Stephen Greif Movies
Beginning in the early '70s, British actor Stephen Greif built up a substantial career for himself as a character player in films and also as a voice-over artist. In the vocal sphere, Greif's mellow, cultured, and unmistakably English speech quickly made him one of the most recognizable voices in U.K. advertisements. In terms of on-camera appearances, Greif came to specialize in portrayals of distinguished, articulate professional types such as physicians, businessmen, and heads of state, usually in a supporting capacity. Greif formally began his litany of dramatic assignments with work on British television, where he specialized in adaptations of the classics, then quickly expanded his focus to include occasional big screen efforts over the following decades, such as Franklin Schaffner's Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Mike Binder's The Upside of Anger (2004), and Lasse Hallström's Casanova (2005). Greif remains best known for his work on series television, however, especially a memorable multi-episode portrayal of Travis on the British sci-fi series Blakes 7. In 2007, Greif contributed a key supporting role to the racially charged thriller Shoot on Sight. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
The man responsible for the destruction of more than six million lives accounts for his role as the architect of Adolf Hitler's final solution in this historical drama starring Stephen Fry, Franka Potente, and Thomas Kretschmann. Based on the final confession made by Adolf Eichmann just before his execution in Israel, director Robert Young's film begins 15 years after the World War II has ended. Eichmann has been captured by Israeli intelligence. As a senior officer in the SS, Eichmann played a pivotal role in making the Holocaust a nightmarish reality. Now, as Eichmann prepares to die in front of the entire world, he accounts for his participation in one of the greatest atrocities ever committed. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Thomas Kretschmann, Troy Garity, (more)
A 12-year-old Jewish boy teetering on the cusp of manhood finds his eagerly anticipated Bar Mitzvah threatened by a lethal combination of World Cup fever, the loss of the family business, and the shenanigans of a mischievous elder sibling in a coming-of-age comedy directed by Paul Weiland and starring Helena Bonham Carter, Stephen Rea, and Gregg Sulkin. The year is 1966, and Bernie Rubens (Sulkin) is about to become a man. As the date of his Bar Mitzvah draws nearer, however, it seems like the stars have aligned to prevent it from being the blow-out bash he has always dreamt of. Not only is his wayward older brother drawing away all the attention in the family, but his father's business is slowly going down the drain as well. To make matters worse, England has finally fought their way to the World Cup Final, and the big game is scheduled for the very same day as Bernie's Bar Mitzvah. Will Bernie's friends and family be able to resist World Cup fever and make it to the celebration he has gleefully anticipated his entire childhood, or will the mania that has overtaken all of England pull a red card on the day that was supposed to be a clean-shot goal? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gregg Sulkin, Helena Bonham Carter, (more)
U.K. director Chris Munro's wicked satirical comedy Back in Business dissects and excoriates the slimy underbelly of British capitalism with a look at several high-rolling English con artists and the brouhaha surrounding their latest national scam. Joanna Taylor (Post Impact) and screen legend Brian Blessed (I Claudius) play, respectively, press officer Fiona Arlington Spencer and press chief Trevor Pilkington. As the byzantine story opens, the duo leaks to the public news of Britain's latest contribution to the space race: 'The Explorer,' an interstellar vehicle allegedly capable of mining an energy-rich substance on a foreign planet, that could thus save the Earth's energy crisis once and for all. In reality, the two "entrepreneurs" share the morals of an alley cat and a desire to shake down as many venture capitalists as they can find, illustrated by their previous success: conning a series of international businessmen into buying shares of British national landmarks, as a means of rescuing the Brit economy. And in reality, the 'Explorer' doesn't even exist - it represents only the latest in an endless series of paper-thin manipulative schemes. To help pull this one off, Fiona and Trevor reel in a number of accomplices: Fiona's uncle, Lord William Arlington Spencer (Martin Kemp); techie and computer hacker Travis Marks (Stefan Booth), the son of William's Cambridge buddy Thomas Marks (Chris Barrie, and then Thomas himself. They plan to use the "invention" to wheedle billions out from under the noses of the Chinese - but fail to anticipate the interference of a nosy policeman (Dennis Waterman) or of an irate group of Russian mobsters, who - upon smelling a rat - demand to see the Explorer with their own eyes. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Martin Kemp, Chris Barrie, (more)
History's most renowned ladies' man finally meets his match in this historical romance laced with comedy and adventure. In Venice in 1753, Giacomo Casanova (Heath Ledger) is a notorious playboy whose way with women goes too far when he's caught leaving the bedroom of a novice nun, and one of the leading prosecutors of the Inquisition, Pucci (Jeremy Irons), puts him on trial. The Doge (Tim McInnerny), Venice's political point man, is a friend of Casanova's and pulls strings to get him off the hook and allow him to stay in the city, but under one condition -- he must take a wife and remain faithful to her. Casanova sets his sights on Victoria (Natalie Dormer), a lovely young maiden who is obviously taken with the handsome ladykiller, but he's not the only one who wants her hand. Giovanni Bruni (Charlie Cox) is a young man who is very much in love with Victoria, and in order to move him out of the picture, Casanova challenges him to a duel. However, when Casanova is bested in swords in the challenge, he discovers he's actually been parrying with Giovanni's sister, Francesca (Sienna Miller). As Casanova gets to know Francesca, he discovers she's a gifted writer and a bright and independent woman as well as a good hand with a sword, and he comes to the realization that she's the woman he wants to take to the altar. However, Francesca has already been promised to the vain and chubby Papprizzio (Oliver Platt), a man she's never met, and she doesn't seem at all interested in the notorious Casanova. Casanova also stars Lena Olin, and Omid Djalili. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Heath Ledger, Sienna Miller, (more)
David Mamet writes and directs the political thriller Spartan. Respected Secret Service agent Robert Scott (Val Kilmer) is assigned to the kidnapping case of Laura Newton (Kristen Bell), the missing daughter of a high-ranking political figure. Scott is teamed up with rookie Curtis (Derek Luke). Aided by the FBI and the CIA, the team discovers a human trafficking operation that may lead to Laura's kidnappers. Meanwhile, political operative Stoddard (William H. Macy) refuses to cooperate with the rescue mission. Scott and Curtis are forced to quit the investigation when the media reports Laura's death. Believing her to be alive, Curtis is motivated to start up a dangerous unofficial investigation of his own. Spartan premiered at the Bangkok International Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, (more)
Two friends wonder if there might be more between them when their lives both take a left turn in this romantic comedy. Terry (Joan Allen) is a middle-aged housewife and mother of four teenaged daughters and gets the shock of her life when her husband, without a word of warning, leaves them behind, presumably to move to Sweden with his secretary. Going through a bender of depression and alcohol, Terry finds herself commiserating with Denny (Kevin Costner), a former baseball star turned unenthusiastic radio personality who was her husband's colleague and friend and an occasional presence at the house. With both Terry and Denny feeling down in the dumps about recent events in their lives, the two find themselves drawn to one another, and while Terry fights the notion of a new romance, her daughters -- Andy (Erika Christensen), Hadley (Alicia Witt), Emily (Keri Russell), and Lavender (Evan Rachel Wood) -- each have different ideas about their futures. The Upside of Anger was written and directed by Mike Binder, who also plays a supporting role as the producer of Denny's radio show. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Joan Allen, Kevin Costner, (more)
Saddled with a £50,000 which he has only four days to pay off before suffering grievous bodily harm, a petty London criminal attempts to carry out an ingenious art scam in director Richard Janes' spirited caper comedy. Nick Blake (Matthew Rhys) owes smooth-operating crime lord Foster Wright (Art Malik) a sizable dept, and if he doesn't cough up the cash in four days the situation promises to turn nasty. Desperate to find a means of raising the cash but unable to carry out the kind of heist that could get him out of his peculiar jam, Nick believes that he has found a solution to his problem when he discovers a lost sketch by revered Italian artist Antonio Fraccini. Nick's plan hits a hitch, however, when he discovers that the sketch is only worth £15,000. Now, with the clock ticking down and mere hours to go before Art sends his thugs out to collect, desperate Nick will enlist the aid of his cynical friend Eve and her talented artist brother Tony in forging the sketch and selling copies to five different Mayfair galleries in the short span of one hour. Should Tony and his partners in crime successfully execute their carefully planned ruse, the galleries won't even realize they've been swindled until it's too late. If the plan goes awry, on the other hand, Tony will be a wanted man on both sides of the law. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthew Rhys, Kate Ashfield, (more)
- 1992
A Jewish Londoner embarks on a journey to find himself after learning some shocking news about his past in this eccentric British comedy. As the film begins, Leon (Mark Frankel) is already in a time of transition, having quit his job for moral reasons and assumed a position in his mother's catering firm. His life is thrown into even more disarray when a bizarre coincidence reveals the truth behind his birth: not only was his birth the result of artificial insemination, but a lab mix-up means that his real, biological father is a complete stranger. The confused Leon sets out to find his "real" dad, and unexpectedly discovers that he is descended from a family of Yorkshire pig farmers. Co-directors Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor move their story in fits and starts, allowing room for countless digressions, from a torrid affair with a outrageous artist (Maryam d'Abo) to the accidental breeding of a rather unique pig. While the film proves uneven, fans of the quirkier varieties of British comedy should find Leon the Pig Farmer's off-beat tone and taste for surrealistic details suitably entertaining. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Mark Frankel, Janet Suzman, (more)
- 1990
The Gravy Train was the first of two British miniseries focusing on the seriocomic misadventures of Dorfman (Christoph Waltz), a new member of the European Economic Council. Embarking upon his diplomatic career with stars in his eyes, Dorfman was quickly disillusioned by the infighting, pettiness, and flat-out greed indigenous to the Council's headquarters in Brussels. Written by Malcolm Bradbury, The Gravy Train yielded four hour-long episodes, which aired over Britain's Channel Four from June 27 to July 8, 1990. The series proved successful enough to warrant a 1991 sequel, The Gravy Train Goes East. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christoph Waltz, Ian Richardson, (more)
- 1989
Created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, this British sitcom harvested humor from the country's real-life Youth Training Scheme, a program which endeavored to put underprivileged or delinquent teenagers on the "right track." The series' five main characters, habitual losers all, enrolled in the Youth Training Scheme and were put to work at a small electronics film. The seven-episode Young, Gifted and Broke originally aired from June 3 to July 15, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stephen Greif, James Hazeldine, (more)
- 1984
On the verge of closing their doors in the mid-1980s, Britain's Hammer studios produced this passable supernatural thriller, which received its debut on American cable television. Hammer regular Stephanie Beacham stars as a woman vacationing with her photographer husband (David Carradine) at a lush seaside hotel, where she is tormented nightly by the anguished cries of a man apparently re-enacting his own murder (Carradine again). Or is the tragic specter actually a ghostly echo from the future, foreshadowing ominous events yet to come? Interesting but ultimately predictable, the film benefits from good performances, and Carradine is quite effective in a double role. Also known as Dying Truth. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- 1979
Why is it that some of the most outlandish movie plotlines are grounded in reality? The Great Riviera Bank Robbery is based on an actual occurrence in 1976. A fascist terrorist group, known as "The Chain", joins forces with a gang of professional criminals to pull off a heist. The target: a bank vault in a French resort town, bulging with tourist money. The booty: fifteen million dollars. In the tradition of Rififi, we follow the thieves' progress step by step, inch by inch, from conception to execution to aftermath. Throughout The Great Riviera Bank Robbery, you'll be declaring in dropped-jaw amazement that "this can't be true!"....but true it is. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1978
The crew pilots the Liberator to Centero, where they hope to locate a Federation decoding device. Meanwhile, Supreme Commander Servalan (Jacqueline Pearce, in her first series appearance) dispatches Blake's old enemy, Travis (Stephen Greif, likewise making his series bow), to destroy the resistance movement in any way he chooses. Travis' strategy is one of the oldest in the book: He captures Cally, using her as bait to flush out Blake.
"Seek-Locate-Destroy" originally aired on February 6, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
"Seek-Locate-Destroy" originally aired on February 6, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette, (more)
- 1978
With the Liberator's energy sources low, the crew is forced to lock into the orbit of a desolate planet. It soon turns out that this "dead" world is actually a gladiatorial arena for two hostile alien powers. Blake (Gareth Thomas) and Jenna (Sally Knyvette) are forced to square off against Travis (Stephen Greif) and his pilot in a grim duel to the death -- and woe betide Blake's crew if he happens to be the loser. A collaboration between two longtime Doctor Who associates (writer Terry Nation and director Pennant Roberts), "Duel" first aired on February 20, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette, (more)
- 1978
Travis (Stephen Greif) uses captured female freedom fighter Avalon (Julia Vilder) to lure his longtime enemy, Blake (Gareth Thomas), into a trap. Curiously, Blake is permitted to complete his current mission, that of rescuing Avalon from Travis. The plot hinges on the fact that Avalon isn't really Avalon at all, but a well-crafted android clone -- a fact that both hero and villain intend to use to their advantage (though not, of course, at the same time). "Project Avalon" originally aired on February 27, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette, (more)
- 1978
The victim of Servalan's (Jacqueline Pearce) latest double-cross, the son (Tony Caunter) of celebrated scientist Ensor lays dying. As he breathes his last, he tells Blake (Gareth Thomas) of the existence of Orac, a super-powered computer created by Ensor. Meanwhile, Avon (Paul Darrow) is given the opportunity to fulfill a prophecy from his own people, and Jenna (Sally Knyvette) is captured by hostile aliens on the planet Cephelon. "Deliverance" made its first TV appearance on March 20, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette, (more)
- 1978
After rescuing Jenna (Sally Knyvette) from the hostile natives of Cephelon, Blake (Gareth Thomas) must evade Servalan (Jacqueline Pearce) long enough to deliver much-needed medical supplies to the scientist Ensor (Derek Farr) on the planet Aristo. Alas, Blake is too late: Ensor has died. Fortunately, Blake and his comrades have "inherited" Ensor's high-tech computer Orac, which -- less fortunately -- serves up a future vision showing the utter destruction of the Liberator and its crew. And on this "cliffhanger" note, the first season of Blakes 7 draws to a close. "Orac" originally aired on March 27, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gareth Thomas, Sally Knyvette, (more)
- 1973
Olivier stars in this production of the Shakespearean tragedy about greed and vengeance. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright, (more)
Nicholas and Alexandra covers the rise and fall of the last of the Russian Romanovs. We first meet Czar Nicholas (Michael Jayston) and his German bride Alexandra (Janet Suzman) at their 1894 wedding. Though Nicholas is devoted to Alexandra, the Russian populace is less politely inclined to having a "foreigner" as their Czarina. Alexandra gains favor when she gives birth to the much-loved Prince Alexis (Roderick Noble). Alas, Alexis suffers from hemophilia, a disease which strikes every second generation of Alexandra's family. When all conventional medical ministrations fail, Alexandra puts the fate of her son in the hands of mystical holy man Rasputin (Tom Baker, later famous for his portrayal of Doctor Who). As Rasputin's influence and power grows, the Russian peasantry becomes more restless and disgruntled. They are now willing to listen to the speeches of such rabble-rousers as Lenin (Michael Bryant) and Trotsky (Brian Cox), who sow the seeds of revolution. Even after the murder of Rasputin, the Bolsheviks are unsatisfied: The revolution finally comes to pass in October of 1917. At first, the moderate Kerensky (John McEnery) pleads with his followers to allow the Romanovs safe passage out of Russia. But the radicals seize control, and on July 16, 1918, the royal family is summarily executed. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.