Gordon Phillott Movies
From Richard Lester, the director of 1980's Superman II and the 1964 A Hard Day's Night, comes this less-successful sequel to the The Mouse that Roared. The Prime Minister of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick (Ron Moody) is in a bind because he has no money to renovate his castle and there is a serious problem with his small country's main export, wine. The stuff tends to explode. So the Prime Minister asks the U.S. for aid to develop space research, knowing full well they are not going to give him money to remodel his castle. Once the U.S. grants a cool million to the country, Russia adds in a used rocket, and things start popping. Like it or not, the Duchy is suddenly involved in space research and contributing to the madness is the discovery that its unique wine makes good rocket fuel. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Rutherford, Bernard Cribbins, (more)
- 1961
While ministering to the wounds of a dying diamond thief, Dr. Keel sets a trap for his patient's partner. The plan backfires when the accomplice, convinced that Keel knows where the stolen diamonds are hidden, kidnaps the doctor's assitant Carol Wilson. Meanwhile, John Steed is conspicuous by his absence, until the final thrill-packed scenes. First telecast July 8, 1961, "Double Danger" was written by Gerald Verner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
This Ernie Kovacs cult comedy was the last film directed by Mario Zampi and follows the exploits of Aldo Bondi (Kovacs) who earns his living off wealthy widows. When he consoles the beautiful and impoverished Baroness Sandra (Cyd Charisse), he makes the mistake of falling in love with her. That gets him into a complex con game with three other widows and a huge sum of money, meant to be invested to earn a bundle based on the five-hour time difference between the East coast of the U.S. and Europe. Bondi gets into one tight situation after the next, as his loot is stolen by the Baroness and he needs a way to save his skin. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ernie Kovacs, Cyd Charisse, (more)
- 1960
In this 1959 comedy, Robert MacPherson (Robert Morley) inherits his family's textile business in Edinburgh, Scotland, then hires American efficiency expert Angela Barrows (Constance Cummings) to bring the business into the modern age. The House of MacPherson has long been known as a manufacturer of fine Scottish tweed, and the company's mild-mannered head clerk, Mr. Martin (Peter Sellers), worries that the no-nonsense Barrows will ruin everything with her new-fangled ideas and eventually replace him and his co-workers with automatons. So after she installs the latest labor-saving devices, including intercoms and noisy adding machines, he sabotages them in a gradually unfolding scheme to persuade MacPherson that the old Scottish ways are still the best, that true craftsmanship requires a human touch. By this time, however, MacPherson has taken a fancy to Barrows romantically, and she can do no wrong. Then, horror of horrors, Barrows proposes that the company make synthetic tweed -- mass-produced synthetic tweed -- in an all-out effort to Americanize the Scottish firm. That's the last straw for Martin, and he thinks there is only one option left for him: to murder Barrows. Of course, meek Mr. Martin isn't exactly a natural-born killer, and he botches one attempt after another in a sequence of scenes that keep the action moving briskly along. But Martin has pluck and plenty of persistence, and he eventually hatches another plot to undo the meddlesome Barrows. The film, loosely based on a James Thurber story entitled The Catbird Seat, was directed by Charles Crichton, the same man who directed the highly successful Lavender Hill Mob. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Robert Morley, (more)
- 1956
This British sitcom was one of several TV vehicles for mustachioed comedian Jimmy Edwards. On this occasion, the star was billed as Professor James Edwards, the headmaster of Chiselbury School. A stickler for discipline and protocol, Edwards was invariably undermined by his own stupidity. Originally telecast from 1956 to 1960, toting up 60 episodes in the process, Whack-O! was revived for an additional 13 installments in 1971. The series also spawned a theatrical feature, Bottoms Up (1960). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Edwards, Arthur Howard, (more)
- 1948
In this romantic comedy, a man returns to his wife after the war, but is disturbed by his continuing fixation upon the woman he met who claims to be a Russian princess. He leaves his wife to find the princess. When he does, at long last, find her, he discovers that she lied. The man quickly goes back to his wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
