Sheila Hancock Movies

Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, and Asa Butterfield star in Little Voice writer/director Mark Herman's adaptation of John Boyne's novel concerning the forbidden friendship that between an eight-year-old German boy and a Jewish concentration camp prisoner in World War II-era Germany. The innocent son of a high-ranking Nazi commandant, Bruno has been largely shielded from the harsh realities of the war. When Bruno discovers that his father has been promoted and that their family will be moving from Berlin into the countryside, he doesn't take the news well. Increasingly bored in his sprawling yet dreary country abode and forbidden by his mother from exploring the backyard, young Bruno searches for something to do while his older sister plays with dolls and vies for the attention of handsome Lieutenant Kotler (Rupert Friend). One day, bored and gazing out his bedroom window, Bruno spies what first appears to be a nearby farm; his parents refuse to discuss it, and all of the inhabitants there are curiously clad in striped pajamas. But while Bruno's mother naïvely believes the "farm" to be an internment camp, her husband has sworn under oath never to reveal that it is in fact an extermination camp specifically designed to help the Nazis achieve their horrific "Final Solution." Eventually defying his mother's rules and venturing out beyond the backyard, Bruno arrives at a barbed wire fence to find a young boy just his age emptying rubble from a wheel barrel. Like Pavel, the kitchen worker who cooks all of Bruno's meals, the young boy is wearing striped pajamas. His name is Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), and before long the two young boys become fast friends. But the closer these two boys grow, the more Bruno becomes awakened to the horrors unfolding all around them. His mother is catching on quickly as well, a fact that causes great tension in her marriage to Bruno's father. Later, after Bruno swipes a piece of cake for Shmuel, Lt. Kotler accuses the Jewish boy of stealing and delivers a swift punishment. When Bruno's father announces that the young boy and his mother will be going to live with their aunt in Heidelberg, Bruno grabs a shovel and makes his way to the camp, setting into motion a tragic and devastating sequence of events. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Reclusive Britisher Jack Blake (John Hurt) comes to the rescue when motorists Pam Raeburn (Sheila Hancock) and her daughter, Stephanie (Rachael Stirling), are stranded on a lonely road during a heavy rain. Offering the ladies shelter in his stately but rather gloomy mansion, Jack cannot help but notice that Stephanie bears a remarkable resemblance to his own daughter, who had been brutally murdered by an unknown assailant several years earlier. Then and there, Jack decides to use Stephanie as bait to trap the man whom he thinks is his daughter's killer. Made for television, Bait was originally presented on Britain's ITV1 on December 27, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A young couple brought together on a popular reality game show attempt to navigate the treacherous world of marriage in order to win a million dollar price in this tale of love and money starring Steven Duffy and Emma Cunniffe. Daniel (Duffy) and Samantha (Cunniffe) have yet to meet, but they've been chosen to marry by the viewers of television's most successful reality television show. As they each approach the alter, these two contestants get their first glimpses of the person they could wind up spending the rest of their lives with. Should they manage to build a successful relationship over the course of six short months, Daniel and Samantha will receive a substantial cash prize; should they fail, it's straight to the nearest divorce court. But while Daniel and Samantha are both willing to make their best play at love, intrusive relatives, obnoxious paparazzo, and awkward bedroom encounters all threaten to make the relationship fail before it's even began. In the end, the decision to save the marriage for love or money is up to the two people whose lives will never be the same again. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Hold Back the Night is an adolescent drama about Charleen and Declan, who are running away from their pasts, their families, and the police. They are heading towards the Scottish Highlands. They have both been abused and damaged; consequently, they are complex and difficult. On the way, they encounter such figures as Killer, an unlovable pit bull, and Vera, whose dying wish is to see the sun rise on the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney. As the two teenagers begin to come to terms with each other and their environment, they loosen up and build a relationship of love and trust. The film tells the story of how Charleen and Declan learn to put away the ghosts of the past and become first friends, then lovers in a barren but calm and beautiful landscape. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Edith Wharton, The Buccaneers follows four wealthy young women -- Nan (Carla Gugino), Virginia St. George (Alison Eliott), Conchita Closson (Mira Sorvino), and Lizzy Elmsworth (Rya Kihlstedt) -- throughout their eventful journey from America to London. Though they set off intending to hunt down potential husbands for themselves, what they find has less to do with love and more to do with the repressive nature of turn-of-the-century English society. Shunned as "new money" by London's elite and courted by a slew of noblemen lacking any code of personal honor, the quartet is forced to examine society's focus on social status and personal wealth. Directed by Philip Saville, this film also features Mark Tandy and Greg Wise. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Emile Ardolino directed this treacly sequel to Three Men and a Baby. The middle-aged trio of doting fathers -- Peter the architect (Tom Selleck), Michael the cartoonist (Steve Guttenberg) and Jack the actor (Ted Danson) -- have returned, sublimating their swinging bachelor instincts in order to raise 5-year-old Mary (Robin Weisman). The child of Jack and Sylvia (Nancy Travis), Mary was abandoned by Sylvia in the foyer of the boys' apartment house in the first film. In five years, Mary has grown from a diaper-filling infant to a cute kid who insists that the guys sing rap songs to her before she goes to bed. Sylvia now also lives with the bachelors as she pursues a promising Broadway career. Peter, Michael, and Jack dote on the moppet and parenthood has rarely seemed more idyllic. But Sylvia once again disrupts their placid existence. Accepting the marriage proposal of British director and surly cad Edward (Christopher Cazenove), she announces that she and Mary are going to move to England, leaving the boys high and dry. When it turns out that Edward is secretly planning to ship Mary away to a boarding school after the marriage, the three guys race frantically to disrupt Sylvia's wedding. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

On August 8, 1963, the Royal Mail train, on its nighttime run from London to Glasgow, was robbed by 15 men who got away with 2.6 million pounds (today the equivalent of $35 million). Buster tells the story of one of the junior robbers, Buster Edwards (played by pop singer Phil Collins), in a crime that came to be known as the Great Train Robbery. The film details the planning of the famous heist, but its main concern is Buster's relationship with his family and his devotion to his wife June (Julie Walters). The Edwards are like a British Kramden family, trying to make ends meet from day-to-day in their rental apartment, but instead of a bus driver, Buster is a two-bit thief who has the fine luck of hardly ever getting caught. After the Royal mail train robbery, the heat intensifies, since the Conservative Government, already smarting from the Profumo scandal, latches onto the train robbery as a means to deflect attention from the scandal by bringing the train robbers quickly to justice. Buster and June go into hiding and have a series of close calls before finally escaping to Mexico. Finally in paradise, the Edwards find their money quickly being eaten up and discover that they cannot adapt to the Mexico milieu. June, for her part, is homesick, and Buster, always ready to keep her happy, makes the grand gesture -- to return to England and turn himself in to the police. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the three-part story "The Happiness Patrol," the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) have arrived on Terra, a planet governed by the Happiness Patrol, who punish those not expressing eternal joy by killing them on the spot. Since both the Doctor and Ace have been designated as "Killjoys," they are targeted for extinction by the robotic Kandyman (David John Pope). The only hope for the time-travelers is to foment a rebellion against the smiley-faced dictator, Helen A (Sheila Hancock). Written by Graeme Curry, "The Happiness Patrol, Episode 2" first aired on November 9, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dillon is a very buttoned-down bookkeeper and appears to be just about as prim as it's possible to be. Perhaps that's because he is an illegitimate child raised by his unconventional grandmother after his parents died. Though he has become a rather conservative fellow, when a pair of aging ne'er-do-wells recount stories of his father and the band he played in (The Pink Frogs), he is thrilled. However, he's not sure what to make of the excitement in his grandmother's life these days: the man who loved her and left her forty years ago has come back into her life and is asking to marry her. On top of that, Dillon has a girlfriend who is something of a free spirit herself and is prone to ask him searching questions at the most awkward times. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This 1970 British sex farce stars Hayley Mills as Jenny Bunn, a naïve young schoolteacher from the north of England who comes to swinging London to teach. She moves into a suburb and becomes friends with Anna (Geraldine Sherman). Anna is dating Patrick Standish (Oliver Reed), but when Anna introduces them, Patrick becomes smitten with Jenny. Patrick keeps trying to get Jenny to return his affections, but she is prim and resists. At a party at the home of Julian Ormerod (oel Harrison), she meets Patrick again. They talk, and he convinces her that his intentions are honorable. They agree to have a rendezvous a few days later. But in the meantime, Julian tells Jenny that Patrick really isn't sincere and only wants to see if he can be the one to conquer her virginity. The romantic comedy is based on a play by Louis S. Peterson. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Among the first of the late 60s anti-war films that reflected growing concern over the Vietnam War, How I Won the War takes a cold, dark look at the Good War, World War II. In adapting Patrick Ryan's 1963 novel, screenwriter Charles Wood and director Richard Lester offered a narrative fractured by characters making side comments to the camera, stylized cinematography, inserts of newsreel war footage, and plenty of absurdist humor and slapstick. Ernest Goodbody (Michael Crawford) is a bumbling British officer who manages to get most of his small company of musketeers killed while on a mission in North Africa to set up a cricket pitch behind enemy lines for officers of the advancing British army. The rest of the company dies in an ensuing campaign in Europe near the war's end, but all of the men continue to march along, appearing as monochromatic ghosts. (Original prints of the film intercut real battle footage tinted to match the color of the soon-to-be ghost soldier. Some prints of the film, including one shown on Turner Classic Movies, present the newsreel shots in black and white, undercutting the stylized touch.) The story is framed as a flashback, with Goodbody relating his version of events to a German officer (Karl Michael Vogler), while the real version of events, demonstrating Goodbody's ineptitude, plays out on screen. Among the supporting players are John Lennon, who had worked with Lester on A Hard Day's Night and Help; Roy Kinnear, a Lester regular, as a fat soldier who is certain his wife is cheating on him; Jack MacGowran as the troop's designated fool, and Michael Hordern as a general almost as oblivious to his suffering men as Goodbody. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

Albert Finney stars in this second film version of Emlyn Williams thriller about an innocent looking but psychopathic killer named Danny. Danny is a Welsh hotel bellboy who commits an axe murder near the home of Mrs. Bramson (Mona Washbourne), a well-to-do widow. Danny disposes of the body in a nearby lake and charms Mrs. Bramson and her maid Dora (Sheila Hancock) into allowing him to stay with them. At Mrs. Bramson's home, Danny plays psychological games with Mrs. Bramson while seducing her daughter Olivia (Susan Hampshire). Meanwhile, alone in his room, Danny engages in strange rituals with the severed heads of his victims, which he keeps in a black hatbox. But the police have uncovered the axe and the headless corpse from the lake, and the authorities begin closing in on Danny, whose psychopathic tendencies are beginning to manifest themselves at Mrs. Bramson's home. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This entertaining farce is from the director who brought the world the highly successful "Carry On..." comedies -- Gerald Thomas -- and exhibits some of his hand at slapstick situations. The premise, based on the play Ring for Catty, is hardly complex. Nurse Catty (Juliet Mills) is one of the main attractions -- along with two other nurses (played by Jill Ireland and manda Reiss) -- in the TB ward of a local hospital. An important daily goal is to avoid unwanted lascivious attention from patients, and aside from that subplot, there are enough bedpan jokes and similar types of hospital humor to keep the scenes moving along. Eventually, Catty begins to take more than a nursing interest in one of her saner patients, Bob White (Ronald Lewis). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide