Ann Firbank Movies

A novice knight and his unlikely allies lead a crusade against evil in this adventure set in 12th century France. Robert Nerra (Eric Stoltz) is a young knight who, after the death of his older brother, abandons the struggle to defend his father's property in a skirmish over land rights and instead sets out to offer his services to King Richard the Lionhearted. As Nerra makes his way through a France racked with poverty and sickness, he encounters a group of orphans who are trying to flee from the Black Prince (Gabriel Byrne), a dark-clad rogue knight who steals children and sells them to Arab slave merchants. At first thinking him to be King Richard himself, the children follow Nerra, and he tries to protect and organize them as best he can. As they march through France, the orphans' numbers grow, and soon Nerra finds himself leading a crusade of children as he at once leads them to safety and fights off the Black Prince's forces. Lionheart was one of the final films from veteran director Franklin J. Schaffner; the film received an unfortunately short-lived theatrical release and went largely unseen until it was released on home video in 1990, a year after Schaffner's death. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Victor Banerjee, the India-born star of David Lean's A Passage to India, is the central figure of director Ronald L. Neame's Foreign Body. Jobless in Calcutta, Banerjee steals money from his own father to afford passage to Britain. There he makes contact with his cousin Warren Mitchell, who arranges for Banerjee to get a job as a bus conductor. But when he begins to ardently pursue a lovely young white woman, Banerjee loses his job at the behest of the girl's influential father. His luck changes radically when Banerjee administers mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a bus accident victim, whereupon he is mistaken for a doctor by friendly model Amanda Donohoe (probably the nicest she's ever been on film). Donohoe talks up the skills of this "new Indian doctor", and before he knows what has hit him, Banerjee is head physician to the Prime Minister of England--with virtually every woman in the land vying for his services in bed! Never letting on where it is heading next, Foreign Body is adapted from an equally tricky novel by Roderick Mann. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A Passage to India, director David Lean's final film (for which he also received editing credit), breaks no new ground cinematically, but remains an exquisitely assembled harkback to such earlier Lean epics as Doctor Zhivago and Ryan's Daughter. Based on the novel by E. M. Forster, the film is set in colonial India in 1924. Adela Quested (Judy Davis), a sheltered, well-educated British woman, arrives in the town of Chandrapore, where she hopes to experience "the real India". Here she meets and befriends Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee), who, despite longstanding racial and social taboos, moves with relative ease and freedom amongst highborn British circles. Feeling comfortable with Adela, Aziz invites her to accompany him on a visit to the Marabar caves. Adela has previously exhibited bizarre, almost mystical behavior during other ventures into the Indian wilderness: this time, she emerges from the caves showing signs of injury and ill usage. To Aziz' horror, he is accused by Adela of raping her. Typically, the British ruling class rallies to Adela's defense, virtually convicting Aziz before the trial ever begins. Though he is eventually acquitted due to lack of evidence (in fact, director Lean never shows us what really happened), Aziz is ruined in the eyes of both the British and his own people-as is Adela. Woven into these proceedings is a subplot involving Adela's elderly travelling companion Mrs. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft), who through a series of plot twists too complex to describe here becomes a heroine of the Indian Independence movement. A Passage to India was nominated for several Academy Awards, scoring wins in the categories of Best Supporting Actress (Peggy Ashcroft) and Best Original Score (Maurice Jarre). A theatrical version of A Passage to India, written by Santha Rama Rau, was previously adapted for television by the BBC in the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Francesca Annis, previously seen on the Masterpiece Theatre presentation of Madame Bovary, plays the title role in the 13-installment Masterpiece offering Lillie. This is the story of legendary British actress Lillie Langtry, who during the Victorian and Edwardian era was as celebrated for her romantic pursuits as her theatrical accomplishments. We first see Lillie Le Breton living with her family on the isle of Jersey, escaping the strictures of her environment by marrying wealthy Edward Langtry (Anton Rodgers). When this marriage proves as confining as her previous existence, Lillie kicks over the traces and becomes an actress. Before long, she is the toast of London, and the object of every man's desires. Her admirers range from Belgium's King Leopold (Derek Smith) to the Prince of Wales (Dennis Lili) to American "hangin' judge" Roy Bean (Tommy Duggan) Even homosexual playwright Oscar Wilde is so smitten by Lillie that he writes Lady Windemere's Fan specifically for her. The story ends with Lillie undergoing a domestic crisis with her grown daughter (Joanna David). Lillie was originally telecast on PBS from March 11 through June 3, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ignoring the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," producer Carlo Ponti mounted a TV remake of the 1945 British masterpiece Brief Encounter. Sophia Loren (Mrs. Ponti) stars as a bored married woman who embarks upon a brief romantic fling with an equally married man (Richard Burton). Throughout their relationship, Loren and Burton are plagued by guilt; ultimately, they sacrifice their potential happiness in favor of "the right thing." John Bowne based his script on the 1936 Noel Coward playlet Still Life. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The young girl who witnessed the auto plant manager's hit-and-run accident doesn't quite blackmail him into giving her a good job, and she also doesn't quite blackmail him into spending time with her and her young friends. Her threat is implied, rather than explicit, and what she wants isn't made entirely clear. The manager doesn't want to break up his marriage or make the young woman his mistress, which might be her objective, and he can't promote her any further in the company. If she talks, his life is ruined. What can he do? When the Japanese owners of his factory ask him to come with an assistant to Japan to test-drive a new car, he has an opportunity to find out. This Danish-made English-language thriller doesn't end quite the way one might expect it to. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This sophisticated black comedy sex romp is based on the novel by Iris Murdoch, which she also turned into a stage play (with J.B. Priestley). Ian Holm, is hapless wine-taster Martin Lynch-Gibbon who has both a mistress (Jennie Linden) and a nymphomaniac wife, Antonia Lynch-Gibbon (Lee Remick). His best friend, psychiatrist Palmer Anderson (Richard Attenborough), is having an affair with Antonia. Palmer's half-sister Honor Klein (Clair Bloom) is having sexual relations with him also, which he is slightly apologetic about. The wine taster has had a lifelong antagonism for his friend's half-sister, but after his wife and mistress leave him, he takes up with Honor. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The complex relationships among an Oxford professor, one of his students, and the young woman who captivates both of them is the subject of this difficult but rewarding drama. Director Joseph Losey and writer Harold Pinter had previously collaborated on 1963's The Servant, and they surrounded this recasting of a Nicholas Mosley novel with a similar atmosphere of ominous mystery. The story is presented through flashbacks and disconnected memories that trace the characters' interactions. Though the mood is occasionally brightened by satirical views of the academic world, the overall effect is rather somber, concerned with missed opportunities, unhealthy obsessions, and unavoidable regret. Dirk Bogarde superbly captures the pensive professor's torment, with able support from Jacqueline Sassard and Michael York as the younger couple. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Julie Christie won an Oscar for her portrayal of a bored, amoral fashion model in this cynical melodrama from director John Schlesinger. Following the break-up of a teenage marriage, Diana Scott (Christie) drifts into the world of modeling and acting, where she meets a television news reporter, Robert Gold (Dirk Bogarde), who leaves his family for her and introduces her to a more powerful and wealthy set. Soon Diana meets somebody more attractive: public relations mogul Miles Brand (Laurence Harvey). After briefly leaving and then drifting back into Robert's life, experiencing an orgy and even getting an abortion, Diana eventually leaves the swinging London scene behind and settles down to an unfulfilling if comfortable life as the wife of millionaire Italian widower Cesare (Jose-Luis deVillalonga). Shocking in its day, Darling (1965) won Oscars for its costumes and script from Frederic Raphael. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Wealthy wastrel James Fox hires insouciant cockney Dirk Bogarde as a valet. No sooner has he donned his working clothes than Bogarde begins exercising a subtle but insidious control over his master. Suggesting that the house could use a little fixing up, Bogarde convinces Fox to spend a whopping amount of money on it. But this is just a warm-up session for Bogarde, who by mid-film is calling all the shots in the Fox household, all the while pretending to keep his place. Fox's fiance Wendy Craig sees through Bogarde's game. Bogarde then brings his own lady friend Sarah Miles into the house. At Bogarde's insistence, Miles seduces Fox, thereby loosening Craig's hold on the confused young man. And so it goes. The homosexual subtext of The Servant disturbed some of the more hidebound critics of 1963; Harold Pinter based his cryptic screenplay on a novel by Robin Maugham. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "Carry On" gang take up residence in the men's ward of a British hospital in this wildly funny and wildly crude farce. There's not much of a plot, but plenty of nudging and winking, as the male patients line up by their bedpans as a mixed assortment of female nurses tend to their every whim. Included in the menagerie is Bert Albie (Wilfrid Hyde White), who enjoys killing time by taunting an overweight student nurse; Bernie Bishop (Kenneth Connor), a sharp-tongued boxer; and Hinton (Charles Hawtrey), who likes to amuse himself at the radio. There's also a slight romantic storyline, hinging around Ted York (Terence Longdon) and his amorous advances upon the attractive Nurse Denton (Shirley Eaton). But the gag's the thing in this rambunctious entry. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide