Milo O'Shea Movies

This British comedy is set in 1945 Ireland and tells the story of a small town that plans to erect a monument to honor an IRA rebel during the 1920s. The son of the British colonel responsible for the killing strongly objects. After the statue has been unveiled, the rebel's mischievous son destroys the tribute and tries to frame the colonel's son. Just as the enraged townsfolk are preparing to lynch the young Englishman, the rebel's son confesses his crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The seventh film in the long-running "Carry On" series (24 more were to follow), this chapter features Sidney James as Charlie, owner of the Speedee Cab Company. Business has been good for Charlie, so good that it's been a source of great aggravation for his wife Peggy (Hattie Jacques), who complains that he never spends any time with her anymore. When Charlie misses taking his wife out on their anniversary because he's busy with work, Peggy decides that she's had enough, and she fights fire with fire by starting her own taxi service, Glamcabs. Unlike the other cab companies in town, Glamcabs' fleet of drivers are exclusively beautiful women in skimpy uniforms, which not surprisingly makes them the taxi of choice for men in town. Glamcabs takes a big bite out of Speedee's business, which leads to an all-out war between Charlie and Peggy. The "Carry On" gang followed this with Carry On Spying; two more "Carry On" titles hit theaters before the end of 1964. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The late velvet voiced crooner Bing Crosby headlined the 1967 television special, Bing Crosby: A Little Bit of Irish, which originally aired on American networks. Shot live in Dublin circa 1966 as a tribute to the country of St. Patrick and the great potato famine, A Little Bit of Irish features Crosby and a series of guests - among them Milo O'Shea, The Guinness Choir, and John McNally -- performing a plethora of Irish ballads - an area of song for which Crosby became well known via his recordings. Eighteen numbers are sung in this hour-long event; the tracks include the much-beloved "Molly Malone," "Macnamara's Band,""The Boys of Wexford," "Courtin' in the Kitchen," "I'm Off to Philadelphia," and "Isle of Innisfree." ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A voluptuous outer space agent travels to another galaxy in search of a missing inventor in this science fiction send-up. Barbarella (Jane Fonda), an interstellar representative of the united Earth government in the 41st century, is dispatched to locate scientist Durand Durand, whose positronic ray, if not recovered, could signal the end of humanity. Outfitted in an array of stunning Star Trek/Bond girl outfits and cruising around in a plush, psychedelic spaceship, Barbarella travels to the Tau Seti system and promptly crash-lands. She then spends the rest of the film discovering the joys of interstellar sex with a keeper of feral children (Ugo Tognazzi), a blind, beatific angel (John Phillip Law), and an inept revolutionary named Dildano (David Hemmings). Slowly but surely, she also finds her way to Durand Durand by moving from one exotic, Wizard of Oz-style locale to another. Along the way, she meets the kindly Professor Ping (a surprisingly verbal Marcel Marceau), a Eurotrash dominatrix named the Great Tyrant (Rolling Stones gal pal Anita Pallenberg), and the Concierge (Milo O'Shea), a strangely familiar lackey of the Great Tyrant who tries to destroy Barbarella with his great big organ of love. Jean-Claude Forest, who created the character Barbarella in 1962 for V-Magazine, served as visual advisor on the adaptation. The film's missing scientist character famously inspired the band name of '80s pop stars Duran Duran (who altered the spelling slightly). Almost two decades later, the film also inspired electronic act Matmos, which was named after the aqueous personification of evil unleashed by the Concierge at the movie's climax. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

This satirical fantasy is based upon an Elmer Rice play from 1923. A hard-working office employee is rewarded for his years of slavish devotion to the company by getting fired just prior to retirement and being replaced with an adding machine. Now, with only his nagging wife waiting at home to add more misery to his dreary life, the man has nothing left and goes over the edge. He murders his boss and then goes on trial. He is convicted and put to death. He dies a happy and free man, thinking that he will surely go to Hell. Strangely enough, he ends up in a heavenly waiting area with other killers who are all there to be reassigned to new lives back on Earth. While waiting, he meets his new guardian angel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Paddy Maguire (Des Cave) is the wild Irish rogue who works as a butcher in Dublin. Harry (Milo O'Shea) is his good friend and drinking companion. He has an affair and his first sexual encounter with the attractive widow Mrs. Kearney (Maureen Toal). He eventually takes a job with an insurance company where he has another affair with his secretary Maureen (Dearbhla Molloy). He also has a romantic romp with Breeda (Judy Cornwell), who revels in having more than one man at once. Maureen becomes pregnant and tells Paddy she is marrying another man because he is irresponsible. He goes drinking with Harry, who has taken up with the American tourist Irenee (Peggy Cass). Several memorable performances are given in this comedy taken from the novel by Lee Dunne. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

One of the most notorious American judicial cases of the 20th century is paced and photographed like a spaghetti Western in the Italian Sacco and Vanzetti. There is no denying that Nicola Sacco (Riccardo Cucciolla) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (Gian Maria Volontè) were anarchists. But it is highly doubtful that Sacco and Vanzetti were guilty of murder. However, their trial took place at the height of the 1920s "Red Scare," so there was little opportunity for the two men to receive fair treatment. Despite worldwide protests from politicians, intellectuals, and "average Joes," Sacco and Vanzetti were executed on August 23, 1927, after spending nearly seven years on death row. Like most TV and film accounts of this story, Sacco and Vanzetti is clearly sympathetic to the main characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lee Remick made her TV movie debut in And No One Could Save Her. She plays an American heiress whose husband (Frank Grimes) has apparently disappeared in the middle of a transcontinental flight. Remick heads to Ireland, her husband's original destination, to get to the bottom of things. And No One Could Save Her was the first TV production of the Robert Stigwood Group (Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Can't Stop the Music etc.) The film originally aired February 21, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Few theatre marquees could accommodate the title It's a 2'6" Above the Ground World, so most British exhibitors chose the film's alternate title, The Love Ban. Based on a potty-mouthed stage play by Kevin Laffan, this comedy concerns the tribulations of a devoutly Catholic couple, played by Nanette Newman and Hywel Bennett. When Newman decides she doesn't want to be burdened with children, she decides to take the pill--which, as we all know from those ubiquitous posters of the 1960s, was a "No No" so far as the Pope was concerned. What seemed racy and daring in 1973 is now almost as harmless as an episode of Barney and Friends. Best to forget the dated quality of the lines and revel in the performances of Newman, Bennett and Milo O'Shea. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy an odd-ball science teacher and his young protege begin experimenting with their new shrinking formula. Unfortunately, it works too well. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An airline pilot wages a desperate battle against the alcoholism that is destroying his life and risking the lives of others in this drama. The film is also known as Danger in the Skies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Portrait of a Rebel: The Remarkable Mrs. Sanger was written by Blanche Hanalis, a specialist in turning out quality teleplays with a feminist slant. Bonnie Franklin stars as pioneering birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger, who in the early part of the 20th century conducted a 25-year battle to have her views legitimized by the puritanical, male-dominated medical establishment. The film covers the years 1912 through 1917, starting with Sanger's work as a New York City public health nurse. Appalled by the deaths brought about by self-induced abortions, Sanger campaigns to enlighten uneducated "lower-class" women in the proper methods of birth control, eventually opening her own clinic. Her efforts are rewarded with public scorn, attacks from various censorship advocates (her informational pamphlets are deemed "pornographic") and frequent jail terms. In order to spice up an already fascinating story, the film places undue emphasis on the brief romance between Ms. Sanger and British sexual-liberation guru Havelock Ellis (Richard Johnson). Portrait of A Rebel might make a piquant double feature with the 1995 cable-TV Margaret Sanger biopic, which starred Dana Delany. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide