Diana Churchill Movies

This feature is a filmed stage production of the tragedy by William Shakespeare. Laurence Harvey stars as Leontes, the jealous king who eventually repents his wrongdoings. Moira Redmond is Queen Hermione who is victimized by the indiscretions of her monarch husband. Jane Asher is the village peasant girl Perdita and Diana Churchill plays Paulina. The role of Autocylus is played admirably by Jim Dale, who also provided the music for this production. The performance comes from a television show produced at the Intertel Wembley studios. Along with Romeo and Juliet, 1968 was a good year for the immortal bard, whose timeless plays were being received by a younger, receptive audience through shrewd production and prudent casting with an eye towards capturing a more youthful audience. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

John Mills stars as Commander Scott, the leader of the ill-fated and famed 1911 expedition to be the first to discover the South Pole. The British were up against the Norwegians in the Arctic quest for fame and honor which was won by Norway. ~ Rovi

As part of a reciprocal deal, teeny-tiny PRC Pictures released several Associated British-Pathe films to American theaters. One of these was Castle of Crimes, featuring Kenneth Kent as A.E.W. Mason's famed professional sleuth Inspector Hanaud. The story concerns a wealthy recluse (Louise Hampton) who is convinced that her avaricious relatives intend to murder her. In turns out that she's right, but Hanaud refuses to jump to the "logical" conclusions in determining the guilty party. The murder weapon is a rare, almost undetectable type of poison-but not too undetectable for our hero. Castle of Crimes was originally released in Great Britain in 1940 as The House of the Arrow. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

American stage and film star Otto Kruger heads the cast of the above-average British comedy The Housemaster. Kruger, in the title role, presides benevolently over the students of a private boys' school. A new headmaster, who is as rigid and rule-bound as Kruger is kind and understanding, gives the housemaster all sorts of grief. When the nasty headmaster pulls strings to get Kruger transferred, the students take matters in their own hands. The Housemaster was based on a play by Ian Hay. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The popular 1934 West End musical comedy Yes, Madam was brought to the screen intact in 1938, with five of the original stars coming along for the ride. Bobby Hoyes heads the cast as Bill Quilton, a cheeky young man who will inherit a fortune on the condition that he work as a servant for a month without getting fired. Likewise in line for the inheritance, under the same conditions, is wisecracking Sally Gault (Dinah Churchill, replacing the stage version's Binnie Hale). If they fail to keep their jobs, they'll lose their legacy to scheming Tony Tolliver (Billy Milton) -- who not surprisingly does everything he can to undermine Bill and Sally. Both the play and film versions of Yes, Madam were based on a novel by K. R. G. Browne, previously filmed without music in 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

School for Husbands was adapted for the screen from a stage play by Frederick Jackson. Some of the more censorable aspect of the stage original were watered down for the film, but enough double-entendres remain to titilate the fans. Henry Kendall and Romney Brent plays Geoffrey Carter and Morgan Cheswick, a pair of doubting husbands who conspire to test their wives' fidelity. To do this, they both consult young novelist Leonard Drummond (Rex Harrison), a notorious womanizer, clueing him in to the fact that they're both about to go out of town on business. The husbands figure that if their wives can resists the charms of the libidinous Drummond, then they've passed the "test". The upshot of all this finds Marion Carter (Diana Churchill) resorting to some trickery herself to save Diana Cheswick (June Clyde) from throwing her life away on the philandering Drummond-and then concocting a plan to teach the husbands a good lesson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Another of the delightful Aldwych Theater farces, Pot Luck once again teams those flawless farceurs Tom Walls (who also directed) and Ralph Lynn. Walls is cast as retired Scotland Yard detective Patrick Fitzpatrick, who harbors a deep resentment for his pompous successor Reggie Bathbrick (Ralph Lynn). When a rash of art thefts breaks out in London, Fitzpatrick takes on the investigation himself, for the sole purpose of humiliating Bathbrick. As usual, Ben Travers' dialogue is chock full of familiar catch phrases, cleaned-up expletives and hilariously atrocious puns. Cast as Lynn's pretty daughter is Diana Churchill, in one of her first important screen roles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this British comedy, an aging aristocrat with a gambling addiction borrows money from a relative and ends up winning big at the track. Unfortunately he quickly loses it all in Nice. Impoverished once again, he encounters another loser. Together the two get in cahoots with a diamond thief masquerading as a count who cons the wealthy tourists out of their gems. The two end up going to rat on the count to the police when they are arrested. They go to trial, and at the last minute they are acquitted. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi