Naomi Chance Movies
- 1971
Topol, or more correctly, Chaim Topol, Israel's best known international film star, leads in this sex comedy. Gadi (Topol), a sergeant in the Israeli reserves, is on active duty but is given leave to return to Haifa to divorce his wife. For reasons best known to the filmmakers, Gadi (who is not conventionally good-looking) is irresistible to all the comely women he meets. On his journey from the Suez to Haifa, he meets a woman officer and makes love with her in a rescue helicopter, meets a woman doctor and makes love to her on her kitchen floor, and finally couples with his soon-to-be ex-wife. These are not his only amorous adventures, just the highlights. The whole film is acted with a light touch and is designed to highlight the humor rather than the prurient elements of the story. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1966
Tom Bell stars in this tight little British thriller as a mercurial cat burglar. So long as things are going his way, Bell is calm and collected. Let anything upset his equilibrium, and he's an accident waiting to happen. Bell's one chance at redemption is his romance with pretty social-worker Judi Dench. When she rejects him, Bell returns to his crime spree, telling Dench to get lost when she offers to give him a second chance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Bell, Judi Dench, (more)
- 1965
Steed and Emma investigate when several clients of a marriage bureau are suddenly and inexplcably murdered. It turns out that the agency also sidelines in assassination -- but only for "select" customers. Naturally, it is Emma who bears the brunt of the villains' wrath. . .and this time, she doesn't seem quite as self-confident as usual. Initally filmed with Elizabeth Shepherd in the role of Emma Peel, the reshot version of "The Murder Market" first aired in England on November 13, 1965. Written by Tony Williamson, the episode made its American network TV debut on May 30, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diana Rigg
- 1962
London's federation of diamond merchants is being plagued by a vicious gang of smugglers. Steed and Cathy pose as husband-and-wife gem dealers in hopes of flushing out the villains. Ultimately, Cathy is targetted for death by the smugglers, but here as elsewhere, she proves to be up to the challenge. First telecast in England on December 1, 1962, Death on the Rocks was written by Eric Paice. The episode made its American cable-TV bow on February 7, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Peter Finch portrays the titular flamboyant Irish poet/playwright in The Trials of Oscar Wilde. The storyline, lifted to a great extent from actual court records, recounts Wilde's late 19th century libel action against the Marquis of Queensbury. The author loses, whereupon he himself is tried for sodomy due to his homosexual affair with the Marquis' son, Lord Douglas. Wilde is sentenced to prison; the public humiliation leads to the once-proud writer's immortal poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol--and to his premature death in 1900. The film had to tiptoe around certain touchy legalities, in that sodomy was still a punishable offence in British courts in 1960. The US title for this film was The Trial of Oscar Wilde, effectively killing the ironic double meaning of the plural British title. In certain regions, the film was shown as The Man with the Green Carnation. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Finch, Yvonne Mitchell, (more)
- 1959
Set in an anti-aircraft station along the British coast, this light comedy features Donald Sinden as Lt. Gordon Brown and Barbara Murray as his wife, Private Betty Brown. When a group of female recruits are posted to the base, the handsome lieutenant attracts their attention, especially the attention of blonde charmer Private Marge White (Carole Lesley). Then Lt. Brown's wife Betty gets posted to the base as well, and that causes no end of trouble. Regulations require that they cannot be working out of the same place, and so they hide their relationship. Meanwhile, the enamored Marge does not have a clue and neither does Major Pym (Naunton Wayne). The good Major then gives the flummoxed lieutenant leave to go visit his wife, and matters deteriorate even more. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sinden, Barbara Murray, (more)
- 1958
A stellar cast redeems the tawdry European-filmed melodrama 3DThe Man Inside3D. Nigel Patrick plays Sam Carter, a mild-mannered British clerk who spends half his life fantasizing about stealing a valuable diamond. When he is finally able to pull off this heist, it is at the cost of another man's life. Escaping to the Continent, Sam lives like a king, throwing his money around and romancing an unending stream of willing females. Private detective Milo March (Jack Palance) suspects that Sam is in some way tied in with the jewel theft, as are several less reputable types. Among the latter category are femme fatale Trudie Hall (Anita Ekberg) and two-bit crooks Lomer (Bonar Colleano, whose last film this was) and Rizzio (Sean Kelly). Anthony Newley also shows up briefly as a comedy-relief cabbie. If 3DThe Man Inside3D seems like a dry run for the "James Bond" films of the 1960s, it may be because the film was produced by Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and scripted by Richard Maibaum, both mainstays of the Bond series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Palance, Anita Ekberg, (more)
- 1956
A bellboy gets sweet revenge upon the employers at the hotel where he once worked after he inherits a lot of money in this lively British comedy. The sweetest revenge of all comes when he and the other lackeys team up to scam the wealthy, who look down upon them, hoping to get them to finance his attempt to buy the posh establishment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
In this British crime drama, a philanderer finds himself accused of murder after the man he used for his alibi is found murdered. Fortunately, his story is believed by a hard-working crime reporter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1954
In this exciting drama, three people spy an empty yacht adrift at sea. They get on board and begin investigating, thinking it was used for smuggling. Not long afterwards, all of them develop radiation burns on their arms. They soon discover that the ship's mast is filled with stolen uranium. They radio the cops, but before they can get there, the crooks return and a chase ensues, culminating in a deadly explosion. In Great Britain, the film was titled Dangerous Voyage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Though filmed ten years after The Saint Meets the Tiger, the British The Saint's Girl Friday is generally regarded as the final entry in RKO's "Saint" series of 1938-43. Louis Hayward, who first played Leslie Charteris' soldier-of-fortune Simon Templar in the 1938 film The Saint in New York, returns to the role after a 16-year absence. This time, Templar comes to London at the invitation of an old female acquaintance. When he arrives, he discovers that the woman is dead, the possible victim of a vicious gambling syndicate. Together with chronic gambler Carol Denby (Naomi Chance), who is being blackmailed into acting as a come-on for the crooks, Templar takes on chief heavy Max Lennar (Sidney Taffler), all the while keeping one step ahead of Scotland Yard inspector Teal (Charles Victor). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Louis Hayward, Naomi Chance, (more)
- 1954
78-year-old British leading actor Finlay Currie appears in this unexpected latter-day vehicle. He plays a retired factory worker, living with his son and daughter-in-law. They treat the old man like an intrusion, leading Currie to consider himself spent and useless. His family contemplates sending him to a home for the ageing, but a last-minute turn of events brings everyone to their senses and sensibilities. While the finale of End of the Road seems unrealistic, the rest of the film is an unsettling study of how society shrugs off and casts away its elderly citizens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Chapman, George Merritt, (more)
- 1953
This curiously little-known British mystery stars Tom Conway as an American FBI agent. Conway is sent to England to investigate the death of a model. It just might be that enemy agents are involved, and our hero wants to find out as much as possible before putting his own life on the line. The most familiar faces in the supporting cast belong to Delphi Lawrence, Eric Pohlmann and Richard Wattis. Three Stops to Murder is one of the earliest efforts of future "house of horror" Hammer Films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
Blood Orange is an early effort from the British "shock shop" of Hammer Films. Hollywood's Tom Conway stars as a former FBI agent, living in contented retirement in London. Conway's quietude is interrupted when gorgeous model Delphi Lawrence is murdered. Ere the "The End" sign looms into view, Conway learns that the girl's death was tied in with a jewel theft. The film's title refers to the most valuable of the stolen gems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1952
In this crime drama, an avaricious, successful gambler is not content with fabulous wealth and aspires to become a member of the British nobility after he falls in love with one of the country's more prominent blue-blooded women. Unfortunately, to have her, he must mend his ways. He then dumps his girl friend, a nightclub singer who becomes murderously jealous. He must also deal with the mobsters who try to take over his clubs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Wings of Danger was originally released in England as Dead on Course. This early Hammer Studios effort stars Zachary Scott as an airline pilot named Van. When Van's pal Nick Talbot (Robert Beatty) is strong-armed into aiding a gang of smugglers, it's time to take decisive action. Adventure-film veteran John Gilling adapted the screenplay from a novel by Elleston Trevor. Distributed in Great Britain by Exclusive Films, Ltd., Wings of Danger was released in the U.S. by Lippert Pictures. According to some sources, the U.S. version was trimmed by a couple of minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Zachary Scott, Robert Beatty, (more)
- 1952
...And it ended in London. This backstage yarn stars Jane Hylton as a talented dress designer who lets nothing get in the way of her success. As she rises in the fashion world, she loses contact with her own humanity. She also forgets that you meet the same people on the way up as on the way down. It Started in Paradise is a unusually plush, Lana Turner-esque production to come from a British studio in the early 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martita Hunt, Jane Hylton, (more)
