Stephen Jack Movies
- 1977
- G
Jonathan Swift's satire about a sailor's strange voyage is the source of this, one of many filmed adaptations of the tale. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Catherine Schell, (more)
- 1973
- PG
Based on a play by Terence Rattigan, The Nelson Affair recounts an infamous 18th century British scandal in slow-paced, talk-heavy fashion. Lord Nelson (Peter Finch) returns from battling Napoleon's navy and takes some well-deserved leave. He immediately picks up where he left off with Lady Hamilton (Glenda Jackson), blatantly carrying on their affair in public view of his family and beleagured wife (Margaret Leighton). Hamilton herself is under strain due to her advancing age and Nelson's unflagging need to return to sea. The picture plays more like a filmed theater piece than an epic historical romance (the famous Battle Of Trafalgar was filmed indoors and utilized stock footage), but Finch and Jackson turn in their usual excellent performances. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, (more)
- 1971
In the second episode of the four-part story "Terror of the Autons," the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) continues his investigation of the disappearance of the last Nestene Intelligence Energy Sphere. Having previously escaped death at the hands of the Nestene's Auton warriors, the Doctor is naturally on his guard. That guard intensifies when the hero is warned that his arch rival Time Lord, the Master, has arrived on earth. Roger Delgado makes the first of many appearances as the redoubtable Master. Written by Robert Holmes, "Terror of the Autons, Episode 2" originally aired on January 9, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, (more)
- 1959
Ruthless young working-class Englishman Laurence Harvey takes a job in a North Country village controlled by millionaire Donald Wolfit. Harvey resents Wolfit's class consciousness and vows to rise to the top by wooing the millionaire's daughter, Heather Sears. Meanwhile he has an affair with Frenchwoman Simone Signoret. Though he regards Signoret as a mere self-gratifying conquest, she takes their romance seriously enough to kill herself when Harvey impregnates Field. Only as he leaves the chapel after marrying the millionaire's daughter does Harvey that his "smart" marriage, coupled with the guarantee of a fabulous business career, has been attained at the cost of his soul. Based on the novel by John Braine, Room at the Top was one of the most successful films of the British angry-young-man school; it later spawned two sequels, as well as a weekly TV series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Simone Signoret, (more)
- 1951
High Treason is a British espionage thriller filmed in the style of such American "docudramas" as The House on 92nd Street. Enemy saboteurs infiltrate the industrial suburbs of London, intending to plant high-powered bombs at several factory sites. Their motivation is to cripple the British economy and enable subversive forces to insinuate themselves in the government. The saboteurs are thwarted not by the traditional counterintelligence agents but by workaday London police officers. Director Roy Boulting also cowrote the screenplay of High Treason, which moves swiftly enough for its plot inconsistencies to be ignored. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Liam Redmond, Andre Morell, (more)
The Walt Disney production of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel Treasure Island is one of the company's best live-action films of the '50s, and one of the best family-oriented adventures ever filmed. Bobby Driscoll plays Jim Hawkins, a young cabin boy who battles the pirate Long John Silver (Robert Newton) for a treasure. Disney changes the ending of the book, yet the film is so entertaining--particularly Newton's scene-stealing performance--that the difference is forgivable. In the '70s, Treasure Island was re-issued with "objectionable" violence cut out of the print; the original version was restored in the 1992 home video re-release. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, (more)
- 1938
A Royal Divorce is the misleading title bestowed upon this dramatization of certain events in the lives of Napoleon and Josephine. Making her first screen appearance in two years, Hollywood's Ruth Chatterton tops the cast as Josephine, whose widowhood is relieved upon her marriage to up-and-coming military officer Napoleon (France's Pierre Blanchar). Though she's several years older than her husband, Josephine tries to be the wife he wants-but she cannot give him what he really wants, namely an heir. Miles Malleson's screenplay puts forth the theory that Josephine agreed to her divorce from the Emperor so that he might father a legitimate child by his mistress, Marie Louise. In terms of costumes and settings, A Royal Divorce is authentic to a fault; in terms of adherence to the facts, it's a bit shaky, though undeniably dramatic. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ruth Chatterton, Pierre Blanchar, (more)
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