Norrie Paramor Movies
- 1970
- R
The British/American co-production My Lover, My Son stars Romy Schneider as Frances, the unhappy wife of businessman Robert (Donald Houston). When her lover is accidentally drowned, Frances turns to her teenaged son James (Dennis Waterman) for comfort. Her husband doesn't like this set-up and bundles James off to college, but upon his return the boy enters into an affair with his own mother. Robert discovers the incestuous couple in an embrace and reacts violently, whereupon Frances kills him in self defense. Knocked unconscious during the struggle, James thinks he is the killer and takes the rap. The boy is released on the grounds of self defense and returns to his mother -- only to renounce her when he discovers that he's the illegitimate son of his mother's dead lover. MGM was the American distributor for My Lover, My Son, and that low vibration you feel is Louis B. Mayer spinning in his grave. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Donald Houston, (more)
- 1965
In this musical comedy, a dreamy Australian singer comes to London to seek his fortune. There he begins falling for a down-to-earth lass and a high-strung debutante at the same time. In between romances, the singer finds himself involved with a gang of thieves who begin using his home as a hide-out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Ifield, Annette Andre, (more)
- 1964
In this lively British comedy, a newlywed couple's quaint country cottage becomes a nightmare of repairs as they try to fix it up themselves. They originally purchased the ramshackle pile to escape the influence of the new wife's meddlesome father. Unfortunately, the place needs more help than they are able to give and they must reluctantly get her father's help. He brings in a bumbling builder and things only get worse from there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, (more)
- 1963
A stodgy British patriarch sends his naive daughter to Europe so that her rock & roll singing boyfriend will dump her. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned when she ends up linked with a handsome pop idol and his band. Fortunately, she is a good girl at heart and ends up learning some valuable lessons about live, love and rock & roll. Many popular singers from the early '60s perform in this tuneful outing. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The star of this slapstick comedy is not a person but an antique Bentley sports car, the source of several misadventures. Murdoch Troon (Stanley Baxter) is a simple civil servant who has his heart set on romancing Claire (Julie Christie in an early role), the daughter of wealthy businessman Charles Chingford (James Robertson Justice). As a part of his scheme to appear irresistible, Murdoch takes driving lessons so he will be able to impress Claire in the Bentley. Both the lessons and his driving test produce moments of hilarity, and as might be expected, there cannot be a movie featuring a car without a wacky, wild chase. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Robertson Justice, Stanley Baxter, (more)
- 1963
In this drama, two young attorneys working for their uncle, find themselves facing off in court. One of the is defending a wife; the other, her husband who is suing for conjugal rights. As both lawyers are fresh from law school, things in court are often chaotic, and they suffer several fiascoes to the point where the judge is ready to disbar them. At the end of the tumultuous case, it looks as if the wife will win, when the other lawyer learns that the wife was afraid her husband would blackmail her if he found out that she was already married to a millionaire. Finally all is resolved and justice served. The two lawyers then decide to get married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
After several years' absence, Dirk Bogarde returns to the popular British "Doctor" film series in Doctor in Distress. Where once Bogarde's Dr. Simon Sparrow was naive and wide-eyed, he is a bit more urbane in this edition. He even manages to offer romantic advice to his old mentor/nemesis Sir Lancelot Sprat (James Robertson Justice). Sparrow's efforts to smooth the path for Sir Lancelot's amorous pursuit of physiotherapist Barbara Murray puts a strain on his own relationship with comely Samantha Eggar. Doctor in Distress is based on characters created by Dr. Richard Gordon, though the story is an original and not an adaptation of a Gordon novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Samantha Eggar, (more)
- 1962
Jazz musician Acker Bilk plays himself in this cinematic jam session of music, melodrama, and low comedy. The film's title is literal: the plot involves a jazz band comprised of ex-convicts. Once released, they supposedly go straight, taking their show on the road. Actually, their tour is a subterfuge to commit a series of robberies. Jimmy Thompson appears in Band of Thieves for comedy relief, while Jennifer Jayne hangs around for sex appeal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Also titled The Wild and the Willing, this is a British production about a rebellious young man of the early 1960s. Harry Brown (Ian McShane) is a lower-class troublemaker at an upscale provincial university. He is brilliant but frequently drunk, and he constantly criticizes the elitism of his professors. Harry becomes the reluctant protégé of Professor Chown (Paul Rogers), who sees the boy's potential and hopes to tame him. Harry soon abandons his girlfriend Josie (Samantha Eggar) for a fling with Chown's wife Virginia (Virginia Maskell), a woman who frequently fools around with her husband's students. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Virginia Maskell, Paul Rogers, (more)
- 1962
In this romantic comedy, a free-wheeling member of the U.S. Air Force goes AWOL. While traveling, the man and his girlfriend encounter another young couple. Both men are dressed exactly alike and are driving the same kind of bike. When the women climb aboard the wrong bikes, romantic mayhem ensues. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Chakiris, Janette Scott, (more)
- 1961
In this comedy, the daughter of a British aristocrat is sent to Parisian finishing school where she falls in love with a charming American student, and discovers that his father is a business associate of her own. Paternal trouble ensues when her young man forgets to deliver an important letter to her father and he is forced to fly to New York to do the business himself. While gone, he sends his daughter to Scotland with his friend. Her boy friend follows and slyly begins suggesting that they elope. When her father learns the lad's identity, he offers his blessing. Unfortunately, the young daughter has fallen deeply in love with his best friend's handsome son and they elope. Both fathers are very pleased. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Redgrave, Michael Craig, (more)
- 1961
The youthful residents of a small British town stand united in their struggle to be allowed to listen to rock & roll and jazz in this comical musical. The trouble really begins when the village mayor tries to ban the jukebox in the local coffee house. Determined to prove that modern music has nothing to do with the Devil, two youths team up and try to organize a rock and jazz festival. They are successful and as a result many popular performers appear. These include Chubby Checker, Del Shannon, Chris Barber's Jazz Band, and Gary "U.S." Bonds. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Shapiro, Craig Douglas, (more)
Sean Connery plays one of his early roughneck types in the British gangster picture Frightened City. The story takes place in a rundown section of London, where the citizens are held in the grip of extortionists. After several months of gang warfare, the six major "protection" rings agree to bury the hatchet and combine their efforts under the leadership of a mob boss (Herbert Lom). One of the gangsters opposes the mobster's rule, and is promptly rubbed out. Paddy Damion (Sean Connery), the dead man's best friend, swears revenge. After a bloody confrontation, Damion agrees to provide information to the police -- after plea-bargaining himself into a light sentence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Herbert Lom, John Gregson, (more)
In this witty music-business satire, Johnny Jackson (Laurence Harvey) is a talent agent down on his luck who thinks his tide may have turned when he spots a teenage rock & roll fan wailing away in a coffeehouse. Dubbing him "Bongo Herbert" (Cliff Richard, in a role the now knighted and born-again pop icon would probably prefer to forget), Johnny puts Herbert on the fast track to teenage stardom, using his record company and radio connections to make Herbert's first single a smash hit. Johnny then decides that a little image modification might make Herbert a bigger draw, so his follow-up is a treacly, inspirational tune, "The Shrine on the Second Floor," which hardly gibes with Herbert's newfound fondness for strippers and love-starved American actresses. But just when Johnny thinks he has a meal ticket for life, it's discovered that Herbert is really a minor, making his contract with Johnny null and void. Cliff Richard was at the height of his first wave of popularity as "The British Elvis" when Expresso Bongo was released, leading to a great deal of speculation about how closely it mirrored his own career (the answer probably is: not very much). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Sylvia Syms, (more)
