David Parnell Movies
Everyone's favorite collie returns to the screen -- and to her native home back in Britain -- in director Charles Sturridge's faithful adaptation of author Eric Knight's sentimental kid and canine novel Lassie Come Home. When Lassie saves a fox from the hunting hounds of the duke of Rudling (Peter O'Toole), the captivated nobleman becomes obsessed with the idea of purchasing the collie for his adoring granddaughter Cilla (Hester Odgers). Unfortunately for Rudling, the pooch already has a loving family in the form of kindly miner Sam Carraclough (John Lynch), his wife, Sarah (Samantha Morton), and their young son, Joe (Jonathan Mason). When Sam is laid off from his job, however, he is forced to sell the loyal dog to the duke in order to put food on the family table. Incensed at the dog's repeated attempts to escape and seek out her original loving family, the villainous duke charges kennel-keeper Eddie Hynes (Steve Pemberton) with the task of teaching Lassie how to stay as World War II looms ever more heavy on the horizon. When the dogs of war finally stop barking and start biting, Rudling beats a hasty retreat to the safety of northern Scotland with both the child and the canine. Realizing that her newfound companion is far from the people she cares about most, Cilla later helps her ever-loyal four-legged friend escape from the family's heavily fortified compound so that she may begin the 500-mile journey back home to Yorkshire. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Samantha Morton, (more)
- 1995
- R
A small man with a big story examines the facts of his life in this drama. As Frank Bois enjoys the success of his first novel, he finds himself looking back on his highly unusual life. Frank's mother Bernadette (Anne Parillaud) was a French woman who, after the death of her parents and several close friends in World War II, smuggled herself aboard an Allied troop ship sailing to Ireland, exchanging sexual favors for silence among the soldiers who discovered her on board. A kind-hearted customs agent, Jack Kelly (Gabriel Byrne), allowed Bernadette to enter Ireland, and they soon became lovers, even though she was already carrying the child of one of the soldiers from the ship. Bernadette soon gave birth to young Frankie (Alan Pentony), who suffered from dwarfism. As he grew older, Frankie fell for Jack's daughter Emma (Georgina Cates), who clearly didn't care for him, while Jack generously shared his knowledge of astronomy with Frankie. Eventually, Bernadette encountered Terry Klout (Matt Dillon), an American soldier from the troop ship, who offered to marry her. Bernadette and Frankie accompanied Terry to his home in Texas, but both mother and son felt like fish out of water in the American West, and they returned to the Irish home they came to love. A sadder but wiser Bernadette eventually committed suicide, and Frank began to draw upon his life experiences as he put pen to paper for his first book. Based on the novel The Dork of Cork by Chet Raymo, Frankie Starlight was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Parillaud, Matt Dillon, (more)
