William Dexter Movies
- 1972
This historical drama is an account of the early life of Winston Churchill (Simon Ward), including his childhood years, his time as a war correspondent in Africa, and culminating with his first election to Parliament. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simon Ward, Robert Shaw, (more)
- 1970
- R
The British/American co-production My Lover, My Son stars Romy Schneider as Frances, the unhappy wife of businessman Robert (Donald Houston). When her lover is accidentally drowned, Frances turns to her teenaged son James (Dennis Waterman) for comfort. Her husband doesn't like this set-up and bundles James off to college, but upon his return the boy enters into an affair with his own mother. Robert discovers the incestuous couple in an embrace and reacts violently, whereupon Frances kills him in self defense. Knocked unconscious during the struggle, James thinks he is the killer and takes the rap. The boy is released on the grounds of self defense and returns to his mother -- only to renounce her when he discovers that he's the illegitimate son of his mother's dead lover. MGM was the American distributor for My Lover, My Son, and that low vibration you feel is Louis B. Mayer spinning in his grave. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Romy Schneider, Donald Houston, (more)
- 1968
Somebody at 20th Century-Fox must have been asleep at the switch when the studio picked up the British The Touchables for American distribution. This listless melodrama concerns a British rock star (David Anthony) with a love-'em-and-leave-'em reputation. The tables are turned when four cute young girls (Judy Huxtable, Esther Anderson, Marilyn Rickard and Kathy Simmonds) kidnap the singer. After several days of sex and degradation, the poor fellow is rescued by his friends. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Huxtable, Esther Anderson, (more)
- 1967
In this complex British mystery, an undercover narcotics agent go to the Mediterranean to foil the plans of two smugglers. Upon arrival, one of the partners is beaten and killed by a man and his mistress. The disguised agent begins working to gain the trust of the remaining smuggler, but one day arrives to find him stabbed to death. Naturally, he is accused of the crime by the local detective. The agent's home organization then sends out another agent to help him. Together they learn that the mistress was the perpetrator of all the crimes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Death is a Woman is the American title of the British Love is a Woman. Patsy Ann Noble is the woman in question, the mistress of a recently deceased smuggler. Narcotics agent Mark Burns goes undercover to gain the confidence of Noble and criminal mastermind William Dexter. Suddenly, Dexter turns up dead and Burns is arrested for murder. We then learn the full significance of the film's US title. In certain markets, this perplexing melodrama was released as Sex is a Woman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1966
William Sylvester, the "Token Yank" in several low-budget British horror films of the 1960's (before his rise to fame as Dr. Heywood Floyd in 2001: A Space Odyssey), stars as a grieving widower (both his wife and child were killed in a car accident) who takes an unusual and hazardous job accompanying an archaeologist (Edward Underdown) and his daughter (Diane Clare) on a North African tomb-hunting expedition. After their arrival in Morocco, they learn of legends involving a Moorish vampire who haunts the tomb. Before long, the lonely Sylvester has succumbed to the seductive wiles of a mysterious woman (Alizia Gur), who begins to bend him to her will. It is left to Clare to come to his rescue, but her attempts place her in even greater jeopardy; ultimately it is Sylvester who must break free of Gur's evil clutches and destroy her himself. This passable vampire yarn makes good use of the exotic location but suffers from lethargic performances and a slack pace. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1965
- Add The Knack ... And How to Get It to QueueAdd The Knack ... And How to Get It to top of Queue
Colin (Michael Crawford, who much later won a Tony Award for his role in Broadway's Phantom of the Opera) is an uptight schoolteacher whose housemate, Tolen (Ray Brooks) is a consummate womanizer. Colin imagines a long line of young women in tight white sweaters on his stairwell, waiting to get into Tolen's room. Jealous of Tolen's incredible success with the ladies, Colin asks Tolen for advice on how to get a girl. When Tolen's advice doesn't seem very practical, Colin decides that his first order of business is to get a bigger bed. Colin is also trying to find a third roommate to take a spare room. Tom (Donal Donnelly), who seems compelled to paint everything in sight, happens by the house, and inserts himself in the spare room without so much as saying "hello." Nancy (Rita Tushingham of A Taste of Honey) is new in town, and wanders the streets of London in a fruitless search for the YWCA. She runs into Colin and Tom at the dump, where they are procuring a gigantic bed. They offer her a ride, and proceed to race through London on the bed. Colin seems too shy to speak much to Nancy, despite Tom's encouragement. Eventually, the trio reach Colin's house, where Tolen works his gruff magic on Nancy, and havoc ensues. Capturing late 1960s London in black-and-white, Richard Lester's The Knack. . .and How to Get It was released between the director's two successes with the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night and Help. The script, by Charles Wood (An Awfully Big Adventure) is based on a play by Ann Jellicoe. Future stars Jacqueline Bisset, Charlotte Rampling, and Jane Birkin appear briefly amid all the attractive young women in the film. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rita Tushingham, Ray Brooks, (more)
- 1963
This obscure British children's series combined science fiction with pro-ecological sentiments. In a small rural community, a bunch of local kids found out that a laboratory constructed in the vicinity was conducting secret radiation tests. The youngsters then endeavored to stop these tests before any damage could be done -- but alas, it was already too late. Seven 25-minute episodes of Emerald Soup were broadcast by Britain's ABC service in 1963. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
