John Moffatt Movies

An Anglo-American co-production, S.O.S. Titanic is a costly, 150-minute reenactment of the infamous sea disaster of 1912. Heading the cast is David Janssen as millionaire John Jacob Astor, who went down with the Titanic, and Cloris Leachman as raucous Denver dowager Molly Brown, who didn't (for the record, Leachman had previously played Brown on a 1957 episode of the TV anthology Telephone Time). Third-billed is Susan Saint James as fictional passenger Leigh Goodwin, who carries most of the dramatic load. Written by Hallmark Hall of Fame veteran James Costigan, the made-for-television S.O.S. Titanic premiered September 23, 1979. In subsequent network and syndicated showings, the film was pared down to 102 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

You never heard of this one? It might be because Romance with a Double Bass isn't a feature film at all, but a 40-minute short subject, designed for British television. John Cleese, still in his Monty Python period, plays a double-bass player who woos a lovely princess (Connie Booth). Both Cleese and his beloved are left to wander the countryside naked when a thief steals their clothes. Yes, they're starkers, and the film does little to cover up the naughty bits. Though the rest of the Monty Python gang isn't around for Romance with a Double Bass, we are treated with amusing cameos from such master performers as Graham Crowden and Freddie Jones. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Except for the omission of several passages in the original play, this 1970 adaptation of Julius Caesar faithfully retells Shakespeare's account of events surrounding the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C. The film begins when Caesar John Gielgud is at the height of his power after conquering Pompey "the Great" in a civil war. Important senators worry that Caesar means to become king, diminish their power, and abolish their beloved Roman republic. Two senators, Cassius Richard Johnson and Brutus Jason Robards, hatch an assassination plot involving other disenchanted Roman citizens. Although a soothsayer warns Caesar of trouble ("Beware the ides of March") and his own wife reports ominous signs ("A lioness hath whelped in the streets; and graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead"), Caesar decides to go to the senate on the ides (March 15). Upon arrival, the conspirators greet him with daggers. In his funeral oration, Mark Antony Charlton Heston extols Caesar and incites the citizens against Brutus and the other conspirators. Brutus and Cassius flee Rome with their armies, but Antony and two other sympathizers track them down with their armies. When the tide turns against the conspirators, Brutus and Cassius commit suicide. As does Shakespeare's play, the film leaves the discerning viewer wondering who was the real villain -- Caesar, because of his ambition for power, or Brutus, because of his underhanded plot to maintain the status quo. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

The Silent Enemy is based on Commander Crabb, a book by Marshall Pugh. This is the true story of young Lieutenant Crabb (Laurence Harvey), who in 1941 arrives in Gilbaltar to learn the rudiments of deep-sea diving. Crabb isn't interested in recreation, however; there's a war on, and it is common knowledge that a band of Italian frogmen have been sabotaging the British naval forces. Without official permission, Crabb and a band of hardy volunteers take on the task of scuttling the enemy's guerilla activities. Silent Enemy is at its best during its underwater sequences, in which both British and Italian frogmen deploy an astonishing variety of deep-sea weaponry. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi