Edwin Brown Movies
- 1994
- R
In this average erotic thriller produced by A. Gregory Hippolyte, Erika West stars as the editor of a sexually-oriented magazine. She receives letters from Francis Badham (Mitch Gaylord), a mute ex-convict with some dark secrets to go along with his fantasies. West gets involved with him anyway, with unfortunate results. Hippolyte and executive producer Walter Gernert, best known as adult films' notorious Dark Brothers, produced dozens of quickie erotic thrillers, many with porn stars in small roles (this one features Devon Shire), some of them expanded in unrated video versions. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mitch Gaylord, Erika West, (more)
- 1983
It's simple, all right. Almost plotless, this sex farce is all about a studdish young man who has to beat off the women with a stick. Richard Pacheco and Samantha Fox are among the hypersexual athletes exhibited herein. Previously consigned to the "adults only" video shelves, Simply Irresistible attained its widest mainstream exposure when it was cablecast by the Showtime service in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The Pied Piper eschews the romanticism of Robert Browning's poem and returns to the grim Grimm Brothers source. Pop singer Donovan plays the 14th century piper hired by a duplicitous burgomaster (Donald Pleasence) to rid the town of Hamelin of its rats. The piper does what he's asked, but is denied the payment promised him; in revenge, he leads all of Hamelin's children out of town, never to be seen again. Though the story is a familiar one, this 1972 Pied Piper is not a kiddie movie. Director Jacques Demy's depiction of the 14th century as a muddy, backward, superstitious, disease-ridden, vermin-infested era transforms this fable into a squalid tale of revenge (incidentally, all those repulsive rodents are real). Donovan is matched by a remarkably restrained Jack Wild as the crippled boy, and John Hurt also co-stars. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Wild, Donald Pleasence, (more)
- 1971
Released in England as Wednesday's Child, this earnest socially conscious drama explores the generation-gap between a pair of overbearing, strict parents and their rebellious, pregnant daughter Sandy Ratcliff. First they force her to get an abortion. Then mom and dad further exert their power over Ratcliff by locking her out of the house until she ceases her troublesome ways. When this fails to "tame" the girl, the parents force her into psychiatric treatment. Subjected to shock therapy, Sandy ends up a shell of a human being, little more than a case study for those who've robbed her of her individuality. Shot in documentary fashion, Family Life won a prize at the 1972 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sandy Ratcliff, Bill Dean, (more)
- 1971
10 Rillington Place is the true story of British mass murderer John Reginald Christie, played with chilling "normality" by Richard Attenborough. Throughout the late '40s, Christie lures middle-aged women to his London flat promising to cure their ailments with nitrous oxide, then kills them, assaults their dead bodies, and buries them. One of his victims is Beryl Evans (Judy Geeson), who misguidedly comes to Christie seeking an abortion -- and in the process, not only loses her own life, but sets in motion a horrid sequence of events that threatens to endanger her husband as well. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, (more)
- 1963
Someone has broken into an "impenetrable" underground spy headquarters and microfilmed a valuable document. The subsequent investigation reveals the startling "fact" that John Steed was in on the caper. While Steed languishes in prison, Cathy tries to get at the truth by trailing the beautiful female spy (Edina Romay) with whom Steed was apparently in cahoots. Written by Philip Chambers, "The Nutshell" was originally telecast in England on October 19, 1963; the episode wasn't seen in America until March 8, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1962
The "gimmick" in this Avengers episode is a rare postage stamp. When a famed stamp collector is killed, Steed and Cathy head to a philatelic convention, where the aforementioned stamp is about to be auctioned off for a ridiculously low price. The convention turns out to be a front for a radical organization bent on taking over the world. Written by Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks, "The Mauritius Penny" made its British TV debut on November 10, 1962; it was not seen in America until February 4, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Peter Sellers stars as an inmate in a "model prison" run by Maurice Denham. Though Sellers is disinclined to escape (he's never been as comfortable in his life), he is convinced to do so by phony vicar Wilfred Hyde-White, who breaks into jail to outline a robbery scheme. Hyde-White's plan is to have Sellers and his cellmates David Lodge and Bernard Cribbins take a brief "vacation" from jail, pull off a big-time robbery, then return undetected to prison, thereby establishing a perfect alibi. Within its 87-minute time span, Two-Way Stretch takes satirical potshots at political bleeding hearts, obese Middle Eastern potentates, and regulation-bound British police officials. One cannot be faulted for wishing that Peter Sellers had stuck to engaging small-scale British farces such as this and had never ventured into such unamusing big-budgeters as The Bobo and There's a Girl in My Soup. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White, (more)
