Allan Cuthbertson Movies

Margaret Leighton stars as a novelist who draws inspiration for her characters from the people around her. While working on a romance novel, she bases the sexy central male character upon her chauffeur (Carlo Justini). He can't understand that Margaret's interest in him is purely professional, and assumes that the woman is crazy about him. Everybody in Leighton's "real" life portrays his or her literary counterpart in a film-within-a-film, few more amusingly than the lady's wheelchair-bound husband (Ralph Richardson). Something of a comic precursor to The French Lieutenant's Woman (81), Passionate Stranger was also released as A Novel Affair. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Someone is sexually assaulting and (usually) killing the students of a girls' school. There are entirely too many suspects to make the job of the Scotland Yard detective (Frank Finlay) an easy one. The girls' persistent use of the shortcut through the woods in which the crimes occur has only compounded the problem. Although one of the victims has survived the attack, shock has erased her memory of the event, and the detective's investigations are perforce guided by the vague impressions of the school's art mistress (Suzy Kendall), who witnessed something. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

During an important conference, a key delegate suddenly runs out of the building and into the street, where he is promptly killed by an automobile. It turns out that the dead man had had premonitions of just such a tragedy, and all the other delegates have had similar premonitions. It's up to Steed and Emma to find out just what's been going on. . .and to prevent what seems to be the grim inevitable. Written by Philip Levene, "Death's Door" was originally broadcast in England on October 7, 1967; its first American telecast took place on January 31, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Steed and Tara investigate the murder of an agent from Cypher HQ. Their progress is stunted by the other Cypher personnel, who insist that they've never seen the dead man. Even so, someone is leaking secrets to the enemy, and the trail of clues leads to an offbeat window-cleaning service. Written by Tony Williamson, "Super Secret Cypher Snatch" made its debut on American television on September 30, 1968; it showed up in England on October 9 of that same year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Captain Nemo and the Underwater City thrusts several "name" actors into the specialized world of Jules Verne. Six 19th-century shipwreck victims are rescued by a modernistic submarine. The skipper is Captain Nemo (Robert Ryan), who had not died at the end of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as viewers had been led to believe. Instead, he has installed a fantastic underwater city, using this subterranean metropolis as a base of operations for his war against mankind. The ambitions of the screenwriters and director are defeated by the tackiness of the film's model and miniature work. Captain Nemo and the Underwater City represented MGM's first Jules Verne epic since its 1929 spectacular Mysterious Island. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast a Giant Shadow is a big-budget, glossy action/adventure story set at the time that Israel became a nation. American Army officer Colonel David Marcus is recruited by the yet-to-exist Israel to help form an army. Marcus is conflicted because of his sudden appreciation for his Jewish heritage. Realizing that each of Israel's Arab nations has vowed to invade the poorly prepared country once the partition has been made, Marcus is made commander of the Israeli forces just before the war begins. The all-star cast includes Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger and Angie Dickinson. Aldo Tonti provides the beautiful photography by Aldo Tonti, and Melville Shavelson directs. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Monty Python's Michael Palin was the guiding force behind East of Ipswich. Set in mid-1950s Britain, the plot concerns a group of teenagers on holiday with their uptight parents. Heeding the call of the galloping hormones, our young heroes and heroines become involved in all sorts of brief amours. The cast includes Edward Rawle-Hicks, John Wagland, Oona Kirsch. Made for British television in 1986, East of Ipswich debuted in America over the A&E cable network in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in Germany by American director John Huston, Freud is a sincerely felt but overly simplistic biopic of the pioneering psychotherapist. The brooding, introspective Montgomery Clift was a curious choice for the role of Sigmund Freud; at times he looks more off the beam than some of his patients (his comic-opera Viennese accent doesn't add to the credibility). The screenplay takes the shape of a detective mystery, attempting to link various crises in Freud's private and professional life with his theoretical conclusions, most often doing so within well-staged dream sequences. Less successful are the scenes with the poor unfortunates who come to Freud for help, notably an embarrassing sequence with a young man suffering from an Oedipus complex. Freud was at one point supposed to have been scripted by existentialist playwright Jean-Paul Sartre, who gave up after he realized that the subject would require a four- or five-hour film at the very least. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Italian director Mario Bava took a brief hiatus from horror films to make this fairly interesting Viking-themed adventure. Iron (Cameron Mitchell) is a Viking leader whose long-lost brother Erik (Giorgio Ardisson) was raised by Queen Alice of England. Alice's counselor, Gunnar (Andrea Checchi) betrays her and helps the Vikings take over, while the shipwrecked Erik is nursed back to health by Rama (Alice Kessleri), the twin sister of Iron's wife Daja (Ellen Kessleri). Naturally, Erik returns home and must fight Iron and defeat Gunnar in order to save the country. It doesn't quite work out that way, however, as the ruthless counselor kills Iron, leading the Vikings and British to join forces with Erik and take Gunnar down. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Walter Matthau plays a CIA agent who's been confined by office politics to a desk job. The disgruntled Matthau quits the service and heads to Europe, where he links up with former lover (an fellow ex-agent) Glenda Jackson. All goes smoothly until Matthau acts on the advice of yet another retired agent, Russian Herbert Lom, who suggests that Matthau write a tell-all autobiography. Spitefully, Matthau sends out copies of his first chapter to the heads of the CIA agencies throughout the world--and from that point on, he and Jackson don't have a moment's peace. This delights Matthau: now that all of his former colleagues are chasing after him, he has a reason to get up in the morning. As written by Brian Garfield, Hopscotch was a conventionally serious espionage novel. As adapted for the big screen by Garfield and Bryan Forbes, Hopscotch is a lively exercise in cloak-and-dagger comedy, even when the pursuit of Matthau turns deadly towards the end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The British Ice Cold in Alex was released in the US as Desert Attack. John Mills stars as Captain Anson, a grumbling alcoholic sent on a WW2 mission to Alexandria. Travelling to his destination by ambulance, Anson becomes acquainted with his fellow passengers, nurses Sister Diane Murdoch (Sylvia Syms) and Sister Denise Norton (Mary Clare) and South African officer Captain Van Der Poel (Anthony Quayle). One of these worthies is a German spy-and only two of the passengers will survive until the fade-out. For its American release, Ice Cold in Alex was not only given a new title, but was also trimmed from 132 minutes to 79. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A father discovers that being a good role model for your son isn't always easy -- especially when you're a criminal -- in this bright British comedy. Percy Brand (Michael Redgrave) is an all-purpose con artist and small-time crook who makes a good living on the wrong side of the law but often finds himself behind bars as a result. Not wanting to present too bad an example to his son and needing an explanation for his frequent time away, he tells young Colin (Jeremy Burnham) that he's a missionary working with a religious group, and his good deeds take him all over the world on sudden missions of mercy. Colin accepts his father's word to the letter, and he grows up to be a law-abiding citizen who works as a barrister for Judge Crichton (Robert Morley), who has had to deal with Percy a number of times over the years. By this time, Percy has retired to a village by the ocean and is living nicely off his ill-gotten gains, but he gets roped into a scheme smuggling brandy and soon finds himself in trouble with the law again. Rather than go back to the pokey (and embarrass Colin), Percy and his mates concoct a bizarre plan by which they'll implicate Judge Crichton in the smuggling and send him to jail in their place. Director Charles Crichton directed a number of fine British comedies, right up to his final picture, A Fish Called Wanda, which he completed at the age of 78. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this Edgar Wallace mystery, the trouble begins when a Rhodesian jewel thief kills a policeman and simply disappears. Now it is up to an intrepid detective, a former cop, to solve the crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide