Ronald Howard Movies
Son of British actor Leslie Howard, Ronald Howard chose to become a newspaper reporter upon graduation from England's Jesus College. But acting seemed a more glamorous and less demanding profession, so Ronald followed his father's career course: Regional theatre, London stage, films. He was pleasant but unremarkable in his first film, When the Sun Shines (1946); this assessment could well describe the rest of Howard's career. Boyishly handsome even in middle age and blessed with a mellow voice, Howard nevertheless seemed a bit too sedate to become a full-fledged star. While he made numerous film appearances, the latter-day reputation of Ronald Howard rests on his 39-week stint in 1954 as The Great Detective in the Franco-English TV series Sherlock Holmes. Basil Rathbone he wasn't, but Howard strove to please - and succeeded. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1950
The presence of Peter Lorre assured a modicum of American business for the British meller Double Confession. It all begins when the wife of Jim Medway (Derek Farr) turns up dead. Since the evidence points to murder, the embittered Medway does his best to pin the "killing" on his wife's lover, Charlie Durham (William Hartnell). But as Scotland Yard inspector Tenby (Naunton Wayne) finally proves, appearances are deceiving--if not downright fraudulent. Lorre's role is largely peripheral, but he does supply a few moments of genuine menace. Filmed in 1950, Double Confession was based on John Garden's novel All on a Summer's Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, (more)
- 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)
- 1949
A supernatural tale based on a short story by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, this is the portrayal of a poor Captain in the Russian army in the nineteenth Century. His comrades in arms play cards nightly, but he cannot afford to join them until one night he dreams that he has gained from a mysterious aging countess her secret for winning at faro--a secret which legend has it she has sold her soul to obtain. This story has been filmed at least a dozen times, but this is by far the best version. Eight of the versions were silent films and another version was done as recently as 1965. A period piece, the settings and costumes are superb. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, (more)
- 1949
A popular British stage play by William Douglas Home was the basis for this out-of-the-ordinary prison picture. Richard Greene heads the cast as Turnfell, a murderer facing a death sentence. Turnfell is but one of several inmates whose joys and sorrows are detailed in anecdotal fashion: others include a cockney forger (William Hartnell), an embezzling bank clerk (Ronald Howard) and a bigamist (Lesley Dwyer). Also on hand is the Governor (or warden), played with a refreshing lack of genre cliches by Sir Cedric Hardwicke and an Irish terrorist, well-played by a very young Richard Burton. Now Barabbas was a Robber was eventually given a general release under the streamlined title Now Barabbas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Greene, Cedric Hardwicke, (more)
- 1948
This multistoried drama purports to detail the events occurring in a single 24-hour period on Bond Street, a "typical" British thoroughfare. The Grand Hotel-like construction of the film allows for several colorful character vignettes. The "dramatis personae" includes an unpredictably temperamental dressmaker, a blinded war veteran, an escaped POW, a gang of blackmailers, and the owner of a valuable string of pearls. Linking the four main plotlines together is the impending wedding of Julia Chester-Barratt (Hazel Court in her pre-horror days). The presence of Roland Young in the cast assured Bond Street a few healthy American bookings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adrianne Allen, Hazel Court, (more)
- 1948
The oft-used title Night Beat was applied to the 1948 British melodrama. After serving as commandoes in WW2, Felix (Maxwell Reed) and Andy (Ronald Howard) follow widely divergent paths in peacetime. Andy joins the London police, while Felix falls in with the Black Market. As a result, their friendship and fidelity is sorely tested. The women in the case include Andy's fretting wife Julie (Anne Crawford) and sultry nightclub chanteuse Jackie (Christine Norden). Though its starts out strong, Night Beat metamorphoses into standard melodramatics towards the end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Crawford, Maxwell Reed, (more)
- 1947
Director Anthony Asquith's first postwar effort, While the Sun Shines was based on a play by frequent Asquith collaborator Terence Rattigan. Set in WW2 London, the story revolves around Lady Elizabeth Randall (Barbara White), who is serving her country as an Air Force corporal. While en route to her marriage to the Earl of Harpenden (Ronald Howard, in his screen debut), Lady Elizabeth is wooed a French expatriate named Colbert (Michael Allen) and American lieutenant Joe Mulvaney (the inevitable Bonar Colleano). The resulting series of sexual misunderstandings puts Lady Elizabeth's military career-not to mention her impending marriage-in dire jeopardy. A harmless romantic farce, While the Sun Shines is generally out of favor with Anthony Asquith's many adherents. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara White, Ronald Squire, (more)
- 1941
The "Scarlet Pimpernel" legend is updated to WW2 in the breathless actioner Pimpernel Smith. Leslie Howard (who also directed) plays bespectacled and seemingly mild-mannered Professor Smith, who under cover of darkness transforms into a tireless defender of democracy. With the help of several loyal companions, Smith makes several forays into Nazi-occupied territories to rescue the oppressed victims of the Third Reich, using a phony archeological expedition to throw the villains off the track. The picture really roars into life during the cat-and-mouse exchanges between the Professor and his Gestapo antagonist Von Graum, phlegmatically enacted by the corpulent Francis L. Sullivan. In some markets, Pimpernel Smith was retitled Mister V. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Howard, Francis L. Sullivan, (more)
