Hilda Fenemore Movies
Two Catholic boarding school students (Dominic Guard and Dai Bradley) embark upon a carefully calculated campaign to drive their hated headmaster (Richard Burton) insane. The boys launch their scheme by cooking up the most bizarre and depraved of imaginary sins, then recite these infractions in the Confessional. This sadistic little game gets wildly out of hand, resulting in murder. It's a toss-up as to who is the most repulsive character; the headmaster or his two charges. One of a long line of 1970s stinkers barely redeemed by the presence of Richard Burton, Absolution was not released until 1988, long after Burton's death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Dominic Guard, (more)
Jackie Collins wrote the best-selling novel The Stud. Her sister Joan Collins starred in the 1978 film version of The Stud. The producer on the film was Joan Collins' then-husband Ron Kass. Need we say more? Well, there is a plot, involving the insatiable Joan's sexual hold over a handsome nightclub manager Oliver Tobias. And there was a sequel, also written by Jackie and starring Joan, titled The Bitch. Need we say more now? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Collins, Oliver Tobias, (more)
This is not the same kind of film as the 1962 production, Tom Jones. In fact, it is a "nudie musical", as evidenced by the presence of singing star Georgia Brown in the dual role of Jenny Jones and Mrs. Waters. The project originated as a Las Vegas stage presentation, with Nicky Henson in the lead. The plot of the Henry Fielding novel about the "boy born to be hanged" is followed in spirit rather than to the letter, with busty Joan Collins thrown in like a lagniappe as a lady highwayman. Wandering through the proceedings are such English stalwarts as Trevor Howard and Terry-Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicky Henson, Trevor Howard, (more)
In The Offence, Sean Connery plays Johnson, a normally unflappable British police inspector who is emotionally shaken by a case of child molestation. For reasons he cannot explain, he is driven to kill the suspect while interrogating him and is suspended from the force. The incident leads to a nervous breakdown -- and the implication that Johnson had beaten the molester to death to purge himself of his own hidden pederastic tendencies. Based on John Hopkins' stage play This Story of Yours, The Offence made little headway at the box office, but United Artists was compelled to release the film to assure Connery's participation in UA's next James Bond movie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Trevor Howard, (more)
John Dexter's film explores the struggles faced by a young British man who wants to live as a woman and considers a sex change operation. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Heywood, Harry Andrews, (more)
Escape by Night was originally released in Great Britain as Clash by Night, which was also the title of the Rupert Croft-Brooke novel on which it was based. Gangster boss Tom Bowman has been arrested and is being transported to prison in a bus containing several innocent "civilians." Bowman's old gang hijacks the bus to rescue their boss, then take refuge in an old barn. The gang holds off the authorities by threatening to torch the barn and all its occupants. The climactic conflagration is predictable, but its outcome isn't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Longdon, Jennifer Jayne, (more)
In this spooky horror film set in an old English village, the trouble begins when a man endeavors to dig up a cemetery containing the charred bodies of witches burned at the stake 300 years before. The warlock who looks after the family cemetery tries to stop him, but cannot. As soon as their graves are disturbed, the witches arise and strange things begin to happen to the family of the man who dug them up. Later the true culprit behind the mayhem is revealed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lon Chaney, Jr., Jack Hedley, (more)
This unsavory British programmer stars Ian Hendry as a hustler who seduces anything in skirts. He launches his sexual adventures by trying to put the make on his married boarding house neighbor June Ritchie. She spurns him until he agrees to find her young daughter, who has wandered off. Hendry moves on to Ritchie's sister Annette Andre, but this affair is squelched by Ritchie, who threatens to kill herself and tell all to her husband. Hendry leaves to find new conquests elsewhere. A novel by Nan Maynard was the launching pad for This Is My Street. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Ritchie, Avice Landone, (more)
An effective, low-budget crime drama about a bank robbery gone wrong, this tale begins when three men get together to plan the bank heist over a long weekend. What they do not count on is the presence of two cleaning women who tragically alter their plans. The thieves end up locking the bank manager and a female teller in the air-tight vault -- thereby dooming them to death by suffocation. After the thieves leave the bank, they agree that one of them should call the police and leave the keys to the vault next to the phone. But that plan is ruined when the lone thief is killed in a traffic accident. Caught between the desire to save the two people in the vault and the need to escape, the remaining two thieves are caught in a serious dilemma. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Gordon, John Chappell, (more)
In this crime drama a teenager gets in over his head when he joins a violent street gang that beats a black person to death. When a gang member knifes the lad's sister, the youth reconsiders his actions, leaves them and reforms. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Lawyer Vincent Ball investigates a drug-smuggling ring. Aiding Ball every step of the way is above-reproach probation officer Robert Cawdron. Imagine the lawyer's dismay when he learns that Cawdron is the brains behind the drug operation. The 55-minute Feet of Clay was produced by the Danzingers, American filmmakers long entrenched in Great Britain. The film was distributed to British neighborhood houses by the London arm of Hollywood's United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The "Carry On" gang take on law enforcement in this rude and crude slapstick comedy. When a flu epidemic leaves a British police station decimated with illness, three incompetent rookies are given the chance to prove themselves as police officers. The three screwy recruits are Tom Potter (Leslie Phillips), a two-bit lothario; Stanley Benson (Kenneth Williams), an uppity intellectual with unique views on law enforcement procedures; and Charlie Constable (Kenneth Connor), an obsessive type who is consumed with astrology. With the help of the swishy Special Officer Timothy Gorse (Charles Hawtrey), the stooges manages to mess up every assignment they are given. But when a criminal gang robs a payroll truck, the four nincompoops are forced to prove their worth. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sidney James, Kenny Williams, (more)
The "Carry On" gang take up residence in the men's ward of a British hospital in this wildly funny and wildly crude farce. There's not much of a plot, but plenty of nudging and winking, as the male patients line up by their bedpans as a mixed assortment of female nurses tend to their every whim. Included in the menagerie is Bert Albie (Wilfrid Hyde White), who enjoys killing time by taunting an overweight student nurse; Bernie Bishop (Kenneth Connor), a sharp-tongued boxer; and Hinton (Charles Hawtrey), who likes to amuse himself at the radio. There's also a slight romantic storyline, hinging around Ted York (Terence Longdon) and his amorous advances upon the attractive Nurse Denton (Shirley Eaton). But the gag's the thing in this rambunctious entry. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth Connor, Kenny Williams, (more)
Based on the Rumer Godden novel An Episode of Sparrows, Innocent Sinners stars June Archer and Christopher Hey as the title characters. Neglected by her mother, contentious little Lovejoy (Archer) runs off to an abandoned London building, where with the help of several street urchins she begins to build a tiny garden as a home-away-from-home. Misunderstood by the film's adult authority figures, Lovejoy is carted off to a charity home, from which she is rescued by her new friends, including street-smart Tip (Hey). Among the few sympathetic grownups in the film are David Kossoff and Barbara Mullen as a pair of likeable restauranteurs, and Flora Robson and Catherine Lacey as the standard golden-hearted old crones. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Archer, Brian Hammond, (more)
The Young and the Guilty was part of the "misunderstood youth" British film cycle of the 1950s. Young Eddie (Andrew Ray) and Sue (Janet Munro) are in love, albeit chastely. One of the kids sends a mash note to the other, which is intercepted by their parents. There's nothing remotely suggestive in the letter, but the adults suspect the worst, causing pain and heartbreak for everyone concerned. Finally, one of the fathers sees the light, suggesting that Eddie and Sue be allowed to maintain their special friendship-after all, remember what happened to Romeo and Juliet when their folks butted in! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Phyllis Calvert, Andrew Ray, (more)
Ray Milland doubles up as star and director of The Safecracker. Set during WW II, the film casts Milland as professional cracksman Colley Dawson, who is rescued from prison by Army major Adbury (Ernest Clark). Dawson is offered a deal: if he'll agree to embark upon a dangerous mission behind enemy lines, he'll be given his freedom. The mission, of course, is to break into a Nazi safe and steal a list of German spies operating in England. Before one can say "Robert Wagner", Dawson is trained as a commando and parachuted into Belgium for the "caper" of his life. Supposedly based on a true story, The Safecracker was lensed in Europe and released stateside by MGM. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Barry Jones, (more)
In this children's adventure, two youngsters compete to find a treasure in the old mill where one of their relatives hid it years ago. Unfortunately, the facility has new owners. Fortunately, they help the boy find it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Rock Around the World purports to be the life story of pop singer Tommy Steele, engagingly played by himself. The film traces Steele's The Cyclops -- which also featured Gloria Talbott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Steele, Patrick Westwood, (more)
Three lost souls find salvation through the words of evangelist Billy Graham in this religious drama produced by and starring Billy Graham. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
In this comedy, a widow tries living with each of her three sons. She becomes quite upset when her favorite son heads for America. In the end, the young men rally together and buy her a cottage of her own in the village. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Popular British juvenile star Mandy Miller carries the dramatic weight of Adventure in the Hopfields on her firm little shoulders. After breaking one of her mother's prize pieces of bric-a-brac, Miller must scrimp and save to pay for a replacement. A group of tough kids steal her money, tie her up and leave her in a decrepit old mill. The junior-grade crooks turn heroes when they rescue her during a violent electrical storm. Surprisingly tense for a kiddie-matinee feature, Adventure in the Hopfields was based on The Hop Dog, a book by Nora Lavin and Molly Thorp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This documentary profiles the work of a palm reader who assures a woman bent on suicide that she will find happiness and assists a woman in the search for her long-lost son. ~ All Movie Guide
78-year-old British leading actor Finlay Currie appears in this unexpected latter-day vehicle. He plays a retired factory worker, living with his son and daughter-in-law. They treat the old man like an intrusion, leading Currie to consider himself spent and useless. His family contemplates sending him to a home for the ageing, but a last-minute turn of events brings everyone to their senses and sensibilities. While the finale of End of the Road seems unrealistic, the rest of the film is an unsettling study of how society shrugs off and casts away its elderly citizens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Chapman, George Merritt, (more)
In this crime drama, police and crooks alike vie for possession of a wallet containing valuable microfilm which was tossed from a window. The wallet is found by a passerby who gives it to a dancer who gives it to a cashier. The cashier gives it to a clerk who uses it in a blackmailing scheme. In the end it returns to the passerby who ends up arrested. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
During World War II, an injured pilot, his nurse and a Marine, all marooned on a desert island, fall into a love triangle in this film also known as Saturday's Island. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Linda Darnell, Tab Hunter, (more)















