Judith Graham Movies
- 1991
Adapted from the book Garry O'Connor, the two-part Australian TV movie Darlings of the Gods tells the story of the benighted romance between stage and film stars Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Anthony Higgins and Mel Martin look and sound so much like the very famous characters they're playing that the effect is somewhat eerie. This highly fictionalized account charts one year in the stormy Oliver-Leigh marriage. Also appearing are Jerome Ehlers as Peter Finch, Rhys McConnochie as Ralph Richardson, and Shane Briant as Cecil Beaton. Filmed in 1989, part one of Darlings of the Gods was first presented in the US over the A&E cable service on February 21, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Higgins, Mel Martin, (more)
Also released as Spotswood, The Efficiency Expert stars Anthony Hopkins as Wallace, a cold-blooded management consultant, infamous for radically "downsizing" every firm he comes in contact with. Wallace's latest assignment is to streamline a small, family-owned shoe factory in Australia. As he gets to know the eccentric (and endearingly inefficient) factory workers, Wallace undergoes a slow-but-sure "humanizing" process. Eventually realizing that he can simultaneously cut costs and preserve the dignity of the workers, he finds a way to modernize the operation without a single firing. In traditional fashion, the main story shares screen time with a romantic subplot involving the factory-owner's son and a female employee. Characterized by many critics as "Capraesque," The Efficiency Expert also bears trace of all those Ealing comedies of the 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Ben Mendelsohn, (more)
- 1984
This emotional true story is about Annie O'Farrell (Tina Arhondis -- who suffered brain damage at birth and as a result was later institutionalized with other children like herself, physically unable to mature past the age of 8 or 9, even though in chronological years they are much older. When therapist Jessica Hathaway (Angela Punch McGregor meets Annie for the first time, her interactions with the girl tell her that she has been misdiagnosed. Convinced that Annie's mind is functioning perfectly well, Jessica runs up against solid opposition from Annie's parents and has to bide her time until the girl reaches the age of 18. At that point, Jessica obtains an injunction to get Annie released from the home -- and begins her own session of therapy. Due to the non-fictional content of the film, the disagreements between Jessica and Annie's parents are sidelined, and, as in many other films of this type, the unusual court battles and subsequent change in the disabled patient are dramatic but not in keeping with the day-to-day reality of patients and clinical staff working to make small steps towards progress -- with never a chance for any miraculous recovery in the vast majority of cases. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drew Forsythe, Tina Arhondis, (more)
