John Laurie Movies

The Anglo-American musicomedy Happy Go Lovely is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, during a major film festival. The gathered throngs are aghast when unknown dancer Janet Jones (Vera-Ellen) steps daintily from a limousine owned by a Scottish millionaire. A few miles earlier, the girl had thumbed a ride from the limo driver, but the public doesn't know this, and soon rumors are flying. Before she knows what has happened, Jones has become the festival's main attraction. She is also romanced by B.G. Bruno (David Niven), whom she assumes to be a reporter but who, of course, is the millionaire in disguise. Ostensibly a musical, Happy Go Lovely is limited to two songs, though both are performed con brio by the fabulous Vera-Ellen. The film was produced independently by N. P. Rathvon and released by Rathvon's former studio, RKO Radio. It was shot in black and white but is now reportedly only available in a colorized print. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Previously filmed in 1929 as S.O.S. (also the title of the Walter Ellis play that is its basis), Her Last Affaire switches the sexes of its leading characters so that the protagonist is now a male, Alan Heriot (Hugh Williams). Heriot is the secretary to Sir Julian Weyre (Francis L. Sullivan) a politician of increasing power and influence; he also has designs on Weyre's daughter (Sophie Stewart), and wishes to marry her. Weyre and his new wife, Lady Avril (Viola Keats), are against the marriage, primarily because Heriot's father was involved in a criminal scandal. As the film unfolds, the viewer comes to doubt the sincerity of Heriot's affection toward the boss' daughter, for he arranges a suspicious assignation at a country inn with Lady Avril. Eventually, however, it becomes clear that he has done so because he knows Lady Avril has information that could clear his family's name, and he is attempting to force her to sign a document to that effect. Unfortunately, while he is trying to persuade her, Lady Avril suffers a heart attack and dies. Panicking, Heriot flees and thus becomes the prime suspect in what is declared to be a murder. With motive and without a valid alibi, things look bleak for the young man, who comes to rely upon a maid at the inn to help him out of this difficult situation. Thought lost for many years, the film was rediscovered and restored in the 1980s. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi

While awaiting access to England's Technicolor cameras for their upcoming super-production Stairway to Heaven, the producer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger dashed off a delightful "personal" project, I Know Where I'm Going. Young middle-class Englishwoman Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) is determined to have the finer things in life, and to that end she plans to marry Sir Robert Bellinger (Norman Shelley), a wealthy, middle-aged industrialist whom she does not love. En route to the Island of Mull, where her future husband resides, Joan is stranded in a colorful Scottish seacoast town. Inclement weather keeps her grounded for a week, during which time she falls in love with young, insouciant naval officer Torquil McNeil (Roger Livesey). Ignoring the dictates of her heart (not to mention common sense), Joan stubbornly insists upon heading out to sea towards her marriage of convenience, but the exigencies of Mother Nature finally convince her that her future resides on the Mainland. A winner all the way, I Know Where I'm Going is full of large and small delights, including a wonderful sense of regional detail and endearing, three-dimensional characterizations (even the mercenary heroine is a likeable character). The film is easily one of the best of the Powell-Pressburger films of the 1940s, and arguably the team's all-time best romantic drama. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Low-hanging clouds and low-cut blouses dominate the brooding British melodrama Jassy. Margaret Lockwood is at her teeth-baring best as a tempestuous gypsy girl who is hired as a servant in an aristocratic 19th century household. Dennis Price is her handsome master, with whom she falls in love. They marry, and it comes to pass that the master comes to a violent end. The girl is accused of murder, but appearances are deceiving. An early arrival to American TV, Jassy received a new lease on life in the 1960s by virtue of its lush Technicolor photography. The film was based on a popular bodice-ripping novel by Norah Lofts. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Disney produced this historical adventure of old Scotland, based on the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. James MacArthur stars as David Balfour, a wealthy lad cheated out of his inheritance and sold into servitude by his duplicitous and greedy uncle, Ebenezer (John Laurie). Aboard the ship where he's been made cabin boy, David meets Alan Breck Stewart (Peter Finch), a Jacobite loyalist who thinks the vessel's skipper (Bernard Lee) is transporting him back to Scotland. When David learns otherwise, he and Alan become a team, escaping the ship and taking off across the Highlands. Accused falsely of murder, the pair must clear their names, evade redcoat troops, and restore David's fortunes. Although director Robert Stevenson was no relation to the famed author, the studio claimed otherwise at the time of the film's release, for publicity purposes. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In this wartime comedy, set after the beginning of WW II, a British entertainer is drafted and immediately finds himself at odds with his new CO. After he uses his show-biz know-how to save the camp, the performer is given a commission. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This fanciful British farce stars Bernard Braden as an impoverished artist. The uncle of Braden's wife Barbara Kelly agrees to bankroll the couple if Braden will start making his work more commercial. Uncle sends an attorney over to the couple's house to assess their net worth. In order to pay for the necessary home repairs, Kelly pawns her husband--not her husband's paintings, but hubby in the flesh. When Kelly can't make the payments, Braden remains on the pawnshop shelf, hence the film's title. Future Saint producers Robert Baker and Monty Berman were the perpetrators of this wobbly piece of whimsy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

David Lean's Madeleine was inspired by a true story that rocked the English legal system to its foundations in the mid-19th century. Told in flashback, the film explains why aristocratic young Scotswoman Madeleine Smith (Ann Todd, then the wife of director Lean) is on trial for murder. The audience is apprised of Madeleine's illicit romance with deceptively charming Frenchman Emile L'Angelier (Ivan Desny), her futile attempts to break off the relationship, her "proper" betrothal to Englishman William Minnoch (Norman Wooland), and the murder by poison of the now-inconvenient L'Angelier. The jury's verdict was as controversial in 1950 as it had been a century earlier. David Lean and scenarists Stanley Haynes and Nicholas Phipps refuse to take sides, permitting the viewers to draw their own conclusions about the notorious Madeleine. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

London psychiatrist Burgess Meredith takes on the case of schizophrenic ex-POW Kieron Moore. So long as Meredith is diligent in his approach, Moore shows signs of improvement, and a lessening of his more violent tendencies. But the moment Meredith takes too much for granted, Moore goes off the deep end, murdering his wife and committing suicide. Brought up on malpractice charges, Meredith is saved by the testimony of his loyal physician-friend John Laurie, though for a time the psychiatrist's own mental condition is as fragile as that of his late patient. While Burgess Meredith was fond of noting that he had to leave Hollywood for England to find a worthwhile film role, Mine Own Executioner suffered from a bout of Hollywood-style interference in delineating the shady background of its protagonist, which might have clarified several confusing plot points. Still, the film has a lot of "guts," especially for a late-1940s effort. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this mystery, an ace reporter is assigned to investigate the murder of a politician whose body was found stashed in a trunk. The reporter's enthusiasm soon wanes when his editor insists that he take his daughter with him to investigate. Fortunately, the girl has a real knack for investigative reporting and they make a good team. Eventually they fall in love. They also discover that the killer was the politician's rival. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This lush historical drama chronicles the brief reign of the late Henry VIII's successor, Lady Jane Grey. After only nine days on the throne, she was beheaded at the behest of the treacherous Mary Tudor. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this entry in the long-running British comedy series, boisterous Irish washerwoman Mother Riley takes on a spy ring while living in a creepy castle purported to be haunted. The spies, of course are the "ghosts," and they are trying to scare the dickens out of her so they can continue their plot to steal an inventor's plans. Spooky fun begins when she starts scaring them in return. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi