Colin Gordon Movies

Businessman Spencer Tracy is devoted beyond all reason to his son Edward. Tracy lies, cheats, steals, commits arson, and drives two people to suicide in order to smooth Edward's path in life. The boy repays this loyalty by becoming an ungrateful wastrel, who fathers a child out of wedlock and ends up killing himself. After serving a prison sentence for his crimes, Tracy tries to pick up the pieces of his shattered life by searching for Edward's child. Based on the play by Robert Morley and Noel Langley, Edward My Son unsuccessfully retains the play's devices of never showing Edward and of having Spencer Tracy speak directly to the audience. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rex Harrison's extramarital relationship with Patricia Wayne comes to an end when Wayne is murdered. All evidence points to Harrison; we know that he's innocent, but the detectives don't have this advantage. With his faithful wife Lilli Palmer at his side, Harrison goes on trial for his life. Anthony Dawson, the genuine murderer, intends to confess after Harrison is hanged. Thanks to a governmental quirk, Dawson's letter reaches the authorities just a few steps ahead of the hangman. Anthony Bushell, co-director of Long Dark Hall, is featured as Harrison's defense attorney. The film was co-scripted by Hollywood's Nunnally Johnson and based on a novel by Edgar Lustgarden. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Real-life Mr. and Mrs. John McCallum and Googie Withers star in Travellers Joy. McCallum and Withers are cast as Reggie and Bumble Pelham, a divorced couple living hand-to-mouth in Stockholm. Before they can leave for their native England, Reggie and Bumble must first pay their hotel bill. To raise the necessary funds, they must pretend that they're still married. One suspects that the stage play upon which Travellers Joy was based was slightly more subtle than the film version. Whatever the case, door-slamming farce was really not the forte of either McCallum or Withers, and before long they returned to the heavy drama they did best. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alec Guinness has one of his finest comic roles in this Ealing satirical comedy about a much patronized amateur scientist whose latest invention creates an uproar in the British textile industry. In the British manufacturing country of Northern England, factory owner Michael Corland (Michael Gough) is showing competitor Alan Bimley (Cecil Parker) around his plant, hoping to borrow some money and marry off his daughter Daphne (Joan Greenwood). They come upon a curious contraption that turns out to be an experiment by employee Sidney Stratton (Alec Guinness). Being a lower class worker, Sidney is summarily fired from his job. Sidney ends up working at Bimley's factory, where he is befriended by militant worker Bertha (Vida Hope). Daphne spots Sidney at the factory and he explains to her the results of his experiment -- a material that is indestructible and impervious to dirt. Bimley discovers this project and throws Sidney out. But Daphne, impressed by his experiments, funds Sidney, installing him in his own laboratory. After a few false starts, Sidney develops a pure white material that can't be dirtied or ruined. But it seems Sidney's invention is too brilliant and effective; if a material is marketed that will last forever, textile mills will go out of business and workers will lose their jobs. Suddenly, poor, luckless Sidney has both management and labor banding together to combat his new invention. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Four relatives find themselves going to unusual lengths to inherit a fortune in this British comedy. Henry Russell (Hugh Griffith) was a practical joker all his life, and his sly sense of humor is hardly stilled by his death; when his four closest relatives gather for the reading of the will, they discover that each is to be left $140,000 -- but, as always, there are strings attached. His sister Agnes (Fay Compton) has always treated her hired help with an attitude bordering on contempt, so Henry leaves her the money with the proviso that she must first work as a maid for 28 days. His cousin Deniston (Alastair Sim) writes detective novels for a living, so Henry insists that he get a clearer perspective on how bad guys live -- to collect his inheritance, he must spend four weeks in prison. Herbert (George Cole), a milquetoast clerk at a bank, will only receive his share if he's able to pull off a robbery at his place of employment. And Simon (Guy Middleton), a confirmed ladies' man, must marry the first girl he meets (and stay married to her) if he's to collect his $140,000. Keep an eye peeled for a youthful Audrey Hepburn, who has a bit part as a cigarette girl. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Hour of 13 is a leisurely remake of the 1934 thriller The Mystery of Mr. X. The year is 1890: London is being plagued by a series of murders. The victims are all policemen, and the killer seems to be operating in a deliberate pattern. Suave jewel thief Nicholas Revel (Peter Lawford) is compelled to seek out the killer, lest he himself be accused of murder by his friendly enemy, Inspector Connor (Roland Culver). Filmed at MGM's British facilities, The Hour of 13 makes excellent use of several topnotch English supporting actors, including Dawn Addams, Derek Bond, Leslie Dwyer, Michael Hordern, and Colin Gordon. The original Mystery of Mr. X made the tactical blunder of revealing the killer's identity in the opening credits; happily, Hour of 13 does not repeat this error. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Innocents in Paris is a series of anecdotes bundled together by geography. First we see the efforts by British diplomat Alastair Sim to loosen up Soviet-agent Peter Illing long enough to forge an economic plan between Russia and England. Then we watch as dotty artist Margaret Rutherford purchases a copy of the Mona Lisa. Next we see British officer Jimmy Edwards go off on a toot in a Parisian bistro. The next vignette involves impressionable Claire Bloom, who is swept off her feet by a local rake (the human variety, not the garden implement). And so it goes for 102 minutes in the British version of Innocents in Paris, and 93 minutes in the American print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Heart of the Matter is a faithful if somewhat austere adaptation of the same-named novel by Graham Greene. Set in Sierra Leone during WW II, the film stars Trevor Howard as assistant police commissioner Scobie. While his wife Louise (Elizabeth Allan) is away on vacation, Scobie falls in love with Helen (Maria Schell), the widow of a U-boat victim. Scobie would like to get a divorce from his wife, and she from him, but their Catholicism prevents not only this break but Scobie's planned remarriage to Helen. In despair, Scobie chooses a desperate means of solving his dilemma--which only furthers to exacerbate the religious quandary in which everyone finds themselves. Posing several ethical questions throughout its 105 minutes, Heart of the Matter wisely allows the viewers to come up with their own answers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Grand National Night began life as a stage play, which was promptly adapted as a popular British radio serial. The film combines the best elements of both previous incarnations. Racehorse owner Gerald Coates (Nigel Patrick) accidentally kills his spiteful wife Babs (Moira Lister) during a quarrel. Terror-stricken, Coates stashes the body in the boot (or trunk) of a stranger's car. Methodical police inspector Ayling (Michael Hordern) suspects there's more to this than meets the eye. The script carefully builds up sympathy for the frenzied Coates, then manages to find a way to wrap up the story to everyone's satisfaction (Here's a clue, provided by Leonard Maltin: while watching the film, examine the character names). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this remake of Jack Ahoy! (1934) a sailor is left alone on a South Sea island to guard supplies by the British Royal Navy. Unfortunately, they forget about him. A decade later he has become one of the native islanders. The trouble begins when the navy suddenly remembers and sends a ship to save him. Unfortunately, the man is happy and doesn't want to go back. He ends up staying and training navy jungle commandos for an assignment to recover a stolen submarine. The hapless sailor ends up captured himself. Fortunately, his native lover saves him and helps bring back the purloined submarine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Escapade has to be one of the most overused titles in movie history. This particular Escapade is a mild British comedy with something to say. John Mills plays a renowned pacifist author, whose sons Andrew Ray and Peter Asher are completely sympatico with their dad's views. Convincing their schoolmates to sign a petition begging for universal peace, the boys decide to present the list of signatures to the four world powers occupying Germany, including those rascally Russians and unpredictable Yanks. But they have to get to Berlin first, and to do that the headstrong lads steal an airplane. It turns out that the boys' long-term goal, cooked up with their sister Yvonne Mitchell, is to reunite their bickering father and mother. Escapade opens up the original Roger MacDougall play to the extent that we actually witness the plane in flight; beyond that, the dialogue and situations remain the same--even down to the slight pauses after the laugh lines. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A bellboy gets sweet revenge upon the employers at the hotel where he once worked after he inherits a lot of money in this lively British comedy. The sweetest revenge of all comes when he and the other lackeys team up to scam the wealthy, who look down upon them, hoping to get them to finance his attempt to buy the posh establishment. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, an ad man attempts to promote his brother-in-law's new cleaning machine. He is backed by a member of the Purity League. It isn't easy, but he eventually helps the product go public. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide