Julia Lockwood Movies
This is one of the rare comedies by director Gerald Thomas that does not have the words "Carry On...." in the title, and that is the first indication that the wacky, hare-brained, ribald core of the "Carry On" series is missing here. The premise is that a young couple, David and Catherine Robinson (Leslie Phillips and Geraldine McEwan), have to turn their large country house into a money-making proposition. Their solution is to invite the kids of the rich and famous, since that is where the money lies, to spend a summer enjoying all the loving care and attention they miss at home. After the youngsters arrive, David quickly realizes what the offensive little punks need is some real discipline, and so the summer begins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Geraldine McEwan, Julia Lockwood, (more)
Please Turn Over is an updated British variation on a theme put forth by the old Hollywood film Theodora Goes Wild. A bored young teenage girl (Julia Lockwood) causes a scandal when she pens a torrid bestseller. Those close to the girl recognize themselves as characters in the book; all they can hope for is that no one else does. But as the girl's fame escalates, her friends and family enter the realm of notoriety--which turns out not to be so bad after all. Clearly inspired by the Peyton Place brouhaha, Please Turn Over was based on the long-running West End stage farce Book of the Month by Basil Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1958
"Invisible Man" Peter Brady is disheartened by the news that eminent British scientist Professor Owens (Walter Fitzgerald) is losing all his money at the gambling tables in Italy. But appearances are deceiving: Owens is actually being forced to pose as a "ruined" man as part of a scheme hatched by gangsters who have kidnapped his daughter Suzy (Julia Lockwood). With the assistance of his sister Diana (Lisa Daniely, Peter utilizing his invisibility to foil the scheme and save the Owenses from a particularly nasty demise. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1958
In this mystery, a famous model marries an agrarian who had been acquitted for killing his first wife. After the nuptials, she begins to wonder if he is as innocent as he claims to be. She becomes doubly suspicious when her life seems endangered. Three other people are suspected of the threats: the man's daughter, his first wife's love, and the town veterinarian. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Phillip Friend, Barbara Shelley, (more)
- 1955
What was the lady-like Dame Anna Neagle doing in something called Bad Girl -- or, as it was renamed in certain regions, Teenage Bad Girl? In point of fact, the film was originally and more tastefully titled My Teenage Daughter when Neagle signed on. Neagle plays Valerie Carr, the editor of a fiction magazine aimed at the youth market. Though she considers herself "hep" to the world of the young, she has no concept of what her own teenaged daughter, Janet (Sylvia Syms), is all about. When Janet falls into bad company, her mother does what she can to help. But Janet won't pay Mom any heed until her shenanigans land her in jail. Not at all exploitational, Bad Girl is constructed more along the lines of a 1940s "woman's picture" -- tears, renunciations, reconciliations. The film was produced and directed by Neagle's husband, Herbert Wilcox. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anna Neagle, Sylvia Syms, (more)
- 1955
A novel by John Newton Chance was the basis for the British kiddie-matinee feature The Flying Eye. Geoffrey Summer stars as Colonel Audacious, an erstwhile inventor. With help of his young friend Bunstuffer (David Hannaford), the Colonel invents a "Flying Eye": a model airplane with a concealed TV camera. All sorts of slapstick complications follow, culminating in a hilarious set-to with a gang of foreign spies. Adults as well as children were entertained by Flying Eye when it first came out; whether the same would be true if the film were reissued in the 1990s, who can say? ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1947
The misery caused by a long-term feud between two Irish families provides the framework in this drama based on a book by Daphne du Maurier. The saga begins in 1840 as the father of the Donovan clan rebels against the Brodrick family, the owners of the copper mine located on what was formerly Donovan land. In the ensuing conflict, the mine is destroyed and the eldest Brodrick son is killed. His younger brother then becomes the clan leader. He cares not a fig for mining; instead he would rather spend his time wooing a beautiful local girl whom he marries. They have four children and when the brother dies, his eldest son succeeds him. The new patriarch and his mother are terribly greedy and eager to take control of the mine. His mother is distraught when her son suddenly rejects her. The unwanted woman goes to London where she soon gets involved with gambling and drugs to ease her broken heart. One day, her son travels to the city and runs into her. To ease his aching conscience he asks her to return home. Just as she gets there, the eldest son is killed by another Donovan during a labor dispute. She then has one Donovan arrested. An aging servant manages to talk the bereaved mother into dropping the charges so that the feud may finally end. She does. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Eileen Crowe, Michael Denison, (more)
