Ingeborg Wells Movies
A Graham Greene novel was the basic source for the British psychological melodrama Across the Bridge. Rod Steiger plays Carl Schaffner, a prominent financier who has absconded with company funds. A genius at improvisation, he plans to elude the authorities by murdering Paul Scarff (Bill Nagy) and assuming the dead man's identity. Upon arriving in Mexico, however, Schaffner learns to his chagrin that Scarff was himself an even more notorious fugitive from justice. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rod Steiger, David Knight, (more)
- 1955
In this crime drama, two WW II veterans become fugitives from the police after one of them kills a man during a fight. A friendly reporter offers them sanctuary aboard her boat, but one of the two is so flighty he is almost psychotic. His erratic actions attract too much attention and during a fight with police he is killed causing his cohort to surrender. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1954
A lady photographer clicks a few revealing pix at the home of a wealthy woman. When the home's occupant commits suicide, the photographer is accused of prompting this tragedy. Inspector John Bentley suspects there's more to the case than is readily apparent. It turns out that the dead woman was actually murdered by a local bookie, who rearranged the evidence to suggest suicide. Filmed in London, Double Exposure was produced by Robert Baker and Monty Berman, the same team later responsible for the TV series The Saint. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1954
In this comedy, a physicist's son invents atomic popcorn at the center for atomic research. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1953
Black-market babies in a British boardinghouse provide the basis of this brutal crime drama. Though the landlady is outwardly upstanding and self-righteous, she is really the brains behind the operation. Her newest tenant is the pregnant lover of a convicted killer who has come there to avoid publicity. There the hapless girl is horribly mistreated as are all of the "guests." But despite the abuse, the young woman refuses to report it. Another boarder, who lost her baby due to the landlady's refusal to call a doctor, becomes the young woman's friend. Eventually things become so bad that a houseworker phones the police. Just before they arrive, the evil landlady shoves the pregnant woman down a flight of stairs and leaves her there to die. The wicked woman is then arrested and goes on to get her just desserts. This film received the very first British "X" rating. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1953
When a hitchhiker gets a ride with a woman driving to meet a blackmailer, the hitchhiker is blamed for the murder of the blackmailer when he dies due to electrocution by high tension wires. ~ Rovi
- 1952
Herbert Lom deservedly receives star billing in the British farce School for Brides. Lom plays Ford, the crafty butler of businessman Dick Lawson (Hugh McDermott). When Lawson makes a trip to Paris, Ford pulls strings to place both his master and his master's wife (Brenda Bruce) in compromising situations. He then inaugurates a blackmail plot, which in addition to being the cause of his ultimate undoing is good for several laughs. Originally released in England as Two on the Tiles, School for Brides gives evidence of being completed some time before its official 1950 British release date. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Herbert Lom, Hugh McDermott, (more)
- 1952
When evil Ternce Riley (Tod Slaughter) steals some jewels, a secret formula and has a hand in a blackmail scheme, Scotland Yard Inspector Morley (Patrick Barr) is called in to solve the baffling case. ~ Rovi
Two of the British film industry's most potent comic talents appear in One Wild Oat. Robertson Hare heads the cast as distinguished barrister Humphrey Proudfoot, whose daughter Cherrie (June Sylvaine) is about to marry. Unfortunately, Cherrie's fiancé is Fred Gilbey (Andrew Crawford), the son of notorious philanderer Alfred Gilbey (Stanley Holloway). Fearing that Fred intends to follow in Alfred's footsteps (so to speak), Proudfoot does his best to undermine the romance. Gilbey turns the tables by threatening to reveal Proudfoot's own past indiscretions (including one that Gilbey has completely fabricated). It is up to the wives of the two old antagonists to solve matters and pave the way for a happy ending. One Wild Oat was co-adapted by Vernon Sylvaine from his own stage farce. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robertson Hare, Stanley Holloway, (more)
- 1951
Race-car driver Terence Alexander is subjected to a centuries-old curse. Alexander poohs-poohs all forms of superstition, but soon he learns the errors of his ways. The curse gimmick is barely sufficient to sustain 50 minutes-just as well, since Death is a Number clocks in at ten minutes short of an hour. The film comes to life only during the racetrack scenes. Seldom seen these days, Death is a Number was a Late Late Show fixture in the mid- to- late 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1951
This crime drama follows the struggles of a reporter who finds himself accused of murder after he makes a bet and breaks into a house. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Gregory Peck stars as the title character in this swashbuckling saga of the high seas based on C.S. Forester's novel. In 1807, Hornblower is given a special assignment by the British Navy: he is to deliver a supply of weapons to El Supremo (Alec Mango), a Latin American rebel leading an uprising against Spain. However, by the time Hornblower arrives, it is discovered that the political winds have shifted, Spain and England are once again allies, and El Supremo is now the enemy of the British forces. Hornblower and his men are also forced to take on a passenger, Lady Barbara Wellesley (Virginia Mayo), a sister of the Duke of Wellington who is trying to escape an outbreak of yellow fever. When she shows symptoms of the disease, Hornblower tries to nurse her back to health while attempting to organize an attack on the armada he just helped to arm. Upon his return to England, Hornblower parts company with Wellesley (while they were attracted to each other, Hornblower remained loyal to his wife) and is given a new mission to take on Napoleon's naval forces. Captain Horatio Hornblower was originally scheduled to star Errol Flynn, but the role was recast when it was decided he'd grown too old to play the role convincingly (the fact Flynn was in the midst of one of his periodic battles with the brass at Warner Brothers certainly didn't help matters). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo, (more)
