Glyn Baker Movies
- 1984
The British made-for-TV production The Box of Delights begins during the Christmas season, when young Devin Stanfield returns home from boarding school. No sooner has he arrived than Stanfield has made the acquaintance of elderly eccentric Patrick Troughton, who entrusts the boy with a mysterious box. Whatever magical powers the box possesses are coveted by evil Robert Stephens, who'll stop at nothing -- including kidnapping -- to get what he wants. The story comes to a rousing finale when Stephens plans "one last great wickedness" to claim the box for himself. The Box of Delights was first telecast in the U.S. as a three-part presentation (December 10, 17, and 24, 1984) on PBS' Wonderworks series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Devin Stanfield, (more)
- 1984
The Box of Delights, based on the children's book by English poet laureate John Masefield, was produced by the BBC, from a screenplay by Alan Seymour under director Renny Rye in mid-1984. Set in 1934, the six-part miniseries tells the story of young Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield), who, while on his way home from school to join his family for Christmas, meets an old Punch and Judy man named Cole Hawlings (Patrick Troughton), and then a pair of clergymen (Geoffrey Larder, Jonathan Stephens) who seem to have picked his pocket -- and all of whom seem to know all about Kay, who he is, and where he is going. Before long, he is in the center of a struggle for the title object, an artifact dating from pagan times that allows the holder to manipulate time and space. The evil Abner Brown (Robert Stephens) wants the box and will stop at nothing, including kidnapping and murder to get it, while Cole Hawlings, who is actually a 500-year-old alchemist, has sought out Kay's help to keep Brown and the forces he serves from stealing the box. Kay's adventures include a visit to an embattled Arthurian camp beset by wolves, an encounter with flying unicorns and other magical beasts, and other fantastic visions. Kay gradually comes to understand the magical world he has entered, but can he learn enough of the powers he controls before Abner -- who has embarked on a final great wickedness, culminating on Christmas Eve -- can succeed? ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
- Starring:
- Devin Stanfield, Patrick Troughton, (more)
The plot of this of this adaptation of the Daniel Carney's novel, sprinkled throughout a series of extended Sam Peckinpah-inspired action sequences, deals with a collection of mercenary toughguys -- Colonel Allen Faulkner (Richard Burton), Lieutenant Shawn Fynn (Roger Moore), Rafer Janders (Richard Harris), Pieter Coetzee (Hardy Kruger) -- who are hired to parachute into the African bush country and abscond with deposed African president Julius Limbani (Winston Ntshona) and reinstall him as a reigning monarch of an African country, to satisfy British mercantile interests. The action sequences were successful enough to spawn a sequel -- appropriately titled Wild Geese II. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Roger Moore, (more)
