Charles Sturridge Movies
An actor-turned-writer/director whose keen sense of history, love of literature, and fascination with fantasy have resulted in a variety of compelling works in both film and television, Charles Sturridge nurtured a love for theater early on when he appeared in National Youth Theater productions of Zigger Zagger and A Midsummer Nights Dream, later advancing to become president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. A brief onscreen career with roles in Lindsay Anderson's If... and the Emmy-award winning miniseries Edward the King followed before Sturridge opted to take a turn behind the camera to helm episodes of Stangers and The Spoils of War shortly thereafter. Subsequently assured in his strengths as a director, Sturridge would cement his status as a skilled storyteller with the BAFTA and Emmy-winning miniseries Brideshead Revisited in 1981, and in 1983 the emerging director launched his feature career with Runners, an affecting tale of teenage runaways. Sturridge would later distinguish himself as a period specialist with such well-received dramas as A Handful of Dust and Where Angels Fear to Tread, with his turn towards fantasy in the 1996 miniseries Gulliver's Travels proving just how effectively the two genres could mix. In 1997 Sturridge would charm viewers by recounting the ingenious hoax of two World War I-era girls who had claimed to photograph fairies in Fairy Tale: A True Story, with an adaptation of Samuel Beckett's play Ohio Impromptu serving to reunite the director with Brideshead Revisited star Jeremy Irons in 2000. Yet another screen venture alongside Irons would follow when Sturridge recounted the 18th century race to discover the longitude of the sea in the BAFTA-winning made-for-television movie Longitude. By now it appeared as if the ocean was simply in Sturridge's blood, and in 2002 the director would team with Shakespeare specialist Kenneth Branagh for Shackleton, a BAFTA-and Emmy-award winning account of Ernest Shackleton's heroic effort to save his 28-man crew after their boat is destroyed by pack ice during a 1914 expedition to the South Pole. In 2005 Sturridge returned to the big screen to revive the screen career of everyone's favorite rough collie with Lassie, a feel-good adventure for the entire family that starred Peter O'Toole, Samantha Morton, and Peter Dinklage. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Everyone's favorite collie returns to the screen -- and to her native home back in Britain -- in director Charles Sturridge's faithful adaptation of author Eric Knight's sentimental kid and canine novel Lassie Come Home. When Lassie saves a fox from the hunting hounds of the duke of Rudling (Peter O'Toole), the captivated nobleman becomes obsessed with the idea of purchasing the collie for his adoring granddaughter Cilla (Hester Odgers). Unfortunately for Rudling, the pooch already has a loving family in the form of kindly miner Sam Carraclough (John Lynch), his wife, Sarah (Samantha Morton), and their young son, Joe (Jonathan Mason). When Sam is laid off from his job, however, he is forced to sell the loyal dog to the duke in order to put food on the family table. Incensed at the dog's repeated attempts to escape and seek out her original loving family, the villainous duke charges kennel-keeper Eddie Hynes (Steve Pemberton) with the task of teaching Lassie how to stay as World War II looms ever more heavy on the horizon. When the dogs of war finally stop barking and start biting, Rudling beats a hasty retreat to the safety of northern Scotland with both the child and the canine. Realizing that her newfound companion is far from the people she cares about most, Cilla later helps her ever-loyal four-legged friend escape from the family's heavily fortified compound so that she may begin the 500-mile journey back home to Yorkshire. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Samantha Morton, (more)
- 2002
All but forgotten at the time of his death in 1922, controversial British explorer Ernest Shackleton would enjoy a rediscovery of sorts decades later, with dozens of books and filmed documentaries devoted to his "magnificent blunder" -- the failed Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1916. On the sheer weight of his dynamic personality, Shackleton was able to mount an exploratory journey to the Antarctic, accompanied by a crew of 27 men, among them celebrated Australian photographer Frank Day. Alas, Shackleton's ship was crushed by packing ice early in the expedition, forcing the crew to brave the merciless polar elements for a full ten months. Making matters worse, public concern over Shackleton's plight was shunted aside when Great Britain entered WWI. First telecast in England on January 2 and 3, 2002, the two-part TV biopic Shackleton stars Kenneth Branagh in the title role. The script does not shirk away from the subject's less savory character traits, including his disastrous financial dealings and his blatant unfaithfulness to wife Emily (Phoebe Nicholls). Nonetheless, one emerges from the film with a renewed respect and admiration for the visionary Shackleton and his bedraggled companions. Much of the imagery in Shackleton was based upon the still-surviving films made on the scene by Frank Day, adding extra authenticity to the drama even though the film was made in Greenland and Iceland rather than the Antarctic. The two-part film made its American TV debut courtesy of the A&E cable network on April 7 and 8, 2002; shortly afterward, Shackleton was released on DVD, with four additional hours of documentary footage. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kenneth Branagh
An outgrowth of a 1999 BBC documentary, the two-part British miniseries Longitude goes out on a creative limb by unfolding two parallel stories, each separated from the other by some 200 years. In one of the plot lines, Michael Gambon (who won one of the series' many BAFTA awards) stars as real-life 18th century clockmaker John Harrison, whose invention of a "marine chronometer" would ultimately serve as the primary navigational guide for sailors of his era -- but not without a lot of sacrifice and frustration on Harrison's part. The second continuity takes place in the immediate post-WWI era, as Royal Navy officer (and shellshocked war veteran) Rupert Gould (Jeremy Irons) battles bureaucracy and ignorance to reinstate Harrison's longitudinal clocks for modern-day Naval use. As the action hopscotches between the two story lines, Harrison painstakingly assembles his chronometer and attempts to promote the device to the unresponsive powers-that-be, while Gould tries to carry on Harrison's work without losing his sanity in the process. Based on the book by Dava Sobel, Longitude was originally telecast over Britain's Channel 4 on January 2 and 3, 2000, then was seen in America courtesy of the A&E cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Two young girls who believe that fairies are real attempt to prove it to the world in this drama based on actual events. In 1917, there is little to be happy about in the Wright household in West Yorkshire, England. Polly (Phoebe Nicholls) and her 12-year-old daughter Elsie (Florence Hoath) are still grieving over the death of Elsie's younger brother, and Polly's niece Frances (Elizabeth Earl) has come to stay with them after her father was declared missing in action during World War I. Polly longs for some sort of proof that there is a life beyond our own, while the two girls ardently believe in fairies and enthusiastically study legend and lore. One day, Elsie and Frances produce photographs of fairies that they claim were playing in their garden; Polly believes that they are real, and soon the snapshots attract international attention. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Peter O'Toole), author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries and a confirmed spiritualist, declares the photos "as genuine as the King's beard," while illusionist Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel), who has devoted much time and energy to exposing phony mediums and psychics, takes a more skeptical view. While Fairy Tale: A True Story presents the appearance of the fairies as fact, analysis of the photographs proved them to be fakes (especially after the same fairies were discovered as illustrations in a children's book published before the photos were taken). The real-life Elsie Wright admitted late in life that the fairy photos were a hoax performed as a "little joke" and that she was always surprised that so many people believed them. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Florence Hoath, Elizabeth Earl, (more)
Originally aired on the NBC network as a two-part miniseries, this all-star adventure is perhaps one of the most complete and faithful retellings of 18th-century author Jonathan Swift's epic social satire on film. Nine years after he set sail from England, a bedraggled, disoriented Dr. Lemuel Gulliver (Ted Danson) returns to his home. His faithful wife (Mary Steenburgen) is delighted to see him, but also troubled, for in Gulliver's absence the conniving Dr. Bates (James Fox) has taken over Gulliver's home and practice and is also trying to force Gulliver's wife to marry him. During his recovery, Gulliver raves and acts out his fantastic adventures at sea wherein he encountered the diminutive but contentious Lilliputians, the gigantic Brobdingnag's and their egalitarian society, the Laputas, who live upon a flying island, and the Houyhnhnmland, intelligent talking horses living in a land populated by wild humans. Scenes of his adventures are deftly interspersed with Gulliver's present predicament in which Dr. Bates, wanting Lemuel's wife and son, has placed the traveller in Bedlam, London's famous insane asylum where he awaits a hearing to determine his sanity. Gulliver's young son holds the key to his release. Filmed on location in Portugal and England, this miniseries is set apart by a top-notch cast and exceptional special effects. In addition to the aforementioned actors, the cast includes Peter O'Toole, Geraldine Chaplin, Sir John Gielgud, Omar Sharif and Alfre Woodard. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ted Danson
In this sentimental comedy, two British World War II veterans (played by English stage and screen veterans Sir Alec Guinness and Leo McKern) have come back to Normandy together to revisit the site of their most harrowing wartime experiences, to look up the gravesite of a fallen comrade, and to look up the prostitute (Jeanne Moreau) who put joy back into their lives. At their hotel, they meet Waldo (John Randolph), an American veteran, who is on a similar mission. Unlike them, however, he is saddled with the company of his disagreeable daughter and her stuffy husband (Geraldine Chaplin and Edward Herrmann) who think they are doing him a favor by coming with him. One highlight of the film is Moreau's rendition of the Edith Piaf classic, La vie en rose. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, (more)
A wealthy, upper-class British widow marries a much younger Italian man with disastrous results in this turn-of-the-century costume drama based on the E.M. Forster novel. After marrying into a wealthy family and then losing her husband, middle-aged Lilia Herriton (Helen Mirren) suffers under the disapproving yoke of her haughty mother-in-law (Barbara Jefford). At the suggestion of family friend Caroline Abbott (Helena Bonham Carter), Lilia leaves her young daughter and in-laws for a holiday in Italy, where she falls in love with the penniless but handsome Gino Carella (Giovanni Guidelli). When she announces her plans to marry Gino, the family dispatches her brother-in-law, Philip (Rupert Graves), to prevent the union. But the alternately caddish and thoughtful Philip fails in his mission. Gino proves to be as charming to other women as he is to his wife, but he's genuinely bereaved when she dies in childbirth. Soon, Philip and his high-strung sister, Harriet (Judy Davis), arrive in Tuscany in an attempt to spirit away Lilia's son. But the principled Caroline turns up, determined to stop them, setting the stage for unexpected realizations and unforeseeable tragedy. Where Angels Fear to Tread reunites Bonham Carter and Graves, who co-starred in the previous E.M. Forster adaptation, A Room With a View. Each actor also starred in other Forster films: Bonham Carter in Howards End and Graves in Maurice. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi
- Starring:
- Helena Bonham Carter, Judy Davis, (more)
Based on a novel by Evelyn Waugh, Handful of Dust is set amongst Britain's aristocracy of the 1930s. At sumptuous Hetton Abbey, tradition-bound country squire James Wilby and his wife Kristin Scott Thomas open their doors to well-connected but impoverished Rupert Graves. Graves returns Wilby's hospitality by having an affair with Scott Thomas, while Wilby gamboles about his estate without a clue of what is going on. Wilby's cloistered world comes tumbling down when Scott Thomas coolly demands a divorce, shortly after the accidental death of their young son. Wilby discovers that his divorce settlement will cost him Hetton Abbey; he faces this circumstance by not facing it at all, preferring to escape to South America, stiff upper lip intact, in the company of a dotty explorer. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Wilby, Kristin Scott Thomas, (more)
An international collection of well-known directors contributed to this compilation film, each fashioning a short film inspired by an aria from a famous opera. The approaches vary broadly, from the playful abstraction of Jean-Luc Godard's segment, which illustrates Armide with exercising body-builders, to the more literal approach of Franc Roddam, who transports Tristan und Isolde's story to modern-day Las Vegas. A particular stand-out is Julian Temple's take on Rigoletto, which recasts Verdi as the accompaniment to a contemporary Southern California sex farce. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Theresa Russell, Nicola Swain, (more)
- 1983
In this standard story about a father searching for his missing teenage daughter long after others have given up, there are a few subplots, such as a woman looking for her own missing son, but attention focuses on the father's search. When he does find his daughter safe and sound -- working in a car rental office -- he cannot believe she just ran away and does not want to come home. After their initial encounter, the question of why she left in the first place is raised for the first time. Given that this film doggedly moves in a steady pace from one scene to the next, excitement is also a missing entity here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- James Fox, Jane Asher, (more)
- 1981
