Kenneth Buckley Movies
- 1948
In postwar London, Chicago-raised fashion reporter Linda Medbury, working for a British newspaper, runs across a crime story that's too good to pass up -- all about Sugiani (Joseph Calleia), a racketeer who has quietly amassed a fortune, and near-total control of vice in London, through counterfeiting, black marketeering, and smuggling, all backed by strongarm men who've got everyone he does business with scared. Linda insists on running the story, even though one woman and two writers who previously gotten in Sugiani's way have either disappeared, been killed, or blinded. Her fiance, sportswriter Jumbo Hyde (Derek Farr), an ex-commando captain just back from the service, wants to protect her and enlists the aid of the boxers at a gymnasium where he's well known. But Linda is moving too fast for his efforts, and Sugiani is already tying up loose ends, including eliminating one talkative witness (Ruth Nixon). And when Sugiani and his right-hand man Bar Gorman (igel Patrick) discover that they can't buy or charm Linda off her crusade, they prepare to take more drastic action -- Sugiani sends out his personal enforcer, "the barber" (Hay Petrie). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carole Landis, Joseph Calleia, (more)
- 1947
Set in Yorkshire in the 19th century, this period drama centers upon a family of mill owners. The story shifts from the well-to-do surroundings of the Crowther family to the less desirable conditions in the mill. While there are the usual crises, disasters, and labor clashes, the film manages to include a few humorous moments, mostly providing by top-billed comic actor Tom Walls. The production couldn't really hope for a profitable American run, but it did well in the provincial British cinemas. Master of Bankdam was based on the novel The Crowthers of Bankdam by Thomas Armstrong. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edgar K. Bruce, Anne Crawford, (more)
I See a Dark Stranger manages to be both an absorbing espionage yarn and a slyly amusing send-up of the entire genre. Deborah Kerr is terrific as Irish colleen Bridie Quilty, raised from childhood to despise the British and everything they stand for. Bridie's anglophobia proves useful to Nazi spy Miller (Raymond Huntley), who hopes to use the girl to help him steal the plans for the D-day invasion. Playing her "Mata Hari" role to the hilt, Bridie wholeheartedly throws herself into a world of clandestine meetings and coded messages, certain that by helping the Germans she is also helping Mother Ireland. Eventually she realizes the error of her ways, enabling her to turn the tables on Miller and his co-conspirators. Trevor Howard co-stars as David Baynes, with whom the impulsive Bridie falls in love despite his English forebears. I See a Dark Stranger was released in the U.S. as The Adventuress. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Kerr, Trevor Howard, (more)
- 1946
Produced, directed and scripted by Peter Ustinov (who did not star), Secret Flight was released in Great Britain in 1946, but not distributed in the U.S. until 1951 -- at which time it was panned as being out-of-date! The fact-based screenplay details the efforts of five dedicated British scientists to develop Radar and other preventative measures on the eve of WW II. The five "boffins" are played by Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, John Laurie, Ernest Jay and David Tomlinson. Some excitement is engendered when a test pilot (Richard Attenborough) cooperates with the scientists' remote-control airflight experiments. Given the film's sober treatment of certain British wartime military maneuvers, it is surprising that Peter Ustinov frequently chooses to depict the scientists as Dr. Watson-style comic figures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, (more)
- 1940
In this rather theatrical comedy, a millionaire and a starving author exchange places. The beleaguered millionaire does this so he can find a little peace and quiet. The ersatz millionaire goes to a boarding house where he finds moochers at every turn. Meanwhile the real millionaire's wife throws a monkey wrench in the scheme when she surprises her "husband" at the house. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wallace Evennett, Evelyn Roberts, (more)
- 1939
This Man is News is a British imitation of Hollywood's Thin Man pictures. The "Nick and Nora" herein are Barry K. Barnes as an investigative reporter and Valerie Hobson as his helpful wife (?) After writing a series of articles about an elusive gang of jewel thieves, Barnes is framed for robbery. He goes after the crooks himself, despite the "cease and desist" warnings of Scotland Yard and his own editor. This Man is News did well enough to warrant a sequel, but This Man in Paris did poorly enough to bring this would-be series to an abrupt end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Barnes, Valerie Hobson, (more)
- 1939
Adapted from the best-selling novel by K. J. Benes, A Stolen Life serves as a tour de force for German actress Elizabeth Bergner, whose husband Paul Czinner directed the film. Bergner stars as identical twins Sylvina and Martina, whose mild sibling rivalry intensifies when one of the girls tricks the other's sweetheart Alan McKenzie (Michael Redgrave) into proposing to the wrong twin. While Alan is away on business, his new bride and her sister go off on a yachting expedition. A storm at sea capsizes the vessel, wherupon one of the twins-the unmarried one--is drowned. As the other girl recovers, she finds that everyone assumes that she's actually her lookalike sister. Assuming the dead woman's identity, the surviving girl hopes to resume her pre-marital romance with Alan-only to discover that her sister had been carrying on a clandestine affair. If the plot sounds familiar, it's because A Stolen Life was remade in 1946 with Bette Davis as the sisters and Glenn Ford as the confused husband. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wilfred Lawson, Elisabeth Bergner, (more)
- 1937
British writer/director Donovan Pedelty, a past master at efficiently adapting stage plays for the screen, does a neat job with Charles Landstone's Behind Your Back. Stella Bonheur plays Lady Millicent Coombe, an eminent playwright about to launch her latest production. Lady Millicent is saddled with a company of trouble-prone actors, each with his or her insurmountable problems. Fortunately, all problems are surmounted, just seconds before the curtain goes up. Topping the cast is personable Jack Livesey; at the bottom of the list is Jimmy Mangeean, as a disgruntled "man from the stalls [the worst theatre seats, that is]." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1937
In this drama, two young truckers leave a crooked company to form their own. Their former boss sends his charming daughter and several goons to bring them back, and almost succeeds, but the truckers make a success of themselves by rescuing miners trapped in a flooded mine. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1933
In this musical, a loose adaptation of Strauss' opera Die Fledermaus, a writer goes to Vienna to supposedly research his new book. Actually he is going to have a few flings. His wife catches on and accosts him at a magnificent costume ball. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Evelyn Laye, Gina Malo, (more)
