Richard George Movies

Fact, fiction and espionage are combined in this drama that follows the exploits of Eisenhower's top aide, Mark Clark, and other important Allies as they journey to an important meeting held on Algeria's coast. The precise location of this vital secret gathering is upon a piece of film which must not fall into enemy hands, lest the Allied honchos get captured. The film is hidden in a German colony in Algiers. It is up to one of Britains top spies to bring it to safety. He is hindered by a Nazi spy who follows him. He is assisted by an American woman and a French woman. They are successful and gun-play ensues as they try to flee the country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this espionage film, a Danish double-agent is assigned by the Nazis to sneak into to England and abscond with the secret plans for a European invasion. Unbeknownst to the Nazis, the man is really and agent for the Allies. He is pursued by an English agent who exposes him. She then takes part in a plan to trick the German navy into leaving the port with fake documents. The ruse works. Unfortunately, the double-agent dies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Immediately grabbing the audience's attention with a heart-stopping opening scene in a dark graveyard, acclaimed British director David Lean realizes the cinematic potential of Charles Dickens' classic 1861 novel, and the result is considered by many to be one of the finest literary adaptations ever made as well as one of the greatest British films of all time. Crystallized into a tight 118-minute running time by Lean, Ronald Neame, and a corps of uncredited contributors, this is the story of young Pip, a lad of humble means whose training as a gentleman is bankrolled by a mysterious benefactor. Along the way, Pip falls in love with the fickle Estella, befriends the cheerfully insouciant Herbert Pocket, has memorable encounters with the escaped convict Magwitch and the lunatic dowager Miss Havisham, and almost (but not quite) forgets his modest origins as the foster son of kindhearted blacksmith Joe Gargery. The role of Pip is evenly divided between Anthony Wager as a child and John Mills as an adult; Alec Guinness makes his starring film debut as the jaunty Pocket; Jean Simmons and Valerie Hobson are costarred as the younger and older Estella; and Martita Hunt is unforgettable as the mad Miss Havisham ("It's a fine cake! A wedding cake! MINE!") Remade several times, Great Expectations resurfaced in 1989 as a TV miniseries, with Jean Simmons, originally the young Estella, tearing a passion to tatters as Miss Havisham; and in 1998 it was remade again, in a contemporary version, with Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert DeNiro, and Anne Bancroft in the Miss Havisham role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British drama set in the 18th-century, a 14-year-old boy works in a carnival medicine booth. He believes the man he works for is his father, but he finds himself mistaken when his abducted by an avaricious uncle who informs him that he has inherited an important title. The uncle himself desires the title and plans to kill the lad who fortunately escapes. For vengeance the uncle starts a fire and immolates the boy's mentor. The carnies, lead by the strongman, attempt to exact their own revenge against the evil uncle. The whole mess goes to court where the boy's true lineage is revealed. He receives his rightful title. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Let the People Sing is an offshoot of J. B. Priestly's earlier show business-based fable The Good Companions. In Companions, a trio of mismatched dogooders save a musical troupe from ruin. In Let the People Sing, Alastair Sim is a besotted nobleman who comes to the aid of indigent comedian Fred Emney. Through Sim's intervention, the planned closing of a local music hall is prevented. Even if Sim hadn't let the people sing, as the title implores, they probably would have done so anyway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this episode of the long-running series, the famed Irish washerwoman has her hands full (actually, "she" was comic actor Arthur Lucan in drag) as she tries to locate her errant daughter after the latter runs away with her new beau. Much to Mother Riley's chagrin, she finds the twosome ensconced in a gamblers' lair. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The week-end in question is anything but quiet for the protagonists in this witty British comedy. Derek Farr stars as Denys Royd, who joins a group of relatives for a weekend hunting party. Upon arriving at their cottage, Royd and company discover that the shelter has literally none of the necessary comforts: doorways are too low to be entered without causing damage to the forehead, the plumbing is virtually nonexistent, etc. Even worse, the Jacobean hunting restrictions in the region forces the family to resort to poaching. And as if this isn't enough, the recently married Royd can't seem to shake irksome distant cousin Miranda Rute (Barbara White), who harbors a crush on him. Quiet Week-End was based on a play by Esther McCracken, who'd penned the earlier Derek Farr vehicle A Quiet Wedding. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Bells Go Down is a dramatization of London firefighting efforts during the 1940 Blitz. In structure, the film is very much like any other smoke-eating melodrama, with perhaps more emphasis on comedy than usual. The omnipresence of the Luftwaffe gives the film an urgency that others in its genre tend to lack. Making it all the more remarkable is the fact that most British studios were just as vulnerable as London's burned-down landmarks--a fact not lost on the actors, who perform with heightened credibility. Many of the better composed shots in The Bells Go Down would find their way into TV documentaries of the 1950s and 1960s as "reality" footage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this costume adventure set in France during the Reign of Terror, a mysterious man known only as the Scarlet Pimpernel rescues noblemen from the guillotine and leads them to safety across the English Channel. Chauvelin (Cyril Cusack) is determined to unmask the Pimpernel and bring him to justice. When evidence begins to suggest that the hero is actually foppish Sir Percey Blakeney (David Niven), Chauvelin blackmails Percey's wife, Marguerite (Margaret Leighton), into cooperating on the threat that he'll expose the criminal activities of her brother Armand (Edmund Audran). However, Marguerite doesn't much care for her husband, hardly believes he could be the heroic Pimpernel, and is startled when she finds out that he truly is the masked vigilante. The Elusive Pimpernel was originally shot in color as a musical, but the musical numbers were cut before the film was released, and the picture's American distributor chose to make only black-and-white prints (though the current home-video release is in color). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Whenever one sees a title like The Gentle Sex, one braces oneself for an ironic switcharound. The supposedly gentle girls of the title--seven in all--are actually determined young British moderns who go into military service during World War II. In true "Army bomber crew" fashion, the film explores the widely varied backgrounds of the ladies involved, showing the events which led them to their patriotic commitment. As propaganda, Gentle Sex served its wartime purpose; as entertainment, it holds up reasonably well after five decades. The film was coproduced and codirected by actor Leslie Howard, who functions as narrator and (according to one source) can be glimpsed from behind in a couple of scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Tower of Terror is set in a lonely lighthouse on a tiny German-controlled island. Demented lighthouse keeper Kristan (Wilfred Lawson) is terrified that someday, somehow, the world will know that he murdered his wife 16 years earlier. Though he openly discourages visitors, Kristan is forced to play host for an odd assortment of strangers: A British secret agent (Michael Rennie),a German naval officer (John Longden) and a beautiful concentration-camp escapee (Movita). The latter so closely resembles Kristan's late wife that the old man goes completely round the bend, ordering the poor girl to dress in his wife's clothes and ultimately attempting to do her in as well. This juicy slice of Grand Guignol was produced in England by Pathe in 1941 and released in the US by Monogram the following year. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide