Keith Michell Movies

A made-for-TV production of one of Oscar Wilde's peerless stage comedies, this frothy satire concerns Lord Arthur Goring and his close friend Sir Robert Chiltern. Arthur is a wealthy but unambitious man who is proudly lazy and uses his not inconsiderable knowledge and wit for no profitable purpose, other than verbally sparring with Mabel Chiltern, Sir Robert's sister and a woman of no small beauty and charm. Mabel is hardly the only woman interested in Arthur, but despite the pleas of his father, Arthur has little interest in settling down with one woman. In striking contrast, Robert is a member of Parliament who is well-known for his firmly held principles and his devotion to his loving wife, Lady Gertrude. When a proposal is placed before Parliament to build a British canal through Argentina, Robert makes it clear he regards the project as a huge mistake and will speak out against it. However, one Laura Cheveley soon arrives on the scene, telling Robert it is in his best interest to support the canal plan -- and if he does not, Laura has incriminating information that could ruin his career in politics. An Ideal Husband stars Keith Michell, Jeremy Brett, Susan Hampshire, and Margaret Leighton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Director Martin Ritt's bucolic rural environments of Norma Rae, Conrack, and Sounder, are re-visited once again in Cross Creek, based on author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' memoirs of her times on a remote Florida bayou. Mary Steenburgen plays Rawlings, author of The Yearling, who, in 1928, makes the abrupt decision to leave her husband and move to an isolated orange grove to concentrate on her writing. Rawlings buys a run-down house covered with cobwebs that she restores with quick dispatch. In these desolate surroundings, Rawlings pauses in her housecleaning to listen reflectively to the otherworldly noises of the swamp. But suddenly out of this loneliness, people emerge. There is Geechee (Alfre Woodard), Rawlings' devoted servant; Marsh Turner (Rip Torn), a liquor-guzzling swamp rat; Floyd Turner (Cary Guffey), a cute harmonica-playing boy; and Ellie Turner (Dana Hill), a little girl whose fawn becomes the basis of Rawlings' Yearling book. Rawlings becomes involved with Norton Baskin (Peter Coyote), the owner of the local hotel, and, as she settles into life on the bayou and her friendship with Norton and Geechee, she is inspired to begin writing. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In the late 1970s, Grendel by John Gardner was a highbrow best-seller that everyone with pretensions to intellectual sophistication was reading. In it, the author retold the epic Anglo-Saxon hero myth of Beowulf from the point of view of the monster the hero killed, rather than from the hero's vantage point. In so doing, he scored numerous points about the violence and intolerance of human beings and raised more profound philosophical issues. This animated feature was adapted from Gardner's book and never quite found its audience; too simplified for the literati, it was definitely not a children's feature and was not aimed at mainstream audiences. Taken on its own merits however, reviewers lamented that it deserved a better fate than the obscurity to which it was consigned. Peter Ustinov provides the voice for the beleaguered monster. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Reno Davis (George Peppard) is an American writer who has retired from the gentle art of boxing. Now wandering through France, he takes a job as a tutor for the son of a wealthy widow. Anne de Villemont (Inger Stevens) employs Reno to help in the education of her son Paul (Barnaby Shaw). Reno is led to believe Anne's husband was a French general killed in the Algerian conflict. He is puzzled over Anne's fears that her eight-year-old son will be kidnapped. Reno discovers the family has ties to a fascist organization that plans to takeover France, Algeria and finally, all of Europe. He contends with the shady psychiatrist Morillon (Keith Michell) and mysterious family friend Leschenhaut (Orson Welles), both of whom scare Anne whenever they are around. Reno is framed for his best friend's murder as he and Anne become the targets of the ambitious and maniacal schemers who wish to rule the entire European continent. Reno and Anne escape by car and plane, dodging bullets and kidnap attempts as they try to protect Paul from being abducted. The chase ends at the Coliseum in Rome, where Reno and the villains engage in a showdown in this gripping, mysterious crime thriller. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This 1979 BBC/Time-Life production of Julius Caesar faithfully follows Shakespeare's original version. When the film begins, cheering throngs hail Julius Caesar (Charles Gray) as he parades through the streets of Rome after conquering Pompey the Great. But a soothsayer unsettles the crowd when he shouts to Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," then repeats his warning. Paying no heed, Caesar moves on, unaware that a prominent citizen, Cassius (David Collings), is at that very moment hatching a plot to murder Caesar on the Ides (March 15). Cassius and other Romans fear Caesar will assume absolute control of Rome as a king, thereby ending freedom and curtailing the influence of noblemen. After Cassius persuades the highly respected Marcus Brutus (Richard Pasco) to participate in the plot, other prominent citizens join them. That evening, a violent storm shakes Rome, and Caesar's wife, Calpurnia (Elizabeth Spriggs), believes it is an omen signaling grave danger to Caesar if he goes to the Capitol the next day. Hearing of other signs, she tells Caesar, "A lioness hath whelped in the streets, and graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead; fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds...which drizzled blood upon the Capitol." Caesar agrees to remain home until one of the conspirators, Decius Brutus (Alex Davion), visits him and persuades him that his wife misinterpreted the omens. The image of blood she saw, the conspirator says, "signifies that from you great Rome shall suck reviving blood." After Caesar arrives at the Capitol on the Ides, the conspirators surround and stab him. News of his death brings civil war. At the funeral, Marcus Antonius (Keith Michell), Caesar's friend, eulogizes Caesar in an emotional speech that arouses the people against Brutus and the conspirators. Then Antony and two allies form a ruling partnership and track down the fleeing armies of Cassius and Brutus. Seeing that all is lost, Cassius and Brutus commit suicide. Viewers of the play have long argued over who is its real villain -- Caesar, because of his apparent lust for power, or Brutus, because of his betrayal of Caesar. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

In this made-for-TV film, Mike Farrell stars as an attorney who finds himself at the center of a surprise reunion with the veterans of his platoon from Vietnam, including Robert Walden and Edward Herrmann. The reunion stirs up painful memories and disturbing secrets for all involved. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Keith Michell dominates this episode in the role of Dennis Stanton, ex-jewel thief turned insurance investigator. While probing into a theft and double murder, Dennis decides to use his own criminal knowhow to trap the culprit. At the center of the intrigue is a rare silver dollar, an icy dowager, and a few random suspicious-looking gentlemen with accents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is one of several seventh-season Murder She Wrote episodes introduced by Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) but starring Dennis Stanton (Keith Michell), an ex-jewel thief turned insurance investigator. An unscrupulous divorce lawyer is killed, and the suspect list includes (a) the lawyer's husband, (b) the lawyer's secretary and (c) the lawyer's ex-wife--not to mention another lawyer who used to be a cop. Stanton investigates this perplexing case with the aid of the redoubtable Rhoda Markowitz (Hallie Todd). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is one of several seventh-season Murder She Wrote episodes introduced by Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) but starring Dennis Stanton (Keith Michell), a jewel thief turned insurance investigator. On this occasion, Stanton himself is the primary suspect in a murder case. The victim is the estranged husband of Stanton's old flame Christina (Susan Blakely), whom our hero had been romancing just before the murder. Will Lt. Catalano (Ken Swofford) finally be able to put Stanton behind bars again, or will the wily ex-crook manage to wriggle his way out of danger once more? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Keith Michell returns in the role of Dennis Stanton, an ex-jewel thief turned insurance investigator. Jessica (Angela Lansbury) links up with her old friend Dennis when she arrives in San Francisco to attend the opening of a prestigious opera. Before long, things become "operatic" for real when a celebrated tenor, who had previously shot another man (in self-defense, he claimed) who'd been making overtures to the tenor's pretty protégée, succumbs to a suspicious heart attack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set during WWII, this Australian miniseries explores the effects of the conflict on the sleepy burg of St. Helens and its inhabitants, who are busy enough sorting out their religious differences. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

According to the curse of Ruddigore, the Lords of Ruddigore have to pull off a crime a day or they'll perish painfully. The new Lord of Ruddigore doesn't quite buy all this and wants to make some fundamental changes; he runs into difficulties with the Ruddigor clan. ~ All Movie Guide