steve Jones, Sid Vicious, Paul Cook, Helen Wellington-Lloyd (credited as Helen of Troy) and Johnny Rotten (he appears in archive clips only) |
| Also: | (known actors appearing) Irene Handl (as Cinema Usherette), Liz Fraser (as Woman in Cinema), James Aubrey (as Record Executive), Mary Millington (as Mary, Steve Jones' girlfriend in cinema) |
| NOTES: | |
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The following people in the film are given "introducing" credits: Helen of Troy (McLaren's dwarf assistant), Tenpole-Tudor (Cinema Kiosk attendant), Alan Jones (Record Executive), Faye Hart (McLaren's secretary) |
| Writers: Frank Launder, Ivor Herbert / Directors: Frank Launder, Sidney Gilliat / Producer: Leslie Gilliat | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: 87 mins |
| A well-organised gang of villains pull off a daring train robbery stealing 2½ million pounds in banknotes. As part of their two-stage plan they hide the loot under the floorboards in a disused manor house where it will remain until the heat dies down and they can recover it as part of stage two.
Meanwhile a new minister of schools called Sir Horace Bradford is appointed and his put-upon civil servant staff fervently hope he will authorise the closure of the notorious girls school St Trinian's. However Sir Horace confounds them by not only refusing to close it down but authorising a large grant to allow the school to re-locate from its previous fire-damaged premises. The minister's unexpected munificence is because he is secretly having an affair with the school's headmistress Amber Spottiswood. She uses the grant to purchase a new premises which happens to be Hammmingwell Grange where the train robbers have stashed their cash. Weeks later when the criminals return to get their cash they discover the property now occupied by the schoolgirls and have to have a re-think on how to retrieve their money. The gang's leader Alfred Askett has two daughters whom he enrols at St Trinian's so that they can feed him inside information on when they can safely access the property. The daughters report that a parents' day is due soon and so the gang tender for the job as the event's caterers under cover of which they can recover the swag. On the day of the parents' day the caterer-disguised crooks recover their money and drive off to take it via a stolen branch line train to the coast. But the schoolgirls and their spiv friend Flash Harry figure out what is going on and give chase in a commandeered train of their own hoping for the reward. There follows a sequence of train chases and points switching involving the crooks, girls and police - at the end of which the crooks are captured and the St Trinian's girls are all awarded MBE's for their bravery. | |
| Starring: | Frankie Howerd (as Alfred Askett, head of robber gang), Dora Bryan (as Amber Spottiswood, St Trinian's headmistress), George Cole (as 'Flash' Harry Hackett) |
| Featuring: | (gang members) Reg Varney, Desmond Walter-Ellis, Arthur Mullard, Norman Mitchell and Stratford Johns (as Leader's Voice) (Ministry) Raymond Huntley (as Sir Horace Bradford, the Minister), Richard Wattis, Eric Barker, Godfrey Winn, George Benson, Michael Ripper (as Lift man) (St Trinian's teachers) Barbara Couper (deputy head), Elspeth Duxbury (Maths), Carole Ann Ford (English), Margaret Nolan (Art) (Others) Colin Gordon (as Insurance assessor), Maureen Crombie (as Marcia Askett, Alfred's elder daughter), Leon Thau (as Train station Porter) |
| Familiar Faces: | Terry Scott (as Policeman, cameo) |
| NOTES: | |
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This is the fourth and last of the original St Trinian's films. The previous three were:- The Belles of St. Trinian's (1954), Blue Murder at St. Trinian's (1957), The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's (1960). A belated fifth instalment followed:- The Wildcats of St. Trinian's (1980) |
| Gregory's Girl (1980) | Previous Next |
| Writer/Director: Bill Forsyth / Producers: Davina Belling, Clive Parsons | |
| Type: Romantic Comedy | Running Time: 87 mins |
| Gregory Underwood is a fourth form boy (so 15/16 years old) who is going through a growing spurt and has become so awkward and clumsy that his position as striker in the school football team is jeopardised. The sports master Mr Menzies decides the team needs a shake-up and switches Gregory to goal whilst he holds open trials for a new striker.
But the only talented newcomer turns out to be a girl called Dorothy who holds out for the right to play in the boys' team. Gregory becomes smitten by class-beauty Dorothy from afar but is too nervous to ask her out and only gets to talk to her about team matters - and she has plenty of other admirers who are not so inhibited - although Dorothy's focus is on her sport and does not really have time for proper boyfriends. Gregory's little sister Madeline is wise above her years and gives him sage advice on how to approach girls. And so after some penalty practice with Dorothy he plucks up the courage to ask her out and to his surprise she agrees without any fuss or hesitation. They arrange to meet in town later that evening. Gregory waits at the rendezvous point but Dorothy is late. Eventually a friend of hers called Carol turns up and tells him Dorothy is not coming but he can walk her to the chip shop if he likes. Once there Carol passes him onto another girl called Margo who makes a phone call and then asks him to walk with her and it will apparently be worth his while. Gregory is not sure what is going on and wonders if he's become victim to some prank as Margo takes him to another girl called Susan. She turns out to be the final port of call. Susan has long fancied Gregory from afar and has employed this convoluted method with help from her girlfriends (including Dorothy) to get Gregory out on a date. Gregory decides he may as well spend some time with Susan and they go for a stroll in the park and find they have a lot to talk about and really like each other. At the end of the evening Gregory has forgotten all about his obsession with Dorothy and is keen to go out with Susan again on a proper date. | |
| Starring: | John Gordon Sinclair (as Gregory Underwood, [credited as Gordon John Sinclair]), Dee Hepburn (as Dorothy), Clare Grogan (as Susan), Jake D'Arcy (as Phil Menzies, sportsmaster), Allison Forster (as Madeline, Gregory's 10-year-old sister) |
| Featuring: | Chic Murray (as Headmaster), Robert Buchanan (as Andy, schoolfriend), William Greenlees (as Steve, schoolfriend, likes cooking), Alan Love (as Eric, schoolfriend, photographer), Caroline Guthrie (as Carol, first girl), Carol Macartney (as Margo, second girl), Douglas Sannachan (as Billy, ex-pupil, now window cleaner) |
| NOTES: | |
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John Gordon Sinclair is credited as Gordon John Sinclair. His character surname of "Underwood" is never prominently mentioned in this film (if at all) but is used in the sequel film. This was a belated follow-up made in 1999 called Gregory's Two Girls in which Gregory has become a teacher at his old school. The only original cast member that returned was John Gordon Sinclair. |
| Writers: Jan Read, John C. Cooper / Director: Robert Day / Producer: John Croydon | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 75 mins |
| Set in England in 1880. James Rankin is a middle-aged novelist living a comfortable married life who has become intrigued by the story of a notorious serial killer dubbed the "Haymarket Strangler". The killer had plagued the area twenty years ago, strangling and stabbing young girls. He was finally caught on the identification testimony of a young cancan girl called Cora Seth who saw a one-armed man attack one of the victims. The blame was pinned on a one-armed man called Edward Styles who protested his innocence but the circumstantial evidence seemed overwhelming and he was hanged. And after that there were no more murders.
Now twenty years on, James Rankin believes there was an injustice done and Styles had been innocent. He investigates the archived police records and discovers inconsistencies. The surgeon's knife used to kill the victims was never found and a doctor called Dick Tennant who examined all the victims' bodies mysteriously had a mental breakdown after the execution and went missing after he had been taken to a psychiatric hospital. Rankin has a theory that the real killer craftily hid the knife in Styles' coffin where it would never be found, but he cannot get any support for his theory to reopen such a long-closed case. So with an obsessive determination Rankin digs up Styles' coffin in the dead of night and as he suspected finds a knife hidden inside. But as he holds the knife a strange transformation comes over him - his left arm becomes limp and useless and his face contorts into a twisted grimace - as if the spirit of the killer has inhabited his body and taken him over. In this deranged state Rankin returns to the cancan club and murders a young dancer - he is shrouded in a cape under which his useless arm is hidden. Cora still works there as a senior dancer and sees him again and screams in shock identifying to the police that it is the same man she saw two decades ago. The police are dumbfounded - if it's true and the wrong man was hanged then why has the real killer waited twenty years to strike again? Rankin recovers his senses and normal countenance and pieces together what has happened. Twenty years ago he had been a patient at the psychiatric hospital and his nurse fell in love with him and smuggled him out and they got married. They are still happily married - but he had no memory of who he was before that time and started his life anew as a writer. Now he realises the truth - HE was Dr Dick Tennant - and Tennant was the real murderer whose guilt at seeing an innocent man executed for his crimes must have caused his mental breakdown after hiding the knife in the condemned man's coffin - and this resulted in a suppression of all memory of Tennant's identity and deeds. And only the recovery of the knife released those memories and former state of mind - the true identity of the infamous serial killer Rankin has been trying to discover all this time is in fact himself! He tries to convince the police he is the killer -but they don't believe his preposterous story and suspect he is going round the bend with ludicrous false confessions brought about through the stress of his work. He is therefore locked up in a secure wing of the hospital for his own protection. He transforms again into Tennant and escapes believing that only by reburying the knife will he be free of Tennant's evil personality. But the police follow and his menacing wielding of the knife is misunderstood and he is shot dead on Edward Styles' grave. | |
| Starring: | Boris Karloff (as James Rankin), Elizabeth Allan (as Barbara, Rankin's wife), Diane Aubrey (as Lily, Rankin's daughter), Tim Turner (as Dr Kenneth McColl, Rankin's assistant, courting Lily), Anthony Dawson (as Superintendent. Burk), Jean Kent (as Cora Seth, cancan dancer) |
| Featuring: | Vera Day (as Pearl, young cancan dancer), Max Brimmell (as Newgate Prison guard), Leslie Perrins (as Newgate Prison Governor) |
| Starlets: | Jessica Cairns (as Asylum Maid), Dorothy Gordon (as Hannah, Rankin family maid) |
| NOTES: | |
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Made in Black and White |
| Groupie Girl (1970) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Derek Ford, Suzanne Mercer / Director: Derek Ford / Producer: Stanley Long | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 83 mins |
| A teenage girl called Sally is attending a pop concert in her sleepy home town. Bored with not being nearer London where everything is "happening" she has decided to run away. She has brought along her carry-case and some savings and is determined to get "in" with the band playing at the gig. She sneaks into their van and hides in the back until they are well on their way back to London. When she makes her presence known they allow her to travel with her and she gets especially friendly with one band member called Bob and becomes his girlfriend.
She has some fun times travelling around with Bob's band and begins to consider herself one of them. But at one gig a new groupie latches onto Bob and having grown tired of Sally he ditches her in favour of the new girl. Cast-out from her thought-to-be friends she accepts a lift to a party in the back of another band's van and at that party, eager to get in with another band and have more of the same experiences, she gets friendly with the lead singer, Steve. But he is hardened to groupies and is only interested in her for one thing and although she travels with them for a while when she gets too possessive of him he gets rid of her by passing her onto another group called Sweaty Betty in a most humiliating, degrading and terrifying way (see comments for a description of this scene). This action results in Steve and all his band being killed and Sally and the Sweaty Betty lads are all witnesses to their deaths. Sweaty Betty are worried that they might face prison for their part in it and their manager suggests they keep Sally safe and quiet in their group's manor house where she won't blab her mouth off to the press or police about what happened. The police arrive at the house to question and arrest the group but Sally stoned on a hash-candy cake has fallen into the cellar and fallen asleep thereby evading detection and arrest. She awakes the next day and finds the house unoccupied except for the group's songwriter Wes who was not with them earlier and has just arrived back. He is very sympathetic to Sally and sees her as a kindred spirit but strongly advises she get out of this groupie fixation - he tells her groupies are just there to be used and then thrown away and he treats her with kindness and respect with no sex involved. Over the day or so they are alone together in the house she feels a bond of friendship has developed between them. When the rest of Sweaty Betty return after the hearing in which the verdict on the death of Steve's group was given as accidental, Sweaty Betty's manager callously mistreats her knowing she can no longer cause them any difficulties and has her thrown out. When she turns to Wes for some back-up even he will not defend her and go against the will of his group. The only kindness he can show is to give her some money to hopefully pay for her train fare home (but all we see is her walking alone and sad down a road so we don't find out what she does next). | |
| Comment: A terrifyingly effective scene takes place when Sally is travelling with a group in their van down a motorway. She is under the impression she is the singer's girlfriend but he gets fed up with her and as another pop group are passing them in their own van they decide to let the other group have her - they manhandle her horizontally through the windows between vehicles while travelling at speed with no regard for her safety while she is screaming and terrified out of her mind at what is happening thinking she's about to die. The first group quickly get their comeuppance though for soon after Sally has been transferred across the distracted driver crashes the van into the back of a stationary lorry and they are all killed. | |
| Starring: | Esme Johns (as Sally) |
| Featuring: | Billy Boyle (as Wes), Donald Sumpter (as Steve), Richard Shaw (as Sweaty Betty's manager), Neil Hallett (as detective), Jimmie Edwardes (as Bob) |
| Star-Turns: | James Beck (from Dad's Army) |
| Starlets: | Flanagan, Eliza Terry, Belinda Caren, Jenny Nevison, Jeannette Thomsett, Katherine Kessler, Christine Wright, Linda Priest, Madeleine Collinson, Mary Collinson |
| NOTES: | |
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Esme Johns receives an "introducing" credit although this was the only acting job she ever seems to have done |
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The Collinson Twins appear as some uncredited groupies. |
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According to the Internet Movie Database, Jimmy Edwards (the famous comedy actor) appears in this (last checked Oct 2005) - but it is in fact a young actor called Jimmie Edwardes who is a member of one of the groups |
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The credits (cast and crew) are quite creatively all painted onto the side of a van which the camera follows during the opening title sequence. |
| The Guardian (1990) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Stephen Volk, Dan Greenburg, William Friedkin / Director: William Friedkin / Producer: Joe Wizan | |
| Type: American / Horror | Running Time: 92 mins |
| Set in Southern California. Prologue. Molly and Allan Sheridan get ready for an evening out leaving their baby daughter Leah in the care of their childminder Diana Julian who has lived with them for nearly a month and they trust completely. But when they return home, the baby and Diana have gone never to be seen again. Although we don't see Diana's face we do see her taking the baby into a forest where she holds it before a large ancient tree in offering - the baby is absorbed into the tree and the woman declares the current cycle complete. And so begins another... (end of prologue)
Three months later, Phil Sturden and his wife Kate move to Southern California where Phil has started a new job in the advertising industry. They rent a house in a rural canyon community near some woods. They settle in and make friends with their neighbour Ned Runcie who designed the house. Kate is pregnant and they soon have a baby boy whom they name Jake. Kate wants to continue with her work as an interior designer and so they decide to hire a live-in nanny. They contact a childcare agency called Guardian Angel and interview the applicants that are recommend to them. They meet Camilla Grandier who is from England and has an impressive CV listing families she has worked for previously and has impeccable credentials having once worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Baby Jake is currently two weeks old and Camilla stresses that the first four weeks of a baby's life are critical because this is when their baby cells change to become normal cells. Camilla is friendly and knowledgeable but Kate worries that she is a bit too attractive and might prove distracting to Phil, so they choose another applicant called Arlene Russell. But unfortunately Arlene has a fatal accident before she can start and so they decide to employ Camilla after all. Camilla proves to be a wonderful nanny and provides excellent care for Jake. She quickly gains their complete trust and they leave Jake in her charge each day while they are working. One day Camilla takes Jake out into the surrounding countryside for some fresh air. They relax in a secluded clearing with Camilla whispering mysteriously to baby Jake telling him his time is drawing near when soon his blood will be pure. Then suddenly they are set upon by three intimidating yobs who are clearly planning to rape and kill Camilla. Her first thought is to protect Jake and she runs into the forest carrying him. The jeering yobs chase as she leads them deeper and deeper into the forest until they catch up to her near a large tree. Believing they now have her helplessly in their power, they begin their assault and the leader toys with her sadistically by inflicting a knife wound to her midriff to savour her fear before they start enjoying her in other ways. Camilla is helpless until suddenly the tree responds to protect her by killing the three yobs with deadly lashes of its limbs and branches. The tree's spontaneous reaction does not surprise Camilla and it was clearly the reason she drew her attackers to this spot. Camilla returns to the family home with baby Jake and makes no mention of the incident as she bears her injury in silence. The Sturdens hold a dinner party and Camilla does the cooking and waitressing and the guests are all very impressed by her. Ned Runcie asks Camilla out on a date but she politely declines. Next evening Camilla has a night off saying she is going to town. When Ned discovers this he follows hoping to persuade her to spend time with him. He is surprised to see her divert off into the forest and he follows her curiously. Deep into the forest he sees her stop at a large tree, disrobe, and lie naked on a limb of the tree - and as he watches from a distance the tree branches begin to move caressing her body and healing her stomach wound. Some coyotes arrive below the tree but don't appear to be menacing her at all and instead seem to be showing her servile obedience. Then the wild animals catch Ned's scent and he has to run for his life. He gets back to his house but the snarling creatures start encircling his house looking for a way in. In complete panic he phones Phil's house and leaves an answering machine message warning them not to trust Camilla. Then he sees Camilla and she speaks in an otherworldly voice telling him he shouldn't have followed her as the coyotes attack and kill him. The coyotes drag his body away and Camilla uses some kind of magic powers to clean away his blood and any signs of a struggle. Phil gets a call from a woman called Molly Sheridan (from the prologue). She is trying to trace the woman who abducted her baby and in her investigations has found the same thing has happened to others before her. The link seems to be the Guardian Angel childcare agency and Molly thinks Phil's nanny could be the same woman responsible for all the other abductions. All seem to occur when the baby is about four weeks old which will be Jake's age in a few days. Phil cannot believe that Camilla could be a threat but as Molly describes her he starts to have doubts. Phil checks out Camilla's references and finds they are all bogus and the agency has no record of sending her to see them. Then he hears Ned's terrified phone message and knows something is wrong. He is not willing to take chances with his baby's safety, so he fires Camilla on the spot and tells her to leave immediately. Baby Jake turns sickly and Phil and Kate rush him to hospital. After some agonising waiting Jake pulls through his fever. Then Camilla turns up wanting to take Jake away claiming he is an eternal life form. Phil and Kate rush home with Jake and then find their house surrounded by savage coyotes. Kate keeps the animals diverted while Phil takes Jake away into the forest to safety. Then Kate gets into their car and drives into the forest to pick Phil up. Camilla chases Phil and begins exhibiting supernatural abilities as she soars after him through the air like a wraith. At the ancient tree she catches up with him and is about to pounce when Kate drives the car full speed into Camilla leaving her body twisted, broken and clearly dead. Phil looks at the trunk of the tree and sees the horrifying sight of babies' heads and bodies integrated into the tree like grotesque carvings. They instinctively know this was the fate of the other abducted babies and what was in store for their own son if Camilla had had her way. They report the incident to the police, but the officer finds it hard to believe their story and no trace of Camilla's body can be found. Phil and Kate decide to move away and start to pack up their things. But first, in an impulsive moment Phil decides to go into the forest with his chainsaw and fell the tree that so nearly took their boy. Alone in the house Kate is confronted by Camilla, still alive and now in her true supernatural form as the ancient tree's elemental guardian spirit. Every tree has such a guardian and most are aligned to goodness, but some embody powers of darkness and evil and require human sacrifices. Camilla's function is to provide her tree with a regular cycle of offerings from newborn babes whose blood has just become pure. Camilla demands Kate hand over Jake now his blood has turned pure and she follows Kate around the house with a relentless determination and uncanny strength as Kate tries to barricade herself away. Meanwhile Phil gets to the mammoth tree and begins his mechanical reprisal upon it. The tree responds by attacking Phil with its roots and branches but somehow Phil summons up the strength to resist and carry on. As he hacks into it with his chainsaw the tree spurts blood. Back in the house Camilla has Kate cornered when suddenly she feels the pain of the tree and doubles up in agony. As Phil lops off the tree's limbs so do Camilla's limbs detach and although Phil does not know of Kate's peril his actions are providing her with a chance. Kate takes advantage of Camilla's sudden impediment and pushes her out of the window where she disintegrates into dust and debris. The tree collapses and its menace is finally over. | |
| Starring: | Jenny Seagrove (as Camilla), Dwier Brown (as Phil), Carey Lowell (as Kate) |
| Featuring: | Brad Hall (as Ned Runcie, architect), Natalia Nogulich (as Molly Sheridan, prologue mother), Gary Swanson (as Allan Sheridan, prologue father), Pamela Brull (as Gail Krasno, Phil's employer), Theresa Randle (as Arlene Russell, nanny applicant), Xander Berkeley (as Detective) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel The Nanny by Dan Greenburg |
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This American film is reviewed her because of the starring role for British actress Jenny Seagrove. |
| Writer: Neville Smith / Director: Stephen Frears / Producer: Michael Medwin | |
| Type: Crime Drama | Running Time: 82 mins |
| Eddie Ginley is a compère working in a variety club in Liverpool who has an enthusiasm for American private detective novels and thinks he would like to try his hand at being be a Sam Spade like investigator himself. He puts an advert in a newspaper advertising his services and waits to see what response he gets.
He gets a call asking him to come to a gentlemen's club where a man who keeps his face hidden gives him a package containing a picture of a girl called Alison Wyatt, £1000, and a gun. It seems that his advert was misunderstood and it was thought he was a hitman and the job is to bump this young woman off. Naturally he has no intention of carrying it through so he meets Alison to warn her she is in danger and proceeds to investigate why she is a target. Eddie visits his sister-in-law Ellen with whom he once had a relationship himself before she married his brother William. The two brothers do not get on - William is now a successful exporter who sends gardening equipment to Mozambique and considers Eddie to be an unambitious failure. William objects most strongly to Eddie's newspaper advert because he considers it brings the Ginley name into disrepute and demands that Eddie discontinue it. When Eddie refuses William responds by having him made persona non-gratis at his variety club which results in Eddie getting the sack. Eddie also finds himself being warned off by a real hitman called John Staker who dislikes what he sees as his "business" being poached. As things progress Alison is kidnapped and Eddie's investigations lead him to discover that his brother William and his export company are involved in the whole affair. William's company is a cover for a drugs and gun running operation and the kidnap of Alison is an attempt to put pressure on her father who is a South African. William works alongside a woman called Mrs Blankerscoon who thinks nothing of having people killed if they prove troublesome or stop being useful. Eddie discovers where Alison is being held and flushes the villains out of hiding with a fire. His brother and Mrs Blankerscoon offer him a slice of their business but Eddie declines and calls in the police. | |
| Starring: | Albert Finney (as Eddie Ginley), Billie Whitelaw (as Ellen, Eddie's sister-in-law, William's wife), Frank Finlay (as William, Ellen's husband, Eddie's brother) |
| Featuring: | Janice Rule (as Mrs Blankerscoon, American businesswoman), Carolyn Seymour (as Alison Wyatt, target), Fulton Mackay (as John Straker, hitman), Billy Dean (as Tommy, manager of Broadway Club) |
| Familiar Faces: | Wendy Richard (as Anne Scott, Mrs Blankerscoon secretary), Maureen Lipman (as Naomi, shopgirl at a bookshop), Ken Jones (as Labour Exchange Clerk) |
| Writers: R. Prawer Jhabvala, James Ivory / Director: James Ivory / Producer: Ismail Merchant | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 111 mins |
| Tom Pickle is a world famous British pop star who has come to Bombay, India to learn the sitar under the guidance of a maestro of the instrument called Ustal Zafar Khan. Tom's superstar status ensures much publicity and his adoring fans gather to see him arrive. Ustal feels very proud to have been chosen to teach this famous Western idol. Ustal's other pupil is an English girl called Jenny who is totally in awe of him as a Guru whom she hopes will teach her his overall philosophy of life.
Tom proves to be a competent sitar pupil but it soon becomes apparent that he has no interest in embracing the inner philosophy of peace and harmony that the Guru says is necessary to really play the instrument properly. It takes many years to learn it and without a true understanding of the Eastern culture one can only get so far. Tom's fame brings with it too many pressures on his time to be able to fully immerse himself in the Indian culture and way of life as the Guru expects. The Guru anticipates obedience from his pupils and a willingness to follow his directions in all things, but Tom still feels the need to fulfil personal appearance commitments which the Guru disapproves of and finds gaudy. Jenny has the right attitude of devotion, but Tom is unwilling to surrender so much of his individuality and free-mindedness. The two men realise that they will never be able to reconcile their different expectations of this relationship. The Guru was looking for a disciple, but Tom just wanted a music teacher. So when Tom has reached a certain level of musical competence and realises that he can improve no further he decides it is time to leave. Tom and Jenny had become friends during his stay and she cannot decide whether to stay or leave - she has no ties and nothing to go back to, so Tom suggests they marry. She accepts and returns with him to England. They leave on good terms with the Guru who despite the difficulties faced is still sad to see them go. | |
| Starring: | Michael York (as Tom Pickle), Rita Tushingham (as Jenny), Utpal Dutt (as Ustal Zafar Khan, The Guru) |
| Featuring: | Barry Foster (as Chris Todd, Tom's manager), Madhur Jaffrey (as Begum Sahiba, Guru's wife), Aparna Sen (as Ghazala, Guru's other wife) |
| Hammerhead (1968) | Previous Next |
| Writers: William Bast, Herbert Baker / Director: David Miller / Producer: Irving Allen | |
| Type: Thriller | Running Time: 99 mins |
| Charles Hood is a British agent on a mission to put a stop to the criminal activities of a man called Hammerhead whose evil extends to any profitable human depravity including narcotics and prostitution. Hammerhead is an art connoisseur who holds an impressive private collection featuring some of the world's greatest artists and so Hood is hoping to get closer to him by posing as a dealer and offering some rare pieces for sale.
Whilst making the necessary contacts Hood becomes entangled with a kooky teenage girl called Sue Trenton who thinks it is great fun to be involved in intrigue and adventure and continues to persistently dog his path and crop up unexpectedly despite his efforts to discourage her. Hood is invited to be a guest on Hammerhead's yacht in Lisbon to show the sale items for Hammerhead's approval. Hood is dismayed to find Sue turn up after she was picked up by Hammerhead at a nightclub he owns where she was working as a singer. Sue had recognised his name from an indiscreet comment Hood had made and thought it would be fun to tag along. Hammerhead has a girlfriend aboard called Ivory whom he mistreats but she is forced to put up with it. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Lisbon, a secret meeting of top NATO men is due to take place to unveil plans for some strategic missile defence facilities. During the course of his main mission Hood uncovers a wider plot in which Hammerhead is intending to gain access to those secret plans to sell to foreign powers. Hammerhead has employed an actor from his nightclub with outstanding mimicry skills to impersonate NATO expert Sir Richard Calvert and attend the meeting in his place and copy the papers. Hood tries to put a stop to the plan but is captured and he and Sue are taken away by his henchmen to be killed elsewhere while Hammerhead's plan goes into operation under the very noses of Sir Richard's security personnel. The plan is executed perfectly and Hammerhead gets hold of the plans. Hood eventually escapes from his captors and races across town to try and stop Hammerhead before he gets away with the plans. After a frantic chase it seems Hood is just too late as Hammerhead is winched up in his personal helicopter to be transferred to his yacht - until the mistreated girlfriend Ivory decides to take an opportunistic revenge for all the hurt and pain she has suffered and fire a spear gun at the suspended Hammerhead and kill him. | |
| Starring: | Vince Edwards (as Charles Hood), Judy Geeson (as Sue Trenton), Peter Vaughan (as Hammerhead), Diana Dors (as Kit, nightclub manager) |
| Featuring: | Patrick Cargill (as Colonel Condor, Hood's boss), Michael Bates (as Andreas the actor and Sir Richard Calvert, Nato official), Beverly Adams (as Ivory, Hammerhead's girlfriend), Patrick Holt (Huntzinger, Condor's assistant), William Mervyn (as Walter Perrin, Hammerhead's flunky), Douglas Wilmer (as Pietro Vendriani, performance artiste), Tracy Reed (as Miss Hull, Hammerhead's secretary in London), Kathleen Byron (as Lady Calvert, Sir Richard's wife), Jack Woolgar (as Tookey Tate, petty thief), David Prowse (as George, Hammerhead's strong henchman) |
| Familiar Faces: | Kenneth Cope (as Motor Cyclist), Windsor Davies (as Police Sergeant) |
| Starlets: | Maggie Wright, Veronica Carlson, Penny Brahms, Sarah Hardenberg (as Kit's Klub showgirls) |
| NOTES: | |
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Adaptation by John Bailey; based on the novel by James Mayo |
| The Hand of Death (1988) | Previous Next |
| aka: Unmasked Part 25 | |
| Writer/Producer: Mark Cutforth / Director: Anders Palm | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 84 mins |
| A small group of unfortunate friends are having a party which has become the target for a relentless serial killer called Jackson who systematically kills off all the revellers one by one in a variety of gruesome ways. When the killer gets to the final girl called Shelly he discovers she is blind and something about her innocent unawareness of the danger she is in stops him from killing her. Jackson has a horribly deformed face and wears a white ice-hockey goalie's mask to cover his features. Shelly thinks Jackson is the blind date she had been waiting for and starts making conversation. Jackson responds favourably and the two of them strike up a friendship which results in a romance.
Jackson has a well-read and cultured intellect and holds a strong desire to have a normal life. His conservative attitude is shocked by Shelly's desire to play kinky sex games which he feels terribly embarrassed by even though he tries his best to accommodate her. Shelly believes Jackson to be a kind-natured outsider whose unfortunate deformity leaves him unfairly ostracised by society. Her blindness cuts her off from society as well and so they are well-matched. She remains entirely unaware of Jackson's murderous side. Jackson's uncontrollable need to kill is a genetic curse inherited from his father who had the same problem. When his father forced himself to resist his killing urges he became a down-and-out drunk who believes the root of his downward-spiral was bringing Jackson into the world. The attempt to resist his killing heritage and become a responsible parent destroyed him. He implores Jackson never to make the same ruinous mistake of having children and trying to suppress those psychopathic urges. Jackson continues his killing spree with the massacre of all the friends at another party. All the time Jackson agonises over the futility of what he is doing unable to see the point of it all, but unable to stop himself from doing it. When he returns to Shelly she happily announces to him she is expecting his baby - but rather than be pleased Jackson is devastated by the news. He cannot bear the thought of his monstrous curse being continued on into another generation and so he finds himself with no other choice but to kill Shelly to avoid this terrible eventuality. | |
| Comment: Underlying some of Jackson's anguish is his incredulity that his notorious exploits have become the subject of a successful movie franchise called "Unmasked" which has recently reached part 25. And as the film ends Jackson is appalled to find out that part 26 has now been released in the cinemas. | |
| Starring: | Gregory Cox (as Jackson), Fiona Evans (as Shelly) |
| Featuring: | Edward Brayshaw (as Jackson's Father), Debbie Lee London (as Christi, Shelly's best friend) (first party) Anna Conrich (as Ann), Robin Welch (as Pete), Gary Brown (as Albert), Annabel Yuresha (as Patti), Adrian Hough (as Mick), Helen Rochelle (as Monica) (second party) Kim Fenton (as Nick, Christi's boyfriend), Howard Martin (as Mac), Lucy Hornak (as Charlotte), Steve Dixon (as Barry), Marie Kelly (as Meagan) |
| NOTES: | |
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The version reviewed carried the title The Hand of Death |
| Hands of the Ripper (1971) | Previous Next |
| Writer: L.W. Davidson / Director: Peter Sasdy / Producer: Aida Young | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 81 mins |
| It is London in the latter 1800s and Jack The Ripper has struck again - he is almost caught this time as he rushes home with blood on his hands and his wife realises it is he who is the notorious killer and he proceeds to kill her to keep her silent. This murder is witnessed by his toddler daughter watching from her cot and while she is in a state of shock and semi-entranced by the glittering sparkles from the fireplace Jack picks her up to give her a comforting kiss before taking his leave.
Fifteen years later that daughter is called Anna and is living with a woman called Mrs Golding who took her in as an orphan child with the identity of her notorious father unknown. But the unscrupulous Mrs Golding did not act purely out of kindness for she puts Anna to use helping her work spiritualism cons on grieving relatives. On one such evening Anna has been strangely quiet ever since being dazzled by some glittering lights and later on that evening Mrs Golding winds up dead with a poker thrust through her body with immense strength. A doctor called John Pritchard witnesses a man running from the building whom he knows but later when giving his account to the police claims he did not recognise. The gentleman was an MP called Dysart who was about to fall victim to another form of con Mrs Golding was using Anna for - that of offering the young 17-year-old up for sex which, after payment has been made, would then not be forthcoming due to a contrivance of engineered inappropriate behaviour for which Mrs Golding would chuck the man out. Dr Pritchard is a proponent of the radical teachings of psychiatrist Dr Freud and wants to use his theories of psychoanalysis to get to the root cause of Anna's problems. Now an orphan again he takes the sweet and innocent Anna into his large home and treats her as one of the family which includes his son Michael and the son's blind fiancée Laura. Anna thinks Dr John is a very kind man and trusts him completely and she knows nothing of her own violent actions or the ulterior motives of academic study behind his charity towards her. Anna continues to kill - whenever she is dazzled by glittering lights she goes into a trance and then when she is given a comforting kiss by someone this brings back memories of her father Jack kissing her after her mother's murder allowing his spirit to temporarily possesses her forcing her to kill - but leaving her with no memory of the incident afterwards. Dr Pritchard is aware of some of these murders but covers for her. Dr Pritchard asks the MP Dysart to look into Anna's past and find out who her original family were. Dysart fails to discover anything of value but manages to secure Pritchard an appointment with the royal medium Madame Bullard. This spiritualist is genuinely gifted and she looks into Anna's mind and uncovers the truth - that Anna's father was Jack the Ripper. But Anna's trance like state induced for the session and then a friendly comforting kiss from the medium seals the woman's fate and she winds up dead like the others. Pritchard is unaware what triggers the violence in Anna and back at his house puts her in a hypnotic trance to try and discover more. When he gives her a fatherly kiss of comfort he realises a bit too late what the trigger is as he is stabbed and Anna leaves him to die. Pritchard is not dead but is badly wounded and manages to gather enough strength to follow after her. On Anna's way out she was waylaid by Pritchard's son to escort his blind fiancée Laura to visit the Whispering Gallery at St Paul's Cathedral. Up at the top of the gallery, the kind-hearted but vulnerable Laura accidentally triggers Anna's kill response and is being strangled when from below Pritchard staggers in and calls up to her appealing to the inner Anna to come to him - this causes Anna to break off her attack and still in a kind of trance responds to the voice of the man she implicitly trusts and taking his command literally she chooses the quickest route to reach him by jumping off the gallery balcony and plunging the 100 feet or so to her death - and the mortally wounded Pritchard dies beside her. | |
| Starring: | Eric Porter (as Dr John Pritchard), Angharad Rees (as Anna), Keith Bell (as Michael, Pritchard's son), Jane Merrow (as Laura, Michael's fiancée), Derek Godfrey (as Dysart, the MP) |
| Featuring: | Dora Bryan (as Mrs Golding), Marjorie Rhodes (as Mrs Bryant, Pritchard's housekeeper), Norman Bird (as Police Inspector), Margaret Rawlings (as Madame Bullard) |
| Familiar Faces: | Lynda Baron (as Long Liz, prostitute) |
| Starlets: | Marjie Lawrence (as Dolly, Pritchard's maid), Anne Clune, Vicki Woolf, Katya Wyeth, Beulah Hughes, Tallulah Miller (as various prostitutes) |
| NOTES: | |
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From an original story by Edward Spencer Shew |
| Hannie Caulder (1971) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Z.X. Jones / Director: Burt Kennedy / Producer: Patrick Curtis | |
| Type: Western | Running Time: 81 mins |
| Set in the American Wild West in the latter 1800s. The Clemens brothers are a trio of coarse outlaws who rob banks and think nothing of killing innocent bystanders. After a heist they come across a horse farm from which they intend to steal food. They kill the ranch owner without hesitation and then discover he has a beautiful wife called Hannie who is scared out of her wits and totally helpless. They proceed to brutally rape her and then burn down the ranch before riding off.
Hannie Calder's life has been completely destroyed and she feels immense anger and frustration that she could not do anything to fight back or defend herself. Then a stranger called Thomas Luther Price turns up - he is a bounty hunter and Hannie persuades him to teach her how to use a gun and become a competent gunslinger. He is reluctant to try but sees how determined she is. Thomas takes her to Mexico where a specialist gunsmith called Bailey makes her a special lightweight handgun whilst Thomas trains her on the skills necessary to excel as a gunfighter. At first she is useless but over a period of weeks her abilities gradually improve until she is of sufficient standard to hold her own and ready to vent her vengeance upon the outlaws who raped her and murdered her husband. Hannie and Thomas follow the Clemens brothers trail and eventually come to the town where they are currently staying. Thomas knows Hannie is now technically proficient but has his doubts about whether she would be able to actually kill a man. He tries to spare her the trouble by confronting the brothers himself but he is unfortunately killed. Hannie tactically singles out the brothers one at a time for a decisive confrontation to settle her scores. Much to all the brothers' misfortune they underestimate her abilities as Hannie Caudler repeatedly proves herself to be the better quick draw fighter whose thirst for vengeance overcomes any lingering qualms she had about killing. She collects the bounty on the outlaws' heads and pays for their funerals. THE END - The film does not go into what she does next. | |
| Starring: | Raquel Welch (as Hannie Caulder), Robert Culp (as Thomas Luther Price) (Bandit brothers) Ernest Borgnine (as Emmett Clemens), Jack Elam (as Frank Clemens), Strother Martin (as Rufus Clemens) |
| Featuring: | Christopher Lee (as Bailey, gunsmith), Stephen Boyd (as The Preacher, gunfighter), Diana Dors (as Saloon's brothel Madame, [small role only]) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on characters created by Ian Quicke and Bob Richards; Original story by Peter Cooper |
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Despite the American cast and setting this film was made by a British company (Tigon). The only on-screen British element is the involvement of Christopher Lee in a featured role and Diana Dors in a passing cameo role |
| Hanover Street (1979) | Previous Next |
| Writer/Director: Peter Hyams / Producer: Paul N. Lazarus III | |
| Type: War Drama | Running Time: 102 mins |
| Set in London in 1943 during the Second World War. Lieutenant David Halloran is an American pilot in a US Air Force bomber squadron stationed in England. While on leave in London he is walking along Hanover Street when he spots a beautiful nurse and flirts with her. They share a wacky sense of humour and have tea together - at the end of the afternoon he has fallen madly in love with her and wants to see her again on his next day off in a fortnight. But she is reticent and reluctantly says no because she is married and she won't even tell him her name. He tells her he'll turn up here in Hanover Street anyway and will wait all day for her just in case she decides to show.
Her name is Margaret Sellinger and she is married to Paul and they have a bright and lovely young daughter called Sarah. Paul is a somewhat older man whom she loves but finds a bit dull. However she cannot find any fault with him that would cause her to want to hurt him - but she cannot get the American airman out of her mind. Paul works for the government's secret service and trains agents to become spies. David's life is one long series of dangerous bombing raids over enemy territory and he is considered the best pilot in the squadron. On his next day off he goes back to Hanover Street and waits all day until it seems as through the nurse (Margaret) is not going to show. But towards the end of the day she at last arrives and they go off to a quiet place in the country and begin a secret affair. This continues every time David has leave - she tells him her first name but refuses to let him know her surname. Paul has been asked to train an agent for a special mission to infiltrate a Gestapo stronghold in France and appropriate a list of double agents working in Britain. Because of security fears the British ask the American Air Force to supply the air transportation and David's aircraft is chosen for the parachute drop of the British agent. But Paul finds he cannot train the nominated agent to sufficient standard in time and substitutes himself for the mission and joins David's crew for the drop. Over France they come under heavy air bombardment and David is unexpectedly forced to bail out with Paul. With no other option he joins Paul on his mission and through cunning and guile they manage to infiltrate Gestapo headquarters in Lyon and photograph the documents. Meanwhile back at home Margaret is devastated to hear that her husband has been shot down with no idea whether he is alive or dead. Resting in a barn awaiting help to leave the country from the French resistance Paul talks about his wife and how much he loves her and David realises with a shock that this man is the husband of his lover Margaret. Paul tells David that he came on this mission to prove to himself that he could be a hero and deserving of Margaret's love. During their escape from France Paul is badly injured but pulls through and back in England David meets up with Margaret and unselfishly stands aside knowing that Paul needs her love and support now and he must let her go - and although it pains her to let David out of her life Margaret knows it is the right choice. | |
| Starring: | Harrison Ford (as Lietenant David Halloran), Lesley-Anne Down (as Margaret Sellinger), Christopher Plummer (as Paul Sellinger, Margaret's husband) |
| Featuring: | Richard Masur and Michael Sacks (as Halloran's aircraft crew), Patsy Kensit (as Sarah Sellinger, Margaret and Paul's young daughter), Shane Rimmer (as Col. Ronald Bart, Halloran's commander), Keith Buckley (as Wells, agent that Paul Sellinger is training), Alec McCowen (as Major Trumbo, Paul's commander), Suzanne Bertish (as French Resistance Girl) |
| Familiar Faces: | Max Wall (as Harry Pike, safecracker), Sherrie Hewson (as Phyllis, officer's date at party) |
| A Hard Day's Night (1964) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Alun Owen / Director: Richard Lester / Producer: Walter Shenson | |
| Type: Music / Comedy | Running Time: 83 mins |
| A fictionalised reflection of the kind of life led by the pop group The Beatles in the early clean-cut days of their mega-stardom. The Fab Four travel down from Liverpool by train to take part in a TV pop show in London. They are constantly mobbed by screaming hordes of adoring girl fans wherever they go and have to use diversionary tactics to avoid them. Paul's mischievous and wayward grandfather Johnny has come with them and enjoys stirring up trouble whenever he can.
They spend the day bantering and rehearsing at the TV studio for their live performance but as the broadcast approaches Ringo the drummer goes missing because Johnny has convinced him that the other three don't value him enough and he should go out on his own and explore life a bit. There is a mad dash to try and find Ringo in time but it all works out OK in the end and they all get back together on time to perform their set. | |
| Starring: | (The Beatles) John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr (as Themselves) Wilfrid Brambell (as Johnny McCartney, Paul's grandfather) |
| Featuring: | Norman Rossington (as Norm, road manager), John Junkin (as Shake, road manager), Victor Spinetti (as TV show director) |
| Familiar Faces: | (small or cameo roles) Anna Quayle (as Backstage fan), Deryck Guyler (as Desk sergeant at police station), Richard Vernon (as City gent on train), Derek Nimmo (as Magician), John Bluthal (as Car thief) |
| Starlets: | (all uncredited) Pattie Boyd (schoolgirl on train), Margaret Nolan (girl at casino), Geraldine Sherman (girl outside shop) |
| NOTES: | |
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Made in Black and White |
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This Beatles film was followed-up with another in the same vein called Help! (1965). Another story-based Beatles film was the animated fantasy Yellow Submarine (1968) which featured cartoon versions of the group (voiced by other actors). And finally Let It Be (1970) which was a fly-on-the-wall documentary film chronicling some Beatles recording sessions in the latter days of the group. |
| Writers: Clarke & Michael Robson / Director: James Kenelm Clarke / Producer: Brian Smedley-Aston | |
| Type: Sex / Drama | Running Time: 79 mins |
| British porn actress Fiona Richmond plays a self-named character in a semi-autobiographical version of her own life-story when she meets a stranger on holiday and gives him an account of the key moments in her life and career. | |
| Starring: | Fiona Richmond |
| Featuring: | Anthony Steel (as the stranger) |
| Familiar Faces: | Donald Sumpter, Ronald Fraser, John Clive, Victor Spinetti, Jeremy Child, Graham Stark |
| Star-Turns: | Harry H. Corbett (but blink and you'd miss him) |
| Starlets: | Linda Regan, Patricia Bourdrel, Heather Deeley, Helli Louise |
| NOTES: | |
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Despite the Internet Movie Database indicating this on his credits the actor called "Adam West" in this film does not seem to be the same one who played Batman on TV (Last Checked: October 2005) |
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The title Hardcore does not describe the content - it is the name of a documentary that a fictional film crew (led by John Clive) are making about her. |
| Writer: Everett De Roche / Director: Simon Wincer / Producer: Antony I. Ginnane | |
| Type: Australian / Thriller | Running Time: 90 mins |
| When deputy state governor Eli Steele dies in a swimming accident Senator Nick Rast is selected to take his place. Nick has the backing of some influential men including Dr Barthelemy who is bank-rolling his political career. At home in his heavily guarded mansion Nick has an ongoing personal tragedy. His young son Alex has incurable leukaemia and despite vigorous treatment therapies he is not expected to live much longer. Nick's wife Sandra tries to keep Alex's ailing spirits up with a birthday celebration but the boy can find little to be cheerful about and remains unresponsive to the efforts being made for him. That is until the arrival of a clown whose display of magic delights the boy and makes him smile and respond.
Soon afterwards Alex suffers a dramatic downturn in health and his end seems near. Then a mysterious man appears in his room having somehow bypassed security. He is the man who was the clown and says he is a faith healer called Gregory Wolfe. He takes Alex in his arms and simply tells the boy he is no longer sick. Miraculously Alex chirps up and feels a lot better. The doctor is amazed that the leukaemia seems to have gone into remission but warns that it might only be temporary. Alex makes friends with Wolfe who remains at the mansion to entertain the boy. Wolfe is a charismatic enigma who seems to have real unexplainable abilities that he dresses up as an entertainer's parlour tricks to disguise them. When the state governor falls dangerously ill Nick is set to soon be the new state governor. He is advised by Dr Barthelemy to rid himself of controversy. This means dropping his mistress Zoe Cayce and getting rid of the faith healer Wolfe who is living in his home. Barthelemy shows Nick a dossier that exposes Wolfe as a charlatan who has used powerful drugs to induce a temporary recovery in his son while he carries on an affair with his wife - the dossier exposes Wolfe as a cheap conman who uses his parlour tricks to gain trust - the dossier even includes photographic evidence that Wolfe has been having an affair with Zoe as well. Nick has Wolfe arrested but as a result Sandra leaves him taking the now-much improved Alex with her. Nick is left alone in his mansion awaiting word from Barthelemy that the dying governor has selected him to be his successor. Wolfe uses his powers to escape from jail and heads to the mansion and easily gains entry. Nick is warned of his escape and fears reprisal from the man who is able to bypass any security precautions. But Wolfe has not come to harm Nick but to warn him that he is being manipulated by dangerously ambitious men who are using him as a puppet in their political machinations. According to Wolfe the diving accident and the present governor's mysterious illness were both "arranged" to boost Nick into a powerful political position so that Barthelemy and his people could exert their will on political decisions through him. But Nick has been so convinced by the dossier's findings and Barthelemy's staunch support of him that he chooses not to believe Wolfe. He sides with Barthelemy whose external sniper shoots and kills Wolfe after Nick manoeuvres him into an exposed position. Then Nick receives a phone call from Zoe who tells him she has never met this Gregory Wolfe let alone had an affair with him and Nick realises the dossier he was shown was faked and that quite possibly Wolfe was the genuine article. He immediately resigns from his post and Dr Barthelemy and his associates are arrested. | |
| Comment: The film was made in Australia although the political set-up represented seems to be American. I don't think an actual location is ever specified however. | |
| Starring: | Robert Powell (as Gregory Wolfe), David Hemmings (as Senator Nick Rast), Carmen Duncan (as Sandra Rast, Nick's wife), Mark Spain (as Alex, the Rast's young son) |
| Featuring: | Neville Teedy (as Dr Barthelemy), Gus Mercurio (as Mr Bergier, security officer), Mary Mackay (as Miss Edith Twist, old lady at charity party), Alyson Best (as Alice, maid at Rast mansion), Mary Simpson (as Zoe Cayce, Nick's mistress) |
| Writer/Director: Michael A. DeGaetano / Producers: Michael A. DeGaetano, Nicholas P. Nizich | |
| Type: American / Drama | Running Time: 77 mins |
| In 1865 in Arizona an Indian squaw is sentenced to death by a priest and soldiers - she is tied to a horse and sent out into the desert alone to die. Before she goes she issues a curse on the men assembled and their families for generations to come.
Just over 100 years later in the present day a young woman called Jennifer Baines arrives in a small virtually abandoned town that was once used as a film set for western pictures. (We can see she looks like the Indian squaw and is played by the same actress). Her car has broken down and while it is being repaired she stays with one of the few remaining families in their old family home. The McCloan family consist of Uncle Andrew and his blind sister-in-law Michelle along with her two sons Patrick and Russell. Michelle's husband Anthony had died in the car accident which also blinded her. Jennifer makes friends with Patrick who tells her about the legend surrounding the area: 100 years ago a priest came to preach to the Indians but was actually stealing their gold and hiding it in the church - later on he and some soldiers moved it up into the mountains and hid it. An Indian squaw called Abanaki discovered this and threatened to expose the priest's activities to her people - but he accused her of being a witch and horse-stealing and ordered her death (as seen in the opening scene). The squaw left a curse on the priest's family before she was sent into the desert. The priest died soon after and Patrick tells Jennifer that even now the hidden gold has never been found and legends of ghostly sightings of the Indian woman still riding in the area abound. The McCloan family are themselves descendants and their family history is strewn with unhappy accidents. Uncle Andrew consults with a old fortune teller who informs him that Jennifer is the reincarnation of the Indian squaw and Andrew knows he must kill her. He has secretly come into possession of a map to the gold and he was responsible for his brother's death. He captures Jennifer and plans to burn her to death but the tables get turned and he himself is incinerated. Nothing much else is really resolved and the gold remains hidden as the rest of the family finally abandon their family home and leave town. | |
| Comment: Although the subject matter might suggest it is a horror film there are no horrific elements. The ghostly aspects are merely referred to as being a widely-held local superstition | |
| Starring: | Aldo Ray (as Uncle Andrew), Virginia Mayo (as Michelle McCloan), Ann Michelle (as Abanaki and Jennifer Baines), Leo Krokos (as Patrick McCloan), Jim Negele (Russell McCloan) |
| NOTES: | |
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Although listed as being from 1979 the copyright information on the film's title screen shows 1976. |
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This American film is included here mainly because of the high-profile inclusion of British actress Ann Michelle who seems to be putting on a sort of American accent but her character is said to have spent some time in England probably to explain why the accent sometimes wavers. |
| aka: Horror House | |
| Writer/Director: Michael Armstrong / Producer: Tony Tenser | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 87 mins |
| A large group of party-going friends in their twenties become bored and upon the suggestion of one of their number called Richard they decide to go to a spooky old deserted manor house for a laugh. Richard used to explore the old house when he was a boy and tells the rest about its tragic history. The house has been left unoccupied for twenty years ever since the occupants were all murdered by a knife killer who eventually killed himself and it is said that the killer now haunts the place.
The youngsters split up to explore the dark creepy house until one of them (Gary) is murdered by an unseen knifer. The exits from the house are all bolted and so they know the killer must still be in the house but a further search finds no one and so they come to the horrifying conclusion that the killer may be one of them. The friends have been in trouble with the police before for drugs offences and so think the police will be suspicious of their unknown killer story and decide to take Gary's body to a remote location and bury it. They then leave the house and get on with their lives. Over the following days and weeks the friends start to fall out because of the unrest of not knowing if one of them is a brutal killer. So after a month they decide to go back to the old house to resolve the issue and search the house properly to see if they can prove who the killer is. Eventually Richard is revealed as the killer. When he was a boy he became locked in a cellar for three days in the dark and the only thing that kept him sane was the light of the moon at night. Now the moon affects him and sends him mad with those bad memories and he kills to protect himself from the possibility of being locked in the cellar again. | |
| Starring: | (The friends) Frankie Avalon (as Chris), Jill Haworth (as Sheila, Chris's girlfriend), Mark Wynter (as Gary Scott), Gina Warwick (as Sylvia), Richard O'Sullivan (as Peter), Veronica Doran (as Madge, Peter's girlfriend), Carol Dilworth (as Dorothy Pulman), Julian Barnes (as Richard), Robin Stewart (as Henry) Dennis Price (as Detective Inspector), George Sewell (as Bob Kellett, Sylvia's former boyfriend) |
| Featuring: | Clifford Earl (as Detective Sergeant), Robert Raglan (as Bradley, Dennis Price's boss), Jan Holden (as Peggy, Sylvia's boutique boss, [cameo role only]), Nicholas Young (as friend at party, uncredited) |
| NOTES: | |
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Although Michael Armstrong is billed as the sole director, a good portion of his footage was ditched and new scenes written and directed by Gerry Levy (aka Peter Marcus) to soften the tone. His credit for this appears under the writer credit ("Additional material by Peter Marcus") |
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Mark Wynter receives an "introducing" credit |
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All three policemen seem to be have the surname "Bradley". Dennis Price calls himself this when he answers his phone (he is billed simply as "Inspector" in the credits); the Detective Sergeant introduces himself as "Bradley" to a witness (just called "Police Sergeant" in credits); and Robert Raglan (Price's unnamed boss) is called "Bradley" in the credits. Either this is some huge continuity error or there is supposed to be an unmentioned family connection between all three. |
| The Haunting of M. (1981) | Previous Next |
| Writer/Director/Producer: Anna Thomas | |
| Type: Ghost Story | Running Time: 96 mins |
| Set in the late 1800s-ish in Scotland. Young actress Halina returns to her family estate for a celebratory reunion of her well-to-do family. Her immediate family consist of her mother and father, sister Marianna, and very elderly great Aunt Teresa who is becoming senile and spends most of her time in bed. A lot of the extended family enjoy the festivities and they pose together for a group photograph taken by amateur enthusiast Stefan - including Aunt Teresa who is brought down for the occasion.
When Stefan develops the film he is puzzled to see a man standing slightly apart from the group looking at Teresa. He hadn't noticed this man when he took the picture and when he shows it to Halina and Marianna neither of them know who he is either. Halina shows the picture to Aunt Teresa in her bed and she seems to know something about the mystery man whom she calls "Marian" but generally not making much sense. Halina is intrigued and decides to look into it further. The cook Yola tells Halina that she believes that a spirit walks in this house - a ghostly presence with unresolved issues that prevents it leaving this place. Shortly afterwards Marianna begins to behave oddly and becomes listless and Halina extends her visit to look after her in her malaise. It is remarked how much Marianna looks like Teresa at the same age. Halina asks her father about this "Marian" whom Teresa had mentioned. Her father is very reluctant to talk about it at first as it was a family scandal and he had only been a young boy at the time. Eventually he tells Halina that Marian had been Teresa's boyfriend fifty years ago. Teresa was a rare beauty with the world at her feet in those days and seemed destined for greatness - she met and fell in love with a local lad called Marian - but her parents disapproved and forbade the relationship. Teresa decided to run off with Marian and elope but her father followed and later Teresa was found in a hysterical state and both Marian and her father were dead. Teresa never said what happened and never ever went out into society again from that day to the present just wasting her life away in bed. At night Halina hears a noise from Marianna's room and investigates - she sees the ghostly presence of Marian sitting in a rocking chair just wordlessly watching over Marianna. Halina fears that Marian's spirit believes Marianna to be Teresa and his presence is making her lethargic. After a while Marianna seems to return to normal and Halina believes that Marian has left the house although doesn't know why. One evening during a party at Stefan's house Marianna slopes off by herself and no one know where she has gone. Halina suspects she may have gone to the lovers' meeting place in the woods from fifty years ago where the tragedy occurred - somehow being drawn there by Marian. When Halina arrives at the place she finds Marianna standing being beckoned by the ghostly Marian to come to him. Halina appeals to her sister to come back and that does the trick and Marianna turns away from the tortured spirit rejecting him. Marian seems despondent but somehow knowing there is no hope is enough to release him from the spiritual dilemma he has faced. | |
| Comment: Marianna fully recovers and Halina leaves to go back to her busy life knowing that her sister will no longer be troubled by spirits. It is never revealed exactly what did happen fifty years beforehand that resulted in the two deaths and Teresa's subsequent decline. | |
| Starring: | (sisters) Sheelagh Gilbey (as Marianna), Nini Pitt (as Halina) |
| Featuring: | Evie Garratt and Alan Hay (as Parents of sisters), Peter Austin (as Stefan, photographer friend of sisters), Jo Scott Matthews (as Aunt Teresa), Isolde Cazelet (as Yola, cook), William Bryan (as Marian, mystery man), Ernest Bale (as Stahu, friend of sisters' father), Jenny Greenaway (as Gypsy Woman) |
| The Haunting (1963) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Nelson Gidding / Director/Producer: Robert Wise | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 107 mins |
| A scientist called Dr John Markway is conducting an experiment to try and establish the existence of paranormal activity. He has rented a manor house in New England called Hill House which has a feared reputation for being haunted. It is an imposingly foreboding place with a dark history of evil behind it. It was constructed ninety years beforehand by a unconventional man called Hugh Crain for his family to live in - but his wife died in a carriage accident arriving on the grounds before she even set eyes on the place. Crain married again but his new wife also met an untimely death and Crain later died in a drowning accident in England. His daughter Abigail lived alone in the house from her youth to her dotage with only a nurse-companion to look after her in her later years. When Abigail died the nurse inherited the house but she later hanged herself and it passed to a Mrs Sanderson who has now consented to the study that Markway wishes to make. To help him he has recruited two women assistants that his research shows have certain sensitivities to the paranormal and Mrs Sanderson sends along her nephew Luke to oversee things.
The first assistant is Eleanor Lance, a timid downtrodden woman with a low opinion of herself who has spent the past eleven years looking after her infirm mother and now that she has died is looking for something useful to do with her life - she has leaped at this opportunity to prove she can be a worthwhile person. She arrives first and senses evil in the house, biding its time. The housekeeper only stays during the day claiming no sensible person would come near the place at night. The other assistant is an Englishwoman called Theo who has a confident manner and has the gift of ESP which enables her to read minds which Eleanor finds unnerving. Luke is cocksure and sceptical about the paranormal - he is just keen to look after his future inheritance when such time as his aunt passes on. When all the team has assembled Markway explains what he plans to do - he is going to make a study of any strange psychic phenomenon they experience and the two women are here to take notes and authenticate his findings. That night the two women who have adjoining rooms are terrorised by a terrible mechanical pounding outside their rooms of something trying to get in. The men hear nothing. Next morning there is a message in chalk in the hallway saying "Help Eleanor Come Home". Eleanor seems to be the centre of the house's attention during paranormal happenings. Strange ghostly events continue until it comes to a head when the ever more unsettled Eleanor seems to go into a crazed trance and risks her life trying to reach the place where the nurse companion hanged herself - she feels like the house is consuming her and her grip on sanity seems slender. After she is rescued from her peril Markway decides it will be dangerous for her to stay any longer and makes her leave. She objects because she has nowhere to go but Markway is insistent - but as Eleanor is driving away her steering becomes erratic and the car veers out of her control headlong into a tree and she dies in the same spot that the first Mrs Crain died ninety years before. As the film closes Eleanor's voice narrates as if she is now a ghost of Hill House and pleased to be a part of it. | |
| Starring: | Richard Johnson (as Dr John Markway), Julie Harris (as Eleanor), Claire Bloom (as Theo), Russ Tamblyn (as Luke Sanderson, owner's nephew) |
| Featuring: | Lois Maxwell (as Grace Markway, John's wife), Fay Compton (as Mrs Sanderson, owner), Rosalie Crutchley (as Mrs Dudley, housekeeper), Valentine Dyall (as Mr Dudley, caretaker), Diane Clare (as Carrie Fredericks, Nell's sister), Ronald Adam (as Eldridge Harper, Mrs Sanderson's adviser) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. |
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Made in Black and White. |
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Although an American film and set in the States it is included here because it was made in the UK and had some British actors in the cast including Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson and Lois Maxwell. |
| Hawk the Slayer (1980) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Terry Marcel, Harry Robertson / Director: Terry Marcel / Producer: Harry Robertson | |
| Type: Fantasy Drama | Running Time: 88 mins |
| In a past age of brave warriors and magic there is a bitter rivalry between two diametrically different brothers called Voltan and Hawk. Elder brother Voltan is evil and cruel and (as a flashback shows) their hatred for each other becomes crystallised when Voltan's woman Eliane chooses to go with the sensitive and kind-natured Hawk instead - a jealous fight ensues that badly scars the side of Voltan's cheek and in his fury he kills Eliane rather than allow Hawk to have her.
The pain of Voltan's scarring can only be relieved by the green glow of an Elfin mind stone and he demands with menaces that their father gives him the secret key to using this ancient power. When the father refuses, Voltan mortally wounds him and leaves. Before the father dies he passes on the secret to Hawk instead giving him the magical mind stone embedded in the hilt of a unique sword that can respond to the bearer's thoughts. Voltan's need to relieve his intense pain draws him into the thrall of a dark wizard whose powers can temporarily soothe Voltan's otherwise unbearable pain. The dark wizard commands Voltan to appropriate the powerful sword from Hawk by exploiting Hawk's self-motivated righteous undertaking of championing the oppressed. Voltan kidnaps a priory abbess demanding a huge ransom knowing that the nuns will send word to Hawk asking for his assistance. Hawk responds by assembling a team of brave warriors to aid him in this dangerous mission that will pit him against the hordes of soldiers commanded by his evil brother. These warriors are the giant strongman Gort; master Elf bowman Crow; a cunning dwarf called Baldin; and Ranulf a brave warrior with a hand missing but expert with a self-loading crossbow. Hawk is aided also by a witch whose life he saved from murderous bandits. With the odds against him Hawk decides the best approach is to gather the ransom money Voltan is demanding by taking it from criminal gangs and then arrange an exchange. But the treacherous Voltan is not intending to honour any agreements and captures Hawk and his followers when they arrive. The witch manages to create a diversion that allows Hawk to free himself and fight Voltan in a battle to the death. Hawk is triumphant and Voltan is killed although two of Hawk's brave friends also perish. | |
| Comment: The film ends with the possibility of a sequel in mind as Hawk leaves with the surviving warrior Gort and a promise from the witch to assist him again should he ever need her help. And elsewhere the dark wizard views the dead body of Voltan and declares that his death will not last long as he will have need of him again soon. A sequel never materialised however. | |
| Starring: | John Terry (as Hawk, the hero), Jack Palance (as Voltan, evil brother) (Hawk's warriors) Bernard Bresslaw (as Gort the Giant), Ray Charleson (as Crow the Elf bowman), Peter O'Farrell (as Baldin the Dwarf), Morgan Sheppard (as Ranulf) |
| Featuring: | Patricia Quinn (as The Witch), Annette Crosbie (as The Abbess), Cheryl Campbell (as Sister Monica, priory nun), Catriona MacColl (as Eliane, Hawk's fiancée, seen in flashbacks only), Shane Briant (as Drogo, Voltan's adopted son), Harry Andrews (as High Abbot), Peter Benson (as Evil Wizard), Ferdy Mayne (as Father of Hawk and Voltan) |
| Familiar Faces: | Roy Kinnear (as Innkeeper), Patrick Magee (as Priest), Graham Stark (as Cartman) |
| He Who Rides a Tiger (1965) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Trevor Peacock / Director: Charles Crichton / Producer: David Newman | |
| Type: Crime Drama | Running Time: 98 mins |
| Peter Rayston is a cat burglar in his early-30s who specialises in jewel thefts using his climbing agility to gain entry to seemingly secure properties. He has just finished a spell in prison but his detention has not deterred him from his chosen line of work. He considers it his profession which provides an income that allows him to maintain a rich extravagant playboy lifestyle. Anyone meeting him socially would be unaware of his criminal nature as he comes across as very genial, good-natured, charming and compassionate. He has no trouble attracting beautiful women but they are generally fleeting affairs with no one really special in his life.
Rayston has loyalties to an old-lag called Peepers Woodley who taught him everything he knows about the cat burglary craft and to help fund his mentor's retirement he has promised to team-up with the old-timer for a job once Peepers gets out of prison in a couple of weeks time. While Peter is driving home he picks up a young woman in need of a lift and takes her home. Her name is Joanne Duvall and they get on so well that they arrange to meet up again. He presents himself as a rich businessman but it is not his wealth that impresses her but his natural ability to connect with young children. She is a single mother with a young son called Dan who stays at an orphanage she helps run and Peter proves himself to be such a natural with children as he helps out organising games and enriching the children's lives with gifts and merriment. The two of them begin a serious romance and when she asks him how he actually earns his money he is totally honest with her and shows her press cuttings of his burglary exploits. However this shock revelation is too much for Joanne to bear and she cuts him out of her life. To take his mind off his romantic misery, and with Peepers now out of prison, Peter sets about planning his next big theft which Peepers and a new up-and-coming called The Panda will pull with him. Joanne, meanwhile, has been agonising over her feelings. She loves Peter so much, and having an illegitimate child she knows what it is like to be an outcast from society with little chance of meeting a kind and considerate potential husband who will also be willing to take on a child. And Peter is so seemingly perfect in every other way she could imagine that she arranges to meet up with him again. They talk and he tells her about his life and she decides to just accept what he does and their relationship resumes. Later that night he leaves and she knows he is off to do another job and feels great anxiety hoping he will come back safely to her. The police receive a tip-off that Peepers is working on another jewel theft and they make connections with Rayston. They go to see Joanne whom they know has been seen with Rayston recently and try to impress upon her how dangerous a man he is. She can provide them with no help although they do get a further clue from young Dan who inadvertently gives them a crucial lead on the general whereabouts of the target venue and they start a systematic sweep of the area in question. Peter, Peepers and Panda successfully rob a diamond merchants but before they can leave the scene the police arrive having finally worked out the correct location. Panda panics on the getaway ladder traversing two buildings causing Peepers to fall to his death when the ladder gives way. Panda is arrested by police and as the film ends we see Peter Rayston running away down an alleyway seemingly eluding immediate capture. And Joanne sitting at home, tearful and fretful, wondering if she will ever see him again. | |
| Comment: The police knew that Peter was involved so how long he will remain at liberty is not clear or how it will effect his relationship with Joanne. | |
| Starring: | Tom Bell (as Peter Rayston), Judi Dench (as Joanne Duvall) |
| Featuring: | Ray McAnally (as Arthur Simmonds, Orphanage superintendent), Paul Rogers (as Superintendent Taylor, police), Inigo Jackson (as DS Scott, police), Peter Madden (as Peepers Woodley), Kay Walsh (as Mrs Woodley, his wife), Jeremy Spenser (as The Panda), Grant Lovatt (Dan, Joanne's young son) |
| Familiar Faces: | Rita Webb (as Flower seller) |
| Starlets: | Edina Ronay (as Anna, Peter's top-model girlfriend), Annette Andre (as Julie, blonde girl in bed with Peter), Nicolette Pendrell (as German Au-Pair), Pat Shakesby (as young Policewoman) |
| NOTES: | |
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The title comes from an Indian proverb, "He who rides a tiger can never dismount". |
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Made in Black and White |
| Hell Boats (1970) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Anthony Spinner, Donald Ford, Derek Ford / Director: Paul Wendkos / Producer: Lewis J. Rachmil | |
| Type: War Drama | Running Time: 95 mins |
| Set in 1942 during the Second World War. British born American Lieutenant Commander Jeffords is a Royal Navy boat commander who until recently had been in charge of a gunboat protecting convoys from German attack in the English Channel. He has an impressive record and admiralty select him to command a special mission in Malta. The Germans have been using captured Italian submarine pens in Augusta to store an arsenal of weapons including a revolutionary remote controlled gliding bomb that is proving a formidable weapon against allied supply ship convoys. The destruction of these bombs is considered to be of the utmost importance to avoid losing the entire Mediterranean region to the Nazis.
The sub pens are built into the side of a mountain and impregnable to air strikes and the surrounding bay area is heavily fortified against attack. It is left up to Jeffords to come up with a workable plan to overcome these defences with the limited manpower and equipment at his disposal. The British base in Malta is commanded by Commander Ashurst who is under orders to afford Jeffords all resources he needs. Ashurst is a man who yearns for action himself but is tied to a desk job because his wife Alison made a special appeal to his father Vice-Admiral Ashurst to secure him with a safe assignment. Consequently their marriage has irreconcilably broken down and Alison feels trapped but is unable to leave because she is not eligible for evacuation. As Jeffords plans for his mission he and his buddy Chief Petty Officer Adam Yacov first of all reccy the port of Augusta disguised as Italian fishermen and collect vital intelligence data about the placement of the enemy's seaward shore defences. The entire bay is protected by a boom stretching across the harbour entrance to deny access to any vessel not first cleared by a guard vessel. Jeffords devises an ingenious plan of attack that first involves them capturing a German E-Boat (a fast moving surface gunboat) and then using this as a Trojan horse to launch a surprise attack once they have tricked the guard boat into opening the boom and granting them access to the bay. Ashurst jumps at the chance of assuming command of the E-boat. Whilst the Germans are busy defending against this surprise attack Jeffords and Yacov swim underwater and infiltrate the sub base and set high explosive charges on a timer. Jeffords and Yacov's return is delayed by guards but they eventually get away and are picked up by Ashurst who bravely waits longer than he was supposed to for the swimmers to return. As they withdraw to a safe distance the bombs detonate that the resultant explosive force of the stockpiles of ordnance completely destroys the mountain. Their mission ends successfully and all the main protagonists survive. Back at the Malta base Alison waits fearfully wondering who will return alive and when she sees her husband has made it back she realises she is still in love with him and the cracks in their marriage are mended. | |
| Starring: | James Franciscus (as Lt Cmdr Jeffords), Ronald Allen (as Commander Roger Ashurst), Elizabeth Shepherd (as Alison Ashurst), Reuven Bar Yotam (as Chief Petty Officer Adam Ben Yacov) |
| Featuring: | Mark Hawkins (as Lt Barlow), Magda Konopka (as Luciana, Resistance woman in Augusta), Takis Emmanuel (as Salvatore, Resistance man in Augusta), Moultrie Kelsall (as Vice-Admiral Ashurst, Roger's father) |
| Familiar Faces: | Philip Madoc (as 'E' Boat Captain) |
| Hell Is Empty (1969) | Previous Next |
| Writer/Director: John Ainsworth / Producer: Mike Eland | |
| Type: Crime Drama | Running Time: 84 mins |
| A gang of three criminals break into a construction company office at night to rob its safe. The gang consists of hard-nosed Major Morton who has masterminded the operation, Carl Schultz a rough and ready mercenary, and wet-behind-the-ears Jess Shepherd who has been recruited by Morton to blow open the safe using his knowledge of plastic explosives. They knock out one security guard and force the other to open the security doors. They each wear balaclavas to hide their faces but when Jess celebrates his success in opening the safe he pulls off his mask and the second guard sees his face. Morton is angry at Shepherd's stupidity and knows they are all at risk if any of them are identified. So Morton produces a concealed gun and shoots the guard dead. Jess is shocked because he was told there would be no firearms and he would never have agreed to the job if he'd known. The penalty for murder is hanging and all accomplices are deemed equally culpable for any crimes committed. After they leave with the stolen money the other guard recovers and raises the alarm.
The three criminals manage to give the pursuing police the slip in the countryside after abandoning their vehicle. They flag down a passing car on a quiet country road and compel the two occupants to provide a lift. The couple are Martine Grant and her husband Robert and when Major Morton discovers they live on an island in the middle of a lake he decides that will be the perfect place to lie low. At gunpoint Morton forces the couple to take them over to the island where their home is the only property. They live with Robert's father, Paul Grant, and his blind wife Isa, as well as their grown-up daughter Catherine. Martine is a fiery character who proves to be a handful for Major Morton and she takes every opportunity to needle him and scoff at his coarse behaviour, showing reckless bravado in the face of his menaces. Her father-in-law Paul is a well-respected humanitarian writer who does not believe in violence and it is only Martine who shows defiance. Morton assigns Jess to guard Catherine and there is an instant attraction between them. Catherine can tell Jess has a sensitive nature and clearly does not possess the same hard ruthless streak as his two cohorts and seems to have become involved in an inescapable situation that he finds appalling. Martine continues to defy the uncompromising Major Morton and makes several attempts to escape or send out warnings to the mainland - but she is thwarted at every effort. Morton and Martine seem to be morbidly enjoying crossing wits with one another. After a few days supplies are running low and so Morton sends Jess and Catherine to the mainland to buy more food stressing that the rest of the family are still hostage so she should not think of trying to escape or warn anyone. At the market they meet Catherine's uncle Angus McGee to whom Catherine hurriedly explains that Jess is a new hired hand. Catherine and Jess return to the island with the fresh supplies leaving Angus puzzling over why his brother needs a live-in handyman. Later that day curiosity gets the better of him and Angus travels over to the island hoping to solve the little mystery. He is promptly taken hostage by Morton as well. However Morton knows that Angus will be missed if he does not return, so he orders Angus to write a letter explaining to his wife he is staying over for a few days. Angus writes the letter but plants in it cryptic clues he feels sure his wife will understand. Jess delivers the letter by hand but unfortunately Angus's wife is left confused by her husband's flowery expressions and thinks he must have been drunk when he wrote it. Overnight Catherine spots Morton hiding the stolen money in a hidden alcove seemingly intending to keep it all for himself. She later retrieves it and hides it elsewhere. She and Jess have been getting close and she thinks that if Jess gives himself up with the money there might be a chance that the justice system will show leniency. She and Jess overhear the Major telling Martine that Jess was deliberately not told the gang would be carrying guns because they knew he would refuse to take part and they needed his expertise. Catherine is relieved to hear that her judgement of Jess's character has been vindicated. Next morning Angus's wife shows the confusing letter to her daughter Shirley who manages to work out that there is a hidden message which says he is being held prisoner. They raise the alarm and the police mount an operation using a helicopter. Major Morton realises their hideaway has been discovered and drags Martine at gunpoint into a speedboat to make his escape with her as his hostage. As he shoots at the police helicopter tracking them Martine pushes him and a stray bullet ruptures the speedboat fuel tank and it explodes. The Major is killed and Martine is severely injured. On the island Carl gets wind of Jess and Catherine's plan to hand over the money to the police and threatens to kill her if the money is not given to him. He and Jess fight and Jess is forced to kill him in self-defence. The police arrive on the island and Jess is arrested. Jess Shepherd is put on trial for the complicit murder of the security guard and faces death by hanging if found guilty. His two accomplices are dead and the full blame for the crime is on his shoulders. Catherine speaks up for him and tells the court of the exonerating exchange she heard between Morton and Martine. However this is deemed to be hearsay and since she has clearly fallen in love with the accused she might even be making it up. Martine is the only one who could verify it but she is suffering from severe burns and is in hospital with little hope of recovery. The court reconvene in Martine's hospital room where she remains listless and resigned to her inevitable death. She feels the need to blame someone for her dire situation and has no sympathy for Jess whose accomplices caused her to suffer these horrendous injuries. She consciously refutes Catherine's account of the alleged conversation knowing that in so doing she is condemning Jess to death. After the court officials have departed Angus tells Martine how ashamed he is of her for not helping an innocent man. His scolding words strike her hard and she asks for the court to return and changes her testimony to help clear Jess of murder. Following this Martine begins to make an unexpected recovery and it seems she needed a reason to live and saving Jess Shepherd was it. Jess is found not guilty of murder but still goes to prison for his involvement in the robbery. Catherine vows to wait for him to be released. | |
| Comment: The above summary has been rearranged chronologically but the film actually starts in the courtroom and the preceding events are told in flashback supposedly as testimony. | |
| Starring: | Anthony Steel (as Major Morton), Martine Carol (as Martine Grant), Jess Conrad (as Jess Shepherd), Catherine Schell (as Catherine Grant, [credited as Catherine von Schell]), Carl Möhner (as Carl Schultz, gang member), James Robertson Justice (as Angus McGee, Catherine's uncle) |
| Featuring: | Anthony Dawson (as Paul Grant, Martine's father-in-law), Isa Miranda (as Isa Grant, Paul's wife), Shirley Anne Field (as Shirley McGee, Angus's daughter), Irene von Meyendorff (as Helen McGee, Angus's wife) (uncertain roles) Eugene Deckers, Raymond Francis, Sheila Burrell, Robert Rietti, Patricia Viterbo |
| NOTES: | |
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Written by John Ainsworth from screenplays by George Fowler and Bernard Knowles. Based on the novel Hell is Empty by J.F. Straker |
| Writer/Producer: John M. East / Director: (unlisted) | |
| Type: Sport | Running Time: 45 mins |
| A specially staged pseudo-tournament of female mud-wrestling enacted before a rowdy crowd in a pub like atmosphere. The competition is US versus UK with the US being represented by the 1983 World Mud Wrestling Tour consisting of Queen Kong and Selina Savage. The British contingent are "The Roldvale Girl Wrestlers" which seem largely to consist of models:- Vicky Scott, Helen Hammer, Rose Rock and Miss Deathwish. The MC is an American woman called Sandy who does a good job explaining the rules and entertaining the crowd. Before the bouts the girls are interviewed by John M East. | |
| Comment: There are three bouts in all - but they aren't really that entertaining and it's all a bit pointless - there is no associated storyline - it is just the wrestling. The girls fight in swimsuits so there is no nudity during the fighting except for an accidental exposure from Queen Kong. The only other nudity is when two of the contestants choose to do their interviews fully frontal wearing just an open robe. The "star attraction" is supposed to be Queen Kong although she is the most unappealing of the lot. The other five contestants are regular-looking girls - whereas Kong is oversized and brutish looking. | |
| Starring: | (The contestants) Queen Kong (aka Dee Booher), Vicki Scott, Shelley Selina Savage, Miss Death Wish, Helen Hammer, Rose Rock, Lisa Scott |
| Featuring: | John M. East (Interviewer) |
| Hello-Goodbye (1970) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Roger Marshall / Director: Jean Negulesco / Producer: André Hakim | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 101 mins |
| Harry England is an insular young man with a connoisseur's passion for exquisitely crafted automobiles. He makes a predatory living by hanging around French casinos and offering to help out rich patrons who get into difficulties at the gaming tables by buying their luxury cars at knock-down prices. He then drives the cars back to England and sells them to a dealership for a good profit.
On one such trip Harry meets a beautiful young Frenchwoman called Dany whose Rolls Royce has broken down and which he stops to admire. She asks for a ride to Paris and although generosity is not normally one of his qualities Harry agrees to take her part way. On the journey her friendly charm breaks away at his impatient standoffish nature and he begins to find her an intriguing enigma with a secretive side he cannot quite fathom. He mellows and decides to take her all the way to Paris and they book into a hotel and end up sleeping together. The next morning she is going to Marseilles and he has an appointment in Calais - both have too much of a stubborn streak to change their plans to accompany the other and so they part company, although Harry feels a sense of deep regret. Not long afterwards Harry receives a curious invitation to the mansion of Baron De Choisis. The Baron is a rich middle-aged vineyard owner who owns a fine collection of priceless classic cars which he relishes with a passion. Harry savours the array of automotive beauty with admiring eyes. The Baron has somehow heard of Harry's zeal for mechanical masterpieces and he wants Harry to teach his youngest son to drive them. The Baron says he chose Harry because he would only trust someone with such a responsibility who had a respect for the cars that was equal to his own. Harry joins a party going on at the mansion and is perplexed to see Dany there. He assumes at first she is another guest but then discovers she is the Baron's second wife! The two of them resume their relationship and take regular trips to Marseilles where they spend nights together in her apartment. They have fallen in love with each other and Harry is devoted to her. Harry continues to work for the Baron and wonders if the older man has any suspicions. Harry feels pangs of guilt because he genuinely likes the Baron who is a very pleasant and agreeable man. After this has been going on for some time the Baron confides to Harry that he has known about the affair all along. But he does not mind sharing his beautiful wife with someone who appreciates her. He also knows that she will eventually tire of Harry and when that happens things will be even better between himself and Dany. Harry is shocked to realise that he is not the first and Dany has had a series of lovers although the Baron admits that Harry is the first of these that he has actually liked and had something in common with. At their next meeting in Marseilles Harry tells Dany that her husband knows about them. Harry asks her to choose between himself and her husband. But Dany tells him she wants both of them and likes the different things each man can offer. Harry forces her to choose and the next morning she has left before he wakes and he realises it is over and she has made her choice. Dany returns to her husband and tells him the affair with Harry is now over. However, Harry is perturbed feeling a sense of unfinished business about the affair. He accepts Dany's decision but realises the reason he is so upset is that she never said a proper goodbye to him. He gets drunk and goes to the mansion at night demanding to see her. The Baron rebuffs his juvenile ranting and tells him to leave. But this peremptory dismissal enrages Harry and he drives one of the Baron's prized cars into his swimming pool in attempt to be taken seriously and get the attention he wants. Harry almost drowns and has to be revived and the Baron can see by Dany's distressed reaction to Harry's peril that she is still in love with him. Harry is taken to hospital and after he has recovered he carries on with his life and tries to forget about Dany. Before too long the gossip columns report that Baron De Choisis and his wife have split and he has taken up with a rich heiress. When Harry hears this news he rushes to find Dany who is now single and is making tentative starts with a new relationship believing that Harry has not forgiven her and moved on. But when she sees that Harry has come for her she immediately cancels her plans and they drive off together as a happy couple. | |
| Starring: | Michael Crawford (as Harry England), Geneviève Gilles (as Dany), Curt Jurgens (as Baron De Choisis) |
| Featuring: | Mike Marshall (as Paul, Baron's older son), Didier Haudepin (as Raymond, Baron's younger son), Lon Satton (as Cole Strutter, Harry's friend at marina), Ira Furstenberg (as Evelyne Rosson, rich heiress) |
| Writers: Marc Behm, Charles Wood / Director: Richard Lester / Producer: Walter Shenson | |
| Type: Music / Comedy | Running Time: 87 mins |
| A group of mystical Far Eastern worshipers who conduct regular human sacrifices lose an important ceremonial artefact that must be worn by the intended victim. The sacrificial ring marks the wearer for death but it has mysteriously gone missing and without it they cannot perform their rituals. Then they watch a television broadcast from Britain showing the pop group The Beatles performing their latest hit single and are amazed to see that the drummer Ringo is wearing the ring! The cultish priests head for England to capture Ringo who is now a marked man and must become their next sacrificial victim.
Ringo is oblivious to the significance of the ring which he received anonymously in the post and decided to wear. After a few attempts on his life the Beatles realise they must get rid of the ring but Ringo finds he cannot remove it. They go and see some scientists to help remove it but they cannot cut the metal because it has amazing and unique properties. Unfortunately the scientists have megalomaniac tendencies and realise that if they can get hold of the ring and duplicate its properties they could rule the world. This all results in a number of episodic incidents in locations around the world in which either the scientists or the priests try to capture or kill Ringo for the ring. | |
| Starring: | (The Beatles) John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr (as Themselves) Leo McKern (as Clang, high priest), Eleanor Bron (as Ahme, priestess), Victor Spinetti (as Professor Foot, scientist), Roy Kinnear (as Algernon, scientist's assistant) |
| Featuring: | John Bluthal (as Bhuta, priest), Patrick Cargill (as Police Superintendent) |
| Familiar Faces: | Alfie Bass (as Doorman at Indian Restaurant), Warren Mitchell (as Abdul, at Indian restaurant), Gretchen Franklin and Dandy Nichols (as Neighbours) |
| NOTES: | |
• |
This was the second of two story-based films in which the Beatles starred. The previous one was A Hard Day's Night (1964). Another story-based Beatles film was the animated fantasy Yellow Submarine (1968) which featured cartoon versions of the group (voiced by other actors). And finally Let It Be (1970) which was a fly-on-the-wall documentary film chronicling some Beatles recording sessions in the latter days of the group. |
| Writer: John Gay / Director: Don Sharp / Producer: Peter Snell | |
| Type: Thriller | Running Time: 104 mins |
| Set in the present day (1975). Niall Hennessy is an Irishman living in Belfast in Northern Ireland where order is maintained by British troops. Hennessy is an explosives and demolitions expert who puts his skills to legitimate commercial use and has no desire to be involved in the IRA's fight for an independent Ireland. He used to be involved on the periphery of that organisation but gave all that up when he became a family man with his wife Maureen and 7-year-old Angela to think about.
Hennessy receives a visit at his office from an old friend of his called Sean Tobin who is an IRA cell leader. Tobin urgently needs some gelignite for a big job because the expected consignment has been delayed. He asks for Hennessy's help in supplying it from his stock for the good of the cause. Hennessy refuses out of hand which irks Tobin who is dedicated to his sole ambition of getting the British out of Ireland. He appeals to Hennessy's patriotic duty, but Hennessy insists his family come first and he will not do anything that might endanger them - because if he were in prison he could not provide for them. Tobin has to accept Hennessy's decision. In Belfast's White Street trouble is brewing when a mob of Irish youths start stoning a British army checkpoint. The British soldiers try to quell the riot with plastic bullets and tear gas but then things go horribly wrong when a young soldier is hit in the face by a rock and knocked insensible. As the soldier falls his trigger finger spasms and his machine gun fires wildly into the crowd killing and injuring dozens. Amongst the dead are Maureen and Angie Hennessey who were bystanders on the way home from Angie's school. Hennessy is devastated by the death of his wife and daughter and feels intense rage towards the British and a need to get even. Tobin feels sure that this tragedy will see Hennessy wholeheartedly join the cause and use his valuable skills in the furtherance of their aims. But Hennessy is far from predictable and the action he is contemplating is on a different level entirely to anything Tobin would be involved in. Without even waiting to attend his family's funeral Hennessy flies to London to start working on his plans to strike at the very heart of the British state. Tobin cannot understand what Hennessy is up to but when he discovers that before he left Hennessy was checking into the exact date of the State Opening of Parliament, he begins to have a sinking feeling. That ceremonial occasion held in London in the House of Lords in the Palace of Westminster is attended by the Queen and other senior members of the royal family as well as the leading politicians from all political parties. Tobin hates the British, but any attempt to kill the Queen would set the cause back fifty years. Tobin knows Hennessy must be stopped before he carries out such an audacious atrocity. The Opening of Parliament is in four days time and to recce his target Hennessy takes an official tour of the Palace of Westminster. He purchases some souvenir booklets which helpfully contain building layout plans as well as pictures of all the current Members of Parliament. Hennessy selects an unmarried MP called Stephen Burgess who has a similar build to himself. He attends a public rally to observe Burgess' deportment and also he records the speech so he can practice speaking like Burgess without an Irish accent. At night Hennessy steals dozens of sticks of gelignite from a quarry site and he also arranges to have a special waistcoat tailored with multiple pockets. Inspector Hollis of Special Branch is investigating unusual activity in London of suspected IRA activists. Hollis used to be stationed in Belfast and has a history with Tobin. When Hollis receives a call from Tobin alerting him to what Hennessy might be up to, security at Westminster is tightened. Hollis would prefer it if the event was called off entirely but the Queen has insisted it must go ahead whatever the intimidation might be. Hollis cannot see how Hennessy could possibly hope to get past security and plant a bomb but he realises that Hennessy is a man driven by extreme grief and they should be on their guard. As the day draws near Hennessy breaks into the home of Stephen Burgess and ties him up. Hennessy then proceeds to make himself up into a passable likeness by duplicating the MP's balding hair and donning a matching false beard. He also loads the special waistcoat he had made with the sticks of gelignite totalling 30lbs and wears it under his main jacket primed to explode when two wires are joined together. Hennessy has known all along that the only way to accomplish his objective was via his suicide but he feels he has nothing left to live for and he must avenge his loved ones' deaths. Hollis discovers where Hennessy has been staying up to now and inside finds a brochure with a photo of Stephen Burgess cut out. He wonders what Hennessy's interest could be in such a man so he pays Burgess a visit not realising that he is in fact talking to Hennessy himself. Hennessy expresses some security concerns and asks for a police escort to parliament the next day. Hollis agrees but still cannot figure why this harmless MP should have interested Hennessy. On the morning of the State Opening, an unmarked police car comes to drive Hennessy to parliament in the guise of Burgess. Just arriving too late is Inspector Hollis having at last figured out how Hennessy is going to get into the parliament building. Hennessy will be there by now and the situation has become critical. Hollis races to the scene. The members of both Houses of Parliament assemble in the House of Lords to hear the Queen make her speech. Hennessy's disguise passed scrutiny and he is there watching and waiting for the moment when he will hurdle the low gate and run up to the Queen and trigger the explosives killing the entire backbone of British rule in one fell swoop. He is unaware that Hollis is creeping up behind him wary of alarming him lest he trigger the explosives early in desperation to achieve something. As Hennessy prepares for action Hollis chops him on the back of the neck and then carries him out of the chamber pretending to others that he has fainted. But Hennessy recovers and now unable to achieve his objective runs for the exit. He makes it onto College Green where Hollis catches up to him. He makes no sign of giving up and since he is still a danger to the public Hollis has to shoot him. This triggers the explosives, killing Hennessy - but in the open away from buildings and bystanders the explosives do no great damage. | |
| Comment: Omitted from the above summary are plot strands involving Tobin's own exploits in London trying to find and kill Hennessy; and Hennessy's relationship with Irish ex-pat Kate Brooke who lets him stay with her for a few days in London but has no idea what she is up to. | |
| Starring: | Rod Steiger (as Niall Hennessy), Richard Johnson (as Inspector Hollis, Special Branch), Eric Porter (as Sean Tobin, IRA leader), Lee Remick (as Kate Brooke, Hennessy's friend in London) |
| Featuring: | Trevor Howard (as Commander Rice, Hollis's superior), Peter Egan (as Detective Williams, Hollis's junior), Ian Hogg (as Gerry, IRA member), Stanley Lebor (as Hawk, IRA member), John Hallam (as IRA member), David Collings (as Covey, Irish taxi driver in London), Patrick Stewart (as Robert Tilney, IRA operative in London, [small role]), John Shrapnel (as Tipaldi, tailor), Hugh Moxey (as Stephen Burgess MP), Margery Mason (as Burgess' housekeeper), Elizabeth Romilly (as Shop Assistant), Peter Copley (as Home Secretary), Graham Ashley (as Police Commissioner), Diana Fairfax (as Maureen, Hennessy's wife), Patsy Kensit (as Angie, Hennessy's 7-year-old daughter, [as Patsy Kensitt]) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on an original story by Richard Johnson |
| Ian Thorne / Director: Waris Hussein / Producer: Roy Baird | |
| Type: Historical Drama | Running Time: 119 mins |
| Elderly King Henry VIII is on his deathbed and looks back upon his life and many marriages:-
As his reflections begin he is already married to the Spanish Catherine of Aragon - a diplomatic marriage made for political reasons. Henry is eager for her to bear him an heir - previous children have not survived childbirth or young infanthood. Eventually a daughter Mary is born who survives - but Henry is impatient for a son although after many years it seems as if this will never happen. Henry is persuaded to seek divorce from Catherine for dynastic reasons but when the Pope rejects his application he distances England from direct papal rule and sets up the Church of England. Next he woos and marries the beautiful Anne Boleyn - she gives him another daughter called Elizabeth but still no son. With no sign of a male heir forthcoming Anne is accused of adultery and executed. Henry next marries Jane Seymour and she at last bears him a son although she herself dies in childbirth. Next Henry is persuaded to marry for diplomatic reasons once again and is wed to Anne of Cleves sight unseen - but she is not the beauty he was expecting and he is so repulsed by her that the marriage does not last long. Next Henry marries a child bride called Catherine Howard whose youthful exuberance he has fallen for. Henry is an old man now and when Catherine is found to have been having an affair with a younger lover she is executed for treason. Finally he marries Catherine Parr to provide him companionship in his old age and it is she who remains as his wife at the time of his death. | |
| Comment: The above summary speeds through the details of Henry's marriages only - but the film also covers aspects of political and religious plotting of the time amid Henry's many advisers. Not all the marriages are given equal screen time - his marriage to Anne of Cleves for example is covered quite briefly. | |
| Starring: | Keith Michell (as Henry VIII) (Wives in order of marriage) Frances Cuka (as Catherine of Aragon), Charlotte Rampling (as Anne Boleyn), Jane Asher (as Jane Seymour), Lynne Frederick (as Catherine Howard), Jenny Bos (as Anne of Cleves, small role only), Barbara Leigh-Hunt (as Catherine Parr) |
| Featuring: | Donald Pleasence (as Thomas Cromwell), Michael Gough (as Norfolk), Brian Blessed (as Suffolk), Michael Goodliffe (as Thomas More), Bernard Hepton (as Archbishop Cranmer) |
| NOTES: | |
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The film was inspired by the BBC drama serial from 1970, The Six Wives of Henry VIII. This was a six-part series which gave-over an entire episode for each wife. Keith Michell played Henry VIII in both productions although the actresses playing the wives were different. |
| Her Private Hell (1968) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Glynn Christian / Director: Norman J. Warren / Producer: Bachoo Sen | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 76 mins |
| Marisa is a fashion model from France who has come to England to take a job with an advertising firm as their top model. The firm is run by the stern and sinister looking Neville Hetherington who approaches the work in a very businesslike way with the help of his managerial assistant Margaret who keeps things ticking over. In the company's studio apartments lives and works photographer Bernie and his assistant Matt who is an award-winning photographer in his own right but cannot get a job running his own studio and so works as an assistant - loading cameras and developing film. Bernie knows that Matt is the better photographer but refuses to take on board any of his junior's ideas.
Marisa moves into an apartment in the studios and gets to work doing photoshoots for fashion and general advertising account work - and every so often she is persuaded by Bernie to do some artistic nude work. She intensely dislikes doing those type of shots but is reassured by his and Margaret's promise that those private pictures are not for publication. Over the coming months her face is starting to become quite well known due to the advertising campaigns in which her pictures appear. Bernie's assistant, Matt, tries to warn Marisa that the company are just using her as a money-making machine. He suggests that the two of them take a day off in the country and he'll take some fun photos for a collection he's putting together. They spend a happy day alone together and in the process begin to become intimate. When they return to the studio Marisa willingly lets him photograph her naked because she has developed a bond of trust with him. Later when Margaret sees the pictures she immediately confiscates them. Some time later Marisa finds a foreign girly magazine called "Strip!" laying around and inside is a picture of her naked. She is shocked that one of the people she trusted has betrayed her and sold her pictures to such a magazine. She does not know if it was Matt, Bernie, Margaret or Mr Hetherington. She confronts Margaret who swears she does not know how the picture came to be published but nevertheless cannot see what all the fuss is about. When Marisa leaves her office Margaret phones Hetherington and they seem very alarmed at the prospect of losing their biggest money-maker. Matt promises Marisa it was not he who sold the photos and he privately confronts Hetherington about it who admits that the nude pictures they take of Marisa are being sold abroad to magazines. Matt questions why he needs to do that because surely the company are making enough money from her in general advertising work that they don't need to make a bit of extra on the side in such a sordid way. Hetherington tells him that it is in fact quite the opposite - the nudes are their biggest money-spinner and it is the advertising stuff that is the "little extra" which they do as a cover to leave Marisa unsuspecting. Hetherington offers Bernie his own studio if he keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t tell her. But Matt does not listen and back at the studio tells Marisa about the set-up and they decide to leave together. Margaret pleads with Marisa to stay and tells Matt he will never work again in the business if he takes her away - but Matt tells her that integrity and self-respect are more important than money. They depart leaving Margaret crying at the prospect of losing their money-spinner and probably her job when Mr Hetherington finds out. Bernie is more sanguine and tells her not to worry, there'll be others. | |
| Starring: | Lucia Modunio (as Marisa, model), Terry Skelton (as Bernie, photographer), Daniel Ollier (as Matt, photographer's assistant), Pearl Catlin (as Margaret, Neville's managerial assistant), Robert Crewdson (as Neville Hetherington, company boss) |
| Starlets: | Jeannette Wild (as Paula, another model), Mary Land (as Sally, Neville's secretary) |
| NOTES: | |
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Made in Black and White |
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Jeannette Wild receives an "introducing" credit |
| Writer: Hunter Davies / Director/Producer: Clive Donner | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 96 mins * |
| Jamie McGregor is a sixth form schoolboy who enjoys the sport of girl-watching as he rides around doing his part-time delivery job. But despite all the permissiveness he sees around him he can't seem to get any luck in experiencing it for himself. His head is particularly turned by local beauty Mary Gloucester but knows he would have no chance with her. But he is a personable, friendly sort of chap with lots of friends and he decides he must take what he can get and try to forget about ever getting Mary.
He meets several girls who all have various good qualities but for one reason or another nothing grand comes from them. His first promising encounter is when he meets a posh girl called Caroline Beauchamp and gets invited to stay the weekend at her family retreat. Her family are more "permissive" than he could have ever imagined and mother, father, daughter and maid all seem quite OK with nocturnal bed-hopping - but Caroline passes out from exhaustion before he has a chance to make anything of her relaxed and flirtatious attitude. Back home again, a girl called Audrey who he vaguely knew from earlier as one of his friends' girlfriends invites him to a raucous party called "The Great Bed Event" and in the midst of general debauchery he finally does it with her. With a new found confidence he asks his dream girl Mary out and is astonished at how readily she agrees. She has apparently fancied him from afar herself for ages. They go on a weekend away together and have a glorious time but when he declares his love for her he finds she is uncommitted and in to a much more casual sort of free-loving lifestyle than he would care for. So they say their goodbyes and he moves on with his life with his main dream fulfilled although dismayed that it was less than he had expected. | |
| Comment: Throughout the film Jamie talks out loud to himself as he's walking around voicing his thoughts, intentions and desires. But since he sometimes does this in company without any reaction from his companions we can assume it's meant to be taken as narrative aside. | |
| Starring: | Barry Evans (as Jamie) |
| Featuring: | Judy Geeson (as Mary Gloucester), Angela Scoular (as Caroline), Sheila White (as Paula), Adrienne Posta (as Linda), Vanessa Howard (as Audrey), Sally Avery (as Cath, Paula's friend), Michael Bates and Moyra Fraser (as Mr & Mrs McGregor, Jamie's parents), Denholm Elliott and Maxine Audley (as Mr & Mrs Beauchamp, Caroline's parents), Christopher Timothy (as Spike, Jamie's friend) |
| Familiar Faces: | Diane Keen, George Layton |
| Starlets: | Erika Raffael |
| NOTES: | |
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Barry Evans receives an "introducing" credit. |
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* The version lasting 96 minutes reviewed here is the unedited version. Another version has been seen lasting 90 minutes which is a tame version. The main difference affects the riverbank scene that Barry Evans and Judy Geeson share. The tame version uses a combination of zoomed in frames and trimming edits to remove all topless nudity as she is undressing and whilst the two of them are splashing around skinny dipping in the river - and then after that on the riverbank when they are kissing and being bothered by a curious dog the scene has an alternative take - in the unedited version she is topless but in the tame version she is wearing a shirt. |
| The Hereafter (1983) | Previous Next |
| aka: Quälen | |
| Writer/Director: Michael J Murphy / Producer: Des Dolan | |
| Type: Thriller | Running Time: 84 mins |
| Neville Harmer is the grown up son of rich manor estate owner Alfred Harmer who is a crotchety old man in poor heath and confined to a wheelchair. Alfred is dependant upon Neville to cater for all his basic needs. But far from being grateful to Neville for his support, Alfred treats Neville like an unpaid vassal and takes perverse delight at being as awkward and obnoxious as possible. Alfred behaves like a spoilt child never giving Neville time to be alone with his girlfriend Vicky. Neville endures this treatment because he knows that one day soon he will inherit everything. All his father's money is tied up in the property so selling it and realising its value will be the first thing he does and he and Vicky will be able to live a life of luxury. He cares not that the house has been in the family for over 200 years.
Vicky is a beautiful woman who works as a hairdresser in town and mild-mannered Neville feels very lucky to have found her, ignoring his father's needling insinuations that she only likes him because of what he will inherit when Alfred dies. For Neville that day cannot come fast enough, although he is not the kind to attempt to hasten its arrival. One day Alfred has an accident and dies and it seems as though Neville's prayers have been answered. Without Alfred making a nuisance of himself the lovers' relationship flourishes and they make plans for the millions they will soon have in the bank when this millstone of a manor house has been sold. Neville attends the will reading which is also attended by a few other more distant relatives. The other relatives receive small bequest,s but as expected, Neville inherits the house and the bulk of the estate. However the will comes with an unexpected proviso which specifies that on no account can Neville sell the property and must live there for at least eleven months of each year. Should he fail to do that then the property will be sold and shared equally between the other relatives and Neville will get nothing. Neville curses his father who has had the last laugh and successfully trapped him. On paper he might be a rich man but he can never realise it. The estate's saw mill provides the only income which is sufficient to live on but they are never going to feel rich on it because most of it will go on simply maintaining the grounds. Vicky is more upbeat and thinks they can make a good go of it and live a happy life together. Neville is delighted that Vicky is still interested in him and they duly get married and settle into a life of estate managers. They retain Alfred's staff: - a secretary called Dorothy who is a spinster and lives in a small cottage that comes with her job of running the estate office; and a strapping handyman and gardener called Patrick. Neville begins to think the house is haunted when he sees a shadowy figure who resembles his father. The incidents get worse when the figure rises from the chair and starts lumbering towards him. Vicky thinks he is working too hard and suggests they get in a spiritualist to hold a séance to put his mind at rest that there are no ghosts here. But this only makes things worse when even the spiritualist gets unnerved by something. When Neville next sees the figure in an upstairs bedroom he is so frightened he falls from the window to his seeming death. The manipulative Vicky celebrates that her long-term plan has at last paid off as the menacing figure is unmasked to reveal he is Patrick the gardener working as Vicky's accomplice. They are having an affair and Vicky expects to inherit everything from her late husband without any inconvenient clauses getting in her way, which she has promised to share with Patrick. However they have celebrated too soon and Neville is not dead. However he is now paralysed and confined to a wheelchair. Vicky has to reign in her ambitions and become the dutiful wife again helping him recuperate while waiting for another opportunity to do him in. Neville discovers the deceit but keeps it to himself as he plans what to do. Neville decides to change his will with a clause that Vicky cannot sell the property and he gets Patrick and Dorothy to witness it and Dorothy posts it to the solicitors. Neville offers Patrick a pay off to leave and he accepts because he is not going to get rich through Vicky anymore. Vicky becomes increasingly paranoid and begins to wrongly suspect that Dorothy is trying to blackmail her because she does not believe Neville capable of such artifice. She panics and kills Dorothy to try and rescue the situation. Neville gloats that she is now stuck with him, or if she prefers, can spend the rest of her life in prison for murder. He informs her that killing him will do no good because she will still be stuck here unable to sell the place. However Vicky thinks that would be a preferable torment to enduing him any longer. She intends to kill him but pretend to the outside world he is still alive by running the office on his behalf and forging his signature. She grabs a knife and after a struggle manages to stab him in the back. She then takes the body out onto the lake in a rowing boat to dump it alongside Dorothy's body where it will never be discovered. But Neville is not quite dead and in a last gasp effort he lunges at Vicky and pulls her into the water with him where they both drown. | |
| Starring: | Steven Longhurst (as Neville Harmer), Catherine Rowlands (as Vicky), David Slater (as Patrick, gardener) |
| Featuring: | Al Greer (as Alfred Harmer, Neville's father), Wendy Young (as Dorothy, estate office secretary), Yvette Gunter (as Sylvia, spiritualist) |
| Also: | (Character names not shown) Lindsey Allen, Harry Willowsky, Michael Lynch, Marina Lee, Neil Wilkinson, Peter Neal |
| NOTES: | |
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This film is also known as "Quälen" because for a long time it was only ever available in a dubbed Spanish version. The version reviewed here however is in its original English and carries the English title |
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The writer/director Michael J Murphy used the pseudonym Michael Melsack on the credits |
| Herostratus (1967) | Previous Next |
| Writer/Director: Don Levy / Producers: James Quinn, Don Levy | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 143 mins |
| Max is a young man who lives in a ramshackle flat where he tries to be a writer. But his continued lack of inspiration has brought him to the point of despair and he can no longer see the point of carrying on in a world with which he cannot identify. Normal human relationships are an enigma to him and he finds it easier to keep his own company and avoid taking risks. Consequently he has found himself on society's scrapheap and has developed a very cynical view of what the world has to offer.
In a rage of frustration he has an idea about how he can make an impact on the world and make people notice him as someone capable of original ideas. He visits the office of top marketing company Farson Advertising and demands to see the head man Mr Farson. He has to get past Farson's beautiful secretary Clio whose job it is to stop people seeing Farson without appointments made months in advance. He barges in and presents to Farson his unique proposal. Max says he plans to publicly kill himself and wants Farson to arrange the publicity for the event. Max's verbose pitch is so cogent that he manages to convince Farson that the proposal is not simply bluster and he actually intends to go through with it. Farson's sense of self-importance knows no bounds and he is inspired by the challenge of creating notoriety for someone of such depthless insignificance as Max. Clio thinks it is very sad and feels sorry for Max but Farson revels in his power to manipulate and control the thoughts of others through advertising. Max signs a contract promising he will go through with it and they set the date for a couple of weeks hence. Farson puts Max up in a company apartment while they work out the details of how to portray Max and design a campaign that will build up the interest. They soon decide that the most spectacular way for Max to commit suicide will be to jump off a tall building. But the public will only be interested in Max if it seems his reasons for jumping are idealistic and he is sacrificing himself for a cause they can identify with. Farson's market research department decide Max should be protesting over the selfish elite who seek to enslave the masses under the pretence of improving their lives. Farson drip feeds news stories spreading rumours of the upcoming event to build up word-of-mouth interest. As the day of the jump approaches Max seems to be having second thoughts and becomes scared by the prospect of what he has agreed to do. On the eve of the big day, Clio goes to see Max and they end up sleeping together and Max feels he has fallen in love. And so with something, and someone, to live for he no longer wishes to kill himself. But then the next morning Farson reveals he paid Clio to do it and pretend to love him. With this devastating blow Farson grinds away at Max's fragile confidence telling him what a flop he is in all aspects of life and that the best thing he can do is go through with the jump as he is contracted to do - then at least his name will be remembered and he will have achieved something. Clio meanwhile was so ashamed by what she did that she has gone crazy. Max is completely demoralised and heads off to the tower to make his jump. On the roof he is alone except for a surveyor working. Max looks down and no one is there - no television cameras or police or onlookers. No one has taken the slightest interest in his suicide despite it being well publicised. He decides to go through with it anyway and makes his preparations to leap. The surveyor sees what he is doing and heroically tries to stop him. They tussle on the roof edge and the surveyor falls to his death. Max rushes from the scene completely shaken by the event as he runs away down the street as fast as he can to get away from the madness that has overcome his life. | |
| Starring: | Michael Gothard (as Max), Gabriella Licudi (as Clio, Farson's secretary), Peter Stephens (as Farson, advertising executive) |
| Featuring: | Antony Paul (as Pointer, Farson's market researcher), Mona Chin (as Sandy, Max's neighbour), Helen Mirren (as Advert Woman), Malcolm Muggeridge (Voice on radio), Alan Ginsberg (Prose Speaking Voice) |
| Also: | (Uncertain Roles) Richard Huggete, Max Latimer, Ines Levy (as ?Black-clad Woman?), Hilda Marrin, Vivienne Myles, Brigitte St John (as ?Dancer?), Charlotte Wolff |
| NOTES: | |
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From and idea by Don Levy and Alan Daiches |
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The end credits do not mention character names although it is known who the main actors are. There is a topless dancer seen in the film who might possibly be Brigitte St John, because in the only two other film roles she is listed for on IMDB she is shown as being a dancer. |
| High Rolling (1977) | Previous Next |
| aka: High Rolling in a Hot Corvette | |
| Writer: Forest Redlich / Director: Igor Auzins / Producer: Tim Burstall | |
| Type: Australian / Drama | Running Time: 82 mins |
| Carnival worker Texas is sacked from his job at an Australian fairground for sleeping around on the bosses time. So American Texas and his Australian best mate Albee head off on a road trip across Australia. They hitchhike and are picked up by Arnold in a flash green coloured corvette sports car. The three rent a hotel room for the night but when Arnold makes a pass at Albee, the Australian KO's him and hightails it away taking Arnold's money. The two friends decide to take the corvette and when they look in the boot they find a huge stash of marijuana and gleefully believe it will make their fortune.
They head off in the car to the coast and Surfer's Paradise and along the way pick up a young girl called Lynn who is hitchhiking. At the resort they attempt to live it up with the ill-gotten gains and eventually chat-up two night-club dancers. Texas gets thrown out for lewd behaviour and beaten up by bouncers whilst Albee gets off with the two girls back at their place. But the dancers fleece Albee and all the money and the drugs are gone. So Texas, Albee and Lynn leave town and then decide to hold-up a bus and rob the passengers. By coincidence the two dancers are aboard leaving town and the guys take their luggage believing the drugs must be in there and the bus continues. Then Arnold catches up to them wanting his drugs and car back although the suitcases prove not to contain the stash - the dancers outfoxed them again and so Arnold and his men continue chasing after them leaving Texas, Albee and Lynn to carry on their way, now without transport, to wherever the road may take them next. | |
| Starring: | Joseph Bottoms (as Texas), Greg Taylor (as Albee), Judy Davis (as Lynn) |
| Featuring: | John Clayton (as Arnold), Wendy Hughes (Club singer), Sandra McGregor (Club singer) |
| Starlets: | Chantal Contouri, Christine Amor, Marilyn Vernon, Katy Morgan |
| The Hireling (1973) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Wolf Mankowitz / Director: Alan Bridges / Producer: Ben Arbeid | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 103 mins |
| Set in the 1920s. Lady Helen Francis is a young woman who has been in a nursing home suffering from a complete nervous breakdown following the death of her husband. She has been away from society for a considerable amount of time and is very uneasy about leaving the security of the rest home once the doctors have declared she is well enough to finally leave. She is quiet and withdrawn and finds it very hard to talk to people. A chauffeured Rolls Royce is sent to pick her up to take her to her mother's residence where she will complete her recovery until she has enough confidence to again face the world independently. The driver is polite and respectful and during the long drive she enters into a few hesitant exchanges with him as she tries to re-learn the knack of having conversations. She finds the driver ideal for this because he expects nothing of her and is not going to make judgements about her if she falters. She learns that he runs a big car hire firm and has a wife and two children - his name is Ledbetter.
Actually Robert Ledbetter's car hire business is his one-man show. He employs a mechanic but he is the only driver and is trying to build up a business with first class accounts, and although he privately considered Lady Francis to be decidedly odd he hopes she may use him again. He also fibbed about having a wife and children because he thought it more appropriate to appear to be a happily married man - he is in fact a single man who was a regimental sergeant major during the war. In his spare time he teaches youth boxing. Lady Francis hires Ledbetter again over the weeks that follow for sightseeing drives and finds herself able to slip into easier and easier conversation with him and even starts sitting in the front passenger seat. She begins to think of him as a kind of friend although he at all times retains respectful formality towards her. With other people however Lady Francis has still not come out of her shell causing them to behave very gingerly towards her never quite knowing if she's listening to them or whether she will respond in a normal way. It is only when she is with Ledbetter that she is able to open up because he is someone that has no hidden agendas. Eventually she feels ready to return to her own home of Radleigh Grange and gradually re-enter polite society. When Ledbetter tells her about his boxing classes she asks if there is anything she can do to help and he suggests she could donate a challenge cup for a tournament. She is delighted by this idea and decides to attend and personally present the trophy as her first social engagement. Ledbetter has enjoyed the privileged association he has had with Lady Francis and feels somewhat protective of her and even entertains secret romantic notions. But now she has started to re-emerge into being a more confident young woman ready to make her first return steps into the social world he starts to feel jealous that he won't have that same select access to her amiable companionship. He does what he can to discretely closet her contact with the charming social committee chairman Captain Hugh Cantrip MP but his efforts are in vain as they eventually meet and he invites her to dinner. Following the boxing evening Ledbetter begins to feel slighted and relegated to being a mere driver as she starts to see more of the Captain. Ledbetter knows that Cantrip has a dubious reputation with women and desperately wants to (but dares not) tell Lady Francis. His motivation would be that of self-interest as he would dearly love to be in the Captain's place. Ledbetter feels desperately shackled by his class position and wishes that his love for Lady Francis could be turned into reality and that she felt the same about him. While driving her home one evening and with her sitting in easy companionship beside him, slipping into her old ways with him, and even resting her head on his shoulder as she dozes off, he feels compelled to pour his heart out and tell her about his feelings towards her - how she is all he can ever think about and how he lives only for her. Lady Francis does not know what to say to this astonishing revelation and Ledbetter realises he has made a fool out of himself and that at best Lady Francis only thought of him as a cherished friend but had no secretly harboured romantic notions. Back home he realises he has ruined everything and she will now never hire him again. He gets sorrowfully drunk and in this irrational state drives to her residence determined to tell her the truth about Captain Cantrip. He rants about the injustices of social class and convention which prevent him rising up and pursuing his own dreams of bettering himself. Lady Francis is not unkind and tells him how very grateful she will always be to him for all the help he gave her when she was still so unsure of herself - but informs him that she and Captain Cantrip are to be married and it would be best if he were to leave immediately now. Ledbetter takes his leave and drives back to his business yard where he goes into a self-destructive mode repeatedly smashing his car back and forth against the courtyard walls as he vents his utter frustration. | |
| Starring: | Sarah Miles (as Lady Helen Franklin), Robert Shaw (as Steven Ledbetter), Peter Egan (as Hugh Cantrip) |
| Featuring: | Elizabeth Sellars (as Helen's mother), Ian Hogg (as Davis, Ledbetter's mechanic), Patricia Lawrence (as Mrs Hansen, Radleigh Grange housekeeper) |
| Starlets: | Caroline Mortimer (as Connie, Cantrip's mistress), Christine Hargreaves (as Doreen, café waitress and Ledbetter's sometime girlfriend), Petra Markham (as Edith, Radleigh Grange maid) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel by L.P. Hartley |
| Writer: Ernest Gébler (based upon his own novel) / Director: Alvin Rakoff / Producer: Ben Arbeid | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 107 mins |
| Twenty-something typing pool secretary Janet Smith is waved off at a London train station by her fiancé Tom. He believes she is going away for a week to be with a sick relative. But after Tom has left she gets off the train and travels instead to an upstairs flat in London. Janet appears to be very unhappy about matters as if she is coming here with the greatest of reluctance. In contrast, her host is delighted to see her. His name is Mr Hoffman who works at the same cargo delivery company as her - although she doesn't really know him because he is quite a private person. It soon becomes apparent that Hoffman has discovered that her fiancé Tom, who also works at the same company, has been tipping off criminals about when to expect certain valuable shipments to arrive. Hoffman is blackmailing Janet into spending a week alone with him in his flat so that he won't expose Tom's corrupt activities. As part of the deal she has to be totally under his command and must be prepared to do whatever he asks.
Hoffman tells Janet that he has always adored her from afar and Janet assumes that he will be expecting her to get up to all sorts of shocking activities. She has emotionally steeled herself for the humiliation she expects she will have to endure at the hands of this clearly deplorably depraved man. However, much to her surprise, Mr Hoffman tries his best to be charming and treat her with kindness and respect and the expected sexual demands upon her never come. Mr Hoffman takes her out for gourmet meals and generally treats her as if she is really special to him, although she responds towards him in a cold unfriendly manner to make her reluctance clear. She shares his bed at night but after several days have passed Janet begins to feel strangely offended that he hasn't even tried to become intimate with her and cannot figure out why he is insisting she adhere to her obligation to remain an entire week if he has no intention of doing anything. She thinks maybe he wants to torment her with the suspense of waiting for the inevitable, or dehumanise her and turn her into a possession. After a few more days Mr Hoffman's charming and gentle sophisticated manner begins to grow on her. She mellows and starts to enjoy his refined cultural company and is more pleasant towards him. He tells her that this week has been about showing her how different her life could be with a man that cherishes and dotes upon her with true love. One morning a couple of days before the week is up, Mr Hoffman serves her breakfast in bed when there is a ring at the doorbell. It is her fiancé Tom who was anonymously given this address and has come round to see what is going on. He finds her in the bed and Mr Hoffman gives him the impression that they are having an affair. Hoffman tells Tom he knows about his criminal associations and is now giving him the opportunity to disappear to another country or else he will tell all. Janet angrily realises that Hoffman supplied Tom with the address to bring matters to a head and she storms out and goes back home leaving Hoffman alone to contemplate that his big plan to win her love may have backfired. Janet tells Tom that she was only staying with Hoffman to help him and wants to be supportive despite his corrupt activities. But when Tom suggests that she should return to Hoffman and complete the week and try to talk him out of carrying out his threat she realises that Tom cares more about himself than he does of her. She leaves Tom and returns to Mr Hoffman's apartment this time for good knowing that in him she has found a man who truly adores her with a genuine and unselfish love. | |
| Starring: | Peter Sellers (as Benjamin Hoffman), Sinéad Cusack (as Janet Smith) |
| Featuring: | Jeremy Bulloch (as Tom Mitchell, Janet's fiancé), Ruth Dunning (as Mrs Mitchell, Tom's mother) |
| NOTES: | |
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The nudity noted for Sinead Cusack is a very brief side view glimpse as she sits up in bed to take off her pyjama top although in the letterboxed version reviewed here this actually remains just about hidden below the frame of the shot. However an existing extract taken from a full screen television broadcast was seen to be more revealing with a less severe crop. |
| Holiday on the Buses (1973) | Previous Next |
| Writers/Producers: Ronald Wolfe, Ronald Chesney / Director: Bryan Izzard | |
| Type: Sitcom spin-off | Running Time: 82 mins |
| A familiarity with the characters has been assumed for this review - or see the entry for On The Buses which covers the basics - although this film takes the characters away from their familiar workplace environment
Following a serious mishap at the depot, bus driver Stan Butler, his conductor friend Jack Harper and their inimical inspector Cyril 'Blakey' Blake are all sacked. Blakey's only consolation is that he will never have to see the other worthless pair again who have forever been the bane of his life. Stan and Jack find it hard to get more work and are on the dole for a couple of months until Jack spots a vacancy for a driver and mate at Pontin's holiday village. They apply and get the job which is to ferry holidaymakers to-and-from the railway station and take them out on excursion trips. They have their own chalets and think they have got lucky until they discover their old foe Blakey is also working there as a security guard - and he is none too pleased himself. After settling in Stan phones home and suggests his family (Mum, Olive and Arthur) come for a week's holiday at a discount rate. There follows a series of episodic misadventures in which Stan tries his luck with various young holidaying girls and female staff members which gets him into a number of tricky situations; the Butler family's holiday proves a nightmare after they lose all their luggage on the way and then spend their time doing DIY in their chalet to rectify little accidents they have; Blakey organises a ballroom dancing competition - he also has a romance with the camp nurse but (wrongly) suspects she is carrying on with Stan and becomes determined to expose him. They all end up with the sack again and back on the dole Stan and Jack are horrified to find that Blakey has got himself a job in the employment office where he takes great delight in handing Stan the most apt driving job he can think of - that of a demolition crane operator. | |
| Starring: | Reg Varney (as Stan Butler), Bob Grant (as Jack Harper), Stephen Lewis (as Blakey), Doris Hare (as Stan's Mum), Michael Robbins (Arthur, Stan's Brother-in-Law), Anna Karen (as Olive, Stan's Sister) |
| Featuring: | Wilfrid Brambell (as Bert Thompson, randy Irish OAP holidaymaker), Kate Williams (as Joan, camp nurse), Henry McGee (as George Coombs, Holiday Camp Manager), Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts (as Mr and Mrs Briggs, holidaymakers) |
| Familiar Faces: | Michael Sheard (as Depot Manager, cameo role in prologue sequence) |
| Starlets: | Hal Dyer (as Mrs Coombs), Gigi Gatti (as Maria, Italian canteen waitress), Maureen Sweeney (as Mavis, holidaying girl that Stan fancies), Sandra Bryant (as Sandra, staff member), Tara Lynn (as Girl running for bus in prologue sequence) |
| NOTES: | |
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This was the last of three big screen spin-offs from the popular ITV sitcom On The Buses. The previous films were On the Buses (1971) and Mutiny on the Buses (1972). The series itself ran for 74 episodes over seven series from 1969 to 1973. |
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Anna Karen's nudity is probably a body double. |
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Arthur Mullard and Queenie Watts play some holidaymakers in the adjoining chalet to Olive and Arthur - they play Mr and Mrs Briggs (and are called as such in on-screen dialogue, including his first name being "Wally") which were the same character names they had in the ITV sitcoms Romany Jones (27 episodes from 1972-1975) and its spin-off sequel Yus My Dear (19 episodes in 1976) - The same writers were behind those two sitcoms as wrote the On The Buses TV series. |
| Holocaust 2000 (1977) | Previous Next |
| aka: Rain of Fire | |
| Writers: Sergio Donati, Alberto De Martino / Director: Alberto De Martino / Executive Producer: Edmondo Amati | |
| Type: Fantasy Drama | Running Time: 97 mins |
| Robert Caine is head of a construction company that is planning to build a thermonuclear power plant in a third-world middle-eastern country to solve that country's energy needs. The country's Prime Minister has agreed to the project despite political opposition from his rivals. The construction requires the demolition of an ancient cave system within which was found a carving of the name of Jesus and a depiction of a seven-headed serpent.
Back in England at Caine Enterprises' headquarters anti-nuclear demonstrators become very vocal in their disapproval of the project. Robert's wife Eva who is the majority shareholder tells Robert she has decided to cancel the project at the next board meeting for fear that the controversy will be the company's ruination. But before she has the chance to announce her decision she is accidentally killed by a fanatical protestor whose target had been Robert - and so Robert carries on with the project which he so fervently believes will be of great benefit. Robert's grown-up son Angel has a brilliant mind and has designed the power plant's unique and revolutionary new efficiency concepts which include seven spherical towers. Angel is eager to be helpful to his father and assist in any way he can to get the plant built. After his wife's death Robert starts a new relationship with a much younger woman called Sara Golan and before long she falls pregnant. Angel is pleased that he will have a younger brother and Robert tells him a long held secret that Angel had been a twin at birth but the first born twin had become entangled in Angel's umbilical cord and been strangled. A scientist working for Caine Enterprises called Professor Griffith is asked to double-check Angel's figures and when he feeds it into the computer it outputs the seemingly meaningless alphanumeric string "2V231" which neither Griffith or Robert can understand. However when held up to a mirror it is found to resemble the word "Jesus". Robert asks a padre called Monsignor Charrier if it means anything and is told that a reversed "Jesus" is a symbol of the anti-Christ - an evil force that represents a mirror image of Jesus. Where Christ had 12 apostles, the anti-Christ would have 21 and his teachings would lead to destruction rather than salvation resulting in the end of the world as foretold in the Apocalypse. The ancient writings speak of it raining for 1263 days and the destruction is symbolised by the appearance of a seven-headed serpent just like the painting from the cave. The anti-Christ will be born as a second son and is prophesised to appear in the second half of the 20th century and so may be born soon or perhaps is already born and waiting for the right moment. Robert has a nightmare vision of the destruction that may come and suddenly realises that all the design characteristics of the proposed power plant match numbers from the ancient prophecy - for instance the power output is to be 1263 megawatts (one example of many such numeric coincidences, the others I've not mentioned) - even the design of the plant's seven towers seem to resemble the seven headed serpent of prophesy. Robert fears that his power plant will unwittingly bring about a holocaust and that the baby that Sara is carrying will be an evil second son who will become the anti-Christ that will make it happen. Robert tries to persuade Sara to have an abortion but she refuses and so in desperation he attempts to trick her by taking her for what she thinks will be a routine gynaecological check up at a clinic but whose staff he has paid to actually perform a forced abortion on her - however Sara realises just in time what has been planned and flees the clinic. Robert's increasingly fragile mental state results him in being committed to a psychiatric hospital that specialises in religious fanatics. However what Robert had overlooked is that Angel is already a second son (his older brother being the dead twin) and we discover it is he who is the anti-Christ already. Angel has designed the power plant that when completed will bring about a rain of destruction which will wipe out all mankind and purify everything - he has hidden his evil nature behind a mask of calm inscrutability and helpfulness but has been secretly making sure that any obstacles that lay in the way of the smooth progress of the construction were quickly eliminated - such as his own mother and political agitators in the middle-eastern country.. With Robert now safely out of the way in hospital Angel takes over as company chairman. One of his first moves is to increase the number of under-executives on the board to 21 as he presses forward with the plans to build the plant on schedule... | |
| Comment: The story is left hanging unresolved on the assumption that Angel has won and his plan will come to pass. | |
| Starring: | Kirk Douglas (as Robert Caine), Simon Ward (as Angel Caine, Robert's grown-up son), Agostina Belli (as Sara Golan, becomes Robert's girlfriend), Anthony Quayle (as Professor Griffith, scientist at Caine Enterprises) |
| Featuring: | Romolo Valli (as Monsignor Charrier, padre who advises Robert on biblical matters), Alexander Knox (as Professor Enst Meyer, Nobel prize winner), Virginia McKenna (as Eva Caine, Robert's wife), Ivo Garrani (as The Prime Minister, head of middle-eastern country), Spiros Focás (as Harbin, Prime Minister's political opponent), Adolfo Celi (as Dr Kerouac, head of psychiatric hospital where religious fanatics are held, small role), Massimo Foschi (as Dung Arab, fanatical assassin) |
| Familiar Faces: | Geoffrey Keen (as Gynaecologist, cameo role), Caroline Langrishe (as Woman at Party, [very brief non-speaking cameo, credited as Caroline Horner]) |
| Starlets: | Penelope Horner (as Robert's Secretary), Jenny Twigg (as Air Hostess), Joanne Dainton (as Gynaecologist's Nurse) |
| NOTES: | |
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The title of the version reviewed was Rain of Fire |
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The country in which the Atomic Plant is being built is never really stated. With the ancient biblical connections and desert setting it must be assumed to be somewhere in the Middle East |
| Home and Away (1974) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Michael Alexander, Bill Douglas / Director: Michael Alexander / Producer: (not listed) | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 30 mins |
| James Fairley is a young schoolboy approaching his teenage years who lives on a remote Scottish Isle and is about to start at a new boarding school on the mainland. James is small for his age and very shy and insecure. He is staying at a small board of residence at which three other boys from his year also board. James shares a room with Eric and the other boys are Alec and Robbie. The other three boys have already bonded and are noisy and James finds it hard to fit in and share their boisterous enthusiasm. James is carrying a burden of unhappiness which prevents him from enjoying himself.
When one of the lads pinches some cream cakes from the landlady's kitchen all of the boys tuck in, including James. But later when the housemaster Mr Collins questions them about the missing cakes, James declares himself innocent of blame. He is excused and the other three boys are punished. The other boys are aggrieved at James for not sharing the collective responsibility because he did eat a cake. They therefore snub James completely leaving him feeling alone and isolated. We learn that James' general state of misery is because his father and mother have split up due to his father having a mistress. His worries about his home life cause him to wet his bed which gives the other boys more ammunition with which to tease and humiliate him. Eventually Eric feels sorry for James who looks so sad all the time and the other boys forgive him and let him join their gang. James starts to emerge from his shell as he joins in with their raucous fun. Then another boy called Mark arrives at the boarding house. Initially he too is given the cold shoulder and James is just as unwelcoming to Mark as the others were initially to him. However Mark fits in much sooner for he looks old for his age and is good at chatting up girls and has soon arranged dates for the lads. All except for James who once again finds himself left out of things this time because he looks too young and wouldn't interest the girls. End of term approaches and everyone is excited to be going home to their families. Except for James who is dreading it. | |
| Comment: The reason for James' general gloom appears to be his parents' marriage break up - but it is a background detail that has to be pieced together from a few scattered clues and is not fleshed out in the story. | |
| Starring: | Barry Malone (as James Fairley, schoolboy) |
| Featuring: | (Other Schoolboys) Malcolm Reading (as Eric), Michael Malone (as Alec), James Morrison (as Robbie), Jim Reavey (as Mark, new boy) Peter MacMillan (as Collins, housemaster), Catherine Alexander (as Landlady), Ailsa McNicol (as Mary, landlady's daughter), Margaret Alexander (as James' mother), Alistair McKelvie (as James' father), May Sillars (as Father's mistress), Claire Alexander, Catherine Lennox and Mary McKinnie (as Schoolgirls) |
| Home Before Midnight (1979) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Murray Smith / Director/Producer: Pete Walker | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 111 mins |
| Ginny Wilshire and her friend Carol Barnes are hitchhiking their way home from Nottingham. A young lorry driver called Danny picks them up and Carol acts the flirt making it clear to him what he can have if he wants it. They stop off at a transport café and Danny tries to offload Ginny onto a friend of his to drive her so he can be alone with Carol. Ginny isn't interested in his friend and Carol accuses her of being a drag but Ginny is more selective than Carol and prefers to walk rather than be foisted off with a stranger she doesn’t fancy.
While walking along the road a motorist stops and offers Ginny a lift. He is a charming young man called Mike Beresford and Ginny takes to him straight away. She tells him that she and her friend had been in Nottingham to attend a Student Fashion Design Awards. They feel a spark between them and when he drops her off and asks her out on a date she accepts. That evening they go out to a restaurant and he tells her he's a songwriter for the group Bad Accident. Ginny knows they are a famous and successful teenybopper band but is not really into pop music much herself and Mike is pleased that she seems to like him for himself and not as a means of getting to meet the band. She gets the impression he is a genuine guy and discovers he has no current girlfriend. They go to a night-club where he is known by all sorts and have some drinks and then go back to his place and have sex. He offers to drive her home but she prefers to get a cab which he finds curious. Next day talking to his song-writing partner Vince Owen, Mike wonders why she didn't want him to know where she lived and wonders if she could be married or something but thinks she's probably too young for that as she must be about 19 or so. Then WE see a happy looking Ginny the next morning and gradually realise she is a schoolgirl at school along with her friend Carol and clearly a lot younger than she was giving the impression of being to Mike. Being girls they discuss things, Carol tells about the lorry driver and how good and animalistic he was - but for Ginny it wasn't like that - her new man was tender and loving. Ginny has recently had a boyfriend of a similar age to herself called Malcolm who still wants to be with her but she's dropped him for being too immature. Although Carol is more than willing to take up with him and describes him as being a dirty so-and-so to which Ginny laughs sagely saying that he had a good teacher - so she is clearly sexually promiscuous. Ginny is honest to her parents about who she is going out with and they know she is seeing someone called Mike who's a bit older and writes songs in the music business. They keep a watchful eye on her but don't prevent her from doing the things she wants as she always appears so open keeping them informed of what she's doing and she acts like a proper daddy's little girl whom they quite clearly have no idea is having sex. She tells them that Mike has invited her on a sailing trip that weekend. Mike has borrowed the band's luxury yacht and they travel up river. They have had several dates since their first and the relationship seems to be on firm footing and they have had sex several times. She is in love with him and he feels the same way about her. Then while she is sunbathing on deck her identity bracelet falls from her discarded belongings and Mike picks it up and looks at the inscription which says "Ginny, Happy 12th Birthday 11-7-1976". Mike is shocked because that was only two years ago which means she is just 14! He tells her it must end - he is 28 and it isn't right. She doesn't understand - she tells him she thought they had something special and she loves him so what's the problem - he tells her he still feels the same way about her, but this age difference thing is the problem - he doesn't want to end up in jail after all. She laughs saying her parents already know she's going out with him and they don't mind - they'd never suspect her of having sex because she's such a daddy's little girl and besides if anyone ever asked she'd swear they never did anything. Mike is so in love with her that he agrees that they can still see each other but no longer have penetrative sex - just foreplay or something. They continue going out and she is introduced to the band as his regular girlfriend and is a hit with them - she is blessed by looking older than her years and easily passes for 19 or 20. The band think very highly of Mike attributing all their success to his songs. Back at home Ginny's father realising that she is getting more serious with Mike takes her aside and asks with parental concern as tactfully as he can just what the nature of the relationship is. She convincingly lies to him saying they are really only just friends and that puts his mind at ease. She spends a weekend away with Mike telling her parents that she is going to Wales with Carol to visit her grandmother. Carol is genuinely going and has agreed to cover for her. The couple stay at Vince's place and then visit Mike's parents and they sleep together as a couple still. Mike keeps his word about not having full sex but they still enjoy sexual activities. Ginny's parents start to become concerned about Ginny's relationship when they see a TV interview recorded a week earlier when the band were teasing Mike about his love life and Ginny's name gets mentioned as his current girlfriend. Ginny's father is disturbed about this because Ginny had told him they were only friends. He decides to search her room while she's away in "Wales" and finds she has a supply of contraceptive pills that neither he nor his wife knew she was taking. Mr Wilshire waits at the station to pick her up from the Wales train with Carol and discovers she was lying about that too when he sees her rendezvous with Carol after she disembarks from the Cardiff train so they can travel the rest of the way back home on the bus together to cement their concocted story. Mr Wilshire takes his daughter home in disgrace and asks her directly if she is having sex with Mike - she puts on her little girl crybaby act saying he always thinks the worst of her and why can't he just trust her. Mother asks her to swear on the bible that she's not having sex but she falls silent and cannot. She changes tact and says that she loves Mike and Mr Wilshire takes that as an admission and slaps her calling her a dirty little whore. She runs from the house and after she has gone her father decides it's a matter for the police now as she's a minor and sexual relations with an underage girl is against the law. Ginny runs to Mike's place and tells him her parents have found out - he comforts her and says it'll probably blow over and that they're probably just mad at her for lying about going to Wales. But when Ginny gets home she finds the police waiting. A WPC questions her about her relationship. Ginny is insistent this has got nothing to do with the police and why is everyone interfering and the WPC tells her that sexual relations between a man over 23 and a girl so far underage as herself is completely against the law which means the police must become involved. As Ginny breaks down into tears the officer gets at a version of the truth as Ginny reveals snippets of what happened, meant in defence of Mike as she stresses how tender and kind he was, but taken by the WPC as admissions of sexual relations. The issue of whether she was a willing participant or forced into it is raised and the policewoman implies that she might be taken into care if it seemed she was a willing party. Ginny is so muddled and confused that everyone is trying to ruin her beautiful romance that she says what they want to hear to protect herself, saying she didn't know how to refuse him. Words are put into her mouth about her being too frightened to struggle to which she just nods tearfully. At the end of the interview the WPC decides this puts a different complexion on things and that she has been quite clearly raped by this man who is obviously a predatory sex maniac. Ginny's father is furious and wants the inhuman monster locked up. It is Ginny's mother who talks in Mike's defence knowing more about what girls can be like and that her daughter can easily pass for older and perhaps he didn't know her true age - but the policewoman says that is academic for it is now a case of straightforward rape. Mike is arrested and questioned - he doesn't deny having sex with her but swears he didn't know her real age at the time and strongly denies raping her as she was a willing partner every time. He is bailed for a magistrate's hearing pending a trial. His celebrity connections make it a media story and he soon finds himself ostracised from the band who are sympathetic but cannot risk a whiff of scandal as they are in the business of selling music to a largely teenybopper fanbase and the parents of those girls must feel able to trust them. He finds himself cut off without friends. At school Ginny's headmistress has a word with her saying how difficult this time must be but promises she will do everything she can to help. Ginny wonders if she means it and tells the headmistress that it doesn't seem fair on Mike since he had no idea how old she was and she feels like she's being very deceitful towards him. The headmistress sighs as that is clearly not the sort of help she had in mind and confides in Ginny that she had a visit from the local authorities earlier asking for a recommendation as to whether Ginny should be taken into a care home which the headmistress had indicated was a ridiculous and quite unnecessary step since she had a loving family. The headmistress pointedly tells Ginny that the authorities had seemed quite prepared to accept her recommendation provided that Ginny really had been an unwilling party in these upsetting experiences. And Ginny understands what is being implied should she start leaping to Mike's defence in public. So Ginny gets back on with her life and begins going out with a new boyfriend called Andrew who is much nearer her age and she soon starts enjoying herself again and seems to have gotten over things with barely a stumble. Mike meanwhile is all alone with no one to support him and has had his life effectively put on hold. Unable to get her on the phone he tries to talk to Ginny on her way to school one morning to ask her what on earth is going on - wanting to know why she is saying he raped her - she finds herself in a quandary and gets upset and says the police kept going on at her about it and that's all they wanted to know about and anything she said just seemed to further convince them. Mike is frustrated and when she wants to leave he tries to pull her back so they can discuss it some more and her blouse gets torn. She runs away crying into school and the headmistress calls the police saying he seems like an extremely unpleasant young man and her father thinks the sooner he is put away behind bars the better. Mike is further charged with assault and told to stay away from her. At his trial Mike pleads guilty to having sexual intercourse with a minor although unknowingly at the time. Ginny is questioned in the witness box and feels compelled to lie and act like the child they perceive her as being to protect herself from a vengeful authority. Her story is fairly easily pulled apart by the defence though. On the rape charges the defence successfully argues the case that by accepting drinks at a bar Ginny had implied to him she was at least 18. And Ginny's suggestion that she kept up the relationship because she was afraid that he might tell her parents about it doesn't sound very convincing but were words that the police used so she repeats them. Mike is found not guilty of rape but guilty of the assault and had already pleaded guilty to the other charge. The judge sums up that he accepts that Mike was unaware of Ginny's true age at the time of the original incident and therefore no rape took place - but once he did find out it was his moral duty to end it and yet he continued to have a relationship with her. And for that reason the judge tells him he must bring the full weight of the law down upon him and he is sent to prison for two years. Mike is carted away as Ginny's family celebrate the victory - except for Ginny who looks extremely unhappy and not at all pleased with herself knowing she has done wrong by him but had to lie to protect herself. | |
| Starring: | James Aubrey (as Mike Beresford), Alison Elliot (as Ginny Wilshire), Mark Burns (as Harry Wilshire, Ginny's father), Juliet Harmer (as Susan Wilshire, Ginny's mother) |
| Featuring: | Debbie Linden (as Carol Barnes, Ginny's friend), Andy Forray (as Vince Owen, Mike's songwriting partner), Sharon Maughan (as Helen Owen, Vince's wife, credited as Sharon Mughan), Jeff Rawle (as Johnny McGee, Bad Accident's manager), Chris Jagger (as Nick Brampton, lead singer of Bad Accident), Leonard Kavanagh (as Mike's father), Patrick Barr (as The Judge), Antonia Pemberton (as WPC), Ivor Roberts (as Inspector Gray), Faith Kent (as Miss Heatherton, headmistress), Ian Sharrock (as Malcolm, Ginny's ex-boyfriend), Nigel Rathbone (as Andrew, Ginny's new boyfriend), Edward Kalinski (as Danny the lorry driver), Charles Collingwood, Edward De Souza |
| Familiar Faces: | Nicholas Young (Friend of Mike in a night-club, cameo), David Hamilton (Himself, cameo), Anne Nightingale (TV Chat show host) |
| Star-Turns: | Richard Todd (as Geoffrey Steele, Mike's defence lawyer) |
| Starlets: | Emma Jacobs (as Lindy, Nick's girlfriend) |
| NOTES: | |
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Alison Elliot and Debbie Linden are playing 14-year-old schoolgirls although the actresses themselves were actually older than this at the time |
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Story by Pete Walker and additional script material by Michael Armstrong |
| Horror Express (1973) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Arnaud d'Usseau, Julian Halevy / Director: Eugenio Martín / Producer: Bernard Gordon | |
| Type: Horror / European | Running Time: 83 mins |
| In a snowy Chinese province in 1906 a scientist called Professor Alexander Saxton has discovered a well-preserved prehistoric man-like skeleton from two million years ago frozen and ice-encrusted in an ice cave. He crates up his find for transport back to England and boards a trans-Siberian express train. While waiting on the platform a curious thief suffers a mysterious death while nosing around the crate for valuables which results in his eyes becoming white and pupil-less.
Also on the train is a contemporary of Saxton's called Doctor Wells with whom he enjoys a healthy scientific rivalry. Others on the non-stop express include a devout spiritual adviser called Father Pujardov; and a police inspector called Mirov. Saxton hopes his discovery will help prove the recent controversial theory of evolution but is very secretive about its nature and the curious Dr Wells asks the baggage man to sneak a look at it for him. When the baggage man looks inside he is met by glowing red eyes and dies just like the thief. The crate's occupant is now very much alive after thawing out and escapes from the crate. When the baggage man is found dead and the specimen missing a search is undertaken while Dr Wells carries out an autopsy on the baggage man and discovers that his brain has been sucked dry of all memories. Meanwhile the creature kills more passengers and guards until it has a stand-off with Inspector Mirov who shoots it dead. Mirov feels unwell after the incident and is taken to his compartment for a rest. The passengers believe the danger is now over and Wells and Saxton perform an autopsy on the dead creature. Under a microscope they examine optic fluid from its eyes and are amazed to find it has recorded latent images of things it has seen. These include an image of Mirov, prehistoric creatures, and views of the planet Earth as seen from space. They speculate that it may have been an alien from space who somehow managed to inhabit the body of the primitive man Saxton discovered and became trapped in his frozen body in prehistoric times. Meanwhile Mirov is acting oddly and we (the viewer) realise that the mind of the creature has been transferred into him - the telltale sign is his left arm which has turned furry and which he keeps hidden. The Mirov creature is a space visitor made of energy who was stranded on earth in prehistoric times and survived by transferring its consciousness between primitive creatures until it became trapped and went dormant. It has now re-awoken in a time when it believes that technology might be such that it can absorb enough memories and knowledge from scientists to construct a rocket ship and escape. There are several scientific passengers on board whose minds it absorbs that give it hope of eventual success. The devout priest is partly deranged and recognises the evil within Mirov and wants it to transfer into him. And when the train stops to pick up a squad of Russian soldiers who were called in by an emergency telegraph message sent from the train and their merciless leader Captain Kazan throws his weight around, the creature is forced to transfer into the priest and then goes on a killing rampage amongst the soldiers. Then the priest creature heads to the locomotive to drive the train while it uses its powers to reawaken all the passengers and soldiers it has killed turning them into zombies who go after the surviving passengers. Saxton and Wells take the passengers into the final carriage and de-couple it and following Russian orders the signalman on the track ahead switches the points so the locomotive is diverted off a cliff with the creature and the zombies all plummeting to their deaths as the train crashes and explodes far down below. And the de-coupled carriage stops just in time on the cliff-edge as the surviving heroes look down at the carnage below. | |
| Comment: What isn't totally clear in the finale is why the Russian authorities sent the orders to the signalman to divert the train. The level of danger would not have been known and even if the heroes had relayed a telegraph message from the train (that we weren't privy to) it would hardly have been taken seriously enough without good proof to kill what might have been a train load of innocent passengers. | |
| Starring: | Christopher Lee (as Professor Alexander Saxton), Peter Cushing (as Dr Wells), Julio Peña (as Inspector Mirov), Alberto de Mendoza (as Father Pujardov) |
| Featuring: | Silvia Tortosa (as Countess Petrovska), Jorge Rigaud (as Count Petrovski), Alice Reinheart (as Miss Jones, Well's assistant), Angel Del Pozo (as Yevtushenko, Scientist), Helga Liné (as Natasha, a spy), Víctor Israel (as Baggage man) |
| Star-Turns: | Telly Savalas (as Captain Kazan) |
| NOTES: | |
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The director was credited under the name of Gene Martin |
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Christopher Lee's first name is misspelt as "Cristopher" in the opening credits |
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Telly Savalas put in a dominating star performance while he's on screen - but he dies so quickly after his late-in-the-movie introduction that his overall contribution is ultimately little more than a star-turn |
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This Spanish production is reviewed here because of the starring roles of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing |
| Horror Hospital (1973) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Antony Balch, Alan Watson / Director: Antony Balch / Producer: Richard Gordon | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 86 mins |
| Jason Jones is a young songwriter disillusioned with the pop industry who wants to take a relaxing break. He sees a newspaper advert for a company called "Hairy Holidays" which seems ideal and their travel agent recommends a week in a reclusive country health farm. On the train Jason meets Judy who is going to the same place although her reason is to visit her Aunt Harris who runs the place. Upon arrival at Brittlehurst Manor, a large imposing gothic mansion, Judy is met with a frosty reception and Aunt Harris hadn't really wanted her to come. With only one room available Jason and Judy are forced to share and this suits them both because the place seems very sinister and unwelcoming. The porter is a strange dwarf called Frederick and the other young guests are very odd - at dinner they all sit in silence with pale faces and unseemly scars on their foreheads. They meet the co-owner Dr Christian Storm, the wheelchair-bound husband of Aunt Harris. He is very sinister and it is soon revealed that he is conducting mind control experiments on the guests using surgery to implant controlling devices into their brains that will make them susceptible to his control. Judy is captured and due to be his next subject. Meanwhile another lad called Abraham arrives looking for his girlfriend Millie who unfortunately has already been operated on. Together he and Jason, with a little help from the disgruntled dwarf, manage to thwart Dr Storm's plans and it is revealed that he is actually a deformed monster wearing a "human" mask. | |
| Comment: Dr Storm has a bizarre means of executing people who run away. He chases them in a car and overtakes them as a blade emerges from the car's side and slices their heads off into a basket. Despite the ease which anyone could side-step this it seems to work every time - even Dr Storm himself falls for it in the end! Vanessa Shaw is delightful in her starring role but for whatever reason she doesn't appear to have ever done anything else after this film and prior to it had only appeared in a couple of very minor uncredited roles. | |
| Starring: | Michael Gough (as Dr Storm), Robin Askwith (as Jason), Vanessa Shaw (as Judy), Ellen Pollock (as Aunt Harris) |
| Featuring: | Kurt Christian (as Abraham), Skip Martin (as Frederick), Dennis Price (as Travel agent) |
| Starlets: | Barbara Wendy (as Millie) |
| Writers: Jeremy Burnham, Jimmy Sangster / Director/Producer: Jimmy Sangster | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 91 mins |
| Set in Germany in the 19th century. Victor Frankenstein is a brilliant schoolboy who outshines his teachers and refuses to take punishment for showing self-assured insolence because he considers himself superior to them. Victor is very studious and is most interested in the field of anatomy. He conducts his own private studies at home in the family castle but needs money for scientific equipment. But his father, the Baron, has finally decided he has advanced his supercilious son enough allowance and declines to give him any more. The Baron also refuses him permission to go gallivanting off to university. So Victor sets about arranging an accident for his father and sabotages his hunting rifle so that it backfires and kills him.
Victor is now the Baron and funds his own way through university. He makes friends with another student called Wilhelm Kassner and they study together. After six years Victor feels he has learnt all he can and would now be better off continuing with his own line of research - so he returns to his home town with Wilhelm in tow for a holiday break. Victor begins his experiments with earnest. At university he discovered that disconnected limbs could be controlled by the application of an electrical charge and so he has theorised that if he can reconstruct a complete man from dead body parts he can use the power of electricity to re-energise it into a living being. He employs the services of a local grave robber to provide him with a steady supply of bodies of the newly buried. He selects the best parts from each and disposes of the unwanted remainder in a large acid tank. When Wilhelm realises how fixated Victor has become and just what he is intending to create he threatens to tell the authorities and so Victor murders him and calmly uses part of his body for the creature. Finally he has constructed his creature and needs only a brain. He selects the ideal candidate with care and then drugs the man's drink so that later that evening at home he dies. Then after the funeral he sends the graverobber to retrieve his brain. There is a bit of damage to it but Victor hopes it won't matter as Victor calmly disposes too of the graverobber in his acid tank now that his usefulness is over. With the creature complete he hooks it up to the power of an electrical storm raging overhead and the creature becomes animated. It is fearsomely strong and aggressively pushes Victor to one side and smashes its way out of the castle where it proceeds to kill a passing workman. Victor manages to recapture the creature and locks it up in his dungeon where he finds he can tame it via its hunger and need to be fed. The graverobber's concerned wife comes to the castle looking for her husband and when Victor disavows any knowledge of the man's whereabouts she tells him she is going to the police to report his disappearance - so Victor sends the creature out to kill her before she can report anything that will link Victor's name with such scandalous matters. The police question Victor about the deaths near his castle and the reports of a giant monster being seen, but Victor is able to use his charm to deflect any suspicion from himself. The creature briefly escapes again and frightens a young child and this leads the authorities to Victor's castle with her angry father. Victor hides the creature in his empty acid tank as he denies all knowledge of a giant creature. But the little girl is ill-behaved and messes around in his lab while the adults are talking and pulls the chain on the acid tank delivering the acid and unknowingly destroying the hidden creature as Victor helplessly watches. | |
| Comment: At the conclusion of the film it seems to be ideally setting things up for a shock ending. After the police have left Victor climbs up to look down into the acid tank and there is an anticipation that the dying creature will suddenly reach up from under the acid and pull Victor in with it - but this never happens - instead it ends on a freeze frame with Victor turning away from the tank with a resigned acceptance of the setback on his face.
There are several additional plot strands that are woven into the story although the above description has disregarded these in order to keep the principal developments more concise. These other aspects mainly involve Victor's alluring housekeeper Alys whose duties include sleeping with him and whom Victor has to dispose of when she begins to have thoughts above her station and threatens to expose the nature of his experiments lest he pay her off; And Elizabeth, a neighbouring beauty, who has had a crush on Victor since they were at school together and comes to live with Victor at the castle when her father dies (after Victor arranged to kill him to appropriate his brain) where she comes into contact with the creature; and an old schoolfriend called Stephan who Victor seeks to implicate for the murders committed by his creature. | |
| Starring: | Ralph Bates (as Victor Frankenstein), Kate O'Mara (as Alys, Victor's housekeeper), Veronica Carlson (as Elizabeth Heiss), Graham James (as Wilhelm Kassner, Victor's university friend), Dennis Price (as The Graverobber) |
| Featuring: | Jon Finch (Henry Becker, schoolfriend, then policeman), Glenys O'Brien (as Maggie, Henry's fiancée), Bernard Archard (as Professor Heiss, Elizabeth's father), Stephen Turner (as Stephan, schoolfriend, then castle cook), Joan Rice (as Graverobber's wife), George Belbin (as Baron Frankenstein, Victor's father), James Cossins (as University Dean), Dave Prowse (as The Monster) |
| NOTES: | |
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This was the sixth of the Hammer Horror Frankenstein movies. The previous was Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) - although this film retells the basic story from scratch without any connection to the Peter Cushing films. The next film was Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) in which Peter Cushing returned to the lead role. |
| Horror Safari (1982) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Bill James / Director: Alan Birkinshaw / Producer: Dick Randall | |
| Type: Adventure | Running Time: 83 mins |
| The version reviewed was dubbed into Italian with no subtitles although any on-screen captions were still in English. It was hard to determine the motivations for what was going on or understand the characters various past histories with one another. This review is a very basic summary based on the visuals alone and a bit of supposition.
Prologue. A unit of Japanese soldiers and some bearers are in a jungle carrying with them a crate of something precious they have found. They are moving with caution because there are savage tribes in the area. The tribesmen attack and the soldiers get pinned down in a cave mouth and although they have superior weaponry they are heavily outnumbered. One soldier defends the cave entrance whilst the officers and bearers venture into the cave system. Knowing they have no chance to escape with their heavy load the officers decide to hide the treasure crate in the caves to recover at another time. They kill the bearers to keep the location secret then find another exit and escape back to civilisation. End of Prologue Thirty-six years later a man called Rex Larson is in Tokyo following up on information about the stashed hoard of treasure. Rex is ruthless and kills to get the information he wants and eventually obtains a map indicating the location. Rex meets with a rich Englishman called Douglas Jefferson to finance an expedition into the jungle. Jefferson knows they need an experienced man to lead them and sets about convincing former adventurer Mark Forrest to join them. Mark has fallen on hard times and has taken to drinking heavily. He is feeling sorry for himself and is reluctant to join but eventually he is persuaded by the intervention of Jefferson's beautiful daughter Janice. The expedition party consists of Larson, Forrest, Jefferson, Janice and a few other interested parties. Forrest and Larson have a past history that makes them distrustful of one another. They begin their journey into the tropical jungle region travelling along a river on a boat. Every night they stop and set up camp on the riverbank and each night one of their number is killed in seeming accidents. Mr Jefferson is one of those that die but his daughter Janice bravely carries on and she and Mark Forrest begin a romantic attachment. Their numbers dwindle but the survivors continue on regardless following the map which will lead them to the treasure cave. After many days, Forrest and Janice are the only remaining survivors with Larson gone missing. The duo find the cave and locate the crate which they open to find it full of gold ingots. Then Larson reappears and we find out that it is he who has been killing everyone so he can have the gold for himself. Forrest and Larson fight and eventually Larson falls to his death. Forrest and Janice happily kiss and get ready to leave. (The gold would be too heavy for them to carry so it's not clear if they are going to come back for it or not). | |
| Starring: | Stuart Whitman (as Mark Forrest), Edmund Purdom (as Rex Larson), Glynis Barber (as Janice Jefferson) |
| Featuring: | David De Martyn (as Douglas Jefferson, Janice's father), Woody Strode (as Cal, Jefferson's friend), Harod Sakata (as Tobachi, Japanese man on expedition), Laura Gemser (as Maria, local girl on expedition), Junix Nocian (as Fernando, Maria's boyfriend), Mike Cohen (as Boat Captain) |
| NOTES: | |
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This Italian film was reviewed here because of the involvement of British actress Glynis Barber. Although dubbed into Italian it was presumably made in English as all the principal cast are English-speaking actors. Its Italian title was Safari senza ritorno although the version reviewed carried the English title. |
| aka: Burke and Hare | |
| Writer: Ernie Bradford / Director: Vernon Sewell / Producer: Guido Coen | |
| Type: Horror | Running Time: 93 mins |
| Set in Edinburgh in the 1800s. William Burke and Tom Hare are two working class friends who live together with their wives. They are poor but they get by doing an honest living. Burke is a cobbler who uses his Irish charm to get work and Hare rents the upper rooms in their house to poor unfortunates even worse off than themselves. When an elderly lodger dies owing rent, Hare makes the suggestion that they could sell the body to the doctors in Surgeon's Square who pay good money for bodies which they use for dissection. The laws of the time did not consider a dead body to be of any value so it was not a crime to possess one unless caught in the act of actually desecrating a grave. Burke and Hare are directed to the residency of one Doctor Knox as the most likely customer for their "goods".
Doctor Knox is a medical school lecturer who believes that if modern science is to progress more cadavers must be available for dissection yet only a fraction of what they truly need can be obtained through lawful means - that being the bodies of executed criminals or unclaimed unidentified dead. Therefore he is willing to pay good rates for any bodies that come to him through other means as long as the death is by natural causes and not someone who has been murdered. Burke and Hare are given £7 10s for the dead lodger which is a real windfall for them. Doctor Knox uses the bodies as training demonstrations in his medical classes to teach his students the basics of anatomy and pathology. James Arbuthnot is an eager young student who is new to Edinburgh and is being looked after by his friend Robert Ferguson. After classes Ferguson's friend Lord Angus McPhee offers to show them both this little place he knows and he takes them to Madame Thompson's - a high class brothel. Arbuthnot is struck by the beauty of one particular girl who works there called Marie and revisits the establishment many times to get to know her better. Meanwhile one of Hare's lodgers is ill with suspected typhoid and the other lodgers are complaining and threatening to leave. So Hare tells them he is going to take the poor man to a hospital and he and Burke carry him out. But they have no intention of taking him anywhere and only go as far as the shed. Hare thinks they can wait for him to die and then sell his body like the last one. But when the man seems to be slow in dying they decide to help him on his way rationalising it would be like putting him out of his misery. They suffocate him so as not to leave any signs of a murder and then take him to Knox and get another good payout. Burke and Hare's wives find out about the extra money they have and demand to know where they got it. When the two men admit what they have done, rather than being shocked and appalled, it is the wives who encourage them to step up their activities. They therefore begin to lure back to their lodgings poor unfortunates who won't be missed and then suffocate them and receive good payments for each. This activity continues for a good while until the Burke's and the Hare's have become much more well-to-do and able to afford more expensive clothes and lodgings - explaining their change in fortune on an inheritance. They get careless on one occasion when they murder a street simpleton called Daft Jamie who is actually well liked and missed but Knox manages to cover things up and the crisis passes. Meanwhile James Arbuthnot is continuing to see Marie and suggests marriage although she thinks he could not possibly want a girl like her as he is gentleman and she a lady of ill-repute - but he is adamant he loves her. A fire accidentally starts in one of the other rooms and spreads to the whole brothel trapping James, Marie and other clients and girls upstairs. Marie's quick thinking in remembering some attic crawlspace saves them all as James leads the way to safety across to the next house. But the prostitutes are left homeless. Marie's immediate concern is to look after the devastated Madame Thompson but she promises to meet James at the inn the following day. Marie and her friend Janet visit a tavern hoping to rent a room but the landlord has no rooms. But Burke happens to be there and overhears their plight and offers them a room in a property he owns. He is charming and persuasive and they know what he is probably after but they agree to the arrangement and go back to his property and have some sexual hi-jinks with him in return for his hospitality. But Burke is also after their bodies in a more literal way and when Hare turns up to help him the girls are murdered. Next day James is at the Inn for his arranged meeting with Marie and is disappointed when she doesn't show up. He goes to his next lecture and is staggered when he sees her - laying dead on the slab as that day's training subject. James refuses to believe Marie died of natural causes and starts investigating her final movements. The tavern landlord recalls her and Janet talking to a man called Burke and James goes to question him. James finds his address but there is a wild party in progress which has got out of hand and James calls some constables to help break up a fight. In the course of this a murdered body is discovered in a cupboard that the pair had been planning to sell later and they are finally caught and arrested. A voiceover then tells us their fate: Burke turned kings evidence to implicate Hare and was spared the hangman's noose but an angry public rounded on him and threw him into a lion's pit and he spent the rest of his days a blind beggar. Hare was publicly executed and his body dissected. Knox's reputation was ruined and he eventually died in obscurity. | |
| Starring: | Derren Nesbitt (as William Burke), Glynn Edwards (as Tom Hare) |
| Featuring: | Yootha Joyce (as Mrs. Hare), Dee Shenderey (as Mrs Burke), Alan Tucker (as James Arbuthnot, student), Harry Andrews (as Dr Knox), Joan Carol (as Madame Thompson, Brothel Madame), Françoise Pascal (as Marie, brothel girl), Yutte Stensgaard (as Janet, brothel girl), Thomas Heathcote (as Paterson, Knox's assistant), Robin Hawdon (as Lord Angus McPhee, medical student), Paul Greaves (as Robert Ferguson, medical student), David Pugh (as Daft Jamie) |
| Familiar Faces: | Bob Todd (Guard) |
| Starlets: | (Brothel girls) Christine Pilgrim (as Rosie), Caroline Yates (as Annie), Lindsay Marsh (as Liz), ?Katya Wyeth (as Natalie) |
| NOTES: | |
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Françoise Pascal receives an "introducing" credit - although she also received an "introducing" credit in Loving Feeling (1968). |
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Katya Wyeth is credited with appearing in the film (as Katya Wyath). The end-credits are in appearance order but she does not appear where indicated nor noticeably anywhere else. It would seem therefore that her role was cut out but the credits weren't adjusted. |
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In real life both men's first names were "William" - but for this film (presumably to avoid any dialogue confusions) Hare is named Tom. |
| Hot Enough for June (1964) | Previous Next |
| Writer: Lukas Heller / Director: Ralph Thomas / Producer: Betty E. Box | |
| Type: Spy Drama | Running Time: 92 mins |
| Nicholas Whistler is an unemployed writer who is sent by the labour exchange to an interview for a job at a glass manufacturers. Nicholas does not expect it to be suitable for him but he is obliged to attend or lose his unemployment benefits.
In fact the prospective employer is the British Secret Service, but they prefer their new recruits not to know this and so when the service chief Colonel Cunliffe interviews Nicholas he maintains a charade of being a glass industry executive. He finds Nicholas eminently suitable and offers him the job which is to fly out to the iron curtain country of Czechoslovakia and pick up a new glass making formula from a business contact. He tells Nicholas that the communists are a bit eccentric and like doing business using codewords and clandestine exchanges and it is best to humour them and play along. Nicholas is given the code phase "Hot Enough For June" so that he can verify the identity of his contact who will reply with another phrase. Nicholas thinks it is all very peculiar but he is persuaded by the enormous salary offered for a job that sounds relatively straightforward. He flies out to Prague and books into a hotel. For his appointment at the Prague glass factory he is provided with a chauffeured limousine to travel around in. The driver is a young woman called Vlasta to whom Nicholas takes a liking. At the factory Nicholas is shown around and he tries slipping his code phrase into conversation with no success. That is until he goes to the washroom and discovers that the lavatory attendant is his contact who supplies him with a formula discreetly hidden in a travel guidebook. Nicholas and Vlasta go out on a date and eventually become romantic. What Nicholas does not know is that Vlasta is an agent and is working for her father Comrade Simoneva who is the head of the secret police. Simoneva suspects Nicholas of being a spy and is gathering evidence of his activities by using his daughter. Vlasta is uncomfortable with her task because she has become genuinely fond of Nicholas who does not seem to be the secret agent type. Back at his hotel Nicholas discovers he is under surveillance and facing imminent arrest. He has at last realised that he has been duped by the British secret service and tricked into becoming a spy. He knows that the punishment for a captured spy is twenty-five years in a communist prison and therefore needs to avoid arrest. Nicholas discovers in himself a level of resourcefulness he did not realise he possessed as he attempts to evade the security patrols looking for him. He adopts various disguises in his effort to make it to the safety of the British embassy which is now under watch by Simoneva's agents. He visits Vlasta's home and to prove he is not a spy he burns the secret note he was given. In return she agrees to help him get to safety. He eventually manages to enter the embassy by adopting the guise of the early morning milkman. Nicholas returns to England accompanied by Vlasta who has accepted a trade mission assignment in England right near where Nicholas lives. | |
| Starring: | Dirk Bogarde (as Nicholas Whistler), Sylva Koscina (as Vlasta Simoneva), Robert Morley (as Colonel Cunliffe, Head of MI5), Leo McKern (as Simoneva, head of Czechoslovakian secret police, Vlasta's father) |
| Featuring: | John Le Mesurier (as Roger Allsop, Cunliffe's assistant), Roger Delgado (as Josef, hotel floor waiter), Richard Pasco (as Plakov, Vlasta's controller), Richard Vernon (as Roddinghead, British embassy official), Eric Pohlmann (as Galushka, Head of Czechoslovakian glass factory), Gertan Klauber (as Glass factory technician), John Standing (as Men's Room Attendant, Whistler's contact), Amanda Grinling (as Cunliffe's secretary), (Whistler's London friends, small roles) Noel Harrison (as Johnnie), Jill Melford (As Lorna), Derek Nimmo (as Fred) |
| Familiar Faces: | Derek Fowlds (as Man at Swimming pool, cameo), John Junkin (as MI5 Equipment Clerk, cameo), Norman Bird (as Employment Exchange Clerk, cameo), William Mervyn (as Plane Passenger, cameo) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on the novel Night of Wenceslas by Lionel Davidson |
| Hot Millions (1968) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Ira Wallach, Peter Ustinov / Director: Eric Till / Producer: Mildred Freed Alberg | |
| Type: Crime Caper | Running Time: 102 mins |
| Marcus Pendleton is a con man and financial whiz who in the past has used his bookkeeping talents to embezzle money from his employers. But he was caught unprepared by the advent of computerisation and has just completed a spell in prison after account anomalies were flagged up on a computer report. Now free, but far from reformed, he has decided to meet the challenge of the computer age and find a way to beat the system.
Marcus locates a computer expert called Caesar Smith who is leaving the country to go on a long South American expedition to write a book on moths. He then uses his forging skills and assumes Smith's identity and credentials and applies for a top computer job at the British headquarters of an American financial firm called Ta-Can-Co. (from here on I'll refer to Marcus as "Caesar Smith" because that's what everyone now calls him). Caesar has done his homework and at his interview he impresses company Executive Vice-President Carlton J. Klemper with his knowledge of the firm's computer systems and gets the job. He is shown the computer and the electronic and mechanical safeguards used to prevent fraud which are considered to be foolproof. Caesar is determined to find a way around those difficulties and in his privileged post with access to the computer's technical specs is able to devise a suitable plan which circumvents the alarms. He then goes around Europe setting up fake businesses which he then programs into the Ta-Can-Co computer so that it pays cheques to them for services rendered - he is always careful to make sure the accounts remain balanced. In another plot thread Caesar is assigned a new secretary called Patty. She is a bit useless at most things and has great trouble holding down jobs but Caesar develops a soft spot for her and they eventually get married. She knows nothing about his dodgy dealings but is always finding large quantities of cash in his pockets when he comes back from abroad and starts squirreling it away in investment opportunities that she picks up tips about in her day-to-day workings. Over the coming year Caesar's scheme continues undiscovered until eventually the Ta-Can-Co board become so impressed by the increasing amount of business they are doing with certain companies around Europe, which they realise they seem to know very little about, that Klemper decides to send his deputy Willard C. Gnatpole to personally visit them. Caesar knows the game is up and so he withdraws all of the accumulated million pounds he has embezzled and leaves the country with Patty bound for Rio de Janeiro. Gnatpole soon discovers they have been conned and that Caesar is to blame but Klemper does not want to involve the police for fear of causing a stock market panic - he also does not want to ruin his chances of becoming company president when the current president retires shortly. The two men are then unexpectedly invited out to Rio to visit Caesar but it turns out to have been Patty who sent for them. She proposes that Caesar return all the money and be given a top financial job in the company and no more need be said about the matter. When Caesar questions her sense she reveals that she has made so much on the money she invested that her profits exceed the amount he embezzled and they have no need of his ill-gotten gains now. This arrangement is satisfactory to all and Caesar and Patty return to England and everyone in the company moves a notch up the corporate ladder. | |
| Starring: | Peter Ustinov (as Marcus Pendleton/Caesar Smith), Maggie Smith (as Patty), Karl Malden (as Carlton J Klemper, Executive Vice-President of Ta-Can-Co), Bob Newhart (as Willard C Gnatpole, Vice-President of Data Processing) |
| Featuring: | Robert Morley (as The Real Caesar Smith) |
| Familiar Faces: | Peter Jones (Prison Governor), Anthony Sharp (Card Player), Bob Todd (Commissionaire), Lynda Baron (Waitress) |
| Hotel Paradiso (1966) | Previous Next |
| Writers: Peter Glenville, Jean-Claude Carrière / Director/Producer: Peter Glenville | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: 94 mins |
| Set in Paris in 1900. Hen-pecked husband Benedict Boniface has desires for his neighbour's wife Marcelle Cotte and with his bossy wife due to go away to visit her sister he suggests to Marcelle a liaison at a suitably discreet hotel.
The hotel they choose is called Hotel Paradiso but unfortunately for them their attempt at a circumspect incognito association becomes a farce of epic proportions when they find all manner of friends and associates have also chosen the same hotel for an overnight stay.
Marcelle's husband Henri has been employed by the court to determine the cause of strange noises that plague one of the rooms; a mutual out-of-town friend called Monsieur Martin and his four young daughters take a room for the night; and the Boniface's forthright maid Victoire takes a room with her naïve boyfriend Maxime who is also the Cotte's nephew. Another guest who books in is a playwright neighbour called Georges Feydeau. Benedict and Marcelle struggle hard to keep their identities hidden with false names and disguises and make hastily invented excuses for their presence when spotted by their acquaintances. Eventually matters get worse when the police raid the hotel for being a notorious adulterers' meeting place. The short-sighted police inspector takes their names which he intends to verify the next day. Benedict and Marcelle give each others surname to appear married not expecting the other to give a false name. They are allowed to go home and the farce continues into the next day when the policeman comes round to verify the identities given to him and the spouses of the illicit lovers' are accused of being the culprits and find it difficult to prove otherwise because the short-sighted police inspector only previously saw the accused with obscured faces. This leads to more comical developments until the matter is satisfactorily sorted out without the affair being discovered. At the end they all go to see a new comic play written by their reclusive neighbour Georges Feydeau and uncomfortably discover that he has based the entire story on the comic comings and goings he has recently observed with only their names slightly changed. | |
| Starring: | Gina Lollobrigida (as Marcelle Cotte) Alec Guinness (as Benedict Boniface), Robert Morley (as Henri Cotte), Peggy Mount (as Angelique Boniface), Douglas Byng (as Mr Martin, Bonifaces' friend) |
| Featuring: | Ann Beach (as Victoire, Boniface's maid), Derek Fowlds (as Maxime, Victoire's boyfriend), Akim Tamiroff (as Anniello, Hotel Proprietor), David Battley (as George the bellboy), Leonard Rossiter (as Police Inspector), Robertson Hare and Marie Bell (as other hotel guests), Peter Glenville (as Georges Feydeau) |
| NOTES: | |
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Adapted from the play l'Hotel du Libre Echange by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières. |
| Writers: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Paul Morrissey / Director: Paul Morrissey / Producer: John Goldstone | |
| Type: Comedy | Running Time: 81 mins / 71 mins |
| Super-sleuth Sherlock Holmes receives a request from a family solicitor to look into the mysterious death of his client Sir Charles Baskerville who was apparently scared to death by a hideous hound that roams the moors around the Baskerville estate. Sir Charles' heir is Sir Henry Baskerville who arrives in London from abroad for the reading of the will. Holmes decides that the case is not in need of his particular talents and sends Watson to deal with it alone.
Watson and Sir Henry arrive at Baskerville Hall and find the people most strange - Sir Henry is treated as an unwelcome interloper by the servants and given the worst room. The locals are forever talking of the legendary fearsome hound and the nearest neighbour across the moors relentlessly baits traps for it but never manages to snare it; another neighbour keeps unhousetrained Chihuahuas as pets; another neighbour seems to be possessed by the devil and exhibits crazed supernatural tendencies. Watson tries vainly to get to the bottom of things but eventually has to call in Holmes for assistance. Holmes quickly unravels the mystery to reveal the true picture which involves a plot engineered by all of Baskerville's neighbours working together. It emerges that the Baskerville family have weak hearts and Sir Charles died of natural causes. But his neighbours (via Sir Charles solicitor who is complicit with them) found out that he had bequeathed his entire fortune to his faithful dog - a hound who is somewhat large but nevertheless very friendly and entirely harmless. The will states that if the dog were to die then Sir Henry would inherit instead - and if Sir Henry were to die the estate was to be shared amongst the Baskerville neighbours. So after Sir Charles' sudden natural death the neighbours conspired to manufacture a fearsome legend of a terrifying hound that roams the moors and then called in the detectives Holmes and Watson to investigate. The neighbours have been keeping the actual hound hidden awaiting for the right time to release it and have it joyfully greet Sir Henry on the moors when it recognised his "Baskerville" scent. It was hoped that Sir Henry would die of shock when he saw the "murderous" hound bounding towards him and that the hound would then be shot in revenge by the detectives believing it to be a deadly menace - thereby doing, the conspiring neighbours would eliminate the will's main benefactors and each receive a share of the fortune for themselves. Holmes works all of this out and saves Sir Henry - and all the neighbours get their comeuppance when they are stuck in the boggy marsh and perish after they venture out onto the moors at night to check if their plan has worked. | |
| Comment: Unfortunately it is not a particularly amusing effort with much of it falling flat due to weak scripting. For most of the middle portion of the film Cook and Moore are not seen together (that being the nature of the original Holmes story being adapted here) and most of Cook's solo scenes as Holmes during this period are without any purpose to the story. It sticks loosely to the pattern of the Conan Doyle story but does its own thing with the various supporting characters and totally changes the mystery's solution. And at the very end a sudden volcano erupts under Baskerville Hall and Holmes and Watson die as well!
Possibly the most amusing sequence is tellingly a recycled sketch from Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's 1960s TV show (Not Only... But Also) in which a one-legged man applies to Holmes for a job as a "runner" instead of (as in the TV original) the job of Tarzan - but keeping much of the rest of the same dialogue intact. Although it is somewhat clumsily shoehorned into the story, the comic quality of the piece stands out and shows-up the much lesser quality of the rest of the film | |
| Starring: | Peter Cook (as Sherlock Holmes), Dudley Moore (as Doctor Watson and Mrs Holmes), Kenneth Williams (as Sir Henry Baskerville, heir), Irene Handl (as Mrs Ada Barrymore, Baskerville Hall housekeeper), Max Wall (as Arthur Barrymore, Baskerville Hall butler) |
| Featuring: | Terry-Thomas (as Dr Mortimer, Baskerville's solicitor), Denholm Elliott (as Stapleton, keeps Chihuahuas), Joan Greenwood (as Beryl Stapleton, his sister, devil possessed), Hugh Griffith (as Frankland, hound hunter), Dana Gillespie (as Mary Frankland, his wife), Roy Kinnear (as Seldon, escaped convict), Henry Woolf (as Post office owner), Lucy Griffiths (as Iris, Mrs Holmes' friend) |
| Familiar Faces: | [one-scene appearances] Prunella Scales (as Wife of post office owner), Penelope Keith (as Massage parlour receptionist), Spike Milligan (as Policeman) |
| NOTES: | |
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There are two versions of the film. The original theatrical print is 81 minutes and there is a re-released edited 71 minutes version which cuts out or shortens several scenes. A DVD of the film contains both versions although somewhat oddly it is the longer original widescreen version that is tucked away in the extras menu and the shorter full-screen version that is presented as the main feature. |
| Writer/Producer: Maurice J. Wilson / Director: Montgomery Tully | |
| Type: Ghost Story | Running Time: 66 mins |
| David and Jean Linton are recently married but have not managed to settle down anywhere permanent and are forever moving between hotels and boarding houses. David is a writer working on a novel and only makes any money by reviewing other people's books. The couple can rarely pay their debts and have left a trail of unpaid bills and angry landladies. Jean thinks David drinks too much and it seems their relationship is precariously poised.
Their life changes when Jean receives a letter informing her that her aunt has died bequeathing her £1000 and her cottage in Marsh Road in the town of Witherley. The Lintons' troubles seem to be over - they now have a place to live where David can get on with finishing his book in comfort and solitude. The property is called "Four Winds" and is a large, old house that even has its own lift. They soon discover that the property is inhabited by an invisible poltergeist which the cleaner Mrs O'Brien has named "Patrick". But she says that although he moves things around now and again he is generally quite benign in nature. Jean does not find the spirit oppressive but it creeps David out and he is keen that they should sell the house and use the money to buy somewhere closer to London. However all the ownership deeds are in Jean's name and she feels a kinship with the house and doesn't want to sell - this causes friction in their relationship. David continues to drink too much and eventually begins an affair with a local divorcee called Valerie Stockley who is doing his typing for him. When Jean finds out about the affair David tells her it was a one-off which he regrets and is now over - and from then on he becomes like a new man becoming very considerate towards her and she soon forgives him. But actually David is playacting because he has fallen in love with Valerie and with her urging decides that if he were to do away with Jean then the house would become his and he could sell it and live with Valerie. So one evening he sets about arranging an "accident" for Jean in which she will fall down the open lift shaft in the dark. But when he pushes her towards it the safety gate he left open in preparation has unaccountably become closed and all she gets is a bruised shoulder - he quickly covers his own actions by claiming to have pushed her by accident when he stumbled and Jean is none the wiser. Next David tries to give her a fatal overdose of sleeping pills in her night-time drink but every time she puts the glass to her lips the front door bell rings furiously for no reason and she finally cottons on to the fact that the poltergeist is warning her and wonders if the lift incident was an earlier attempt on her life in which the poltergeist intervened. She packs an overnight bag and leaves for London to consult her solicitor. However when she explains to him her concerns he manages to convince her that she has no real proof that David has done anything and she has let her imagination run wild - so she decides to return to give David another chance. However David is not expecting her to return until at least tomorrow and so he has invited Valerie around to spend the night with him. It is a stormy night and Jean's journey home is much slower than normal. Meanwhile at the house whilst David and Valerie are enjoying themselves upstairs, a burning log in the downstairs hearth fire unaccountably falls onto the carpet and then an armchair bodily moves over it and catches alight and soon the whole house is ablaze. David and Valerie are trapped upstairs and die in the fire. When Jean gets back she finds her house destroyed and is told the tragic news of the two deaths which unfortunately also proves David's continued infidelity. The fire's cause is put down to a lightening strike - but Jean feels she knows differently and that to the very end the poltergeist was looking after her best interests. | |
| Starring: | Tony Wright (as David Linton), Patricia Dainton (as Jean Linton), Sandra Dorne (as Valerie Stockley) |
| Featuring: | Derek Aylward (as Richard Foster, local branch solicitor), Anita Sharp Bolster (as Mrs O'Brien, cleaner), Sam Kydd (as Morris Lumley, property dealer), Llewellyn Rees (as R J Webster, London solicitor) |
| NOTES: | |
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Made in Black and White |
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Based on the novel of the same name by Laurence Meynell |
| Writers: Clive Exton, Terry Nation / Director: Peter Sykes / Producers: Clive Exton, Terry Nation | |
| Type: Comedy Thriller | Running Time: 91 mins |
| In the early 1900s Foster Twelvetrees is an actor for hire who tours local theatres performing renditions of literary works. However his audiences are dwindling and so he accepts a booking from a stranger called Stewart Henderson to stay as a guest at his family's house in the country and give a private paid demonstration of his inimitable talents.
The Henderson residence is a large and imposing isolated gothic mansion which Foster finds very creepy, but the fee he has been promised helps him overcome his natural nervous apprehension. Stewart Henderson lives with his sister Jessica and they have an Indian manservant called Patel. They have two brothers who soon arrive for the family gathering, Reggie (who comes with his daughter Verity) and Ernest (with his wife Agnes). Also in the house kept locked in an attic box room is the brothers' mother who has descended into murderous madness and is kept there as a compassionate gesture rather than have her institutionalised. The family have gathered to hear the will of the eldest brother and head of the family Victor who has recently died - they are eager to find out how his estate will be divided. Victor's father brought some valuable diamonds out of India and hid them somewhere in the grounds and upon his death passed the secret of their location onto Victor as the next head of the family - and now the other squabbling brothers hope to learn the jewels' whereabouts in Victor's will. However Stewart has some unwelcome news - their father had had an affair which resulted in an illegitimate son who is now the rightful heir but does not know it - that man is the actor Foster Twelvetrees! Victor has somehow cryptically passed on the secret of the jewels' location to Foster who is blissfully unaware he possesses this knowledge and Stewart invited him here to try and get hold of the clue. Foster thinks the Henderson family are all very strange except for Verity who seems to be the only normal one with no time for the family bickering. She lets Foster know what is going on and informs him of his rightful heritage. Meanwhile various members of the family are being killed off by an unknown knife murderer. Verity and Foster team up and determine that a plaque displaying a misquoted motto he was sent by an anonymous fan is the clue. Soon afterwards Verity becomes a victim herself - and after further deaths only the mother, Stewart and Foster remain alive. Foster goes it alone to work out the clue's meaning and eventually finds a hidden gift-wrapped box - Stewart tries to get it but Foster manages to outwit him and lock him in a room with his mother. As Foster prepares to open the box the real murderer reveals themselves - it is Verity! She faked her own death so she could sit back and let events play out until the diamonds were found and she could have them for herself. At gunpoint and under her supervision Foster unwraps the box - he discards the wrapping in the hearth fire - and then opens the box. But instead of diamonds there is only a note. The message on it congratulates the finder and informs them that the jewels are hidden in the meadow in front of the house and detailed instructions of precisely where are written on the wrapper that the box was enclosed in! -They make a frantic attempt to retrieve the wrapper from the fire but it is too late and it has burnt. Mother, Stewart and Verity are carted off by the police for murder leaving Foster as the new owner of the estate. He resignedly makes a start with his shovel in the almost hopeless task of randomly searching the huge multi-acre meadow in front of the house. | |
| Starring: | Frankie Howerd (as Foster Twelvetrees) (Henderson siblings) Ray Milland (as Stewart Henderson), Hugh Burden (as Reggie Henderson), Kenneth Griffith (as Ernest Henderson), Rosalie Crutchley (as Jessica Henderson) Ruth Dunning (as Agnes Henderson, Ernest's wife), Elizabeth MacLennan (as Verity Henderson, Reggie's daughter), John Bennett (as Patel, Indian manservant) |
| Featuring: | Aimée Delamain (as The Mother), Peter Munt (as Cabbie) |
| House of Mortal Sin (1976) | Previous Next |
| aka: The Confessional | |
| Writer: David McGillivray / Story/Director/Producer: Pete Walker | |
| Type: Thriller | Running Time: 99 mins |
| Jenny Welch is a young woman who lives with her sister Vanessa above a Miscellany shop they run in Richmond. She has an uncertain relationship with a man called Terry whom she still loves but is troubled that he is not always there for her when she needs him and they break up and get back together frequently. During one recent break up she discovered she was pregnant but had the baby aborted thinking he wouldn't be returning although eventually he did. But now they've had yet another row and he's left again.
The other main character is Father Xavier Meldrum the senior priest at the catholic Church of the Sacred Heart. He lives in the presbytery with his housekeeper Miss Brabazon who also acts as nursemaid to his elderly infirm mother Mrs Meldrum. Father Meldrum takes his ecclesiastical duties very seriously and is always willing to help straighten the moral wanderings of his younger parishioners whose plights he hears of during confessionals. Miss Brabazon has worked for Father Meldrum for decades - she despises Mrs Meldrum and treats the old woman appallingly when alone with her. Mrs Meldrum is weak and feeble and cannot speak or even feed herself. Meldrum loves his mother dearly and it was she who, 30 years beforehand, helped him through a difficult time in his life and directed him towards his holy orders. Recently arrived in Richmond to take up the post of junior priest is Bernard Cutler - he is actually an old friend of Jenny and Vanessa when they all used to live in Somerset. Knowing he is looking for a room Jenny decides to go to the church and suggest he could use the spare room recently vacated by Terry. With no one to ask in the main church she enters the confessional thinking to ask the priest Father Meldrum - but convention prevails in the austere surroundings and when he asks what her confession is she talks about her irksome relationship with her unfaithful boyfriend and how she had an abortion because of it. The priest appears outraged at her ordeal and wants to know more but she has said enough and decides to leave - he pleas that she return to discuss the matter - to get away she agrees but has no intention of doing so really. Then Meldrum starts hounding her and she discovers to her shock that he made a tape of her confession and if she doesn't come in for another chat he will play it to people she knows. Terry has just returned into Jenny's life and he manfully says he will go round to Meldrum's place and get the tape back. But once Meldrum discovers that he is the one who made Jenny's life a misery he bludgeons him to death with a censer of burning incense oil and then buries him in an open grave in the churchyard. When Terry doesn't return Jenny assumes he has deserted her yet again. She voices her concerns about the tape to Bernard who says he'll ask Meldrum about it - but when he raises the matter Meldrum produces a tape of anonymised memo notes he made about her case and says that is what she heard. This and other incidents leave Bernard and Vanessa questioning Jenny's state of mind and she is put under sedation by a doctor. But when Vanessa picks up the phone and responds positively when the voice asks if she is Miss Welch (because she is) she discovers it is Father Meldrum and believing he is talking to Jenny Welch he plays the tape again down the line. Vanessa realises with a shock that all the crazy stuff Jenny had been saying about this priest must be true. Vanessa goes round to the presbytery to try and get he tape back herself - she sneaks in and unsure of the layout finds her way to Mrs Meldrum's bedroom where the old woman manages to communicate with her telling her to help because her son is mad. But when Meldrum returns and finds Vanessa he becomes enraged at her intrusion and strangles her to death with rosary beads. Then Miss Brabazon suggests to Meldrum that perhaps the time has come to put the old woman out of her misery and Father Meldrum regretfully agrees. He reads the last rites and gives her a poisoned holy communion wafer and she passes away. Then Miss Brabazon confesses to Father Meldrum that she still loves him. She was once his lover and when he became a priest she followed him into the church so she could live in his house even if she couldn't share his bed. He confesses to loving her too and one of the reasons he has become obsessed with Jenny is that she resembles Miss Brabazon from 30 years ago. Miss Brabazon suggests a suicide pact and he agrees - he lets her go first and she cuts her own throat, but he has no intention of following suit. When Father Bernard arrives and sees all the dead bodies Meldrum blames his mad housekeeper who he says has just murdered his mother and Vanessa and then took her own life. Father Bernard leaves satisfied with the explanation as he always knew that Miss Brabazon was a strange one. With the slate wiped clean and free to continue his crusade of moral salvation Meldrum phones the still sedated Jenny to make sure she is at home and then purposefully puts on his coat and goes out into the night. THE END. | |
| Starring: | Anthony Sharp (as Father Xavier Meldrum), Susan Penhaligon (as Jenny Welch), Stephanie Beacham (as Vanessa Welch), Norman Eshley (as Father Bernard Cutler), Sheila Keith (as Miss Brabazon) |
| Featuring: | Hilda Barry (Mrs Meldrum, old mother), Stewart Bevan (as Terry), Victor Winding (as a Doctor), Julia McCarthy (Mrs Davey, grieving mother of Valerie) |
| Familiar Faces: | Andrew Sachs |
| Starlets: | Kim Butcher (Valerie, commits suicide after being "helped" by Father Meldrum), Jane Hayward (a Nurse), Melinda Clancy |
| House of Mystery (1961) | Previous Next |
| Writer/Director: Vernon Sewell / Producers: Julian Wintle, Leslie Parkyn | |
| Type: Ghost Story | Running Time: 53 mins |
| A young house-hunting couple have travelled out to the country to view a property called Orchard Cottage. They have the keys from the estate agents because the property is supposed to be currently unoccupied - but unexpectedly the door is answered by a woman who tells them that she pops in now and again to mind the place. The couple are amazed at how cheaply the property is going for and would have expected such a lovely cottage to have been on the market for two or three times as much and wonder if there is some sort of not immediately apparent snag. The lady says that many people have viewed the property since it fell vacant but none have bought it although she cannot think of any reason why - unless of course it is because of the ghosts! The couple ask her to explain and she proceeds to tell them the story of the previous owners Henry and Joan Trevor ...
(in flashback) The Trevors are a young couple who have just moved into Orchard Cottage. The only problem they have is with a lamp in the living room that keeps going out for brief periods even though no fault can be found with the electrical wiring. And then an unknown man is seen both in the living room and on their television picture. At the end of their tether they call an ESP expert who believes that the problem comes from the emotional echoes still vibrating around this room of some violent incident that occurred in the past. He brings in a sensitive medium to try and make sense of it all and her gift allows her to see what went on several years ago with the previous owners ... (flashback within the flashback) The cottage is owned by Mark and Stella Lemming who have young man called Clive Mayhew lodging with them. Mark is an electrical expert who likes experimenting with gadgets and spends most of his time in his workroom. Stella and Clive are having an affair and they are scheming to do away with Mark and have decided to rewire the bathroom electrical heater to kill him when he next has a bath. Fortunately Mark notices the tampering and decides to get his own back. He wires up the entire living room with live electrical connections and shuts them in telling them that anything they touch may electrocute them. Clive dies when he picks up the phone to call for help and Stella dies when she tries to climb out of the window. Subsequently Mark carried on living alone for a further six months telling his neighbours that the other two had run off together. Mark eventually died of electrocution himself while experimenting with a device he had invented to project thoughts - and it is the vibrational remnants of these experimentations that are still being picked up by the Trevors. The police found Clive's body buried in the garden but wife Stella's body was never found. (back to opening couple) The lady finishes her story which the house-hunting couple find fascinating but wonder how the lady knows it all and then discover, as she disappears into the wall, that she is the ghost of Stella and it is behind that wall her body is hidden! | |
| Comment: The ending is a "shock" to the house-hunting couple but shouldn't be to the audience because the face of the lady to whom they are speaking is not kept hidden and once Stella appears in the story we know it is the same person. | |
| Starring: | (Murder Story) Jane Hylton (as Stella Lemming/Mystery Woman), Peter Dyneley (as Mark Lemming), John Merivale (as Clive Mayhew, lodger) (Haunting Story) Nanette Newman (as Joan Trevor), Maurice Kaufmann (as Henry Trevor), Colin Gordon (Burdon, psychic investigator) |
| Featuring: | Ronald Hines and Colette Wilde (as House-Hunting couple), Molly Urquhart (as Mrs Bucknall, psychic medium) |
| NOTES: | |
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Made in Black and White |
| aka: Kill, Baby, Kill | |
| Writer: Marc De V Marais / Director: Ray Austin / Producer: Matt Druker, Basil Rabin | |
| Type: Chiller | Running Time: 87 mins |
| In the late 19th century in Cape Colony in South Africa, Sir Michael Brattling is an English plantation landowner who runs his estate in a very benevolent manner and shows great concern for the wellbeing of his employees and is popular amongst them although they have a superstitions fear of the strange behaviour of Sir Michael's secretive brother Breckenridge who is a scientist and spends his days locked in an attic room carrying out gruesome experiments on animals. (We never really see Breckenridge properly).
Sir Michael's mother Lady Brattling lives with him and both of her sons are unmarried. The Brattling family has a history of madness and she hopes her sons will never marry and the line will die out and although Michael seems currently free of the hereditary malady, her other son Breck is touched with the incurable madness. When Michael gets a letter from England from a woman called Mary Anne that he met and fell in love with during a recent visit to England it contains news that she is on her way to South Africa and has agreed to his proposal of marriage. Lady Brattling is disturbed by this news but Michael says he is lord of the manor and he will marry her if he so chooses. Around this time one of the prize stallions called Saracen is found dead but not before killing a farmhand and as it later is reported also injures Breck because a couple of weeks later by the time Mary Anne arrives from her long overseas voyage the local gossip is about Sir Michael's brother being badly injured by the stampeding horse. Her travelling companion Doctor Collinson is acquainted with Breck who studied with him at Dublin university and tells Mary Anne that Breck had had some wild theories that made him an outcast in the scientific community - he had theorised that the human soul was a separate entity which could be kept alive outside the body after death. Sir Michael collects Mary Anne from the train station and takes her back to the ancestral home. She is greeted coldly by Lady Brattling who clearly would prefer she wasn't there. Mary Anne finds it odd that she is not permitted to see Breck in his sickbed and that only Michael is permitted to attend to him and she feels an intense curiosity to look into his room but whenever she thinks to do so Lady Brattling always seems to be around to stop her. Lady Brattling gives her some cryptic warnings that she should leave this place for she is in great danger but her love for Michael is strong and she dismisses the old lady's advice. At night she thinks she sees Breck walking around outside but Lady Brattling tells her that's impossible because he is a shattered mind in a shattered body and confined to his room. But mysterious events continue to unfold and some new deaths occur and Mary Anne begins to feel she really is in danger and with Michael away on a business trip and unable to reassure her she writes to Doctor Collinson who is staying in a nearby town to ask for his help. As things culminate Mary Anne is getting increasingly agitated and feeling a claustrophobic sense of panic enveloping her as unexplained events plague her - she finds her personal maid savagely murdered, Then, just as Lady Brattling tells her to run for her life, Michael reappears - she feels a brief sense of relief until she realises by his weird expression it is not him - it is Breck - they are twin brothers and Breck is clearly not bedridden - he has a mad frenzied look as he drags her up the stairs pushing Lady Brattling to her death over the banisters when she tries to intervene. Breck takes Mary Anne to his laboratory and shows her all the glowing bell jars he has collected which he tells her contain the living souls of the animals and people he has killed. And then he shows her a body - it is the decaying corpse of her fiancé Michael. Breck killed him shortly after Michael received her letter announcing her intention to come over and he has been posing as his sane brother ever since and it was he who collected her from the station. His prize trophy is Michael's soul and he now wants to conduct an ultimate experiment - he is planning on killing her to extract her soul and join her with Michael's essence to see if two souls can be joined together in love when freed of their bodily influences. As he prepares to carry out his work Dr Collinson arrives and tries to stop him and in the process the bell jar containing the soul of the murdered stallion Saracen is smashed and the essence of the animal haunts Breck in revenge for its killing and as he tries to fend it off he falls over the banisters and dies. | |
| Comment: Considering how mad Breck is at the end it's a bit of a stretch to have the audience accept that he was posing as his sane brother from the moment Mary Anne arrived. | |
| Starring: | Mark Burns (as Sir Michael Brattling and Breck), Shirley Anne Field (as Mary Anne Carue), David Oxley (as Doctor Collinson), Margaret Inglis (as Lady Brattling) |
| Also: | (characters not known) Dia Sydow, Lynn Maree, Bill Flynn, William Baird Clark, Ronald France, Don Furnival, Peter Geldenhuys, Ben Dekker, Limpie Basson, Amina Gool |
| NOTES: | |
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The cast are listed without character names at the start and there are no end credits. Since there aren't many familiar actors in it it's not possible to tell who is who except for the main principals who are either known or can be reasonably confidently determined by their prominence in the credit list. |
| Writer: Michael Armstrong / Director: Pete Walker / Producers: Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus | |
| Type: Chiller | Running Time: 97 mins |
| Kenneth Magee in an American novelist who has arrived in England to promote his latest book. His publisher Sam Allyson has noticed a downturn in sales of his kind of novel and wondered if a change of direction might be in order. Sam thinks fondly of the classic romantic fiction of yesteryear with works like Wuthering Heights and wonders why novels like that are no longer being written. Kenneth tells him that behaviour patterns have changed and people just don't have the same kind of over the top brooding intensity that they did back then and readers don't find it as involving as a contemporary novel. Kenneth is so dismissive of such classics that he declares that he could knock up a novel like that in 24 hours which Sam scorns at so they have a $20,000 bet that he can do just that. Kenneth says he needs total isolation in a place with lots of atmosphere. Sam knows just the place up in Wales - an old manor house that has been unused for 40 years that is owned by a friend of his which Kenneth could borrow for a day. Kenneth thinks that sounds ideal and heads off to Bllyddpaetwr Manor.
It is a stormy night when Kenneth eventually arrives at the isolated gothic manor - there is no electrical power so he finds his way around by candlelight. He chooses a bedroom with a desk and sits down to begin work on his typewriter - he gives his novel the title "Midnight Manor"... After a while he takes a break and has a better look round - downstairs he finds some unexpected occupants - and old woman and an older man who introduce themselves as the caretakers even though Kenneth had been assured there would be no one else here. Then an intruder lets themselves in who turns out to be an attractive young woman called Mary - she warns him to get out of here quickly as his life is in serious danger from a mysterious organisation of international terrorists. Kenneth finds her story too bizarre and dismisses it and later he hears her reporting on the phone to Sam that Kenneth didn't go for it and her arrival is revealed as a lame attempt to distract Kenneth from his task in hand and lose his bet. Mary is actually Sam's secretary and she apologises for it but Sam had asked her to do it for a bit of a joke. It is too late for her to go anywhere else so she sticks around. Then as the evening wears on there are further arrivals - an elderly man who claims to be seeking sanctuary after his car broke down, but later is revealed as Sebastian Grisbane a former occupant of this, the ancestral home of the Grisbane family, arriving here by chance after spending 40 years in Africa. Later his brother Lionel Grisbane arrives and he too has been away for 40 years in America arriving by chance on that night too. The caretakers are later revealed to be their sister Victoria and their father Lord Grisbane and have chosen this night of all nights for a family reunion in their old house. All this intrigue keeps Kenneth away from his work as he tries to get to the bottom of why these people are really here on this night. Next a man in his mid-50s called Mr Corrigan arrives. He has purchased the property and wants to know why all these people are in his house. The truth of their convergence eventually emerges - 40 years ago their 14-year-old brother Roderick had committed a foul crime and the family undertook their own justice so as not to create a public scandal and so they locked Roderick away in his room for a 40 year sentence of confinement. Lionel and Sebastian left the country and Victoria and their father remained behind. Roderick has not been seen by anyone since he was a teenage boy because food is passed through a hatch to him on a tray by Victoria. And tonight at midnight is the date of his release decided upon 40 years ago for which they have all reconvened. But at midnight when they open the door the room is empty - Roderick has escaped! Soon afterwards deaths start to occur - Lord Grisbane and Victoria are found dead. Later on a couple of young travellers called Diana and Andrew seeking shelter from the storm also die horribly and Kenneth and Mary are in fear of their lives from a killer they suspect must be the hopelessly mad Roderick Grisbane. After Sebastian is also killed, Mr Corrigan makes the grand revelation that he is in fact Roderick and managed to escape long ago, returning occasionally to give the impression to Victoria that he was still imprisoned. Now he has returned on this night to take his revenge on the way his family treated him so long ago - and he kills the final surviving family member Lionel with a battleaxe from a suit of armour. Then Corrigan/Roderick turns his attention to Mary and goes after her too - but she is saved by Kenneth and Roderick is defeated when he falls down the stairs and is killed. Everyone except Kenneth and Mary are now dead. But then upstairs there is movement and Kenneth sees the dead Diana walking and soon all the dead people are alive again. Kenneth is incredulous at this development but Mary seems unconcerned and just smiles at him. And then from upstairs there is a chuckle and Sam Allyson emerges - it has all been an elaborate joke played upon Kenneth to prevent him from working on his novel so Sam could win their bet - and all the people in the house are actors he hired. Later on at a party back in London all the "cast" converge to talk about their performances and Kenneth manages to see the funny side of it all and admit he was totally convinced. Then we are back at the old manor house and Kenneth is sitting at his desk typing out the last few words of his novel. The entire story since he first sat down at his typewriter including the twist ending of it all being a joke were part of the novel he has been writing for his bet and he has accomplished it without any sort of interruptions. He returns to London with his manuscript and wins his bet with his delighted publisher who is sure it will be a huge success. | |
| Starring: | Vincent Price (as Lionel Grisbane), Christopher Lee (as Mr Corrigan/Roderick Grisbane), Peter Cushing (as Sebastian Grisbane), Desi Arnaz (as Kenneth Magee), Julie Peasgood (as Mary Norton), Sheila Keith (as Victoria Grisbane), John Carradine (as Lord Elijah Grisbane) |
| Featuring: | Richard Todd (as Sam Allyson), Louise English (as Diana Calder), Richard Hunter (as Andrew Calder), Norman Rossington (as Stationmaster) |
| NOTES: | |
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Suggested by the novel Seven Keys to Baldpate by Earl Derr Biggers, and its dramatisation by George M Cohan |
| House of Whipcord (1974) | Previous Next |
| Writer: David McGillivray / Story/Director/Producer: Pete Walker | |
| Type: Chiller | Running Time: 97 mins |
| Ann-Marie is a young French model working in the UK who is wooed at a party by a handsome and charming man called Mark E. DeSade and invited for a weekend at his parents' home. His home is a long drive away and is a large imposing building which we later discover was once the county jail but is now the private residence of Mark's parents, Mrs Margaret Wakehurst and Judge Desmond Bailey.
When Ann-Marie arrives Mark leaves her there and she does not get the friendly reception she is expecting and she is harshly told to get undressed and put on a sack dress as she is now a prisoner. She is brought before the elderly and blind Judge Bailey to be tried for her moral crimes in that she did expose herself in a public place for money while doing a modelling shoot for which she was fined a mere £10 by the courts. The house is being run as a prison for women whose loose moral behaviour offends the governess Mrs Wakehurst and the judge. They believe that the courts are too lenient and ineffective when dealing with such depraved women and they need to be taught a proper lesson. Their son Mark finds the women for them who are then locked up in prison cells in a regime far stricter than any real prison would be. If they transgress any rules the punishment is severe and immediate:- on the first occasion they are put into solitary for two weeks, on the second occasion they are brutally flogged, on the third and final occasion they are executed by hanging. Ann-Marie is determined to escape and Mrs Wakefield realises she is going to be a troublemaker so engineers opportunities for her to make an escape attempt so that she can be properly punished according to the rules and speed-along her execution. The blind judge believes that the women are eventually released but in fact Mrs Wakehurst will never release them and most of the women have given up hope. Ann-Marie's only hope is her friends back home who are getting worried but have no idea where she went. Her friend Julia is getting concerned that she hasn't heard from Ann-Marie for several weeks and starts making enquiries into the mysterious Mark whom she also met at the same party but finds that all information known about him is false. Then she gets a fortunate lead that brings her to the town of Penlaunce where the old prison is located - although none of the locals know what it is used for. Julia talks her way in and Mrs Wakehurst manages to convince her that they are running a private hospital and that her information is wrong and there is no one called Ann-Marie there. Julia makes a quick phone call to her boyfriend Tony to tell him she's hit a dead-end and is now coming back - but while on the phone Mark walks into the room and Julia realises she is in the right place after all and is in terrible danger - she manages to call down the line for Tony to help her urgently before Mrs Wakehurst cuts off the connection. Mrs Wakehurst takes Julia to see Ann-Marie who has already been hanged and is dead. Julia realises she is in the domain of a madwoman who exercises the power of life and death over those in her power and she vows to see she doesn't get away with it. So Mrs Wakehurst decides to have Julia tried for attempting to conspire to pervert the course of justice with the penalty of death. Julia doesn't take things as docilely as Ann-Marie and makes every effort to shout down the proceedings of the kangaroo court and manages to struggle free and hide in the network of corridors. As Mrs Wakehurst and her staff are hunting her down her boyfriend Tony manages to find the place and calls in the police who storm the building and rescue all the surviving inmates from their ordeal. When Mrs Wakehurst is found she has hanged herself. | |
| Starring: | Penny Irving (as Ann-Marie De Verney), Barbara Markham (Mrs Margaret Wakehurst, governess), Patrick Barr (Justice Desmond Bailey), Sheila Keith (as Warden Walker), Dorothy Gordon (Warden Bates), Ann Michelle (as Julia King), Ray Brooks (as Tony, Julia's boyfriend), Robert Tayman (as Mark E. DeSade) |
| Featuring: | Ivor Salter (as Jack Kind, truck driver) |
| Starlets: | Karan David (as Karen Vaughan, inmate), Judy Robinson (as Claire Manny, inmate), Jane Hayward (Estelle Jennings, inmate) |
| NOTES: | |
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Penny Irving receives an "introducing" credit |
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Celia Imrie is in the cast too as one of the inmates although her role is so small she is never actually noticeably seen on screen or referred to by any of the other characters |
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The film's opening caption reads as follows:- "This film is dedicated to those who are disturbed by today's lax moral codes and who eagerly await the return of corporal and capital punishment". |
| Writer: Robert Bloch / Director: Peter Duffell / Producer: Max J. Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky | |
| Type: Horror / Anthology | Running Time: 97 mins |
| Framing story: A Detective Inspector called Holloway has arrived in a small country town from London to investigate the disappearance of a famous actor who had rented a small gothic mansion called Yew Tree House. During his investigations Holloway is told of events that befell some earlier occupants of the house....
Story 1: Method For Murder An author of horror stories called Charles Hillyer rents Yew Tree House to write a new novel. His wife Alice comes with him although she is not quite so keen on moving away from all her mod-cons. Charles has inspiration and creates a new character called Dominick who is a murderous escapee from an asylum and he draws a pencil sketch of what he looks like. Then he starts to think he is going mad when he sees the sinister Dominick in real life stalking him around his house and grounds. His wife suggests he visit a psychiatrist but secretly she is in league with an actor who is playing Dominick to make Charles think he is mad. But Dominick gets so into his character that he strangles both Charles and Alice to death. Story 2: Waxworks Next to rent the mansion is Phillip Grayson, a retired stockbroker who is hoping to enjoy some hard earned solitude. In town he visits a horror waxworks museum and sees a likeness of the character Salome carrying a head on a plate. Phillip thinks she looks like a lost love of his own and the proprietor tells him her captivating beauty makes men see whatever woman they most desire. One of Phillip's friends called Neville comes to visit him and gets similarly captivated when he visits the museum - and next time Phillip visits the waxworks he finds Neville's head on the plate. The proprietor then reveals he is a murderer and each man who visits this place is killed and his head put on the plate in a never-ending cycle as Phillip becomes the next victim. Story 3: Sweets For The Sweet Next, widowed John Reid rents the mansion to come and live there with his young 7-year old daughter Jane and he hires a governess called Ann Norton to teach the girl. Ann is distressed that John treats his daughter so unkindly not allowing her to have any company or play with toys. All Ann can see is one of the sweetest most angelic children she has ever taught and they soon build up a good rapport. But Jane starts reading for herself and secretly reads up on witchcraft methods. John lives in fear of his daughter as he did her late mother who was a witch. Ann cannot understand his bizarre fear of the sweet child - but then Jane creates an effigy of her father out of wax and causes her father wracking spasms of pains by pricking it with needles and then kills him by throwing it on the fire with a triumphant look of proud glee on her face. Story 4: The Cloak Now linking up to the framing sequence the story of the missing actor is told. Paul Henderson is a prolific actor in horror films with a massive ego. He rents Yew Tree House as a place to stay whilst his latest picture is being made in a nearby studio. At the studio he is dismayed by the tatty sets and costumes he is given to use especially the vampire cloak of his character so he decides to buy a more authentic one of his own at a costumiers in town. The mysterious proprietor has just the cloak and seems immensely relieved to pass it on. Back home Henderson tries it on and discovers his reflection disappears and he grows fangs and can fly. He realises it turns its wearer into a vampire and vows not to put it on again. But then his co-star Carla Lynde gets hold of it and reveals she is a vampire herself and is such a fan of his movies that she is going to turn him into a real vampire forever! Back to the Framing story: DI Holloway doesn't believe a word of the ridiculous story he has been told so visits the house to investigate for himself. He goes down into the cellar and inside a crypt room finds two coffins and inside are Paul Henderson and Carla who rise from their supernatural sleep and attack him. | |
| Starring: | Denholm Elliott (as Charles Hillyer, Story 1), Peter Cushing (as Phillip Grayson, story 2), Christopher Lee (as John Reid, story 3), Jon Pertwee (as Paul Henderson, story 4) |
| Featuring: | Frame: John Bennett (as DI Holloway), John Bryans (as Stoker, Estate Agent), John Malcolm (as Sgt Martin) Story 1: Joanna Dunham (as Alice Hillyer), Robert Lang (as Dr Andrews, psychiatrist), Tom Adams (as Dominick) Story 2: Joss Ackland (as Neville), Wolfe Morris (as Proprietor) Story 3: Nyree Dawn Porter (as Ann Norton, governess), Chloe Franks (as Jane, daughter) Story 4: Ingrid Pitt (as Carla Lynde), Geoffrey Bayldon (as Proprietor) |
| NOTES: | |
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Two time-travelling TV icons met during story 4. Jon Pertwee (Doctor Who) and Geoffrey Bayldon (Catweazle) had both just completed the first seasons of their most famous roles when they appeared in this film. Jon Pertwee dresses here in very similar dapper outfits to those he wore as the Doctor. |
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Joanna Lumley is listed on the IMDB credits for this film (last checked: April 2006) but she is not on the film's credits and makes no obvious appearance as an extra. |
| aka: The Boarding School | |
| Writer/Director: Narciso Ibáñez-Serrador / Production Manager: Manuel Pérez | |
| Type: Thriller / European | Running Time: 97 mins |
| In the 18th century in Spain, Teresa Cravat is an 18-year-old girl brought to an isolated boarding school for girls of a difficult character whose parents wish to have them quietly kept out of the way. Senora Fourneau is the headmistress who runs a very strict establishment demanding total obedience from her charges lest they suffer isolation and punishment. The worst offenders are whipped until they learn that her authority can never be questioned. Despite Senora Fourneau's harsh treatment of wrongdoers she seems to dish out the punishment with a genuine sense of trying to correct bad behaviour rather than having any sadistic pleasure in it.
The head girl is Irene Toupan who has special privileges and authority amongst the girls and uses this to her own advantage and with a sadistic streak she mercilessly bullies other girls until they submit to her will. If they defy her she can make life incredibly difficult for them but if they comply she can then grant them special favours. One such favour is to allow the girls to have sex with the woodsman who, every three weeks, is only man who ever visits the school and the girls are so man-starved that they all yearn for this. Some girls want to escape but the school grounds are surrounded by high walls and the gate is kept securely padlocked and at night the school is locked down tightly to prevent any escapes - despite these precautions several girls have managed to escape over the past couple of months. Senora Fourneau's 16-year-old son Luis lives at the school with her but he is kept shut away and is not allowed to mingle with the girls. He is quite weak and prone to illness but incredibly polite and agreeable and his mother mollycoddles him telling him that the girls at the school are no good and are not suitable for him at all - she ingrains into him that what he really needs to be happy is a girl just like she is - someone who will love and protect him just like she does - someone who was just like her in her youth. She displays a genuine mother's love for her son and wishes for him to wait and be happy with the right girl and not be corrupted by any of the girls at the school. However Luis is a peeping tom and he spies on the girls and has secret liaisons with some of them including his latest girlfriend - a girl called Isabel - who one night sneaks from her dorm for a secret tryst with him in the greenhouse. But when she arrives he is not there and she is instead brutally killed by a knifeman. The next day when Isabel cannot be found it is concluded she has escaped. New girl Teresa gets used to the strict rules which are generally fair unless one rebels and she finds the other girls generally quite nice - except for head girl Irene who immediately stamps her authority on Teresa bullying and humiliating her to show her who is top girl. Teresa has made friends with Luis and Irene uses this forbidden liaison to put further pressure on Teresa to become compliant to her authority lest she tell Senora Fourneau of it. Teresa becomes so scared of Irene that she is determined to escape and one night sneaks out of the dormitory. Irene sees her go and because she has a master key takes a short cut to the grounds and lays in wait outside so she can catch her trying to escape and punish her. Inside Teresa has taken a brief diversion to first say goodbye to Luis and tell him she is escaping and then she goes to the dining room to try and force open the nailed down windows when suddenly she is attacked from behind and her throat is cut and she is killed. Outside Irene becomes puzzled why Teresa has not emerged and eventually returns back inside. Next day Teresa is missing and Senora Fourneau declares that she has escaped. But Irene knows full well she never came out of the building and confronts the headmistress standing up to her and raising her growing suspicions about how it is that the school never ever hears from the escaped girls again - or how come none of them are ever brought back by their parents? There is a breakdown of trust between the two as Irene warns Senora Fourneau that whilst she accepts most things about the headmistresses' extreme teaching methods, if what she suspects is happening to the missing girls is true then that is something she cannot and will not tolerate. Senora Fourneau appears hurt by this accusation and revokes Irene's privileges taking back her master keys. The bully Irene, whom we have come to despise for her treatment of the now-dead new girl Teresa, becomes the new heroine of the piece - her strong personality is feared by the headmistress who, now that she no longer has her as an ally, noticeably backs down on giving punishments to other girls for minor misdemeanours under Irene's watchfully disapproving glare. That night after bedtime Senora Fourneau sends for Irene to settle matters - but Irene is wary that the headmistress might have something nasty in store for her and does not want to mysteriously disappear like other girls have. Irene no longer has her own keys and desperately tries to find a way out of the house. Senora Fourneau follows her wondering where she is going and this causes Irene to panic even more and flee into the attic to hide. Senora Fourneau hears a noise in the attic and goes up to investigate where she is shocked to find Irene dead and with her hands chopped off! Stunned by this discovery Senora Fourneau stumbles into a box room in the attic and inside is her son Luis! He warmly welcomes her as he has now just completed what she always wanted for him - her fondest desire that he should have a girl who was just like her when she was young - and he proudly reveals his accomplishment - laying on a table he has amalgamated the best matching parts of all the "escaped" pupils whom he has been murdering in order to make a girl who is "just like her" - Irene's hands were the last thing he needed since they are just his mothers. The body is a decaying corpse but Luis appears not to notice that and then he locks his mother in the room and tells her it is now up to her to teach the "girl" how to love him and take care of him just like she does. And as she screams for him to let her out he sits outside non-responsive and clearly quite mad. | |
| Starring: | Lilli Palmer (as Senora Fourneau, headmistress), Cristina Galbó (as Teresa, new girl), Mary Maude (as Irene, head girl), John Moulder Brown (as Luis, headmistresses son) |
| Featuring: | Cándida Losada (as Senorita Desprez, teacher), Maribel Martín (as Isabel), Víctor Israel (as Brechard, school handyman) (other schoolgirls) Pauline Challenor, María Elena Arpón, Juana Azorín, Gloria Blanco, Sofía Casares, Mari Carmen Duque, María Gustafson, Teresa Hurtado, Elisa Méndez, Paloma Pagés, Conchita Paredes, Ana María Pol, María José Valero |
| NOTES: | |
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This Spanish film is reviewed here because of the involvement of British actress Mary Maude. The version reviewed was titled La Residencia and dubbed into English (with British accents). |
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Although all the pupils are credited with their characters' first names shown, most of them don't have any significant role and many never have their names mentioned in the dialogue or are only referred to by their surnames when the headmistress addresses them. |
| Writer: Robert Suhosky / Director: Kevin Connor / Producer: Martin B. Cohen | |
| Type: American / Chiller | Running Time: 88 mins |
| Set in Kyoto, Japan. (Prologue) In 1840 a young wife called Otami is entertaining a lover when her samurai husband returns home and is so enraged by the betrayal that he kills both lover and wife and then takes his own life.
(Present day) Ted and Laura Fletcher are a happily married American couple who have come to Japan to live whilst Ted writes a book about the culture. Ted's bachelor friend Alex is a local American diplomat and he finds them a traditional Japanese house to rent. (It is the same house that was seen in the prologue). The house has a reputation for being haunted but the Fletchers don't take that seriously. When oddly inexplicable things begin to occur Laura starts to become a bit unnerved - but they are mainly trivial things that could have a rational explanation. It soon becomes apparent (to the viewer) that the house is occupied by the spirits of those three dead souls as they watch over the newcomers. The ghosts are able to enter the bodies of the living and manipulate their behaviour and it seems they are attempting to bring about a recreation of their own fateful love triangle. Whilst under the ghostly influence of Otami, Laura initiates an affair with Alex which they keep secret from Ted. Laura eventually manages to overcome the irrational urges she is experiencing and call a halt to the affair. The ghosts become angry and step up the level of their haunting behaviour to dangerous levels. A Zen monk at a nearby monastery fills Ted in on the background of the house. It seems that Otami had used a stolen magical charm to attract the young lover to her and force him to dishonour her husband. This magic has condemned the evil spirits to remain trapped by their karma in the place of their death. Ted decides that they will leave the next day. But that evening Alex comes around and Ted finds out about the affair. With the emotive situation recreated the three ghosts enter the bodies of their appropriate participant. The two men engage in a ferocious fight using the oriental fighting skills of the spirits whilst the possessed Laura watches and waits to see who will win this time. Ted kills Alex and this shock releases Laura from Otami's control. But Ted is still dominated by his spirit and slays her. Ted then uses the sword on himself and thus completes the round of fateful tragedy that forever curses the doomed spirits. The ghosts leave the bodies (presumably to await another opportunity to begin the cycle anew). | |
| Starring: | Edward Albert (as Ted Fletcher), Susan George (as Laura Fletcher), Doug McClure (as Alex Curtis) |
| Featuring: | Amy Barrett (as Amy Fletcher, Ted and Laura's daughter), Mako Hattori (as Otami, 1840 wife), Tsuiyuki Sasaki (as Toshiyuki Sasaki, 1840 husband), Toshiya Maruyama (as Masanori, 1840 lover), Henry Mitowa (as Monk) |
| NOTES: | |
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From the novel by James Hardiman |
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Mako Hattori receives an "introducing" credit |
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This American film is reviewed here because of the starring role of British actress Susan George |
| Writer: Harry Kurnitz / Director: William Wyler / Producer: Fred Kohlmar | |
| Type: Crime Caper | Running Time: 118 mins |
| Set in modern day France (1966). Charles Bonnet is a rich aristocrat with an unrivalled art collection of rare masterpieces. Charles is justly proud of his collection because he painted most of them himself! He has a rare gift of being able to exactly duplicate the styles of the masters from down the ages using only materials available to them at the time. Thus he is able to convince experts that his works by Van Gogh, Cézanne and the like are the genuine article and he has taken delight occasionally selling items from his collection to eager art enthusiasts. Charles sees nothing wrong in what he does - he gets satisfaction from creating the art and the purchaser is rapturous believing they own a genuine masterwork - therefore what difference does it make because he is already rich and is not doing it for the money.
Charles' daughter Nicole knows what her father does and indulges him knowing it is his little obsession and hoodwinking the world keeps him happy. However she knows how bad it would be for him if he were ever caught out, although none of his works have ever raised the slightest suspicion and he is confident in his abilities. Charles' late father had also been a master forger but his speciality had been sculptures. One of the prides of the Bonnet collection is a 29" figurine of Venus by 16th century Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini which in fact was created by Charles' father back in 1910. Charles has never tried to sell this piece because unlike with paintings modern tests can easily reveal the true age of stone. However when a major Paris museum requests a loan of the Venus for an exhibition, Charles sees no problem sharing the beautiful object. That night Nicole hears a noise and catches a society burglar about to remove one of her father's paintings. His name is Simon Dermott and he uses all his charm to persuade her to give him another chance and not call the police. Nicole is not inclined to involve the police anyway in matters involving her father's paintings and so she lets him go and even drives him back to his hotel after accidentally shooting him in the arm with an antique pistol with which she was defending herself. Nicole finds the gentleman thief to be very charming and he clearly likes her too. Unknown to her though Simon is really an art investigator who was not trying to steal the painting but collect a sample paint flake for analysis because of uncertainties raised about the extraordinary collection of unknown works in the Bonnet collection. His analysis of the flake is inconclusive however and he needs to investigate further. The statuette of Venus is collected under tight security and put on display in the Paris museum where it is placed on a stand which is protected by a curtain of invisible light beams that if broken will set of the alarm as is deserving of such a precious and valuable object. Charles signs the transfer papers and agrees to let the museum organise insurance for one million dollars. However what neither he nor Nicole realised was that the insurance company would require a technical test of the statue to validate the insurance. Nicole knows the test will fail and once one of the Bonnet pieces is exposed as a fake everything her father has ever sold will be meticulously re-scrutinised. It is a disaster that will surely end in them being ruined and her father sent to prison. Then she has an idea borne of desperation and meets up with Simon, the charming thief she met a few days earlier, asking if he could use his skills as a thief to steal the statue for her. She argues that it isn't really a criminal act since it already belongs to them but she declines to tell him the reason why she wants to do this. Simon likes Nicole and wants to help but he thinks what she asks is impossible because the security measures are too tight - until he has a brainwave. Simon and Nicole visit the museum and when it closes they hide in a store cupboard and wait until nighttime. Then Simon uses a toy four-winged boomerang which he throws towards the Venus so that it sets off the alarms as it passes through the beams and returns to him. Then they hide out in the cupboard as the guards and police arrive to check things out. When nothing is found to be missing or disturbed it is concluded it was a false alarm. An hour later Simon repeats the trick and the same response is undertaken. This time it is decided there must be a fault in the alarm system and it is deactivated for the night. This is exactly the psychological response Simon was counting on and with the alarm off he is able to easily remove the statuette from its stand. He and Nicole then smuggle the Venus out of the building unseen and the Bonnet reputation is saved. Nicole congratulates Simon on a job well done until he admits he is not a burglar at all and has never actually done anything like this before. He tells her he is a fraud investigator and he has figured out what is going on with this statue and the Bonnet art collection - but since they have fallen in love with each other during their escapade he will overlook her father's activities providing he promises to retire from his singular hobby. Charles agrees to this and then Nicole and Simon go off to get married. | |
| Starring: | Audrey Hepburn (as Nicole Bonnet), Peter O'Toole (as Simon Dermott), Hugh Griffith (as Charles Bonnet) |
| Featuring: | Eli Wallach (as Davis Leland, American art collector who fancies Nicole and wants to possess the Venus), Fernand Gravey (as Grammont, director of Paris museum), Jacques Marin (as Chief Museum Guard), Moustache (as Museum Guard), Bert Bertram (as Marcel, Bonnet butler) |
| NOTES: | |
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Based on a story by George Bradshaw |
| The Human Factor (1979) | Previous Next |
| Novel: Graham Greene / Writer: Tom Stoppard / Director/Producer: Otto Preminger | |
| Type: Spy Drama | Running Time: 110 mins |
| In a small government intelligence office dealing with matters of concern in Africa there is suspicion of a leak and the divisional heads want it stopped even though the secrets being revealed are fairly insignificant low-level items. The leaked information is being fed back to them via their spy in soviet intelligence so they propose to plant false information between the different suspects and see which snippet is leaked to identify the culprit.
Under suspicion are Arthur Davis, a bachelor who appears to live an expensive lifestyle somewhat beyond his apparent means and Maurice Castle a former South African diplomat who fell in love and married with a South African black woman called Sarah who now lives with him in England. Called in to look into the departmental security arrangements is Colonel John Daintry who is a bit uneasy about his bosses decision that whoever is the guilty party will be quietly eliminated. Castle starts to become suspicious that phones are being tapped and Davis thinks he is being followed and they begin to suspect that maybe there has been a leak and they are both being investigated - they share their concerns and working together in a small office talk to each other about most items that come in. When the false information given to Davis is the one that filters back from the Russian contact he is quietly eliminated by the section's doctor who is pretending to treat him for a liver complaint. We then discover it is Castle who is the leak - while working in South Africa he was helped by a communist sympathiser to get Sarah out of the country and although not a communist himself has agreed to pass on low-level information to him concerning their country. Castle decides he must now stop his activities and although he regrets Davis' death it would be considered an indication they got the right man if the leaking stopped. But when a devastating piece of information comes his way about South African military plans he feels compelled to pass it on and then request safe extraction to Moscow. He manages to get out of the country but Sarah is prevented from leaving by the British authorities. And Castle is left alone in a cold Moscow hotel room wondering why his life has suddenly taken such an unhappy turn. | |
| Starring: | (main characters) Nicol Williamson (as Maurice Castle), Derek Jacobi (as Arthur Davis), Iman (as Sarah Castle) (starring actors) Richard Attenborough (as Colonel John Daintry), Robert Morley (Doctor Emmanuel Percival), Richard Vernon (Sir John Hargreaves), John Gielgud (as Brigadier Tomlinson), Ann Todd (as Castle's Mother), Joop Doderer (as Cornelius Muller, South African Bureau of State Security) |
| Featuring: | Paul Curran (as Halliday, second hand bookshop owner), Cyd Hayman (as Cynthia, Section 6A secretary), Fiona Fullerton (as Elizabeth, Daintry's daughter), Adrienne Corri (as Sylvia, Daintry's ex-wife), Frank Williams (as Bellamy, a defector) |
| Familiar Faces: | (in cameo roles) Angela Thorne, Tony Haygarth, Ken Jones |
| Starlets: | Chantal Gray (as Stripper), Glenna Forster-Jones (as Black Prostitute) |
| NOTES: | |
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Iman receives an "introducing" credit. |
| Writer/Director: Matthew Chapman / Producer: Jeremy Watt | |
| Type: Drama | Running Time: 91 mins |
| Emory Cole is an electrician who works at a nightclub organising gantry lighting. The club actively supports the use of hostess escorts who will entertain gentlemen patrons throughout an evening and then go home with them for sex. Emory meets one such hostess called Beaty Simons who is returning to the establishment after a period unsuccessfully trying elsewhere and was lured back by the lucrative earnings available. Emory and Beaty hit it off and become a couple and she moves into his apartment. She is divorced with a 10-year-old son called Billy of whom her ex-husband was awarded custody in a tug-of-love court battle five years previously due to her lifestyle.
Beaty is now in her mid-30s and although she detests what she does she wants to make enough money in this profession while she's still young enough so she can retire and live a more idealistic and simple kind of life of which she has always dreamt. Emory wishes she didn't have to keep sleeping with other men but she insists it is just business and it is only with him that she truly enjoys herself. Emory bumps into a shady friend from his past called Max who offers him a big payout of £10,000 to help him on a drugs job. Emory decides to get involved as a way of boosting his savings and being able to better support Beaty so she does not feel the need to work as a high-class whore. Then a former boyfriend from Beaty's past comes back into her life - his name is Alex and he has just been released from a criminal psychiatric hospital. He is on medication although he remains aggressive and unstable and he wants Beaty back and believes Emory has stolen her from him. Emory is a passive sort and does not want to get into an argument so he withdraws until Beaty can sort out the mess. Beaty follows him and they make secret arrangements to run away together after Emory has done his drugs job. Emory decides to get Alex involved in the drugs deal as some hired muscle although he has to pretend it's a weapons deal because he discovers that Alex has an intense hatred of drugs. Max buys the drugs from the importer and gives them to Emory to transport to the dealer after paying him his fee. But when Alex discovers the true nature of the job is drugs and not guns he goes berserk and kills Max and makes Emory drive him to the rendezvous point where he intends to deal with the drugs vermin. Alex tells Emory to look after Beaty and heads off with a gun and a determined look. Alex meets up with Beaty and her son Billy and with the money they have saved they head off to foreign climes to start a new life abroad. | |
| Starring: | Helen Mirren (as Beaty Simons), John Shea (as Emory Cole), Paul Angelis (as Alex Denham, ex-partner of Beaty) Featuring: Murray Salem (as Max, drug dealer), Daniel Chasin (as Billy, Beaty's 10 year old son), Patti Boulaye, Marika Rivera (as Singers), Jill Melford (as Chief Hostess) |
| Starlets: | Jenny Runacre (as Vere, woman at club), April Olrich (as Rene, French club owner), Sandy Ratcliff (as Olympia, a Hostess), Janet Amsden, Vanessa Furse, Linda Polan, Amanda Waldy (as Other Hostesses) |
| Writer/Producer: Jimmy Sangster / Director: Freddie Francis | |
| Type: Thriller | Running Time: 81 mins |
| Chris Smith is an American in England suffering from amnesia following a car crash in which the driver was killed. Chris is not even his real name for he had no identification on him. It is four months since the crash and although his physical injuries have healed Chris still has no memory of his former life despite regular therapy sessions with psychiatrist Dr Keller to try and help him remember.
Dr Keller decides Chris is physically well enough to leave the clinic. Fortunately a mysterious benefactor has been covering Chris' medical expenses and has even arranged for him to have use of a penthouse suite in an otherwise empty apartment block so he can fully convalesce. Chris has some pills prescribed by Dr Keller to help him sleep but in the night he is awoken to the sounds of an increasingly loud and angry argument coming from the next apartment which ends with a woman screaming. Chris rushes next door to see if he can help but is puzzled to find the apartment empty and unfurnished and no sign of anyone. Next day an attractive young woman turns up at his apartment and introduces herself. She is Denise James the widow of the man who was driving the car which crashed. She is very wealthy and it is she who has been covering all his expenses because she feels a sense of responsibility since her husband was driving. She is keen to help him further and suggests they go to the scene of the accident to see if it might help jog any memories. As they stand by the roadside near the crash site WE see the events that led up to the accident. "Chris" was in France and fell for a scam in which his wallet and passport were taken - he then got friendly with an English girl who agreed to smuggle him into England in the boot of her car. At a petrol station she was becoming too clingy thinking they were now an item and so he ditched her and took a ride with a passing motorist - and that was the car that crashed when the driver swerved to avoid a child. (This recap is seemingly for the viewers benefit because Chris tells Denise that he still remembers absolutely nothing). Back at the apartment at night Chris continues to hear the violent argument next door but gets increasingly infuriated that the voices seem to be coming from nowhere - all he finds is a bloody kitchen knife, but when he takes Denise to see it to prove his story it has mysteriously gone. She gives him a pill and then he gets enraged believing she's humouring him but really thinks he's crazy - the argument they have seems to echo the one he keeps hearing - he raises a kitchen knife exactly like the one he saw earlier and she screams - end of scene. Chris wakes to find blood on his hands but does not know what happened - he hears the shower running and anxiously goes to look thinking he's going to find Denise but instead it’s a woman he's never seen before. Did he do it? - he doesn’t remember. We then discover the nature of the plot. Dr Keller has seized the opportunity of his amnesiac patient to hatch an intricate scheme to murder his wife (the woman in the shower) and throw the blame onto Chris who Dr Keller can testify is mad. Denise James and he have become lovers and she is complicit in all the arrangements although she thinks the doctor has been unnecessary elaborate with so many things that could go wrong. But Keller is convinced he's thought of everything. As the final phase of their plan Denise is to give Chris another knock-out pill to allow them time to remove all the sound equipment that was piping in the argument recordings and then they will put Chris's prints all over the murder weapon. Then the police will be called and Chris will take the rap for the murder. But Chris is ready for them - he reveals that he got his memory back a long time ago but has been playing along because he was broke and living in reasonable comfort in the clinic and had been curious to discover just who it was that had been willing to bankroll his expenses - and why - so he decided to let it play out. Now he knows and has proof and the murder conspirators are arrested. | |
| Comment: There are a few more layers of intricacy to the plot that I smoothed away to keep the basic heart of the story intact without giving too lengthy an exposition that would have been necessary to include every facet. These include the involvement of a nurse at the clinic whom Chris becomes romantically involved with and whom Dr Keller also tries to murder when she discovers too much; and a private investigator that Chris hires to help him find the mysterious benefactor - although in the end Chris seems to solve by himself all the things he hired the investigator to do which rendered him a bit unnecessary - although the PI lends a valuable hand at the end by overpowering Denise when she has Chris at gunpoint. | |
| Starring: | Robert Webber (as Chris Smith), Anthony Newlands (Dr Keller), Lelia Goldoni (as Denise James) |
| Featuring: | Jennifer Jayne (as Gina McConnell, nurse at clinic), Maurice Denham (as Hemmings, private investigator) |
| Familiar Faces: | Sue Lloyd (as French prostitute who scams Chris) |
| Starlets: | Sandra Boize (as English girl who smuggles Chris into England) |
| NOTES: | |
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Made in Black and White |
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