Val Valentine Movies

One in the series of St. Trinian's off-beat, irreverent comedies that began in 1953 and continued strong through the '60s, this farce by Frank Launder features the usual bevy of comely young women who attend the school. This time around, the femmes terribles have just burnt down the school and shock the world by getting acquitted when hauled into the Old Bailey. It seems the judge is keen on Rosalie (Julie Alexander) and besides, an unscrupulous shyster posing as a professor offers to rebuild the school. Instead, he takes the offenders on a bogus tour of Greece and once they are underway, he leads them to his real goal -- forced matrimony to the sons of an Arab sheik. As always, this St. Trinian's comedy is meant for audiences who enjoy its own brand of humor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This rollicking political satire stars Ian Carmichael as an impressionable British TV personality. His vanity is stroked by a group of political managers who talk him into running on the Conservative ticket during a political campaign. The managers hope that Carmichael's name value will draw voters, but don't intend to permit him anything like actual legislative power. Carmichael suddenly develops an abiding interest in politics when he meets his Labour Party opponent--lovely Patricia Breden. Left, Right and Center is blessed with an abundance of supporting character comedians, headed by Alistair Sim as Carmichael's avaricious uncle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Oliver Branwell (Jack Hawkins) is an honest, decent man, dedicated to his job as an insurance claims assessor -- until he makes a business call, to assess the damage from a fire, on Tracey Moreton (Dennis Price) and meets Morton's wife Sarah (Arlene Dahl), with whom Oliver had been involved romantically five years earlier. He's thrown off balance by her presence and the seeming friendliness of Tracey and his mother (Violet Fairbrother), both members of the upper-class who have found their lifestyle squeezed and trimmed back by England's dire postwar economy and taxes. But soon, Oliver finds himself in more than a personally awkward position over his friendship with Tracey and lingering attraction to Sarah -- he accidentally uncovers evidence of a massive insurance fraud committed by Tracey, and doesn't want to report it for fear of implicating Sarah. And matters only get worse when Tracey's family home is burned to the ground, in a fire that was definitely arson, killing Tracey (or did it?) in the process. And just when Oliver's dilemma seemingly couldn't get worse, he and the newly-widowed Sarah are married. And then the police start sniffing around, along with a blackmailer (Bernard Miles) who is after a share of the 30,000 pounds insurance that Sarah collected on Tracey's life. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this British espionage drama, a murderer hopes to escape his fateful appointment on death row by identifying the leaders of a spy ring. Unfortunately, a detective has already figured it out before he talks and the killer hangs for his crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crazy British comedy, a Cockney corporal dreams of getting promoted so that he can finally receive his inheritance. To facilitate the raise in status, he masquerades as a priest and goes out one night with the vicar's glamorous, blond wife. His action starts a trend and soon he runs into a number of men in priestly garb. The trouble is, he cannot discern the real ones from the fakes until the end when he finds a fugitive convict and gets him arrested. Soon after, the plucky corporal gets his promotion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Belles of St. Trinian's was the first of several British comedies inspired by the fear-inspiring girl's school created by cartoonist Ronald Searle. The girls of St. Trinian's aim their deviltry at a gang of crooks who plan to steal a famous race horse. Alastair Sim wraps up the proceedings with his dual portrayal of the school's severe headmistress (!) and her bookmaking twin brother. Also worth watching is veteran supporting player George Cole, who makes a tidy profit on the alcoholic beverages produced in the girls' science lab, and toothy Joyce Grenfell as a diligent lady constable. Like most of the subsequent "St. Trinian's" farces, Belles of St. Trinian's was a joint effort of the producer/director/writer team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this whimsical fantasy, a mild-mannered writer of wild adventure novels for young girls finds himself presented with an intriguing proposition from an elderly fan. She suggests that they conspire together to steal the whiskey formula from the distillers who took it from her family many years ago. They do so, and with the recipe find themselves receiving many partnership offers from distillery's. The writer's partner then insures that he has plenty of young fans to inspire him to keep on writing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Despite its lighthearted title, Lady Godiva Rides Again is a fairly potent indictment of the darker side of beauty contests. Waitress Marjorie (Pauline Stroud) enters one competition after another, hoping for fame and fortune. She manages to make the finals of a "Lady Godiva" contest, never suspecting that the outcome has been rigged. By accident, Marjorie wins First Prize, a huge sum of money and a movie contract. Alas, she hasn't the talent to parlay her win into a lasting career, and soon Marjorie is scrounging around for any "girlie show" job she can find. Only when reduced to performing nude in a French cabaret review is Marjorie rescued by her Australian boyfriend Larry Burns (John McCallum), who makes her promise to stop all this nonsense and settle down to domesticity. The well-chosen cast includes Dennis Price as a lascivious movie star and Stanley Holloway and Gladys Henson as the girl's nonplused parents. Featured in smaller roles are such future leading ladies as Kay Kendall, Diana Dors, Dagmar (later Dana) Wynter and, in an uncredited bit, Joan Collins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama a power-mad psycho woman vents her frustration by being cruel and abusive to her family. Because she disapproves of her daughter's marriage to a doctor, the wicked mother destroys the marriage. She tires of her husband and poisons him so she can get a new one. The only one she leaves alone is her darling son, a renowned medical researcher. When he wises up to her evil ways, he calls the cops. In the end the woman is convicted and sent to an asylum for the criminally insane. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This holiday comedy is set during the Christmas of 1946 and centers upon a fellow who has returned to his native Canada to spend the Yule. When he receives a telegram from "the Fergusons," many memories of the Christmas they spent together come flooding back. The story jumps backward four years when the man was serving in the Canadian army and was stationed in England. This family took him in for the holiday. While there, the soldier finds himself pursued by the Fergusons' daughter and by their maid. The story then jumps to the present where the former maid--now in the military too--is seen preparing the soldier's Christmas dinner in their home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This 1949 British film told a very plausible story about a triangle between a woman, her soldier husband, and her new lover. Jim Colter (John Mills) has joined the services, leaving his wife Tillie (Joy Shelton) with his mother (Beatrice Varley) and sister. Tillie is lonely, meets Ted Purvis (Stewart Granger), and falls for him. It turns
out that Purvis is a small-time crook and swindler and falsified his medical records in order to avoid serving in the war. Jim finds out about the affair and deserts the war to return home and settle matters. But he is set upon and beaten by Purvis' hoodlum buddies. Unchastened, Jim goes after Purvis, and they engage in a climactic fist fight as bombs are dropping during a Nazi air raid. The entire story is played out against the noisy backdrop of a country at war. It was based on a story by director Sidney Gilliat. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

The British music-hall comedy team of Ethel (Ethel Revnell) and Gracie (Gracie West) were busy starring in the popular BBC radio series The Long and the Short of It (Ethel was the "long" and Gracie the "short") when they starred in a group of low-budget but high-grossing feature films. In Up with the Lark, Ethel and Gracie join the British Land Army, driving their superiors daft. Some of the military gags are so old that one feels they were written for Caesar's army. No matter: the film paid its way with the laughter-hungry British public, and then some. Incidentally, the Ian Fleming who plays Rev. Swallow in Up with the Lark is not the author of the James Bond novels. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide