Michael Wilding, Sr. Movies

Per its title, Jack Smight's Frankenstein: The True Story, strives for greater faithfulness to Mary Shelley's novel than prior versions. Thus, as in the book, Dr. Frankenstein's (Leonard Whiting) creation is no monster, but a handsome young man of high intelligence (Michael Sarrazin). In fact, the doctor and his creature are the best of friends until the latter's body begins to deteriorate. This sends the creature over the bend into insanity, prompting Frankenstein -- with the help of his evil mentor, Dr. Polidori (James Mason), a character not in the Shelley novel -- to try, try again to create a viable synthetic human. The film ends more or less as the novel does, with the outcast Frankenstein and his creature expiring in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Adapted for television by Christopher Isherwood, Frankenstein: The True Story was originally telecast in two parts on November 30 and December 1, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This lavishly costumed historical epic had an estimated $100 million price tag. Spectacularly photographed battle action contrasts with often plodding individual scenes that bog down the plot. Fearing his growing power, European monarchs force Napoleon Bonaparte (Rod Steiger) to abdicate as Emperor and retire to Elba, and the French are concerned they will be outnumbered by a force of combined armies from many countries in Europe. Napoleon no sooner says goodbye to his loyalist troops than he begins to rally his men and prepare for another takeover. King Louis XVIII (Orson Welles) sends Marshal Michel Ney (Dan O'Herlihy) and his men to counter Bonaparte, but upon seeing his old commander (and ally), Ney thrusts his sword to the ground and takes up arms with the deposed emperor. They all return to Paris by popular demand, defying the orders of Louis (who flees from the palace) and running the monarchy tout seul. Soon England, Austria, Prussia and Russia unite to try and stop the dictator. Wellington (Christopher Plummer) readies his troops near Waterloo, refuses to retreat anymore, and waits for Prussian Marshall Blucher (Sergei Zakhariadze) and his army to join up with the British as the only hope to stop the French juggernaut. Jack Hawkins and Michael Wilding portray key military commanders Picton and Ponosby, respectively. Napoleon and his troops cut into the Prussian and British forces dramatically, weakening their power, but three problems arise. First, Ney refuses to lead his segment of the troops onward; and second, Bonaparte's men are plagued by the wet weather, which causes
the cannon brigade to become immobilized in mud (when Wellington strategically gives Bonaparte's troops the lower ground) rendering it ineffective until late in the day. And even more calamitously, Bonaparte - growing increasingly ill -- insists on leading his men from the rear, which causes the information to become outdated as soon as it gets to him. The Russian version of this film was nearly four hours long, while western audiences saw an edited version slightly over two hours long. Unfortunately, Waterloo bombed at the box office. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

On California's Malibu Beach in the late 1960s, young people are enjoying a life with few responsibilities and plenty of romantic opportunities. Denny McGuire (Michael Sarrazin) is a beach bum without ambition. His roommate Collie Ransom (Tony Franciosa) is a professional tennis player who soaks up the admiration of other beach dwellers. Denny is attracted to Vickie Cartwright (Jacqueline Bisset), a mostly-out-of-work actress, and would like to settle down with her, but she is more enamored with a series of meaningless sexual encounters with men she meets on the beach or during acting jobs. The film turns more serious with the brutal beating death of Vickie. Denny pulls himself together and decides to become a more responsible adult by taking a job at a hardware store. Also working there is Choo-Choo Burns (Bob Denver), an off-the-wall jazz pianist. Choo-Choo joins Denny and Collie as another roommate. Pop music is provided by the San Francisco psychedelic band Moby Grape and the British balladeer Dusty Springfield. The script by Tom Mankiewicz was based on a novel by William Murray. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

In this military comedy, Maj. Richardson (David Niven) and Lt. Burke (Michael Wilding) are two British soldiers on a recognizance mission over Ethiopia in 1941 when their plane crashes in the desert. Capt. Blasi (Alberto Sordi), an Italian officer, finds the Englishmen and offers to help them: he'll let them go if they allow him and his men to take over an old fort nearby and stay there without being bothered. Richardson and Burke agree, and they return to their base of operations, only to discover that they've been ordered to attack the fort and capture Blasi and his men. Richardson considers himself a man of his word and doesn't care for this duty; in time, the two men become friends and exchange banter as they take turns capturing one another. Remarkably enough, Italian actor Alberto Sordi didn't speak English when he made this film, and he learned all his dialogue phonetically. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

There is nothing like suspecting your husband of murder to add suspense to a marriage, at least that is the case in this standard whodunit with a compelling plot. George Radcliffe (Gary Cooper) testifies in court against a man suspected of murdering George's business partner, absconding with a lot of cash in the process. Several years later, when his wife, Martha (Deborah Kerr), is confronted by a blackmailer (Eric Portman) who says her husband murdered his partner, she gets suspicious. George did come into a lot of money just at that time. And to make matters worse, life starts to turn very menacing for the confused and frightened Martha. This was Gary Cooper's last feature film. He succumbed to cancer a few months before The Naked Edge was released. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Set in an Italian P.O.W. camp during World War II, this conventional escape drama shines the most in the portrayals of the various prisoners. Richard Todd is Lt. Col. David Baird, intensely and single-mindedly set on escaping. Bernard Lee is Lt. Col. Huxley who is the careful senior British officer with a view of the entire situation. Michael Wilding plays the deceptively dashing Major Charles Marquand, and some comic relief is provided by Dennis Price, an actor-prisoner more devoted to his production of Hamlet than leaving before the curtain goes up. The hitch in the plans to escape is insidious -- there is a traitor among the prisoners and before they can succeed, they have to find him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this desert adventure, a bandit chieftain roams the northwest deserts of India. Wherever he goes, he leaves a trail of ruin and raped women. A British major is assigned to capture the bandit and his gang. He succeeds, but soon the bandit, with the assistance of a sadistic nomad, escapes. The raiders then head for a British garrison where more bloodshed ensues as they begin slaughtering the hapless soldiers. The nomad captures the colonel and begins torturing him. The bandit, who has grown to respect his British adversary, sacrifices his own life to stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The infamous Benedict Arnold affair is the basis of the lively MGM costumer The Scarlet Coat. Arnold is played with suitably subtle menace by Robert Douglas, while his principal co-conspirator, Major John Andre, is essayed by Michael Wilding. The largely speculative storyline concerns the efforts of one Major John Boulton (Cornel Wilde), a colonial counterspy, to foil Arnold's plans. Thanks to some deft scriptwriting, the much-abused Major Andre emerges as the most sympathetic character in the film, if only because he is willing to face the consequences for his actions. Less sympathetic is George Sanders in another of his patented "cad" roles, while Anne Francis is the spunky (if unnecessary) heroine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Heart of a Woman was the first presentation of the TV anthology The 20th Century-Fox Hour. Merle Oberon, Michael Wilding and Marcia Henderson star in this saga of a well-to-do British family. The story opens with the family patriarch (Wilding) marching off to the Boer war at the turn of the century, and ends thirty years later, with the now-aged principal characters coping with the Depression. If the story sounds familiar, it is because Heart of a Woman is adapted from the Noel Coward play Cavalcade, previously filmed by Fox in 1933. This TV remake originally aired October 5, 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joan Crawford's first Technicolor feature has come to be known as a textbook example of "high camp." Crawford stars as musical comedy luminary Jenny Stewart, who has been hardened by the worst life has to offer. Romance enters her life in the form of her new piano accompanist, blinded war-veteran Tye Graham (Michael Wilding). The fact that Graham refuses to kowtow to the temperamental Jenny's demands, coupled with the adversarial behavior of Graham's seeing-eye dog, makes the pianist all the more attractive to the lonely songstress. Torch Song is a favorite of bad-movie buffs and female impersonators the world over: Highlights include Crawford's blackface musical number, and the now-classic scene in which she simulates blindness to better understand the taciturn Graham. Director Charles Walters, a former choreographer, appears as Crawford's two-left-feet dancing partner in the opening scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A society woman (Margaret Lockwood) is accused of murdering her businessman husband (Orson Welles). Called to piece the clues together is Inspector Trent (Michael Wilding), on the verge of retiring from detection. He learns that the dead man was a louse, providing the wife with plenty of motive. But the truth comes out: The so-called murder was actually a carefully choreographed suicide. End of story? Not quite. Trent's Last Case was previously filmed as a part-talkie in 1929, with comedian Raymond Griffith in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

British film-favorite Anna Neagle, having previously played such great historical personages as Queen Victoria and Edith Cavell, tackles the role of Florence Nightingale in Lady with the Lamp. Based on a play by Reginald Berkeley, the film traces the indefatigable Nightingale's efforts to minister to the thousands of casualties of the Crimean War. Opposed in the uppermost circles of British government because she is "merely" a woman, Nightingale is championed by the Hon. Sidney Herbert (Michael Wilding), minister of war. Herbert pulls strings to allow Nightingale and her nursing staff access to battlefield hospitals, and in so doing changes the course of medical history. Lady with the Lamp was, as usual, produced and directed by Anna Neagle's husband Herbert Wilcox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stage Fright toys with our notions of the dividing line between reality and artifice by being set in the London theatre world. On the lam from the police, Richard Todd takes refuge in the home of his former girlfriend, RADA student Jane Wyman. Todd has been spotted fleeing the scene of a murder, but he insists that he's innocent. Wyman believes his story, but knows that the police won't, so she decides to play detective herself. She also plays several other roles in a variety of disguises so as to escape the notice of genuine detective Michael Wilding. Top-billed Marlene Dietrich plays a Dietrich-like chanteuse whom Wyman pigeonholes as the real murderer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide