Paul Demel Movies
- 1952
In this British drama a veteran laborer rises above the turmoil of unionization to become the governor of Artista, an industrial island that finds itself further embroiled in a terrible fight over low pay and terrible working conditions. A strike ensues, but the new governor remembers what it feels like to be an abused working stiff and so refuses to call out troops to break the strike. He tries to use his experiences on both sides of the fence to mediate between the angry laborers, but it's to no avail and the governor must make a difficult decision. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eric Portman, Cecil Parker, (more)
- 1951
In this drama, bank robbers are exiled to an island off the English coast. They are caught in raging seas and would have died had not the two lighthouse keepers come to their aid. The crooks then try to persuade the keepers into letting them escape. It almost works. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Charles Crichton directed this Ealing caper comedy, with a witty script by T.E.B. Clarke that won an Academy Award. Alec Guinness is Henry Holland, an unassuming transporter of gold bullion who, after working for twenty years with no rewards in sight for his faithful service to his company, decides to reward himself by stealing one million pounds worth of gold. Calling on his old friend Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), a manufacturer of paperweights and an amateur sculptor, and a couple of Cockney crooks, Lackery (Sidney James) and Shorty (Alfie Bass), they conspire to lift a gold shipment. After absconding with the gold, Henry melts the gold into a collection of souvenir Eiffel Towers, which he then ships off to Paris. But chaos reigns when a group of English schoolgirls purchase the gold towers, and the gang now become embroiled in a wild goose chase to recover their stolen gold. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, (more)
- 1951
This German presentation features a film company that turns this town on it's ear. Cowboy's in Lederhosen? ~ Rovi
- 1950
This sequel to the 1942 Oscar-winner Mrs.Miniver can be considered ill-advised, if only because the producers could never really hope to match the success of the original. Otherwise, The Miniver Story has its charms, not the least of which were the sterling performances of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Set just after VE Day, the film finds Mrs. Miniver (Garson) reacting to the euphoria of her friends and family with a sense of quiet sadness. This is because she's just learned from her doctor that she hasn't much longer to live. With the same courage with which she met the deprivations of WW II, Mrs. Miniver resolves to put on a happy face and keep the news of her imminent demise a secret from her husband (Pigeon) and children. She even finds time to straighten out the tangled love life of her daughter Judy (Cathy O'Donnell). Henry Wilcoxon repeats his Mrs. Miniver role as the local vicar. Unlike its Hollywood-bound predecessor, The Miniver Story was lensed on location in England. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, (more)
- 1949
It isn't surprising that The Great Manhunt invokes fond memories of Alfred Hitchcock; the film was scripted by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, the two former Hitchcock collaborators responsible for the screenplay of The Master's The Lady Vanishes (38). Gilliat also directed this fast-paced political adventure, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as an American heart surgeon summoned to operate on the ruler of a Balkan dictatorship. When the dictator dies, Fairbanks becomes a security risk for those who wish to perpetuate the totalitarian regime. The doctor desperately seeks a means of escaping the country; along the way, he teams up with a showgirl (Glynis Johns) who likewise wants to get home in a hurry. Meanwhile, the head of the secret police (Jack Hawkins) tries to keep one step ahead of Fairbanks. A healthy strain of comic cynicism pervades Great Manhunt, with both hero and villain making self-deprecating comments on the fickle nature of political power. Released in the US as State Secret, The Great Manhunt was based on Roy Huggins' novel Appointment With Fear. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Glynis Johns, (more)
- 1949
Passport to Pimlico is one of the most charmingly whimsical Ealing Studios comedies of the late 1940s-early 1950s. As a result of wartime bombing, an ancient parchment is uncovered, proving that the Pimlico section of London belongs to Burgundy, France. Long taken for granted by other Londoners, the tiny Pimlico populace decides to take advantage of its "foreign" status. Affable oaf Stanley Holloway is made head of the new government, whereupon he merrily begins erecting borders and imposing customs duties. The sweetly satirical script of Passport to Pimlico was written by director Henry Cornelius and Ealing stalwart T.E.B. Clarke. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stanley Holloway, Betty Warren, (more)
- 1947
Alastair Sim is a delight to behold as always in the British Hue and Cry, but the film's true star is approximately 40 years younger and two feet shorter than the estimable Sim. Harry Fowler plays Joe Kirby, an intelligent cockney lad who is addicted to a weekly boys' magazine. He begins to notice a curious pattern emerging in the dialogue of a serialized blood-and-thunder detective story. And well he should: a gang of literate crooks are using that story to transmit information concerning robberies, smuggling, fencing, and the like. When the local constabulary refuse to take Joe's warnings seriously, he rallies his chums together to foil the crooks. Elements of Hue and Cry would later pop up in several American films, including the Bowery Boys' Angels in Disguise (1949) and the Jack Carson vehicle The Good Humor Man (1950). This is only fair, since T.E.B. Clarke's screenplay is inspired in part by the old German perennial Emil and the Detectives. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Douglas Barr, (more)
- 1946
Released in Britain in 1944, Man from Morocco made it to American shores the following year. Anton Walbrook plays the title character, the head of an intrepid band of WW2 freedom fighters. The film's heavy is a Nazi-sympathizing French officer of unbounded cruelty. Margaretta Scott portrays Manuela, a patriotic Frenchwoman who poses as a Red Cross nurse to insinuate herself into the villain's lair. In true "Judith of Bethulia" fashion, Manuela romances the fiend, thereby affording her the opportunity to murder him and thus save the lives of 2000 French hostages. It's a good thing that Man From Morocco was a British film; otherwise, the Hollywood production code would have obliged Manuela to be punished for her murder, justified or no. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anton Walbrook, Margaretta Scott, (more)
- 1944
The inspiration for this British seriocomedy was Victor Skutezky's stage play She Met Him One Sunday. "She" is Moya Malone (Barbara White), an Irish maid living in Liverpool. "He" is Tom Stevens (Robert Beatty), a Canadian sailor. That "one Sunday" is a busy one, encompassing a few romantic strolls down the dock, Moya's renouncing of her servant status, and a run-in with crooks. Playwright Skutezky also served as producer of It Happened One Sunday. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Beatty, Barbara White, (more)
