Tamara Desni Movies
- 1950
David Phillips (Patrick Macnee) is running down the darkened streets of London's Limehouse district, pursued by two men with guns. He finds a public phone and puts a call through to Dick Barton (Don Stannard), but before he can report, a shot rings out. Barton must piece together what Phillips found out that got him killed. Phillips had been assigned to protect Professor Mitchell (Percy Walsh) and his new development, a ray capable of exploding any unstable element aboard an aircraft in flight. Mitchell has been targeted for kidnapping by Serge Volkoff (Meinhart Maur), a foreign agent from Eastern Europe, as part of a larger, much more sinister plot to destroy England and cripple Western Europe. Complicating matters further is that Mitchell's daughter (Joyce Linden) has also been kidnapped, and Barton must contend with Volkoff's crafty female companion Anna (Tamara Desni). ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- 1947
In this drama, a popular singer tires of the fast lane and decides to leave fame and fortune in favor of marriage. After the marriage, she and her groom settle in rural Ireland. Unfortunately their marital bliss, at least the husband's, is interrupted by a wicked lassie who blackmails him and threatens to tell his wife of their old affair is he doesn't pay. In desperation, he decides to kill the troublesome girl, but something goes terribly wrong. Fortunately, things for the singer turn out all right in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1946
In this detective drama, Scotland Yard enlists the aide of Paul Temple, novelist and amateur sleuth, to help them solve a puzzling murder committed by diamond thieves. Temple is assisted by a woman reporter. It was her brother who was killed; together they catch the gang leader who turns out to be the person they least expected. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1945
In this romance, an impoverished chorine masquerades as a nurse so that she can find a job. She is hired to care for an alcoholic hypochondriac who also happens to be a show-biz composer. Because of his outrageous actions, the composer's wife left him and went to Majorca. To find her, the nurse and her charge go there too. Things do not turn out exactly as planned, and the nurse, and the now-cured composer fall in love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1940
In this spy caper, a double agent swipes classified British plans for a new kind of patrol boat and tries to sell them to the Nazis. They end up beating him. Later his wife burns the plans just before the cops get there. They end up arresting the Germans while the house burns to the ground. The angry spy then shoots his wife and dies in the blaze. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1939
In this melodrama, a performing crack-shot and a blues singer fall in love. When he abandons her, his brother, the target in their act, is there to woo her, even though she is after a wealthy man. The lovesick brother is heartbroken; during a performance he makes a wrong move and is accidently shot by his brother. The crack-shot, thinking he killed his brother, takes aim and kills the singer, and then himself. Unfortunately, his brother was only wounded so it was all for naught. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1937
The war between England and Spain in the late 16th century serves as backdrop for the fictional machinations of Fire Over England. Laurence Olivier plays a British naval officer who offers his services to Queen Elizabeth (Flora Robson) after his father is executed by the Spaniards. The queen dispatches Olivier to the court of Spain, there to determine which of her courtiers are actually spies for King Philip (Raymond Massey). Working under cover, Olivier learns that the Spaniards intend to send an armada to decimate the British navy. Barely escaping with his life, Olivier relays this information to his queen and also dispatches the traitors in her midst. Cast as one of Elizabeth's ladies-in-waiting, Vivien Leigh appears in the role that brought her to the attention of Gone With the Wind producer David O. Selznick. Directed by Hollywood's William K. Howard, Fire Over England was based on a novel by A.E.W. Mason of Four Feathers fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Flora Robson, Raymond Massey, (more)
- 1937
Based on an Edgar Wallace novel, this is an involved story of the consequences within the underworld of a big-time diamond heist. It also tells the story of a disgraced inspector who is trying to catch the infamous jewel fence known as the "Squeaker" to help clear his name again. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edmund Lowe, Sebastian Shaw, (more)
- 1936
When a king suddenly abdicates, his subjects are lead to believe that it is for the love of a foreigner in this romance. In reality, he is stepping down so avaricious businessmen can crown their own man king. The deposed monarch spends his exile on the Riviera, while the woman, filled with guilt because he stepped down for her, lives in Holland. Interestingly enough, Edward VIII the King of England abdicated for the love of American woman Wallis Simpson a few weeks after this British film was released. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Brook, Helen Vinson, (more)
- 1935
In this British crime drama, a jealous man seeks to murder his brother. He plans on electrocuting him, but slips up and fries the wrong fellow. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
Burly American character actor Ralph Ince both directs and stars in the British Blue Smoke. Ince plays a prizefighter whose greatest rival is gypsy Bruce Seton. Most of Ince and Seton's non-ring battles concern the affections of gypsy lass Tamara Desni. Seton wins that emotional round, and as a result Ince messes himself up professionally. Scripters Fenn Sherie and Ingram d'Abbes adapted their Blue Smoke screenplay from a story by perennial Hitchcock collaborator Charles Bennett. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1935
British comedy favorite Jack Hulbert is the sole raison d'etre for the existence of the raucous comedy Jack Ahoy. Hulbert plays lowly seaman Jack Ponsonby, who harbors an apparently hopeless love for admiral's daughter Patricia Frazer (Nancy O'Neil). Anxious to prove himself a hero in Patricia's eyes, Jack gets his chance when he does battle against a whole pack of Chinese river bandits. This slapstick climax is matched in silliness only by Hulbert's musical solo "My Hat's on the Side of My Head". Jack Ahoy was scripted by Sidney Gilliat and Leslie Arliss, both of whom quickly went on to bigger and better things. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Hulbert, Nancy O'Neil, (more)
- 1935
Stowaway Doyle develops a friendship with Capt. Mollison who is running guns to the Arabs. They both fall for the same woman, Arab Desni, who spurns both men leading them to form a successful partnership. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1934
This musical centers around a Rurutanian ballerina, wanting to inspire jealousy in her friends, fakes an engagement to a diplomat. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1934
A British aristocrat and his son travel to Russia to embark upon a thrilling search for the father's other son, who was captured by the Russians after he had inadvertently stumbled across a highly secret airstrip while searching for buried treasure. The searchers find assistance with two Russian women, but even so, their quest is fraught with danger and excitement. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Ratoff, Ronald Squire, (more)
- 1933
In this comedy, two rival reporters vie for the scoop on the whereabouts of a missing heiress. They find her in Switzerland. One of the journalists falls in love with her and saves her from marrying an aristocrat. His rival gets to write the story as a consolation prize. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Hulbert, Dame Cicely Courtneidge, (more)
- 1932
Though "blessed" with a complex title, which translates as Marriage with Limited Liability, this German comedy was adapted from the more simply titled stage play Causa Kaiser. Composer Georg Kaiser is unable to secure a divorce from his wife, so he "lives in sin" with his singer-sweetheart Causa. The girl's wealthy uncle dies, leaving her millions -- provided she is married to Georg Kaiser. Hoping to take advantage of a legal loophole, Georg seeks out another man named George Kaiser, intending to marry him off to Causa so that she can collect her legacy. Georg Kaiser # 2 is a middle-aged naif who can't understand why his new bride is so cold to him. When he finds out he's been duped by Kaiser #1, Kaiser #2 finds solace in the arms of another woman closer to his own age, which somehow leads to a happy ending for all concerned. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlotte Susa, Hans Moser, (more)
- 1932
The "terror of the garrison" referred to in the title is diffident Army private Felix Bressart, who simply can't follow the curriculum of the military with discipline. Somehow, Bressart's inability to follow orders makes him extremely popular with his superior officers -- and if one can believe that, the rest of the story will be easier to swallow. In love with Lucie Englische, owner of a small photo gallery, Bressart proves his devotion by presenting her with a basket of fruit, which he's stolen from the garden of royal princess Tamara Desni. As it turns out, this theft somehow patches up Desni's relationship with her own sweetheart, thus Bressart is freed from jail, presumably to continue breaking all the rules and getting away with it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Felix Bressart, Adele Sandrock, (more)
- 1931
Allegedly based on a true story, Im Geheimdienst (Secret Service) takes place during WWI. German spy Willy Fritsch, posing as an American violinist, manages to move within the uppermost circles of Russian society with impunity. He inveigles Brigitte Helm, the wife of Russian general Oscar Homolka, into stealing a cache of secret documents. Facing death at every turn, Helm accomplishes her task, and together with her new lover Fritsch escapes to Sweden. This was considered to be a happy ending, but of course no one asked the poor general. Some sources indicate that Willy Fritsch did his own violin-playing in Im Geheimdienst, but this may not have been the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brigitte Helm, Willy Fritsch, (more)
