James Robertson Justice Movies
Like the stalwart medieval castles that still dominate the hillsides of his childhood home in southwestern Scotland, James Robertson-Justice was imposing. His cavernous chest, his resonant voice, his full beard, and his stately bearing all suggested the regality of a mighty king. In fact, in the Sword and the Rose in 1953, Robertson-Justice portrayed the most lordly of British kings, Henry VIII, winning critical acclaim. Physically, he was the near mirror image of Henry as depicted in the 1538 portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger. More important, though, Robertson-Justice wore the mantle of Henry's personality, mimicking the king's authoritarian demeanor and legendary appetite for all things worldly. That he was at home in the role of Henry VIII was not surprising. Like the Tudor king,Robertson-Justice loved athletics, dancing, politics, and learning (he held two doctor's degrees: a Ph.D. and a doctorate in law). Moreover, he had mastered the royal sport of falconry, and even taught young Prince Charles the finer points of the ancient pastime. Official biographies say Robertson-Justice was born in the maritime community of Wigtown in the southernmost shire in Scotland. However, the town of Langholm, also in southern Scotland, proudly proclaims that he was actually born there in the Crown Hotel during an emergency stop when his mother was traveling. There is no argument, though, about when he was born: June 15, 1905. His education at Marborough College in England and Bonn University in Germany equipped him with the skills necessary to succeed in a variety of pursuits. Heeding one of Plato's ancient admonitions, he balanced mental activity with physical activity, becoming a netminder for the London Lions in the British Ice Hockey Association. After a skiing injury waylaid him, he refereed matches. Though he had the desire and talent to become an actor, he first pursued a career in Canada as a journalist, then fought in the Spanish Civil War and WWII. In 1944, he made his first film, Fiddlers Three, a fanciful comedy about time travelers in ancient Rome, where Robertson-Justice was a centurion. That stint was the first of many roles in films set in the distant past, including The Black Rose (1950), David and Bathsheba (1951), Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951), Les Misérables (1952), The Story of Robin Hood (1952), Rob Roy (1953), The Sword and the Rose (1953), Land of the Pharaohs (1955), and Moby Dick (1956). However, in spite of his ability to wield swords, wear crowns, and dodge cannonballs, his signature role -- the one that earned him a warm niche in the hearts of Britons everywhere -- was that of Sir Lancelot Spratt, a chief surgeon in the celebrated series of zany Doctor films. The first in the series, Doctor in the House, was Britain's biggest moneymaker in 1954. It was Spratt's job to rule unruly medical students with an appetite for women, money, and fast cars. Remarkably, while making five more Doctor films over the next 16 years, Robertson-Justice had the time and energy to serve as rector of the University of Edinburgh. He died in 1975 at King's Somborne, England. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
Flamboyant, giallo-style gore effects are the only highlight of this otherwise pedestrian supernatural horror film, which was originally filmed in 1981 as The Witch and shelved for four years, before it experienced a mild midnight-movie revival in the wake of The Evil Dead's success. The ghastly goings-on begin when a clergyman (Larry Pennell) and his family move into an eerie mansion built near the lake where a powerful local witch was drowned four centuries earlier. It soon becomes evident that the spirit of this evil sorceress, whose powers have increased exponentially after her death, is not content with conducting the standard haunted-house scare tactics, and the bodies begin to pile up at an incredible rate. (These audacious death scenes peak with one poor soul's dismemberment courtesy of a flying circular saw.) When a homicide detective (Albert Salmi) and a minister (James Carl Houghton) discover the cause of the macabre mayhem, they prepare to conduct an exorcism (in the mode of The Amityville Horror), much to their own peril. Overblown performances, a scatter-shot screenplay, and hilariously messy gore effects make this movie impossible to take seriously, but it does have a certain tacky charm. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Salmi, Lynn Carlin, (more)
- 1970
In this farce, four people go to extremes to inherit the giant fortune of a wealthy practical joker. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This offbeat comedy begins when Doctor Burke (Leslie Phillips) chases the beautiful Ophelia (Angela Scoular) on board an ocean liner and is trapped. He masquerades as a female photographer to avoid detection, hoping to propose marriage to Ophelia. Burke tries to avoids the suspicion of pompous Captain Spratt (Robert Morley), who plays the stuffy skipper with his usual comic flair. James Robert Justice plays the captain's blue-blooded brother Sir Lancelott Spratt. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Harry Secombe, (more)
- 1969
- PG
A Scotland Yard inspector is called on to investigate a series of unsolved robberies in The Trygon Factor. Inspector Cooper-Smith (Stewart Granger) ends up at the country manor of a respectable English family. Livia Emberday (Cathleen Nesbitt) is the mistress of the house who has turned to crime to help bolster the finances of the once-monied family. With help from a group of bogus nuns, stolen goods end up in the warehouse of Hamlyn (Robert Morley), supposedly a respectable businessman. This 1966 feature also stars Susan Hampshire as Trudy, the daughter of the manor who is unaware of the criminal enterprise under her very nose. There are plenty of twists in the storyline of this often complex mystery feature. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stewart Granger, Susan Hampshire, (more)
- 1968
This romantic tragedy concerns the Archduke Rudolf (Omar Sharif) and his mistress, the Baroness Maria Vetsera (Catherine Deneuve), and their untimely demise at Mayerling, the sight of the Austrian royal family's hunting lodge. Rudolf verbally spars with his father Emperor Franz-Josef (James Mason) about wanting to implement progressive policies for his country. Ava Gardner plays his mother Empress Elizabeth. Rudolf also contends with the fallout from a loveless marriage with Princess Stephanie (Andrea Parisy). Respectful of the centuries-old Hapsburg family rule over Austria, Rudolf soon feels he is a man born at the wrong time in a country that will not realize the need for social reform. The Prince of Wales (James Robertson-Justice), later to become Britain's King Edward VII, provides the only comic relief with his dialogue. The deaths remain a mystery, but director Terence Young suggests the two lovers made a suicide pact when they decided they could not live in a world without love where the prospects for peace were dubious at best. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Omar Sharif, Catherine Deneuve, (more)
One of the stars of Walt Disney's Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke, is re-united with that film's composer and lyricist, Richard M.Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, in this big budget and bloodless children's fantasy musical, based on the children's book by James Bond author Ian Fleming. Van Dyke plays Caractacus Potts, a failed inventor who lives in a big house with his two children -- Jemima Heather Ripley and Jeremy Adrian Hall -- and eccentric father Lionel Jeffries. Potts has to raise 30 shillings so his children can buy a broken-down racing car from the junkyard. After a disastrous attempt to sell his invention of whistling sweets to Lord Scrumptious (James Robertson-Justice), the local candy maker, he finally gets enough money for the car by doing a Dick Van Dyke dance routine at the county fair. Potts takes the car and miraculously transforms the vehicle into a shiny new car named Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. While on a picnic with the children and Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), Lord Scrumptious' beautiful daughter, Potts concocts a fantasy tale about the magical powers of the car, which can now float on water and fly. In the tale, Baron Bomburst (Gert Frobe) wants the car for himself and kidnaps the automobile and the inventor. But Bomburst captures Grandpa by mistake along with the wrong car, so Potts, Truly, and the children have to enlist Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on a rescue mission to Bomburst's lair to save Grandpa. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, (more)
Released in Europe as Histoires Extraordinaires and Tre Passi Nel Delirio, this is a portmanteau picture, comprised of three supernatural playlets based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. "Metzengerstein," directed by Roger Vadim, stars the director's then-wife Jane Fonda as a medieval woman prone to acts of vengeance. Her brother Peter Fonda is somewhat perversely cast as her cousin, for whom she holds incestuous yearnings. When he gives her the cold shoulder, she spitefully sets fire to his stable of horses. He is himself killed in the blaze, but it seems that he has been reincarnated as a horse. In "William Wilson," directed by Louis Malle, a sadistic Austrian officer (Alain Delon) commits various S&M misdeeds upon a variety of victims, including a woman (Brigitte Bardot) with whom he plays cards. The officer himself comes to grief when he finds that the Church will not allow him to say an act of contrition. And "Never Bet Your Head," directed by Federico Fellini, updates the Poe original by casting Terence Stamp as a self-indulgent movie star. Driving drunk one evening, the actor literally bets his head that he can escape a potentially fatal accident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Stamp, Jane Fonda, (more)
- 1967
This drama centers upon a female thief and her robber band as they try to hide out from the cops on a deserted island. Their only shelter is an abandoned mansion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Too old to be a gamine yet not old enough for matronhood, Brigitte Bardot is the ideally cast leading lady of Serge Bourguignon's Head Over Heels. Bardot plays a thirtysomething beauty who finds herself torn between two desirable lovers. The film's alternate English-language title, Two Weeks in September, symbolically conveys the ambience of the film: Bardot is loved by a man much older than herself, and in turn falls in love with a man much younger than herself. All of the characters are old enough to know better than to enter into a menage a trois, yet this little fling may be the last chance for true happiness for at least two of the participants. Director Bourguignon collaborated on the bittersweet script of Head Over Heels, which was originally released in France as A Coeur Joie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Laurent Terzieff, (more)
Doctor in Clover is the next-to-last entry in the British "Doctor" comedy film series. After losing his government job, doctor Gaston Grimsdyke (Leslie Phillips) signs up for a medical school course with his old tutor-nemesis Sir Lancelot Spratt (welcome back, James Robertson Justice). What follows is the standard melange of double- and single entendres, not to mention the usual dalliances with such underdressed lovelies as Shirley Ann Field, Fenella Fielding and Elizabeth Ercy. A subplot involves a rejuvenation serum that is disastrously applied to the behemothlike Sir Lancelot. Though allegedly based on the original "Doctor" novel by Richard Gordon, any resemblance is purely coincidental.Doctor in Clover was also released as Carnaby MD, in deference to the "Swinging London" craze. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Shirley Ann Field, (more)
- 1966
In this frilly-costumed comedy, Baron Halbach (Martin Held) and his daughter Dodo (Senta Berger) move freely among the wealthy social elite, stealing jewels. When Dodo falls for the handsome London lawyer Robert (Joachim Fuchsberger), the Baron tries to stop the budding romance. Later, Dodo is caught trying to pull off one last caper before she marries, but Robert successfully wins her case in court. Watch for James Robertson Justice as Robert's father Sir Hammond in this lavish production. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Senta Berger, Martin Held, (more)
- 1965
- G
- Add Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines to QueueAdd Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines to top of Queue
Ken Annakin's large-canvas comedy Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines is set in 1910. In order to boost circulation of his newspaper, Lord Rawnsley (Robert Morley) offers 10,000 pounds to the first person who can fly across the English Channel. A huge number of hopefuls enter the contest, including the scheming Sir Percy Ware-Armitage (Terry-Thomas), who, with the help of his henchman Courtney (Eric Sykes), attempts to sabotage the other entries. There is also a love triangle featuring Orvil Newton (Stuart Whitman) and Richard Mays (James Fox) competing for the heart of Patricia Rawnsley (Sarah Miles). ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles, (more)
- 1965
In this drama, the devilish Chinese villain has concocted a deadly gas. He tries it out in a small English town and is delighted to discover that it is terribly effective. He then travels to the Thames with his daughter. There he has an explosive encounter with the hero who stops the evil plot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, Nigel Green, (more)
- 1965
This war-drama centers more on the effects of battle on civilians than it does on the bravery of the fighters as it tells the story of a courageous squadron of Yankee soldiers endeavoring to protect and bring to safety a village full of French civilians whom they saved from German captors following the Allied invasion of Normandy. During the battle to free them, the soldiers also capture a German officer. They then begin heading toward the beach with the civilians so they can go to England. Unfortunately, the beachmaster does not know they are coming and regretfully sends them back. Twice more the squadron and the civilians go back to the beach, but they are still not allowed to go. Things get even worse when the Germans begin bombing the remains of their town and they are forced to find some place to hide until help arrives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Robertson, Red Buttons, (more)
- 1965
You Must be Joking? draws its laughs from an Army endurance test. Over a 48-hour period, five officers in the British army-including American transplant Michael Callan-must wend their way through a maze, retrieve a hood ornament from a Rolls Royce and steal a lock of hair from beauteous pop singer Gabriella Licudi. There's a big prize in store for the officer who finishes the test first, and since the other contestant include such middle-aged huffers and puffers as Lionel Jeffries and Denholm Elliot, it doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to figure out who the victor will be. Director Michael Winner was still in his "mad mod" period when he lensed the wacky goings-on of You Must Be Joking? His Death Wish pictures of the 1970s were in 1965 as remote as another galaxy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Callan, Lionel Jeffries, (more)
- 1964
In this lively British comedy, a newlywed couple's quaint country cottage becomes a nightmare of repairs as they try to fix it up themselves. They originally purchased the ramshackle pile to escape the influence of the new wife's meddlesome father. Unfortunately, the place needs more help than they are able to give and they must reluctantly get her father's help. He brings in a bumbling builder and things only get worse from there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, (more)
- 1963
This crime drama is set in 1910, and tells the tale of a doctor accused of murdering his wife. He swore that he didn't do it. The evidence speaks otherwise. The doctor staunchly claimed the overdose of tranquilizers found in her tea got there by accident and that he and his beautiful mistress had absolutely nothing to do with it. Never mind that after his wife's "accidental" death, he and his lover just happened to choose that moment for a Canadian vacation. Despite their absence, the London police continue investigating until they find the poor wife's body buried in the doctor's cellar. Even after his subsequent capture, extradition and guilty sentence, Dr. Crippen swears his innocence. It's unbelievable, but the story is true. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Pleasence, Coral Browne, (more)
- 1963
The star of this slapstick comedy is not a person but an antique Bentley sports car, the source of several misadventures. Murdoch Troon (Stanley Baxter) is a simple civil servant who has his heart set on romancing Claire (Julie Christie in an early role), the daughter of wealthy businessman Charles Chingford (James Robertson Justice). As a part of his scheme to appear irresistible, Murdoch takes driving lessons so he will be able to impress Claire in the Bentley. Both the lessons and his driving test produce moments of hilarity, and as might be expected, there cannot be a movie featuring a car without a wacky, wild chase. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Robertson Justice, Stanley Baxter, (more)
After several years' absence, Dirk Bogarde returns to the popular British "Doctor" film series in Doctor in Distress. Where once Bogarde's Dr. Simon Sparrow was naive and wide-eyed, he is a bit more urbane in this edition. He even manages to offer romantic advice to his old mentor/nemesis Sir Lancelot Sprat (James Robertson Justice). Sparrow's efforts to smooth the path for Sir Lancelot's amorous pursuit of physiotherapist Barbara Murray puts a strain on his own relationship with comely Samantha Eggar. Doctor in Distress is based on characters created by Dr. Richard Gordon, though the story is an original and not an adaptation of a Gordon novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Samantha Eggar, (more)
- 1963
In this drama, two young attorneys working for their uncle, find themselves facing off in court. One of the is defending a wife; the other, her husband who is suing for conjugal rights. As both lawyers are fresh from law school, things in court are often chaotic, and they suffer several fiascoes to the point where the judge is ready to disbar them. At the end of the tumultuous case, it looks as if the wife will win, when the other lawyer learns that the wife was afraid her husband would blackmail her if he found out that she was already married to a millionaire. Finally all is resolved and justice served. The two lawyers then decide to get married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This comedy features a 12-step Program for habitual hoods. The recovering criminal takes a job as a department store Santa, and again finds himself confronted with temptation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
This routine wartime drama is set at sea and involves a British convoy trying to elude a group of German U-Boats. After one of the U-Boats is singled out and captured, the British admiral in charge of the current operation hits upon an ingenious but almost suicidal way of defeating the Nazi boats. He orders Lt. Commander Tarlton (Edward Judd) and a group of men to get in the captured U-Boat and then join the other U-Boats as though they had simply wandered off course for awhile. If done quickly and efficiently, Tarlton should be able to radio back the position of the enemy for a fast British offensive. Not an easy task in itself, and made much worse considering that the RAF and other British ships are going to consider the decoy U-Boat to be the enemy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Judd, Laurence Payne, (more)
- 1962
Roger Vadim directs his ex-wife Brigitte Bardot once again in this conventional film about an innocent young woman, Genevieve (Bardot), who ends up on the losing side of a relationship with an alcoholic -- at least for awhile. Genevieve is a typical, introverted, middle-class woman who would like to be a homemaker and live relatively well. Instead, she goes to a small town to receive an inheritance, and by accident she walks into the wrong room in her hotel. And just in time. The alcoholic Renaud (Robert Hossein) who occupies the room has tried to kill himself with an overdose of sleeping pills. Genevieve saves his life, and the two soon strike up a dysfunctional relationship. Renaud degrades her in every way he can, yet she remains true to her honest feelings for him. The question, in the end, is whether Renaud will ultimately change for the better or Genevieve for the worse. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Bardot, Robert Hossein, (more)
