Rosalyn Landor Movies
Successful LA marketing analyst Michael Boll (James Spader) seemingly has it all-except a sense of self-confidence. Enigmatic drifter Alex (Rob Lowe) enters Michael's life and immediately begins to exert a negative influence. As Michael's self-esteem zooms (aided by generous dollops of sex and drugs) he allows himself to be dragooned into a life of crime by the demonic Alex. The "doppelganger" aspects of Bad Influence, and the film's many unexpected twists and turns, echo films of Alfred Hitchcock, especially Strangers on a Train. The film's boldest stroke is to cast the likeable Lowe as the bad guy (albeit a charming one) and the often villainous Spader as the malleable milquetoast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rob Lowe, James Spader, (more)
- 1990
Scotland Yard constable Susannah Foster (Rosalyn Lander) arrives in LA to help Hunter (Fred Dryer) and McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) in their investigation of a double murder. The victims were both prostitutes, and the murderer's MO matches that of a London-based serial killer who goes berserk to the tune of "Brahm's Lullaby." Can it be that a highborn British photographer is a modern-day Jack the Ripper? This episode affords the viewer the rare opportunity of hearing guest star Gary Sinise as he deploys a most convincing British accent! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1989
In answer to a distress call, the Enterprise comes across a pair of three-centuries-old earth colonies. One is comprised of the Bringoldis, descendants of the original Irish colonists. The other is populated by the look-a-like Mariposans, a race of clones who desperately crave new genetic material. Originally titled Send in the Clones, "Up the Long Ladder" was written by Melinda M. Snodgrass, and first aired May 27, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1985
Originally filmed in 1982, Arthur the King wasn't able to secure a network-TV berth until April 26, 1985. Malcolm McDowell plays good King Arthur, whose dream of Camelot is endangered by the evil Morgan Le Fay, played by Candice Bergen in her TV-movie debut. That this might have been intended as the pilot for a weekly series is evidenced by the otherwise pointless inclusion of Dyan Cannon, cast as a ditzy 20th- Century tourist who falls through a time warp while roaming around Stonehenge. You'll want to see Arthur the King if only to find out why minor-player Miro Pfeiffer's character name is "Undead Knight". ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1985
"The Speckled Band" is an exceptional episode of the television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, an excellent adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories, produced in Britain for Granada TV. In this episode directed by John Bruce, Jeremy Brett portrays the famed detective aided by his companion Dr. Watson (David Burke). Holmes solves a mysterious murder evidenced only by a series of marks on the body of the deceased. This episode, written by Jeremy Paul is one of the most famous, enjoyable, and suspenseful of the Holmes stories and is faithful to the original story first published in the Strand Magazine in the late 19th century. This series was followed by several sequels, as well as several TV movie adaptations. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jeremy Brett, David Burke, (more)
- 1983
After a three-year hiatus, the internationally popular British legal series Rumpole of the Bailey returns for a third season of six hour-long episodes, which originally aired in the U.K. from October 11 through November 15, 1983. Leo McKern likewise returns as the equisitely slovenly barrister Horace Rumple, with Peggy Bates-Thorpe as his formidable wife Hilda, aka "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed." In the season opener "Rumpole and the Genuine Article", his client is a disarmingly phlegmatic artist accused of forgery. This is followed by "Rumpole and the Golden Thread", wherein Rumpole heads to a former British colony in Africa to defend a former law pupil charged with murder. In "Rumpole and the Old Boy Net", we meet Rumpole's wide-eyed new law pupil Fiona (Rosalyn Landor), who helps him defend a pair of accused blackmailer-procurers. The notorious East End Timson gang is back in "Rumpole and the Female of the Species", as Rumpole defends a former client (and onetime street gang member) charged with accessory to robbery In "Rumpole and the Sporting Life", things get personal when Fiona's own sister Jennifer is charged with killing her husband. And in "Rumpole and the Last Resort", our hero juggles his personal financial travails with his defense of a seedy realtor suspected of fraudulent business practices. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leo McKern, Peggy Bates-Thorpe, (more)
Originally made for television, this production features divorce from two perspectives: in the first half, the husband (Richard Burton) explains his perspective of his failed marriage, while the second includes that of his wife (Elizabeth Taylor). ~ John Bush, Rovi
- 1972
The title character is a ghost, doomed to roam his mansion until an age-old mystery is solved. A widow Dorothy Alison and her two children are "hired" by the wraith-like Blunden to aid him in his sleuthing. Also joining in on the investigation are two ghostly kids, who'd been mistreated in life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Laurence Naismith, Lynne Frederick, (more)
Charlotte Bronte's classic Victorian novel is once again put through the paces, this time by Delbert Mann, in this stodgy Masterpiece Theater style television adaptation. Susannah York is Jane Eyre, the orphan girl who secures a position as a governess to the ward of Edward Rochester (George C. Scott), lord of an English manor house called Thornfield, whose halls hide a dark and sinister secret. Jane and the moody and the tyrannical Rochester fall in love and agree to marry. But at their wedding ceremony, Rochester is revealed to have been already married. Suddenly his dark past comes crashing in on both himself and the innocent Jane. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- George C. Scott, Susannah York, (more)
- 1968
Adapted by Richard Matheson from a novel by Dennis Wheatley, The Devil Rides Out admirably adopts a restrained approach to its horrific material. Christopher Lee plays a French nobleman, Duc De Richeleau, who is worried sick over the bizarre behavior of his friend Simon (Patrick Mower). Richeleau has every reason to be concerned: unless drastic measures are taken, Simon will lose his soul to Satan within three days. Two black masses are performed (one a bizarre Felliniesque orgy), but neither satiate the Devil's appetite. As the story races to its climax, it looks as though Richeleau's own niece (Rosalyn Landor) will have to be sacrificed. The film's best moments belong to Charles Gray, playing the charming, hypnotic leader of the devil cult which holds Simon in its thrall. The Devil Rides Out was released in the U.S. as The Devil's Bride. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, (more)
