Cyd Hayman Movies
- 1979
- R
This meandering distaff variant on The Omen begins with a visit from a strange pregnant woman (Angela Pleasence) to the house of a young suburban couple (Malcolm Stoddard and Cyd Hayman), where she gives birth to a baby girl and promptly exits stage left. The befuddled pair decide to adopt the white-haired, angelic-looking infant, only to discover the child's true nature in the years to come. One by one, the couple's natural offspring are killed off in horrible ways; any future attempts at conception end in miscarriage and Stoddard's eventual sterility. These horrific events unfold over a period of several years -- a concept which probably served better in print than on screen, where such leisurely plot development dooms any chance for suspense. Worse, the vague supernatural explanation is not adequately clarified by the film's denouement, leaving little more than a somber tale of meaningless tragedy. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cyd Hayman, Malcolm Stoddard, (more)
- 1979
- R
This routine espionage drama is based on a novel by Graham Greene about a low-level British informant who is caught in a trap. Castle (Nicol Williamson) has a desk job in British intelligence. Around him are heavyweights like Col. Daintry (Richard Attenborough), Sir John Hargreaves (Richard Vernon), and Percival (Robert Morley) who will cold-bloodedly stop at nothing to do their jobs as they see fit. And Castle certainly is a nobody compared to them. One day when a friend of his in Africa needs some help, Castle is conned into supplying the Eastern block countries with info on demand. No one suspects him because of his low position, but when his office partner is hauled off, Castle begins to rethink his situation. This was director Otto Preminger's last film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, (more)
- 1978
Julius Grace is the husband of middle-aged Faith Brook. Or, rather, he was: long before the story begins, Julius dies. The thrust of this 1978 British drama is the effect that Julius' demise has upon Brooks and her young daughters-twenty years after the fact. Originally presented as a multipart TV miniseries, After Julius contains some nudity, which posed very little difficulty to British censors but which was deemed unacceptable by American taste-arbiters. After Julius is based on the popular novel by Elizabeth Jane Howard (sidebar: star Faith Brook is the daughter of British stage and film star Clive Brook). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1976
Based on the film Man Hunt, the BBC-produced Rogue Male stars Peter O'Toole as a British aristocrat who attempts to assassinate Hitler. After he fails, he is hunted down by the German Gestapo. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Low-brow British humor abounds in this farcical account of Edwin Anthony, the first man to receive a successful penis transplant. Anthony becomes quite attached to his new appendage and even gives it the title name. The alleged humor comes in when Anthony and Percy set out to investigate the life of the latter's former owner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
