Ronald Simpson Movies

In this seagoing military drama set in World War II, Lt. Comdr. Ericson (Jack Hawkins) is made captain of a British corvette, a small escort vessel used to guide and protect convoys traveling through the Atlantic. Ericson had his confidence severely shaken during his last command, in which he lost his ship and most of its men following an attack by a German U-boat. As he leads a new and largely inexperienced crew aboard the H.M.S. Compass Rose, Ericson is once again thrown into a life-and-death dilemma that forces him to choose between destroying an enemy ship and sparing the lives of his own men. The Cruel Sea featured breakthrough early performances from Denholm Elliott and Virginia McKenna, and it was based on a best-selling novel by Nicholas Monsarrat, who stipulated that the film rights could be sold only to a British company. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

I'll Never Forget You is an updated remake of 1933's Berkeley Square; both films used John L. Balderston's stage play as a launching pad. Tyrone Power stars as an American atomic scientist working in London. He lives in an ancestral home which dates back to the 18th century. Late one rainy evening, Power is struck down by lightning just as he enters his home. When he awakens, he finds himself transported back to the 1700s, in the person of his own ancestor. As he falls in love with his beautiful cousin Ann Blyth, Power tries to bring some 20th century technology to his "backward" forebears (this is a departure from the original Berkeley Square, in which the hero so loved the 18th century that he wanted to become part of it). Branded as a lunatic for his "hallucinations" of the future, Power is about to be carted off to Bedlam when he lapses again into unconsciousness. He awakens in his own time, to discover that his long-ago love Ann Blyth was so enamored of him that she died young, without ever marrying. At this point in the original play, the hero shuts himself off from the world, to await his ultimate reunion with his lost love in the afterlife. But I'll Never Forget You couldn't do that to virile matinee idol Tyrone Power, so the adaptors contrive to have him meet a woman who looks just like the girl he left behind 200 years ago. In the tradition of The Wizard of Oz, I'll Never Forget You opens in black and white, then switches to color when Power is sent back in time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in the early 20th century, The Loves of Joanna Godden stars Googie Withers in the title role. The heir to a prosperous farm in the Romney Marshes, the headstrong Joanna shocks and outrages her tradition-bound neighbors by running the farm herself, refusing to enter into an arranged marriage with neighboring farmer Arthur Alee (John McCallum). She also "defies nature" by performing then-revolutionary crossbreeding experiments with her stock. All this she does to provide a steady income for her beloved, convent-educated younger sister Ellen (Jean Kent). Joanna is therefore understandably put out when Ellen turns out to be an ungrateful strumpet, who herself sets her cap for the wealthy Alee. It is only through this plot twist, coupled with Joanna's own unhappy romantic affairs, that Joanna and Alee discover that they truly love each other after all. Based on a novel by Sheila Kaye-Smith, The Loves of Joanna Godden is decked out with an impressive musical score by Vaughan Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Along with The Emperor Jones, Song of Freedom is arguably the best of Paul Robeson's starring features. Robeson plays London dockworker John Zinga, obsessed with the urge to return to his African "roots" (this was nearly 40 years before Alex Haley!) Discovered by an operatic impresario, John achieves singing stardom on the concert stage -- only to throw it all away to make a pilgrimage to Africa, there to assume leadership of his ancestral tribe, the Casangas. His efforts to free the natives of their superstitions and bring the advantages of civilization to the region are opposed by the local witch doctors, who do their best to kill John and his young wife (Elizabeth Welch). Zinga is saved when he suddenly and instinctively offers a rendition of the tribal "song of freedom," proving beyond all doubt that he is the rightful ruler of the Casangas. Advertised as a "$500,000 epic" (a not inconsiderable sum for a British film in the mid-1930s), Song of Freedom did quite well at the box-office -- except, of course, in the white-bread American South. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this little thriller, an innocent wager nearly results in death. The trouble begins when a novelist bets that he can hide his friend for a month. He then whisks the fellow into the country. However, the young victim's parents do not know about the bet and call the police. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Superstitious Bouchier doesn't make a move without a sign from her Eastern astrologer Wells until this obsession causes problems in her marriage. When she gives her husband business tips, the stars prove to be correct! ~ All Movie Guide

A classy woman has an affair with a rake after she learns that she has a terminal disease in this British melodrama. When the cad dumps her, the woman's husband soon learns of her shenanigans, but he forgives her. She then gets even better news when her doctor tells her that they have finally found a cure for her disease. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide