Betty Henderson Movies
- 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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Craig, Anne Heywood, (more)
- 1959
This remake of the Alfred Hitchcock thriller does not have his flair for suspense, but director Ralph Thomas keeps the action moving, offers some comic highlights, and the story itself carries the 90-minute running time. Richard Hannay (Kenneth More) is at a vaudeville show when a shot rings out and some commotion forces him to protect a young woman by bringing her home. His protection fails after she is stabbed by an assailant who escapes. She dies -- but not before she tells Richard there is a secret organization run by a man in Scotland, trying to smuggle some important plans out of the country. He must stop them, and as soon as she mentions 39 steps, she expires. Richard has only two days to find the head of the organization, get the plans, and foil this espionage attempt. Along the way to Scotland he is literally hooked up with an attractive schoolmarm after they are handcuffed together, and his misadventures continue with her in tow. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth More, Taina Elg, (more)
- 1954
Originally released as High and Dry, The Maggie was one of the most endearing of the "regional" British comedies of the 1950s. Hollywood's Paul Douglas plays an American businessman whose brash, glad-handing techniques earn nothing but cold stares in a tiny Scottish village. Ever anxious to cut costs, Douglas arranges with a local "transport company" to move his luggage to a remote Scots island. That's how he gets mixed up with The Maggie, a ranshackle old shipping vessel captained by taciturn Alex Mackenzie. Our only cavil: The Maggie is slow going at times, cutting its humor potential in half. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Douglas, Alex Mackenzie, (more)
- 1953
Black-market babies in a British boardinghouse provide the basis of this brutal crime drama. Though the landlady is outwardly upstanding and self-righteous, she is really the brains behind the operation. Her newest tenant is the pregnant lover of a convicted killer who has come there to avoid publicity. There the hapless girl is horribly mistreated as are all of the "guests." But despite the abuse, the young woman refuses to report it. Another boarder, who lost her baby due to the landlady's refusal to call a doctor, becomes the young woman's friend. Eventually things become so bad that a houseworker phones the police. Just before they arrive, the evil landlady shoves the pregnant woman down a flight of stairs and leaves her there to die. The wicked woman is then arrested and goes on to get her just desserts. This film received the very first British "X" rating. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The Women of Twilight in this controversial British production are the unwed mothers living in a group home. Helen Alistair (Freda Jackson), owner of the shelter, uses a veneer of kindness and generosity to mask her true character: Helen exploits the young women as cheap labor, then farms out their babies to the black-market adoption market. The story concentrates on one of the young unfortunates (Rene Ray), whose tragic plight finally arouses the suspicions of the authorities. Considered raw meat in 1953, Women of Twilight seems to pull most of its punches today. The film was based on a play by Anatole de Grunwald. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freda Jackson, Renee Ray, (more)
- 1951
Rona Anderson plays a wealthy young Englishwoman, long estranged from her father. She returns home when papa dies, reluctantly agreeing to listen to the will reading. It soon becomes clear that some unknown party is out to bump off Anderson as well--though she is the only person who stands to benefit from her father's demise. Director Terence Fisher, later a foremost purveyor of horror at Hanner Films, deftly handles shocks of a more mundane sort herein. Home to Danger is just long enough at 66 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
In this drama, set within the slums of Glasgow, an artist reminisces about his youthful days in the impoverished, violent neighborhood. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
