Peter Hall Movies

Elena Prokina and Giancarlo Pasquetto star in this stage production of Giuseppe Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, directed by Peter Hall and mounted at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. John Gunter designed the sets and costumes; The London Philharmonic Orchestra provides musical accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A beautiful but reserved criminal psychiatrist must deal with the obsessive stalking of a dangerous killer in this erotically charged thriller. The film's central tension emerges from the relationship between Dr. Sarah Taylor (Rebecca DeMornay), a highly professional psychologist, and a handsome stranger, Tony Ramirez (Antonio Banderas). After randomly encountering Tony in a supermarket, the normally aloof Sarah lets her guard down and embarks on a passionate sexual affair with the Latino charmer. Soon afterward, however, Sarah receives a series of disturbing threats from an unknown stalker. Her suspicions immediately fall on Tony, as she realizes how little she knows about her new lover. Her fear throws a shadow over their relationship, and her doubts increase as she learns more about Tony's dangerous past. Director Peter J. Hall maintains a fast pace and attempts to keep audiences guessing, introducing additional suspects from an imprisoned serial killer (Harry Dean Stanton) to the next-door neighbor (Dennis Miller). The characters rarely transcend standard thriller types, and the uneven screenplay does not have a satisfying ending, but the chemistry between DeMornay and Banderas may keep their fans interested along the way. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Conductor Edward Downes leads The Royal Opera in Richard Strauss' one act drama in this performance offering libretto from Hedwig Lachmann's German translation of Oscar Wilde's original work. Peter Hall directs, and Maria Ewing, Michael Devlin, and Kenneth Riegel star. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This made-for-cable adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play documents the romance between a lonely Southern belle (Vanessa Redgrave) and a young drifter (Kevin Anderson). ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Acclaimed soprano Marie McLaughlin headlines this performance of Guiseppe Verdi's heartbreaking tale of ill-fated love directed for the stage by Sir Peter Hall and featuring conductor Bernard Haitink leading the London Philharmonic. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Librettist Ranieri de' Calzabigi and composer Christoph Gluck co-crafted the opera Orfeo ed Eurydice, adapting the basic narrative from the mythical legend that recounts Orpheus's rescue of his bride, Eurydice, from the underworld. This filmed record of the 1982 production of Orfeo, as staged at The Glyndebourne Festival Opera, features a woman - the legendary Dame Janet Baker - in the male role of Orpheus, in a performance that many consider the pinnacle of her long and illustrious career. Elisabeth Baker co-stars as Eurydice; the production features musical accompaniment by The Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and The London Philharmonic Orchestra, as conducted by Raymond Leppard. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

This performance of Mozart's opera, Don Giovanni features the Glyndebourne Chorus and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

In The Homecoming, adapted from the play by Harold Pinter, Michael Jayston brings his wife Vivien Merchant home to visit his long-estranged family. Jayston's father Paul Rogers is a washout, his uncle Cyril Cusack is on the edge of senility, and his brothers Ian Holm and Terence Rigby are, respectively, a slimy pimp and a brutish boxer. The sparser the dialogue, the thicker the tension in the air. Though British in origin, The Homecoming was presented as part of the American Film Theatre series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A trio of aspiring crooks plan to steal a million dollars in this crime comedy. Lord Nicholas (David Warner) and his Swiss wife Britt (Ursula Andress) are the jet-set couple who have spent all their money and seek a loan from the bank. She asks Graham (Stanley Baker) for a loan, but the mid-level manager has plans of his own to pad his retirement account by means of larceny. Graham approaches both Nicholas and Britt to help him in his plan. Britt sleeps with both men, willing to take off to Rio with the first one who gets his hands on the money. Nicholas and Graham both are under the assumption they are the masterminds of the plot that is highlighted by amusing twists. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

British director Peter Hall's 1968 filmization of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, starring the Royal Shakespeare Company, is faithful to the text and to the main plot, which involves the "bewitching" of several groups of mortals by a covey of mischievous invisible fairies. So why did critics complain? Hall's handling of Shakespeare's prose and iambic pentameter didn't bother the purists as much as the director's visual choices. Hall was criticized for staging the film in a typically rainy British winter rather than the mid-Summer alluded to in the play's title. The director responded by pointing out that the fairies, led by Oberon and Titania, were deliberately toying with the expectations and sensibilities of the Mortals -- thus, it made sense to confuse the "human" characters by playing havoc with the weather. Other stylistic alterations included updating the story to the 19th century, and the near-nudity of Judi Dench as Titania. Most of the film is shot in close-up (most effectively during the soliloquies of Diana Rigg, as Helena), not so much to hide budgetary deficiencies as to play better on television. Also featuring Ian Holm (as Puck) Barbara Jefford, Helen Mirren, Michael Jayston, Paul Rogers, Ian Richardson and David Warner, this Midsummer Night's Dream premiered in the U.S. on the CBS TV network on Sunday evening, February 9, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Originally staged in 1963, War of the Roses was one of the most controversial and ambitious projects ever undertaken by Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company. Flying in the face of adverse criticism from the more conservative theatrical scholars, John Burton and Peter Hall condensed the Bard's Henry VI trilogy and Richard III into a mere three plays, cutting nearly half the text and adding newly-minted Shakespearean iambic pentameter to cover the gaps. Prominent in the cast were such notables as Peggy Ashcroft, David Warner, and Ian Holm. When War of the Roses was presented as an 11-part TV series by the BBC beginning April 8, 1965, Warner repeated his celebrated performance as Henry VI, while Paul Martin replaced Ian Holm as the scheming Richard III. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide