Anthony Bushell Movies

Nigel Kneale's Quatermass TV series spawned a brief film series produced over an eleven-year period; 1967's Quatermass and the Pit, released in the US as Five Million Years to Earth, was the third and (until 1979's Quatermass Conclusion) last. As in previous chapters in the Kneale saga, the film begins with a baffling scientific discovery. This time it's a bunch of prehistoric skulls, discovered during a subway excavation in the heart of London. Sequestered in a lab, the skulls start to emanate a bizarre force over the populace, resulting in death and destruction. Professor Quatermass (Andrew Keir) concludes that the skulls are the residue of an extraterrestrial invading army -- a theory which (as usual) is scoffed at by the authorities until it's almost too late. Blessed with superb special effects and an expertly sustained tension level, Quatermass and the Pit is easily the best of the short-lived "Quatermass" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a typist is the secret mistress of a wealthy man. After three years of illicit romance, he suddenly dumps her for the love of a wealthy heiress. The broken-hearted girl goes on with her life and falls in love with another, but when her original lover returns to beg forgiveness, they are happily reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Eileen Herlie, a German girl of Jewish heritage, is in love with Norman Wooland, but at her family's insistence marries Basil Sydney. Wooland's reaction is swift and decisive: he commits suicide. Years later, Hitler comes to power. Once more, Herlie's fate is in the hands of others. This time, however, she makes up her own mind as to what her future holds in store. An unpleasant, relentlessly unhappy tale, brilliantly acted by a top-drawer cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alan Ladd once more journeyed to England to make a film for Columbia's British counterpart (Warwick Studios), and the result was the lively swashbuckler The Black Knight. Ladd plays John, a young swordmaker who aspires to join the Knights of the Round Table. Unfortunately, he is falsely accused of cowardice and banished from his community. Thanks to the secret tutelage of one of Arthur's knights, John is able to train himself in the art of combat, and soon reemerges as the vengeance-seeking Black Knight. In this guise, he is able to bring a group of traitors to justice, rout a band of invading Saracens, and rescue his lady love Linet (Patricia Medina) from certain doom. Anthony Bushell, who was soon to completely forsake acting in favor of producing and directing, costars as King Arthur, while the villains of the piece are essayed by Peter Cushing and future Dr. Who Patrick Troughton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Basil Rathbone unexpectedly plays the romantic lead in The Flirting Widow. Dorothy Mackaill stars as a wealthy young lady whose father has forbidden her younger sister (Leila Hyams) to marry before Dorothy does. To help sis out, Dorothy "invents" a husband, whom she claims is a British colonel stationed in Arabia. Dorothy discovers that the man she's designated as her imaginary hubby actually exists, in the form of the nonplused Mr. Rathbone. The dilemma: Dorothy has claimed that Rathbone is deceased, a report that is greatly exaggerated. Based on the story Green Stockings by A.E.W. Mason, Flirting Widow was the remake of a silent feature titled Slightly Used (27). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Ghoul was Boris Karloff's first British horror film. Karloff is cast as Egyptologist Professor Morant, who on his deathbed insists that he be buried with a rare jewel that was once part of an Oriental idol. It is Morant's belief that the gem will one day restore him to life, a contingency which terrifies the Professor's weaselly assistant Laing (Ernst Thesiger), who hopes to get his mitts on the jewel himself. In due time, Morant dies and is buried -- minus the jewel, which has seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. All of this leads to a spooky denouement in Morant's cemetery crypt, designed in the manner of the ancient Egyptians. The romantic subplot is handled by Anthony Bushell as Morlant's nephew Ralph and Dorothy Hyson as Betty, while comedy relief is ladled on by Kathleen Harrison (Kaney) as a man-chasing spinster. Long believed lost (all prints were supposed to have been destroyed when the film was remade as the 1962 horror comedy No Place Like Homicide), The Ghoul resurfaced in Europe in the early 1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Conrad Phillips, who has starred as William Tell in a popular British TV series produced by the same crew responsible for The Invisible Man, is here seen as military demolitions expert Barry Finch. While demonstrating a new and extremely sensistive bomb, Finch is trapped in a sand pit a few feet away from the explosive--which will instantly detonate if a shadow falls upon it. The only man in the world capable of rescuing Finch and defusing the bomb is also the only man who casts no shadow--namely, the invisible Peter Brady. This episode was cowritten by The Avengers' Brian Clemens, pseudonymously billed as Tony O'Grady. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rex Harrison's extramarital relationship with Patricia Wayne comes to an end when Wayne is murdered. All evidence points to Harrison; we know that he's innocent, but the detectives don't have this advantage. With his faithful wife Lilli Palmer at his side, Harrison goes on trial for his life. Anthony Dawson, the genuine murderer, intends to confess after Harrison is hanged. Thanks to a governmental quirk, Dawson's letter reaches the authorities just a few steps ahead of the hangman. Anthony Bushell, co-director of Long Dark Hall, is featured as Harrison's defense attorney. The film was co-scripted by Hollywood's Nunnally Johnson and based on a novel by Edgar Lustgarden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This sequel to the 1942 Oscar-winner Mrs.Miniver can be considered ill-advised, if only because the producers could never really hope to match the success of the original. Otherwise, The Miniver Story has its charms, not the least of which were the sterling performances of Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Set just after VE Day, the film finds Mrs. Miniver (Garson) reacting to the euphoria of her friends and family with a sense of quiet sadness. This is because she's just learned from her doctor that she hasn't much longer to live. With the same courage with which she met the deprivations of WW II, Mrs. Miniver resolves to put on a happy face and keep the news of her imminent demise a secret from her husband (Pigeon) and children. She even finds time to straighten out the tangled love life of her daughter Judy (Cathy O'Donnell). Henry Wilcoxon repeats his Mrs. Miniver role as the local vicar. Unlike its Hollywood-bound predecessor, The Miniver Story was lensed on location in England. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An H.E. Bates novel was the source for this psychological wartime drama set in Burma. Canadian pilot Gregory Peck and two comrades-in-arms crash in the Burmese wilds. The three men are forced to hack and crawl their way to safety, surrounded on all sides by the Japanese. Peck's subordinates don't completely trust their leader, and not without reason: Peck's nerves have been at the breaking point for months, and this experience may send him around the bend. But the ordeal strengthens Peck's psyche. Despite its American star, director and distributor (United Artists), The Purple Plain is a British production; thanks to its top-drawer production values and evocative color photography by Geoffrey Unsworth, the film brought in customers on both sides of the big pond. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Harry Baur, who in the 1930s was the most distinguished character actor in Europe, was the star of the 1936 French historical epic Tarass Boulba. Based on a story by Gogol, the film depicted the 16th century struggle between the Poles and the Russian Cossacks, with emphasis on the rift between Tartar leader Tarass Boulba and his scholarly son. The film did well enough on the continent to prompt an English-language version in 1939, The Rebel Son, which also starred Harry Baur. The film utilized generous portions of the 1936 French production; the result was a hodgepodge of contrasting styles. Andre Brunel, director of the English version, failed to properly match the film work of the original French version's director Alexis Granowsky; in turn, the additional scenes directed by an uncredited Albert de Coureville bore little relation to Brunel's work. Even at 88 minutes, The Rebel Son was tough sledding, with many filmgoers walking out after half an hour. In desperation, the British distributors pared the film down to 70 minutes and shipped it out to double bills under the title The Barbarian and the Lady (the "lady" in the film is the girlfriend of barbarian Tarass Boulba's son--the daughter of his hated rival). Despite the utter failure of this enterprise, producer Samuel Bronston had another go at the Gogal original with his 1962 production Taras Bulba, starring Yul Brynner and Tony Curtis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A wimpy king is forced to take responsibility for his little North Sea island kingdom after his iron-fisted wife goes on a vacation to the US in this comedy. Soon after she leaves, his subjects launch a revolt and the flighty fellow must quickly figure out what to do. Things get worse when his daughter tells him that she plans to marry a commoner. Fortunately, once the king makes his decisions, things settle down and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide