Mandy Miller Movies

In this entry in the erotic Emmanuelle series, the tasty French tart samples the sensuous smorgasbord to be found in London's Soho area. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Paul Decker (Peter Van Eyck) arranges what seems to be the perfect murder of his wife, while at her home in Italy. Lightly drugging her into unconsciousness, he seals the room she is in and turns on the gas, and then dons a diving snorkel with hoses drawing air from the outside -- he remains hidden in the room beneath the floorboards even as the police investigate the crime scene. As far as they know, he was just over the border in France when Mrs. Decker committed what appears to be suicide -- and there is no reason to investigate further, beyond a routine inquest. But he doesn't bargain on Candy (Mandy Miller), his wife's daughter by her previous marriage -- she has long believed that Paul killed her own father, and is positive that he was responsible for her mother's death. Try as those around her -- including her guardian (Betts St. John) -- do to convince her otherwise, she won't let go of this idea. And when Paul kills Candy's dog Toto, she tells him he will have to kill her, because otherwise she will kill him. From that moment on, they are on a collision course, as Paul tries at once to protect himself, covering tracks that he never thought anyone would trace -- not having bargained on the obsessive girl -- and to discredit her in preparation for possibly having to kill her. Meanwhile, Candy waits, watches, and asks question after question, hoping for one clue or slip that will allow all of her suspicions to fall into place. And finally, after several rounds of cat-and-mouse, and a near-fatal encounter, they meet face-to-face at the scene of the crime. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

British actor Kenneth More's screen charisma helps smooth over the rough spots of Raising a Riot. More plays Tony, a young husband and father. When Tony's wife Mary (Shelagh Fraser) takes a trip to Canada, the hapless hubby is left in charge of their three precocious (to put it mildly) children. The film then goes off on several directions, many of them hilarious: some of the best scenes involve the kids' ongoing feud with a bunch of American children. One of the three youngsters is played by Mandy Miller, who'd previously burst onto the movie scene with her brilliant portrayal of a deaf child in Crash of Silence. Ronald Squire indulges in his usual scene-stealing as the kid's rogueish grandpa. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The "little lady" in this British melodrama is the amply proportioned Mai Zetterling. The actress plays prima ballerina Nina Gordon, who is exploited by her avaricious husband Mark (Terene Morgan). During a celebration of Nina's triumphal debut at the Royal Opera House, she discovers that Mark is not only greedy, but unfaithful. She becomes so upset by this that she drives off madly into the night, breaking her leg in a motor accident. Told that she'll never dance again, Nina is callously abandoned by Mark. With the help of a kindly doctor (Guy Rolfe), Nina is able to walk once more--and to live her life vicariously through her talented daughter (Mandy Miller) When Mark reenters Nina's life, intending to take control of the daughter's dancing career, it is he who emerges the loser--and how! Dance Little Lady was one of several ballet dramas produced in the wake of the phenominally successful The Red Shoes (1948). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Background is a tearful flashback drama centering around a dysfunctional family. Valerie Hobson and Philip Friend play a long-married couple on the verge of divorce. As they ponder the question of who will receive custody of their children (Janette Scott, Mandy Miller and Jeremy Spencer), the couple has second thoughts about their upcoming litigation. It is the children who eventually bring Hobson and Friend back together, though the reunion seems strangely without passion. Background was released in the US as Edge of Divorce. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Alec Guinness has one of his finest comic roles in this Ealing satirical comedy about a much patronized amateur scientist whose latest invention creates an uproar in the British textile industry. In the British manufacturing country of Northern England, factory owner Michael Corland (Michael Gough) is showing competitor Alan Bimley (Cecil Parker) around his plant, hoping to borrow some money and marry off his daughter Daphne (Joan Greenwood). They come upon a curious contraption that turns out to be an experiment by employee Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness). Being a lower class worker, Sidney is summarily fired from his job. Sidney ends up working at Bimley's factory, where he is befriended by militant worker Bertha (Vida Hope). Daphne spots Sidney at the factory and he explains to her the results of his experiment -- a material that is indestructible and impervious to dirt. Bimley discovers this project and throws Sidney out. But Daphne, impressed by his experiments, funds Sidney, installing him in his own laboratory. After a few false starts, Sidney develops a pure white material that can't be dirtied or ruined. But it seems Sidney's invention is too brilliant and effective; if a material is marketed that will last forever, textile mills will go out of business and workers will lose their jobs. Suddenly, poor, luckless Sidney has both management and labor banding together to combat his new invention. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi