Howard Marion-Crawford Movies

Inspired in part by David Lean'sThe Sound Barrier, Decision Against Time stars Jack Hawkins as a bold but cautious test pilot. If he wants to keep his job, Hawkins must prove the efficacy of an accident-prone airplane prototype. The pilot is plagued with Earthbound problems as well, personified by his insensitive wife (Elizabeth Sellars). In the climax, Hawkins tests his endurance (and the audience's) by refusing to bail out when the prototype bursts into flame. The original British title for Decision Against Time was Man in the Sky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Directed by Roy Kellino, this British comedy stars David Niven as Roger Tweakham, an accountant for a silk manufacturer who finds himself digging deeper and deeper into trouble. Not only is he suddenly smitten by a French model (Geneviève Page) despite his marriage to his wife (Dorothy Alison), Roger has also devised an ambitious plan to fix the financial books to make his company appear more successful than a rivalrous nylon maker. The final film for director Kellino, who suffered a fatal heart attack before it was released, The Silken Affair was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Robert Lewis Taylor. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Horseracing provides the framework of this British drama. The story begins as a former champion jockey Sam Lilley is barred from racing. Although he himself can no longer race, the jockey decides to live his dreams through Georgie Crain, who becomes his youthful protege. Sam teaches George all he knows, and also insists that he keep his morals high. But when Georgie's mother encounters financial disaster, the lad and his mentor decide they have no choice but to throw a race for a gang of criminals. Unfortunately, this leads to even more ethical problems. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

MGM's first CinemaScope production was the lavishly appointed Knights of the Round Table. Without overlapping into any copyrighted material (specifically T.H. White's The Once and Future King), the film spins a lucid account of the King Arthur legend. The good king is played by Mel Ferrer, while Queen Guenevere is essayed by Ava Gardner. Arthur's efforts to create a perfect society in Camelot are compromised when Guenevere falls in love with trusted knight Sir Lancelot (Robert Taylor). The ambitious Mordred (Stanley Baker) uses his knowledge of the Queen's indiscretion to destroy both Camelot and King Arthur's round table. Most of the story material in Knights of the Round Table is lifted from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Where's Charley?, Frank Loesser's hit Broadway musical version of Brandon Thomas' evergreen stage farce Charley's Aunt, was brought to the screen in 1952 with most of its original cast intact -- including, thank heaven, star Ray Bolger. In the original Brandon Thomas version, Oxford undergrad Lord Fancourt Babberly was coerced into disguising himself as "Charley's Aunt, from Brazil, where the nuts come from" so that his roommates Charley Wyckeham and Jack Chesney would have a proper escort for their visiting sweethearts Amy Spettigue and Kitty Verdun. In the musical version, Lord Fancourt is eliminated, and Charley plays his own aunt, making innumerable quickie costume changes throughout the proceedings. Complications ensue when three older characters show up: Jack's father Sir Francis Chesney, Amy and Kitty's irascible guardian Stephen Spettigue, and Charley's real aunt Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez. It goes without saying that Ray Bolger plays both Charley and the faux aunt, brilliantly recreating the sidesplitting comic turns that brought down the house on Broadway. Less successful is his re-creation of the audience-participation song "Once in Love With Amy," simply because it's difficult for a film actor to come "out" of the picture and encourage the audience to sing along. The other Loesser songs -- "Make a Miracle," "My Darling" and "New Ashmoleon Marching Society" are more satisfactorily rendered. For the record, the rest of the cast includes Allyn McLerie and Mary Germaine as Amy and Kitty, Robert Shackleton as Jack, Horace Cooper as Spettigue, Howard Marion Crawford as Chesney, and Margaretta Scott as Donna Lucia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This early nuclear satire offers a twisted retelling of the old fairy tale "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg." The story begins as two American newlyweds move to live on an English farm recently inherited by the husband. Unaccustomed to the ways of British country auctions, the husband accidentally buys five dozen ducks. One of those ducks lays radioactive eggs, and eventually the entire farm must be quarantined by the military. Branches of the military then begin fighting over possession of the little quacker. In the end, they all grab the wrong one. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A man recently gone AWOL from the Army (Derek Farr) is arrested in a store robbery that occurred while he was shopping. With help from a beautiful lawyer (Joan Hopkins), he must prove his innocence. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Released in the U.S. at the same time as the animated Italian feature I Fratelli Dinamite, La Rosa di Bagdad demonstrated that Disney held no monopoly on clever cartoonery. Inspired by the Arabian Nights, the story concerns a beautiful princess, a poor-but-honest hero, an evil sultan, and a slave of the lamp. Reviewers in 1949 were much taken by director Anton Gina Domeghini's clever choice of camera angles, and by Ricardo Pick Mangiagalli's musical score. Unfortunately, the film is generally unavailable today, denying audiences the opportunity of comparing La Rosa di Bagdad to its spiritual offspring Aladdin. Reportedly, the film was released to American television in excerpted, serialized form in the late 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rex Harrison stars in this stylish British drama that caused problems with U.S. censors, who forced the film to be trimmed due to what was considered graphically amoral and sexual content for its time. Harrison is Vivian Kenway, an unrepentant cad who embarks on a campaign of irresponsible behavior after being ejected from Oxford. Among his many sins are seducing Jill Duncan (Jean Kent), the wife of his best friend Sandy (Griffith Jones), marrying a rich Austrian Jew, Rikki Krausner (Lilli Palmer), for her money, and dallying with the secretary (Margaret Johnson) of his father, Colonel Kenway (Godfrey Tearle). The feckless Vivian's actions cause no small amount of collateral damage to his loved ones, including the drunken death of his father and the attempted suicide of Rikki. Vivian ends up serving in World War II, however, where his non-heroic ultimate sacrifice may (or may not) redeem him. The Rake's Progress (1945 was released in the U.S. under the title Notorious Gentleman. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

When the Russians find and destroy the hidden artillery, the 13 man Austrian gun crew is suspected of harboring a traitor in this World War I drama. Nobody knows which soldier informed, however. The tension mounts as the Austrian high command orders all 13 soldier executed to eliminate the turncoat. The rest of the soldiers must identify the traitor to save their own lives. ~ All Movie Guide

This war movie is set on the high-seas during WWI. It chronicles the exploits of a brave English sailor who is captured by a German cruiser. The courageous sailor, the bastard of a RN officer, soon escapes from the German ship. He also steals a rifle. He hides on the shore and begins taking pot-shots at the Germans. Due to his marksmanship, the ship's journey is delayed. While the Germans are hunting for him, the British ships sneak up and sink the enemy boat. Unfortunately the brave sailor is killed. He becomes a hero and the British erect a cross on the highest point on the island to commemorate the young hero. The commander of the British ship is disturbed to discover that the dead hero was the son he denied having. This drama is considered to be a landmark British film; it is the first to utilize the actual Royal Navy and it's ships. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide