Mark Burns Movies

In this period piece set in England in 1776, Betsy, the eldest daughter of the 'nouveau riche' Sterling family from the city, is to wed Sir John, the son of the aristocratic but poor Ogleby family from the country. However, Betsy's sister Fanny, who has secretly married her father's clerk by whom she is pregnant, quickly becomes the object of attention not only of Sir John but also of his elderly father, Lord Ogleby. Betsy's father, who is not aware that Fanny is already married, secretly agrees to exchange one daughter for the other. Soon everyone is acting at cross-purposes, the immediate concern being how to save face. The Clandestine Marriage is a comedy of errors set against the lush landscape of an English country estate in high summer. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide

While vacationing in Paris, Park Avenue socialite Helen Hollander (Connie Sellecca) cannot shake the feeling that she is being watched. Helen's instincts aren't failing her: Ever since disembarking from her plane, sinister-looking characters have been monitoring her every move. Flippant private eye Hank McCay (Ed Marinaro) tries to help Helen shake her pursuers, but he's not so good a detective that he notices the highly volatile contents of our heroine's suitcase. A US-Hungarian coproduction, the lighthearted TV-movie thriller Passport to Murder made its first appearance over NBC on March 7, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After Griffin Dunne's wife Brooke Adams is injured in a car crash, Dunne begins an affair with Adams' nurse Karen Young. You think that takes gall? Dunne also becomes best friends with Young's boyfriend Marty Watt. Believe it or not, Griffin Dunne is the most likeable character in the movie. After testing poorly at 110 minutes, Almost You was whittled down to 96 minutes. Those who have trouble wading through this prime example of mid-1980s self-indulgence are advised to keep an eye out for the brilliant monologist Spalding Gray in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This low-grade thriller centers around Frank Waite (Art Hindle), a sports-car salesman who is suddenly mean-tempered when his wife Lee (Shannon Tweed) becomes turned off by sex, and Anouk Van Derlin, the sex therapist they decide to see (Carole Laure). As Anouk starts to bring out the suppressed sexual fantasies of the couple, their sex life is much better -- but both Lee and Frank are not completely at ease with their new, unrestrained relationship. In the meantime, a series of stabbings occurs in the city that may or may not be related to a transvestite neighbor of the Waites. But as the murders continue, some of the victims turn out to be friends or acquaintances of the couple -- and the guessing game to identify the real killer begins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Joan Collins stars as Fontaine Khaled in this sleek and sleazy sequel to her sister Jackie Collins's The Stud. Fontaine is the owner of a high class London nightclub, but after having an extramarital affair, her marriage falls apart and she stands to lose her nightclub. As a result, she hits the jet-set circuit, plying her allure for erotic dividends. She also involves herself in smuggling and in rigged horse races, trying any means necessary to obtain the funding to rescue her beloved nightclub from foreclosure. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Steed (Patrick MacNee), Purdy (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) foil the latest mission of Soviet agent Perov (Peter Jeffrey). In retaliation, and in defiance of his superiors, Perov reactivates several "sleeper" agents who have been squirreled away throughout the U.K. for the past 20 years. At first, it would seem that Perov's sole motivation is to kill the Avengers--but there's far more to his sinister scheme. This is the episode in which Gambit poses as a pop star and Purdey impersonates a squealing teenage fan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) was one of the pivotal thinkers of the Renaissance. A Dominican friar in Italy, he left the order and taught widely throughout Europe. Among the ideas he taught were the inexpressibility of any ultimate truths and the complete relativity of ordinary truth. He also taught religious tolerance. For these and other deviations, he was burned at the stake by the Inquisition. This lavish Italian film takes up his story after he has returned to Venice from meetings with European heads of state and teaching sessions at the great universities. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A play by Jean Anouilh is the basis for A Time for Loving. In this Gallic blend of La Ronde and Plaza Suite, a single Paris flat is the scene for three separate romantic stories, bookended by a fourth. Star Mel Ferrar also functioned as producer; it must have taken some fast talking to keep him from directing as well. Filmed in 1970, A Time for Loving made the international rounds one year later, after some judicious editing. It has also been released as Paris Was Made For Lovers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter McEnery stars as Col. Etienne Girard, Hussar officer of the Napoleonic era. The story takes place during the Little Corporal's 1808 campaign in the Spanish peninsula. Col. Gerard's adventures include an ongoing war of nerves against Napoleon's forces, not to mention a steamy affair with one Countess Teresa Claudia Cardinale. "Nappy" himself is played by Eli Wallach, who certainly has the right temperament for the role, even though he's much too tall to be thoroughly convincing. Filmed in Spain, The Adventures of Gerard is based on characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Number Six learns of an impending assassination, "Plan Division Q," in which the target is the Retiring Number Two (Andre Van Gyseghem). Actually, these plans were deliberately divulged by the New Number Two (Derren Nesbitt), who hopes thereby to discredit Number Six. With no one willing to believe that an assassination is about to take place, Number Six finds that his fate may rest in the hands of a watchmaker (Martin Miller) and his daughter (Annette Andre). Written by Michael Cramoy, "It's Your Funeral" was supposed to have been the 10th episode of The Prisoner, but instead was telecast in England as episode number 11 on December 17, 1967. Its original chronology was restored when it debuted in America on August 10, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Two brothers looking to avoid becoming pawns of the establishment come up with a better way of making a living -- through theft -- in this satiric comedy. David Tremayne (Oliver Reed) is a successful London architect, and his younger brother Michael (Michael Crawford) is weighing his options after being kicked out of school. The brothers share a bemused disgust with the world around them and a desire to get through life without the burden of labor; toward this end, one day they begin plotting an elaborate scheme to steal the British Crown Jewels. Mind you, they don't intend to sell them, or even keep them very long -- the idea is to return them after a week, simply to prove that it could indeed be done, and make themselves famous in the process. After studying the procedures of Scotland Yard's Bomb Disposal Unit, the inner working of the Tower of London's Jewel Room, and the London ambulance services, the Tremaynes come up with a foolproof plan -- they call in a bomb threat to the Tower, and they are able to enter the Jewel Room posing as men from the bomb squad. They then feign injury and are able to escape in an ambulance. It all seems simple enough, and it actually works, until Michael "forgets" his part of the agreement to take half of the responsibility for the theft. The supporting cast includes Edward Fox, Frank Finlay, and Harry Andrews. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The imprisoning aspects of Success are humorously analyzed in this British-made film. Oliver Reed plays a wealthy advertising man who feels he has sold his soul and wishes to return to his happier earlier existence as a poor but swinging Londoner. Reed is goaded on by his boss, Orson Welles, who represents all the mercenary crassness that Reed despises. Handed a crucial commercial account, Reed plans to destroy himself by producing as offensive and confusing an ad campaign as possible. But Welles and the client are delighted by the "insult," and the disgruntled Reed is more successful than ever. Directed in the fragmentary "psychedelic" style typical of the late 1960s, I'll Never Forget What's'is Name gained notoriety upon its initial release by being the first mainstream British film in which the "F" word was spoken on-screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This silly twist on the silent classic Der Golem stars Roddy McDowall as Arthur Pimm, assistant museum curator and would-be Norman Bates who, among other things, preserves the body of his late mother in his home. When Pimm and museum director Grove (Ernest Clark) discover a grotesque statue left intact after a fire at one of the museum storehouses, they transport the stone behemoth to the museum for study. After finding Grove mysteriously crushed to death under the statue, Pimm's curiosity is piqued, leading him to investigate its origins. He discovers that the figure is actually the legendary Golem, an indestructible creature of 16th-century Yiddish myth capable of destroying the enemies of any man who becomes its master. Pimm is eventually able to control the monster with his deranged mind, leading it on a rampage of murder and destruction that devastates half of London. Aside from McDowall's typically eccentric performance, this stodgy film is a fairly tedious exercise, shambling along more slowly than the monster itself and punctuated only by occasional over-the-top moments, particularly at the laughable climax. Director Herbert J. Leder's earlier horror film The Frozen Dead is much more enjoyable. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide