Molly Hamley-Clifford Movies
- 1956
This British drama is a soft-pedalled paean to the nursing profession. The story takes place in a large hospital, where several aspiring nurses receive their training. Special attention is paid to novice nurse Pat (Delphi Lawrence), who is more concerned with landing a wealthy husband than ministering to the sick, and fellow trainee Susan (Belinda Lee), who is torn between marrying her doctor-lover or continuing her studies. Mandy Miller, one of Britain's best child performers, is effectively cast as a dying heart patient. The Feminine Touch is based on a novel by Sheila MacKay Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Baker, Belinda Lee, (more)
- 1953
Though Meet Mr. Lucifer reads rather better than it plays, the film is still good for a few healthy laughs. Stanley Holloway plays Hollingsworth, an actor who is playing Lucifer in a stage production. While being hoisted through a trap door, Hollingsworth is knocked cold. While unconscious, he is replaced by the real Lucifer. Seeking about for a new form of deviltry to inflict upon the public, Lucifer comes up with the most hellish device of all: Television! The rest of the film details the effects that the boob tube has on otherwise normal, rational British citizens (there's even time for a swipe at 3D movies). Based on a play by Arnold Ridley, Meet Mr. Lucifer is enhanced by an all-star cast, including Peggy Cummins, Kay Kendall and Ernst Thesiger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Holloway, Peggy Cummins, (more)
- 1953
Shadow Man was one of several British films released stateside in 1953 by Lippert Productions. Cesar Romero play Luigi, a casino owner whose former girlfriend (Simone Silva) is murdered. Not surprisingly, suspicion falls upon Luigi. Also not surprisingly, he decides to circumvent the law by bringing in the killer himself. One of the incidental pleasures of Shadow Man is the presence of the delectable Kay Kendall, on the threshold of her greatest screen fame. Based on The Creaking Chair, a novel by Laurence Mynell, the film was originally released in Great Britain as Street of Shadows. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cesar Romero, Kay Kendall, (more)
- 1950
This gentle Ealing Studios comedy features young William Fox as a mischievous English lad. A goodly portion of the film shows Fox and his companions at play, aimlessly but enjoyably wandering about their neighborhood in search of adventure. Eventually the boy finds a discarded magnet, believing it to be a good-luck token; it turns out to be just that, enabling the boy to become a hero of sorts. The Magnet scores with young and old viewers alike, principally because it is told from the boy's point of view. William Fox would later sprout up to become leading British actor James Fox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stephen Murray, Kay Walsh, (more)
- 1949
In this crime melodrama, a young couple moves into a charming rural cottage. There the wife becomes fixated upon the mysterious demise of the earlier occupant. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1943
The oft-filmed story of the WW I espionage agent known as "Fraulein Doktor" was given another go-round in the British Under Secret Orders. Dita Parlo plays Anne-Marie Lesser, a German secret agent who undermines the Allied cause at the expense of her own happiness. Top billing is bestowed upon Erich von Stroheim, as Anne-Marie's superior Colonel Mathiesus, a self-styled master of disguise (though his various makeups don't fool anyone in the audience). Released in the U.S. in 1943, Under Secret Orders was originally distributed in England in 1937 under the title Street of Shadows. A simultaneously-filmed French version, Mademoiselle Docteur, likewise starred Parlo and Von Stroheim. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Loder, Dita Parlo, (more)
- 1943
Released in Britain in 1943, Deadlock made the American rounds in the years following the war. John Slater plays twin brothers, one of whom is serving a life sentence in prison. The two brothers contrive to switch places, with the bad twin roaming free while the good twin wastes away in jail. This reversal of affairs naturally has a profound effect on the women in both twin's lives. Vestiges of the plotline of Deadlock can be found in the 1957 Jack Palance vehicle House of Numbers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1938
Two lovers keep a guilty secret in this British thriller. The trouble begins during an argument between the woman's aged husband and her lover. During the heated discussion, the old man dies. The lovers blame themselves, and are almost convicted until fate intervenes and frees them. Romantic happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
In this comedy, a poor fellow is only able to survive because his landlady is willing to overlook his lack of payment. His luck changes when a bank teller makes an error in his favor. The delighted fellow immediately goes on a major spending spree. Meanwhile the head cashier and boyfriend of the teller must try to get the money back to protect her job. He does this by winning a bet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
A con man with fake land development plans provides the impetus for the uniting of business rivals, owners of a cement works and a brick factory. This union is further enhanced by a romance between family members. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1935
In this musical comedy set in Budapest, a couple's fifth wedding anniversary falls apart when the wife tells her man that she is thinking about returning to the theater. Her husband gets so mad that he leaves. Later he sees her with her niece's boy friend and assumes the worst. Mayhem ensues until the young marrieds reconcile and resume their happy lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances Day, Stewart Rome, (more)
- 1935
Dreams Come True for Ilona Ratkay (Frances Day), a popular opera singer who falls in love with gangly farm boy Anton (Nelson Keys). Not so lucky is Anton's father Albert (Hugh Wakefield), who is left all alone when his son runs off to the Big City with Ilona. Things really get sticky when Albert becomes obsessed with the notion that Ilona is actually his own illegitimate daughter! The more censurable aspects of the story are neatly skirted and circumvented with liberal doses of music and comedy. Dreams Come True is a remake of the German operetta Liebesmelodie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frances Day, Nelson Keys, (more)
- 1935
The chaos in this comedy culminates in compromise when two chorines and their neer-do-well boyfriends attempt blackmail their uncle into putting up with their antics by threatening to expose some of his own improper antics when he was an admiral. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
