Bonar Colleano Movies

In this WW II adventure, five brave Allies endeavor to escape from an Italian POW camp in North Africa. They succeed, but their trials are not over as they must still cross the burning Libyan desert to get safely behind Allied lines. En route they are captured by a Nazi-loving sheik. The sheik takes considerable time to decide the fate of the escapees; in that time, the five manage to escape again. This time they kill their captors. The film is also titled No Time to Die. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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

In this crime drama a murderer covers his tracks by framing his wife. He does this by posing as his victim and forcing his wife to shoot him (with a blank-filled gun). The woman then confesses her crime. Fortunately, a sharp-eyed police inspector doesn't buy her story and soon brings the real killer to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Stars in Your Eyes is a glorified "vaudeville" picture, tied together by the thinnest of plotlines. As the top British vaudeville houses begin closing their doors, a great many entertainers are thrown out of work. At the instigation of music-hall headliners Sally Bishop (Patricia Kirkwood) and Jimmy Knowles (Nat Jackley), a group of veteran performers decide to reopen one of the old theatres, staging a gala opening revue to attract the customers. Financing this project is the wife of alcoholic ex-songwriter David Laws (Bonar Colleano). A gang of crooks tries to sabotage the show, but all ends happily -- especially for Laws, who is reunited with his loving spouse. Among the guest performers in Stars in Your Eyes is Vera Lynn, the sweetheart of WW II, whose famous rendition of "We'll Meet Again" was heard in the unforgettable finale of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It took nerve to transpose Shakespeare's Macbeth into a 1930s gangster story using "tough guy" jargon, but Joe Macbeth very nearly pulls the trick off successfully. Paul Douglas plays Joe MacBeth, a successful mobster whose wife (Ruth Roman) has ambitions to be even more successful. Mrs. MacBeth talks her husband into killing his boss while the two of them are swimming, and when Joe timorously leaves the knife behind, his wife dives in after the weapon. Now near the top of the heap, Joe begins to believe that everyone is out to get him. He kills his best pal Banky, whose ghost shows up a banquet later that night (Joe dispenses with Shakespeare's iambic pentameter by shouting "What is this? A gag?") As Joe deteriorates, his wife goes crazy, screaming "Joe! There's blood on my hands!" in her sleep. Both Joe and his wife are killed in a shootout with rival gangsters. Straining to create suitable counterparts for the Shakespearian characters in 20th century Chicago -- the three witches are sidewalk peddlers, while Hecate is a sandwich-board man -- Joe Macbeth veers towards the laughable at times; but the basic story has been a good one for nearly 500 years now, so Joe Macbeth succeeds as often as it falters. Incidentally, despite the American characters and Chicagoland setting, Joe Macbeth was filmed in England, with principally British supporting actors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Sea Shall Not Have Them is our candidate for the most dramatic title of any British World War II film. Happily, the film itself upholds the promise of its name. The focus of the story is a dramatic rescue at sea, which consumes well over a third of the running time. A British bomber carrying high-ranking officer Michael Redgrave, commander Dirk Bogarde and two other men is blasted out of the sky by a German plane. The four men survive, board an inflatable dinghy, and patiently await rescue in the storm-tossed Atlantic. The Air-Sea Rescue Units are poised to write off the search for the downed flyers as hopeless, but Redgrave is carrying vital documents, and is therefore not expendable. Based on a novel by John Harris, The Sea Shall Not Have Them scores highest on its suspense content, and lowest on its banal dialogue exchanges. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary? never really answers its own question, but has no difficulty delivering laughs in full measure. U.S. officer Laurie Vining (Bonar Colleano) hopes to spend a romantic honeymoon in London with new bride Gillian (Diana Decker). Unfortunately, Vining's former wife Candy (Diana Dors) flounces into view, claiming that their divorce is invalid. Legal advisor Frank Bettertorn (David Tomlinson) is brought in to straighten things out--only to find himself in a compromising position of his own. Based on a play by E. V. Tidmarsh, Is Your Husband Really Necessary was shot in two different versions: the British print permitted audiences a view of Diana Dors in a skimpy bikini, while the American version covered up her ample frame with a nightie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bonar Colleano, who spent the war years playing featured roles in British films as likeably cocky Americans, heads the cast of Pool of London. Ever his brass, cheeky self, Colleano is cast as Dan MacDonald, a sailor who dabbles in a bit of smuggling, just for the fun of it. The fun is over when he gets mixed up with a gang of jewel thieves who have a habit of framing others for their crimes. At the risk of his own neck, MacDonald must extricate his best friend Johnny (Earl Cameron) from a murder charge. Pool of London ran into censorship troubles in the U.S. because of its depiction of a romance between Cameron, a black actor, and Susan Shaw, a white actress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this actioner, a young British factory worker living in the 1930s chucks his job in favor of motorcycle racing. He is quite successful, becomes an egomaniac, loses his wife, and learns his lesson. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

On the outs in Hollywood due to the blacklist, director Edward Dmytryk briefly operated in England in the late 1940s. Though filmed in its entirety in London, Dmytryk's Give Us This Day is set in New York during the depression. Fellow blacklistee Sam Wanamaker is starred as the head of an Italian immigrant family struggling to survive the economic crisis. Perhaps had it been made in Hollywood as intended, Give Us This Day would not have been allowed to run on for 120 minutes, nor would the actors have been permitted to indulge in terminal sanctimony. Based on Pietro di Donato's novel Christ in Concrete, Give Us This Day was released in the US under the intriguing title Salt to the Devil. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Anthony Asquith's first postwar effort, While the Sun Shines was based on a play by frequent Asquith collaborator Terence Rattigan. Set in WW2 London, the story revolves around Lady Elizabeth Randall (Barbara White), who is serving her country as an Air Force corporal. While en route to her marriage to the Earl of Harpenden (Ronald Howard, in his screen debut), Lady Elizabeth is wooed a French expatriate named Colbert (Michael Allen) and American lieutenant Joe Mulvaney (the inevitable Bonar Colleano). The resulting series of sexual misunderstandings puts Lady Elizabeth's military career-not to mention her impending marriage-in dire jeopardy. A harmless romantic farce, While the Sun Shines is generally out of favor with Anthony Asquith's many adherents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide