Nigel Davenport Movies

A character player even in youth, British actor Nigel Davenport has spent nearly forty years in briskly businesslike stage, screen and TV roles. He made his film debut as the police sergeant in Michael Powell's notorious Peeping Tom (1959). Among his many colorful screen characterizations were the Duke of Norfolk in A Man For All Seasons (1966), Bothwell in Mary Queen of Scots (1971), Van Helsing in the 1973 Frank Langella version of Dracula and Lord Birkenbed in the Oscar-winning Chariots of Fire. Nigel Davenport's TV credits include the miniseries Prince Regent (1979, as King George III), and Masada (1981). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
1965  
 
Dr. Love (David Niven) is a suave British secret agent sent to Lebanon to investigate the murder of his colleague Parkington (Nigel Davenport) by an enemy agent in this spy spoof. With the help of the beautiful Vikki (Francoise Dorlac), Love uncovers a plot by Russian agents to kill a Middle Eastern Prince who favors the British. The story was taken from the novel Passport To Oblivion by James Leasor. Niven carries the feature with his typical aplomb. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
David NivenFrançoise Dorléac, (more)
1965  
 
Add A High Wind in Jamaica to QueueAdd A High Wind in Jamaica to top of Queue
Based on a novel by Richard Hughes, this drama takes an unusual look at both seafaring pirates and the true nature of children. The Thorntons, a British family living in Jamaica, decide to pull up stakes and sail back to England after Frederick Thornton (Nigel Davenport) and his wife (Isabel Dean) decide that life in the Caribbean is having a negative effect on her children's sense of order and discipline. While returning home, their ship is attacked by Capt. Chavez (Anthony Quinn), who along with his first mate Zac (James Coburn), begins to loot the ship for valuables. However, in the midst of the confusion of the pirate raid, the Thornton children scurry onto the pirate ship, and it's not until they've left the other ship behind that Chavez and Zac discover that they have new passengers. While most of the pirates are unenthusiastic about having a pack of kids on board, Chavez declares that they must be allowed to stay on board until they can be taken to a safe port. As they get to know each other, Chaven develops a soft spot for the children, especially ten-year-old Emily (Deborah Baxter), but in time, the kids' mischievous playfulness begins to transform itself into something more sinister. The supporting cast includes Dennis Price, Lila Kedrova, and Gert Frobe. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
Anthony QuinnJames Coburn, (more)
1965  
 
Life at the Top is a belated sequel to Room at the Top, John Blaine's "angry young man" British novel that was made into a film in 1959. Laurence Harvey is back as Joe Lampton, the man-on-the-rise protagonist who in Room had given up true love in favor of a career-boosting (and antiseptic) marriage to his boss' daughter. Ten years have passed: Lampton is a business success, but utterly bored by his dead-end marital setup. His wife feels the same, and it isn't long before Mr. and Mrs. Lampton begin conducting separate affairs. While the original Room was a fairly accurate evocation of its era, Life at the Top works too hard and too noisily to be "mod," in reflection of the ethereal Swinging London era. The inclusion of flashbacks from Room at the Top, in which Harvey is seen making love to Simone Signoret, only serves to emphasize the shortcomings of the sequel. The best moments in the later version can be found in the early establishing scenes set in Yorkshire. Life at the Top was followed by a TV series called Man at the Top, starring Kenneth Haigh as Lampton, which in turn was followed by a theatrical feature of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
Laurence HarveyJean Simmons, (more)
1964  
 
A British charwoman and her colleagues strike it rich on the stock market when she discovers a wastebasket filled with market tips in this drama. Later they decide to use their money for good after they overhear a wicked financier planning to destroy the cleaning woman's neighborhood. Together they manage to save the neighborhood. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
Peggy MountHarry H. Corbett, (more)
1964  
 
TV commentator Stephen Boyd doesn't believe the official verdict of suicide in the death of a famed London psychiatrist. Boyd tries to get to the truth by studying a list of the shrink's patients. While interviewing three of these worthies (Jack Hawkins, Diane Cilento and Richard Attenborough), Boyd discover that each has a deep dark secret that the psychiatrist was privy to. The best-kept secret concerns the schizophrenia of the dead man's teenaged daughter (Pamela Franklin)--a fact that provides the key to mystery. The Third Secret originally featured Patricia Neal as one of the suspects, but her scenes were cut from the final release print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
Stephen BoydJack Hawkins, (more)
1964  
 
In this crime drama a Yankee visiting England ends up arrested for murder. Not wanting to go to prison, he tries to convince his partner into rigging the jury. Unfortunately for him, the partner double-crosses him and justice is served. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Read More

1963  
 
In this drama, a business magnate is caught cutting shady deals by a DA. For revenge, the evil industrialist hires a thug to destroy the lawyer's life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Read More

1963  
 
In this drama of romantic intrigue and infidelity, Sam and Christine Bonner (Arthur Hill and Jane Fonda) are a married couple whose relationship has hit a rough spot. While Sam loves Christina very much and would do anything for her, she feels unsatisfied and suffocated by him; she wants more space for herself and would like to have a baby. Sam is more than willing to help, but matters become more complicated when he introduces Christine to Murray Logan (Peter Finch), a friend from work, and his wife Sybil (Angela Lansbury). Murray and Sybil are not at all happy together; ever since an auto wreck claimed the life of their son, Sybil has been emotionally on edge and blames her husband for the death of her child. When Murray meets Christine, he finds himself attracted to her; she is also interested in him, but neither are in a position to do anything about it. Sam arranges for the two couples to take a vacation to Greece together, hoping a change of scenery will bring a spark back into their lives. However, Sam's father Frederick (Alexander Knox) falls ill just as the couples are about to leave, and he's forced to stay behind. While in Greece, Murray and Christine finally succumb to their desires and begin an affair; an angry Sybil retaliates by both having a fling with a local man and spilling the beans to Sam about Murray and his wife. John Houseman, later to become famous as an actor, served as a producer on this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
Peter FinchJane Fonda, (more)
1962  
 
When a junior executive organizes a romantic encounter with a designer everything falls about creating this comedy. ~ All Movie Guide

Read More

1960  
 
Add Peeping Tom to QueueAdd Peeping Tom to top of Queue
Michael Powell's controversial meditation on violence and voyeurism effectively destroyed his career when it was first released, but later generations have come to regard it as a masterpiece. Karl Heinz Boehm stars as Mark, the son of a psychologist who kept a video journal of the boy's upbringing for research purposes. The constant intrusions profoundly affected the boy, who grew up to be a photographer himself; but his principal subject matter consists of women whom he murders before the camera. He then runs the films of his victims in their final throes so that he can study their reactions to death--a perverse extension of his father's experiments, which tormented Mark to analyze his reactions to raw fear. The British press had long been hostile to the unorthodox films of Powell and his partner Emeric Pressburger; when Peeping Tom came around, they used the film to castigate him as "sick" and tawdry. The passage of time has proven Peeping Tom as profound and accomplished as any of Powell's earlier films, and it ranks with Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954) and Vertigo (1958) as a landmark exploration of the links among voyeurism, violence, and male sexual desire. Powell himself plays the evil father in the flashback sequences, and his son Colomba plays Mark as a child. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
Karl Heinz BöhmMoira Shearer, (more)
1958  
 
Add Look Back in Anger to QueueAdd Look Back in Anger to top of Queue
Archetypal British "angry young man" Jimmy Porter (Richard Burton) is a college-educated bloke who can't seem to get any better job than working in a candy store. Jimmy's relationship with his wife Alison (Mary Ure) alternates between hugs and kisses when he's feeling good and verbal abuse when he's down on himself, which is often. Alison's best friend Helena Charles (Claire Bloom) advises Alison to escape her injurious marriage. Left with no one for a punching bag, Jimmy romances Helena. Having suffered a miscarriage, Alison returns, and Helena walks out of Jimmy's life. In keeping with its depiction of the dead-end existence of most of England's working poor in the late 1950s, nothing is truly resolved in Look Back in Anger. Playwright John Osborne (at that time married to Mary Ure) uses Jimmy Porter as a spokesman for Osborne's own spleen-venting harangues against the British government and class system. Not only did Look Back in Anger spawn a new genre of British social-protest films, but it also inspired two remakes, both filmed for television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
Richard BurtonClaire Bloom, (more)
1954  
 
A fair stab at yet another World War II comedy, this film by Michael Relph features the humorous antics of an ENSA troupe (the British equivalent of the American USO) and an absurd involvement with an army major (Alfred Marks) that leads to the capture of a German commanding officer (Marius Goring). The troupe of entertainers includes a pair of seasoned crooners, a level-headed piano player, a leader who seems to fail equally well at comedy and singing, his wife, and a few others. This disparate group gets mixed up in the Brit Major's agenda and precipitates a series of unexpected circumstances that somehow lead everyone to bumble through to ultimate triumph. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Read More

Starring:
Alfred MarksSidney James, (more)

BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster Inc. © 2009 Blockbuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Portions of Content Provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.© 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.