Lisa Harrow Movies

This feature-length dramatization of James Herriot's best-seller was issued by EMI as a big-screen theatrical release in England, but debuted on NBC as a telemovie in the United States, February 4, 1975. It stars Simon Ward as Herriot in his early days as a veterinarian. The story picks up in 1937, with Herriot's first assignment as assistant to eccentric Yorkshire vet Siegfried Farnon (Anthony Hopkins). The film's highlight is the strenuous delivery of a newborn colt; its most poignant moment is the mercy killing of a seriously ill dog. In between "cases," Herriot courts pretty farmer's daughter Helen (Lisa Farrow). The film eventually spawned a television series. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bernardo Bertolucci's 255-minute 1900 was a gargantuan undertaking, requiring the resources of three European countries and a trio of American movie studios. Set in the Italian town of Parma, the film's continuity backtracks from Liberation Day in 1945 to the occasion of composer/patriot Giuseppe Verdi's death in 1901. We follow the lives of two men born on that day in 1901, who grow up to be Alfredo Berlinghieti (Robert De Niro) and Olmo Dalco (Gérard Depardieu). Wealthy Alfredo sinks into dissipation, while poverty-stricken Olmo becomes a firebrand labor leader and communist. After WWI, Alfredo is allowed to peacefully retain his land holdings by playing nice with the burgeoning fascists; Olmo, on the other hand, engages in a long-standing battle against the minions of Mussolini. The two protagonists are reunited when Alfredo returns to Parma to preside over Olmo's trial for "political crimes." Co-star Burt Lancaster is cast as Alfredo's wealthy grandfather, who hates to see the old values buried beneath the social travails of the 20th century. Many American prints of 1900 were shortened to 243 minutes, rendering the story hard to follow at times. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The second sequel to the 1976 horror hit The Omen finds Damien Thorn assuming the full mantle of the Antichrist and preparing for a final, all-out battle with "the Nazarene." Now in his thirties, Damien (Sam Neill) has elevated the family business, Thorn Industries, into the world's biggest multinational corporation. A little bit of black magic paves the way for Damien to become ambassador to England and the head of an international youth council. He soon uses this platform to amass an army of followers to do his bidding. But when Damien notices the confluence of three stars in the sky on March 24, he gets worried about the second coming of Christ. So he orders his minions to kill all the babies born on that day, warning them: "Fail, and you will be condemned to a numbing eternity in the flaccid bosom of Christ." Damien even orders his faithful private secretary, Harvey Dean (Don Gordon), to commit infanticide on his own kid, just because the guy's wife gave birth on the wrong day; a nasty incident involving laundry-room implements soon follows. Meanwhile, Damien romances Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow), a beautiful television anchorwoman who feels like a moth drawn to Damien's charismatic flame -- even after he brutally sodomizes her to show her how the world looks through his eyes. Things come to a head when Brother DeCarlo (Rossano Brazzi), one of a secret cabal of monks who have assembled the seven Daggers of Meggido in hopes of assassinating Damien, reveals to Kate that the Antichrist has taken her son (Barnaby Holm) under his wing. Although The Final Conflict was the final theatrical installment of the Omen series, the made-for-TV Omen IV: The Awakening appeared a decade later. ~ Brian J. Dillard, Rovi

Premiering on American television on December 29, 1981, From a Far Country: Pope John Paul II was originally an Italian/British coproduction, made in cooperation with Film Polski. Actually, we see very little of the Pope -- in fact, John Paul II (played by Cezary Morawski) is not yet in his papal robes when we first meet him as a Polish youth of the 1930s named Karol Wojtyla. Director Krzysztof Zanussi adopts a liquid style that is part Ashes and Diamonds, part Citizen Kane. The maturation of Karol during the Nazi occupation is for the most part relayed through the reminiscences of his friends and family (played by an international cast). For its American TV showing, 40 of the film's original 140 minutes were trimmed. Through an unforeseeable coincidence, From a Far Country: Pope John Paul II was first telecast the same week in 1981 that a major political crisis broke out in Poland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This British TV miniseries, filmed in Australia, is based on the same source play (by John Colton and Margaret Lindon) and novel (by Helen Simpson) as the 1949 Hitchcock film Under Capricorn. Lisa Harrow stars in the role played for Hitchcock by Ingrid Bergman: the highborn alcoholic wife of lowborn Australian landowner Peter Cousens. Harrow's brother was killed, presumably by Cousens, during an attempt to stop the wedding, whereupon Cousens was permitted (under 19th century English law) to emigrate to Australia to begin life anew. Irishman John Hallam, Harrow's cousin, enters the scene. He hopes to bring Harrow back from her drink-besotted state, but this is made impossible due to the behind-the-scenes intrigues of maid Julia Blake, who harbors a fatal secret involving Harrow and Cousens. Edited into a 150-minute version, the 1982 Under Capricorn was first shown in the US on the A&E cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a novel by Sue McCauley, this story of a socially forbidden affair between Liz (Lisa Harrow) a 32-year-old, middle-class woman and Tug (Mark Pilisi) a 16-year-old street kid develops as an intriguing study in breaking through the restrictions that put the brakes on human development. Liz is restive in her role as wife and mother in a socially elite circle of modern Auckland, and Tug -- who lives on the opposite side of the tracks -- is a smart, humorous, impoverished teen beginning to be aware that life has much more to offer than evading the police. Liz leaves her home and family and strikes out to start her own life when she meets Tug. She seems to have everything Tug admires, and he has all the independence she prizes most -- but their race, their age difference, and their economic backgrounds are three factors that work against a growing mutual attraction. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

The troubles in Northern Ireland are the backdrop for this made-for-television drama about an IRA hitman assigned to seek revenge against a defector. Patrick Bergin stars as Michael McGurk, an IRA terrorist who suffers from a guilty conscience after a bombing takes the lives of innocent citizens. After handing himself over to the police and turning on his former allies, McGurk and his family are shipped off to Australia as part of a witness protection program. Vowing to avenge the disloyalty to the Army, the IRA puts a hit out on McGurk and his family. Elliott Gould stars as Callaghan, the retired IRA hitman who is called upon to track down and murder the McGurks. Shot partially in Belfast, London, and Sydney, this political thriller has a running time of over three hours. ~ Bernadette McCallion, Rovi

Lisa Harrow and Peter McEnery were among the powerhouse performers appearing in the two-part British miniseries Witchcraft. The story concerned the efforts by a detail-obsessed movie director to film the biography of an infamous 17th century Witchfinder. To this end, the director insisted upon shooting at the same locations where the Witchfinder had carried out his atrocities. The "fun" begins when the ghost of the film's "hero" suddenly pops up to wreak fatal havoc upon cast and crew alike. Witchcraft was originally broadcast in 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This film, set in a small Australian community, is adapted from a novel of the same name by Tim Winton. It tells the story of a troubled family offered help by a caring stranger whose intentions are not as selfless as they seem. The Flack family lives a peaceful existence on their farm beside a river. They consist of parents Alice and Sam, their two children Tegwyn, an adolescent girl, and Ort, a curious and sensitive 12 year old boy, and the senile grandmother. The family's happiness is shattered when Sam falls into a deep coma following an auto accident. When stranger Harry Warburton suddenly shows up, Alice who has been exhausted by trying to care for her husband and upset family, gladly accepts his proffered assistance. Harry, who claims to be an evangelist, is quickly accepted into the family by all but Tegwyn who questions his intentions. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

John Thaw returns as wily British barrister James Kavanagh as Kavanagh Q.C. enters its second season. The first of the year's six feature-length episodes is "True Commitment," in which Kavanagh tries to sift the truth out of a case involving the daughter of a Jewish businessman, a plot to murder a neo-Nazi, and the contradictory eyewitness testimony of the girl's boyfriend. Next up is "Men of Substance," wherein Kavanagh, substituting for an ailing prosecutor, finds there is more than meets the eye in an international drug-smuggling cast. "The Burning Deck" leads Kavanagh into an investigation where truth is a relative term as he tries to determine the guilt or innocence of a vice admiral's son. "A Sense of Loss" again serves up a mess of highly suspicious evidence in a case involving the murder of a policewoman. Kavanagh takes on his first personal-injury case in two decades in "A Stranger in the Family." In the season closer, "Job Satisfaction," Kavanagh's defense of a woman accused of murdering her parents is complicated by his client's refusal to be one hundred percent candid. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

An unexpected and ironic twist caps barrister James Kavanagh's (John Thaw) defense of a doctor accused of murder in "Memento Mori," the opening episode of Kavanagh Q.C.'s fourth season. The eponymous hero subsequently returns to his home town of Bolton to unravel a confusing case of infanticide in "Care in the Community." Next up, Kavanagh tries to prevent his client, a woman accused of murdering her husband, from botching up her own defense, while simultaneously appearing on behalf of a colleague before the Conduct Committee in "Briefs Trooping Gaily." From there, Kavanagh ends up in the middle of a national controversy when defending a Jehovah's Witness who insists upon withholding a blood transfusion that might save her son's life in "Bearing Witness." Newspaper reporters continue to dog Kavanagh's trail when he defends a minister charged with sexual harassment in "The Innocency of Life." Switching to the prosecution, Kavanagh goes after a boat owner whose negligence may have caused five drownings in "Dead Reckoning," and back on the defense team, he helps a Senior Labour M.P. who has been targeted for prosecution (and persecution) in a 15-year-old case in "Ceremony of Innocence." Season five ends as Kavanagh pleads on behalf of two thieves who've been serving a double-murder charge for 23 years in "Seasons of Mist." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on the 1990 mystery-suspense novel by Ruth Rendell, the two-part British miniseries The Strawberry Tree focused on a middle-aged lady named Petra Summers, played by Lisa Harrow. Petra's calm, well-ordered existence was sorely threatened when the spectres of her past caught up with her. Among the supporting players were George Baker (who also scripted) in his familiar guise of Inspector Wexford, Eleanor Bron as Rosario, Simon Ward as Will Harvey, and Tamara Ustinov, daughter of Peter Ustinov, as the District Nurse. The Strawberry Tree was originally broadcast April 21 and 28, 1995 as part of ITV's Ruth Rendell Mysteries anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi