Roy Clarke Movies
- 1997
The British sitcom Spark was the story of Ashley Parkerwell (James Fleet), who had managed to get into middle age without ever spreading his wings and experiencing life to the fullest. Now that his domineering mother was dead and buried, Ashley intended to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, the hero was still incapable of popping the question to his longtime sweetheart Gillian (Rebecca Raybone), despite the concerted efforts of his sardonic sister-in-law Colette (Jan Francis) and his meddling housekeeper Mrs. Rudge (Anne Reid). Lasting six half-hour episodes, Spark was carried over by the BBC1 service from November 10 to December 15, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this sentimental comedy, two British World War II veterans (played by English stage and screen veterans Sir Alec Guinness and Leo McKern) have come back to Normandy together to revisit the site of their most harrowing wartime experiences, to look up the gravesite of a fallen comrade, and to look up the prostitute (Jeanne Moreau) who put joy back into their lives. At their hotel, they meet Waldo (John Randolph), an American veteran, who is on a similar mission. Unlike them, however, he is saddled with the company of his disagreeable daughter and her stuffy husband (Geraldine Chaplin and Edward Herrmann) who think they are doing him a favor by coming with him. One highlight of the film is Moreau's rendition of the Edith Piaf classic, La vie en rose. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Leo McKern, (more)
- 1989
- R
Two terminal cancer patients break out of the hospital in a final attempt to enjoy their last days in this black comedy drama. Decker (Anthony Edwards) is an American ex-football player resigned to die. Bancroft (Timothy Dalton) is an attorney who is more optimistic and talks Decker into a journey to a Dutch whorehouse for a final fling. The unlikely duo steal an ambulance and head for Holland. They make a stop at the wedding of Bancroft's former flame -- who abandoned him with his terminal illness. Decker and Bancroft come across two women with car trouble, Maureen (Camille Coduri) and Hazel (Janet McTeer). Maureen and Decker immediately hit it off, but Bancroft considers the meeting an interruption of their quest. The women are unaware the two men are dying, and the men have no way of knowing Hazel is pregnant. They arrive at the bordello where they eventually learn each other's secrets. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Dalton, Anthony Edwards, (more)
- 1983
Pictures was a sequel of sorts to the 1981 British miniseries Flickers, which enjoyed great success on both sides of the Atlantic. Whereas the earlier program dramatized the formative years of the British motion-picture industry, this sequel covered the years between World War I and the Great Depression, when the silent cinema was at its zenith. The various interrelated characters, employees all of the movie business, weathered such crises as the "invasion" of autocratic German directors and the "talkie revolution" following the release of Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer. The seven hour-long installments of Pictures first aired in the U.K. in 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anton Rodgers, Peter McEnery, (more)
An amiable Cockney rogue seeking out investors in a bid to break big in the silent-film industry finds that building a business out of make believe isn't as easy as he might have thought in this comic yarn about life in the British film industry starring Bob Hoskins and Frances de la Tour. Arnie (Hoskins) longs to make a name for himself in celluloid, but before he finds his way to the silver screen he'll have to seek out some investors first. It's during his tireless search for financing that Arnie becomes locked into a curious romance with prickly entrepreneur Maude (de la Tour). As the unorthodox affair between Arnie and Maude becomes increasingly intimate, the pair struggles to keep the creditors at bay as they satiate the egos of insecure actors and strive to reign in an egotistical director to bring the film in under budget and on time. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Frances de la Tour, (more)
- 1977
Diana Rigg was virtually the whole show on this flexible British anthology series. In each of the six half-hour episodes of Three Piece Suite, Rigg portrayed three different women in three separate sketches. The story material, written by some of British TV's top wordsmiths, ran the gamut from sentimental drama to gut-busting comedy. Telecast by BBC2, Three Piece Suite was seen from March 8 to April 12, 1977. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diana Rigg
- 1973
Porcine British character comedian Ronnie Barker starred in this BBC2 sitcom, which initially aired on March 25, 1973. The series consisted of seven half-hour comedy pilots, all starring Barker. Three of the episodes graduated to weekly series status. Of these, only "Prisoner and Escort" (retitled "Porridge" for its series run) would star Barker; the others were "Open All Hours" and "My Old Man." The remaining episodes included "Another Fine Mess," "I'll Fly You for a Quid," and "One Man's Meat," the last-named property written by Barker under the pseudonym Jack Goetz. Seven of One was last seen on May 6, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1937
Bob Steele once again goes in search for the outlaw who murdered his father in this average Western released by Republic Pictures. The killer, Jim Hatfield (Warner Richmond), is holed up in a South-of-the-Border cantina from whence he runs a series of cattle rustlings and assorted other crimes. The Hatfield gang kidnaps Don (David Sharpe), the young brother of waitress Jean Williams (Lorraine Hayes), and forces him to sign over some traveler's checks to Hatfield. Allowing himself to be captured by the gang, newly deputized Dave Austin (Steele) is sentenced to die at sundown, but by using trickery, the youngster manages to turn the outlaws against each other. Doomed at Sundown was filmed at Newhall and Chatsworth, CA. Leading lady Lorraine Hayes, aka Lorraine Randall, was the sister of popular screen actress Bernadene Hayes. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Steele, Lorraine Hayes, (more)
- 1937
In this musical, an enigmatic masked woman catches the roving eye of a wily playboy gambler at a masquerade ball. If he knew that she was using her wiles as bait and was planning to reform him of his gambling womanizing ways after catching him, he may have head for different waters. Fortunately for her, he doesn't figure this out until she has reeled him in and effectively ended his days of frying other fish. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Bartlett, June Knight, (more)
