Sydney Vivian Movies
- 1968
CIA agent Donovan (Gene Barry) travels to Britain to untangle a web of international spies. He falls for the estranged wife of local secret agent Langley (Tom Adams). Anne (Joan Collins) starts a romance with Donovan before her son is kidnapped by rival agents. While any other mom would worry herself sick, Anne spends her time getting her hair done and selecting a fabulous gown in which she appears in the following scenes. Donovan narrows the suspects down to a trio of agents, all who may have reason to turn double agent and place their country in political turmoil with counter espionage. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gene Barry, Joan Collins, (more)
- 1964
A professor of astronomy, David Garrett (Ian Carmichael), is involved with a highly confidential project to develop missiles. He runs into an old friend from the Soviet Union who is now the world chess champion. As David soon discovers, the champion is with a team working for sinister businessman Hubert Marek (Curt Jugens). Marek intends to have David abducted while making it appear as if the professor has defected. Though he narrowly escapes one trap in England, David must continually ascertain who may be in on the group's scheme if he is to survive. Director Cy Endfield enjoyed much greater success earlier in 1964 with Zulu, his historical action feature about a native uprising in Africa. David Stone wrote the screenplay for Hide and Seek, adapted by Robert Foshko from Harold Greene's story. Stone and masterful cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (A Hard Day's Night, Dr. Strangelove, Star Wars) would soon have another project in common: Roman Polanski's psychological thriller, Repulsion. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ian Carmichael, Janet Munro, (more)
Adapted from the novel by John Wyndham, this intelligent British monster movie begins with a meteor shower so intensely bright that it blinds the majority of the world's population, rendering them vulnerable to attack from hordes of carnivorous plants known as "Triffidus Celestus" grown from meteor-borne spores. As the plant-monsters continue to multiply and seek human prey, the remaining sighted people join forces to combat the veggie invaders. One such survivor, an American seaman (Howard Keel) whose eyes were bandaged during the meteorite impact, battles his way through the Triffid ranks. Meanwhile, a couple (Kieron Moore and Janette Scott are trapped in a lighthouse. Good production values make this low-budget effort look more expensive than it probably was; the uncredited assistance of Freddie Francis -- who directed several scenes with a second unit -- also helps. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- Starring:
- Howard Keel, Kieron Moore, (more)
- 1961
In this routine mystery story by director Basil Dearden, someone who favors mysteries and comedies, Stewart Granger is John Brent, a VIP in a shipping company with a prison record behind him. When a quarter of million dollars goes missing from the company's vault, he is the primary suspect of Detective Superintendent Hanbury (Bernard Lee). Complications arise when Hanbury starts looking carefully at John's estranged wife Nicole (Haya Harareet) and the men she has on a string. The suspect list has suddenly expanded. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stewart Granger, Haya Harareet, (more)
- 1961
A strange bet provides the basis of this comedy, a British theater producer decides to make some easy money by betting a psychiatrist, whom he overheard telling a colleague that he could create the perfect child by hypnotizing a pregnant woman, that the shrink has as many holes in his theory as he did in his head. The wager is made, and the producer then talks an actress friend into masquerading as the pregnant woman to ensure his win. Unfortunately for him, the actress and the doctor fall in love. Seeing that her sweethearts theories are being derided by his peers, she decides to help him out and get pregnant for real. To do this, she gets drunk, staggers over to the producer's apartment and demands that he satisfy her right then and there. Unfortunately in the middle of it all, the doctor shows up. Then the producer's fiancee pays a visit and the whole scam falls apart in his living room. Fortunately happiness ensues when the doctor and the actress marry and decide to try the experiment for real. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Agnes Laurent, John Bentley, (more)
- 1959
An abused boy stands accused of killing his drunken father in this British drama. Fortunately two compassionate neighbors take him in and help to prove his innocence. The film is also called Scamp. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1958
The Key was adapted by Carl Foreman from Stella, a novel by Jan De Hartog. The time is WW2: The place, Plymouth England. Canadian tug captain David Ross (William Holden) and his British counterpart Chris Ford (Trevor Howard) pay a visit to Ford's lady friend Stella (Sophia Loren). Before the men leave, Ford is handed Stella's apartment key. It turns out that this key is harbinger of death; it has previously been held by Stella's former lovers, all tug captains, all dead. When Ford is killed in combat, Tennant comes into possession of the key, returning to Stella to commence a torrid love affair. However, she is unable to fall in love with Tennant, sensing that his demise is imminent. Eventually, she does fall for him, vowing that if he survives the war, she will never pass her key along to any other man. As a result, Tennant begins exhibiting hesitance in battle, as if determined to break the "jinx" at the expense of his fellow seamen. It would be the height of bad form to give away the ending at this point. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- William Holden, Sophia Loren, (more)
- 1953
James Hayter plays the chairman of a British football club. Hayter's fondness for gambling results in his involvement with the criminal element. As a result, he becomes mixed up in a few underhanded business deals. The presence of the luscious Diana Dors is perhaps the primary reason that the distinctively British Great Game was finally released to the US in 1956, two years after its completion. The film was based on the seriocomic stage play Shooting Star by Basil Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1952
Released in Britain as Whispering Smith Hits London, this economically produced whodunit stars Richard Carlson as famed pulp-novel amateur sleuth Whispering Smith. While vacationing in London, Smith becomes intrigued by a suicide case. He suspects that there's more to this than meets the eye, and of course he's right: the so-called suicide was really a murder -- and also the tip of the iceberg in a massive cover-up conspiracy. Greta Gynt co-stars as the Woman in the Case, who may not be All She Seems. For reasons unknown, the British prints of Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard credit the screenplay to John Gilling, while the American prints bestow sole screenwriting credit upon Steve (I Wake Up Screaming) Fisher. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Carlson, Greta Gynt, (more)
- 1951
Despite its lighthearted title, Lady Godiva Rides Again is a fairly potent indictment of the darker side of beauty contests. Waitress Marjorie (Pauline Stroud) enters one competition after another, hoping for fame and fortune. She manages to make the finals of a "Lady Godiva" contest, never suspecting that the outcome has been rigged. By accident, Marjorie wins First Prize, a huge sum of money and a movie contract. Alas, she hasn't the talent to parlay her win into a lasting career, and soon Marjorie is scrounging around for any "girlie show" job she can find. Only when reduced to performing nude in a French cabaret review is Marjorie rescued by her Australian boyfriend Larry Burns (John McCallum), who makes her promise to stop all this nonsense and settle down to domesticity. The well-chosen cast includes Dennis Price as a lascivious movie star and Stanley Holloway and Gladys Henson as the girl's nonplused parents. Featured in smaller roles are such future leading ladies as Kay Kendall, Diana Dors, Dagmar (later Dana) Wynter and, in an uncredited bit, Joan Collins. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dennis Price, John McCallum, (more)
- 1950
The presence of Peter Lorre assured a modicum of American business for the British meller Double Confession. It all begins when the wife of Jim Medway (Derek Farr) turns up dead. Since the evidence points to murder, the embittered Medway does his best to pin the "killing" on his wife's lover, Charlie Durham (William Hartnell). But as Scotland Yard inspector Tenby (Naunton Wayne) finally proves, appearances are deceiving--if not downright fraudulent. Lorre's role is largely peripheral, but he does supply a few moments of genuine menace. Filmed in 1950, Double Confession was based on John Garden's novel All on a Summer's Day. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, (more)
- 1949
Dick Barton (Don Stannard) investigates the northern village of High Glen, where every living thing has suddenly died without any apparent explanation. Autopsies reveal that the brains of the victims were all shrunken -- literally dehydrated -- but there is no known scientific process that would explain how this could happen. Barton must not only determine the cause, but also its connection, if any, to the mysterious Mr. Fouracada (Sebastian Cabot) and the murder of Crespin, a British agent who was returning from Prague with news of a plot against England. While Barton is investigating the first tragedy, another village is destroyed, making it imperative that he tie up the ends of the case before more people die -- and figure out what the connection of all of it may be to a traveling fair that was seen in the vicinity of both villages before they were wiped out. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
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