Eddie Byrne Movies

George Lucas' mythological popcorn movie is a two-hour roller-coaster ride that has passed into movie legend. The story, for the tiny number of people not familiar with it, concerns a farm boy named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who discovers that the used robot recently purchased by his family plays back a message from one Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), begging for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke asks his father's friend Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) about this, and he discovers that Ben and Obi-Wan are one and the same. Kenobi tells Luke of the battle of the rebels against the ruling Empire and the spiritual energy called "The Force." Soon Luke, Kenobi, and a mercenary named Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join forces to rescue Princess Leia from the Empire's mammoth warship, the Death Star, controlled by evil genius Darth Vader (David Prowse, with the voice of James Earl Jones). George Lucas has frequently cited the influence of several films on Star Wars, particularly Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo and John Ford's The Searchers, as well as the original Flash Gordon serials. After Star Wars became a success, Lucas announced his intention to turn the film into a series, originally totalling nine films (later pared back to six). Consequently, most reissue prints now feature the title Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, with The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) serving as Episodes Five and Six in the serial, and Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace (1999) going back to the myth's beginnings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

When three old acquaintances are thrown together after several years, they are shocked to realize that they are looking at each other from different sides of the law. ~ All Movie Guide

Davey Haggart (John Hurt) wishes to follow his father's footsteps and become a highway robber. He also wishes to avoid his father's fate -- which was death by hanging at the tender age of 21 after a botched robbery of the Duke of Argyle (Robert Morley). Davey commits a daring robbery in broad daylight with the help of two henchmen (Ronald Fraser and Fidelma Murphy) and heads for the highlands of Scotland to hide out. The local Constable (Nigel Davenport) warns young Davey he will end up just like his father but helps him escape the fate of dancing on the end of a rope. Annie (Pamela Franklin) is the kind-hearted farm girl who tries to make sweet Davey give up a life of crime and settle down. This comedy was taken from the autobiographical diary"The Life Of David Haggart." ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The moral dilemma of a young Catholic woman is intensified when her religion forbids the use of birth control. When her own mother dies during childbirth on her wedding day, the woman becomes fraught with a fury of anger, guilt and sexual dysfunction. The woman is forced to care for the seven children her mother left behind as the groom must leave on business, and the tirades of a narrow-minded priest further complicate the relationship between the newlyweds. This film is meant to pose serious questions of universal concern to those who follow the path of religious dogma insisted upon by the church. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The Secret of Boyne Castle stars Kurt Russell as an American exchange student in Ireland. Russell and his Irish friend Patrick Dawson find themselves waist-deep in intrigue when they get involved with a defecting Iron Curtain scientist. After a wild chase through the Hibernian countryside, Russell and Dawson are trapped by enemy agents, who hope to hoodwink the boys into revealing the location of a secret message in their possession. The Secret of Boyne Castle was first shown in British theatres as the feature-length Guns in the Heather. It was then converted into a three-part installment of TV's Wonderful World of Disney, which was telecast in the US on February 9, 16, and 23 1969. A few years later, the project was rebroadcast under the title Spy Busters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An Englishman finds himself on the holiday from hell in this horror movie. He had gone to Britanny for rest and relaxation. Instead he finds himself involved in a satanic cult run by a sophisticated vampire. Two of the man's friends are killed there because the cult requires human sacrifices. The man really gets mad when the vampire kidnaps his girlfriend. The angered Englishman soon exposes the creature's identity leaving the bereft vampire to wander through a cemetery. There, he stumbles upon a cross and dies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This colorful slapstick comedy concerns an honest locksmith who gets talked into a safecracking scheme by a couple of ruthless gangsters. Ernest Wright (Charlie Drake) is duped by a con man into opening a car and safe, which lands him in jail for a year. He is released, but a subsequent event gets him three year in jail and an undeserved reputation as a master thief. The Guv'nor (George Sanders) and Domino (Eddie Byrne) put the squeeze on Ernest to help them in a plan to pilfer some precious gems. With the help of undercover police woman Muriel (Nyree Dawn Porter), Ernest helps trap the crooks and clear his name. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

When a private eye cannot convince the police to investigate the murder of his boss, he takes up the case complete with missing bodies, strange papers and safety deposit box. ~ All Movie Guide

This colorful remake of the 1935 version again concerns the crew and treatment of the HMS Bounty by a cold hearted sadistic captain. Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard) boards the ship in Portsmouth, England, to embark on a mission to bring tropical breadfruit trees to Jamaica. Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando) is the aristocratic second mate who welcomes the new captain aboard. Christian's view of the captain sours with the cruel treatment of the crew and the dangerous decision to round Cape Horn. The Bounty sails into the teeth of a ferocious winter storm which is another in a long line of indignities suffered on the journey. John Mills (Richard Harris) is punished for stealing cheese. A sailor is ordered to stay aloft in the crow's nest, nearly resulting in death. The crew finds temporary paradise in Tahiti before Bligh's behavior becomes intolerable for the once faithful Christian. The crew revolts and sends the captain on his way in a small rowboat. Settling on Pitcairn Island, the crew soon realizes they may never see England again. Mills burns the ship to insure the trip is never made. Christian attempts to save the only means of transportation of their new island home. Lewis Milestone directed the film which was plagued by constant cost overruns to the tune of 18 million dollars. Brando's legendary ego clashed with results as turbulent as the fictitious trip around stormy Cape Horn. The movie retained slightly over half the cost of the production price tag in its initial release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Father Carey (Nigel Patrick) is a priest who must decide whether or not an amnesia victim (Aldo Ray) is responsible for the murder of the alcoholic Irish writer Mulcahy (William Bendix) in this routine thriller. The question posed to Carey is whether or not the murderer acted on the word of God when the writer asked the Almighty to strike him dead. Father Carey comes to believe the killing was masterminded by Johnny's sweetheart Miss Floyd (Yvonne Mitchell). The small Irish village is put under public microscope with the murder and the sensational trial. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This is a routine tale about the vice squad versus pornographer and blackmailer Augie Cortona (Terence Morgan). After the petty criminal gets out of prison, he discovers his old partners in crime are not interested in him anymore, and the prostitution ring he once bossed is controlled by someone else. His solution is to set up a fake photographer's and model's studio during the day that becomes a place where porno photo men can do their work at night, as call girls engage in their trade with unsuspecting customers. The photographs bring in extra lucre through a blackmail scheme -- Cortona makes the hookers' clients pay to keep their activities quiet. As he is building up this racket, a gangland boss is out to get him -- and so is the vice squad. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A man recently released from prison is anxious to get on with his life and wants to go straight. Unfortunately, the right woman can be either a help or a hindrance, and in this case he is forced back into his old ways by a woman too cold and insensitive to care whether he stays out of crime or not. She essentially wants nothing to do with him, straight or otherwise. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Suspenseful, interesting, and macabre, this period piece by Robert S. Baker overcomes a weakness in characterization by sheer dint of storyline and action. Jack the Ripper still remains the unidentified killer of at least three, probably five, and possibly even eight prostitutes living or working in London's East End in 1888. The murders occurred in August, September, and November of that year and were never solved. Because various internal organs of the dead victims (their throats were cut after they were strangled into unconsciousness) were removed rapidly and with an accurate surgical technique, investigators have postulated that the demented serial killer was a surgeon. In this cinematic version, the murders are shown as they happened while Inspector O'Neill (Eddie Byrne), along with an American detective Sam Lowry (Lee Patterson) try to track down suspects and prevent the next killing. The theory put forward here is that Jack the Ripper was looking for one particular woman. As the tension mounts, his suggested identity -- and what happened to him -- is revealed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide