Peter Sallis Movies

Trouble At Mil is the first thirty-minute short featuring the beloved characters Wallace and Gromit since their first feature-length film. Nick Park, who has won numerous Oscar for previous Wallace and Gromit films, returns as the director once again. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Eccentric inventor Wallace (voice of Peter Sallis) and his faithful if often perplexed dog Gromit are back in their first feature-length adventure from animator Nick Park. Wallace and Gromit have launched a new business venture just in time for a major gardening competition in their neighborhood of West Wallaby. "Anti-Pesto" is a humane pest-relocation service in which Wallace and Gromit capture rabbits and other critters who have been eating the produce from local gardens and give them new homes somewhere else. Business has been going well, and when the woman hosting the garden show, Lady Tottington (voice of Helena Bonham Carter), discovers a massive tribe of rabbits has been making a mess of her garden, she calls in Wallace and Gromit to move the bunnies elsewhere. Wallace is quite taken with Lady Tottington, but he's not the only one -- Victor Quartermaine (voice of Ralph Fiennes) is a slick but arrogant upper-class type who wants to win Lady Tottington's hand (and fortune) and is convinced he can do a better job capturing the rabbits than Wallace. However, Wallace's attempts to brainwash the rabbits away from veggies using his latest invention has disastrous results, and soon Wallace has to deal with a beastly bunny as well as a heavily-armed Quartermaine. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit followed Park's previous film with the duo, A Close Shave, by ten years, and was produced after Park broke through to mainstream success with the feature Chicken Run. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The third film to feature the claymation adventures of Wallace and Gromit, A Close Shave finds the inventor and his dog with a new business, new friends, and a new adversary. As the story begins, the team has decided to open a window-washing service, with Wallace providing clever gadgets while Gromit does the real work. Yet Wallace continues inventing in his spare time and has recently built a new device, the Knit-O-Matic, to clean and shear sheep -- which comes in quite handy when a lost lamb takes refuge in their home. Wallace and Gromit soon discover that this lamb has escaped from a pair of evil sheep rustlers who want him back. The mastermind of the rustling scheme turns out to be Preston, a dog belonging to local wool-shop proprietor Wendolene Ramsbottom; complicating things further is the fact Wendolene is also the object of Wallace's romantic affections. When Preston frames Gromit as the rustler and plots to steal the Knit-O-Matic, the pair must find a way to save the sheep and themselves. Director Nick Park once again mixes inventive animation with deviously clever plotting and whimsical humor, a combination that won him his third "Best Animated Short" Oscar. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

It's another bank holiday in northern England, and eccentric inventor Wallace and his faithful dog, Gromit, are sitting around the house with nothing to do. While poring over stacks of travel magazines, Wallace suggests that the pair break for a hot cup of tea and some cheese. When he discovers that there's no cheese to be found anywhere in the house, he hits upon an ideal place for a picnic: "Everybody knows the moon's made of cheese." With Gromit's help, he immediately starts construction on a rocket ship, and before long the two are walking on (and tasting) the lunar surface. As they continue to explore, they are blissfully unaware that they -- and their rocket -- are being watched by a creature that has dreams and aspirations of its own. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide

Max (Robert Morley) is a wealthy, world-class conoisseur of fine food, who cannot stop himself from eating when the food is first-class. His doctor has given him stern warnings that he must lose over one hundred pounds, or he will die of heart failure. The presence of so many four-star chefs in Europe is a hazard for him. When many of these same chefs are found murdered in inventive ways, each related to the chef's specialty, it begins to appear that Max is the prime suspect in their deaths. Meanwhile, the ex-wife (Jaqueline Bisset) of a fast-food tycoon (George Segal) has earned the right to cook the dessert course at a dinner billed as "the world's most fabulous meal." Despite their profound disagreements, he is worried that she will be one of the murderer's victims.This film, which was loved by some critics and hated by others, is based on the best-selling novel Someone is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe by Nan and Ivan Lyons. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

The friction between British civilians and the American military during WWII was played for laughs in this 13-episode Granada Television series. The stories concerned a squadron of U.S. Air Force men who were billeted in Lancashire for the duration. Naturally, the men from "across the pond" had an inordinate interest in the local girls, much to the dismay of the local boys. Lasting two seasons, Yanks Go Home made its British TV bow on November 22, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted by Roald Dahl from a novel by Joy Crowley, The Road Builder is better known by its American release title: The Night Digger. Patricia Neal, then Mrs. Dahl, stars as the repressed middle-aged adopted daughter of blind and elderly Pamela Brown. Both women are drawn to Nicholas Clay, a seriously disturbed young handyman whom they shield from the authorities. Neal and Brown are particularly fascinated by Clay's mysterious nocturnal forays. When Neal decides to offer herself sexually to Clay, she learns to her horror just why Clay spends so much time outdoors at night. An eerie Bernard Herrmann score enhances the stomach-churning tension. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the more accomplished entries in Hammer's Dracula series (which would soon lapse into creative anemia during the 1970s), this fourth installment finds Christopher Lee in top form as the Count, who returns to menacing life after three middle-aged swingers decide to dabble in black magic to bolster their sagging sex lives. Dracula is reborn when the trio's blood-drinking rituals lead to the destruction of his devil-worshipping colleague Lord Courtley (Ralph Bates), whereupon the Count unleashes his deadly wrath on those responsible, even involving members of their families in his scheme of revenge, which culminates in a dramatic finale in a recently reconstructed cathedral. Fine direction from Hammer regular Peter Sasdy enlivens a middling script, and an early appearance from the lovely Linda Hayden (later to star in the eerie Blood on Satan's Claw) is a definite plus. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Strange and terrible things are afoot and the police are helpless to stop them in this taut, complicated thriller. First a heart attack victim goes to the hospital and awakens to find limbs missing, and later, the body of a rape victim is found with two strange puncture wounds upon her wrist. Meanwhile in Europe, a military officer is murdered by someone with inordinate strength. After another girl is murdered, Inspector Bellaver gets on the case. The trail of clues has many twists and turns and before he is led to the mysterious estate of Dr. Browning, another dies. There he discovers that the insane scientist has engineered a master race of emotionless, mindless beings as part of an international conspiracy. Now Bellaver and his cohorts must somehow stop the doctor and his friends from taking over the world. This marks one of only two features to include all three great horror actors Christopher Lee (as the head of British Intelligence), Peter Cushing (the leader of a fascist government) and Vincent Price (mad Dr. Browning) in the cast. (The second was 1983's House of Long Shadows). Interestingly, except for one brief moment at the end with Lee and Price, the actors never appear in the same scene together here. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by John Osborne, this is one of those movies where the audience pulls for the protagonist but has a hard time actually saying that he IS a protagonist. A highly unlikeable fellow, this protagonist is an attorney in all the ways that make this more an epithet than a profession. He's hated by his office personnel as much as his associates. He's unfaithful to his wife, lousy to his clients, and miserable with his children. Surprisingly, though, Nicol Williamson has taken this nasty person and made us still somewhat care what happens to him. Quite an accomplishment considering the lack of anything at all to love about this misanthrope, but somehow we see just a glimmer of humanity. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

The six-episode Doctor Who adventure "The Ice Warriors" is set in 3000 A.D., when the earth is in the midst of a new Ice Age. The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) joins a team of scientists headquartered in an emergency base, all of whom are dedicated to preventing an ice barrier from consuming the world. Unfortunately, the team accidentally revives a frozen Ice Warrior named Varga (Bernard Bresslaw) -- who, to put it mildly, is up to no good. Written by Brian Hayles, "The Ice Warriors, Episode 1" originally aired on November 11, 1967; of the six episodes, only the first and second are presently available in the BBC archives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the six-part story "The Ice Warriors," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) is forced to revive the comrades and recover the spaceship of hostile Martian Ice Warrior Varga (Patrick Troughton). Meanwhile, Dr. Clent (Peter Barkworth), leader of a team of 31st century scientists dedicated to preventing the world from being totally enveloped in ice, appears to have a solution to the Doctor's dilemma. But for reasons best known to himself, Clent refuses to reveal what he knows. Written by Brian Hayles, "The Ice Warriors, Episode 3" originally aired on November 25, 1967; this episode apparently no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the fifth episode of the six-part story "The Ice Warriors," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) realizes that the computer he hoped to use to defeat Varga (Bernard Bresslaw) and the Martian Ice Warriors is useless. As an alternate plan, the Doctor intends to deploy a powerful ionizer against the villains. But this also proves impossible, inasmuch as the Doctor and a team of Earth Scientists need the Ice Warriors' space ship to survive. Set during the "New Ice Age" of the 31st century, "The Ice Warriors, Episode 5" was written by Brian Hayles, and originally aired on December 9, 1967; this episode apparently no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide