Simon Cadell Movies
British actor Simon Cadell first made his name in London theater before making his film debut providing the voice for Blackberry in the animated version of Richard Adam's Watership Down (1978). He had launched a successful television career only a few years prior and it is perhaps there that he earned the most fame, appearing in such productions as The Dame of Sark (1976) and in series like Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected and Blott on the Landscape. Cadell's film credits include In the Cold Light of Day (1994). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi- 1995
The naked body of a murdered little girl is found in a forest surrounding a small Eastern European town. It's the third case in a row, and local police detective Victor Marek (Richard E. Grant) is on the killer's trail, but his superior, Novak (James Laurenson), needs to solve the crime quickly in order to boost his political career. So he arrests some suspicious hippie who later hangs himself in a prison cell. Though Marek is ordered to close the case, he continues to work on it on his own. He rents an old gas station and a house in the area where the murders took place. Working from a drawing done by one of the murdered girls he tries to find the clues for the identity of the killer. Marek becomes so obsessed with his quest that when he meets Milena (Lynsey Baxter), a single young woman with a little daughter (Perdita Weeks), he does not hesitate to use the child as the bait for the criminal. Though the film plot bears a strong resemblance to Sean Penn's movie The Pledge, it is actually a remake of the 1958 German film It Happened in Broad Daylight, scripted by Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt, who later reworked his original screenplay into the novel The Pledge. ~ Yuri German, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Lynsey Baxter, (more)
- 1990
Pride and Extreme Prejudice was first seen January 17, 1990, on the USA Cable TV network. Brian Dennehy is atypically but effectively cast as an ageing CIA agent headquartered in West Germany. Dennehy has recently recovered from a nervous breakdown, and as a result he falls under the deadly scrutiny of both the CIA and the KGB. The weary "mole" is sent on a mission in the Eastern sector from which neither side expects him to return--in fact, they're hoping he won't. Just a tad outdated by late-breaking world events, Pride and Extreme Prejudice was written directly for television by Frederick Forsyth. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Brian Dennehy, Alan Howard, (more)
- 1988
This film (released in 1988) constitutes a feature-length edit of a popular British sitcom of the same title, from the very early eighties. Simon Cadell is a snooty Cambridge professor who takes a job at a Holiday Camp. Cadell's responsibilities as entertainment director lead to no end of zany complications. Not surprisingly, many of the vacationers are shapely young ladies, wearing as little as possible. Veteran comic cockney actor Leslie Dwyer makes his last professional appearances as a member of the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Unique in the annals of animated films, Watership Down is a serious, even grim tale that many will find relentless and depressing and others will find poetic and moving. It doesn't pull any punches. Death -- violent, disturbing death -- is ever present, portrayed in a manner that is astonishingly honest for a cartoon. As a result, it is that rare animated film that really aims for a mature audience, despite its superficial funny animal trappings. It has a brilliant opening, most likely created by UPA veteran John Hubley, which in a primitive and simplistic style relates a creation myth as told by rabbits. The style changes thereafter, with beautiful watercolor backgrounds and a more natural approach to character animation. Unfortunately, the animation suffers somewhat from this point, becoming a bit sloppy, although it continues to portray the characters' movements as realistically as possible. The character designs themselves are rather too similar, with the result that it is sometimes difficult to tell the various rabbits apart. The story is also sometimes told in too-broad strokes, leaving those unfamiliar with the novel confused as to exactly what has happened and, more importantly, why. However, these flaws are redeemed by some unforgettable sequences, including a chilling segment detailing the destruction of the rabbits' warren and a devastatingly sad end sequence in which the Black Rabbit of Death gently takes one of the heroes away with it. Voiced by a fine cast, with stellar work from John Hurt and Richard Briers, Watership Down is an imperfect film with some of the most powerful moments ever created for the genre. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Richard Briers, (more)
