Bernard Horsfall Movies

Mel Gibson, long-time heartthrob of the silver screen, came into his own as a director with Braveheart, an account of the life and times of medieval Scottish patriot William Wallace and, to a lesser degree, Robert the Bruce's struggle to unify his nation against its English oppressors. The story begins with young Wallace, whose father and brother have been killed fighting the English, being taken into the custody of his uncle, a nationalist and pre-Renaissance renaissance man. He returns twenty years later, a man educated both in the classics and in the art of war. There he finds his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherine McCormack), and the two quickly fall in love. There are murmurs of revolt against the English throughout the village, but Wallace remains aloof, wishing simply to tend to his crops and live in peace. However, when his love is killed by English soldiers the day after their secret marriage (held secretly so as to prevent the local English lord from exercising the repulsive right of prima noctae, the privilege of sleeping with the bride on the first night of the marriage), he springs into action and single-handedly slays an entire platoon of foot soldiers. The other villagers join him in destroying the English garrison, and thus begins the revolt against the English in what will eventually become full-fledged war. Wallace eventually leads his fellow Scots in a series of bloody battles that prove a serious threat to English domination and, along the way, has a hushed affair with the Princess of Wales (the breathtaking Sophie Marceau) before his imminent demise. For his efforts, Gibson won the honor of Best Director from the Academy; the movie also took home statuettes for Best Picture, Cinematography, Makeup, and Sound Effects. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

What if General George S. Patton didn't die in a car accident, as history tells us, but at the hands of a paid assassin? That's the premise of Brass Target, another in a series of espionage thrillers, like The Eagle Has Landed, that speculates on the fates of real-life figures from World War II. Robert Vaughn, Ed Bishop, and Edward Herrmann are three Allied officers in occupied Germany who steal Nazi gold with the help of OSS officer Patrick McGoohan. Patton (George Kennedy) personally supervises the investigation of the theft, assisted by Major Joe DeLuca (John Cassavetes). Soon, however, a professional assassin (Max Von Sydow) is on their trail, Patton is killed on the orders of his own staff, and only DeLuca and his lover (Sophia Loren), who is also involved with the assassin, are left alive for the finale. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of the four-part story "The Deadly Assassin," the Doctor (Tom Baker) has successfully proven that the Master (Peter Pratt) was behind the assassination of the President of Gallifrey. Alas, the Master has it within his power to destroy all the Time Lords -- one of whom has secretly been helping the villain throughout this adventure. Written by Robert Holmes, "The Deadly Assassin, Episode 3" first aired on November 20, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the four-part story "The Deadly Assassin," the Doctor (Tom Baker) is on trial for his life, accused of murdering the President of his home world Gallifrey. Actually, the Doctor has been framed for the killing by his old nemesis, the Master (Peter Pratt). Complicating matters is the ancient Time Lord edict that all political prisoners be set free upon the inauguration of a new President -- and the efforts by the Master to prolong his own existence with the aid of Gallifrey's sacred Eye of Harmony. Written by Robert Holmes, "The Deadly Assassin, Episode 2" first aired on November 6, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter R. Hunt directed this World War I action-adventure, based upon the novel by Wilbur Smith. Roger Moore and Lee Marvin team up as Sebastian, a witty and cosmopolitan Englishman, and Flynn O'Flynn, a boozy and ornery Irish American, who decide to blow up a German battleship that has been hidden away for repairs in Southeast Africa. Helping the two in their quest to sink the battleship is Sebastian's wife Rosa (Barbara Parkins), who has her own reasons for seeing the ship is destroyed -- the Germans took the life of her only child. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of the six-part episode "Planet of the Daleks," the revived Dalek warriors prepare to launch their campaign to conquer the Universe from their new home base on the planet Spiridon. Though it may be too late, the Doctor hopes to prevent this cataclysmic event with the strategic application of a powerful bomb -- not to mention the assistance of a group of Thals, who have a trick or two up their sleeves as well. Written by Terry Nation, "Planet of the Daleks, Episode 6" first aired on May 12, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fifth episode of the six-part story "Planet of the Daleks," the mutant Daleks are on the verge of discovering the Spiridons' secret of invisibility. Despite this grim turn of events, the enslaved Spiridons may still turn on their Dalek masters. Either way, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and his friends remain in dire jeopardy as they try to make their way out of the Spiridon jungle. Written by Terry Nation, "Planet of the Daleks, Episode 5" first aired on May 5, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the six-part story "Planet of the Daleks," the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo (Katy Manning) continue their efforts to thwart a Dalek scheme to conquer the universe from their new headquarters on planet Spiridon. Rescued from peril by a group of Thals, Jo revives the Doctor from his comatose state, while the Daleks, now some 10,000 strong, endeavor to learn the Spiridon's secret of invisibility. Written by Terry Nation, "Planet of the Daleks, Episode 3" first aired on April 21, 1973. Originally filmed in color, this episode is presently available in black-and-white only. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This science fiction/fantasy is loosely based on a story by John Wyndham (best known for The Day of the Triffids). Scientist Collin (Tom Bell) stumbles across a parallel world in which President Kennedy is not shot, Vietnam hasn't happened, and Ottilie (Joan Collins), the woman he loves, dies unexpectedly of a heart condition. While he is happy enough with the rest of his new world, he can't stand by and let his true love die in his original world, and he determines to return to his own place and time to save her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

It wasn't as well received at the box office as the pictures that preceded it or followed it, but Peter Hunt's On Her Majesty's Secret Service was the finest of the James Bond movies and also arguably the last truly great movie in the series. James Bond, portrayed here by George Lazenby (in his only performance in the role) has spent nearly two years trying to track down Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Telly Savalas), the head of SPECTRE. He has been taken off the case by his chief (Bernard Lee), an action the pushes him to the point of considering resigning from Her Majesty's Secret Service, just as he opens a possible new avenue of attack on his quarry. Whilst in the field, Bond has chanced to cross paths with the Contessa Teresa Di Vicenzo (Diana Rigg), a beautiful but desperately unhappy woman, whom he rescues from one apparent suicide attempt and an embarrassing moment at a casino gaming table -- the Contessa, who prefers to be called Tracy ("Teresa was a saint"), is the daughter of Marc Ange Draco (Gabriele Ferzetti), an industrial and construction magnate and also a crime boss, who is impressed with Bond personally as well as professionally, and would like to see him marry his daughter. Bond is, at first, unwilling to involve himself with a woman -- any woman -- on that level, but Draco's underworld contacts give Bond a vital clue to Blofeld's whereabouts that get him back on the case and hot on the man's trail. Journeying incognito to Blofeld's mountaintop retreat in the Swiss Alps, Bond finds the criminal mastermind posing as a would-be nobleman and also as a philanthropist, running a clinic devoted to the treatment and eradication of allergies. It's all a front for a surprisingly sinister (and scientifically valid) plot for international blackmail that would make any previous Bond villain quake in fear. And in the process of staying alive long enough to have a chance of stopping Blofeld, Bond discovers the Tracy is truly like no woman he's ever known before -- one special enough that he finds himself willing to give up his life as a free-living, free-loving bachelor. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of the five-part story "The Mind Robber," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) wend their way through a Lewis Carroll-like maze, somewhere in the Land of Fiction. Emerging from the confusion, the two time travellers come face to face with the Master (Emrys Jones), who explains he is the creator of a world comprised entirely of characters and locales taken from Earth Literature. The Master then demands that the Doctor take his place -- with dire consequences for Zoe and Jamie (Frazer Hines) if his demands are not met. Written by Derrick Sherwin and Peter Ling, "The Mind Robber, Episode 5" originally aired on October 12, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the five-part story "The Mind Robber," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Zoe (Wendy Padbury), and Jamie (Frazer Hines) find themselves in a strange forest, where the trees are in the shape of huge letters. All around them are images apparently culled from the world's most famous literature, and there is talk in the air of a "master" who is in charge of things. The mystery deepens when the time travellers meet a stranger (Bernard Horsfall) in 18th century garb -- who, like the rest of the planet, is oddly familiar to them. Written by Derrick Sherwin and Peter Ling, "The Mind Robber, Episode 3" originally aired on September 28, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide