Richard Johnson Movies

A masked killer crashes a lavish masquerade party in director David DeCoteau's modern updating of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tale. It's time for the biggest gay party of the year; unfortunately the host has chosen the site of the infamous Ravenswood Massacre to stage his blowout gala. Now, as the guests roll in for a rollicking evening of debauchery and excess, the body count begins to multiply. With each passing hour more victims turn up, leaving the frightened survivors to wonder who will die next. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Part of the "Beckett on Film" series, this adaptation of Samuel Beckett's 1961 absurd tragi-comedy is essentially a very long monologue punctuated by brief interruptions from a secondary character. Considered by many to be Beckett's most cheerful piece, Happy Days opens with the character of Winnie, a fifty-ish woman, buried up to her waist in a mound of earth. This immobility does not seem to bother the optimistic Winnie, who may miss the use of her legs but opts to concentrate on what she can still do with her arms and hands -- brush her teeth, use her mirror, etc. In the second half, Winnie has become buried up to her neck, but even the fact that she can no longer use her arms does not dissuade Winnie, whose motto is summed up with "Ah, well, what matter, that's what I always say; it will have been a happy day after all, another happy day." Winnie also professes to be comforted by the presence of husband Willie, who is rarely seen or heard. Beneath her cheerful exterior, of course, Winnie may not believe that all is really as well as she makes it out to be, but her refusal to admit the grim nature of her own reality is at the core of Beckett's play. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Originally produced for the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre, Breaking the Code tells the life story of the famed mathematician and computer science pioneer Alan Turing, the primary designer of the Turing Machine, an early computer used to solve the German Enigma code during World War II, a solution many believe was instrumental in the Allied victory. The title refers to both the solution of the Enigma code and Turing's open admission to his homosexuality, which at the time violated not only the codes of polite society but British law. Hugh Whitemore's screenplay, based upon his play and Andrew Hodges' book Alan Turing: The Enigma, frames Turing's life as a puzzle, beginning in 1952 with the mysterious robbery of some of the mathematician's few possessions. The rest of the film travels backwards and forwards through time, providing associative glimpses of Turing's past and present, including his school days, his wartime efforts, and his post-war experiences. Discussions of his mathematical and logical work alternate with glimpses of his turbulent personal life, including his boyhood love, the unrequited attentions of his female assistant, and his later relationships with younger men, drawing connections between his theoretical work and his personal traumas. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable adventure chronicles the fictionalized exploits of the famed British reporter cum novelist who created the character "James Bond." Starring Jason Connery, the son of the first feature-film 007 Sean Connery, the story alleges that Fleming based Bond's adventures on his own extraordinary experiences. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This drama, adapted from a best-seller by Barbara Taylor Bradford chronicles the convoluted love-lives of two rich women over 23 years. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Originally telecast in December of 1988, A Man for All Seasons was the first made-for-TV film produced on behalf of the TNT Cable Service. Charlton Heston makes his film directorial debut herein, and also plays the central role of Sir Thomas More, 16th century lord chancellor of England. Unswerving in his belief of the Pope's supreme authority, Sir Thomas refuses to support King Henry VIII's plan to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon to marry the (hopefully) fertile Anne Boleyn. Declaring himself head of the Church of England, the King annuls his marriage and weds Anne. In concert with his administrator Cromwell, Henry further demands that all British subjects take an oath to uphold Henry's action. More cannot bring himself to do this, and as a result is imprisoned in the Tower of London. Tried for high treason, More is found guilty on the basis of the false testimony of sycophantic Sir Richard Rich. Sentenced to death, More continues to denounce Henry's behavior, walking proudly towards the headsman secure in the knowledge that he will die "the king's good servant, but God's first." Adapted from the play by Robert Bolt A Man For All Seasons was previously filmed in 1966, with Paul Scofield repeating his stage role as More. Heston's version restores much of the text that had been removed from the earlier film--as well as the ubiquitous expository character "The Common Man", here played by Roy Kinnear. More's harsh but loving wife Alice is played in the remake by Vanessa Redgrave, who'd appeared unbilled as Anne Boleyn in the 1966 version (Arch-conservative Heston and ultra-liberal Redgrave in the same film? Fear not: each respected the other's acting skills, and they got along famously). Heston had previously directed and starred in a London stage revival of Man for All Seasons; this splendid cable-TV version manages to retain all the virtues of that production while remaining a thoroughly cinematic experience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

John Hillerman once again hams it up in a dual role, appearing in his traditional characterization as Jonathan Higgins and also as another of Higgins' half-brothers, a Northern Irish cleric named Father Paddy McGuinness. Convinced that Higgins' former Royal Army commander Allistair ffolkes (Richard Johnson) has stolen a sacred religious artifact during a recent search for IRA weaponry, Father Paddy has hatched an "eye for an eye" scheme to force ffolkes to give the item back. Even with all this going on, Magnum is determined to earn his money from his current client, an enigmatic boxer named Clarence (Lee Canalito) who thinks that his wife Angie--aka "Legs"--is cheating on him. Series creator Donald P. Bellisario plays a bit role in this final episode of Magnum, P.I.'s third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Aerodrome is a British black comedy set in the 1930s. A backwater English village is threatened with takeover by a fascist air force. It's the home guard to the rescue--sort of. Peter Firth, Richard Johnson, Jill Bennett, and Richard Briers head the cast. Produced for British TV in 1982, Aerodrome premiered in the US the following year over the Arts Cable Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Portrait of a Rebel: The Remarkable Mrs. Sanger was written by Blanche Hanalis, a specialist in turning out quality teleplays with a feminist slant. Bonnie Franklin stars as pioneering birth-control advocate Margaret Sanger, who in the early part of the 20th century conducted a 25-year battle to have her views legitimized by the puritanical, male-dominated medical establishment. The film covers the years 1912 through 1917, starting with Sanger's work as a New York City public health nurse. Appalled by the deaths brought about by self-induced abortions, Sanger campaigns to enlighten uneducated "lower-class" women in the proper methods of birth control, eventually opening her own clinic. Her efforts are rewarded with public scorn, attacks from various censorship advocates (her informational pamphlets are deemed "pornographic") and frequent jail terms. In order to spice up an already fascinating story, the film places undue emphasis on the brief romance between Ms. Sanger and British sexual-liberation guru Havelock Ellis (Richard Johnson). Portrait of A Rebel might make a piquant double feature with the 1995 cable-TV Margaret Sanger biopic, which starred Dana Delany. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Haywire was adapted for television by Ivan Davis and Frank Pierson from the best-selling autobiography of Brooke Hayward. Played herein by Deborah Raffin, Brooke is the daughter of legendary Broadway producer Leland Hayward (Jason Robards) and the brilliant stage and film actress Margaret Sullavan (Lee Remick). The much-married Leland is overindulgent but aloof and casually cruel; the lovely Margaret is an emotionally unstable perfectionist. The residue of this dysfunctional family relationship includes the suicides of Ms. Sullivan and Brooke's sister Bridget (Dianne Hull), and the confinement to a mental institution of Brooke's brother Bill (Hart Bochner). How Brooke herself survives this "haywire" situation provides the meat of this 2-hour film. Brooke's brother William Hayward was the producer of Haywire, which originally aired May 14, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This sudsy made-for-television melodrama is based on a Barbara Cartland novel and follows the romantic exploits of an American heiress who sets sail for exciting Paris at the turn-of-the-century. Initially she is going there to meet her fiance, but once there she ends up falling in love with a French journalist and nearly losing her life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This documentary is in the tradition of Mondo Cane, and shows Peruvians and Bolivians behaving in savage, bizarre and unusual ways by modern Western standards. For instance, in one Inca-influenced area, a llama is sacrificed in the ancient way used before the Conquistadors brought Christianity to the region. In another, a museum's collection of ancient Incan pornographic pottery is explored. There are other scenes which are more repugnant, and are less easily described; at least one involves bestiality. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide