Richard Johnson Movies

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

Malcolm McDowell plays a World War I air ace, in charge of an elite squadron. Outwardly a bastion of courage, McDowell dies a little every time one of his boys is killed. To steel his nerves, he takes to drink, which has an adverse effect on his abilities. Christopher Plummer staunchly portrays McDowell's commanding officer. Aces High is a remake of Journey's End (1930), which in turn was based on a play by R.C. Sheriff. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like other productions of Antony and Cleopatra, this 1974 version assumes that the audience is familiar with events that took place before Mark Antony's affair in Egypt with Cleopatra. These events include the assassination of Julius Caesar and the formation of a ruling Roman triumvirate of Mark Antony, Octavius Caesar and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. When the armies of the triumvirate track down the armies of the assassins during a civil war, Egypt refuses to participate on the triumvirate's side. Antony summons Queen Cleopatra to Tarsus, Cicilia (present-day Turkey), to explain Egypt's position. But Antony falls in love with her and returns with her to Alexandria, Egypt. Shakespeare's play -- and thus the film -- begins there, in Alexandria. Captivated by Cleopatra's (Janet Suzman) beauty and charm, Antony (Richard Johnson) dallies in Egypt, forgetting his duties as soldier and statesman, until he receives word that his wife, Fulvia, has died and that Rome is on the brink of a new civil war, this time against Sextus Pompeius, the son of the late Pompey the Great. After Antony returns to Rome, Octavius (Corin Redgrave) berates him for neglecting affairs of state. However, they reconcile after Antony agrees to marry Octavius' sister, Octavia (Mary Rutherford). Upon hearing of the marriage, Cleopatra becomes enraged. Meanwhile, the triumvirs -- Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus make peace with Pompeius. Then Antony, accompanied by his new wife, goes to Athens to take command of Roman armies fighting the Parthians. Taking advantage of Antony's absence, the ambitious Octavius defeats Pompeius in a new war, deposes Lepidus, and consolidates his power. Angry, Antony sends his wife, Octavia, to Rome to protest. Meanwhile, still in love with Cleopatra, Antony returns to Egypt and resumes his affair with the alluring queen. ~ Mike Cummings, 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

Following the same storyline as the more successful Asphalt Jungle but set in Cairo, this crime caper about a jewel heist is directed by Wolf Rilla. The focus of attention is Tutankhamen's jewels on display in the Cairo National Museum -- quite a topical topic since the treasures from King Tut's tomb were making the rounds of U.S. exhibition sites around the time this film was released. The lecherous Major Pickering (George Sanders) has been cooling his heels in a German prison, waiting to get out so he can go to Cairo and set the wheels of his big King Tut heist into motion. The jewels are on display, and he is certain he can get his hands on them. To that end he recruits Willy Roberts, Nicodemos, Al Hassan, and Kamel Kuchuk -- stereotypical characters whose talents are supposed to contribute to the success of the robbery. The Major soon discovers that even if a robbery is successful, getting hot property out of a country can be quite another ball game. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

British agents drop like skeets in this convoluted espionage film. Jonas Wilde (Richard Johnson) is a successful British secret agent who wants to hang up his license to kill and retire. His superior, Canning (Harry Andrews), agrees to accept his resignation if he agrees to one last case -- killing a Czechoslovakian defector currently being held by the Americans. Wilde goes along with Canning's plan and, with the help of his housekeeper Rhoda (Diana Dors), completes the mission. But then Jonas is captured by CIA agent Lucinda (Sam Wanamaker), who reveals that an unknown agent in the British secret service is the force behind getting fellow British agents killed. When Jonas and Canning's wife, Barbara (Sylvia Syms), travel to Canning's headquarters, he is told that a British agent has been murdered. Jonas proceeds to take the dead agent's niece Mari (Barbara Bouchet) onto a boat for questioning and discovers false names, deceptions and increasing amounts of dead bodies. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

In this sports drama, a diver has all the right stuff to make it to the Olympics. There is only one catch--he is terrified of heights. Fortunately his lovely coach is there to patiently help him overcome his terror and go for the gold. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This World War II drama is based on an actual incident. Two Nazi soldiers desert and help a Canadian cook when the unit takes over a concentration camp. Trudeau (Richard Johnson) is the Canadian captain who respects his German counterpart (Helmut Schneider). An escape attempt has the Nazis capturing the deserters and the Germans demand they be turned over to them. The Canadians refuse, but the Germans insist the deserters face court martial. The Canadian commander forces the cook to turn over the two men who are shot by the Germans with Canadian rifles five days after the official end of the war. ~ Dan Pavlides, 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

Actor Richard Johnson wrote the original story for this taut suspense drama that stars Rod Steiger as Niall Hennessy, a man who plans to blow up the British Parliament in retaliation for the accidental death of his family in Belfast. Johnson plays Scotland Yard-inspector Hollis, an expert in the struggles of Ireland, who under Commander Rice (Trevor Howard) attempts to locate Hennessy. Hennessy has journeyed to London with a plan to substitute himself for MP Burgess (Hugh Moxey) and, wiring himself up as a human bomb, to destroy the British power structure. In a twist, IRA leader Tobin (Eric Porter), realizing that the explosion will lead to more British repression on Northern Ireland, also travels to London to try to kill Hennessy before he can explode his bomb. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The Cursed Medallion may not be a household title, but it certainly has received generous airplay on the many UHF television stations throughout the land. The titular medallion is a gift presented to young Nicole Elmi. Once the girl places the gift around her neck, she is possessed by the spirit of a dead child. Actually, it's worse than that: the deceased youngster was a murderess. Richard Johnson and Joanna Cassidy are the "name" stars in this internationally produced chiller-diller. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After declaring a holy war to rid the Sudan of Anglo-Egyptian rule in the 1880s, the fanatical Sudanese leader Muhammad Ahmad (Laurence Olivier) massacres a British-led force of 8,000 and marches on the strategic city of Khartoum at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The British government of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (Ralph Richardson) then sends one of its greatest generals, Charles George Gordon (Charlton Heston), to Khartoum to make peace and save the city. Gordon had previously served with distinction in the Crimea, China, India and South Africa. Most important, he had also served as governor of the Sudan in the late 1870s at the request of the khedive of Egypt, instituting administrative reforms, reducing the slave trade and bolstering the economy. However, before Gordon reaches Khartoum with his aide, many of his former Sudanese friends defect to the Mahdi. Nevertheless, Gordon receives a rousing reception when he arrives in the city in February 1884. Heartened, he meets in the desert with the Mahdi to try to forge a peace agreement, but the Arab leader tells Gordon he is bent on taking Khartoum. What's more, he means to conquer other cities -- Cairo, Mecca, Baghdad and Constantinople -- to establish a vast empire under his leadership. Convinced that more war is inevitable, Gordon and the loyal Egyptian troops under his command prepare for battle. Meanwhile, in London, the Gladstone government is reluctant to dispatch troops to support the outnumbered Khartoum forces because colonial meddling has become bad politics. To forestall disaster, Gordon diverts the Nile to create a moat around Khartoum and leads a foray in which he steals cattle from the Mahdi's herd to supply the besieged city with food. But when the Nile recedes, the stage is set for the final battle that will decide the fate of Khartoum. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide