Christopher Gable Movies

Part of the BBC arts program Omnibus, Song of Summer is a made-for-TV biopic about English composer Frederick Delius, based on the book Delius As I Knew Him by Eric Fenby. Shot in black-and-white, the film was made as part of a series of composer biographies by Ken Russell and originally broadcast on the BBC in 1968. Max Adrian plays Delius, who is both paralyzed and blind as a result of syphilis. In 1928, young musician Eric Fenby (Christopher Gable) worked as his assistant, taking dictations at his home in Grez-sur-Loing, France. Delius turns out to be a bitter, mean old man as well as an accomplished composer. Maureen Pryor plays his wife, Jelka, while David Collings plays fellow composer Percy Grainger. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is given the Ken Russell treatment in The Music Lovers, which means that there is plenty of music, plenty of passion, plenty of debauchery, and plenty of excess. Tame by Russell's later standards (Lisztomania), The Music Lovers nevertheless thrives on creative and sexual anguish. Richard Chamberlain plays Tchaikovsky with a bug-eyed intensity as a composer consumed by his art -- so consumed that his romantic attachments become bisexual and irrational. He falls in love with Nina (Glenda Jackson), the hysterical trollop he marries with dire consequences. As he explodes emotionally, his public performance of Piano Concerto in B flat minor becomes a cue for flashbacks to a series of discomforting childhood events that suggest incestuous relations with his sister. Back in real time, Tchaikovsky has to deal with Nina's outbursts while juggling his homosexual urges and his almost hidden desire for Count Anton Chiluvsky (Christopher Gable). The film also details the curious relationship between Tchaikovsky and his rich patroness, the middle-aged widow Madame Nadedja von Meck (Isabella Telezynska), who loves Tchaikovsky deeply, but refuses to meet him -- their only communication being through letters, even though he lives on her estate. Andre Previn and the London Symphony Orchestra perform Tchaikovsky's music. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Originally a nine-hour British miniseries, this film on the last four decades in the life of Richard Wagner may have taken its long-winded cue from the lengthy operas of the famous 19th-century German composer and musical theorist -- the Ring des Nibelungen is 14-15 hours in itself, divided into four separate operas. This biographical film begins when Wagner is first recognized for his work, yet in that same year, 1848, he was forced out of his homeland for his radical politics (he supported the unification of separate kingdoms under one Germany) and settled in Zurich for awhile. Focusing on character traits that are well-known and would not endear him to anyone, the film details his bigotry (a confirmed anti-Semitic), his insensitivity, and his obsession with money -- he went after the bottom line even if it meant losing friendships or ruining his marriage. Although Wagner is known for his music theory and the contribution he made to opera during his lifetime, very little attention is given to his actual works in this film. Venerable British thespians (Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, Joan Plowright, and Richard Burton as Wagner) light up the cast but not always with the same brightness. In the final analysis, the slow-paced story is simply too long in the telling, and even the visually sumptuous costumes and production design cannot make up for a slow script, uneven acting, and problems in direction. The film version runs 300 minutes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Beginning with its first episode on March 8, 1984, the four-part Doctor Who adventure "The Caves of Androzani" marked yet another milestone in the life of the venerable Doctor, played by Peter Davison (at least at the beginning of the story). Arriving on the planet Androzani Minor, the Doctor and his new companion, Peri (Nicola Bryant), investigate a set of strange tracks leading to a cave -- and promptly become infected with a bizarre "miracle" drug. "The Caves of Androzani, Episode 1" was written by Robert Holmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the pivotal four-part story "The Caves of Androzani," the planet of Androzani Minor continues to be the setting for a three-pronged power struggle between a mad doctor, a corrupt businessman, and an insurrectionist. The catalyst for all the carnage is a drug called Spectrox, which purportedly prolongs life. Both infected with Spectrox, the Doctor (Peter Davison) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) learn to their horror that Spectrox has the exact opposite of the desired effect. Originally telecast on March 15, 1984, "The Caves of Androzani, Episode 3" was written by Robert Holmes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Ken Russell returns to the D.H. Lawrence territory that had earlier served him well in Women in Love. Sammi Davis plays Lawrence's Welsh heroine Ursula Brangwen, daughter of a wealthy mine owner, who is first seen as a child given to literally chasing rainbows. Disappointed that she can never have the real thing, the older Davis seeks out figurative rainbows in the form of sexual fulfillment. Neither heterosexual nor homosexual affairs fully satisfy Davis, because no one lover can match the "ideal" the girl has created in her imagination. Davis' disappointment in the world is paralleled with the sorry lot of the wives of the local coal miners, who have adapted to their lives--something Davis can never do, will never do. Stately despite its raw subject matter, The Rainbow was filmed just before Russell's outrageous sword-and-sorcery fantasy Lair of the White Worm; since both films utilize many of the same cast members, the two pictures might make an astonishing double feature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide