John Dicks Movies

This four-part, four-hour British miniseries was a sequel to Malcolm Bradbury's 1990 TV effort The Gravy Train. Christoph Waltz returned to the role of Dorfman, a terminally idealistic member of the European Economic Council. This time around, the teeny-tiny Balkan state of Slaka hoped to join the Council in hopes of supping from the same public-fund trough as the rest of the European nations. It was up to Dorfman to cast the deciding "yea" or "nay" vote. The Gravy Train Goes West was seen over Britain's Channel Four from October 28 to November 18, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Australian filmmaker John Duigan followed up his captivating The Year My Voice Broke with Flirting. Noah Taylor repeats his "Danny" characterization from the earlier film, while Thandie Newton plays a Ugandan exchange student who attends an Australian girls boarding school. Billeted at a nearby boy's school, Danny finds himself falling in love with Newton, though he is frequently at a loss as to how to express himself. Flirting is the second in a proposed trilogy of John Duigan-directed films revolving around Danny's "awkward" years. Featured in the cast as one of Newton's schoolmates is Nicole Kidman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Thirteen months and ten million dollars were lavished upon this ten-hour, four-part TV miniseries about legendary globetrotter Marco Polo. Newcomer Ken Marshall played the title character, a 14th century Venetian explorer who, among other accomplishments, firmly established the "silk route" between Europe and the Orient, introducing such precious commodities as spaghetti and fireworks to the Occidental world. In addition to featuring the usual polyglot of major British and American stars in cameo roles (including Denholm Elliott, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Leonard Nimoy, and Burt Lancaster), the production represented the first Western production to be filmed on location in China since WWII -- not to mention the first English-language appearance of celebrated Chinese stage and film actor Ying Ruocheng, superbly cast as the mighty Kublai Khan. An American-Italian-Austrian-French-British co-production, Marco Polo received its first U.S. showing when it was telecast by NBC from May 16 through 19, 1982. A "condensed" version, running approximately 270 minutes, was later made available in Europe and South America. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

British glam rock superstars Slade made their collective acting debut in this downbeat drama about a pop group's struggles with success. In the late '60s, Barry (Dave Hill), Paul (Jim Lea), and Charlie (Don Powell) are musicians who are barely making a living playing pub dates, weddings, and socials backing up egocentric vocalist Jack Daniels (Alan Lake). One night, the boys find themselves opening for a ghoulish show band called The Undertakers, and a prank played on their lead vocalist, Stoker (Noddy Holder), backfires and leads to a car chase which lands both groups in jail for the night. After a long night of thinking, Barry, Paul, and Charlie decide that they have no future with Daniels, and bring new pal Stoker aboard as their singer. Calling themselves Iron Rod, the new quartet clicks musically, but manager Ron Harding (Johnny Shannon) doesn't care for their new style and stops booking the group. Robert Seymour (Tom Conti), a marketing man from a wealthy family who thinks there's quick money in pop music, enters the picture and informs the band that he can make them major stars. Wary of Seymour but eager for success, the group signs a new management deal, and after Seymour changes their name to Flame and gives them an image makeover, the band scores a hit record and is soon playing a series of sold-out shows. But as fame beckons, tensions rise between the musicians and is not at all helped when Harding reenters the picture. Slade members Jim Lea and Noddy Holder wrote a set of original songs for the film, two of which ("Far Far Away" and "How Does It Feel") became hit singles in the U.K. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi