George Roderick Movies
- 1974
Bill Fraser and Raymond Huntley star in the raucous British farce That's Your Funeral. Fraser and Huntley play Bullstrode and Holroyd, rival undertakers. The animosity between the two is amplified when drug traffickers attempt to use coffins and hearses to smuggle their wares. David Battley and John Ronane co-star in the sitcomish goings-on. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
This satirical fantasy is based upon an Elmer Rice play from 1923. A hard-working office employee is rewarded for his years of slavish devotion to the company by getting fired just prior to retirement and being replaced with an adding machine. Now, with only his nagging wife waiting at home to add more misery to his dreary life, the man has nothing left and goes over the edge. He murders his boss and then goes on trial. He is convicted and put to death. He dies a happy and free man, thinking that he will surely go to Hell. Strangely enough, he ends up in a heavenly waiting area with other killers who are all there to be reassigned to new lives back on Earth. While waiting, he meets his new guardian angel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Diller, Milo O'Shea, (more)
- 1967
Adapted from the novel by C. Virgil Gheorghiu, this satirical concentration-camp drama from Turkish-born French director Henri Verneuil stars Anthony Quinn as Johann Moritz, a Romanian peasant who experiences the horrors of World War II when the Nazis invade his country. Because local police chief Dobresco (Gregoire Aslan) is anamorous towards Moritz's wife Suzanna (Virna Lisi), he has the lowly fieldhand falsely labeled a Jew and sent to a work camp. Moritz's troubles continue to mount, as his wife is threatened with losing their property unless she divorces him. Also starring Michael Redgrave, La Vingt-cinquième heure is also known as The 25th Hour, though it should not be confused with and bears no resemblance to the 2002 Spike Lee film of the same name. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quinn, Virna Lisi, (more)
- 1966
In this children's film, a gang of boys try to prove that the innocence of a peer wrongly accused of stealing the school bell. They succeed and the real crooks are brought to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
British pop star Cliff Richard and his band The Shadows (including influential guitarist Hank B. Marvin) star in this lighthearted blend of music, comedy, and espionage. An American fighter plane accidentally drops a small bomb on a Spanish town; the bomb fails to go off, but the community is thrown into a panic and the village is evacuated. When Cliff and the Shadows arrive in town to play a show, they're a bit puzzled to discover that no one is there; when they find out what has happened, the boys try to find the bomb so that it can be returned to the American pilots. However, it turns out that foreign agent Mr. X (John leMesurier) is also looking for the bomb and has blackmailed hotel owner Col. Roberts (Robert Morley) into helping him. As you might expect, Cliff and his band manage to squeeze in a few songs as they further the cause of Anglo-American unity. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cliff Richard, The Shadows, (more)
In this English comedy, the trouble begins when a bumbling young man embarrasses his grandfather, the British Prime Minister, by selling newspapers on a street corner. Soon the fellow finds himself given a reporter's job and sent to cover a story in a tiny coastal village. There he soon finds himself entangled in a massive scandal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norman Wisdom, Derek Bond, (more)
- 1964
This is a somewhat sensitive story of a virgin 39-year-old British soccer fan who goes to a bar with a bunch of his pals and is goaded into betting that he can sleep with the sassy waitress. What he doesn't know is that she overhears the bet and decides to call better's bluff. They take off to her apartment and carry on an all-night conversation in which finally ends in less talk and more tickle. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry H. Corbett, Diane Cilento, (more)
- 1962
The title refers to a terrifyingly efficient team of professional assassins. Headquartered on the Riviera, the killers welcome a new member to their fold -- John Steed. But despair not, Avengers fans: Steed is merely trying to catch the villains "in the act." Unfortunately, Steed's assistant Venus Smith (Julie Stevens) misunderstands the situation, thereby putting both her life and Steed's in jeopardy. Originally broadcast November 3, 1962, "The Removal Men" was written by Roger Marshall and Jeremy Scott. The episode remained unseen in America until February 1, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Suspecting that he has been slated for murder by his avaricious wife, Caribbean dictator General Mendoza fakes his own death. To keep his daughter Carmelite (Bandana Das Gupta) out of harm's way, Mendoza arranges for her to be kidnapped. Steed and Keel are brought into the case when Carmelite is kidnapped for real, and the motive behind it all turns out to be political rather than monetary. Originally telecast live on February 4, 1961, "Crescent Moon" was written by Geoffrey Bellman and John Whitney. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1959
A false accusation divides a town and destroys a clergyman's career in this adaptation of the Philip King stage play of the same name. Anthony Quayle stars as Reverend Howard Phillips, a new arrival in a small town that's become overrun with punk kids. Trying to make a difference and improve the town's fortunes, Phillips earns the respect and love of Hester Peters (Sarah Churchill), a spinster and the daughter of the previous vicar. Unfortunately, Phillips runs afoul of Larry Thompson (Andrew Ray), leader of the delinquents running roughshod over the town. A nasty piece of work, Thompson has murdered one person and doesn't hesitate to concoct a false story that Phillips made an unwelcome homosexual advance toward him that turned into an assault. Instead of rallying to his defense, the narrow-minded town elders simply backbite and gossip. Director Terence Young went on to direct three of the first four James Bond films, Dr. No (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), and Thunderball (1965). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quayle, Sarah Churchill, (more)
- 1959
Cowritten by future Avengers mainstay Brian Clemens, the British-filmed Crash Drive plays like an American Pat O'Brien programmer of the 1930s. Dermot Walsh stars as a race car driver who is paralyzed in an accident. Rather than accept the situation, he immerses himself in the mire of self-pity. Only the return of estranged wife Wendy Williams snaps Walsh out of his weeping and wailing. Just as Wendy Williams is not rock star Wendy O. Williams, neither is Crash Drive supporting actor Ian Fleming the same person as the novelist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dermot Walsh, Wendy Williams, (more)
- 1957
Kay Callard plays Joan Foster, the title role, in the British quickie Undercover Girl. She works in a nightclub that serves as the front for a dope ring. When a reporter is murdered, Joan agrees to help the reporter's brother (Paul Carter) bust up the criminal gang. Naturally, this means putting her own life on the line, but you knew that when you saw the title. If nothing else, Undercover Girl affords ample opportunities to show off attractively undressed chorus girls. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
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
- 1957
In this British detective yarn, a Yankee sleuth teams up with Scotland Yard to catch the culprits behind a successful counterfeiting ring. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this crazy British comedy, a Cockney corporal dreams of getting promoted so that he can finally receive his inheritance. To facilitate the raise in status, he masquerades as a priest and goes out one night with the vicar's glamorous, blond wife. His action starts a trend and soon he runs into a number of men in priestly garb. The trouble is, he cannot discern the real ones from the fakes until the end when he finds a fugitive convict and gets him arrested. Soon after, the plucky corporal gets his promotion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this crime drama, a writer and his wife are sleeping peacefully in their beds when a mysterious woman shows up, gives the writer her gun, also hands him some jewels and asks for a place to sleep. Unfortunately, someone murders her during the night and the author is accused of the crime. Fortunately, he is able to prove his innocent by the story's end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
