Mark Daly Movies

In this crime drama, the trouble begins when Arabs kidnap a young wife and hold her hostage for a pair of rare books. Mayhem ensues as her husband and another book smuggler team up to get her back without having to sacrifice the rare tomes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This British drama is a soft-pedalled paean to the nursing profession. The story takes place in a large hospital, where several aspiring nurses receive their training. Special attention is paid to novice nurse Pat (Delphi Lawrence), who is more concerned with landing a wealthy husband than ministering to the sick, and fellow trainee Susan (Belinda Lee), who is torn between marrying her doctor-lover or continuing her studies. Mandy Miller, one of Britain's best child performers, is effectively cast as a dying heart patient. The Feminine Touch is based on a novel by Sheila MacKay Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, an ad man attempts to promote his brother-in-law's new cleaning machine. He is backed by a member of the Purity League. It isn't easy, but he eventually helps the product go public. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Delavine Affair is a jewel robbery orchestrated by a particularly vicious criminal gang. Reporter Peter Reynolds (his character name is-no kidding-Rex Banner) makes it his mission in life to track down the crooks and round them up for the Law. The bad guys reciprocate by framing Reynolds for the murder of a stool pigeon. Everything works itself out within the film's alotted 64 minutes. Honor Blackman, famed for her participation in the original The Avengers TV series, costars. Delavine Affair was based on Winter Wears a Shroud, a novel by Robert Chapman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alf Donkin (Jerry Desmonde) and his two nitwitted brothers (C. Dernier Warren and Mark Daly) adopt an orphaned baby girl. She grows up to be the delectable Pauline Stroud, whose beauty and vulnerability prompts the good-hearted Alf to be all the more protective of her. When Pauline falls in love with a crook (Peter Hammond), Alf and his siblings try to prevent their foster child from making the mistake of her life. Alf's Baby was based on It Won't Be a Stylish Marriage, a play by A.P. Dearsley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In one of his rare visits to his home turf, British actor David Niven essayed the title role in Bonnie Prince Charlie. The film's principal challenge was to transform 18th-century Scottish Prince Charles into a sympathetic character, which, patriotism aside, he most decidedly was not in real life. The court-intrigue scenes are the weakest aspect of the film; the strongest moments take place on the battlefield, where Charles "the pretender" and his followers face down the battalions of King George II (Martin Miller). Even in defeat, Charles is the victor, successfully eluding his British pursuers and escaping to France. Filmed in Technicolor at a cost of $4 million, Bonnie Prince Charlie fell with a thud when it premiered at a kidney-busting 140 minutes. Subsequent reissues were cut by as many as 40 minutes, and some were economically reprocessed in black-and-white. Thanks to constant exposure on American television, this notorious flop finally posted a profit in the late 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Danish freighter Helvig approaches English waters in early 1940 and, in keeping with the needs of British security, it is boarded by customs and naval officials in search of contraband cargo. Her skipper, Captain Anderson (Conrad Veidt), is compelled to ascede to British demands, but dreads the delay, pointing out that the medical supplies in his cargo are vital. Anderssen is a dedicated seaman, all business, even where Mrs. Sorenson (Valerie Hobson), a headstrong passenger, is concerned. Then, on their first night in port, Mrs. Sorenson and a Mr. Pidgeon (Esmond Knight) disappear from the ship with Anderson's landing papers, the captain is in hot pursuit. Forced to join the woman in what seems a mad chase across London by night, he plunges into an Alice-in-Wonderland world of the blacked out city, following a set of clues through the maze of darkened streets and uncover a Nazi spy ring operating out of a basement in Soho. Each also discovers that there's a lot to admire and even possibly to love in the other -- the challenge is for Hobson, who is something other than the divorcee and mother she pretends to be, to stay alive long enough for Captain Anderson to effect a rescue and prevent the German spies from turning the British counter-intelligence effort against the Allies. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, the funniest comic in England is dared by "Scotland's Bluebelle," a popular male impersonator to try his material in Scotland. He accepts and fails miserably. His manager then tries to get him in a smaller club to hone his material, but he finds the audience even less responsive. He is so unnerved that he ends up in the hospital where the impersonator, dressed as a nurse, takes care of him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This film tells the story of Tracy's struggle to become a famous singer. ~ All Movie Guide

In this romantic drama, a renowned stage singer leaves the theater to become a gypsy after his voice weakens. The break down of his voice is caused by nerves. In the gypsy camp he continues to sing on the street. In camp, he falls for a beautiful, naive gypsy girl who doesn't know that he is famous. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A transatlantic race is featured in this exciting drama. One of the captains involved almost loses after he saves an actress from her sinking yacht. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This romantic comedy, set amidst the exciting world of horseracing is Britain's first Technicolor film. The story, set in the late 1880s, concerns the tempestuous love between an Irish nobleman and the fiery Spanish gypsy he loves. Despite the strident objections of his stuffy, blue-blooded parents, the lovers wed. Unfortunately, the woman is widowed when her husband falls from a horse. The grieving lass returns to her wandering clan in Spain and does not return to Erin for thirty years. When she finally does, it is with a fabulous race horse and her beautiful granddaughter (the spitting image of the old woman in her youth) who masquerades as a boy so she can ride the horse in the Epsom Downs Derby. While awaiting the big race, the granddaughter meets a handsome Canadian horse trainer. He finds out her true sex, but says nothing. One night, he sees her dressed for a gala and seeing that she is truly a beauty falls deeply in love, even though he knows that the lass is engaged to another. Still the trainer and the bogus jockey fall in love. The excellent cinematography offers one of the film's highlights. Rather than following the Hollywood custom of using almost garish and vividly contrasting colors (to create a larger-than-life, almost cartoonish ambiance) in shooting, cinematographers Ray Rennahan and Jack Cardiff elected to film the story in beautiful pastel hues that add a soft pastoral feeling. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide