Frank Finlay Movies

Two strangers find their chance meeting in a South London train station suddenly bringing together two entirely separate groups of friends, colleagues, lovers, and acquaintances in director Roger Goldby's tale of intersecting lives. Anna (Anne-Marie Duff) and Stephen (Rolf Little) were sitting in a deserted train platform when kindly senior citizen Roger (Frank Finlay) engaged them in conversation while eagerly awaiting the arrival of his beloved wife. As they listen to Roger fondly reminiscing about all of the things that he and his wife did when they were younger, Anna and Stephen realize that they have made a real connection and, if only for a moment, allow their individual lives to slip out of focus. Having recently separated from Toby (Adrian Bower), single mother Anna is now faced with the task of bringing up her young daughter Charlie all by herself. Anna's neighbors are married young parents Jem (Zoe Telford) and George (Rupert Graves). While Jem and Anna are close friends who share all of their secrets, the one thing that Anna hasn't let out is the fact that she has entered into a troublesome affair with George. Stephen, on the other hand, has recently moved in with Fiona (Christine Bottomly), who is so eager to start a family that even her parents are pressuring she and Stephen to get pregnant. But the more intense the pressure gets, the less certain Stephen becomes that he is prepared for such a commitment. It seems like the only peace Stephen can find these days is in his work at a local old folk's home and his friendship with understanding resident Helen (Phyllida Law). Later, after Stephen and Anna go their separate ways, their lives both move into a pivotal period as they find themselves wondering just what would happen should they ever meet again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A man who has been able to avoid the consequences of his actions for nearly 50 years suddenly finds he must answer pursuers on both sides of the law in this drama, based on the novel by Brian Moore and inspired by a true story. After France fell to German occupation during World War II, the Nazi-controlled Vichy government established a law-enforcement group known as the Milice, who were under the direct control of Nazi authorities. In 1944, Pierre Brossard (George Williams) is one of a handful of Milice officers who round up and execute seven Jewish resistance members in the village of Dombey. After the liberation of France, Brossard is tried and convicted for his crimes, but he manages to escape capture, and years later is pardoned. In 1992, Brossard (now played by Michael Caine) is an elderly man living a quiet life in Provence and modestly supported by fellow veterans of the Vichy regime when he's ambushed and nearly killed by a man whom he learns was a hired killer. Brossard discovers this is hardly his only problem; new legislation will allow Vichy-era war criminals who escaped punishment to be charged and tried again, and Anne Marie Livi (Tilda Swinton), a bright and aggressive French prosecutor, has joined forces with Col. Roux (Jeremy Northam) to bring Brossard, among others, to justice. While Brossard is still being clandestinely assisted by church officials and Vichy sympathizers, he must go on the run to avoid capture, and finds himself hiding from the French police as well as a cadre of underground assassins, whose alliances and purposes are frustratingly unclear. The Statement also stars Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and Frank Finlay. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Filmmaker Roman Polanski, who as a boy growing up in Poland watched while the Nazis devastated his country during World War II, directed this downbeat drama based on the true story of a privileged musician who spent five years struggling against the Nazi occupation of Warsaw. Wladyslaw Szpilman (Adrien Brody) is a gifted classical pianist born to a wealthy Jewish family in Poland. The Szpilmans have a large and comfortable flat in Warsaw which Wladyslaw shares with his mother and father (Maureen Lipman and Frank Finlay), his sisters Halina and Regina (Jessica Kate Meyer and Julia Rayner), and his brother, Henryk (Ed Stoppard). While Wladyslaw and his family are aware of the looming presence of German forces and Hitler's designs on Poland, they're convinced that the Nazis are a menace which will pass, and that England and France will step forward to aid Poland in the event of a real crisis. Wladyslaw's naïveté is shattered when a German bomb rips through a radio studio while he performs a recital for broadcast. During the early stages of the Nazi occupation, as a respected artist, he still imagines himself above the danger, using his pull to obtain employment papers for his father and landing a supposedly safe job playing piano in a restaurant. But as the German grip tightens upon Poland, Wladyslaw and his family are selected for deportation to a Nazi concentration camp. Refusing to face a certain death, Wladyslaw goes into hiding in a comfortable apartment provided by a friend. However, when his benefactor goes missing, Wladyslaw is left to fend for himself and he spends the next several years dashing from one abandoned home to another, desperate to avoid capture by German occupation troops. The Pianist was based on the memoir of the same name by the real-life Wladyslaw Szpilman; the book was first published in 1946 as Death of a City, but was banned by Polish Communist officials and went out of print until 1998, when a new edition was issued as The Pianist. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After from escaping the clutches of his cruel master and making his way to a remote country railway station, a performing dog in Victorian England becomes a mascot for the local orphanage in this family friendly tale starring George Cole and Thomas Sangster. When the lonely but lovable pooch wanders on to a railway station on day, station porter Bob takes an immediate shine to the dog and names him Jim. Henry (Sangster) is a sad young boy from the local orphanage who longs for the train that will spirit him back to the long lost comforts of home. Though he never had anything to fight for in the past, Henry suddenly finds cause to stand up for himself and his fellow orphans when a malevolent businessman threatens to close the orphanage and steal their dog. To make matters worse, it seems that there's an assassin who's hatched a deadly plot to do away with the Queen. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This drama takes place in Somerset, England in 1958. Eva is a twenty-year-old woman who fantasizes about travel, painting, classic books, and the attention of Joseph Lees, her second cousin, with whom she fell in love as a girl. Joseph, whom she has not seen for four years, is the only member of the family who has managed to get away from the stale domestic cycle. He has recently been injured in a truck accident and Eva imagines herself curing his wounds. She conceals her obsession from everyone except her sister, the precocious Janie, who is twelve years old. Reality is far away from Eva's dreams. Her artistic endeavors are confined to a local drawing class; she works for a meager salary at a dirty sawmill and the only male around to appreciate her female charm is the local pig farmer, Harry Flyte. Harry's sister Maria is anxious to marry off her brother so that she can be free to do as she pleases. Eva moves in with Harry, but when she meets Joseph at a family gathering, the old flame is rekindled. However, Harry is not so easy to get rid of. Dreaming of Joseph Lees is a family drama and the first feature of Eric Styles. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Scottish comedian Alan Cumming stars in this Dutch psychological drama, set in Vienna but mainly filmed in Budapest. Crazed stand-up comedian Daniel (Cumming) pleases his hospitalized mother (Hedi Temessy) by dressing to resemble his sister Hannah, who died in a Nazi concentration camp. After his girlfriend (Serena Gordon) drops him, he takes up with naive Texan Lilian (Juliet Aubrey), who is attempting to solve the mystery of her Nazi father's link to chemical businessman Wittfogel (Frank Finlay). Shown at the 1997 Nederlands Film Festival/Holland Film Meeting. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This 5.7-million-dollar British comedy from writer/director Gary Sinyor satirizes the now-familiar Merchant-Ivory style of period dramas. So no one will miss the joke, the central setting is Ivory Hall, the Ivory family mansion in rural England. In 1908, young twit Edward Ivory (Samuel West) plans to match his bookwormish friend Cedric (Robert Portal) with his 22-year-old sister, Emily (Georgina Cates), and introduces the two at Ivory Hall. However, Emily is instead attracted to gamekeeper George (Sean Pertwee), the son of a peasant (Brian Glover). Emily's aunt Agnes Ivory (Prunella Scales), in favor of Cedric, suggests an Enchanted April-type excursion to Italy with George along as a servant. Eventually, Emily and George become a couple, but class differences are a barrier. When Aunt Agnes becomes bored with Italy and yearns to go "somewhere more English," the vacation party is off to India, where Agnes has her own romantic encounter with lecherous tea-planter Horace (Peter Ustinov). Other short satirical send-ups recall Chariots of Fire, Brideshead Revisited, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Shining, and Gandhi, while humorous references also are heard in the soundtrack of classical excerpts. Stiff Upper Lips was shown at the 1997 London Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The made-for-cable film Stalin relates the story of the ruthless Soviet dictator and his tyrannical rule. Robert Duvall gives an excellent performance as the dictator and the photography is beautiful, as are the sets, since much of the movie was shot on location in Russia. The screenplay also does a good job of detailing Stalin's aggression, not only on his citizens, but also his young wife (Julia Ormand). Nevertheless, the story is very detailed and viewers need to pay close attention in order to make the film a rewarding experience. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

This family adventure movie, based on the novel by Marguerite Henry, is about a mute Arab boy and his constant companion, a beautiful stallion, who have to overcome all manner of hazards and setbacks and later get to meet the King and Queen of England. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide

Decked out in powdered wig and pasty "dandy" makeup, Richard Chamberlain stars as legendary Venetian lover Giovanni Casanova (1725-1798) in this made-for-television biopic. The teleplay by George Macdonald Fraser (of "Flashman" fame) follows Casanova as his reputation for being catnip to women builds throughout the 18th century. His sexual exploits cost him several important social and professional posts, and eventually land him in a Venice prison on a morals charge. Casanova's escape attempt provides a strong second act for this 3-hour effort, which also offers an amusing "con job" practiced by Casanova on a willing countess (Faye Dunaway). Frank Finlay co-stars as a nobleman who conducts a decades-long feud with our rakish hero. Filmed in Spain and Italy, Casanova debuted on March 1, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Tobe Hooper adapts Colin Wilson's edgy novel The Space Vampires in this in this horror/sci-fi epic with a cult following. The story concerns a joint British-American space probe of Hailey's Comet. Inside the comet, the astronauts, headed by Carlsen (Steve Railsback), find a spaceship that contains the dead bodies of several aliens, along with the naked bodies of three human-like creatures in suspended animation. They bring the aliens aboard the ship for examination, but the specimens are sloppily guarded and soon the trio spread contagion among the population of the ship. Returning to earth, the beautiful space vampire (Mathilda May) escapes into London and begins to feed of the bodies of the unwary Britons, turning the city into a zombie-populated wasteland. It is now left for Carlsen to stop the vampire invaders. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Erich Maria Remarque's novel Arch of Triumph was originally adapted to film in 1948 with stars Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman under the direction of Lewis Milestone. This TV-movie remake aired May 29, 1985. Anthony Hopkins and Lesley-Anne Down play the star-crossed lovers whose prewar romance in Paris is endangered by intrigue and revenge. Hopkins, a doctor recently escaped from a concentration camp, rescues Down, the mistress of a dissipated playboy, from committing suicide. Their chance for happiness is sabotaged by Hopkins' desire to wreak vengeance on SS officer Donald Pleasence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide