Barry Langford Movies
In Cover-Up, an espionage thriller, someone attacks a U.S. military installation in Israel and steals a secret "package" destined for the CIA. Mike Anderson (Dolph Lundgren) is in the country to report on the incident, and he runs into old acquaintances: the military attache, and his old romantic interest Susan (Lisa Berkely). Meanwhile, Susan has become engaged to the attache. Lou (Louis Gossett Jr.), a military official, is trying to cover up some of the facts regarding the raid, and when Mike begins to get too close to the truth he becomes a target. Cover-up has all the ingredients of a top-flight action adventure, but it is ruined by the wooden performance of Lundgren in the central role and a convoluted, overly complicated plot. However, the film moves with great pace and energy and should please action fans. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett, Jr., (more)
- 1988
- PG13
Maruschka Detmers stars as Hannah Senesh, a real-life Hungarian Jew who became a martyr to the cause of freedom during WW II. Though safely ensconced in Palestine at the outbreak of the war, Hannah volunteers to venture behind enemy lines in Europe on a life-or-death mission. Unfortunately, she is captured, undergoing unspeakable tortures before the Germans are finished with her. The script, based on Hannah's diaries (as edited by Yoel Palgi), surprisingly downplays heroics in favor of sensationalism; the prison scenes could just as well have been lifted from a Linda Blair "babes behind bars" picture. Even so, Detmers is excellent in the title role, while Ellen Burstyn is likewise superb as Hannah's mother. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ellen Burstyn, Maruschka Detmers, (more)
- 1986
Originally a student film by director Raphi Bukaee, this insightful comic look at the futility of war was expanded into its current 84-minute running time to good advantage. The story centers on two Egyptian soldiers (Suheil Hadad and Salim Daou) who are lost in the Sinai desert at the end of the Six-Day War. They must somehow find their way back to the Suez Canal without being captured by Israeli troops or succumbing to heat and dehydration. Presented as a series of vignettes, how the two inventive soldiers face each new challenge is hilarious and/or entertaining. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Suheil Hadad, Danny Roth, (more)
This WW II drama is set in a Czech village and centers on a strong 30-year-old Jewish woman who must marry a man she dislikes to avoid being sent to a work camp. Eventually the stress of the marriage, the racism, and the war itself builds up and begins to slowly erode the woman's will and mind. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lisa Hartman, Rosemary Leach, (more)
- 1984
The ostensible focus of this film by Avi Nesher is the Jewish resistance movement in Palestine in 1942 when the Brits still held colonial power in the region. A "Stern Gang" (Jewish resistance) cell is set to take revenge on a cruel British officer who has condemned one of their members to death. Unfortunately, weak characterization and a flawed, uneven plot (certain plot developments are simply forgotten) undermine this basically valid concept. Nesher might have gained credibility for his story if he had included other mainstream resistance fighters of the time, thereby placing his protagonists in a more accurate, broader historical context. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- 1983
Although it is based on an intriguing premise -- Dale (Brooke Shields), disguised as a man, takes the place of her late father in a 1927 car race through the Sahara -- this film perversely falls flatter than a blow-out, and just as quickly. After starting the race and because of tribal warfare, Dale winds up a prisoner of the thug Rasoul (John Rhys-Davies) but is appropriately rescued by a dashing sheik (Lambert Wilson). Then after she is back in the race, she is captured and thrown into a leopard's cage by another desert villain. The Indy 500, this is not. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brooke Shields, Lambert Wilson, (more)
- 1964
This British comedy details what happens to five sailors and a passenger as they spend fifteen hours on shore leave in London while waiting for their cargo ship to unload. The passenger, a lonely widowed business man named George (Bernard Lee), finds his way to a West End bar, where he meets Wanda (Erika Remberg), a seductive blackmailer, working in cahoots with photographer Paul (Derek Bond). Meanwhile, Lee (John Bonney), an Australian sailor, meets and falls in love with wacky beatnik Penny (Heather Sears). Arthur (David Lodge) tells the sailors that he is going to visit his mother when, in reality, he is heading off to seek a prostitute. Rough-and-tumble Harry (Inigo Jackson) finds himself robbed and left penniless after visiting a Soho saloon. Shy and naive Jamie (Colin Campbell) falls in love with the homeless Jean (Francesca Annis). As the hours go by, Jamie has to decide whether to leave Jean or to jump ship and marry her. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Heather Sears, Bernard Lee, (more)
