Fred Kitchen Jr. Movies
- 1955
Beloved British comedian Norman Wisdom made his second film appearance in One Good Turn. This time, nebbishy Norman plays a jack-of-all-trades, employed by an orphanage. After a steady series of slapstick setpieces, our hero sets about to save the orphanage from the hands of its creditors. Those who've noted a remarkable resemblance between the vehicles of Norman Wisdom and Jerry Lewis will not be dissuaded by One Good Turn, in which the star ladles on the sentiment and pathos with a trowel. Like most of Wisdom's films, One Good Turn did better in the U.S. as a "Late Late Show" entry than a theatrical release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Norman Wisdom, Joan Rice, (more)
- 1953
Julien Vedey wrote, directed and starred in the British quickie Take a Powder. Vedey plays a medicine show con man who is mistaken for a brilliant atomic scientist. In Prisoner of Zenda fashion, the phony takes the place of the genuine article and is put in charge of a hospital (an atomic scientist running a hospital? Sure, why not?) A few laughs are scattered throughout the film's 58 minutes...very few. The sole distinguishing factor of Take a Powder is the above-average cinematography by Ernest Palmer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
In this drama, a young Englishman wants to become a surgeon, but after medical school, his father dies, leaving him the responsibility of supporting his mother and paying for his brother's education. He becomes a partner in a small practice and watches the woman he wanted to marry go off with his brother. The brother is killed in WWI, after which his illegitimate son is born. The doctor marries the woman, but she dies in childbirth, leaving him to raise his brother's child. Eventually, he finds a new wife. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilda Bayley, Beatrice Campbell, (more)
- 1943
In this entry in the long-running British comedy series, boisterous Irish washerwoman Mother Riley is heading for Portugal to find her daughter who is working in winery. En route she is mistaken for a famous pianist and in Paris, she is mistaken for a spy. Still she is able to arrive in Portugal just in time to prevent her daughter from being kidnapped. She is also able to retrieve purloined port wine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1934
Wild Boy is a cute little puppy dog, sold at auction when its owner, a once-prominent military man, dies in poverty. The boyfriend of the dead man's daughter purchases Wild Boy and gives it to her as a present. She raises the dog into a champion, ultimately defeating her father's hated rival at an annual Dog Derby. Essentially a typically cozy British programmer, Wild Boy springs to life from time to time with a few fistfights and chases, apparently as a strategy to appeal to American filmgoers. At the time of its release, much was made of the fact that Wild Boy went 8 weeks and $200,000 over budget, as if this made it a better film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gwyneth Lloyd, Leonora Corbett, (more)
