Lewis Fiander Movies

In one of her first adult starring roles, Nicole Kidman played the lead in the three-part Australian miniseries Bangkok Hilton. Searching for her long-estranged father at Bangkok airport, Katrina "Kat" Stanton unwittingly becomes a "mule" for drug-smuggler Arkie Ragan (Jerome Ehlers). Captured by the authorities, Kat is charged with smuggling and locked away in a horrible prison known as the Bangkok Hilton. Also in the cast were Denholm Elliot(Hal Stanton) and such familiar Australian film and TV regulars as Norman Kaye, Joy Smithers, and Gerda Nicholson. After its original ABC network run from November 5-7, 1989, Bangkok Hilton was rebroadcast in six one-hour segments, rather than its original three two-hour episodes. As for Nicole Kidman, she earned an AFI award (the Australian equivalent of the Emmy) for her brilliant and harrowing performance. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Claudette Colbert made her first screen appearance in 25 years in the 2-part TV movie The Two Mrs. Grenvilles. The story involves social-climbing actress (read: "chorus girl") Ann-Margret, who marries American-aristocrat naval ensign Stephen Collins, the son of Ms. Colbert (the two female stars, you see, are the "two Mrs. Grenvilles"). Try as she might, Ann-Margret can neither assimilate herself to her husband's lifestyle, nor overcome the animosity of her mother-in-law. Collins starts cheating on his new wife....and before long, Ann-Margret is standing trial for the fatal shooting of her husband. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music for the sumptuously stylish The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, which was based on novelist Dominick Dunne's a clef rehashing of the 1955 murder of Long Island millionaire William Woodward Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Cristina Raines plays a pro golfer in The Late Nancy Irving. She's not "late" at the beginning of the film, but it sure looks that she will be ere long. Abducted by dying millionaire Marius Goring, Nancy Irving (Raines) is forced to be an unwilling blood donor. Will she escape while she can still stand up by herself? The Late Nancy Irving premiered in America over the USA network on March 2, 1985, in tandem with another British made-for-TV movie, Czech Mate. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the third episode of the four-part story "Nightmare of Eden," the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Lalla Ward) brave the horrors of Eden, a hyperspace "virtual reality" world created by the fusion of two space cruisers. It is hard to determine which is the greater threat: the rampaging Mandrels, animals which have escaped from an electronic menagerie, or two warring gangs of drug smugglers -- one of whom was indirectly responsible for causing the fusion in the first place. Originally telecast December 8, 1979, "Nightmare of Eden, Episode 3" was written by Bob Baker and codirected by Alan Bromly and (uncredited) Graham Williams. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Following a collision in hyperspace, two spaceships, the Empress and the Hecate, fuse together. The Doctor (Tom Baker) is called in to handle the consequences of this fusion, the escape of dozens of animals from an electronic zoo. This four-part Doctor Who adventure bears traces of the early story arc "Carnival of Monsters." Originally telecast November 24, 1979, "Nightmare of Eden, Episode 1" was written by Bob Baker and codirected by Alan Bromly and (uncredited) Graham Williams ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Children strike back at adults in this chilling horror film from director Narcisco Ibanez Serrador. While vacationing on the remote island of Almanzora, Tom (Lewis Fiander) and his pregnant wife Evelyn (Prunella Ransome) notice only giggling children. They wonder where all the adults are, until Tom spies a little girl beating an old man to death with his own walking stick. The man is then hung up in the town square and used as a piñata by the scythe-wielding children. Tom soon discovers that the demonic youths have killed every adult on the island, because none would ever fight back if it meant killing a child. Even Evelyn's unborn baby is affected, and Tom becomes the target of gunfire as the children go after him. Aside from a silly ending, Serrador's film is remarkably effective, slowly introducing the situation and playing on both xenophobia and cultural taboos while building an atmosphere of mounting dread. Unlike most Spanish shockers, this is not an unintentionally funny melodrama or a sexually-charged exploitation item. It is a serious-minded horror film with a message, based on Juan Jose Plans' novel The Game, and is both worthwhile and frightening. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

In this historical drama based on actual events, Sweden's Queen Christina (Liv Ullmann) decides in 1654 to give up her throne in order to embrace Catholicism. However, as she studies the faith, she falls in love with Cardinal Azzolino (Peter Finch), a cleric being considered for the papacy. Greta Garbo previously played the same abdicating monarch in the film Queen Christina. Michael Dunn, who plays the dwarf in The Abdication, died during production, and several of his scenes had to be shot with another actor doubling for him. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In a clever, gender-bending twist on the classic Robert Louis Stevenson tale, the research done by Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates) in the field of artificially-induced human longevity involves experimentation with female hormones. When he partakes of his own formula and the inevitable Jekyll-into-Hyde transformation takes place, he changes into a ravishing female version of himself (famed "B"-movie siren Martine Beswick). Claiming to be Jekyll's sister, Ms. Hyde is lovely but lethal: she uses her alluring charms to seduce men then kills them and absconds with their bodies for use in further experiments. A much more interesting twist comes when Jekyll finds himself falling in love with the girl next door (Susan Brodrick), while simultaneously lusting after the girl's brother (Lewis Fiander) as Hyde. Although Brian Clemens' script manages to exploit this unique premise for shock value, the story fumbles where it counts, failing to fully explore the implicit questions of sexual identity which haunt Jekyll's psyche and burst to the surface when Hyde is on the prowl. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Terrence Rattigan, the playwright who brought us the multicharactered, multistoried Separate Tables, again offers us an episodic cross-section of humanity in The V.I.P.'s. When a heavy London fog paralyzes all air traffic, the lives of several people are profoundly affected. As indicated by the title, most of the characters in this portmanteau film are of the social and/or financial elite. Elizabeth Taylor wishes to leave her enormously wealthy husband Richard Burton in favor of playboy Louis Jourdan. Peripatetic European film producer Orson Welles is hoping to escape London with his newest protegee Elsa Martinelli in order to avoid paying his income tax. Australian businessman Rod Taylor, accompanied by his devoted (and adoring) secretary Maggie Smith, is anxious to head to New York to stave off a hostile takeover of his firm. And impoverished aristocrat Margaret Rutherford (who won an Oscar for her performance) would rather not go to Florida to accept a job as a social arbiter, but the wolf must be kept from the door. Before the fog disperses, you can be sure that at least one of the many plotlines will intersect with another. David Frost, in a tiny part as a reporter, was fond of recalling in later years that, while the major stars of The VIPS were introduced in the opening titles with animated limousines, he was consigned a tiny Volkswagen; alas, no such cartoon joke appears in the film, though on occasion the actors-particularly Mr. Welles-behave as though they were cartoons. Mercilessly skewered by the critics, The VIPS was a winner at the box-office, due in great part to the Cleopatra-inspired publicity concerning the top-billed Liz Taylor and Dick Burton. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi