Charles Dance Movies
Tall, sandy-haired British actor Charles Dance trained for a career in graphic design at Plymouth College of Art and Leicester College of Art. Dance developed a taste for the theatre by listening to the reminiscences of two elderly actors who ran a pub in his Dover neighborhood. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company at the age of 29, and made his first film, the James Bond picture For Your Eyes Only, six years later. Dance's widest professional exposure came in 1984 when he appeared in "The Jewel in the Crown," a 14-part British TV production seen in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre. Charles Dance's best-remembered performances have been as D.W. Griffith in Good Morning Babylon (1987); the role of Meryl Streep's husband in Plenty (1985); the title part in the 1990 TV adaptation of Phantom of the Opera; and the displaced "imaginary" villain in Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Last Action Hero (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi- 1985
In this suspenseful drama, a British spy goes head-to-head with a Soviet agent to see who can be the first to retrieve top secret documents before nuclear arms negotiations begin. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1985
Trevor Howard, Claire Bloom and Charles Dance are featured in this British suspense/mystery that was made-for-TV. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
Plenty boasts a cast of actors ranging from John Gielgud as an ethical and caustic senior diplomat to Meryl Streep as Susan Traherne, a woman looking for solace and a decent life in the aftermath of World War II. After World War II has ended, along with her work in the French Resistance movement and an idealized love affair with a soldier, Susan finds jobs in the business and diplomatic worlds. Her life slowly disintegrates as she tries and fails to have a child then marries diplomat Raymond Brock (Charles Dance) and suffers further emotional decline as her rather conventional marriage eventually becomes cool and finally, alienating. Against Susan's difficulties are tumultuous events in the background -- the Suez Canal crisis and Middle East developments among them. David Hare adapted the screenplay from his successful stage play which first opened in 1978. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Meryl Streep, Charles Dance, (more)
Saigon: Year of the Cat is a low-budget drama about the fall of Saigon. The film was made for the BBC in 1983. It was one of many television projects that director Stephen Frears (High Fidelity) worked on in the early part of his career. Playwright David Hare (Plenty) wrote the script. Judi Dench plays Barbara Dean, a depressed loan officer working for a British bank in Saigon in 1974. Barbara politely wards off the advances of her Scottish co-worker, Donald (Roger Rees), who does not share her respect for the Vietnamese people. She also avoids getting involved with Frank (Wallace Shawn), an American embassy employee with whom she plays bridge. When she meets Bob (Frederic Forrest), however, she's immediately attracted to him. She soon learns that while Bob poses as a cultural attaché, he actually works for the CIA. When Bob belatedly recognizes her attraction, he opens up to her, and they become lovers. Bob hears from a reliable intelligence source that the North Vietnamese are stepping up their aggression and plan to take Saigon soon. He tries to convince his boss, Jack Ockham (Josef Sommer), and the U.S. ambassador (E.G. Marshall) to prepare for the fall of the city by evacuating the South Vietnamese citizens who have worked most closely with the U.S. government. The ambassador does not want to appear to be abandoning President Thieu's regime. He refuses to credit Bob's report. Meanwhile, as the crisis looms, Barbara is growing despondent because Bob is not spending time with her, and because there's little she can do to help her South Vietnamese friends get out of the country. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judi Dench, Frederic Forrest, (more)
- 1983
In this drama, set in England during WW II, a shell-shocked officer returns to his home town. There he finds that a woman has been accused of being both a spy and a witch. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Roger Moore is back as Secret Agent 007, this time on the trail of shipwreck that holds an Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC) for all of the British Naval submarine fleet. Along the way he teams up with the beautiful Melina, played by Carole Bouquet, a maiden out for revenge against a Cuban hitman who killed her father, the head of a British effort to salvage the ATAC. Turns out the hitman was in league with Greek businessman Aris Kristatos (Julian Glover). who's working for the Soviets to attain the Communicator. Together with a drug smuggling rival of Kristatos (played by Topol), Bond and Melina race against time before the keys to all of Britain's missles get in the wrong hands. Richard Maibaum's screenplay has very little to do with the collection of short stories that made up Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only, save for the plotline involving Melina's seeking vengeance for the death of her father. The direction is by John Glen, who'd previously done second unit work on other Bond films and went on to direct four more films in the franchise. For Your Eyes Only eschews the gimmickry and campiness of earlier Roger Moore efforts by concentrating instead on intrigue, save for the campy opening that sees Bond dispatch the dastardly Blofeld in a broad comedic pre-credits scene. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, (more)
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