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Hilda Barry Movies

British character actress Hilda Barry worked on stage, screen, and television. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
1975  
R  
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British sleaze artist Pete Walker applies his characteristic sleazy, ultra-violent touch to this audacious, Catholic-bashing tale. A deranged, sex-mad priest (Anthony Sharpe) exploits the sanctity of his office as a means of harassing young women who confide their sins in his confessional, recording their confessions in order to blackmail them into doing his vile bidding. Eventually, evidence of these transgressions reaches other members of his parish (including his mother), prompting him to bump them off in creative ways, utilizing the trappings of his profession -- strangulation by rosary, arsenic-laced communion wafers, bludgeoning by incense burner, etc. Much criticism has been leveled against this film for its unabashed attacks on Catholicism, but it's really Walker's trademark amoral approach to filmmaking that elicits a strong urge to take a hot bath after viewing. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

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1971  
 
An excellent musical score by the Bee Gees adds appeal to this curious little movie about two ten-year olds, Daniel and Melody (Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde) who are completely taken with each other and announce to their parents, in all seriousness, that they plan to get married. This marriage is not planned for the distant future, but as soon as possible. The uproar that is caused when their seriousness becomes clear is not too surprising. Their best friend Ornshaw (Jack Wild) is not too thrilled with their plan either. What makes the film work is that the entire story is told from the children's point of view in which the grownups' objections, since they have no relation to the truth of what the children are feeling, come across as silly or inconsequential. This film is a reunion of sorts for Oscar-winning Oliver! co-stars Mark Lester and Jack Wild ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Starring:
Jack WildMark Lester, (more)
 
1970  
R  
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Two 20 year old twins have a bizarre incestuous relationship. Julian (Martin Potter) and his sister Jacki (Judy Geeson) carry on the affair and only reveal their secrets to a stuffed teddy bear named Agamemnon. While their father is absent, they murder the housekeeper and run wild at night. Drugged out parties with transvestites and homosexuals leads to blackmail, debauchery and murder. Julian soon finds himself unable to escape the dark and strange world and finds his fantasies have becomes his worst nightmares. Michael Redgrave appears briefly as a member of Parliament. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

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Starring:
Judy GeesonMartin Potter, (more)
 
1970  
 
This chilling mystery begins when Lucy Dawson (Flora Robson) is found strangled in her apartment. Her nephew Tim (David Hemmings) is the former-drug-addict-turned-successful-author who wrote a book about his experiences. When Tim looks into his aunt's death, people give sketchy answers and the police offer little help. Apparently they think his pleas are simply a drug-addict's ravings. As he investigates he begins to find himself plagued by threatening phone calls, and his own paranoia. The pressure begins mounting until at last he suffers a complete breakdown. As a result, the murder is never solved. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

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Starring:
David HemmingsGayle Hunnicutt, (more)
 
1968  
 
Acclaimed British neo-realist filmmaker Ken Loach made his theatrical debut with this bleak kitchen-sink drama. Joy (Carol White) leads a life that makes her name seem like some sort of a cruel joke. Her husband Tom (John Bindon) is a second-rate burglar who shows neither her nor their infant child much affection. When Tom is jailed for theft, Joy is left on her own, until Tom's best friend Dave (Terence Stamp) invites her to stay with him. Dave is warm and caring in a way that Tom is not, and love begins to blossom between them. However, Dave also supports himself as a thief, and when he's arrested and put behind bars, Joy is left back where she started. Joy takes a job as a barmaid to support herself, and she is persuaded to pose nude for a photographer to bring in some extra money; she files for divorce from Tom and begins seeing other men. However, Tom wants to give their marriage another chance once he's released from prison, much to Joy's chagrin. Several clips with Terence Stamp were later used in The Limey (1999) to illustrate the earlier life of Stamp's character in that film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Carol WhiteTerence Stamp, (more)
 
1967  
 
In this episode of the cult-favorite TV series The Prisoner, Number 6 (Patrick McGoohan) appears to be developing an artistic side when he begins work on a series of sculptures for an art exhibit. What his captors do not realize is that they can be assembled into a boat, and Number 6 uses them to sail away from the Village. In time, Number Six reaches England, where he returns to the offices of the espionage organization from which he attempted to resign, only to discover he's fallen into a trap. Leo McKern plays Village leader Number Two in this episode, while Finlay Currie and Nadia Gray highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Starring:
Leo McKern
 
1964  
 
In this caper comedy designed for international distribution, Jane (Joan Collins) and Don Giuliano (Vittorio Gassman) are part of a group of currency smugglers who are trying to get their gang's money over the border into Swiss banks. They are following a plan designed by their crafty mastermind Sandro (Jacques Bergerac), but one thing after another goes wrong. When it does, count on the conceited Don Giuliano to make it worse by trying to maintain his inflated sense of himself while he attempts to woo Jane. As is often the case in (Collins) vehicles, she looks glamorous, but viewers are advised that this feature contains an "overacting alert." ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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Starring:
Vittorio GassmanJoan Collins, (more)
 
1961  
 
An insurance investigator looks into the mystery surrounding the "accidental" death of a jockey. He finds that the death was actually caused by a gambling ring and is able to save the life of another jockey who has already had a couple of "accidents." ~ Steve Huey, Rovi

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1959  
 
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The power of hypnotism provides the basis of this film that was released in "Hypnovision" (yet another promotional gimmick) A budding and frustrated mystery writer takes extreme steps to insure that his latest thriller contains accurate descriptions of horrible murders in this gory horror thriller. He decides that the best way to do this is to set up and witness similar murders first- hand, so, not wanting to bloody his own hands, he hypnotizes his assistant, turns him into a deformed monster and has him do the dirty work using a few devilishly clever gadgets that include binoculars equipped with spring-loaded spikes, a secret guillotine poised above a young woman's bed, and deadly ice tongs. Afterward, the writer drops the bodies in a vat of acid. Several people die before the assistant rebels and gets bloody revenge. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Michael GoughJune Cunningham, (more)
 
1958  
 
The original 1958 BBC television production of the last of Nigel Kneale's classic Quatermass scripts -- which is best known in association with the 1967 Hammer Films adaptation by Roy Ward Baker -- runs circles around the feature-film version. As with the other Quatermass serials, Kneale's original script goes a lot deeper into meanings, motivations, and consequences of the events depicted, as well as characterization and plot developments. That's understandable, as the producers had six episodes running over 30 minutes each in which to work, instead of the 98-minute running time of the movie. The result is a storyline in which the mystery is developed as much as the horror and science-fiction elements, and is worthy of Sherlock Holmes, one might add. An excavation for a London subway turns up mysterious skeletons, that are almost -- but not quite -- human. An investigation by Dr. Roney (Cec Linder), a paleontologist, reveals that these creatures had abnormally large brain cavities, much larger than was the norm for any known prehistoric proto-human species. There are other specimens as well, large insect-like creatures, and all were clustered around what seems to be a spacecraft buried at the same time as these skeletons, possibly as long as five million years. The unearthing of the space vehicle brings into the case England's greatest rocket expert, Professor Benard Quatermass (Andre Morell), who comes to believe from the evidence that the vehicle is from Mars, as were the insect-like beings. Even as Quatermass and Roney continue to investigate, they run up against resistance from government officials eager to avoid a panic, and from Quatermass' new superior, Colonel Breen (Anthony Bushell), a weapons expert who doesn't trust intellectuals or idealistic scientists, and wants to believe that the spaceship was part of a World War II Nazi hoax intended to raise hysteria among the public. Meanwhile, hysteria seems called for, as strange and potentially deadly manifestations of telekinetic power and other paranormal phenomenon start to overtake workers at the site of the excavation. Quatermass and Roney are convinced that some potentially catastrophic forces are being tampered with, but no one in the government will listen to them until it is too late, and all hell, literally, starts to break loose. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

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Starring:
Andre MorellCec Linder, (more)
 
1957  
 
In this crime drama, a psychiatrist is fond of using hypnotism to help his clients. One day a test pilot comes in. He is troubled by blackouts that are affecting his job. This is the perfect opportunity for the psycho shrink who has been looking for someone to murder his wife. He places the pilot under hypnosis and orders him to commit the crime. But the ploy doesn't work and the pilot does not kill her. The angry doctor then kills the woman himself, but frames the pilot. It is the pilot's devoted fiancee who investigates and reveals the gruesome truth. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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1956  
 
In this British crime drama, an escaped killer heads for the French coast to find a mysterious treasure reportedly buried in a widow's mansion. The lonely widow is preparing to marry a man she doesn't love. Suddenly she begins receiving mysterious photos of her late spouse; they seem to suggest that he is alive. Frightened, she takes the pictures to the cops; they then implicate the fugitive and just as they get to the widow's mansion, they find the crook holding an invaluable statue of the Madonna. The cops inform the cornered thief that the statue is useless to him because no one will buy it from him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Starring:
Donald SindenMuriel Pavlow, (more)
 
1952  
 
In this British drama set in the 18th-century, a 14-year-old boy works in a carnival medicine booth. He believes the man he works for is his father, but he finds himself mistaken when his abducted by an avaricious uncle who informs him that he has inherited an important title. The uncle himself desires the title and plans to kill the lad who fortunately escapes. For vengeance the uncle starts a fire and immolates the boy's mentor. The carnies, lead by the strongman, attempt to exact their own revenge against the evil uncle. The whole mess goes to court where the boy's true lineage is revealed. He receives his rightful title. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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