Connie Booth Movies

Based on a novel by Edith Wharton, The Buccaneers follows four wealthy young women -- Nan (Carla Gugino), Virginia St. George (Alison Eliott), Conchita Closson (Mira Sorvino), and Lizzy Elmsworth (Rya Kihlstedt) -- throughout their eventful journey from America to London. Though they set off intending to hunt down potential husbands for themselves, what they find has less to do with love and more to do with the repressive nature of turn-of-the-century English society. Shunned as "new money" by London's elite and courted by a slew of noblemen lacking any code of personal honor, the quartet is forced to examine society's focus on social status and personal wealth. Directed by Philip Saville, this film also features Mark Tandy and Greg Wise. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

A Jewish Londoner embarks on a journey to find himself after learning some shocking news about his past in this eccentric British comedy. As the film begins, Leon (Mark Frankel) is already in a time of transition, having quit his job for moral reasons and assumed a position in his mother's catering firm. His life is thrown into even more disarray when a bizarre coincidence reveals the truth behind his birth: not only was his birth the result of artificial insemination, but a lab mix-up means that his real, biological father is a complete stranger. The confused Leon sets out to find his "real" dad, and unexpectedly discovers that he is descended from a family of Yorkshire pig farmers. Co-directors Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor move their story in fits and starts, allowing room for countless digressions, from a torrid affair with a outrageous artist (Maryam d'Abo) to the accidental breeding of a rather unique pig. While the film proves uneven, fans of the quirkier varieties of British comedy should find Leon the Pig Farmer's off-beat tone and taste for surrealistic details suitably entertaining. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Two terminal cancer patients break out of the hospital in a final attempt to enjoy their last days in this black comedy drama. Decker (Anthony Edwards) is an American ex-football player resigned to die. Bancroft (Timothy Dalton) is an attorney who is more optimistic and talks Decker into a journey to a Dutch whorehouse for a final fling. The unlikely duo steal an ambulance and head for Holland. They make a stop at the wedding of Bancroft's former flame -- who abandoned him with his terminal illness. Decker and Bancroft come across two women with car trouble, Maureen (Camille Coduri) and Hazel (Janet McTeer). Maureen and Decker immediately hit it off, but Bancroft considers the meeting an interruption of their quest. The women are unaware the two men are dying, and the men have no way of knowing Hazel is pregnant. They arrive at the bordello where they eventually learn each other's secrets. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Set in Kenya, this made-for-TV adventure chronicles the courageous attempts of a safari guide to stop avaricious ivory poachers from slaughtering elephants. In order to succeed though, the guide must reconcile with his estranged son who is still angry that his father stole the young man's former wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Helene Hanff's book 84 Charing Cross Road had previously been a TV program and a stage play before it was converted into this 1986 film. The scene is New York, 1949: Anne Bancroft plays a struggling writer and passionate bibliophile, who answers an advertisement from a rare-volumes bookshop at 84 Charing Cross Road in London. Thus begins a two-decade romance by correspondence between Bancroft and Briton Anthony Hopkins, the man in charge of the overseas department of Marks and Company. Though several meetings are arranged, Bancroft and Hopkins never come face to face thanks to mitigating circumstances. But Anne finally makes it to London, and finds that much has changed. 84 Charing Cross Road was produced by Mel Brooks, the husband of star Anne Bancroft. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this conventional drama, Victor is a graying older man (Denholm Elliott) who loses his apartment in a fire. The blaze was caused by his own carelessness while wantonly pursuing the married neighbor. Once he is interned in an old folks' home because he has nowhere else to live, Victor muddies the calm waters by tossing aside the home's more objectionable rules. He eventually starts a relationship with the chief officer in charge, but their differences, in the end, might prove too much to overcome at any age. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Alec Guinness stars as an elderly Brit who takes in his poor New Yorker grandson (Ricky Schroeder) in this made-for-TV modern-day retelling of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) discovers that one of his guests has smuggled an attractive young woman into his room, and Basil, more than a bit jealous, is determined to catch him red-handed. Meanwhile, Basil learns that two of his guests, Mr. and Mrs. Abbott (Basil Henson and Elspet Gray) are doctors -- and that the husband is a psychiatrist. A nervous Basil goes out of his way not to seem eccentric around the Abbotts, though the results produce just the opposite effect. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) gets a cut-price deal on some kippers which were well past their sell-by date. Shortly after they're served with breakfast at the Fawlty Towers dining room, one of the guests dies, and Basil is certain a spoiled kipper was to blame. While a doctor assures Basil the kippers didn't cause the man's death, now Basil and Manuel (Andrew Sachs) have to hide the body from the guests -- and come up with an excuse for his absence when the late diner's friends stop by for a visit. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Terminally rude hotelier Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) and his garrulous, supremely unhelpful wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) open the doors of their Torquay inn to a wide variety of hapless customers as Fawlty Towers launches its first season on BBC2. Originally telecast on September 19, 1975, the first of the season's six episodes is "A Touch of Class," in which Basil is (mis)led to believe that his latest customer, one Lord Melbury, will at last bring some prestige to his seedy establishment. Next up is "Builders," wherein waitress Polly (Connie Booth) is left in charge of the hotel while "repairs" are made in the lobby. This is followed by "The Wedding Party," in which snoopy Basil goes to ridiculous extremes to catch his guests committing extramarital shenanigans. Also: in "Hotel Inspectors," Basil agonizes over the possibility that he has insulted an important government functionary; our hero holds a "Gourmet Night" at the hotel, with disastrous results; and in the classic season finale "The Germans," a chaotic fire drill threatens to spark a nasty international incident. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

From its opening multi-language titles (that sure looks like Swedish) to the closing arrest of the entire Dark Ages cast by modern-day bobbies, Monty Python and the Holy Grail helped to define "irreverence" and became an instant cult classic. This time the Pythonites savage the legend of King Arthur, juxtaposing some excellently selected exterior locations with an unending stream of anachronistic one-liners, non sequiturs, and slapstick set pieces. The Knights of the Round Table set off in search of the Holy Grail on foot, as their lackeys make clippety-clop sounds with coconut shells. A plague-ridden community, ringing with the cry of "bring out your dead," offers its hale and hearty citizens to the body piles. A wedding of convenience is attacked by Arthur's minions while the pasty-faced groom continually attempts to burst into song. The good guys are nearly thwarted by the dreaded, tree-shaped "Knights Who Say Ni!" A feisty enemy warrior, bloodily shorn of his arms and legs in the thick of battle, threatens to bite off his opponent's kneecap. A French military officer shouts such taunts as "I fart in your general direction" and "I wave my private parts at your aunties." Rabbits are a particular obsession of the writers this time around, ranging from the huge Trojan Rabbit to the "killer bunny" that decapitates one of the knights. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin collaborated on the script and assumed most of the onscreen roles, while Gilliam and Jones served as co-directors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Monty Python's And Now For Something Completely Different was first released in the US in 1973, but didn't really take off as a midnight-movie fixture until after the Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series began making the PBS rounds. Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam are the Pythonites in attendance, together with semiregulars Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth. The sketches presented include such classics as "The Lumberjack Song", "Hell's Grannies", "The Upperclass Twit of the Year Race", and, of course, "The Dead Parrot". Additionally, Terry Gilliam's animated-cartoon interpolations act as buffers between sketches. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide