Reginald Green Movies
- 1970
A Lancashire lass refuses to eat the meal her mother has prepared for her. Her thick-eared father (James Mason) insists that she ingest every bite. This seemingly minor incident snowballs into big trouble for everyone concerned. Hard to believe, but this was based on a very popular stage play by Bill Naughton. The comic edge is blunted by the film's use of real Bolton locations, which tend to make the exaggerated passions and gesticulations of Mason and his family seem more pathetic than humorous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Susan George, (more)
The 1965 Othello is literally a photographed stage play: a filmed record of the National Theatre Production of 1964, as staged by John Dexter and starring Laurence Olivier. As the easily led, fatally jealous Moor of Venice, Olivier wears thick black-faced makeup and speaks in an uncharacteristically deep, bellow-like voice. Some considered his portrayal of Othello to be an unflattering stereotype; others regard Olivier's interpretation as one of the finest Shakespearean performances ever captured on film. Less flamboyant, but no less effective, are Frank Finlay as Iago, Maggie Smith as Desdemona, Derek Jacobi as Cassio, and Joyce Redman as Emilia. Oscar nominations went to Olivier, Finlay, Smith, and Redman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Olivier, Frank Finlay, (more)
- 1962
This well-wrought romance takes place in Lancashire, England in an industrial area where Vic (Alan Bates) and Ingrid (June Ritchie) work in the same factory. He is a draftsman who wants only a physical relationship with the woman of his choice (Ingrid), and she is a typist who wants true love with the man she is interested in (Vic). In carefully handled scenes throughout, Vic and Ingrid get together but with consequences neither could have foreseen. Ingrid becomes pregnant, and that one indisputable fact tests the mettle of their relationship more than anything else they could have imagined. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Bates, June Ritchie, (more)
- 1957
Off-his-trolley concert pianist Stephen Murray craves both money and publicity. He hopes to attain both by kidnapping beauteous lady journalist Patricia Dainton. Notifying the London media, Murray announces that unless his conditions are met, Dainton will be murdered five days hence "at the stroke of nine". It is the "helpless" heroine herself who engineers the psychopath's downfall. Leading lady Patricia Dainton, who'd begun her career in precocious teen-ager roles, made only a handful of films after At the Stroke of Nine before her 1960 retirement. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
British actor Robert Donat's one-and-only film directorial effort was Cure for Love. Adapted from a popular stage play by Walter Greenwood, the film stars Donat as Jack, an army sergeant who returns home on leave. Having falling in love, Jack hopes that his hometown girl friend has forgotten his impulsive marriage proposal, but she hasn't. The film's comic complications arise from the fact that Jack, a war hero of conspicuous courage, turns into a quivering mass of jelly whenever dealing with affairs of the heart. The thick Lancashire dialect used by practically everyone in Cure for Love may be a bit difficult to comprehend for American audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Donat, Renée Ashershon, (more)
