Denholm Elliott

Scorchers is set way down in steamy Louisiana, deep in bayou country where the women get hot and hotter--or not hot at all. This movie delves into the sex lives of three ladies: one is an unfulfilled prostitute, one can't get her husband's attentions (he'd rather be with the whore), and one's a newlywed who can't get over her fear of having sex with her new fella. ~ All Movie Guide

At the turn of the century, a widow decides to set her dead husbands business back in the black column. Her efforts to get the mill going again, however, are somewhat submarined by problems with an employee who is accused of murder and her sister who has married a spoiled rich boy. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

This award-winning TV production tells the true story of a heroic woman's underground operation to spirit Allied soldiers out of Nazi-occupied France. Her name is Mary Lindell, a British-born Red Cross nurse living in France with her two teenage children, Maurice and Barbé, by Lindell's marriage to Count de Melville. The story begins in Paris in 1940 when a downed British flier, Maj. James Legatt (Sam Neill), stumbles to a table at a sidewalk cafe. Dressed in a shin-to-shoulder overcoat and dizzy with fatigue, he plops into a chair. At a table nearby, Lindell (Judy Davis) notices his boots -- British issue and a dead giveaway. When German soldiers approach the flier, Lindell walks to his table and slaps him smartly, pretending he is her drunken husband. The ruse works. Lindell then takes Legatt to her home in a taxi and nurses him to health. During their time together, they fall in love -- chastely, without overtly disclosing their affection for each other. Using her feminine wiles and forceful personality to bamboozle SS hounds, she effects his escape back to England, then dedicates herself to rescuing other allies. All goes well until a flier botches his escape. An investigation and trial send Lindell to prison for nine months, which she barely survives. After her release, her son and daughter hide her and restore her to health, and Lindell goes back to work smuggling Allies across the border -- this time with the aid of a priest (Denholm Elliot) and Maj. Legatt, who tracks her activities from his headquarters in England. She eventually ends up in the Ravensbrück concentration camp north of Berlin, and in the conclusion of the production, viewers learn the ultimate fate of Lindell and Legatt. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Angela Lansbury stars as an unmarried teacher at a Minnesota Catholic grade school. An ongoing battle with new bishop Robert Prosky, coupled with her friendship with an unwed mother, awakens hera to the possibility that she hasn't lived her life to the fullest. When her grateful school staff bankrolls her vacation to Ireland, Lansbury uses the opportunity to meet the man (Denholm Elliot) with whom she has secretly corresponded for years--and with whom she has fallen in love, sight unseen. Arriving on the Emerald Isle, Lansbury eagerly arranges a meeting with her dream lover. Will she be surprised. Made for television, Love She Sought was filmed under the working titles A Green Journey and Last Chance for Romance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This poorly received sequel to the classic 1957 movie The Bridge over the River Kwai, is also based on a true story, as told in the book by Joan & Clay Blair, Jr. This story begins where the previous one left off, with the blowing up of the marvelous bridge. Here, the Australian POWs are rounded up to be shipped by rail and sea to Japan to serve as slave laborers. They have many harrowing experiences and near-escapes. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

When a father attempts to return to his abandoned family after 23 years his grown son tries to murder his drunk, unemployed father. ~ All Movie Guide

This 60-minute TV adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 doppelganger yarn stars Anthony Andrews as kindly London medico Henry Jekyll. Fascinated by the concept that within every man lurks two separate personalities--one good, one evil--Dr. Jekyll concocts a potion that releases his own nightmarish alter ego, Mr. Hyde. Contemporary critics noted that Andrews' Jekyll was so cloddish that his bestial Hyde came as something of a relief. Laura Dern co-stars as Jekyll/Hyde's long-suffering fiancee Rebecca. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde premiered as an HBO Nightmare Classic on October 29, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Maruschka Detmers stars as Hannah Senesh, a real-life Hungarian Jew who became a martyr to the cause of freedom during WW II. Though safely ensconced in Palestine at the outbreak of the war, Hannah volunteers to venture behind enemy lines in Europe on a life-or-death mission. Unfortunately, she is captured, undergoing unspeakable tortures before the Germans are finished with her. The script, based on Hannah's diaries (as edited by Yoel Palgi), surprisingly downplays heroics in favor of sensationalism; the prison scenes could just as well have been lifted from a Linda Blair "babes behind bars" picture. Even so, Detmers is excellent in the title role, while Ellen Burstyn is likewise superb as Hannah's mother. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roger Young's made-for-TV adaptation of the Robert Ludlum novel, The Bourne Identity stars Richard Chamberlain as Jason Bourne, who washes up on the beach and is cared for by a doctor. Bourne has no memories, but is intrigued enough to investigate why he has the number of a Swiss bank account on his thigh. As Jason travels to various European cities following clues about his past, he begins to discover that his actions match those of the feared international terrorist Carlos. The book was filmed a second time in 2002 by Doug Liman with Matt Damon in the title role. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's satiric novel has been given an elegant rendition for its North American DVD release. Scoop has been transferred to disc in its original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and the audio is in Dolby Digital Mono. The dialogue is in English, with no multiple language options included. Bonus materials include text biographies of author Evelyn Waugh and cast members Denholm Elliott and Michael Maloney. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on a scandalous South African murder trial of the 1940s, this drama tells the story of a prominent British lord who is accused of murder. When a witness comes forward, she reveals the sordid truth, involving incest, child abuse, adultery and drug abuse. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's novel is an account of a novelist, still smarting from a failed relationship, who finds refuge at a Swiss lakefront resort. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide