Edward Fox Movies
The brother of film star James Fox, British actor Edward Fox spent the first few years of his career in the shadow of his longer-established younger sibling. All this changed when Edward was cast as the charismatic but cold-blooded international assassin The Jackal in 1973's Day of the Jackal; so determined was Fox's character to go through with his assignment to kill Charles De Gaulle that at times the audience believed he was actually going to get away with it! Never a major box-office attraction, Fox has aged into a dynamic character player, busy throughout the 1980s in such films as Never Say Never Again (1983), The Shooting Party (1984) and Wild Geese II. In 1991, Fox could be seen by TV fans as King Richard in Robin Hood, the "rival" production to Kevin Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In Deepa Mehta's poignant and heartbreaking romance, Emilia Fox plays Fay, a generally content, thirtysomething Torontoite suffering in a relationship of quiet desperation with her boyfriend; Bruce Greenwood is Tom Avery, a loser in the ways of romance with three broken-hearted marriages behind him, who hosts a late-night call-in radio program. The two meet and grow deeply smitten with one another, but must ultimately learn to accept one another unconditionally. Life seems just about perfect, until an unforeseen calamity challenges everything Fay has come to rely on as stable and solid. Mehta adapted the novel of the same title by Canadian author Carol Shields. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Emilia Fox, (more)
Produced for British television, Daniel Deronda was adapted from George Eliot's final novel, written in 1874 (and first filmed in 1921). As was her habit, Eliot laid bare the hypocrisy and venality of Victorian-era "class culture," at the same time admitting that a certain amount of conformity was necessary if one hoped to survive in a world where nonconformity was not only looked down upon but actively suppressed. Essentially, both the novel and the TV presentation are comprised of two separate stories, linked together by the titular Daniel Deronda (Hugh Dancy), a young man of Jewish heritage. In the main narrative, Daniel is attracted to the spoiled, headstrong Gwendolen Harleth (Romola Garai), who is reluctantly poised to enter into a marriage of convenience with the wealthy, snobbish, and intensely anti-Semitic Henleigh Grancourt (Hugh Bonneville). This romantic intrigue is played against the curious relationship between Daniel and the Zionist visionary Mordecai (Daniel Evans), who tirelessly proselytizes in favor of a permanent homeland for the Jewish people. Things come to a head when Daniel finds himself falling in love with Mordecai's sister Mirah (Jodhi May). Originally telecast in three parts on the BBC beginning December 7, 2002, Daniel Deronda was re-edited as a two-parter for the PBS anthology Masterpiece Theatre, where it first aired on March 30, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
One of Charles Dickens' best-loved (and most complex) stories receives its fourth feature film adaptation in this lively historical comedy-drama. Nicholas Nickleby (Charlie Hunnam) is a 19-year-old who becomes the head of the family when his father dies unexpectedly. Keeping watch over his mother (Stella Gonet) and his sister Kate (Romola Garai) becomes an even greater challenge when Nicholas discovers that his father lost the family fortune due to ill-advised investments. Without a shilling to his name, Nicholas turns to his wealthy but unforgiving Uncle Ralph (Christopher Plummer) for help; Uncle Ralph offers to find work for all three, and Nicholas becomes a teacher at a school for unfortunate boys run by Wackford Squeers (Jim Broadbent) and his wife (Juliet Stevenson). Squeers and his wife are cruel and frequently violent toward their charges, and when Wackford, without cause, beats a weak and timid student, Smike (Jamie Bell), Nicholas decides he can take no more and runs away, with Smike in tow. The two young men fall in with a traveling theater troupe run by the genially eccentric Vincent Crummles (Nathan Lane) and his equally flamboyant spouse (Barry Humphries, aka Dame Edna Everage). In time Nicholas returns to London to check in on his sister and mother. To his horror, he learns that Uncle Ralph has promised Kate's hand to Sir Mulberry Hawk (Edward Fox), a wealthy older man with a less-than-wholesome interest in young women. Both Kate and Nicholas are upset at the prospect of this union, and Nicholas attempts to tear his family away from Uncle Ralph's control, beginning with a job working for the warm-hearted Charles Cheeryble (Timothy Spall) and his brother (Gerard Horan). Nicholas also falls in love with the fair Madeline (Anne Hathaway), but when Uncle Ralph learns of Nicholas' plot to foil Kate's impending marriage, he strikes back by kidnapping Smike and attempting to force Madeline to wed Sir Hawk. Actor, writer, and filmmaker Douglas McGrath adapted Nicholas Nickleby into a screenplay, as well as directing the picture. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, (more)
- 2002
Based on the children's book by Philip Pullman, Laurie Lynd's I Was a Rat is a feature-length fable originally made as a three-part BBC miniseries. A reworking of a popular fairy tale, the story opens with a young abandoned pageboy (Calum Worthy) taken in by a childless couple: the aging cobbler Bob (Tom Conti) and domestic worker Joan (Brenda Fricker). Nicknamed Roger, the pageboy claims that he isn't human at all but a rat, which attracts the interest of the Daily Scourge newspaper, a mad scientist, and a carnival owner named Oliver Tapscrew (Don McKellar). The search for Roger's real home is accompanied by the story of Lady Aurelia (Katie Blake) and her prince (James Millard). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Calum Worthy, Tom Conti, (more)
Author Anthony Powell's wildly popular series tomes are translated for the small screen in this sweeping miniseries starring Sir John Gielgud and James Purefoy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Initially conceived as a theatrical feature, but originally aired on television in the United States, Robin Hood puts slight, but effective, twists on the legendary tale. Starring Patrick Bergin in the title role, the film follows Robin and his group of bandits as they fight Prince John and save Maid Marion (Uma Thurman). This version is a little grittier than both Errol Flynn's classic movie or the contemporary extravaganza starring Kevin Costner, since Bergin is quite down-to-earth and Thurman makes Marion into a brat, not a helpless maiden. However, these qualities and the stately photography make the film quite entertaining, and it easily equals Costner's version, even if it can't match Flynn's timeless movie. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Bergin, Uma Thurman, (more)
- 1991
Filmed in England, Crucifer of Blood is a made-for-cable movie based on the 1978 Sherlock Holmes play by Paul Giovanni. Charlton Heston portrays the Great Detective, aided by Richard Johnson as faithful Dr. Watson. The storyline, based on Conan Doyle's "Sign of Four", involves intrigues that set in motion in India during a native mutiny in the 1850s. A murder was committed over a valuable treasure, and the four British military officers responsible signed a pact of secrecy, with the additional proviso that they'd forever be "kind" to one another. Three decades later in 1887, the four men find their past catching up with them in a most fatal manner. Was the Indian treasure cursed? And will Holmes be able to stem the tide of blood and death? Crucifer of Blood is directed with verve and style by Frasier C. Heston, son of star Charlton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In this British spy spoof, the dangers to World War Two intelligence agents from interagency rivalry in London itself are nearly as great as the dangers to them from the battlefield mayhem concocted by the enemy. Rival operations by allies turn out to be equally threatening. In the story, the highly eccentric Monk (Edward Fox) is a senior agent of the British Secret Service who runs his operation out of a mental hospital. In the story, Monk recruits as a woman agent the lovely Corporal Merriman (Emily Morgan, to help him track down and stop the German agent, Cat Lady. Merriman is soon embroiled in plots and counter-plots, including the infamous Operation Fattypuff and Thinnifer. Eventually, a team of operatives parachutes into occupied France to carry out their objectives. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Fox, Emily Morgan, (more)
- 1989
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
- Starring:
- Timothy Bottoms
- 1988
Directed by Jan Kaplan, Glittering Crowns profiles over 40 European monarchial figures from the mid-1800's until present day. Narrated by Edward Fox, this television documentary features rare photgraphs and film footage ranging from crowning ceremonies to Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubillee.
~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- 1987
Hazard of Hearts was adapted for television from a 1948 bodice-ripper by Barbara Cartland. Set (where else?) in 1810 England, the film stars Helena Bonham Carter as the obligatory innocent young lass with a dynamite figure. Falling in love with a Rochester-like Marquis (Marcus Gilbert), Helena is whisked off to the mysterious Castle Mandrake ("played" by England's Belvoir Castle and Burghley House). Here, our heroine is menaced by Diana Rigg, the Marquis' evil, possessive mother. First broadcast December 27, 1987, Hazard of Hearts was buried in the ratings by NBC's repeat showing of Terms of Endearment (1983) and ABC's telecast of Stir Crazy (1980). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helena Bonham Carter
Originally aired as a British mini-series, Shaka Zulu follows the rise of Shaka (Henry Cele) to the king of the Zulus during the early 19th century when the British were beginning to gain control of Africa. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
This two-part TV movie recounts the life of Anna Anderson, who until the day she died at age 82 insisted that she was really Anastasia Romanov, daughter of Czar Nicholas. Anna first makes her claim in 1920, when she is an inmate in a Berlin asylum. Her story of escape from the Bolsheviks who killed the rest of her family in 1918 seems so vivid that many Russian expatriates are willing to believe her. The film concludes in 1928, with Anna restating her claim before the surviving Romanovs living in New York. Amy Irving plays the leading character in a lady-or-the-tiger fashion, so that we never know if she truly swallows her own tale or if she's merely a clever charlatan. Olivia DeHavilland, Rex Harrison, Claire Bloom, Omar Sharif and Susan Lucci co-star in this opulent, location-filmed production, which originally aired on December 7 and 8, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Amy Irving
This British Merchant-Ivory look-alike was adapted from a novel by Isabel Colgate. In the summer before World War I, British nobleman James Mason invites an assorted group of acquaintances for a weekend shooting party on his huge estate. Among the participants are longtime rivals Edward Fox and Rupert Frazer, Fox's occasionally unfaithful wife Cheryl Campbell, and staunch anti-hunting advocate John Gielgud. The film unfolds in a carefully calculated but seemingly spontaneous fashion, in the manner of its 1938 ancestor Rules of the Game. Also like the earlier film, The Shooting Party casts a jaundiced eye towards class consciousness--and ends with a sudden, senseless but not altogether unexpected tragedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Fox, Cheryl Campbell, (more)
- 1977
This Michael Apted-directed crime melodrama features Stacy Keach as Jim Naboth, a Scotland Yard cop on the skids, suffering from depression and alcoholism. He is summoned by Foreman (Edward Fox), a British security expert whose wife Jill (Carol White) and daughter are being held hostages by kidnappers until Foreman pays the crooks a million-dollar-plus ransom. Jim has to marshal his forces and regain his clarity to save Foreman's family. The pressure is even more intense for Jim, since Foreman's wife, Jill also happens to be his former spouse. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stacy Keach, Freddie Starr, (more)
Strange as it seems, the 1977 adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Hard Times was the first full-scale adaptation of this work ever seen on British television. Set (of course!) during the Industrial Revolution, the multiplotted story line was held together by the travails of Louisa Gradgrind (Jacqueline Tong), a former circus employee who was adopted by a stern businessman and whisked off to a bleak industrial village called Coketown. With four-hour-long episodes at its disposal, this TV version managed to retain most of the characters and incidents of the Dickens original, and also kept sight of the author's indictment of the iniquitous social conditions which determined the behavior and the destinies of the main figures. Produced by Granada Television, Hard Times later aired in America via PBS. The 1994 BBC TV version, sometimes also referred to as a "miniseries," was actually intended to be seen in a single showing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Allen, Timothy West, (more)
- 1971
The third collaboration between director Joseph Losey and writer Harold Pinter, following The Servant and Accident, continues their exploration of class rituals and the darker recesses of desire. Pinter's script adapts the 1953 L.P. Hartley novel about Leo Colston, a middle-aged man (Michael Redgrave), recalling a summer of his early adolescence at a country estate. Young Leo (Dominic Guard) observes the machinations of the adults in the household, all but two of whom conveniently ignore his presence. Marion Maudsley (Julie Christie) is promised in marriage to another aristocrat, but she is secretly in love with farm worker Ted Burgess (Alan Bates). They enlist Leo as their messenger, with tragic consequences for all concerned. The older Leo has never married, and as the story winds on, it becomes clear that his own infatuation with Marion irrevocably altered his life. The Go-Between won several British Academy Awards, including one for Pinter's screenplay, and was one of four films awarded a grand prize at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Christie, Alan Bates, (more)
- 1969
Several board members of the Acme Precision Corporation are murdered, and Steed is on hand to witness each killing. The culprit appears to be a sleepwalker, but that's only part of the story. Investigating, Steed and Tara trace the clues to a demented psychologist -- who, in yet another twist, may not be the principal villain. Written by Philip Levene, "My Wildest Dream" first aired in America on January 6, 1969, and was subsequently seen in England on April 9 of that year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
James Bond-flick director Guy Hamilton helmed this episodic, all-star World War II film. With Sir Laurence Olivier heading up an ensemble cast as flight commander Sir Hugh Dowdling, The Battle of Britain pays tribute to other nationalities instrumental in fending off the waves of Luftwaffe planes, notably the expatriate Polish and Czech pilots. Trevor Howard, Michael Caine, and Michael Redgrave also populate the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Andrews, Trevor Howard, (more)
- 1968
Hammer recut and repackaged two installments of their popular television series Journey to the Unknown (one of the earliest projects of longtime Hammer director Roy Ward Baker) for this theatrical release. The first tale involves a guest at an unusual masquerade party at which he is given an unflattering look at his past misdeeds; the second installment stars The Haunting's Julie Harris as a rich woman pursued by a slimy, gold-digging potential suitor who meets his comeuppance thanks to an ancient Indian spirit. Though rather staid in comparison to Baker's flamboyant anthology work for Amicus, this is nevertheless a moody and stylish pair of tales, if not fully representative of the series' finer moments. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
BBC's 1967 film rendition of Henry James' novel Portrait of a Lady adheres closely to the book's style of dramatization by using an abundance of dialogue to divulge the story of a young woman's romantic endeavors. Surrounded by courters, a beautiful American woman embraces the charm of wealth when her aunt relocates her to England. When she receives an inheritance to support herself, she is resolved of the desperation of the decision amongst her suitors. The long-winded drama demonstrates a methodical British venture of transforming literature into visual entertainment. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Frank Sinatra stars in this espionage thriller filmed at the height of the Cold War. Sam Laker (Sinatra) is an American industrial designer working in London. When Laker travels to East Germany on business, he brings along his ten-year-old son, and he ends up running into Martin Slattery (Peter Vaughn), an old Army buddy now working with British intelligence. Slattery tries to persuade Laker to put his wartime skills as a sniper to good use against a rogue agent now working with the communists. Laker refuses, but he reluctantly agrees to deliver a message to Karen Gisevius (Nadia Gray), who worked with the anti-Nazi resistance during the war. Laker returns from his errand to discover that his son has been kidnapped; Col. Hartmann (Derren Nesbitt), a communist operative, informs Laker that his boy will be held until he is willing to perform an assassination on their behalf. The Naked Runner was produced by Brad Dexter; Frank Sinatra, a man of fierce loyalties, often worked with Dexter after the producer saved Sinatra's life in a drowning incident. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Peter Vaughan, (more)
- 1967
Two brothers looking to avoid becoming pawns of the establishment come up with a better way of making a living -- through theft -- in this satiric comedy. David Tremayne (Oliver Reed) is a successful London architect, and his younger brother Michael (Michael Crawford) is weighing his options after being kicked out of school. The brothers share a bemused disgust with the world around them and a desire to get through life without the burden of labor; toward this end, one day they begin plotting an elaborate scheme to steal the British Crown Jewels. Mind you, they don't intend to sell them, or even keep them very long -- the idea is to return them after a week, simply to prove that it could indeed be done, and make themselves famous in the process. After studying the procedures of Scotland Yard's Bomb Disposal Unit, the inner working of the Tower of London's Jewel Room, and the London ambulance services, the Tremaynes come up with a foolproof plan -- they call in a bomb threat to the Tower, and they are able to enter the Jewel Room posing as men from the bomb squad. They then feign injury and are able to escape in an ambulance. It all seems simple enough, and it actually works, until Michael "forgets" his part of the agreement to take half of the responsibility for the theft. The supporting cast includes Edward Fox, Frank Finlay, and Harry Andrews. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Crawford, Oliver Reed, (more)
- 1967
- Add I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name to QueueAdd I'll Never Forget What's 'is Name to top of Queue
The imprisoning aspects of Success are humorously analyzed in this British-made film. Oliver Reed plays a wealthy advertising man who feels he has sold his soul and wishes to return to his happier earlier existence as a poor but swinging Londoner. Reed is goaded on by his boss, Orson Welles, who represents all the mercenary crassness that Reed despises. Handed a crucial commercial account, Reed plans to destroy himself by producing as offensive and confusing an ad campaign as possible. But Welles and the client are delighted by the "insult," and the disgruntled Reed is more successful than ever. Directed in the fragmentary "psychedelic" style typical of the late 1960s, I'll Never Forget What's'is Name gained notoriety upon its initial release by being the first mainstream British film in which the "F" word was spoken on-screen. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orson Welles, Oliver Reed, (more)
- 1967
This low-budget horror film offers a veritable feast of campy fare as it tells the tale of an insane scientist's attempt to bring back the Third Reich by thawing out the prominent Nazis he has been storing in a deep freeze since WW II. He successfully thaws them out and gets them moving, but unfortunately their brains do not function correctly. In an attempt to rectify the situation, the doctor shaves and cuts off a young woman's head, lays it on a table, wires it to a strange machine, and forces her to control the zombie men telepathically. Unfortunately, she is mule-stubborn and refuses to do this. Instead, she telepathically calls for help, and then using her increasing powers, reanimates a few handy severed arms to take care of the wicked Nazis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Andrews, Anna Palk, (more)
