Pancho Kohner Movies

Daisy von Sherler Mayer directed this family film, an adaptation of the famed book series that Austrian-born writer-illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) launched in 1939 with the opening lines, "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They smiled at the good and frowned at the bad and sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine -- the smallest one was Madeline." This live-action film interpretation, set during the mid-1950s, expands on plot elements found throughout several books in the series. Lord Covington (Nigel Hawthorne) plans to sell the small French boarding school where the young orphan Madeline (nine-year-old British actress Hatty Jones) lives with other girls under the supervision of sympathetic schoolmistress Miss Clavel (Frances McDormand). Hospitalized after an appendectomy, Madeline wanders down the hospital hallway and meets Covington's dying wife, Lady Covington (Stephane Audran), an encounter which becomes an asset in Madeline's efforts to save the school. Moving into the house adjacent to the school is the family of the Spanish Ambassador (Arturo Venegas), including his young son Pepito (Kristian de la Osa), who spends a good deal of time wheeling about on his Vespa, so noisy it serves to irritate possible buyers of the school.
When Madeline falls into the Seine, she is rescued by a dog, Genevieve, who immediately becomes the school's mascot and pet, despite the "no pets" rule and Miss Clavel's allergy to dogs. Pepito's somewhat sinister British tutor Leopold (Ben Daniels) engineers a plan that leads to the county fair kidnapping of Pepito and Madeline. First filmed by UPA in the early '50s as the Oscar-nominated animated cartoon short, Madeline (1952), decades passed before other adaptations appeared: the 23-minute Madeline's Rescue and Other Stories (1990, available from Facets Video), narrated by Louise Roberts; and the 1989-1993 series of half-hours narrated by Christopher Plummer -- Madeline, Madeline and the Bad Hat, Madeline and the Gypsies, Madeline in London, Madeline's Christmas, and Madeline's Rescue. MGM's 1945 Fred Astaire/Vincente Minnelli film Yolanda and the Thief also adapted Bemelmans. Daisy von Scherler Mayer's earlier Party Girl (1995) was the first feature film seen in its entirety on the Internet. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Even though Charles Bronson doesn't carry a gun in this feature, there are still plenty of the fights, car chases, and explosions -- all hallmarks of Bronson's action films. Bronson plays Denver Tribune crime reporter Garrett Smith, who investigates the murder mystery of a Mormon family. Smith tries to mediate between rival factions who have broken off from the Salt Lake theology and are carrying on a bloody feud. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In Assassination, a routine political thriller directed by Peter Hunt, Jay Hillion (Charles Bronson) is a secret service agent assigned to protect First Lady Lara Royce Craig (Jill Ireland). Lara hates Hillion and tries to get away from him but finds she needs him when her life is threatened by a series of assassination attempts which may have originated from the White House. This routine actioner has little to offer that is new or different, but it tells its tale at a good pace and has some nice location photography. Charles Bronson gives his usual steely performance, while Jill Ireland is more sympathetic as the First Lady who likes her independence but must learn to trust a man she detests. This film, while routine and somewhat predictable will be enjoyed by Bronson fans. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

In yet another slick, formulaic Charles Bronson vengeance film (they would continue until the actor was in his mid-70s, still playing the morally insulted friend/husband/lover), Bronson is Holland, an assassin for hire who has just come out of retirement to finish off a Guatemalan thug by the name of Moloch (Joseph Maher). Moloch tortures and terrorizes the good guys and is protected by a misguided American government agency -- though nothing can stop Holland once he starts killing his way to the chief villain. No one except the wife of one of Moloch's victims -- and perhaps a few viewers now and again -- raises any questions about Holland's trail of corpses. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, Treat Williams plays Cletus, a rather unpleasant and morally shaky man desperate to keep his mitts on the one-million-dollar inheritance bequeathed to himself and his siblings. He improbably accepts a job as a social worker, then becomes emotionally involved with Jeorge (Gabriel Swann), a little boy torn away from his wrongly convicted and incarcerated mother., Cletus then sets about reuniting Jeorge with his mother. Along the way, he falls in love with Kay (Lisa Eichhorn. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

J. Lee Thompson directs Charles Bronson in this strange western variation on Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Bronson plays a man named James Otis, who is disturbed by dreams of a giant white buffalo. He returns to the west under his new name --Wild Bill Hickok. Amongst his travels, he meets Chief Crazy Horse (Will Sampson), who is roaming the plains in an obsessive search for the giant white buffalo that killed his young daughter. Chief Crazy Horse wants to slay the beast in revenge for his daughter's death, and Wild Bill Hickok teams up with him to hunt down the giant white buffalo. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

A meek and mild mailman decides that the only way to escape the constant nagging of his battle-ax of a wife is to turn himself into the title tree in this off-beat fantasy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide