Kenneth Cranham Movies

Documentary filmmaker Christopher Spencer uncovers the truth about the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in this film that gets to the heart of the mystery by leaving no theory unexplored. May 17, 1915: The RMS Lusitania, a luxury cruise-liner, is carrying 1900 passengers when a German torpedo suddenly strikes just beneath the ship's bridge. In the eighteen minutes that it took the Lusitania to sink, 1200 passengers and crewmembers perished at sea. In the aftermath of the sinking, numerous conspiracy theories began to emerge: Was the British government secretly using a passenger ship to transport explosives? Had Winston Churchill sacrificed the ship in order to draw America into a war she had been reluctant to join? Now, nearly a century later, the facts are separated from the fiction as Spencer and his researchers sort through the details on a painstaking quest to finally raise the truth up from the depths. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The first season of the lush, lavish and frequently lewd and lascivious British historical drama Rome covers the years 52 to 44BCE, beginning with the return of Julius Caesar (Ciaran Hinds) from the Gallic wars and ending with the fateful "Ides of March". Though returning to a hero's welcome, Caesar realizes that he's stepping into a snake pit of deceit and corruption. The Patrician ruling class, worried that Caesar will make himself emperor and abolish the Republic, intend to strip him of his power. His scheming niece Atia (Polly Walker) is already undercutting her uncle by forcing her daughter Octavia (Kerry Condon) to marry Caesar's most influential nemesis, the aging Pompey (Kenneth Cranham). Playing one side against the other to keep Caesar at bay, Pompey proves so effective that Caesar must ask his friend Marc Antony (James Purefoy) to help him vanquish his foes, even if it means all-out civil war. Meanwhile, a pair of humble soldier, the virtuous family man Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and the hedonistic Pullo (Ray Stevenson), simply try to stay out of everyone's way and survive--but instead find themselves at Ground Zero of virtually every major historical turning point during the series' turbulent eight-year timespan. Pullo in particular spends much of his time squeaking out of one death-trap after another, somehow managing to enrich or aggrandize himself without even trying. His main contribution during Season One consists of taking Atia's callow son Octavian (Max Pirkis) under his wing, teaching the boy the ways of warfare and women. Eventually Octavian will emerge as the greatest threat against the pro-Caesar forces of Antony after Caesar's assassination--and thus the redoubtable Pullo has once more unwittingly altered the course of history. Not only was Rome an international success during its first season on the air, but the series also garnered an Emmy award for its American run on HBO. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A pair of dentists deal their own unique blow against the Third Reich in this low-key British comedy, which is actually based on a true story. In 1942, war rages all through Europe as Nazi Germany has taken France, attacked London, and defeated British forces at Dunkirk. In the midst of this chaos, Sgt. Peter King (Kenneth Cranham) and Pvt. Leslie Cuthbertson (Leo Bill) are serving in the village of Aldershot as part of the Royal Army Dental Corps, whose motto is "An Army Who Can't Bite, Can't Fight!" Eager to do more than fill cavities or pull wisdom teeth as the fate of Great Britain hangs in the balance, Sgt. King hatches a mad scheme to leave his post, make his way across the English Channel, and launch his own miniature invasion of France. Logically assuming that some assistance would be a good idea, he persuades Pvt. Cuthbertson to join him, and armed with ten grenades, a pair of pistols, and 20 bullets, they set out to take on the Vichy troops all by themselves. Derek Jacobi and Rosanna Lavelle highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

U.K. filmmaker Marc Evans directs the psychological thriller Trauma, produced for the Ministry of Fear division of Little Bird Productions. Colin Firth stars as Ben, a man who wakes up from a coma to discover his wife, Elisa (Naomie Harris), has been killed in a car crash. He tries to start a new life on his own, but he's haunted by images of his wife and strange happenings in his apartment. Having no family connections left, he reunites with old friend Tommy (Tommy Flanagan). He also makes friends with neighbor Charlotte (Mena Suvari), who takes him to psychic Petra (Brenda Fricker). Trauma premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Fate turns the most lovelorn man in Belfast into a sexual dynamo in this eccentric comedy. Eamonn (Kris Marshall) is a physically unimpressive and socially inept 24-year-old virgin who lives in Belfast with his mother (Olivia Nash), who conceived Eamonn during a one-night-stand with a low-rent lounge singer passing through town. Eamonn is far too shy to ask a girl out on a date, and his appearance hardly has the ladies lining up around the block, but one day local sexpot Mary Malloy (Tara Lynne O'Neill), figuring she's made her way through nearly every other man in town, decides to take the initiative with Eamonn. To Mary's surprise, she discovers Eamonn is a sexual prodigy with a physical gift that would make the late John Holmes proud, and with one satisfied woman under his belt, Eamonn finally works up the nerve to ask out Rosie (Kathy Kiera Clarke), a girl from a nearby funeral home. But before Eamonn can actually take Rosie out on the town, Mary learns she's pregnant, even though she was using birth control. A doctor discovers that Eamonn has a remarkably high sperm count, and with birth rates plummeting among Ireland's Catholic families, Millicent (Bronagh Gallagher) gets the idea of hiring Eamonn out to father children with women whose husbands have been unable to do the job; Eamonn even does so with the blessings of the local Catholic clergy, who find Eamonn's "service" less morally problematic than artificial insemination. The Most Fertile Man in Ireland marked the directorial debut of actor Dudi Appleton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Filmed several times during the silent era (most notably as a 1915 vehicle for Theda Bara), Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Victorian sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret was revamped as a British TV movie in 2000. Neve McIntosh heads the cast as Lucy, a mysterious woman with a shady past who manages to inveigle a proposal of marriage from her wealthy and aristocratic employer Sir Michael Audley (Kenneth Cranham). Upon his return to England after several years of prospecting for gold, Sir Michael's nephew, Robert (Steve Mackintosh), is immediately smitten by his glamorous young aunt. Equally impressed is Robert's scoundrelly mining partner, George (Jamie Bamber), who apparently knows the whole sordid truth about Lady Audley's past. The plot thickens when the blackmail-minded George abruptly disappears. Lady Audley's Secret was first telecast in the U.K. on May 17, 2000, several weeks after its March 23, 2000, world premiere on the American PBS anthology Mystery! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Texas-born documentary filmmaker Stephen Purvis made his feature directorial debut with this comedy-drama, loosely based on the stage production, In the West -- a series of monologues written and performed by a group of Texas actors. Purvis and his co-scripters Jesse Sublett and Tom Huckabee) gave this material a clever unifying thread by introducing two British documentary filmmakers who interview a variety of locals in Austin. Recalling the films of Nick Broomfield (Heidi Fleiss, Hollywood Madam), the duo has an assignment from the BBC. As filmmaker Robert Flaherty (Kenneth Cranham of The Boxer) -- an obvious nod to the real-life Robert Flaherty who filmed the classic Nanook of the North (1921) -- and his younger wife Kate Markham (Amanda Root of Persuasion) film the interviews, they find tensions and conflicts threatening their marriage and partnership. Original In the West cast members appear as Austin eccentrics, including a deer hunter (Lou Perryman), a "wild child" (Tim Mateer), a woman (C.K. McFarland) with no regrets over losing both husband and son in a oil rig explosion, and a guard-dog salesman (Marco Perella). Texas music heard on the soundtrack includes Lyle Lovett's "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)" plus tunes by Willie Nelson and Marcia Ball. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Rick and Marian have been married for a few years now, and the bloom is definitely off the rose; sex is definitely not what it used to be. Marian is concerned about that. So, it seems, is Rick. When she dresses in some extremely suggestive lingerie, she comes to bed only to discover that her husband is similarly clothed -- complete with makeup and a wig. After she overcomes her initial shock, she is happy to discover that this new revelation is just the thing to put the zing back in their relationship. "Lippy," in the argot of the region, is short for "lipstick." One might not think that the grimy manufacturing town of Liverpool would have a very active social life for transvestites, but Rick shows Marian a side of life she never even imagined before. When her conservative dad gets wind of it somehow, he is all disapproval, but her mother, too, has been looking for a way to spice up her life... ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Re-titled for American release, Monkey Boy is actually an edited version of Lawrence Clark's British production Chimera, about a half-human, half-ape creature who plots a murderous plan of escape from the genetics lab that gave him life. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Filmed in Britain, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit stars Charlotte Coleman as a champing-at-the-bit teenager named Jess. The girl's domineering mother (Geraldine McEwan), a religious fanatic, wants Jess to become a missionary; to that end, she refuses to allow the girl any friends her own age. Jess' father has nothing to say in the matter--indeed, he has had nothing to say to anyone for years. The girl's growing awareness of her own sexuality (depicted in steamy detail) flies in the face of her mother's carefully orchestrated plans. Funny in a dark sort of way, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit was first seen in America over the Arts and Entertainment cable service in late 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A woman starting a new life in a new land finds that fate has some unpleasant surprises in store in this made-for-TV drama. Ceci is a young woman in her teens who has decided to leave her home in Great Britain and strike out on her own in rugged New Zealand. While Ceci finds fortune in this unfamiliar land, a dark cloud seems to follow her on her journey, as a loveless marriage, unexpected death, and a terrible financial blunder leaves her in worse straits than when she started. Originally produced as a mini-series for British television, Heart of the High Country stars Valerie Gogan, David Letch, and Kenneth Cranham. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Warren Mitchell stars in All the Way Up as a dimwitted British salesman. Though a bit shy in the brains department, Mitchell has hopes of climbing the corporate ladder. To do this, he tries to whip his addled family into a semblance of social acceptability. This being a comedy, Mitchell soon learns that his high-society aspirations are not only beyond his reach, but also not worth all the bother. All the Way Up was based on Semi-Detached, a play by David Turner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A top London cop who is so good at his job that he makes his fellow officers look like slackers by comparison is "promoted" to serve in the sleepy village of Sandford in this contemporary action comedy from the creators of Shaun of the Dead. Police constable Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) always gets his man, but these days his impeccable record seems to be more indicative of his fellow officers' shortcomings than his own formidable skills as a keeper of the peace. Loathe to stand idly by as their once respectable track record is steadily soiled by the hyper-competent actions of one lone overachiever, Sergeant Angel's superiors at the Met soon determine to remedy their problem by relocating the decorated constable to the West Country village of Sanford -- where tranquil garden parties and neighborhood watch meetings stand in stark contrast to the violent crime and heated gunplay of the city. As Sergeant Angel does his best to adjust to the relative calm of his new environment, his oafish new partner Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) strives to gain the respect of his fellow constables while sustaining himself on fantasies of his favorite action films and police shows. Later, just as it begins to appear as if Sergeant Angel has been relegated to an uneventful existence in the relative calm of the countryside, a series of horrific "accidents" lead him to suspect that the tranquil hamlet of Sanford has fallen prey to a sinister plot which reeks of foul play. Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Steve Coogan, and Martin Freeman co-star in the Edgar Wright film. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide