Sheila Burrell
British documentary filmmaker Phil Agland turned to drama with this re-creation of Thomas Hardy's rural Wessex of the late 19th century, adapted from Hardy's 1887 novel. In the woodland Wessex community of Little Hintock, laconic woodsman Giles Winterbourne (Rufus Sewell) lives in a cottage belonging to the lady of the manor, Mrs. Charmond (Polly Walker). Peasant girl Marty (Jodhi May), who sells her hair to wigmakers, is attracted to Giles. However, Grace (Emily Woof, of The Full Monty), daughter of local timber-merchant Melbury (Tony Haygarth), returns home from finishing school. Giles and Grace were once childhood sweethearts, but class barriers now stand in their way. Grace marries young Dr. Fitzpiers (Cal MacAninch), and the happy newlyweds depart on their honeymoon. Fitzpiers' true snobbish colors begin to surface, and his philandering ways eventually lead Grace back to Giles. Shown at the 1997 London Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emily Woof, Rufus Sewell, (more)
Stella Gibbons' popular novel was published in 1932, and it has been adapted twice for British television, first as a miniseries in 1971, then by director John Schlesinger in 1995. That version proved so popular that it was released to theaters in the U.S. The heroine of Gibbons' story, Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale), is an aspiring young writer with two needs: material for her first novel, and a cheap place to live and work. A wealthy friend encourages her to take advantage of her country cousins and impose upon them for lodgings. Flora finds Cold Comfort Farm to be a ramshackle affair populated by eccentrics including the imperious Ada Doom (Sheila Burrell), her daughter Judith (Eileen Atkins), Judith's rough but handsome son Seth (Rufus Sewell), and Amos (Ian McKellen), an amateur preacher whose sermonizing seems to release some kind of demons within him. Undaunted by this menagerie, Flora gets to work organizing the household, and she comes to realize that the material for her book is right in front of her. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Beckinsale, Sheila Burrell, (more)
A young boy comes to fear that his blind mother may become the next victim of a serial killer in this complex psychological thriller. Unfolding at first as a traditional suspense tale, the film follows the terrified boy's attempts to determine the killer's identity, a task his policeman father has failed to achieve. Things take a more provocative and puzzling turn when the boy's penchant for fantasy is revealed, forcing the audience to question whether what has been shown has been real or merely a product of the boy's imagination. As a result, much of the anxiety in Afraid of the Dark emerges not from the violent shocks, but from the uncertain reality and the tantalizing, disturbing hints of the child's psychology. This purposeful ambiguity may strike some viewers as confusing and alienating, despite the film's assured performances and striking imagery. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Keyworth, James Fox, (more)
- 1969
Set in London and the Riviera, Laughter in the Dark stars Nicol Williamson as Edward, a wealthy, knighted art dealer who falls hard for tartish usherette Margot (Anna Karina). She is kept by a glorified pimp (Jean-Claude Drouot), who conspires with the girl to take Edward for everything he's got. The art dealer is blinded in an auto accident, after which he switches emotional gears and plans to kill the girl and her keeper. Somehow this all worked better back when Hollywood people like Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea were involved. Based on a 1938 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the film version of Laughter in the Dark "updates" the piece with flash shots of "mod" London, which now seems more anachronistic than anything in the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicol Williamson, Anna Karina, (more)
- 1969
The original Avengers series came to an end with this episode. It all begins when a woman clad only in a nightgown is found wandering around a snowy field insisting that she's seen a "live dead man". Steed and Tara follow this lead to a cemetary, where all the coffins are empty. In order to get to the bottom of things, Steed must offer himself up as a candidate for premature burial. The episode's final scene suggests that there may well be additional Avengers installments in the near future; as it turned out, the series would not be revived until 1976. Written by Brian Clemens, "Bizarre" made its American TV debut on April 21, 1969, and its first British TV appearance one month later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
This drama centers upon a female thief and her robber band as they try to hide out from the cops on a deserted island. Their only shelter is an abandoned mansion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
A woman must contend with her family's madness as she finds her own sanity in doubt in this thriller from British horror masters Hammer Films. After the death of her parents, Eleanor Ashby (Janette Scott) would seem a safe bet to inherit their estate, but at the funeral, she's convinced that she has seen Tony (Alexander Davion), her brother who killed himself seven years ago. Eleanor's other sibling Simon (Oliver Reed), who is inarguably alive, uses this as an excuse to contest the will, arguing that Eleanor is mentally unstable and an unfit heir. Simon's claims cause Eleanor to wonder about her sanity, and in a moment of weakness she attempts suicide. Tony rescues her and tells her that he never died but simply went into hiding. He returns to the family's mansion, but soon he and Eleanor become the subject of a number of violent attacks by a masked lunatic before Eleanor learns a surprising secret about Tony. Paranoiac marked the directorial debut of ace cinematographer Freddie Francis. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janette Scott, Oliver Reed, (more)
- 1952
This murder mystery is comprised of three pilot episodes of a British television series. The story centers around the odd cases that come into the Department of Queer Complaints at Scotland Yard. The protagonist is the head of the department and wears a black eye patch and cloak. His job is to investigate the most bizarre cases. He solves three in this film. The first involves an innocent man and a bank robbery. Next he dispatches with two murder cases. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boris Karloff
- 1951
Teeny-tiny Hammer pictures built its reputation on second-feature melodramas before graduating to gore-encrusted horror epics. Cloudburst is a low-key thriller starring American actor Robert Preston, whose casting assured a certain degree of business in the States. Preston plays a code expert, resettled in England after the war and working at the British Foreign Office. One morning, Preston's wife is struck down and killed by a car driven by escaping criminals. Preston bypasses the efforts of Scotland Yard and pursues the criminals himself, using his codebreaking skills to track down the "big boys" in charge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Preston, Elizabeth Sellars, (more)
- 1950
In this low-budget crime drama, a woman, paralyzed after an auto accident, learns that her husband has been fooling around with her own sister. When the cheating sibling is found shot to death, the philandering husband is accused of the crime. But is he really the guilty party? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
In this crime drama, a gold-digging wife makes life for her husband and stepdaughter a waking nightmare. When her husband finally figures out her scheme, he uses his expertise in yoga to fake his death and later returns disguised as a gardener to spy upon her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