Evelyn Waugh's 1945 novel Brideshead Revisited was offered to television viewers in this 11-part adaptation that originally aired on the U.K.'s ITV network. The miniseries, like the book, lays bare the eccentricities of the young British aristocracy, concentrating upon several Oxford students. The story is told from the point-of-view of Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons), who is sucked into decadence by the "magically beautiful" Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews). Flyte is the son of Lord Marchmain (Laurence Olivier), master of Brideshead Castle, where most of the story (covering the years 1924 through 1944) takes place. Brideshead Revisited was brought to America on PBS' Great Performances series, beginning its run on January 18, 1982. The miniseries created a stir in the U.S. because of its mild nudity and profanity; the presentation had to be re-edited when it was shown for a second time on PBS. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1978
This spin-off from the British cop series XYY Man was built around two of the earlier series' most popular characters, Detective Sergeants Bulman (Don Henderson) and Willis (Dennis Blanche). On this occasion, the two protagonists were attached to Unit 23, a Northern police squad assigned to handle difficult cases all over the British Isles. During the series' third year, the members of Unit 23 concentrated their efforts in a single crime-ridden district, and accordingly the group was renamed the Inner City Squad. Created by Murray Smith, Strangers was carried by Granada Television for 32 hour-long episodes from June 5, 1978 to October 20, 1982, ultimately yielding a spin-off of its own, Bulman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Rebellious students at an English private school plan a violent revolt against their repressive environment in director Lindsay Anderson's highly acclaimed but extremely controversial drama. Centering on a small group of non-conformists led by Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell), the film paints a distinctly negative picture of the British school system and, by extension, English society. Seeing the powers-that-be as humorless, bureaucratic, and needlessly restrictive, Mick and his cohorts indulge in small acts of rebellion, including sneaking into town to romance a local waitress. Their actions are discovered and punished with harsh beatings, leading the students to plot revenge. This effort culminates in the film's most famous sequence, a surrealistic depiction of a bloody uprising by the students against the adult world. Daring and unpredictable in content and form, If... mixes color and black-and-white cinematography as easily as it mingles satire with dark fantasy. The film's ambiguous attitude toward violence caused controversy at the time, as many commentators saw the film as a potential incitement to violence. It became a great success among younger, counter-culture audiences who appreciated the audacious shock tactics and embraced the satirical, anti-establishment message. Often compared to Jean Vigo's French classic Zéro de conduite, which also featured surrealistic boarding-school rebellion, If... has become a high point in the cinema of youth rebellion. Anderson and McDowell later collaborated on O Lucky Man! (1973), Look Back in Anger (1980), and Britannia Hospital (1982). ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Malcolm McDowell, David Wood, (more)
Originally telecast on the BBC, Brideshead Revisited gained enormous popularity in America when it was offered on PBS' Great Performances series. Based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh, this 11-part saga of an Aristocratic Catholic family is currently available in a six-volume video set. "Book One" consists of the 2-hour introductory episode, which debuted in the U.S. on January 18, 1982. From the vantage point of 1944, British Army captain Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) remembers his days as an Oxford student in the early 1920s. Befriended by Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews), the youngest resident of Brideshead Castle, Ryder is invited to bask in the glory of the fabulously wealthy and powerful Marchmain family. Dazzled by the experience, Ryder is blinded to the undercurrent of decadence at Brideshead. (See separate entries for further episodes). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally telecast on the BBC, Brideshead Revisited gained enormous popularity in America when it was offered on PBS' Great Performances series. John Mortimer adapted Evelyn Waugh's novel into 11 episodes, most of which ran 60 minutes. The videotape version of Brideshead is boxed in a 6-volume set. "Book Five" consists of episode 8 (telecast March 8, 1982) and episode 9 (telecast March 15, 1982). The first installment is set in the mid-1930s, over a decade since Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) was introduced to the aristocratic-and deeply troubled-Marchmain family. Now a successful artist, Charles hasn't seen the Marchmain's in years; but while visiting Central America, he is reunited with the lovely Julia (Diana Quick). The second episode picks up where the first left off, with Charles and Julia enmeshed in a torrid affair. This sequence was a bit too torrid for some PBS affiliates, which is why it was trimmed during its first rerun cycle. (See separate entries for subsequent episodes) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally telecast on the BBC, Brideshead Revisited gained enormous popularity in America when it was offered on PBS' Great Performances series. William F. Buckley Jr. hosted this 11-part adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel. The videotape version has been compressed to six volumes: "Book Four" contains episodes 6 and 7, which aired in the U.S. on February 22 and March 1, 1982. In episode 6, Julia Flyte (Diana Quick) runs into interference from the rest of the Catholic Marchmain family when her relationship with the much-older Protestant Rex Mottram (Charles Keating) deepens. Episode 7 takes place in 1926, when the British General Strike brings protagonist Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) back to London. At Julia's request, Charles sets about to locate her brother: The Marchmain "black sheep", Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews). (See separate entries for subsequent episodes). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally telecast on the BBC, Brideshead Revisited gained enormous popularity in America when it was offered on PBS' Great Performances series. Based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead ran 11 episodes on television; the video version has been packaged into six volumes. "Book Three" consists of episodes 4 and 5, respectively telecast in the U.S. on February 8 and 15, 1982. In episode 4, profligate Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews) is expected to live up to the standards set by his family, the ultra-aristocratic Marchmains of Brideshead Castle. Unable to satisfy his elders, he loses himself in drink and depression, resulting in an extremely unpleasant incident at a family party. Sebastian's best friend, Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons), tries to help, but his inability to do so only makes things worse. In episode 5, Sebastian returns for another family reunion-with disastrous results. (See separate entries for subsequent episodes). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally telecast on the BBC, Brideshead Revisited gained enormous popularity in America when it was offered on PBS' Great Performances series. Adapted by John Mortimer from the novel by Evelyn Waugh, this 11-part saga of the Marchmain family has been released to video in a six-part set. "Book Two" contains two hour-long episodes. In the first (PBS telecast date: January 25, 1982), Charles Ryder's (Jeremy Irons) daunting visit to Brideshead Castle, the ancestral home of his deliciously decadent college friend Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews) is disrupted by the arrival of Sebastian's sober-sided brother. There is nothing for it but to head for Venice, there to visit Sebastian's father, Lord Marchmain (Laurence Olivier). The second episode (PBS telecast date: February 1, 1982) finds Sebastian running afoul of Oxford don Samgrass (John Grillo), who has been ordered by Lady Marchmain (Claire Bloom) to curb Sebastian's insouciance and excesses. (See separate entries for subsequent episodes). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Originally telecast on the BBC, Brideshead Revisited gained enormous popularity in America when it was offered on PBS' Great Performances series. Evelyn Waugh's novel about a trouble aristocratic Catholic family was adapted into an 11-part miniseries by John Mortimer; in the US, each episode was introduced by William F. Buckley Jr. When released to video, Brideshead was offered in six volumes. "Book Five" contains two episode, including the final one in the series. In episode #10, first telecast March 22, 1982 on PBS, we find that Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) and Julia Flyte (Diana Quick), the sister of his best friend Sebastian, have been lovers for two years. The central crisis in this installment concerns cousin Bridey (Simon Jones), who refuses to introduce his fiance to the family. The final 90-minute episode of Brideshead Revisted was telecast March 29, 1982. As the war clouds gather over England, Lord Marchmain (Laurence Olivier), a shadow of his former self, returns to Brideshead Castle. Now Charles, who previously appointed himself Protector of his Lordship's tragic son Sebastian (Anthony Andrews), must shield Marchmain from the "helpfulness" of his family. The story ends where it began, with an older, wiser, and more bitter Sykes roaming the grounds of the once-proud Brideshead. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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