Ivan Samson Movies
- 1959
A man is forced to prove who he really is -- and discovers that it isn't as easy as one might think -- in this drama. Sir Mark Loddon (Dirk Bogarde) is a titled member of the British aristocracy who lives a life of wealth, privilege, and notoriety, until one day Jeffrey Buckenham (Paul Massie), a pilot from Canada, makes a startling accusation. Buckenham and Loddon were both inmates in the same POW camp during WWII, and Buckenham is convinced that Loddon is not the man he claims to be; Frank Welney, an actor who was also a prisoner in the same camp, bore a striking resemblance to Loddon, and he is convinced that the actor has taken Loddon's place. The press picks up Buckenham's story, and the question of Loddon's identity becomes the talk of all England; Lady Maggie Loddon (Olivia de Havilland), Mark's wife, is deeply offended and insists that he sue for libel to restore his good name. Mark obtains the services of Sir Wilfred (Robert Morley), one of the nation's best-respected attorneys, but it soon becomes evident that proving Mark's identity in court may not be as simple as it might seem; Mark suffered severe head injuries during the war that cause him to stutter at times and also result in periodic spells of amnesia; the testimony of the many witnesses called by Sir Wilfred and his opponent, Hubert Foxley (Wilfrid Hyde-White), establish no clear consensus of who Loddon really is. Libel was based on the popular stage drama by Edward Wooll. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 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
- 1956
Set in Ireland, The March Hare stars Terence Morgan as Sir Charles Hare, a wastrelly aristocrat who gambles away his family fortune. About to be evicted from his ancestral racing stables, Hare decides to stay on when he's mistaken for a groom by the new American owner's pretty daughter Pat Maguire (Peggy Cummins). Continuing to conceal his true identity, Hare helps Pat to raise a colt for racing purposes, leading to a lengthy but exciting Derby Day finale. Though The March Hare has lapsed into public domain, most existing prints retain the vivid color cinematography of Patrick Hildyard. The film was based on Gamblers Sometimes Win, a novel by Captain Field. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan, (more)
- 1953
Three disparate male travellers quietly amuse themselves by fantasizing about the same beautiful blonde in this interesting, episodic comedy. A French bus driver sees her first and promptly imagines that she is a seductive photographer's model. In his fantasy, the two end up having a passionate affair on the French Riviera. In the next episode, a Yankee Army officer sees her on the ferry across the Channel and imagines that she is a cabaret chanteuse from Berlin. In the final episode, a British fellow sees her on the boat and imagines that she is a film star who needs his help to get away from the pesky press. Unfortunately, for the three, she proves to be a different sort of woman all together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burgess Meredith, Jean-Pierre Aumont, (more)
- 1953
Innocents in Paris is a series of anecdotes bundled together by geography. First we see the efforts by British diplomat Alastair Sim to loosen up Soviet-agent Peter Illing long enough to forge an economic plan between Russia and England. Then we watch as dotty artist Margaret Rutherford purchases a copy of the Mona Lisa. Next we see British officer Jimmy Edwards go off on a toot in a Parisian bistro. The next vignette involves impressionable Claire Bloom, who is swept off her feet by a local rake (the human variety, not the garden implement). And so it goes for 102 minutes in the British version of Innocents in Paris, and 93 minutes in the American print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, (more)
- 1951
In this entry in the series, amateur sleuth and aspiring novelist Temple and his wife look for a kidnapped scientist whose formula for a new atomic weapon has been stolen by the enemy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Michael Redgrave gives his greatest performance as Andrew Crocker-Harris, a boarding-school teacher who realizes that his life may be a failure, in this powerful adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play with a screenplay by Rattigan himself. Poor health forces Crocker-Harris to give up his teaching position after years of thankless service and scorn from his students and colleagues. His marriage to Millie (Jean Kent) is also in free fall, as his wife is openly having an affair with the school's chemistry teacher, Hunter (Nigel Patrick). The sensitivity of one student (Brian Smith) breaks through Crocker-Harris's reserved British exterior, but it takes the final departure of his wife, right before the school's graduation exercises, to wake him up once and for all. He discards his prepared speech and speaks openly to the assembled students, delivering a moving apology for having failed them as their teacher. The film's rich montage of incident and character detail builds to intense emotional heights that make this version of The Browning Version a classic. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Redgrave, Jean Kent, (more)
- 1949
Landfall takes place during the early portions of WWII. RAF pilot Rick (Michael Denison) is transferred to another squadron after sinking a British sub during a bombing raid. Disgraced, Rick has no one to turn to, save for sympathetic barmaid Mona (Patricia Plunkett). With her help, the pilot is able to find out the truth behind his "fatal error" and clear his name. Landfall was based on a novel by Nevil Shute, of On the Beach fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Plunkett, Edith Sharpe, (more)
- 1949
Based on the infamous Archer-Shee case of 1912, The Winslow Boy features Neil North as the 14-year-old title character. Accused of a petty theft, North is expelled from Naval College. His father, retired bank official Sir Cedric Hardwycke, is prevented by existing British law to clear his son's name. He engages attorney Robert Donat, who successfully petitions for the right to sue the Admiralty and make this august organization prove its charges in court. Public opinion, however, is strongly against Hardwycke and his family: particularly effected is Hardwycke's daughter Margaret Leighton, whose fiance breaks off their engagement. For dramatic purposes, Margaret finds solace in a romantic relationship with barrister Donat. Terrence Rattigan worked on the cinemadaptation of his own play, which was later restaged on American television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Donat, Margaret Leighton, (more)
- 1945
In this British costume musical, Carol Raye plays Empress Maria, a young woman of noble blood who has fallen in love with Count Franz Von Hofer (Peter Graves), one of the men assigned to guard her. Maria's guardians attempt to dissuade her interest in Franz because of his reputation as a Casanova, and when Franz is discovered in a playful conversation with Cenci Prohaska (Patricia Medina), they are convinced that their assumptions are correct. When Maria learns of Franz's behavior, she disguises herself as Cenci for an upcoming costume ball with the hopes of catching Franz in a disloyal act. Waltz Time also features a guest appearance by the celebrated operatic vocalist Richard Tauber, who sings two numbers; it was one of Tauber's final screen appearances, as he passed on in early 1948. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Raye, Peter Graves, (more)
- 1942
The tumultuous life of 18th-century composer Handel is chronicled in this dramatic biography. The story begins when the self-exiled German composer adopts England as his new homeland. While there, he and the bishop of the Anglican Church get into a heated argument while they rehearse a choir for the upcoming royal coronation. The fight is over who is the better Englishman, the bishop, a native, or the ex-patriate Handel, who deliberately chose his nationality. The argumentative composer also has a row with the Prince of Wales, but he makes it up to him by writing the "Messiah." Much of the musical score is comprised of Handel's work. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wilfred Lawson, Elizabeth Allan, (more)
- 1938
In this lively musical, a talented little tap dancer enters her grandpa's talent show and not only wins, she also helps her parents mend their differences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
April Blossoms is based loosely on incidents in the life of composer Franz Schubert, here portrayed by legendary tenor Richard Tauber. The story concentrates on Schubert's ill-fated romance with Vicki (Jane Baxter), the daughter of a prominent Austria ballet master. Upon realizing that Vicki is enamored of Rudi (Carl Esmond), a titled nobleman, Schubert magnanimously gives her up and even helps to rescue Rudi from arrest for indulging in a "forbidden" romance with a commoner. All of this is set against the backdrop of Vienna in the 1820s, sumptuously re-created in the studios of British International Productions. April Blossoms was distributed in the U.S. by MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Tauber, Jane Baxter, (more)
- 1936
The port of Southampton provides the locale for a series of escapades of British sailors on a 6 hour leave. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1935
His Hollywood career a thing of the past, director Herbert Brenon returned to his native England in 1934, where he continued making films until his retirement in 1940. Brenon's first project upon his arrival in London was the feature-length documentary Royal Cavalcade. Covering a 25-year period, the film is an encapsulation of the comings and goings of the British empire since the 1910 coronation of King George V. The highlights, drawn from the newsreel files of several English and European archives, include Captain Scott's arrival at the South Pole (and the tragic aftermath), the First World War, the Roaring 20s, and the Depression. Of special interest to show-biz buffs is the footage of the first Royal Command Performance at the Palace in 1911, featuring such matchless performers as Anna Pavlova and George Robey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1935
The son must pay for the crimes of the father when art-dealer Samson frames the son of the man who ruined his career. Samson sets the boy up to take the blame for the theft of $2,500--taken from Samson's gallery safe. Doubly unfortunate for Samson, the son has an alibi in Samson's wife, who is having an affair with the boy. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Nissen, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
- 1935
This musical features the BBC bandleader trying to deal with his musicians in the recording studio. Meanwhile, outside the studio, his music helps save a band in the jungle from cannibals, helps a group of mountain climbers get out of a foggy area, and starts and ends relationships. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1935
A Student's Romance was based on the operetta I Lost My Heart in Heidelburg, which in turn owed a lot to that old chestnut The Student Prince. In 1825, impoverished composer Max (Patric Knowles) enrolls at Heidelburg University. Local girl Veronika (Carol Goodner) falls in love with Max, helping him to finance his education and clear his debts. Alas, Veronika is left out in the cold when Max becomes enamored with gorgeous tourist Helene (Grete Natzler). Little does he know that Helene is the daughter of the Grand Duke (Ivan Simpson), meaning of course that their romance is doomed to disappointment. Leading lady Grete Natzler later changed her screen name to Della Lynd, and under that cognomen co-starred with Laurel & Hardy in Swiss Miss (1938). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Grete Natzler, Patric Knowles, (more)
- 1934
This British action-adventure is set on the high seas and centers upon a cruiser commander who sails to Santa Barbara to stop an oil field revolt. The seaman soon realizes that a complex power struggle between the oil company engineer and a man on the side of the locals has erupted. Ever the imperialist's, the sailors soon put a stop to it and then return to sea. The commander is accompanied by the daughter of the British consul. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1931
In this teary drama, a married couple remember their lives together. Heart-wrenching flashbacks ensue. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
