Susan Denaker Movies
- 1993
- PG
Monty Python's Michael Palin plays an Oxford don with acute female trouble in American Friends. While on holiday in the Swiss Alps, Palin crosses the path of American tourist Connie Booth and her adopted daughter Trini Alvarado. Both women express an inordinate desire for the bookish Palin, leading to profound changes in the lives of all concerned. Michael Palin insists that the plot of American Friends was drawn from an actual incident in the life of his own great-grandfather. The film unfolds like a good novel; slow on the uptake, but fascinating once it gets going. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Palin, Trini Alvarado, (more)
- 1988
As indicated by the title, The Woman He Loved is the story of the romance between Britain's King Edward VII (Anthony Andrews) and American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson (Jane Seymour). Forbidden by the Church of England and Royal Protocol to wed Mrs. Simpson, Edward abdicates in 1936, spending the rest of his life with his beloved Wallis as the world's most visible non-paying guest. Told in flashback (Wallis, preparing for Edward's funeral in 1972, reflects on their life together), this made-for-TV movie manages to sidestep the pricklier aspects of Edward's post-monarch existence, notably his heavy drinking, his flirtation with Nazism his attempts to avoid military service during World War II. Olivia De Havilland, Julie Harris, Robert Hardy, Lucy Gutteridge and Phyllis Calvert are among the familiar faces dotting the supporting cast. The Woman He Loved was first telecast April 3, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this partially successful Brit sci-fi comedy, four invading aliens cannot really think their way out of a paper bag, much less conquer Earth with their superior knowledge (apparently also non-existent). Of the aliens, Desmond (Jimmy Nail) is particularly thick-headed and leaves Bernard (Mel Smith) dangling out in space, Sandra (Joanne Pearce) attracts the romantic interest of British Commander Matteson (Dinsdale Landen), and Julian (Paul Brown) is along for the ride. After this trio causes a traffic snarl when they land on a British expressway, they are first interrogated and then given jobs in showbiz so they can support themselves. This leads to a great rock singing career, which in turn, leads to a U.S. tour -- though this does not equate rock singers and aliens. Meanwhile, Bernard has been saved from his abandonment in space by an unlikely space-wanderer who drops him off in the U.S., where he is put in an insane asylum. Sure enough, when his three companions start their U.S. tour, Bernard escapes and tries to rejoin them. The saga continues on until some sort of very unlikely rescue seems in store. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Smith, Griff Rhys Jones, (more)
