Denholm Elliott Movies

A much-loved character actor, British native Denholm Elliott performed in over 100 films during the course of his long career. Elliott, who was educated at Malvern College, went on stage just after World War II, and made his first film, Dear Mr. Prohack, in 1949. Often coming across as a sort of British Ralph Bellamy, Elliot specialized in playing pleasant but ineffectual types during the 1950s, switching to dignified and slightly stuffy characters as he grew grayer. In 1964, he made a major impression on international audiences by playing the tattered gentleman who teaches Alan Bates the tricks of social and financial climbing in Nothing but the Best -- only to be strangled by Bates with his old school tie. With tight lips and taciturn glances, Elliott was the official who closed down Elliott Gould's burlesque house in The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968).

A gentler but no less authoritative role came in 1981 as Harrison Ford's immediate superior Brody in Raiders of the Lost Ark (reprising the part in 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade), while in 1984 Elliott was unforgettably waspish as the dying social lion who dictates his own death notice in The Razor's Edge (the role played by Clifton Webb in the 1946 version). In 1986, he played one of his most endearing roles, that of the free-thinking Mr. Emerson in A Room with a View. In between these engagements, Elliott portrayed Dan Aykroyd's -- and then Eddie Murphy's -- refined butler in Trading Places (1983). His portrayal won him his first British Academy Award; he also earned BAFTAs for his work in A Private Function (1984) and Defence of the Realm (1985). Sadly, Elliott's still-thriving career was cut off in 1992 -- shortly after he completed the comedy Noises Off -- when he died from complications brought about by AIDS. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
1973  
 
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Henrik Ibsen's oft-filmed play A Doll's House was adapted for the screen in this Anglo-Canadian production. Claire Bloom stars as Nora, the child-like "trophy bride" who matures rather rapidly when her husband is threatened with blackmail. Even after extricating her block-headed hubby from his dilemma, he refuses to take her seriously, whereupon Nora, in a burst of pre-feminist pique, literally slams the door on her hothouse existence. Supporting Ms. Bloom are Anthony Hopkins, Sir Ralph Richardson, Denholm Elliott and Dame Edith Evans. Held out of general release when it was first made in 1973 when it was squeezed off the marketplace by the competing Jane Fonda version, A Doll's House enjoyed its widest distribution upon its 1989 reissue. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Claire BloomAnthony Hopkins, (more)
1971  
 
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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

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1971  
 
The first appearance of Bette Davis in a made-for-television film has an evil mastermind (Davis) plotting against a CIA agent (Robert Wagner) for control of a deadly submarine. Aired in 1971, Madame Sin was the most expensive TV movie of the time. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

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1971  
 
This science fiction/fantasy is loosely based on a story by John Wyndham (best known for The Day of the Triffids). Scientist Collin (Tom Bell) stumbles across a parallel world in which President Kennedy is not shot, Vietnam hasn't happened, and Ottilie (Joan Collins), the woman he loves, dies unexpectedly of a heart condition. While he is happy enough with the rest of his new world, he can't stand by and let his true love die in his original world, and he determines to return to his own place and time to save her. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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1971  
PG  
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This anthology picture about a bad-luck mansion is a thriller with four episodes--all framed by a police investigation. A review of the files of the local policeman (John Bennett) shows that everyone who has owned the mansion has died in a horrible fashion. In the first episode, "Method for Murder," the obsessions of a mystery writer (Denholm Elliott) provide his wife with an opportunity to do him in. In the second, "Waxworks," Peter Cushing is the unhappy recipient of the attentions of a jealous husband. The third, "Sweets to the Sweet," has Christopher Lee fall victim to his charming little daughter, who plays with voodoo dolls. In "The Cloak," Jon Pertwee (best known for his TV portrayal of Dr. Who) is a horror-film star who insists on authenticity in his costumes. Somehow, he is given the cloak of a real vampire, with humorously ghoulish results. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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1970  
R  
Like Socrates of ancient Athens, Michael Rimmer (Peter Cook) of modern England believes the key to success is to ask the right questions. Lots of questions. So he gets a job with an advertising agency that conducts polls, rises swiftly through the ranks, and eventually runs the agency. Then he bombards England with questions. His ingenious system enables him to predict the outcome of a general election. (Every voter in England had received a questionnaire.) So accomplished is Rimmer at asking questions that he finds his future wife through market research. To insure that he gets the right answers, Rimmer is not above manipulating the polls. For example, when he asks residents of Coventry their religion, 95 percent identify themselves as Buddhists, thanks to an influx of Rimmer stooges. Then he enters politics. In a short time, he gets himself elected to Parliament, becomes a cabinet minister and eventually moves into Ten Downing Street as prime minister after pushing the incumbent prime minister off an oil platform. By this time, every eligible voter in Britain can cast ballots with a television remote control. Alas, the electorate tires of the endless referendum questions that they must answer as part of their daily routine. This development serves only to catapult Rimmer to further success, for the people decide to place all decisions in his hands as dictator of England. So Rimmer keeps rising and rising and rising. And asking questions. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Peter CookDenholm Elliott, (more)
1970  
PG  
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Filmed on location in the Philippines Robert Aldrich's Too Late the Hero is set in the last months of World War II. Lackadaisical navy lieutenant Cliff Robertson, who happens to speak fluent Japanese, is ordered to go on a suicide mission to wipe out an enemy observation post. Robertson's equally unwilling partners in this venture are British captain Denholm Elliot and pugnacious cockney private Michael Caine. All three men prove to have unsuspected reserves of courage when the going gets toughest. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Michael CaineCliff Robertson, (more)
1968  
 
Jamie McGregor (Barry Evans) is in his last year of high school and hoping to lose his status as a virgin, in this romantic comedy romp. He holds hands with his date at a church dance, but things go no farther. He tries to make time with a gangly girl who has a face that could stop a clock. The more poor Jamie tries, the more he is convinced he will die a virgin. His luck seems to change when he spends a weekend with the prettiest girl in school, but there is more arguing than amore. The best thing about the film is the soundtrack provided by The Spencer Davis Group, Steve Winwood, Dave Mason and Traffic (which included Windwood and Mason). All the aforementioned groups had found or would soon achieve worldwide fame for their contributions in music. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Barry EvansJudy Geeson, (more)
1968  
 
In this made-for-television version of Stevenson's classic tale of terror and suspense, a crazy doctor develops a formula that turns him into a madman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1968  
PG13  
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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

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Starring:
Jason Robards, Jr.Britt Ekland, (more)
1968  
 
This is one of several film versions of the classic play by Anton Chekhov. The depressing tale of unrequited love begins when an aging actress Arkadina (Simone Signoret) and her arrogant writer companion Trigorin (James Mason) travel to a small Russian town to visit her brother, an ailing public official in retirement. Nina (Vanessa Redgrave) is the neighbor girl who falls for Trigorin. The simple country girl is degraded by the older, more worldly author as she follows him to the big city and falls victim to the debauchery of urban life. Arkadina also deals with a hateful son who is driven to suicide in this somber and depressing film. Although there are some moments of comedy in the play, this film version is decidedly more downbeat. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
James MasonVanessa Redgrave, (more)
1967  
 
It's Funny Face meets Rififi in Maroc 7, starring Cyd Charisse as Louise Henderson, an editor for a slick and chic fashion magazine who utilizes her jet-setting life style as a front for an international jewel-smuggling operation. Abetting her in the scheme is the magazine's top photographer and high-fashion cover model. But instead of "Think pink" it's "Think clink" as secret agent Simon Grant (Gene Barry) is sent in to infiltrate Louise's organization. Posing as a safecracker, Simon convinces Louise to let him in to the gang's next operation: a plan to smuggle a priceless gem out of Morocco. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Gene BarryCyd Charisse, (more)
1966  
 
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Michael Caine's first starring role was a foray into dramatic irony, scripted by Bill Naughton from his novel and play. Alfie (Caine) is a charming, rogueish Cockney who cannot get his fill of women. He uses them without shame or malice, jumping from one promiscuous female's bed to another without much thought or feeling. Of course, Alfie's not as carefree as he would have the audience -- to whom he often speaks directly -- think: he treats his pregnant, common-law wife, Gilda (Julia Foster), quite shabbily, and has an affair with a married woman (Vivien Merchant) that leaves her pregnant, for which Alfie arranges an abortion. In the end, Alfie never finds lasting meaning or pleasure but remains an unrepentant, if low-class, Don Juan. Caine was Oscar-nominated for his performance. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Michael CaineShelley Winters, (more)
1966  
 
This story of love and espionage focuses on political turmoil as a small nation struggles to free itself from colonial rule, and one man tries to serve both justice and his own heart. In the late 1950s, the island of Cyprus is under the political control of Great Britain, but groups of Cypriot activists are fighting for the country's independence. Maj. McGuire (Dirk Bogarde) is an English military leader who is on the trail of Haghios (George Chakiris), a terrorist leader who guides the struggle for freedom in Cyprus. Juno Kozani (Susan Strasberg) is an American student of archeology who visits friends on the island, only to discover that they're helping to hide Haghios from the police and the British military. McGuire is convinced that Kozani knows Haghios' whereabouts, but while she has told McGuire nothing, Haghios is convinced that Kozani has turned him in and threatens to kill her. Desperate, Kozani seeks protection from McGuire, who allows her to hide out in his apartment. Put into close contact, McGuire and Kozani fall in love, but when his superiors find out that he's been keeping her in hiding, McGuire is transferred to Greece. Kozani follows him there, only to discover that a mysterious man has been following them. The High Bright Sun has also been released under the titles McGuire Go Home! and A Date with Death. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dirk BogardeGeorge Chakiris, (more)
1966  
 
When the Soviet Prime Minister accepts a beautiful English bulldog as a gift from the British government, he has no idea that the dog has a highly sensitive bug in its stomach. This lively British espionage farce follows what happens after the dog becomes sick. It's a sticky situation, for if a Russian vet examines the creature, he will surely find the device. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Laurence HarveyDaliah Lavi, (more)
1965  
 
The story of revolutionary Victorian nurse Florence Nightingale is told in this drama. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1965  
 
You Must be Joking? draws its laughs from an Army endurance test. Over a 48-hour period, five officers in the British army-including American transplant Michael Callan-must wend their way through a maze, retrieve a hood ornament from a Rolls Royce and steal a lock of hair from beauteous pop singer Gabriella Licudi. There's a big prize in store for the officer who finishes the test first, and since the other contestant include such middle-aged huffers and puffers as Lionel Jeffries and Denholm Elliot, it doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to figure out who the victor will be. Director Michael Winner was still in his "mad mod" period when he lensed the wacky goings-on of You Must Be Joking? His Death Wish pictures of the 1970s were in 1965 as remote as another galaxy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Michael CallanLionel Jeffries, (more)
1965  
NR  
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James Clavell incorporated a few of his own experiences as a British POW in his novel King Rat. Bryan Forbes' film version stars George Segal as the mastermind of all black market operations in a Japanese prison camp. He is called "King Rat" because of his breeding of rodents to serve as food for his emaciated fellow prisoners; the nickname also alludes to Segal's shifty personality. British officer James Fox helps Segal expand his operation to include trading with the Japanese officers. Though on surface level a thoroughly selfish sort, Segal saves the ailing Fox's life by wangling precious antibiotics from the guards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
George SegalTom Courtenay, (more)
1964  
 
In the tradition of Kind Hearts and Coronets (49), Nothing But the Best is a sparkling British "comedy of murders." Alan Bates stars as a lowly real estate clerk who wants to crash the British upper class. To that end, Bates hires down-and-out gentleman Denholm Elliott to "train" him for the noblesse. The clerk is a fast learner, and is soon wooing the daughter (Millicent Martin) of his blueblood boss. Just as he's on the brink of becoming one of the "better people," his mentor Elliot disdainfully threatens to reveal the truth about Bates. With nary a moment's hesitation, Bates strangles Elliot with his own school tie, and hides the body in Elliot's own school trunk. From this point forward, Bates moves onward and upward, and since the high-class folks in this film are shown to be shallow phonies, the audience is half rooting for Bates to get away with his little murder. The film ends just as Bates' old lodgings are about to be demolished--leaving Our Hero waiting in wry, bemused anticipation for that incriminating trunk to be uncovered. Frederick Raphael based his screenplay for Nothing But the Best on Stanley Elkins' black-humor masterpiece The Best of Everything. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Alan BatesDenholm Elliott, (more)
1964  
 
American audiences were disappointed when the nude scenes featuring sexy Baby Doll (1956) star Carroll Baker were excised from this potboiler for its exhibition on U.S. shores. At an isolated oil pumping station deep in the African desert, workers Kramer (Peter Van Eyck), Fletcher (Ian Bannen), Macey (Denholm Elliott), Martin (Hansjorg Felmy), and Santos (Mario Adorf) are tense, lonely, and love-starved. A little excitement unexpectedly comes into their lives when they rescue a couple, Jimmy (Biff McGuire) and Catherine (Baker), from a wreck. While Jimmy is bed-ridden with his injuries, Catherine flirtatiously arouses passions and inflames simmering resentments among the oil crew. An amusing dalliance goes too far when Catherine sleeps first with Kramer and then Martin. Based on the play Men Without a Past by Jacques Maret, Station Six-Sahara (1963) played as the B-slot picture on a double bill with Topkapi (1964). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Carroll BakerPeter Van Eyck, (more)
1963  
 
Dot (Rita Tushingham) is a girl who marries motorcycle maven Reggie (Colin Campbell) to escape her parents' influence. The marriage gets off to a rocky start and completely slides downhill after the honeymoon is plagued by bad weather. Dot refuses to have anything to do with household responsibilities and cooks only canned beans. Reggie loses interest in sex with Dot because of her actions, and after moving in with his grandmother, he begins to hang around Pete (Dudley Sutton). The two friends ride their motorcycles and begin to spend even more time together, and eventually Reggie realizes that Pete is a homosexual. Dot tells Reggie she is pregnant in an attempt to get him back -- with no result, but when Reggie comes home to find his wife in bed with another man, he decides to go off to sea with Pete. Pete leaves Reggie shaken and alone when he goes off with a group of sailors out to satisfy their same-sex lust. The film was controversial at the time of its initial release. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Rita TushinghamColin Campbell, (more)
1962  
 
Based on a novel by Constantine Fitzgibbon, this two-part British miniseries was set sometime in the 1990s. Weakened by political corruption, agnosticism, and moral decay, Great Britain is ripe for plucking by the U.S.S.R. -- and the result is a full-scale invasion. Naturally, when this series originally aired in 1962, the notion that the U.S.S.R. itself would have collapsed under its own weight by the end of the 1980s was not only remote, but virtually unthinkable. Still, When the Kissing Had to Stop was a competent bit of dramatic speculation, distinguished by a stellar cast of top British character actors. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Denholm ElliottPeter Vaughan, (more)
1960  
 
Produced by Mike Todd Jr., Scent of Mystery was a misguided attempt to introduce a new gimmick to motion pictures. The plot involved the apparent murder of a mystery woman (Beverly Bentley, at one time the wife of writer Norman Mailer) and the disappearance of several valuables. Denholm Elliott, Peter Lorre and Paul Lukas were among the good and bad guys chasing all over Spain and England. Whatever cinematic value Scent of Mystery had was dissolved by the film's gimmick, dubbed "Smell-O-Vision." The idea was to rig up a device in each theatre, from which would emanate a scent that corresponded with whatever image was on screen: the smell of roses for a garden, the odor of fish for an ocean scene, and so forth. Mike Todd Jr. should have guessed what the critical response would be, but released the film all the same. Scent of Mystery, though beautifully photographed, was perhaps the only genuine stinker ever produced by the motion picture industry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Denholm ElliottLiam Redmond, (more)
1959  
 
An animated classic romance, this is the story of a handsome young chimneysweep and a beautiful princess. The voices are provided by Claire Bloom and Peter Ustinov. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

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1959  
 
Heavily in debt, John Manbridge (Denholm Elliott) cannot wait to inherit the money promised him by his wealthy uncle Felix (Torin Thatcher). Hoping to speed up the process, John kills Uncle Felix, and then arranges a "perfect alibi." Only when Felix's body is found does John discover that the murder was entirely unnecessary -- but by then, he too has suffered his uncle's curious fate. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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