Paul Curran Movies
Scottish actor Paul Curran is best known for his work with the National Theatre of Britain, but he also appeared in feature films during the '60s and '70s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A movie version of the stage play The Doctor and the Devils, written in the 1950s by Welsh poet/playwright Dylan Thomas, had been planned and shelved by several filmmakers before producer Mel Brooks and director Freddie Francis finally brought the project to fruition in 1985. Essentially, the story is the old one about grave robbers Burke and Hare and Scottish surgeon Dr. Robert Knox (which also yielded the 1945 Val Lewton classic The Body Snatcher). Timothy Dalton plays 18th century doctor Thomas Rock, who must rely upon the disreputable Robert Fallon (Jonathan Pryce) and Timothy Broom (Stephen Rea) to provide fresh cadavers for Dr. Rock's teaching hospital. When they can't dig up corpses fast enough to suit Dr. Rock, Fallon and Broom decide to streamline their methods via murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Dalton, Jonathan Pryce, (more)
Shakespeare's tragedy, made for British television, is given a full-blooded rendition here with the great Laurence Olivier in the title role and a stellar cast to support him, in the tale of a king torn apart by the ambition and treachery within his family and by his own pride. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Olivier, Anna Calder-Marshall, (more)
- 1979
- R
This routine espionage drama is based on a novel by Graham Greene about a low-level British informant who is caught in a trap. Castle (Nicol Williamson) has a desk job in British intelligence. Around him are heavyweights like Col. Daintry (Richard Attenborough), Sir John Hargreaves (Richard Vernon), and Percival (Robert Morley) who will cold-bloodedly stop at nothing to do their jobs as they see fit. And Castle certainly is a nobody compared to them. One day when a friend of his in Africa needs some help, Castle is conned into supplying the Eastern block countries with info on demand. No one suspects him because of his low position, but when his office partner is hauled off, Castle begins to rethink his situation. This was director Otto Preminger's last film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, (more)
An innocent country farmer experiences a number of improbable misadventures that culminate in a battle against the titular beast in this broadly comic fantasy. The first solo outing of director Terry Gilliam, who served as animator and co-director on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, returns to the medieval setting that had previously served him so well, and brings along fellow Pythonite Michael Palin for the ride as reluctant hero Dennis Cooper. Cooper's journey to defeat the fearsome Jabberwock is filled with a similar combination of traditional fairy-tale narrative and irreverent humor, which at times aims to be even raunchier than classic Python fare. But while the film is too awkward and repetitive to succeed, it does boast impressively grungy medieval sets and costumes, and flashes of the visual brilliance that would characterize Gilliam's more mature works. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Palin, Max Wall, (more)
- 1968
In this feather-weight version of Evelyn Waugh's novel Decline and Fall, Paul Pennyfeather (Robin Phillips) is an Oxford divinity student who finds himself expelled after a gang of drunken freshmen remove his pants and he is accused of exposing himself to a girl. Looking for work, he retains the services of an unsavory employment agency that secures a position for him at a sleazy Welsh boarding school for boys, presided over by the colorful Dr. Fagan (Donald Wolfit). On staff at the school are an assortment of distasteful screwballs; Mr. Prendergast (Robert Harris) is a withdrawn former clergyman; Captain Grimes (Leo McKern) is a one-legged two-timer with his eye on Fagan's daughter Flossie (Patience Collier); and Soloman Philbrick (Colin Blakely) is an undercover criminal posing as Fagan's butler. All hell breaks loose during the school's annual Sports Day, but Paul manages to meet a wealthy patron of the school, Margot Beste-Chetwynde (Geneviève Page), who hires him to tutor her son. At her estate, Margot seduces Paul, and Paul proposes marriage. But before the wedding, Margot asks Paul, as a favor, to travel to Tangiers on a business trip. He agrees but is soon arrested for trafficking in prostitution. Sent to jail, he runs into Philbrick and Captain Grimes, and now Margot has to scheme to get Paul out of jail. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Phillips, Geneviève Page, (more)
- 1966
In this sexy comedy an affianced woman decides to sow one last wild oat before becoming a devoted wife. She therefore dresses up in a slinky black number and goes to her company Christmas party. The shapely lass impresses both her boss and a sales manager for the cosmetic company. The manager then sends her a new dress and she goes to his hotel room to have a little lunch. When he makes a pass, she flees and returns to the party and spikes the punch. When her fiance shows up, they all kick him out. Soon the drunken party-goers begin cozying up to one another. The girl realizes she has gone too far and sets off the company sprinkler system to sober them up. Things are suitably dampened and the partiers begin getting rather glum until they hear that one of the employee's wives has given birth. Later, the troublemaker makes nice with her fiance and they leave. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In the tradition of Kind Hearts and Coronets (49), Nothing But the Best is a sparkling British "comedy of murders." Alan Bates stars as a lowly real estate clerk who wants to crash the British upper class. To that end, Bates hires down-and-out gentleman Denholm Elliott to "train" him for the noblesse. The clerk is a fast learner, and is soon wooing the daughter (Millicent Martin) of his blueblood boss. Just as he's on the brink of becoming one of the "better people," his mentor Elliot disdainfully threatens to reveal the truth about Bates. With nary a moment's hesitation, Bates strangles Elliot with his own school tie, and hides the body in Elliot's own school trunk. From this point forward, Bates moves onward and upward, and since the high-class folks in this film are shown to be shallow phonies, the audience is half rooting for Bates to get away with his little murder. The film ends just as Bates' old lodgings are about to be demolished--leaving Our Hero waiting in wry, bemused anticipation for that incriminating trunk to be uncovered. Frederick Raphael based his screenplay for Nothing But the Best on Stanley Elkins' black-humor masterpiece The Best of Everything. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Bates, Denholm Elliott, (more)
- 1959
Robert Stack stars in this sea-faring historical epic as John Paul Jones, the first great hero of the American Navy. While originally a loyal soldier of the King's army, Jones in time becomes a fervent supporter of the American Revolutionaries, and he volunteers to lead the colonists' ragtag fleet to impressive victories against the British Navy; during a battle against the British ship Serapis, Jones utters the deathless words "I have not yet begun to fight." While his brave and intelligent leadership helps win America its freedom, his appeals to Benjamin Franklin (Charles Coburn) and the other leaders of Congress to strengthen the United States Navy fall on deaf ears; Jones is eventually branded a troublemaker, and in time, he is ordered to Russia, where he is to help guide the fleet of Catherine The Great (Bette Davis). Jones leads the Russian Navy to stunning victories in the Black Sea, reestablishing his reputation as one of the great military minds of his day. John Paul Jones also features a rousing score by the great film composer Max Steiner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stack, Marisa Pavan, (more)
