David Crowley Movies
Noted novelist and sometime film director James Clavell, wrote, directed, and produced this adaptation of J.B. Pick's novel, set during the Thirty Years' War of 1618-1648. During the chaotic confrontations and shifting alliances of the war, a hidden valley protected from the outside world becomes an oasis of peace. Vogel (Omar Sharif), a one-time school teacher now on the run, travels into the peaceful valley. Following Vogel a short time later is a rag-tag and exhausted army, led by The Captain (Michael Caine). Utilizing Vogel as a mediator, the Captain arranges a truce with the valley population -- pledging to protect the people of the valley from invasion in return for food and shelter during the cold winter months. At the end of the season, the army leaves to fight another battle, Vogel is asked to depart from the hidden valley, and the valley and its population continues on and endures. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Omar Sharif, (more)
- 1958
This British WW II drama takes place in the wilds of Tunis. Major Gerrard (Leo Genn) is ordered to lead a desperate mission to capture a Nazi-held farmhouse. Despite the fact that this undertaking is tantamount to committing suicide, Gerrard has no trouble rounding up volunteers. There's a bit too much of the old "stiff upper lip" in the dialogue, though the action sequences are first-rate and believable. Of interest to modern viewers is the presence in the cast of Michael Caine; he isn't billed, and barely has a line, but he's instantly recognizable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kieron Moore, Michael Medwin, (more)
- 1954
Comparatively little known today, Republic's Laughing Anne was a Late Late Show perennial in the early 1960s. One of several Republic features lensed in England in collaboration with producer Herbert Wilcox, the film stars Margaret Lockwood in the title role. A well-known Parisian cabaret singer, Laughing Anne travels to the South Seas with her ex-prizefighter boyfriend Jem Farrell (Forrest Tucker). Here she falls in love with schooner captain Davidson (Wendell Corey), but she eventually breaks off the relationship, fearing reprisals from the brutish Jem. Years later, fate brings Davidson, Anne and Jem back together, and the results are disastrous for at least two of the three. Laughing Anne was loosely based on a story by Joseph Conrad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendell Corey, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
- 1949
Saints and Sinners is set in a remote Irish village where "appearances" take precedence over everything else. Having served two years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, Michael Kissane (Kieron Moore) returns to his home town of Kilwarra. While many of his old friends believe in Michael's innocence, he is obliged to prove that innocence before he will be fully accepted again. Christine Norden plays Blanche, the girl who promised to wait for Michael but who went back on that promise at the behest of her family. Drenched in atmosphere and local color, Saints and Sinners falters only in its depiction of a stereotypical American visitor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kieron Moore, Christine Norden, (more)
- 1947
In this British crime drama, an honest railroad signalman finds himself sorely tempted when he witnesses a murder and later finds $20,000 floating in the harbor. The trouble begins when he decides to take the money and leave town with his daughter and a gold digger. The killer is in hot pursuit when the railroadman kills him. In the end, the signalman's conscience erupts and he returns the stolen loot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Barton, Kathleen Boutall, (more)
- 1945
This 1949 British film told a very plausible story about a triangle between a woman, her soldier husband, and her new lover. Jim Colter (John Mills) has joined the services, leaving his wife Tillie (Joy Shelton) with his mother (Beatrice Varley) and sister. Tillie is lonely, meets Ted Purvis (Stewart Granger), and falls for him. It turns
out that Purvis is a small-time crook and swindler and falsified his medical records in order to avoid serving in the war. Jim finds out about the affair and deserts the war to return home and settle matters. But he is set upon and beaten by Purvis' hoodlum buddies. Unchastened, Jim goes after Purvis, and they engage in a climactic fist fight as bombs are dropping during a Nazi air raid. The entire story is played out against the noisy backdrop of a country at war. It was based on a story by director Sidney Gilliat. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
out that Purvis is a small-time crook and swindler and falsified his medical records in order to avoid serving in the war. Jim finds out about the affair and deserts the war to return home and settle matters. But he is set upon and beaten by Purvis' hoodlum buddies. Unchastened, Jim goes after Purvis, and they engage in a climactic fist fight as bombs are dropping during a Nazi air raid. The entire story is played out against the noisy backdrop of a country at war. It was based on a story by director Sidney Gilliat. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Stewart Granger, (more)
- 1945
Australian-born comic actor Vic Oliver was usually at his best on-screen when teamed with an unusually talented leading lady. Oliver's vis-a-vis in the British I'll be Your Sweetheart was film favorite Margaret Lockwood. Set in the early 1900s, the film concerns the trials and tribulations of musical-hall diva Edie Story (Lockwood), whose happy-go-lucky partner is one Sam Kahn (Oliver). Halfway through the film, Kahn is shunted to the background when Edie falls in love with aspiring songwriter Bob Fielding, played by up-and-coming Michael Rennie. The outcome of the plot is predicated on a Parliamentary decision which rescued songwriters from being gypped out of their royalties by unscrupulous "pirate" publishers, which happens more than once in the early reels to the luckless Fielding. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Vic Oliver, (more)
- 1939
In this British thriller, a barber must steal to fund his wife's addiction to spending money. She uses the cash he took to pay off a drape maker. The stolen bills are traced back to him. The unscrupulous seamster then begins blackmailing the couple and the barber kills him. He then has his wife leave town until the trouble blows over. Just as he hears that his wife was killed in a collision, police surround him and shoot him down. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Diana Wynyard, (more)
