Katie Johnson Movies

This satire takes a sharp poke at the intrinsic laziness of British aristocracy who would rather die of starvation than perform an honest day's work. The tale begins when a destitute nobleman conspires to murder his rich Canadian uncle for the inheritance. Unfortunately he continually fails in his efforts to off him. Instead he winds up killing his own family one-by-one. In the end, the slightly addled fellow offs himself when he walks into one of his own traps which he had set in his uncle's room. The uncle is then arrested for his nephew's murder. Fortunately an elderly aunt manages to clear the Canadian's name. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Music professor Alec Guinness rents a London flat from sweet old lady Katie Johnson. He tells her that, from time to time, several other musicians will visit in order to rehearse. In truth, Guinness can't play a note, nor can his visitors: he's a criminal mastermind, holding court over a gang of thieves, including the likes of punkish Peter Sellers, homicidal Herbert Lom and punchdrunk Danny Green. The gang uses Guinness' flat as headquarters as they conceive a daring 60,000 pound robbery. After pulling off the job, the gang stuffs the loot in a railway station locker. To avoid detection, Guinness convinces the ever-trusting Johnson to pick up the money. Through a series of comic complications, Johnson returns home with a police escort, with neither the woman nor the bobbies suspecting that she's carrying a fortune in her suitcase. Mistakenly believing that Johnson has ratted on them, the gang reluctantly plans to eliminate her. The Ladykillers won an Oscar nomination for William Rose's screenplay, and a BFA award for veteran character actress Johnson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Delavine Affair is a jewel robbery orchestrated by a particularly vicious criminal gang. Reporter Peter Reynolds (his character name is-no kidding-Rex Banner) makes it his mission in life to track down the crooks and round them up for the Law. The bad guys reciprocate by framing Reynolds for the murder of a stool pigeon. Everything works itself out within the film's alotted 64 minutes. Honor Blackman, famed for her participation in the original The Avengers TV series, costars. Delavine Affair was based on Winter Wears a Shroud, a novel by Robert Chapman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this murder mystery, a woman's brother is killed in a freaky accident, or so she believes. Fortunately for her, an American journalist is more suspicious and so begins roaming the London streets in search of the killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Inspired by the recent success of The Blue Lamp, I Believe in You is a multiplotted British drama about parole officers. Several short character vignettes pass our way as the film studies the various methods employed by the officers in dealing with their charges. The film settles upon Cecil Parker, a compassionate official who takes special interest in the parolees. Parker tries simultaneously to reform a hardened criminal, and to dissuade a budding juvenile delinquent from a life of perdition. The semi-documentary approach established early in I Believe in You gives way to sentiment as the film winds down. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Adapted from a play by Daphne Du Maurier, The Years Between stars Valerie Hobson as war widow Diana. Determined to carry on her husband's work, Diana enters the business world, ultimately emerging as a Member of Parliament. On the eve of her second marriage, Diana's first husband Michael (Michael Redgrave) returns, proving beyond doubt that reports of his death were slightly exaggerated. The fact that Michael is irascible and unsympathetic enables the audience to remain firmly on Diana's side as she struggles with her dire dilemma. Ironically, in real life Valerie Hobson was married to British Cabinet member John Profumo, remaining steadfastly by his side when his political career was ruined by the 1963 Christine Keeler sex scandal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

I See a Dark Stranger manages to be both an absorbing espionage yarn and a slyly amusing send-up of the entire genre. Deborah Kerr is terrific as Irish colleen Bridie Quilty, raised from childhood to despise the British and everything they stand for. Bridie's anglophobia proves useful to Nazi spy Miller (Raymond Huntley), who hopes to use the girl to help him steal the plans for the D-day invasion. Playing her "Mata Hari" role to the hilt, Bridie wholeheartedly throws herself into a world of clandestine meetings and coded messages, certain that by helping the Germans she is also helping Mother Ireland. Eventually she realizes the error of her ways, enabling her to turn the tables on Miller and his co-conspirators. Trevor Howard co-stars as David Baynes, with whom the impulsive Bridie falls in love despite his English forebears. I See a Dark Stranger was released in the U.S. as The Adventuress. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two sisters stick by each other through thick and thin in this drama. The elder sister has a rather sexually checkered past. The tale begins as she heads for the French Riviera in search of more adventure and meets a charming man who knows nothing about her notorious past. They end up getting married. It is then he sees his bride's name figured prominently in a tabloid. The younger sister intervenes to save the union and tells him that she was the naughty sister. Unfortunately, her admission causes her own romantic life to crumble so the older sister finally 'fesses up. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Barbara Mullen stars as Jeannie, a spirited Scots girl who comes into an inheritance. She heads for her family castle after encountering numerous adventures on a Continental holiday. Jeannie also finds romance in the form of handsome washing machine salesman Stewart Granger, who wins out over the romantic overtures of gigolo Albert Lieven. Based on a play by Aimee Stewart, Jeannie overcame its attenuated budget with a plethora of good cheer, enabling the film to garner good reviews on both sides of the Atlantic (in America, the film was retitled Girl in Distress). The story was musicalized for its 1957 remake, Let's Be Happy, in which the heroine (Vera-Ellen) was changed into an American girl who comes to Scotland, rather than using the Highlands as a starting point. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Two For Danger in this British comedy-mystery are lawyer Tony Grigson (Barry K. Barnes) and art museum curator Diana (Greta Gynt). The son of a police commissioner, Grigson decides to play detective himself to find out who's been pilfering valuable paintings from the collection under Diana's care. The principal suspects include an American (Tony Shaw), a German (Gordon MacLeod) and an Australian (Ian McLean). Intrigued by the prospect of a bit of excitement in her humdrum life, Diana enthusiastically joins Grigson on his hunt, resulting in all sorts of hair's-breadth escapes for them both. Two for Danger was produced through the Teddington Studios facilities of Warner Bros., who distributed the film in the US. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, set in 1842 England, an independent young woman living with a minister and his wife defies them and goes against their wishes to see Queen Victoria in Edinburgh. While there, she falls in love with a lieutenant and finds her real mother, an actress. With the latter encounter, the woman is really surprised as her guardians had told her that her mother had died when she was quite young. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Although Neil Grant's stage play Dusty Ermine enjoyed a 250-performance run in London, screenwriters Du Garde Peach and Michael Hankinson could not resist the temptation to "improve" the play for its 1936 film version. Surprisingly, the film actually did turn out to be better than the play, no small thanks to its star, the ever-delightful Roland Young. The story concerns a master forger named Jim Kent (Young) and his equally larcenous nephew Gilbert (Arthur Macrae). Upon discovering that Gilbert has followed in his crooked footsteps, Jim determines that the boy shall turn honest, and to that end he takes the blame when Gilbert is arrested in the company of an international counterfeiting gang. But Gilbert has no intention of going straight and continues manufacturing "funny money." Realizing at long last that Jim is not the culprit -- after all, he's safely behind bars -- the police track down Gilbert, rescuing him from an Alpine avalanche and finally convincing him to pursue a less-risky occupation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Ex-con Carney manages to keep blackmailer's away from his daughter who never realizes who her hero is because Carney had been in prison since she was an infant. ~ Rovi