Alfred Lynch Movies
British character actor Alfred Lynch was generally cast in roles calling for a cockney dialect and a pugnacious streak. Lynch made his first film, On the Fiddle, in 1961, after which he worked in medium-priced films until the all-star epic 55 Days at Peking (1965). In The Hill (1965), a POW drama, Lynch was but one of many actors (including Sean Connery) speaking in British vernacular so thick that one virtually needed subtitles to figure out what was going on! A more coherent Alfred Lynch could be seen in the Taylor-Burton The Taming of the Shrew (1967) and Sidney Lumet's 1968 filmization of Chekhov's The Seagull (1968). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1994
- PG13
Actor William Hurt delivers one of his most acclaimed performances in this drama from Oscar-winning cinematographer-turned-director Chris Menges. Hurt stars as Graham Holt, a repressed Welsh postmaster who lives a reclusive bachelor's existence with his suicidal father (Alfred Lynch), who is in failing health and is still grieving from the recent death of Graham's mother. Knowing that he'll soon be alone, Graham applies to adopt a troubled ten-year-old boy, James (Chris Cleary Miles), whose own painful history mirrors Graham's. Throughout the long adoption process, supervised by wisecracking social worker Debbie (Jane Horrocks), Graham struggles to win James' affection and respect during weekend visits, while the boy dreams of reconciliation with his father, John (Keith Allen), who is currently serving prison time. Graham's father dies, drawing Graham and James closer, and Graham begins to feel like a real father to James. But when John is released, he appears in town with the shocking news that he is afflicted with AIDS -- and cannot care for his son. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Chris Cleary Miles, (more)
- 1991
- R
Wim Wenders' sprawling cyberpunk noir epic -- shot in no less than nine different countries -- is set in 1999 and stars Solveig Dommartin as Claire, a young Frenchwoman who comes into contact with a large sum of money stolen during a bank heist; in her travels she picks up a mysterious American hitchhiker (William Hurt), who himself steals some of the money before parting from her company. Upon discovering the theft, Claire sets out on his trail, with both a Hammett-styled German private eye (Rudiger Vogler) as well as her former lover, a novelist portrayed by Sam Neill, in tow. The hitchhiker is really Sam Farber, the son of an underground scientist (Max Von Sydow), and his mission is to travel the globe in order to acquire the funding necessary to develop the technology which will allow his blind mother (Jeanne Moreau) to "see" visual recordings of her family members; the second half of the film takes place largely in the Farbers' compound in the Australian Outback, where Sam, Claire and the others take refuge while attempting to bring the sight project to its fruition, in the meantime pondering earth's future in the wake of a nuclear disaster in outer space. Wenders' most ambitious film to date, budgeted at $23 million, Until the End Of the World is also among his most seriously flawed efforts -- despite a keen sense of cultural perception, a fascinating sci-fi take on life in the near-future and stunning Robby Muller cinematography, the picture never quite gels. Much of the blame seems to fall upon its distributors -- upon its wide release in 1991, the movie was drastically cut to a running time of 2 1/2 hours, resulting in a disjointed narrative that doesn't shift gears so much as grind them as the action moves from country to country. Still, while a three-hour version, issued on laserdisc in Japan, comes closer to realizing the full scope of Wenders' epic vision, rumors of a five-hour director's cut -- said to have been screened to thunderous applause at a handful of film festivals -- continue to persist, suggesting that a masterpiece may well exist here after all. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hurt, Solveig Dommartin, (more)
- 1990
- R
Peter Medak directed this fact-based drama, chronicling the lives of the infamous Kray Brothers, notorious celebrities in 60s London. The Krays were twin gangsters who ruled London's stylish East End club scene, staking out their territory by committing the most violent crimes imaginable, preferring to perform the most torturous acts themselves. The film stars Gary Kemp and Martin Kemp, founding members of the pop group Spandau Ballet, as Ronald and Reginald Kray. The film opens as their mother Violet Kray (Billie Whitelaw) recalls a dream in which she is a swan from which two beautiful babies have hatched. She can't tell if the swans are angels or demons, but the film soon answers that question for her. Brought up in London's East End in the 1930s, Ronald and Reginald Kray are raised in the resentful world of Violet, who is hateful of her lot in life and bitter at the control men have in running the world ("Housework is a lethal business," she says). The twins react to each other almost telepathically and they take out their anger by clogging the nose of their sleeping father (Alfred Lynch), pushing around fellow schoolboys, and even beating each other to pulp at a boxing match. When her mother chastises them for their fight in a fairground boxing ring ("You fight them up, but you don't fight each other"), the twins veer into the London underworld. In their self-contained world of Us-Against-Them, the Krays rapidly rise to the height of power, first taking over the territory of a petty mobster by violent means and then putting together an underworld empire of posh clubs, cars, and fancy suits. But at the height of their fame, the twins begin to break from each other. Reginald falls in love with Frances (Kate Hardie), while Ronald gets involved in a homosexual relationship with one of his underlings. Ronald, in a jealous rage over Frances stealing his brother away from him, becomes even more brutal in his crimes and while the brothers' backs are turned, a group of older mobsters challenge the Krays' authority, invoking a horrible bloodbath that effects not only the two brothers but Frances and Violet as well. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billie Whitelaw, Tom Bell, (more)
- 1989
In the third episode of the four-part story "The Curse of Fenric," the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) learns that an act of espionage at a British naval base in the final months of WWII has reactivated an ancient Viking curse. Using a 2,000-year-old Norse vessel as its headquarters, the spirit of Fenric causes the dead to rise from sea -- with potentially horrible consequences for Mother England, not to mention the rest of the world. Written by Ian Briggs, "The Curse of Fenric, Episode 3" originally aired on November 8, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, (more)
- 1989
In the second episode of the four-part story "The Curse of Fenric," the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) have arrived at a Northumberland secret naval base in the waning days of WWII. The ongoing efforts of a group of Russian commandos to steal a British code-breaking device has inadvertently triggered an ancient Viking curse -- and the results could prove fatal for everyone at the base, including the two time-travelers. Written by Ian Briggs, "The Curse of Fenric, Episode 2" originally aired on November 1, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, (more)
- 1989
In the conclusion of the four-part story "The Curse of Fenric," the spirit of the ancient evil entity Fenric has risen from the sea, determined to summon the Great One and destroy all mankind. It is up to the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), who had originally imprisoned Fenric some 17 centuries earlier, to dissuade the Great One from carrying out this horrible scheme. Inasmuch as the action takes place during WWII, the audience knows that the outcome will be positive, yet the level of tension is quite high all the same. Written by Ian Briggs, "The Curse of Fenric, Episode 4" originally aired on November 11, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, (more)
- 1989
The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) materialize at a secret British naval base off the Yorkshire coast during the final months of WWII. Almost immediately, the two time-travelers are plunged into intrigue involving a revolutionary code-breaking device. As if this were not enough, the base has apparently been targeted for destruction at the hands of a Viking ghost. British TV quiz show host Nicholas Parsons is here cast as the local vicar. Written by Ian Briggs, episode one of the four-part Doctor Who adventure "The Curse of Fenric" originally aired on October 25, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, (more)
- 1983
The spirit of a dead woman is intent on making life difficult for an elderly couple in this British made-for-TV thriller. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
This caper film stars Martin Sheen as Stephen Booker, an unemployed American architect in London who needs to jump-start his finances. Enter criminal mastermind Mike Daniels (Albert Finney), who gathers a group of thieves together to rob an impregnable London bank of millions by coming in through the sewers. Needing the money and the chance, Stephen, when offered, willingly joins the gang in their robbery attempt. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Albert Finney, Martin Sheen, (more)
Set during World War 2, The Blockhouse takes place virtually in its entirety in an underground German blockhouse. Six men of wildly varying nationalities and walks of life are trapped in the blockhouse-and remain so for over six years. Though their prison is well stocked with food and beverages, the mortality rate is appalling, the victims dying more from loneliness and fear than anything else. Intriguingly, Peter Sellers is cast as a Frenchman, while French singer/actor Charles Aznavour plays an Italian! The Blockhouse was based on a novel by Jean Paul Ciebert-which, incredibly, was inspired by a true story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1968
This is one of several film versions of the classic play by Anton Chekhov. The depressing tale of unrequited love begins when an aging actress Arkadina (Simone Signoret) and her arrogant writer companion Trigorin (James Mason) travel to a small Russian town to visit her brother, an ailing public official in retirement. Nina (Vanessa Redgrave) is the neighbor girl who falls for Trigorin. The simple country girl is degraded by the older, more worldly author as she follows him to the big city and falls victim to the debauchery of urban life. Arkadina also deals with a hateful son who is driven to suicide in this somber and depressing film. Although there are some moments of comedy in the play, this film version is decidedly more downbeat. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Vanessa Redgrave, (more)
- 1968
A young couple returns to a romantic Italian town where they first met and fell in love. Anxious to rekindle their passions, photographer Alfred (Lynch) and his girlfriend Annamaria (Guarnieri) retrace the steps of amore. Thing go smoothly until Alfred is plagued by thoughts of jealousy and is paralyzed by his inability to commit to the relationship. Annamaria, upset with Alfred, hops on another man's yacht and sails away in this depressing tale of love gone wrong. Shawn Phillips provides the soundtrack with his unique 12-string acoustic guitar stylings. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfred Lynch
Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is a zesty version of the classic comedy, highlighted by performances by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and Nino Rota's score. Instead of simply filming a play, Zeffirelli turned Shakespeare's text into a lively, cinematic movie, with sweeping sets and cinematography. Set in Padua, Italy in the late 1500s, the story concerns the shy Bianca (Natasha Pyne) and the mean-spirited Katarina (Elizabeth Taylor), the two daughters of a rich merchant named Baptista (Michael Hordern). Though Bianca is being courted by a number of young men, Baptista announces that she may not marry until Katarina is wed. None of the men in town are willing to marry Katarina, so Bianca remains unwed, even as more suitors--such as Lucentio (Michael York), a student who begins working as a tutor in the Hordern household just so he can be near Bianca--line up to wed the maiden. No man approaches Katarina until Petruchio (Richard Burton--a wanderer who arrived in Padua just to find a rich wife--falls in love with her. After an intense, occasionally furious, courtship, Katarina eventually agrees to marry him, and they move to Petruchio's shoddy house, which is located outside of the city. Following the wedding, Lucentio reveals that he is not a student, but instead the son of one of the most respected men in town. Lucentio gets permission to marry Bianca and a mild-mannered Katarina shows up at the wedding, giving advice to her sister on how to be a good wife. The Taming of the Shrew received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and opened the British Royal Film Festival. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Alfred Lynch, (more)
The Hill was unfairly subjected to ridicule by the more obtuse "critics" of 1965 who harped on the fact that it starred Sean Connery and, unlike Connery's Bond pictures, had no women in it. Bypassing these cretinous comments, it must be noted that The Hill is an above-the-norm entry in the "military prison" genre. The film takes place during World War II, in a Libyan stockade for incorrigible British soldiers. The camp's brutal Sergeant Major (Harry Andrews) puts his charges to work on grueling, monotonous and pointless projects to break their spirits. When one rebellious inmate dies due to this treatment, the Sergeant Major is reprimanded by Joe Roberts (Connery), who has been appointed as the prisoners' spokesman. The result is that Roberts is likewise subjected to the most demeaning and humiliating of prison chores -- but his spirit, and that of his comrades, is not so easily crushed. Based on a TV play by Ray Rigby, The Hill should never be seen in any form other than its dusty, parched original black-and-white; the currently available colorized version is a crime against humanity. One problem: The British dialects in the first 20 minutes are so thick that an American viewer practically needs subtitles (British critics chalked this problem up not to elocution but to poor sound recording). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, (more)
- 1963
Samuel Bronston produced this extravagant blockbuster, shot in Super Technirama 70. Nominally directed by Nicholas Ray (who makes a brief appearance as the U.S. ambassador), Ray was taken off the film and replaced by the more pliable directorial touches of Andrew Marton. Charlton Heston stars as Maj. Matt Lewis, the leader of an army of multinational soldiers who head to Peking during the infamous Boxer Rebellion of 1900. As the film unfolds, the foreign embassies in Peking are being held in a grip of terror as the Boxers set about massacring Christians in an anti-Christian nationalistic fever. Inside the besieged compound, the finicky British ambassador (David Niven) gathers the beleaguered ambassadors into a defensive formation. Included in the group of high-level dignitaries is a sultry Russian Baroness (Ava Gardner) who takes a shine to Lewis upon his arrival at the embassy compound with his group of soldiers. As Lewis and the group conserve food and water and try to save some hungry children, they await the arrival of expected reinforcements, but the tricky Chinese Empress Tzu Hsi (Flora Robson) is, in the meantime, plotting with the Boxers to break the siege at the compound with the aid of Chinese recruits. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, (more)
- 1963
Joe Beckett (Alfred Lynch) forgoes working for a living in this seedy district of London. He hangs out in jazz clubs and chases women, which makes him lose what little money he has remaining. Ex-Army veteran Richard Dyce (Eric Portman) shows up at the club, and the two directionless louts begin to talk. Richard wants his Aunt killed for her money, and Joe agrees to do the deed. He travels to the Aunt's house on the South Coast, but Joe loses his nerve. He accidently pushes the woman to her death, leaving a miniature chess kit behind as evidence he was at the scene of the crime. Richard denies everything, and a stool pigeon sings like a bird to the cops, putting Joe in a gilded cage of his very own. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfred Lynch, Kathleen Breck, (more)
- 1962
In this romantic comedy, a free-wheeling member of the U.S. Air Force goes AWOL. While traveling, the man and his girlfriend encounter another young couple. Both men are dressed exactly alike and are driving the same kind of bike. When the women climb aboard the wrong bikes, romantic mayhem ensues. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Chakiris, Janette Scott, (more)
- 1962
Based on the true story of Sergeant-Major Charlie Coward (played by Dirk Bogarde) during World War II, this conventional wartime drama does not convincingly put across Coward's heroism, or his seemingly impossible exploits. A German POW and leader in Stalag 8B, Coward finds ways to humiliate his German captors whenever he can, but most importantly he and the men under him are working out an escape. They have already dug out a 280-foot tunnel, and now Coward has to somehow reach the Polish resistance fighters in order to get the necessary maps and money before exiting through the tunnel. To that end, he gets put in charge of prisoners at a lumber yard, burns the place down, blames it on a German officer, and manages to get an afternoon off in town if he does not rat on the officer. That time off allows him to contact the resistance movement and get the supplies he needs. And this is only the beginning of several adventures that Coward somehow survives. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Maria Perschy, (more)
- 1961
Alfred Lynch and Sean Connery star as a pair of klutzy RAF members, during World War II, who are more interested in running petty confidence scams that toting rifles. Though they doggedly avoid extra effort of any kind, Pope (Lynch) and Pascoe (Connery) are sent on a top-secret mission. The more the duo screws up, the more they succeed in pulling off their assignment, and through no real input of their own they become heroes. On the Fiddle more closely resembled an American service comedy than a British film, thus it was logical that its U.S. title was Operation SNAFU. During the James Bond craze, the film was retitled Operation Warhead and Sean Connery's participation was played up in the ads -- complete with the anachronistic inclusion of bikini-clad starlets! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfred Lynch, Sean Connery, (more)
Archetypal British "angry young man" Jimmy Porter (Richard Burton) is a college-educated bloke who can't seem to get any better job than working in a candy store. Jimmy's relationship with his wife Alison (Mary Ure) alternates between hugs and kisses when he's feeling good and verbal abuse when he's down on himself, which is often. Alison's best friend Helena Charles (Claire Bloom) advises Alison to escape her injurious marriage. Left with no one for a punching bag, Jimmy romances Helena. Having suffered a miscarriage, Alison returns, and Helena walks out of Jimmy's life. In keeping with its depiction of the dead-end existence of most of England's working poor in the late 1950s, nothing is truly resolved in Look Back in Anger. Playwright John Osborne (at that time married to Mary Ure) uses Jimmy Porter as a spokesman for Osborne's own spleen-venting harangues against the British government and class system. Not only did Look Back in Anger spawn a new genre of British social-protest films, but it also inspired two remakes, both filmed for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, (more)
