Georgina Cates Movies
The story of how Georgina Cates broke into film reads like a footnote to Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon or a weird hybrid of Sybil and A Star Is Born. In the early '90s, Cates, then known by her birth name of Clare Woodgate, was an aspiring actress who had trained at London's Guildhall School of Drama and done some television work. One day, she learned that director Mike Newell was adapting Beryl Bainbridge's novel An Awfully Big Adventure for the screen and decided she was meant to play the role of Stella Bradshaw, the novel's young protagonist.After petitioning the film's casting director Susie Figgis for months and sending in an 8 x 10 photo and resumé, Woodgate was told that the film's producers were looking for a young unknown who, like Stella, hailed from Liverpool. Against the advice of her colleagues and friends, she duly changed her identity to that of Georgina Cates, adopted a Liverpudlian accent, and donned a wig. Her transformation was convincing enough to fool Figgis, director Newell, and everyone else involved in the production, and as Georgina Cates, she won the role. She continued the ruse for the duration of the film's shoot, telling everybody that she was born in Liverpool and traveled to London on the weekends to attend acting classes. Cates even got her mother in on the act, having her pose as an aunt from Essex (where Cates actually grew up).
The actress' gamble ultimately paid off; when An Awfully Big Adventure, which also starred Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, was released to generally positive reviews in Britain, Cates' performance was singled out for praise by a number of critics. After she eventually revealed her true identity, some observers noted that her deception was an appropriate one, given that the character of Stella, who joins a dysfunctional post-war rep company with dreams of becoming an actress, is in part built on a foundation of willful ambition.
Unfortunately, Cates' subsequent efforts have failed to measure up to the flamboyant first act of her career. After legally changing her name, she went on to supporting roles in such films as Frankie Starlight (1995), Illuminata (1998), and Clay Pigeons (1998), and starring turns in such little-seen features as Stiff Upper Lips (1997) and A Soldier's Sweetheart (1998). The last of these, a drama set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, featured Cates opposite Skeet Ulrich, whom she married in 1997. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
- 2006
A clergyman facing a mid-career crisis offers protection to a roaming con-woman who preys on celibates, only to have his life turned suddenly upside down when the woman discovers a damning secret that the holy man had been struggling to keep from his congregation. In an era where church closures, bankrupt dioceses, and religious scandal dominate the headlines, Father Anthony Romano (Nick Chinlund) longs to see his vocation redeemed. Father Romano's subordinate is a die-hard fundamentalist named Stephen. When Stephen attacks a prostitute grifter named Lil (Georgina Cates), Father Romano reluctantly offers the young woman sanctuary in his rectory. Later, Lil discovers a carefully guarded secret in the rectory that could stir up precisely the kind of controversy that Father Romano has been so desperately trying to avoid. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nick Chinlund, Georgina Cates, (more)
A group of strangers find their lives colliding head-on in this action-oriented comedy-drama. Connor (Burt Reynolds) and Hudson (William Forsythe) are a pair of hit men who meet a wily prostitute named Angela (Georgina Cates) while en route to an assignment. Before the night is over, they become intertwined in ways they never could have expected. Big City Blues also stars Giancarlo Esposito, Balthazar Getty, and Arye Gross. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, William Forsythe, (more)
- 1998
- R
Thomas Michael Donnelly directed this Vietnam drama, filmed in New Zealand and adapted from Tim O'Brien's short story, "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," about a group of army medics in Vietnam. Rat (Kiefer Sutherland) narrates the tale seen in flashbacks: Rat's buddy Fossie (Skeet Ulrich), after learning about a unit that pooled money to bring in a hooker, manipulates the black-market to import his hometown girlfriend, innocent teen Marianne (Georgina Cates). The M*A*S*H-like unit is pleased by her presence, but Marianne finds the war carnage fascinating; she experiments with small-arms fire, goes wandering off into dangerous territory, and becomes friends with a unit of Green Berets, much to the dismay of Fossie. Just when he's on the brink of sending her home, she sets forth on an all-night patrol with the Green Berets. This film and Donnelly's The Garden of Redemption, another war drama, are two/thirds of a planned Showtime trilogy. Locations in New Zealand. Shown at the 1998 Seattle Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kiefer Sutherland, Georgina Cates, (more)
David Dobkin made his feature directorial debut with this comedy thriller about an ordinary guy mistakenly viewed as a serial killer by the FBI. In small-town Mercer, Montana (population 1,536), easy-going gas station attendant Clay Bidwell (Joaquin Phoenix) endures a comical nightmare that gets underway when Clay's best buddy Earl (Gregory Sporleder) learns Clay slept with Earl's wife Amanda (Georgina Cates). Earl commits suicide as a horrified Clay watches. Amanda would rather see Clay in prison than have the local gossipers chatting about their affair, so to cover-up, Clay puts Earl's body into a faked auto accident. Clay then finds comfort with waitress Gloria (Nikki Arlyn), but Amanda kills Gloria, leaving Clay to dispose of another body. At the local bar, Clay is befriended by trucker Lester Long (Vince Vaughn), and they go fishing, hooking a corpse. Lester asks Clay to tell the cops he found it alone. The next victim is Amanda, stabbed 40 times. Clay tries to explain what's going on to the law -- Sheriff Mooney (Scott Wilson) and FBI agents Dale Shelby (Janeane Garofalo) and Reynard (Phil Morris) -- but he becomes the main suspect and is arrested, while serial killer Lester is on the loose. Clay manages an escape from jail and goes in search of Lester. David Dobkin, a Ridley Scott protégé, is an award-winning director of music videos (including the Coolio clips that won MTV's "Best Dance Video of 1996") and commercials, many helmed under the auspices of Ridley and Tony Scott's production companies. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vince Vaughn, Janeane Garofalo, (more)
Actor John Turturro, who made his directorial debut with the Cannes Camera d'Or winner Mac (1992), returned to directing with this period farce about a struggling, turn-of-the-century New York repertory company owned by Astergourd (Beverly D'Angelo) and Pallenchio (Donal McCann). Egotistical playwright Tuccio (Turturro) has written a new play, Illuminata, for the troupe's actress-manager Rachel (Katherine Borowitz), daughter of aging actor Flavio (Ben Gazzara), who's lost his memory. Tuccio would like to see Illuminata staged, but the owners feel the play is unfinished. Young Piero (Matthew Sussman) collapses while performing in Cavalleria Rusticana, and this provides the ambitious Tuccio with an opportunity to introduce his new work to audiences. Unfortunately, foppish critic Bevalaqua (Christopher Walken) is unimpressed and issues a vicious attack on the production -- while also making unsubtle overtures to company clown Marco (Bill Irwin). Diva Celimene (Susan Sarandon) seduces Tuccio with her promises to bring him worldwide fame and fortune. Other liaisons are played out with the juvenile leads (Rufus Sewell, Georgina Cates), a veteran clown (Leo Bassi), and a supporting actress (Aida Turturro). Shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Turturro, Katherine Borowitz, (more)
Tony (Daniel Baldwin) runs a rather intriguing Hollywood brothel. His primary hookers -- Francesca (Julie Delpy), Mimi (Georgina Cates), and Dolly (Pamela Gidley) -- are given to elaborate, costumed, role-playing fantasies to please Tony's peculiar, highly emotional clientèle. The harlequin-outfitted harlots find their lives suddenly complicated by their increasingly strange customers, a relentless husband (Patrick Dempsey), and a political rally involving a sexually uninhibited mayoral candidate (Seymour Cassel). ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi
This 5.7-million-dollar British comedy from writer/director Gary Sinyor satirizes the now-familiar Merchant-Ivory style of period dramas. So no one will miss the joke, the central setting is Ivory Hall, the Ivory family mansion in rural England. In 1908, young twit Edward Ivory (Samuel West) plans to match his bookwormish friend Cedric (Robert Portal) with his 22-year-old sister, Emily (Georgina Cates), and introduces the two at Ivory Hall. However, Emily is instead attracted to gamekeeper George (Sean Pertwee), the son of a peasant (Brian Glover). Emily's aunt Agnes Ivory (Prunella Scales), in favor of Cedric, suggests an Enchanted April-type excursion to Italy with George along as a servant. Eventually, Emily and George become a couple, but class differences are a barrier. When Aunt Agnes becomes bored with Italy and yearns to go "somewhere more English," the vacation party is off to India, where Agnes has her own romantic encounter with lecherous tea-planter Horace (Peter Ustinov). Other short satirical send-ups recall Chariots of Fire, Brideshead Revisited, Upstairs, Downstairs, The Shining, and Gandhi, while humorous references also are heard in the soundtrack of classical excerpts. Stiff Upper Lips was shown at the 1997 London Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Peter Ustinov, Prunella Scales, (more)
- 1995
- R
A small man with a big story examines the facts of his life in this drama. As Frank Bois enjoys the success of his first novel, he finds himself looking back on his highly unusual life. Frank's mother Bernadette (Anne Parillaud) was a French woman who, after the death of her parents and several close friends in World War II, smuggled herself aboard an Allied troop ship sailing to Ireland, exchanging sexual favors for silence among the soldiers who discovered her on board. A kind-hearted customs agent, Jack Kelly (Gabriel Byrne), allowed Bernadette to enter Ireland, and they soon became lovers, even though she was already carrying the child of one of the soldiers from the ship. Bernadette soon gave birth to young Frankie (Alan Pentony), who suffered from dwarfism. As he grew older, Frankie fell for Jack's daughter Emma (Georgina Cates), who clearly didn't care for him, while Jack generously shared his knowledge of astronomy with Frankie. Eventually, Bernadette encountered Terry Klout (Matt Dillon), an American soldier from the troop ship, who offered to marry her. Bernadette and Frankie accompanied Terry to his home in Texas, but both mother and son felt like fish out of water in the American West, and they returned to the Irish home they came to love. A sadder but wiser Bernadette eventually committed suicide, and Frank began to draw upon his life experiences as he put pen to paper for his first book. Based on the novel The Dork of Cork by Chet Raymo, Frankie Starlight was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Anne Parillaud, Matt Dillon, (more)
- 1995
An Irish castle filled with eccentric characters, both upstairs and down provides the basis for this lively, loopy British comedy based on Henry Green's anti-novel set in 1941. The Castle Kinalty has become a haven for advocates of the traditional British class system. The aristocratic masters go about their business and try to ignore the nagging guilt that tells them they should return to England to fight in the war. The story (if it can be called a story) begins as Raunce is promoted to the position of head butler following the death of the former butler. The middle-age Raunce loves the power he suddenly has over the others and over the household accounts. Raunce is a little arrogant and very uptight and always courteously catering to the widowed mistress of the house and her randy daughter. Restrained Raunce finds himself targeted for love by the lithesome lusty young servant Edith who teaches him the advantages of unbridled passion. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
A misleading title and a different type of performance from Hugh Grant are two of the offbeat features of An Awfully Big Adventure. Virginal theatre fanatic Stella (Georgina Cates), who speaks with her dead mother by phone, joins a theatrical troupe in 1947 England headed by manipulative director Meredith Potter (Grant). Stella quickly falls for Potter, but he doesn't return her affections, driving her into the arms of the troupe's arrogant star, P.L. O'Hara (Alan Rickman). O'Hara eventually takes Stella's virginity, although she secretly remains devoted to Potter. More secrets of the troupe are revealed at the story's climax, although nothing is really resolved to any of the characters' satisfaction. Not quite a satire and not quite a drama, An Awfully Big Adventure is occasionally mean-spirited and frequently dour, which may just be a result of its subject matter. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, (more)
- 1993
Romance is the focus of this drama as it follows the adventures of Susan, a 17-year old who accepts an au pair position in Munich Germany to escape the sleepy Welsh village in which she was raised. The film chronicles her soap-operatic love-life as she watches over the autistic daughter of TV executive Barbara and her architect husband Ivo. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Clare Woodgate, Justin Chadwick, (more)
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