Peter Eyre Movies

Except for the omission of several passages in the original play, this 1970 adaptation of Julius Caesar faithfully retells Shakespeare's account of events surrounding the assassination of Caesar in 44 B.C. The film begins when Caesar John Gielgud is at the height of his power after conquering Pompey "the Great" in a civil war. Important senators worry that Caesar means to become king, diminish their power, and abolish their beloved Roman republic. Two senators, Cassius Richard Johnson and Brutus Jason Robards, hatch an assassination plot involving other disenchanted Roman citizens. Although a soothsayer warns Caesar of trouble ("Beware the ides of March") and his own wife reports ominous signs ("A lioness hath whelped in the streets; and graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead"), Caesar decides to go to the senate on the ides (March 15). Upon arrival, the conspirators greet him with daggers. In his funeral oration, Mark Antony Charlton Heston extols Caesar and incites the citizens against Brutus and the other conspirators. Brutus and Cassius flee Rome with their armies, but Antony and two other sympathizers track them down with their armies. When the tide turns against the conspirators, Brutus and Cassius commit suicide. As does Shakespeare's play, the film leaves the discerning viewer wondering who was the real villain -- Caesar, because of his ambition for power, or Brutus, because of his underhanded plot to maintain the status quo. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Director Ken Russell made a number of biographical films of composers' lives including The Music Lovers, (about Tchaikovsky) and Lisztomania. Russell embellished the other films with certain characteristic flourishes, which include a focus on the composers' sexual obsessions, poetically telling anachronisms, and scenes which show Richard Wagner in a bad light. The story of Mahler is recounted in a much less complex and flamboyant manner and is a relatively reverent study of the life and work of Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, here played by Robert Powell. The film tackles the touchy dilemma of Mahler's Jewishness in the anti-Semitic atmosphere of 19th-century Vienna. He converts to Christianity, which has no effect on his brilliant musical output but which eats away at his physical and mental well-being. Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) was a conductor and composer of the late Romantic era and specialized in huge symphonic works. Though his works were performed widely during his lifetime, they were less and less-often played until Leonard Bernstein's active campaign on their behalf brought him renewed recognition as a composer of the first rank, every bit the peer of Brahms or Stravinsky. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial drama explores the troubled life of a young man and his troubling relationship with his parents. Joe (Matthew Barry) is the son of famous opera singer Caterina Silveri (Jill Clayburgh); while Joe believes that Caterina's husband Douglas Winter (Fred Gwynne) is his biological father, the truth is that he was sired by Caterina's former lover, who is now living in Italy and working as a schoolteacher. Joe is moody and rebellious and needs a strong father figure to guide him and keep him in line. But Douglas is ineffectual and emotionally weak, and when Joe witnesses Douglas committing suicide, it sends the young man over the edge. In hopes of boosting her singing career, which has fallen into a rut, Caterina decides to move to Italy, with Joe in tow; Joe falls in with a dangerous crowd and becomes addicted to heroin, while Caterina, hoping to lure her son back to a safer and more healthy lifestyle, tries to become closer to him, which leads to a flirtation with incest. Jill Clayburgh's performance earned her a 1980 Golden Globe nomination. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Claudette Colbert made her first screen appearance in 25 years in the 2-part TV movie The Two Mrs. Grenvilles. The story involves social-climbing actress (read: "chorus girl") Ann-Margret, who marries American-aristocrat naval ensign Stephen Collins, the son of Ms. Colbert (the two female stars, you see, are the "two Mrs. Grenvilles"). Try as she might, Ann-Margret can neither assimilate herself to her husband's lifestyle, nor overcome the animosity of her mother-in-law. Collins starts cheating on his new wife....and before long, Ann-Margret is standing trial for the fatal shooting of her husband. Marvin Hamlisch wrote the music for the sumptuously stylish The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, which was based on novelist Dominick Dunne's a clef rehashing of the 1955 murder of Long Island millionaire William Woodward Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Nick Diamond (Colin Dale) is a private detective hired by a South American midget to guard a box containing a rare treasure. When Nick is jailed, his kid brother Tim (Dursley McLinden) is called on to take the case. Tim dodges bullets and escapes from being bound and gagged while battling hard-nosed cop Boyle (Jimmy Nail) and the shadowy thugs out to get the treasure. Susanna York plays the chanteuse Lauren Bacardi in this film-noir styled children's crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Muriel Spark (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), the British TV drama Memento Mori boasts an impressive cast of veterans, including Maurice Denham, Cyril Cusack, Sir Michael Hordern, Renee Ashershon, and Maggie Smith. The story concerns an eccentric group of senior citizens who are being plagued by a cryptic phone caller. The mystery man (or woman) says only "Remember, you must die!" before hanging up. For a while, it seems as though the domineering Ms. Smith is the instigator of the crank calls, but don't be too sure. Memento Muri premiered in the US as a two-part installment of Masterpiece Theatre, telecast October 25 and November 1, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed with the usual meticulous attention to period and detail of films from Ismail Merchant and James Ivory, The Remains of the Day is based on a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Anthony Hopkins plays Stevens, the "perfect" butler to a prosperous British household of the 1930s. He is so unswervingly devoted to serving his master, a well-meaning but callow British lord (James Fox), that he shuts himself off from all emotions and familial relationships. New housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson) tries to warm him up and awaken his humanity. But when duty calls, Stevens won't even attend his own dying father's last moments on earth. The butler also refuses to acknowledge the fact that his master is showing signs of pro-Nazi sentiments. Disillusioned by Hitler's duplicity, the master dies an embittered man, and only then does Stevens come to realize how his own silence has helped bring about this sad situation. Years later, regretting his lost opportunities in life, he tries once more to make contact with Miss Kenton, the only person who'd ever cared enough to seek out the human being inside the butler's cold veneer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Loosely based on an actual incident, this family-friendly British comedy is also a sly satire of class consciousness. Phoebe Cates stars as a woman who appears in the English countryside of 1817 wearing exotic garb and speaking gibberish. Delivered to a nearby manor, the mystery woman is sheltered by the Worralls (Wendy Hughes and Jim Broadbent), who are then persuaded by their suspicious Greek butler Frixos (Kevin Kline, Cates' real-life husband) to have the drifter tried for vagrancy and begging, capital crimes. At the hearing, however, the woman persuades the magistrate through pantomime that she is a princess of Javanese origin named Caraboo, escaped from pirate kidnappers. The Worralls welcome Caraboo back into their home, lavishing upon her the deference due a royal. A society sensation, Caraboo wins over a linguist (John Lithgow), the prince regent (John Session), and even Frixos. Only an Irish reporter, Gutch (Stephen Rea), remains skeptical about Caraboo's origins. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Created by Steven Radosh, the British series Think Tank was a straightforward quiz program, virtually bereft of the "bells and whistles" normally associated with the genre. On each of the series' 52 half-hour episodes, two teams competed for cash prizes by answering general-knowledge questions. The program's title arose from its deployment of an isolation booth, preventing the players from hearing the answers given by their rivals. Think Tank debuted over Britain's Channel 4 in 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British made-for-TV mystery, the title sleuths investigate the murder of a school principal. It's a puzzling case, because while every one knew he was dead, his body was supposedly buried in Austria. Instead, the body is accidentally unearthed beneath the memorial erected for him on the school grounds. A college student's death further complicates matters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Marshall Herskovitz directed this look at life in 16th-century Venice, based on Margaret Rosenthal's 1994 book The Honest Courtesan. Positioned outside of the Venetian court, Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack) hopes to rise above her station, but her interest in nobleman's son Marco Venier (Rufus Sewell) is blocked since his parents forbid their marriage. Following the path taken by her mother, Paola (Jacqueline Bisset), Veronica becomes a courtesan, finding this gives her a niche in the male-dominated society. When Vatican emissaries accuse her of witchcraft, she lashes back, using the trial as a feminist forum to expose the hypocrisies of the period. Filmed in 1996 in Venice and Rome with a variety of working titles (Courtesan, Venice, and The Honest Courtesan). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Season five of Friends begins in London, a few moments after the wedding of Ross (David Schwimmer) and Emily (Helen Baxendale) -- and a few more moments after Ross nearly wrecked the ceremony by invoking Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston) name. As Emily expresses her desire to escape her marriage vows, Monica (Courteney Cox) and Chandler (Matthew Perry) come to terms with their own romantic passion. Everything comes to a head at Heathrow airport -- but what about pregnant Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow)? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide