Britt Ekland Movies

Novelist George MacDonald Fraser penned the script for this swashbuckling, picaresque adventure tale. The story is based on one of the books in his "Harry Flashman" series, loose sequels to "Tom Brown's Schooldays" that followed that story's central bully character through his checkered post-graduate military career. Malcolm McDowell plays Captain Harry Flashman, a cowardly, lascivious poseur who desperately seeks entry into high European society. Recognizing an opportunity to advance their own sinister political agendas, scheming Otto Von Bismarck (Oliver Reed) and Rudi Von Sternberg (Alan Bates) convince Flashman to masquerade as a Prussian noble and marry a beautiful duchess (Britt Ekland), a flawed plan to which Flashman agrees. Inevitably, the transparent ruse is discovered, and Flashman is forced to try to escape across 19th century Europe, narrowly missing one disaster after another and experiencing first-hand some of history's most momentous events. Director Richard Lester and Fraser used similar baroque settings, tongue-in-cheek characterizations, elaborate stunts and breakneck pacing for The Three Musketeers (1973) and its sequel, The Four Musketeers (1974) with similar efficacy. Fraser would try again with analogous material three years later with Crossed Swords (1978), a lavish version of The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The Man With the Golden Gun, Roger Moore's second outing as James Bond (Live and Let Die was the first), whisks our hero off to Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, and then the South China Sea in search of a solar energy weapon. His opponent is Scaramanga (Christopher Lee), who rules the roost on a well-fortified island. Scaramanga's aide-de-camp is Nick Nack, played by future Fantasy Island co-star Herve Villechaize. Britt Ekland plays the bikinied Mary Goodnight, whose clumsy efforts to help Bond thwart Scaramanga are almost as destructive as the elusive solar device. The Man With the Golden Gun was adapted by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz from Ian Fleming's last James Bond novel, which had to be published posthumously in "rough draft" form. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When actor Lionel Jeffries turned to directing in the 1970s, he exhibited a preference for whimsy, as witness The Railway Children. Jeffries' Baxter is a notable exception to this rule, though, as with his other directorial efforts, he shows a keen sensitivity for the travails of troubled youngsters. Scott Jacoby plays Baxter, a boy with a marked speech impediment. His affliction worsens as his parents' marriage disintegrates. Patricia Neal plays a dedicated speech therapist who realizes that Baxter's problems go deeper than his inability to speak normally. Baxter was scripted by "Golden Age" TV veteran Reginald Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Low-brow British humor abounds in this farcical account of Edwin Anthony, the first man to receive a successful penis transplant. Anthony becomes quite attached to his new appendage and even gives it the title name. The alleged humor comes in when Anthony and Percy set out to investigate the life of the latter's former owner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Oliver! star Mark Lester undertook a change of pace - and then some - with this uncomfortable, Bad Seed-like shocker. He plays Marcus, the preteen son of a recently-remarried, well-to-do writer, whose first wife (Marcus's mother) died a mysterious death. Marcus simultaneously resents his stepmother and feels erotically drawn to her; in desperation, he quickly and aggressively drives her to the point of a psychotic breakdown. He then quietly confesses his act of matricide to the stepmom and implores her to off her husband and abscond with the insurance monies. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Get Carter stars Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a powerful British gangster out for blood. His brother has been murdered in Newcastle, prompting Carter to declare a one-man war on other racketeers. Carter must also get his niece out of the life she is leading as an actress in pornographic films. Now that he is a loose cannon, Carter must be eliminated. Get Carter is typical action fare of the 1970s in that there are virtually no "good guys" -- in fact, the assassin is probably the most likable character in the piece! Originally rated X for violence and female nudity, Get Carter was reclassified as an R after subsequent crime films became even more bloodthirsty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This story of youthful rebellion is taken from the ancient Greek classic "Antigone." The setting is modern times and Britt Eklund plays Antigone in a fictitious land where reality is suspended. Haimon (Tomas Milian) goes against the wishes of his father and the prime minister by wanting to become an animal. Tiresias (Pierre Clementi) plays a Christ-like figure. The only resemblance between this version and the ancient tragedy is that the three principle characters are slated for an uncertain future among the living. The film was shown at the 1970 New York Film Festival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Hank McCain (John Cassavetes) is the imprisoned gangster who gets out of jail with the help of the mob. The syndicate wants him to take part in a heist of a Las Vegas casino. The plan is discussed and soon abandoned by the mob, but Hank decides to go ahead with the robbery. Disguised as a fireman, he pulls off the daring crime with the help of his current flame Irene (Britt Ekland). The angry mobsters want him dead and they soon close in on his old girlfriend Rosemary (Gena Rowlands) for information that could lead to Hank. She would rather commit suicide than give them information about her ex-boyfriend as she obviously still carries a torch for her old flame. Even without her help, the dragnet closes in on Hank as the mobsters systematically figure out his whereabouts. This feature was the Italian entry at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival, a choice that caused controversy and questions. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Narrator Rudy Vallee announces that he knows we are a "real high class audience," thus he has "some swell story to tell." Thus begins The Night They Raided Minsky's, set in the rarefied world of burlesque in the 1920s. Amish girl Rachel Schpitendavel (Britt Ekland) comes to New York in hopes of securing work as a dancing interpreter of religious stories. She gets a job at Minsky's burlesque house, where the dance numbers are "Biblical" only when some gum-chewing stripper performs Salome's Dance of the Seven Veils. The many subplots leading up to Rachel's accidental invention of the striptease during a midnight Minsky's show involve many: top banana Chick Williams (Norman Wisdom) and womanizing straight-man Raymond Paine (Jason Robards Jr.); Billy Minsky (Elliot Gould), whose efforts to stage girlie shows at the National Winter Garden are looked down upon by Minsky Sr. (Joseph Wiseman), who holds the lease on the theater; gangster Trim Houlihan (Forrest Tucker), who intends to shut down Minsky's if he can't get a piece of the action; Ekland's preacher father Harry Andrews, who shows up in New York just in time to see his daughter bare all in front of a cheering audience; and Vance Fowler (Denhom Elliot), self-appointed protector of public morals, whom Paine hopes to embarrass by having Rachel perform her religious dance. A straightforward adaptation of Rowland Barber's novel The Night They Raided Minsky's would seem to be called for here, but novice director William Friedkin and film editor Ralph Rosenblum seem determined to turn the film into a kaleidoscope Hard Day's Night clone. Happily, producer Norman Lear is able to accommodate several nostalgic re-creations of such burlesque chestnuts as "Crazy House" and "Meet Me Round the Corner," as well as six delightful in-period songs penned by Bye Bye Birdie's Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, the best of which is the ribald "Perfect Gentleman." Bert Lahr makes his last appearance on screen in the role of washed-up funnyman Professor Spats; he died during production, and had to be extensively doubled throughout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Sellers stars, as the tagline states, "as that cunning matador who flees from the bulls so that he may chase the chicks!" Juan Bautista (Peter Sellers) is an inept matador who wants to be a singer. Francisco Carbonell (Adolfo Celi), the owner of a local Barcelona night spot, offers Juan a singing contract for a week --the only stipulation being that he has three days to seduce Olimpia Segura (Britt Ekland), the "most desirable woman in Barcelona." The bumbling matador tries a series of half-baked lovemaking techniques that, amazingly, get Olimpia to come around. But when Olimpia discovers that Juan wanted to seduce her merely to get a singing job, Juan finds that avoiding charging bulls is a much safer vocation than dealing with an irate Olimpia. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

With Peter Sellers as star, Neil Simon as screenwriter, and Vittorio DeSica as director, how could After the Fox miss? Miss it did, however--though the film, patchy and inconsistent though it might be, definitely has its moments. Sellers plays an Italian master thief who can't seem to stay out of jail. His latest scheme involves moving $3 million worth of stolen gold bullion from Cairo to Rome. To cover his tracks, Sellers pretends to be a "nouvelle vague" movie director, filming a crime picture. Britt Ekland, Mrs. Sellers at the time, plays his movie-struck sister. The film is effortlessly stolen by Victor Mature, who is unbearably funny as a vainglorious hasbeen Hollywood star. Director DeSica shows up in the film as "himself"-at least until all his camera equipment is stolen by Sellers and his partner-in-crime Akim Tamiroff. Never as hilarious as it should have been, After the Fox nonetheless manages a few isolated belly laughs. Outside of Mature's performance, our favorite bit in the film is the final gag: "Ze wrong man has escaped!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Dickens' classic tale A Christmas Carol is revisited yet again in this made-for-television holiday drama. Told with a different twist, in this version, a melancholy father spends his Christmas Day mourning the son he lost in World War II. His holiday grieving is interrupted by the visiting ghosts of Christmases past, present and future. Henry Mancini provides the score. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

The happy thieves in this international effort are Rex Harrision and Rita Hayworth, both specialists in swiping rare art objects. Their plan to pilfer a priceless Goya involves creating a public diversion at a nearby bullring. Oh, we forgot to tell you: the film was made on location in Madrid, the better for the stars to avoid stiff taxes. Though both seem too old for this sort of fluff, Harrison and Hayworth make the most of the comic opportunities afforded them by the script. Produced by Hayworth's then-husband James Hill, Happy Thieves was based on a novel by Richard Condon, who later turned out such efforts as The Manchurian Candidate and Prizzi's Honor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide