Maureen Connell Movies

Sky Terror is the reissue title for Skyjacked, a 1972 MGM all-star adventure based on a novel by David Harper. Charlton Heston mans the controls of a Los Angeles-bound commercial airliner which is hijacked to Russia by an unknown miscreant. Even when the skyjacker, revealed to be passenger James Brolin, is subsequently subdued, the crew must contend with a hidden time bomb. The film is graced with a who's who of MGM contractees past and present, including Yvette Mimieux, Walter Pidgeon and Mike Henry. A flashback sequence contains one of the first examples of an American film coming to grips with how rudely our Vietnam veterans were ignored upon returning home; alas, this compassion quickly degenerates into the odious "crazed Vietnam vet" cliche. Footnote: The first network showing of Skyjacked was boycotted by TV stations owned by the Storer Corporation, which had a hard and fast rule against screening any film concerning a hijacked plane. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Barbara is the long-lost sister of no-good Mike Roscoe (Ronald Hines). Paula Brown (Maureen Connell) is the stripper whom Mike hires to pose as Barbara. It's all part of a scheme to fool Mike's ex-convict dad Sam Roscoe (Mervyn Johns). The son hopes to entice Sam into revealing the whereabouts of his stolen money, and Paula is hopefully going to do the trick. Based on a novel by Jonathan Burke, Echo of Barbara is a better-than-usual British programmer, entertaining despite its surplus of unpleasant leading characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In his all too brief life, director Henry Cornelius became the principal standard-bearer of genteel whimsy in British films. Cornelius' Next to No Time (based on a story by Paul Gallico) stars Kenneth More as a milquetoast engineer who has lost a lot of professional and personal opportunities because of his unwillingness to assert himself. While on a cruise across the Atlantic, More notices that the wall clock in the ship's bar is standing still. The bartender explains that the clock is always halted for an hour each day in order to coordinate with the International Date Line. Emboldened by the notion that anything is possible when time stands still, More sheds his inhibitions, improves his lot in life, and wins the love of an American girl (Betsy Drake). While not as remarkable a comic achievement as Henry Cornelius' Genevieve, Next to No Time is perfect "wish fulfillment" TV fare for a rainy afternoon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The mental breakdown of a guilt-ridden man provides the drama in this fascinating psychological profile that stars Richard Attenborough as a scientist who can't live with himself after he accidentally kills the brother of his fiancee. In order to escape the pain, Attenborough changes his name and begins living in a ramshackle Victorian boarding house where he slowly begins losing his mind. Eventually the police show up and begin taking statements from the bewildered, frightened tenants. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Town on Trial! begins with the murder of a good-time girl in a small suburb of London. Scotland Yard inspector John Mills is called on the scene, immediately launching his investigation by bullying everyone in sight. Mills is particularly aggravated by the prejudicial, hypocritical attitude of most of the suspects. He is so determined to blame the whole town for the poor girl's death that he nearly lets the actual killer slip through his fingers. Town on Trial! was based on a series of magazine articles by Francis Durbridge, published under the umbrella title The Nylon Murders. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a so-so early Hammer horror film from Nigel Kneale, who also wrote The Quatermass Experiment. Forrest Tucker and botanist Peter Cushing lead an expedition to the Himalayan Mountains (actually the Pyrenees, but who's complaining?) in search of the legendary Yeti. Several mysterious locals tell them to stay away with the sort of cryptic warnings found only in horror movies, but they carry on regardless. As expected, the furry beast is alive and well and mangles the explorers one by one until the predictable final showdown. The monster isn't shown very often and looks silly when it finally shows up, but there is a fair amount of atmosphere, and the stars are always fun to watch. Director Val Guest's career continued to slide from its 1940's highs until, by the '70s, he was making leering nonsense like The Au Pair Girls. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Tom Conway essays one of his last starring roles in the British melodrama Murder on Approval. Conway is cast as special investigator Duke Martin (a character he'd later essay in the 1956 feature Breakaway), in London to investigate the authenticity of a rare postage stamp called the Barbados Overplate. Someone is willing to commit murder to get his or her hands on the stamp, which puts a crimp in Duke's efforts to romance every beautiful woman he meets. Delphi Lawrence is the principal female attraction, while Michael Balfour provides laughs as Martin's obligatory ex-convict assistant. Distributed in the US by RKO Radio, Murder on Approval was originally released in England as Barbados Quest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from a novel by Bernard Victor Dyer, Port Afrique offers an unusual screen romantic team in the form of two-fisted Phil Carey and ethereally beautiful Pier Angeli. Carey plays Rip Reardon, a WW2 veteran who returns to his "second home" in Morocco for a reunion with his wife. Upon arrival, Reardon discovers that his wife was murdered, though the police insist that she died by her own hand. Smelling a cover-up, Reardon conducts his own investigation, which leads him through some of the seedier portions of Port Afrique. Along the way, he meets and briefly romances nightclub singer Ynez (Angeli), who may or may not have had something to do with his wife's death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide