Joss Ackland Movies

Based on John Trenhaile's A Man Called Kyril, this byzantine-plotted spy melodrama stars Ian Charleson in the title role. Kyril is a supposed Soviet defector who relocates in London. In fact, his defection is a smoke-screen: Kyril has been sent by the KGB to seek out a British mole in Moscow Centre. At four hours, Codename: Kyril affords plenty of breathing space for the various plots and counterplots, but its excess of espionage verbiage may prove confusing to the average viewer. Filmed for British television in locales ranging from Norway to Holland, Codename: Kyril was first telecast in the US on the Showtime cable network on April 27, 1988; a videocassette version running 115 minutes was made available in 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the first films by Polish director Agnieszka Holland to gain international acclaim, this drama is a joint French-American production based loosely on the real-life story of the dissident Polish priest Jerzy Popieluszko. In the early 1980s, as the democracy and labor movement known as Solidarity was challenging Soviet authority in Poland, an outspoken priest, Father Alek (Christopher Lambert), defies martial law and continues to rally followers around the cause of Solidarity. The Soviet-controlled Polish government enlists a police official, Stefan (Ed Harris), to stop the priest. Stefan, a devoted party follower, finds that the only way he can silence Father Alek is to have him killed. Along the way, however, the priest has a profound influence on Stefan. Among those in minor roles are Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, Pete Postlethwaite, and Tim Roth. Holland would go on to direct The Secret Garden and Washington Square. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an American art student is trapped amidst the political turmoil of war-torn Europe while visiting Paris and staying at the fabulous Ritz hotel. Rather than cope constructively with it all, the fellow opts to ignore it and continue living the high-life for as long as possible. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The two-part TV movie Queenie was adapted from the roman a clef by Michael Korda. This is the story of Queenie Kelly,an English girl (Mia Sara) from the slums of Calcutta who is kept from full knowledge of her Indian heritage by her protective mother (Jean Simmons). As a means of bettering herself, Queenie moves to London, where she works as an exotic dancer. Later on, Queenie, using an assumed name, becomes a famous movie star and marries a powerful producer. At the point, we should observe that "Queenie" was the nickname of Michael Korda's aunt: actress Merle Oberon, who was married to British film mogul Alexander Korda. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely...well, you know. And any resemblance between awkward newcomer Mia Sara and the ultra-sophisticated Merle Oberon is...well, accidental. Queenie originally aired May 10 and 11, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed for British television in 1986, The New World made it to American shores in 1988. Bernard Hill and James Fox star in this dramatization of the founding of the Plymouth Colony. The dramatic thrust of the film is a power struggle between two self-appointed pilgrim leaders. Betsy Brantley co-stars as the romantic bone of contention between the antagonists. The New World was seen on American cable TV through the facilities of the Disney Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A real-life incident involving two major literary figures was dramatized for British television in 1985 under the title Shadowlands. Joss Ackland stars as English author C.S. Lewis, who in 1950 begins a correspondence with American poet Joy Gresham, here played by Claire Bloom. Though Lewis is a confirmed bachelor and Gresham is a wife and mother, their long-distance friendship blossoms into something deeper. In 1952, Gresham, newly divorced, moves to England to be nearer Lewis, who has no inclination to marry. A spiritual crisis profoundly affects the relationship--and completely alters Lewis' outlook on life. Shadowlands premiered in America over PBS on October 29, 1986; screenwriter William Nicholson later adapted his script into a play, which was filmed by director Richard Attenborough in 1993, with Anthony Hopkins as Lewis and Debra Winger as Gresham. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lady Jane Grey, the 16-year-old girl who for nine days in the 16th century was Queen of England, is here portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter. Lady Jane Grey's sickly cousin, who becomes Edward VI upon the death of Henry VIII, is on the threshold of death himself. The Protestant powers-that-be, fearing that England will fall under Catholic rule, contrive to marry off Edward VI's most likely successor Lady Jane to the wastrelly Guilford Dudley (Cary Elwes), the future Duke of Suffolk. The dying Edward is coerced into naming Jane as his successor. Jane is forced to assume the throne, attempting to impose reforms on the corrupt Protestant government during her brief reign. A coup led by Jane's cousin Princess Mary (Jane Lapotaire) results in the ouster, and eventual execution, of Queen Jane and her consort. The story is told through anti-establishment themes; teen-agers Lady Jane and Guilford Dudley are seen as the only hope for a brighter future, making their deaths all the more tragic. An earlier version of the same story, Tudor Rose, was filmed in 1936. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comic-detective movie, Dangerous Davies, a bungling gumshoe uses archaic methods to solve his cases. This time he must solve a 15-year-old murder involving an adolescent girl. He finds himself on a convoluted trail surrounded by the lowest of the lowlife. It is not until the picture is almost over that he realizes that the solution to the mystery has been under his nose all along. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Unleashed just as the disco phenomenon had peaked and was slipping out of public favor, this one-of-a-kind pop musical is set in 1994, when a Mephistophelean entrepreneur named Mr. Boogalow (Vladek Sheybal) controls the international recording industry through the Worldvision Song Contest. Boogalow's wildly theatrical protégés, a decedent dance-pop group called Bim, seem a sure bet to walk off with the grand prize and worldwide fame, but at the last minute Alphie (George Gilmour) and Bibi (Catherine Mary Stewart), a folk duo from Canada, nearly steal their thunder with their song "Love, the Universal Melody." While Boogalow rigs a victory for Bim, he sees moneymaking potential in Alphie and Bibi and offers to sign them to a contract. Alphie, suspicious of Boogalow, declines, but Bibi leaps at the chance, and is soon remodeled into a stylish pop star while heart-broken Alphie throws in his lot with a gang of hippies living in the park. Bibi comes to regard fame and wealth as hollow and empty, but discovers walking away from Boogalow is easier said than done. Featuring an inarguably remarkable finale, The Apple was shot primarily in Germany, despite being set in the United States; while George Clinton is credited with writing lyrics for several of the original tunes, be advised it's not the same George Clinton who led Parliament and Funkadelic in the 1970s and '80s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Living a premature and somewhat humbling retirement, elderly British spy George Smiley (Alec Guinness) is abruptly resurrected by his former boss Lacon (Anthony Bate) with an ultra-secret mission: find the double agent in the ranks of the British Secret Service. Is it the pompous head of service, Percy Alleline (Michael Aldridge)? The blowsy Bland (Terence Rigby)? The shifty Toby Esterhase (Bernard Hepdon)? Or perhaps the urbane Bill Haydon (Ian Richardson)? Pushed into retirement by a scandal caused by the now-deceased head of service, Control (Alexander Knox), and because he suspected that there was a spy, Smiley journeys through the labyrinthine world of the British spy service layer by layer as he hunts the mole controlled by the mysterious Russian spymaster Karla (Patrick Stewart). Taken from a best-selling novel by internationally famed novelist John Le Carré, this nearly five-hour miniseries was first broadcast by the BBC. The story is loosely based on the infamous Kim Philby spy scandal of the early '60s. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide

Unique in the annals of animated films, Watership Down is a serious, even grim tale that many will find relentless and depressing and others will find poetic and moving. It doesn't pull any punches. Death -- violent, disturbing death -- is ever present, portrayed in a manner that is astonishingly honest for a cartoon. As a result, it is that rare animated film that really aims for a mature audience, despite its superficial funny animal trappings. It has a brilliant opening, most likely created by UPA veteran John Hubley, which in a primitive and simplistic style relates a creation myth as told by rabbits. The style changes thereafter, with beautiful watercolor backgrounds and a more natural approach to character animation. Unfortunately, the animation suffers somewhat from this point, becoming a bit sloppy, although it continues to portray the characters' movements as realistically as possible. The character designs themselves are rather too similar, with the result that it is sometimes difficult to tell the various rabbits apart. The story is also sometimes told in too-broad strokes, leaving those unfamiliar with the novel confused as to exactly what has happened and, more importantly, why. However, these flaws are redeemed by some unforgettable sequences, including a chilling segment detailing the destruction of the rabbits' warren and a devastatingly sad end sequence in which the Black Rabbit of Death gently takes one of the heroes away with it. Voiced by a fine cast, with stellar work from John Hurt and Richard Briers, Watership Down is an imperfect film with some of the most powerful moments ever created for the genre. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Director Ivan Passer and screenwriter Peter Stone adapted Paul Erdman's novel concerning a group of con men who arrive in Switzerland and end up conning each other. Michael Caine stars as Doc Fletcher, a lackey for gangster Joe Fiore (Martin Balsam), who is sent to Switzerland to purchase a bank for his boss. Prince di Siracusa (Louis Jourdan) is aiding Doc in his purchase but is working on his own scam. They both meet Shireen Firdausi (Stephane Audran) and Agha Firdausi (David Warner), who are working on their own deal concerning an Iranian silver mine. Also arriving in town is Donald Luckman (Tom Smothers) and his wife Debbie (Cybil Shepherd), sent by banker Henry Foreman (Joss Ackland) to buy a bank as a front for Charles Cook (Charles D. Gray), a billionaire who is looking for a way to disguise his profits. With all these schemers in tow, various confidence games play out and characters switch alliances and obligations, while some wind up in jail. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Also titled The Price of Freedom, Operation Daybreak is a retelling of the terrible consequences attending the assassination of Nazi-occupation leader Richard Heydrich. When Heydrich puts all of Czechoslovakia under his thumb, a group of Czech expatriates parachute into their homeland to kill the man known as "The Hangman." They succeed, and in retaliation the Nazis wipe the tiny Czech village of Lidice off the map, killing its male residents and carting off its women and children to concentration camps. For the purposes of the plot, assassins Timothy Bottoms and Martin Shaw survive the massacre, albeit only briefly. The Heydrich/Lidice tragedy was previously dramatized in two wartime films, Hangmen Also Die (1943) and Hitler's Madman (1943). Operation Daybreak was adapted from Seven Men at Daybreak, a novel by Alan Burgess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide