Nora Gordon Movies

Britain's long-running (some would say interminable) series of "Carry On" comedies managed to satirize virtually every film genre ever conceived over three decades. Since espionage dramas were hot in 1964, it was inevitable that the unwary world would be treated to Carry on Spying. The "maguffin" in this yarn is the top-secret Formula X, which has been pilfered by that insidious organization S.T.E.N.C.H. (Society for Total Extinction of Non-Existent Humans). Enter the heroes, the men and women of British Operational Security--better known as B.O.S.H. The good guys are understaffed, thus novice agent Kenneth Williams is put in charge of smashing the evil machinations of Dr. Crow (Judith Furse) and The Fat Man (Eric Pohlmann). The level of wit in Carry on Spying is sustained by the character name of leading lady Barbara Windsor, who plays the delectable Daphne Honeybutt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a trapeze artist cannot stop a seductress from coming on to him. The sexy woman soon convinces him to help her steal some jewels. Feeling remorse at killing two people during the heist, the basically honest acrobat confesses all to the police. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this romance, a crooked, over-ambitious clerk will do anything to make it to the top, even if it means getting engaged to a man she doesn't love. Her "beloved" is the son of her richest client. Fortunately, by the story's end, the woman reconsiders her goals and ends up falling for a minor executive. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this police drama, a cop finds his recently killed partner replaced by an Alsatian police dog. While he adjusts, the one who killed his partner plans to crack a safe. After he breaks in, he is accosted by the cop and his dog. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A carnival freak show provides the setting for this murder mystery. The trouble begins when the "Starving Man" the world's longest survivor of a fast is found dead inside his glass cage. It is later learned that he was killed because he had witnessed the murder of an extortionist. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this murder mystery, a police detective begins suspecting that his sister's newest beau is a murderer. Unfortunately, he is dead wrong. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a Welsh storekeeper secretly dreams of becoming a songwriter. His dream comes true when he wins a contest and gets a contract with a big London publishing company. He moves to the city and leaves his beloved behind. Once there, he finds himself so lonely that he is unable to create. Fortunately, he has enough music already written to satisfy his publisher, but he is totally blocked for writing new material. After a great struggle, he manages to write a decent song, but a corrupt publisher steals it from him. Fortunately, the writer has kept the music. Later he and his lover are reunited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This British psychological melodrama stars Michael Gough as a man who is lost in the Brazilian jungles and presumed dead. He returns to civilization, only to discover that his wife (Elizabeth Sellars) has remarried. When it becomes obvious that Gough's mind has been unhinged by the ordeal, his former wife does what she can to help and comfort him. Instead of being grateful, the addled Gough commits suicide, arranging the evidence so that his wife will be accused of murder. The Night Was Our Friend was the sort of second feature on which director Michael Anderson cut his teeth before being entrusted with such loftier projects as Around the World in 80 Days (56). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The all-purpose title Floodtide was trotted out once more for this 1949 British drama. Gordon Jackson plays a lowly shipyard worker who falls in love with Rona Anderson, his boss' daughter. For the girl's sake, Jackson keeps an eye out for opportunities to advance himself. Through determination and resourcefulness, he works his way up to an executive position with a shipping firm, but tries his best not to forget his humble roots. Filmed extensively on location, Floodtide was run on a seemingly hourly basis in the early days of American television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the Graham Greene story The Basement Room, director Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol is told almost completely from a child's eye view-but it isn't a children's story. Young Bobby Henrey idolizes household butler Ralph Richardson. Therefore, when it seems as though Richardson might be implicated in a murder, Bobby does his best to throw the police off the track. The boy succeeds only in casting even more suspicion upon Richardson. As the story progresses, Henrey's hero worship is eroded by Richardson's shifty behavior, and even more so when the boy discovers that the butler's boasts of previous heroism are just so much hot air. The ending of the film differs radically from Greene's story. While it would seem that director Reed was merely paying homage to the "happy ending" philosophy (hardly likely, given the doleful climaxes of such films as Odd Man Out and The Third Man), the director had very solid reasons for altering the story: he was more fascinated by the concept of the boy's imagination nearly sending his idol to the gallows, rather than having the butler entrapped by facts. And though the ending is happy for the boy, the butler's fate is much more nebulous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a fisherman begins studying to be a doctor. Although he isn't finished with medical school, he begins treating his landlady's daughter who is believed to have a terminal illness. He seems to cure her, and the case draws a lot of attention, some of it negative because he was unlicensed when he treated her. He still does not have a degree when he marries the daughter and begins practicing osteopathy. He soon finds success and happiness until he begins having an affair. Later he jilts his mistress and she kills herself. During the autopsy he is appalled to learn that it was actually his misdiagnosis of her illness and the resulting medical treatment that caused her to die. The distraught osteopath then takes off and does not return until his wife, whose disease has come back, begs him to help her once again. He succeeds and their happiness resumes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a hotelier provides a gang of street urchins jobs at his hotel. The proprietor wants to use his lovely companion to help con the jewel thieves that are staying there. The children learn about the scam and using their street-smarts manage to foil both the thieves and the proprietor ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide