Ronald Scott Thorn Movies
Ronald Scott Thorn was the penname of practicing doctor, novelist, playwright and occasional screenwriter Dr. Ronald Wilkinson. Using the name Thorn, Dr. Wilkinson, wrote his first theatrical production, Mountain Air in 1948 (while still practicing medicine) and his first novel in 1952. His first book to be made into a film was Upstairs and Downstairs (1960). Thorn also occasionally worked on scripts such as Doctor in Distress (1963). ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
After several years' absence, Dirk Bogarde returns to the popular British "Doctor" film series in Doctor in Distress. Where once Bogarde's Dr. Simon Sparrow was naive and wide-eyed, he is a bit more urbane in this edition. He even manages to offer romantic advice to his old mentor/nemesis Sir Lancelot Sprat (James Robertson Justice). Sparrow's efforts to smooth the path for Sir Lancelot's amorous pursuit of physiotherapist Barbara Murray puts a strain on his own relationship with comely Samantha Eggar. Doctor in Distress is based on characters created by Dr. Richard Gordon, though the story is an original and not an adaptation of a Gordon novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Samantha Eggar, (more)
- 1961
In this heavy drama, a race car driver suffers a head injury on his wedding day and becomes a mental case. The couple puts off their honeymoon while he is treated by a psychiatrist. Later when they make love, he tries to strangle her. This behavior becomes a habit, for every time they are romantic he becomes insanely angry with her. He thinks he has really gone 'round the bend until he sees his new bride and the shrink together. He goes to the doctor and confronts him. In turn, the shrink tries to make the man believe that he is hallucinating. A chase ensues between the men. The frightened doctor tries to flee in a cable car and ends up having a fatal fall. The married couple then continues their honeymoon. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Claude Dauphin, Diane Cilento, (more)
- 1960
Robert Wagner plays Chad Bixby, a role reportedly inspired by the life of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker in this romantic drama about two young couples linked by the out-of-wedlock baby spawned by Bixby and Salome Davis (Natalie Wood) before their current marriages. Pearl Bailey appears as a famous blues singer who dies of a broken heart after being jilted by her horn player, and George Hamilton is featured as Wood's current husband. A well-mounted production and potentially interesting idea -- that lives can be irrevoccably changed in one night -- are let down by a soapy and muddled screenplay. The film was suggested by Rosamond Marshall's novel The Bixby Girls. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Wagner, Natalie Wood, (more)
- 1960
A humorous, sometimes absurd and sometimes just light-hearted comedy, this story sets up the premise of a couple's search for a housemaid, with a series of impossible women providing the hilarity. When Richard and Kate (Michael Craig and Anne Heywood) return from their honeymoon, they discover that Kate's father has given them a maid as a wedding gift. The trouble is that the maid has a good portion of the U.S. Navy in the house when they arrive, in a more-or-less wild orgy. Exit maid. The couple then hire Rosemary (Joan Hickson) who tipples to excess, making her service at a dinner party an insurmountable challenge. Exit Rosemary. Enter Blodwen (Joan Sims) a homesick woman from Wales who cannot live outside her native environment. Exit Blodwen. And so it goes, even through a gorgeous French maid (Mylene Demongeot) who causes more than a mild uproar among the couple's friends. It seems the help is either too bad or too good. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, (more)
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