Pamela Cundell Movies
British filmmaker Shane Meadows looks back at his own youth in this semi-autobiographical comedy drama that examines skinhead culture in the U.K. It's the summer of 1983, and Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) is a 12-year-old boy edging into adolescence without a father, his dad having lost his life the year before in the Falkland Islands War. A gang of skinheads -- tough guys in their teens and early twenties who shave their heads, wear Ben Sherman polo shirts, and Dr. Martens boots, and listen to ska music -- walk the streets in Shaun's neighborhood, and one day they start picking on him. Shaun, however, shows he can give as good as he gets, and gang leader Woody (Joe Gilgun) takes a liking to the boy. Woody takes Shaun under his wing, and he starts hanging out with the skins, getting advice on dressing right from Woody's girlfriend, Lol (Vicky McClure), and learning about Jamaican music from West Indian skinhead Milky (Andrew Shim). However, the gang begins to change when Combo (Stephen Graham) is released from prison and returns to the neighborhood; like many skinheads, Combo has been recruited by the National Front, an openly racist right-wing political party, and soon the gang begins to fracture, with Combo taking one faction toward violence and petty crime against blacks, Indians, and Pakistanis, while Woody and his friends follow a more benign path. This Is England received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, (more)
- 1997
- R
In this debut feature film from young British writer-director Shane Meadows, an unemployed ex-boxer, Alan Darcy (Bob Hoskins), borrows money from a gangster to set up a boxing club in his small, gritty English city. Darcy narrates the story from his diary notes. Boxing saved him from a wasted youth, and Darcy promotes the idea to the town fathers as a gang-prevention strategy. The town's economy is in shambles and the young men have nothing to look forward to. Darcy gives them a reason to live and a dream, converting their violent energy to sport and fostering a sense of camaraderie and sportsmanship. First he wins them over by playing soccer with them, then he lures them into his lessons on boxing. He drives them hard to prepare them for their first match, against boxers from a rival local team. Darcy has the team poised to win when one of his best fighter's parents threatens to pull him from the match. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Danny Nussbaum, (more)
- 1994
- NR
Based on the famous children's novels by Mary Norton, this BBC production stars the diminutive Ian Holm as the even-more-diminutive patriarch of The Borrowers, a family of thumb-sized creatures looking for a new place to live. Directed by John Henderson. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Holm, Penelope Wilton, (more)
- 1993
First telecast by the BBC on November 14, 1993, the two-part British TV movie The Return of the Borrowers is a sequel to the classic children's book by Mary Norton. Real-life husband and wife Ian Holm and Penelope Wilton head the cast as Pod and Homily Clock, a pair of teeny-tiny people who, with their equally microscopic daughter, Arietty (Rebecca Callard), live beneath the floorboards of a Victorian house. In order to survive, the Clock family must "borrow" various necessities from normal-sized people -- or as they're known to the trio, "Human Beans." Forced to move from their familiar digs, the Clocks stumble across a miniature model house that proves to be just right for their needs, and in the bargain they befriend a youthful Human Bean named George (Paul Cross). Alas, the well-being of the diminutive brood is threatened by the evil designs of one Mrs. Drivers (Sian Phillips). In America, The Return of the Borrowers was first seen over the TNT cable network on June 4 and 5, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Holm, Penelope Wilton, (more)
- 1983
Faye Dunaway stars in Michael Winner's labored re-make of the 1945 swashbuckler, which was co-scripted by Leslie Arliss, the original director of the 1945 film. Dunaway is Lady Barbara Skelton, a lady of the royal class, who becomes a highway robber, taking up with Captain Jerry Jackson (Alan Bates), a highwayman and her lover. Because of a notorious whiping scene in which Lady Barbara and Jackson's girlfriend (Marina Sirtis) take horsewhips to one another, tearing their clothing to strategically-placed ribbons, the film was held back from release because Winner refused to cut the salacious footage. After corralling author Kingsley Amis, and directors John Schlesinger, Karel Reisz, and Lindsay Anderson to attest to the redeeming social value of the scene, the scene stayed in the film. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Faye Dunaway, Alan Bates, (more)
Based on the acclaimed novel by Doris Lessing, this dystopian science fiction tale concerns a woman struggling to make her way in a post-apocalyptic society. D (Julie Christie) is living in a city that's at the point of collapse following a catastrophic nuclear war; lawlessness and violence rule the day, and gangs of brutal youth roam the streets. With the help of her teenage companion Emily (Leonie Mellinger), D tries to make her way, and in order to cope, she often escapes into a fantasy world in which she lives in genteel Victorian surroundings in the 19th century. Memoirs of a Survivor received the International Fantasy Film Award and the Audience Jury Award at Portugal's 1982 Fantasporto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Christie, Christopher Guard, (more)
Based on a popular British television series from the late sixties, On the Buses centers on the chaos caused in a bus depot when the boss hires a passel of female bus drivers. This marked the first of three theatrical features based on the series (the second and third installments were the 1972 Mutiny on the Buses and the 1974 Holiday on the Buses, respectively). Though all three films were critically savaged, they grossed dollar one in Great Britain, particularly this first installment - eliciting a host of sequels and imitators. The Motion Picture Guide wrote of On the Buses, " The humor is sexist, of course, and infantile, with no wit or sophistication, which of course ensured its appeal to a large segment of the masses." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Reg Varney, Doris Hare, (more)
- 1968
This musical comedy stars Herman's Hermits, the popular British pop group that made the title song from the movie a million-selling hit record. Herman (Peter Noone) inherits a greyhound and decides to enter the dog in the races. The dog, appropriately named Mrs. Brown, and the group travel from Manchester to London in hopes of entering a national invitational. The group finds work as a pop group (quite a stretch) as Herman falls for the girl next door. The group sings nine songs including the title track and the romantic tune "There's A Kind Of Hush." Herman's Hermits were much more popular in America than they ever were in England. Peter Noone later developed into a competent actor. The original group toured together until 1976. Guitarist Derek Leckenby and drummer Barry Whitwam continued to tour as Herman's Hermits into the 1990s on the oldies circuit. Noone has appeared in several films and television shows and also delivers his string of nostalgia in concert. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Noone, Keith Hopwood, (more)
- 1967
British musical star Tommy Steele had starred in Half a Sixpence in London and on Broadway, thus he was first choice for this garish film version. Based on the H.G. Wells story Kipps (previously filmed in 1941 with Michael Redgrave), Half a Sixpence tells the tale of a humble London drapery clerk (Steele) who inherits a fortune. He briefly forgets his old mates and his faithful girl friend (Julia Foster), but soon discovers that High Society isn't his cup of tea. Filmed during the "monster musical" cycle fostered by The Sound of Music, Half a Sixpence isn't really suited for the spectacular approach dictated by co-producer Charles H. Schneer. Fortunately, the guiding directorial hand is the film's other producer: George Sidney, a veteran of MGM's Arthur Freed unit, who knew how to successfully weld music with story. Thanks to Sidney and star Steele, Half a Sixpence never gets too out of hand, though we'd argue with some of the eyestrain-inducing color choices in the bigger numbers. The film might have done better at the box office had the score yielded a few hit songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Steele, Julia Foster, (more)
