Hugh Dempster Movies

Curse of Frankenstein was the "breakthrough" picture for the fabled Hammer Studios. Told in flashback, the story centers around Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), a dangerously arrogant scientist who takes it upon himself to play God. Using portions of dead bodies, Victor fashions a synthetic monster (Christopher Lee) with a bad attitude. In a radical departure from the Frankenstein canon, it is the imperious Victor who orchestrates the film's two murders by "borrowing" the brain of a learned professor, then leaving his next victim at the mercy of the monster. In 1958, the film spwaned the sequel Revenge of Frankenstein. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Alex Nicol stars as writer Mark Kendrick, who becomes involved in an affair with his murderous neighbor Carol Forrest (Hillary Brooke). ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

Though she was pushing 50 at the time, Paulette Goddard still looked quite fetching in harem duds in the independently produced comedy Babes in Bagdad. On the other hand, Goddard's leading man, 57-year-old John Boles, not only looked his age but acted it. Even the youngest of the three leads, Gypsy Rose Lee, was far too mature for the childish proceedings at hand. The plot finds Arabian Nights princess Kyra (Goddard) demanding equal rights for women, much to the dismay of caliph Hassan (Boles). She is supported in her views by the caliph's godson, Ezar (Richard Ney), who nonetheless exhibits a chauvinistic streak by kidnapping Kyra at mid-film and spiriting her away to his tent. Meanwhile, the caliph sees the error of his polygamous ways and settles down with his favorite wife, Zohara (Gypsy Rose Lee). Even the staunchest auteurist defenders of director Edgar G. Ulmer are hard-pressed to justify his participation in this relentlessly silly effort. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Three generations of a Scottish clan are chronicled in this melodramatic saga. The film starts with the death of a sickly med student in a Glasgow slum. His fiancee also dies in childbirth. Her brother, who survives, begins raising her baby girl who grows up to have an affair with a lab assistant. Her "father" disapprove and threatens to destroy the wedding. She retaliates by poisoning him and then gets married. She bears a son. Unfortunately she has never recovered from the guilt of her earlier murder and ends up taking her own life. Later her son grows up to discover a vaccine for a fatal disease. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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, Rovi

In this revised adaptation of Oscar Wilde's famous comedy of manners, Lady Windermere's Fan, the middle-aged but still beautiful Mrs. Erlynne (Madeleine Carroll), well-known for her romantic adventures, has cast her eye upon Lord Windermere (Richard Greene), who is married to Lady Windermere (Jeanne Crain), a woman young and beautiful but socially conservative and harsh in her judgements of others. Lord Windermere is just as interested in Mrs. Erlynne as she is in him, and soon he's giving her money to live in the lavish manner to which she's accustomed. When Lady Windermere discovers this, she takes up with handsome rogue Lord Darlington (George Sanders), who makes no secret of his interest in her. When Mrs. Erlynne hears of Lady Windermere's indiscretion, she urges the younger woman not to make the tragic mistakes she has made and reveals a long-hidden secret: she is actually Lady Windermere's mother. The legendary Dorothy Parker co-wrote the screenplay for The Fan, which proved to be the last film for co-star Madeleine Carroll. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This 1948 adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina was produced in England by Alexander Korda, and released in the US by 20th Century-Fox. Vivien Leigh plays the title role, a 19th-century Russian gentlewoman married to Czarist official Ralph Richardson. Though her marriage is not intolerable, Anna is swept off her feet by dashing young military officer Vronsky, played by Kieron Moore. The ensuing scandal ruins Anna's status in society. Anna Karenina had previously been filmed twice in Hollywood, with both versions starring Greta Garbo. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Director Anthony Asquith's first postwar effort, While the Sun Shines was based on a play by frequent Asquith collaborator Terence Rattigan. Set in WW2 London, the story revolves around Lady Elizabeth Randall (Barbara White), who is serving her country as an Air Force corporal. While en route to her marriage to the Earl of Harpenden (Ronald Howard, in his screen debut), Lady Elizabeth is wooed a French expatriate named Colbert (Michael Allen) and American lieutenant Joe Mulvaney (the inevitable Bonar Colleano). The resulting series of sexual misunderstandings puts Lady Elizabeth's military career-not to mention her impending marriage-in dire jeopardy. A harmless romantic farce, While the Sun Shines is generally out of favor with Anthony Asquith's many adherents. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson, Trojan Brothers offers the unlikely screen team of music hall funster Bobby Howes and up-and-coming leading man David Farrar. The stars are cast as Benny and Sid, two-bit vaudevillians who tour the provinces with a "horse" act. Sid plays the front end of the horse, while Benny brings up the rear (type-casting, as it turns out). The harmony between the two troupers is disrupted when Sid falls in love with fickle socialite Betty Todd (Patricia Burke). Meanwhile, Benny finds happiness -- or at least security -- with plain-looking Maggie (Barbara Mullen). In case all this sounds like a lighthearted comedy, it isn't, especially when the maddened Sid exacts revenge upon the faithless Betty. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Originally released in England as The Way to the Stars, Johnny in the Clouds is the story of how the Battle of Britain affected the lives of combatants and civilians alike. Terence Rattigan's screenplay concentrates on three groups of people: an American pilot and his wife, a doomed British officer with a wife and child, and a young couple who plan to marry despite the precariousness of wartime romances. Most of the action takes place at an air base and the neighboring village, where the private citizens react to rationing and other restrictions with various degrees of nobility and selfishness. The American title of this film is derived from the poem "Johnny in the Clouds," recited in tribute to the decease British airman; the U.S. version, which was released after the war, includes a prologue set in the deserted air base, with the bulk of the film offered as a flashback. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

British stage star Jessie Matthews, who lit up the silver screen in England during the '30s, returned to the screen for her first starring vehicle in five years in Candles at Nine. Adapted from Anthony Gilbert's novel Mouse Who Couldn't Play Ball, it's a haunted house/mystery film along lines that intersect with Gaslight, Rebecca, and a dozen lesser influences from the same genre. Matthews plays Dorothea Capper, a plucky, unpretentious chorus girl who suddenly inherits 100,000 pounds (easily the equivalent of several million dollars in the British economy of the early '40s) from an eccentric great-uncle whom she never even knew. The problem is the disappointed would-be heirs, who would like her out of the way -- one of whom tries to take care of that matter before she even goes to claim her inheritance. The estate itself, called Brakes, is a pretty forbidding place, especially as maintained under the housekeeper Miss Carberry (Beatrix Lehmann), who likes shadows (as opposed to Dorothea, who loves the sunlight). So not only must she contend with the rivals, but with Miss Carberry as her diametrical opposite in just about every way possible, hating the fact that Dorothea is now the mistress of Brakes. And neither the heroine nor the audience can be certain that detective Bill Gordon (John Stuart), who is trying to protect her, is quite up to the job. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

Toothy, ukelele-plucking British music hall favorite George Formby is at it again in Bell-Bottom George. From the title, you'd think that Formby has joined the Royal Navy. Well, sort of: when he's declared 4F (or the British equivalent of 4F), Formby poses as a Jack Tar to impress his girl friend Ann Firth. After a series of fitfully funny complications, Formby captures a nest of Nazi spies. Bell-Bottom George was a hit with both British military and civilian audiences; American videotape aficionados may have to run the picture twice to fully grasp all the colloquial humor and wartime slang. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi