Donald Taylor Movies
- 1986
To spice up their tepid social lives three ad execs from Manhattan place ads in the personals column of a local magazine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1981
The "broken promise" was made to eleven-year-old Melissa Michaelsen, whose parents have deserted her and her siblings. Taken in by the County, Michaelsen has had to watch helplessly as her brothers and sisters are split up and farmed out to different families. One of the kids is even institutionalized. Juvenile court officer Chris Sarandon joins Michaelsen in her struggle to reunite her family under one roof. Broken Promise was originally offered as a "General Foods Golden Showcase" presentation. It was first telecast May 5, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
While tension runs high between Americans and Mexicans in Texas, a group of Army engineers travel in disguise, with female prisoners posing as their wives, while they attempt to map important routes for the war effort. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
Five Man Army can best be described as a marked-down Magnificent Seven. Peter Graves, James Daly, Bud Spencer, Testuro Tamba and Nino Castelnuovo play the quintet of the title. Caught in the middle of the 1914 Mexican Revolution, the five men pool their individual skills in hopes of incapacitating the enemy. With Mission: Impossible star Graves in the lead, it's only natural that the plan involves the "impossible" task of relieving a nasty general of a large gold shipment. Set in Mexico but filmed in Italy, this spaghetti western was bankrolled by MGM, the same folks who brought you the popular The Dirty Dozen and who were undoubtedly hoping that lightning would strike twice. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Graves, James Daly, (more)
- 1970
In order to protect a group of Mormons from Mexican bandidos, two brothers are forced to convert in this comedic spoof of spaghetti westerns. Trinity is Still My Name is the title of the sequel. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
They All Died Laughing plays for satire what any other film might have played for suspense. Leo McKern plays a college professor, of the addlepated rather than absentminded variety. McKern has come to the conclusion that certain people are leeching off society, and the world would be well rid of them. He heads for his laboratory to create the means of "purging" these useless people. He comes up with a poison that prompts his victims to laugh hysterically before joining the Choir Invisible. A little more heavy-handed than the British "dark farces" of the 1950s, They All Died Laughing was originally released in England as A Jolly Bad Fellow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leo McKern, Janet Munro, (more)
- 1963
This British comedy drama of the lower classes features actors with such thick cockney accents that some prints of the film were subtitled. James Booth stars as Charlie, a merchant seaman who returns home to the East End after two years to find that his wife Maggie (Barbara Windsor) has taken up with another man, a married bus driver named Bert (George Sewell). After taking his brother Fred (Roy Kinnear) hostage in a pub, Charlie gets a reunion with Maggie, who shows up pushing a pram. It seems she's given birth to a child, and the father's identity is uncertain. Charlie and Maggie reconcile, but not before a vicious row with Bert, who doesn't want to give up his girl. Windsor, a BAFTA Best Actress nominee for her role, also performed the film's title song. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Booth, Barbara Windsor, (more)
Four writers are to credit for this unsuccessful sword-and-sandal feature starring Richard Harrison. Set in the 1st century A.D., Sparta is under the tyranny of the Roman Empire. With the help of six other gladiators, Spartan Darius (Harrison) is determined to make a small contribution to the welfare of mankind by engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the local brutes. The dubbing is uneven in this historical actioner that follows the same pattern as many of the low-budget features of this genre. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harrison, Loredana Nusciak, (more)
Jayne Mansfield bares almost all (and became the first Hollywood actress to do so) in this nearly universally panned sex comedy from the early 1960s. In the story, poor Sandy is desperate to get pregnant. Unfortunately, her husband, a television script writer, is too wound up over his high stress job to make love to her at night even though he too, wants a child. To help him loosen up, they go on a relaxing cruise and meet another couple. The foursome hit it off and begin drinking heavily. They soon exchange partners and retire to their rooms. Later both wives show up pregnant, but now the question remains: which baby belongs to which father? ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jayne Mansfield, Marie McDonald, (more)
- 1961
In this detective film, a Chinese detective breaks up a drug smuggling ring and tries to find the "Daffodil Killer." The drug smugglers had devised the ingenious method of smuggling heroin from Hong Kong in the stems of daffodils. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, Marius Goring, (more)
- 1960
Albert Lieven plays German general Erwin Rommel in this British war drama set in Libya and Egypt. A spy working on behalf of Rommel slips behind British lines and swipes "valuable" battle plans. Actually the information is false, planted by counterintelligence in hopes of misleading the "desert fox". Based on a true story, Foxhole in Cairo is an instructive if not overly suspenseful history lesson. Keep an eye peeled for Michael Caine, billed 16th in the published cast list (but uncredited in many prints). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Robertson Justice, Adrian Hoven, (more)
- 1960
The oft-filmed Maurice Renard novel Hands of Orlac was given another cinematic go-round in this Franco-British production. Famed concert pianist Stephen Orlac (Mel Ferrer) survives a plane crash, but his hands are permanently destroyed. Helpful surgeon Volcheff (Donald Wolfit) grafts a pair of new hands on the hapless Orlac. Unfortunately, they're the hands of an executed murderer--useless for a pianist, but quite handy (no pun intended) for less delicate work. Before long, Orlac is convinced that he himself has become a killer thanks to his new extremeties. Two-bit magician Nero (Christopher Lee) decides to exploit Orlac's fears for his own financial gain, with horrifying results. Originally filmed in 1959, Hands of Orlac was finally released in the US in 1964 . ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Ferrer, Dany Carrel, (more)
George Baxt scripted this extraordinarily good chiller from a story by Milton Subotsky, who also co-produced. A college student (Venetia Stevenson) with an interest in witchcraft goes to the Massachusetts town of Whitewood. It's a foggy, spooky town which gets even scarier when Stevenson discovers that the owner of the Raven's Inn, Mrs. Newlis (Patricia Jessel) is in fact a 268-year old witch. Jessel sold her soul to the Devil to regain her life after being burned at the stake. The whole town is her coven, including Stevenson's kindly history professor (Christopher Lee). Stevenson's boyfriend and brother arrive to look for her and discover human sacrifices and all sorts of evil goings-on. One of the few horror films of the period which still has the power to frighten, Horror Hotel is required viewing for genre fans. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1956
In this espionage drama, Soviet spies use a Cornish salmon poacher to ferry them across the English Channel. When the man realizes who they are, he maroons them. He becomes a hero. Then he finds himself up on poaching charges. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1954
In this comedy, the routines of two British army barracks are disrupted when they are invaded by a Hollywood film unit while their CO is away. Trouble ensues when he returns unannounced. Now the filmmakers must convince him to allow them to keep filming. To do so, they employ the charms of a full-bodied blonde starlet. Filming finally resumes, but then a larger military impresario decides to drop by for a snap inspection; the film crew is unable to offer an acceptable explanation for their presence in the camp. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1954
American FBI agent Dermot Walsh has his hands full when his car is incapacitated in a remote British village. No sooner does Walsh hit the pavement than he's pursued by enemy spies. It seems that our hero is in possession of some valuable secret information, and the only way he'll give it up is over his dead body-which might easily be arranged. Walsh in unexpectedly rescued by the bumbling antics of a local constable. Designed for the lower half of double bills, Night of the Full Moon became a TV staple less than a year after its theatrical release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1953
In this detective drama, an investigator from an insurance company is hired to look into the mysterious murder of a wealthy client's mistress. Meanwhile, the deceased's wife hires a gumshoe too. The trouble begins when the insurance detective begins suspecting the wife and her detective of being behind the killings. Eventually the insurance dick corners the private eye, who attempts to kill him. Instead the wife kills her own detective and ends up leading the insurance detective to the mystery's solution. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Into the Blue is enhanced by the presence of two veteran British movie favorites. Jack Hulbert and Constance Cummings star as John and Kate Ferguson, who embark upon their first vacation in years. Travelling from England to Norway by yacht, the Fergusons are joined by their taciturn skipper Bill (Edward Rigby) and romantic leads Nicholas Foster (top-billed Michael Wilding) and ship's cook Jackie (Odile Versois). The film's central conflict arises from the fact that Foster is a stowaway. And that's about all the plot there is; the film's real strong suits are its stars and its location photography. Into the Blue was originally released as The Man in the Dinghy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Wilding, Sr., Odile Versois, (more)
- 1943
This fascinating, fact-based docudrama chronicles the patriotic efforts of the London Philharmonic to overcome numerous obstacles and continue staging concerts while the Germans bombed London during WW II. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
