Lew Schwartz Movies
- 1970
In this farce, four people go to extremes to inherit the giant fortune of a wealthy practical joker. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
Freddie and the Dreamers--remember them?--star in the British musical quickie Cuckoo Patrol. Apparently hoping to cash in on the Beatles' success with A Hard Day's Night, the producers place Freddie and his aggregation in as many "wacky," stream-of-consciousness situations as possible. The main plot has something to do with a group of Boy Scouts. Freddie and the Dreamers disguise themselves in scout uniforms, inexplicably getting away with their subterfuge. Veteran British farceurs Kenneth Connor, Victor Maddern and John Le Mesurier provide acting relief. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1963
In this musical, the Gilbert and Sullivan classic is updated and set in post-war Japan. This time, the trouble begins when a soldier, the son of a Yankee judge, falls in love with a Japanese girl. This enrages her Yakuza (Japanese mafia) fiance who kidnaps him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
This colorful slapstick comedy concerns an honest locksmith who gets talked into a safecracking scheme by a couple of ruthless gangsters. Ernest Wright (Charlie Drake) is duped by a con man into opening a car and safe, which lands him in jail for a year. He is released, but a subsequent event gets him three year in jail and an undeserved reputation as a master thief. The Guv'nor (George Sanders) and Domino (Eddie Byrne) put the squeeze on Ernest to help them in a plan to pilfer some precious gems. With the help of undercover police woman Muriel (Nyree Dawn Porter), Ernest helps trap the crooks and clear his name. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Drake, George Sanders, (more)
- 1961
Any movie with a title like Petticoat Pirates would be hard to dislike--and equally hard to believe. Anticipating the "feminist" films of the 1970s, the plot concerns a group of female officers in the British Navy. Angered by the sexism inherent in the Admiralty, the uniformed ladies stage a mutiny, taking a timorous male stoker as a sort of hostage. Not terribly credible to begin with, the film ultimately veers off into fantasy. Petticoat Pirates is both innocuous and inconsequential; you may have seen it, but chances are you don't remember it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Drake, Anne Heywood, (more)
- 1957
Chubby Terry Scott and slim Norman Vaughan starred in this British sitcom as (who else?) Terry and Norman, a pair of out-of-work actors. Securing employment as entertainment officers at the seaside resort of Bogmouth, the heroes ran afoul of local councillor Bland (Henry Longhurst), who resisted their every effort to pump some vitality into the dreary community. Complicating matters was Terry's blossoming romance with Bland's toothsome daughter (Marcia Ashton). The six half-hour episodes of Scott Free were telecast live by the BBC from July 22 to August 26, 1957; no kinescopes are presently known to exist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
