Helen Christie Movies
- 1974
A bunch of beautiful actresses and models convene to discuss their difficulties in securing work. They then redirect their energies into an "anything goes" escort service. Also along for the ride are a few prim secretaries, who shed their inhibitions along with their clothing. There's a wisp of a plotline, but for the most part this is a sexploitationer pure and simple (well, maybe just simple). Escort Girls comes to us courtesy of the supplicatively named firm of Video Gems. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
This is one of three Hammer films loosely based on Sheridan LeFanu's book Camilla, which gives the standard vampire story a lesbian twist. The other two films are The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil. In this film, Count Karnstein, through a magical ritual, relies on the feedings of the newly re-fleshed and voluptuous vampire Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard) for his own sustenance. This keeps her very busy indeed. She finds a ready supply of victims at a girls' finishing school. Her troubles begin when two male teachers from the school decide to investigate. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1968
In this feather-weight version of Evelyn Waugh's novel Decline and Fall, Paul Pennyfeather (Robin Phillips) is an Oxford divinity student who finds himself expelled after a gang of drunken freshmen remove his pants and he is accused of exposing himself to a girl. Looking for work, he retains the services of an unsavory employment agency that secures a position for him at a sleazy Welsh boarding school for boys, presided over by the colorful Dr. Fagan (Donald Wolfit). On staff at the school are an assortment of distasteful screwballs; Mr. Prendergast (Robert Harris) is a withdrawn former clergyman; Captain Grimes (Leo McKern) is a one-legged two-timer with his eye on Fagan's daughter Flossie (Patience Collier); and Soloman Philbrick (Colin Blakely) is an undercover criminal posing as Fagan's butler. All hell breaks loose during the school's annual Sports Day, but Paul manages to meet a wealthy patron of the school, Margot Beste-Chetwynde (Geneviève Page), who hires him to tutor her son. At her estate, Margot seduces Paul, and Paul proposes marriage. But before the wedding, Margot asks Paul, as a favor, to travel to Tangiers on a business trip. He agrees but is soon arrested for trafficking in prostitution. Sent to jail, he runs into Philbrick and Captain Grimes, and now Margot has to scheme to get Paul out of jail. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robin Phillips, Geneviève Page, (more)
- 1952
In this crime drama, a small-time thief steals so he can provide his material girl with the luxuries she craves. One day he steals a wallet and ends up involved in a blackmail scam. This results in his death. His girl friend begins investigating to find out why and ends up bringing the killer to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1952
Most of this hectic British comedy takes place in an ancient Scottish castle. The British National Coal Board, following a real-life policy established in the 1940s, wants to annex the castle as a group home for the local miners and their families. Wealthy, much-married American Mrs. Clodfelter Dunne (Barbara Kelly) wants to claim the castle--and its owner, the Earl of Locharne (David Tomlinson)--for herself. Meanwhile, eccentric boarder Miss Nicholson (Margaret Rutherford) is possessed with the notion that the Earl is actually the rightful King of Scotland. The film's deus-ex-machina is a beautiful ghost, played by Patricia Dainton. With all this going on, it is easy to ignore the antiseptic romantic subplot involving Tomlinson and Helen Cherry. Castles in the Air was based on the popular stage play by Alan Melville. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Tomlinson, Helen Cherry, (more)
- 1951
Three generations of a Scottish clan are chronicled in this melodramatic saga. The film starts with the death of a sickly med student in a Glasgow slum. His fiancee also dies in childbirth. Her brother, who survives, begins raising her baby girl who grows up to have an affair with a lab assistant. Her "father" disapprove and threatens to destroy the wedding. She retaliates by poisoning him and then gets married. She bears a son. Unfortunately she has never recovered from the guilt of her earlier murder and ends up taking her own life. Later her son grows up to discover a vaccine for a fatal disease. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Todd, Glynis Johns, (more)
- 1950
In this comedy, the inventor of a loom heads for London to see the Football Association Cup Final and ends up having a really bad day. First, thieves pinch his wallet, then his girl friend stands him up. Mayhem ensues, but in the end, he gets the girl back and a contract for his loom. He is also given a small fortune in cash. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
