Larry Lamb Movies

Saddled with a £50,000 which he has only four days to pay off before suffering grievous bodily harm, a petty London criminal attempts to carry out an ingenious art scam in director Richard Janes' spirited caper comedy. Nick Blake (Matthew Rhys) owes smooth-operating crime lord Foster Wright (Art Malik) a sizable dept, and if he doesn't cough up the cash in four days the situation promises to turn nasty. Desperate to find a means of raising the cash but unable to carry out the kind of heist that could get him out of his peculiar jam, Nick believes that he has found a solution to his problem when he discovers a lost sketch by revered Italian artist Antonio Fraccini. Nick's plan hits a hitch, however, when he discovers that the sketch is only worth £15,000. Now, with the clock ticking down and mere hours to go before Art sends his thugs out to collect, desperate Nick will enlist the aid of his cynical friend Eve and her talented artist brother Tony in forging the sketch and selling copies to five different Mayfair galleries in the short span of one hour. Should Tony and his partners in crime successfully execute their carefully planned ruse, the galleries won't even realize they've been swindled until it's too late. If the plan goes awry, on the other hand, Tony will be a wanted man on both sides of the law. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The Blonde Bombshell was a two-part miniseries based on the turbulent life and early death of British movie queen Diana Dors. The warts-and-all teleplay cast a merciless light upon Dors' troublesome relationship with her working-class family, her ofttimes futile efforts to be taken seriously as an actress and to escape the "sexpot" roles which had brought her fame, and her unhappy marriages, including her volatile union with future Family Feud emcee Richard Dawson. The story came to a tragic conclusion with Dors' death from cancer at age 52. Keeley Hawes appeared as the younger Diana, while Amanda Redman played the protagonist in the final stages of her life and career. Filmed in the digital widescreen process, The Blonde Bombshell was seen over London Weekend Television on April 26 and 27, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This two-part British miniseries chronicled the misfortunes of meek solicitor Henry Farr (Robert Lindsay), trapped in dead-end suburban domesticity and saddled with a feminist virago of a wife named Elinor (Alison Steadman). Finally able to stand no more, Henry plotted to do away with Elinor by means of poison. Alas, his scheme had a few glitches, and before long virtually everyone in the town of Wimbledon had dropped dead except for Elinor. Meanwhile, the local constabulary, led by Detective John Rush (Philip Jackson), tried to figure out what was causing the unusually high mortality rate. Played as much for laughs as for thrills, The Wimbledon Poisoner originally aired in 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The four-part British miniseries Pursuit, based upon Robert L. Fish's novel of the same name, was first telecast in the United States as the two-part "movie special" Twist of Fate. Bruce Greenwood essayed the leading role of Helmut Von Schraeder, an ex-S.S. officer on the run after conspiring to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. Undergoing plastic surgery, Von Schraeder assumed the new identity of Jewish concentration camp survivor Daniel Grossman. And as if that wasn't unbelievable enough, "Grossman" went on to a colorful career as an Israeli freedom fighter. The huge multinational cast included British film and TV stalwart Ben Cross and American leading lady Sarah Jessica Parker. Though made for British television, Pursuit did not air in that country until 1990, a full year after its American debut. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This uninspiring drama was unfortunately the last feature film directed by Richard Marquard and was released posthumously. Bob Dylan plays the retired and reclusive rock star (there's a stretch) Billy Parker who falls for aspiring rocker Molly McGuire (Fiona) and takes her under his wing on his tour of England to benefit from his experience. When Molly is "discovered" by lecherous music promoter James Colt (Rupert Everett), Billy flies the coop back to his stateside chicken farm while Molly makes music magic. Billy and Molly are eventually reunited when she returns for a triumphant tour of the United States. Songs from Dylan, Neil Young, Shel Silverstein, Andy Goldmark, Tony Swan, Wang Chung, John Dexter, Cyril Neville, John Hiatt, and Steve Jolley help the thin script and uninspired thesping. The film opens up with the 1982 hit Tainted Love from Soft Cell. Musicians Ian Dury and Richie Havens are included in the acting cast. One can only wonder if the feature was just wrapped up too quickly after the untimely death of Marquand from a stroke at age 49 on September 4th, 1987. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Harry's Kingdom and Harry's Machine are alternate titles for the 1985 low-budgeter Hollywood Harry. Actor Robert Forster made his directorial debut in this languid private eye flick, reserving the "hard boiled dick" lead for himself. Forster is hired to find a missing girl; his only lead is the fact that the girl was featured in an X-rated movie. Hollywood Harry's niece, whom he takes to work with him to keep her out of trouble, is portrayed by Forster's real-life daughter Katherine. The film uses so many cliches of the detective genre that at times it's hard to tell whether we're supposed to take things seriously or not. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This is a standard sci-fi horror-thriller that mixes romance together with lumpy underground mutants and a pivotal mad scientist doing dirty deals with a gangland boss. The boss's former fair maiden ("maiden" only in the vaguest of definitions), happens to have been kidnapped from a brothel and is held hostage by the underground lumpies. It seems the unbalanced Dr. Savary (the late Denholm Elliott) has concocted a potion that will make dreams come true -- and leave ugly physical distortions in the process. When a former hitman is hired to save the kidnappee before the boss goon blasts away the mutant-dreamers, the end results are not what the drug lord expects. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In a major departure from the tone of the preceding two Superman adventure films, this mix of vile deeds and fantasy heroics drops the "S" out of cosmic and goes for comic instead. Right at the starting gate, Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) and a subsequent slapstick sequence upstage (Christopher Reeves again), who later develops an identity crisis. Gorman, newly trained as a computer whiz, starts working for a conglomerate run by the corporate nemesis Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn), intent on world domination. Gorman is sent to Superman's small town of Smallville to wipe out Columbia's coffee crop by fiddling with the computer side of a weather satellite. Clark Kent is in town for his class reunion, leading Superman to clash with Gorman, which in turn, leads Gorman to develop a hybrid red Kryptonite. Unwittingly, since Gorman's wits are always in doubt, the Red Kryptonite causes Superman to split into a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde schizophrenia -- but in two separate bodies. As the evil Superman swaggers around town, megalomaniac Ross Webster has other tricks in mind -- and in one of the more memorable action scenes (interspersed with a video game sequence), Superman is chased through the Grand Canyon by a fast-flying, very determined missile. Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole) is on hand for romantic interest (Margot Kidder only appears briefly -- she was growing tired of Lois Lane). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Teaming up with CIA agent Marty Brine (Stuart Damon), the New Avengers foil a huge drug deal engineered by Mandarin crime boss Soo Choy (Terry Wood). In retaliation, Soo Choy lures Steed (Patrick MacNee), Gambit (Gareth Hunt) and Purdey (Joanna Lumley) into his lair, then hunts them down like animals. Just in case anyone has missed this episode's resemblance to Richard Connell's classic short story "The Most Dangerous Game", let it be noted that the villain intends to claim our heroes' heads for his trophy room--and he already has three personalized chopping blocks at the ready. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi