Walter Gotell Movies

Though not Ian Fleming's most famous James Bond novel, 1962's The Spy Who Loved Me was distinguished by the unique device of telling the story from the heroine's point of view; in fact, Bond doesn't make an appearance until the book is two-thirds over. This would hardly work in the film world's Bond franchise, so the original austere plotline of the novel was eschewed altogether in favor of a labyrinthine story involving outer-space extortion. The leading lady, a "hard-luck kid" in the original, is now sexy Russian secret agent Barbara Bach, who joins forces with Bond (Roger Moore, making his third appearance as 007) to foil yet another megalomaniac villain (Curt Jurgens), who plans to threaten New York City with nuclear weaponry. Beyond the eye-popping opening ski-jump sequence, the film's best scenes involve seven-foot-two Richard Kiel as steel-toothed henchman Jaws. Fifteen scriptwriters worked on The Spy Who Loved Me; only two were credited, including Bond-film veteran Richard Maibaum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this gender-bending war drama, set during WW II, an actor, impersonating a woman, finds himself captured by Nazis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Pere Goriot, Honore de Balzac's tragic novel about an old man who sacrificed all for the sake of a place in society, was adapted as a multipart British miniseries in early 1971. Michael Goodliffe played the title character, who squandered his money, his property, and ultimately his life in order to "buy a reputation" for his two daughters. The fly in the ointment was the sinister Vautrin (Andrew Keir), who coerced a gormless young law student (David Dundas) to commit a murder in order to win the hand of Goriot's eldest daughter. Pere Goriot was seen in the U.S. as part of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre anthology beginning June 13, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Major James Wilson (Lloyd Bridges) must lead his troops across the English channel in the D-day invasion of Normandy. He trains his regulars for the invasion knowing that many, if not all, may never survive the assault. Wilson is plagued by memories of previous missions that turned out to be suicidal. Captain Franklin (Andrew Keir) is the British officer who opposed the plan and has a personal vendetta against Wilson. The two are thrown together on the same mission when Franklin is slated to command the mine sweepers that transport Wilson's troops to their destination. They face overwhelming odds and a barrage of cannon fire from the Nazi stronghold on the Normandy coast. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by John Le Carre, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold stars Richard Burton as a dispirited, end-of-tether British secret agent. He comes in from "the cold" (meaning he is pulled out of field operations) to act as a undercover man behind the Iron Curtain. To make his staged defection seem genuine, Burton goes on an alcoholic toot and is imprisoned and publicly humiliated. Once he has been accepted into East German espionage circles, Burton discovers that what he thought was his mission was a mere subterfuge--and that he's been set up as a pawn for an entirely different operation. Though Ireland and England "stand in" for East Berlin, Spy Who Came In From the Cold has the air of authenticity throughout, thanks in great part to the bleak black and white photography by Oswald Morris. The film was condemned as incomprehensible by those filmgoers accustomed to the simplistic melodramatics of James Bond; seen today, the double-crosses and double-double crosses seem all too clear and credible. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Samuel Bronston produced this extravagant blockbuster, shot in Super Technirama 70. Nominally directed by Nicholas Ray (who makes a brief appearance as the U.S. ambassador), Ray was taken off the film and replaced by the more pliable directorial touches of Andrew Marton. Charlton Heston stars as Maj. Matt Lewis, the leader of an army of multinational soldiers who head to Peking during the infamous Boxer Rebellion of 1900. As the film unfolds, the foreign embassies in Peking are being held in a grip of terror as the Boxers set about massacring Christians in an anti-Christian nationalistic fever. Inside the besieged compound, the finicky British ambassador (David Niven) gathers the beleaguered ambassadors into a defensive formation. Included in the group of high-level dignitaries is a sultry Russian Baroness (Ava Gardner) who takes a shine to Lewis upon his arrival at the embassy compound with his group of soldiers. As Lewis and the group conserve food and water and try to save some hungry children, they await the arrival of expected reinforcements, but the tricky Chinese Empress Tzu Hsi (Flora Robson) is, in the meantime, plotting with the Boxers to break the siege at the compound with the aid of Chinese recruits. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Joseph Losey directed this unusual science fiction effort, which has won a small but fervent cult following. Simon Wells (MacDonald Carey) is an American visiting England, where he meets a woman named Joan (Shirley Ann Field). Simon is immediately attracted to Joan, but there's a considerable obstacle in their budding romance: Joan's brother King (Oliver Reed), the leader of a violent pack of motorcycle rockers. King has a barely concealed incestuous attachment to his sister, and he sometimes uses her to lure victims into his gang's clutches. King and his cronies attack Simon, take his money, and leave him stranded, where he's eventually found by a pair of military security men. Simon is brought to the home of Bernard (Alexander Knox), a scientist working on a secret project for the government, and his girlfriend Freya (Viveca Lindfors), a sculptor. Joan eventually tracks Simon down in hopes of winning his forgiveness, but another run-in with King causes Simon and Joan to discover a cave that holds a terrible secret: a group of strange, cold-blooded children who were the products of one of Bernard's experiments gone wrong. The children were genetically engineered to survive a nuclear war, and, as a result, they are radioactive enough to kill anyone who comes in close contact with them. Controversial in its day, The Damned was produced in England in 1961 but was not released until 1963, when Hammer Films booked it as the second-half of a double bill with Maniac. It did not reach American screens until 1965, when it was shown under the title These Are the Damned. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This was the last trip in the "road" comedies that Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and a bevy of female stars that featured Dorothy Lamour once made famous. In this road to Hong Kong and parts far beyond, Chester and Harry (Hope and Crosby) are a couple of failed vaudeville stars looking for a way to riches in the confidence game. Chester's memory goes kaputz, and the two end up involved with Diane (Joan Collins), a spy looking for a secret formula, and a bunch of hoodlums who plan on sending up a rocket to the moon with special equipment allowing them to rule the planet earth. The pair of heroes gets caught in the rocket instead of the originally intended monkeys, and the monkey business continues in outer space -- where it seems to be all along. In this mixed collage of events, several stars pop up in cameo roles: Peter Sellers, Dean Martin, David Niven, Frank Sinatra among them. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A British officer is slated to parachute into Normandy. What he doesn't know is that he is being set up by British Intelligence to be captured by the enemy and reveal erroneous information to the Nazis. Officer Raine (Bradford Dillman) is the unknowing soldier who has intentionally been given false information. His superiors justify the expenditure of one man verses the thousands of lives that will be saved by his mission. The unlucky officer faces capture, brutal torture and debilitating guilt leading to alcoholism over his perceived "failure" to keep the information secret. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this detective film, a Chinese detective breaks up a drug smuggling ring and tries to find the "Daffodil Killer." The drug smugglers had devised the ingenious method of smuggling heroin from Hong Kong in the stems of daffodils. ~ Sandra Brennan, 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

In this crime drama, an impoverished but enamored bank clerk joins his brother's gang of bank robbers so he can afford to marry his sweetheart. Unfortunately, their latest caper fails and the bank clerk accidentally gets involved in a murder leaving him to take a hard look at the life he has chosen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide