Joan Haythorne Movies
- 1972
- PG
Polish actress Ingrid Pitt became a cult figure for her portrayal of the notorious Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory in this Hammer horror film. Bathory finds that bathing in the blood of virgins restores her youthful beauty, and she enlists her servant (Nigel Green in a standout performance) to kidnap her own daughter, Ilona (Lesley-Anne Down). Bathory assumes Ilona's identity to seduce a young man (Sandor Eles), but without a supply of blood, she turns old in a hurry. The real Bathory had no such problems, reportedly slaughtering over 600 young girls before being sealed alive in her room. Pitt and Green are excellent, although director Peter Sasdy -- who helped adapt this story from Valentine Penrose's book The Bloody Countess -- moves the story along at a rather leisurely pace. Still, the performances and typically sumptuous "Hammer look" should make this film appealing to fans of historical horror. Maurice Denham, Patience Collier, and Nike Arrighi co-star. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Pitt, Nigel Green, (more)
- 1968
In this feather-weight version of Evelyn Waugh's novel Decline and Fall, Paul Pennyfeather (Robin Phillips) is an Oxford divinity student who finds himself expelled after a gang of drunken freshmen remove his pants and he is accused of exposing himself to a girl. Looking for work, he retains the services of an unsavory employment agency that secures a position for him at a sleazy Welsh boarding school for boys, presided over by the colorful Dr. Fagan (Donald Wolfit). On staff at the school are an assortment of distasteful screwballs; Mr. Prendergast (Robert Harris) is a withdrawn former clergyman; Captain Grimes (Leo McKern) is a one-legged two-timer with his eye on Fagan's daughter Flossie (Patience Collier); and Soloman Philbrick (Colin Blakely) is an undercover criminal posing as Fagan's butler. All hell breaks loose during the school's annual Sports Day, but Paul manages to meet a wealthy patron of the school, Margot Beste-Chetwynde (Geneviève Page), who hires him to tutor her son. At her estate, Margot seduces Paul, and Paul proposes marriage. But before the wedding, Margot asks Paul, as a favor, to travel to Tangiers on a business trip. He agrees but is soon arrested for trafficking in prostitution. Sent to jail, he runs into Philbrick and Captain Grimes, and now Margot has to scheme to get Paul out of jail. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Phillips, Geneviève Page, (more)
- 1962
Battleax is proof positive that "mother in law" jokes are not the exclusive domain of American TV comedians. The middling British comedy stars Francis Matthews and Jill Ireland as an engaged couple. Matthews' and Ireland's pre-connubial bliss is shattered by the future bride's domineering mother. Unable to withstand this wicked witch of the Northlands, Matthews tries to weasel out of the marriage by suing Ireland for breach of promise--the broken promise being that momma would stop meddling. Joan Haythorne is the title character, as well as the sole reason to spend the 66 minutes required to sit through Battleax. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
An innocent young woman is falsely accused of robbery and sent to a hellish reform school in this socially conscious prison drama. There the woman is tormented by a ruthless matron who treats her charges like POWs. Meanwhile, the inmate struggles to escape so she can prove herself innocent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Very Important Person is an amusing British comedy set in a German POW camp during World War II. Sir Ernest Pease (James Robertson Justice) is a self-important professor with a bloated ego and a lightning put-down. When he is flown over Germany disguised as a navy officer to check out the effectiveness of one of his radar inventions, his plane is shot down and he lands in the POW camp. All sorts of misunderstandings arise, since the other prisoners suspect him of being a spy. In the meantime, there are the expected clashes of wit between the British prisoners and their dour German captors and the inevitable camp-organized concert. In the midst of these activities, the professor is challenged to find a way to escape. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, (more)
Sean Connery plays one of his early roughneck types in the British gangster picture Frightened City. The story takes place in a rundown section of London, where the citizens are held in the grip of extortionists. After several months of gang warfare, the six major "protection" rings agree to bury the hatchet and combine their efforts under the leadership of a mob boss (Herbert Lom). One of the gangsters opposes the mobster's rule, and is promptly rubbed out. Paddy Damion (Sean Connery), the dead man's best friend, swears revenge. After a bloody confrontation, Damion agrees to provide information to the police -- after plea-bargaining himself into a light sentence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Herbert Lom, John Gregson, (more)
- 1960
This is a routine tale about the vice squad versus pornographer and blackmailer Augie Cortona (Terence Morgan). After the petty criminal gets out of prison, he discovers his old partners in crime are not interested in him anymore, and the prostitution ring he once bossed is controlled by someone else. His solution is to set up a fake photographer's and model's studio during the day that becomes a place where porno photo men can do their work at night, as call girls engage in their trade with unsuspecting customers. The photographs bring in extra lucre through a blackmail scheme -- Cortona makes the hookers' clients pay to keep their activities quiet. As he is building up this racket, a gangland boss is out to get him -- and so is the vice squad. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Morgan, Hazel Court, (more)
- 1957
Three Men in a Boat is the second film version of the comic novel by Jerome K. Jerome. The titular trio is played by popular British comedian Jimmy Edwards, up-and-coming leading man Laurence Harvey and stalwart character actor David Tomlinson. Escaping their dull weekday pursuit, the three pals take a pleasure excursion down the Thames in a small boat, encountering all sorts of comic and romantic complications. Jill Ireland makes an early screen appearance as a young lady who briefly bewitches the bookish Harvey. Though dated, Three Men in a Boat was just as capable of eliciting laughter as it had been in its first cinematic incarnation in 1933. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Jimmy Edwards, (more)
- 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)
- 1955
In Svengali, the 1955 adaptation of George DuMaurier's classic novel Trilby, Donald Wolfit achieves the near-impossible: he out-hams John Barrymore, who'd played Svengali in the 1931 version. A last-minute replacement for the equally flamboyant Robert Newton, Wolfit pulls out all the stops as the scroungy, sinister musician/mesmerist who hypnotizes lovely artist's model Trilby (Hildegarde Neff) and transforms her into a world-famous singer. While under Svengali's spell, Trilby forgets all about "Little" Billy (Terence Morgan) the starving artist who loves her fervently. But Billy doesn't forget, and follows Svengali and Trilby all over the world. The film's best moment is the celebrated Covent Garden climax, wherein Svengali finally, and fatally, relaxes his hold on Trilby. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hildegarde Neff, Donald Wolfit, (more)
- 1955
Alexander Knox is the One Just Man in this British crime melodrama. Knox plays a judge who takes the law in his own hands when obviously guilty miscreants get off scot-free. When Knox's tale is told, we are introduced to Peter Reynolds as a duplicitous playboy who attempts to defraud an insurance company. One Just Man looks suspiciously like two half-hour TV pilot films strung together. This 55-minute package was prepared by the brothers Danzinger, purveyors of many a pulse-pounding British programmer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1954
Had the women-behind-bars drama The Weak and the Wicked been made in Hollywood, the cast would probably have included the likes of Ida Lupino, Marie Windsor, Peggie Castle and Hope Emerson. Instead, the film was lensed in Britain, with Glynis Johns and Diana Dors heading the cast. Framed on a charge of fraud, "good girl" Glynis is tossed into prison. Her cellmates include hard-boiled Ms. Dors, murder suspect Jane Hylton, blackmailer-poisoner Dame Sybil Thorndyke and shoplifter Olive Sloane. Each of their stories is detailed in a series of flashbacks. Downplay the potential sensational elments of the storyline, The Weak and the Wicked takes great pains to point out the positive values of a special rehabilitation program, wherein the main characters are given the opportunity to make themselves useful members of society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, John Gregson, (more)
- 1950
Britain's Margaret Lockwood is teamed with Hollywood's Dane Clark in Highly Dangerous. Set in a mythical Iron Curtain country, the film casts Lockwood as an entomologist who hopes to stop a planned volley of bacteriological warfare. Facing danger at every turn, our heroine is rescued time and again by a two-fisted American reporter (Clark). The story culminates in a glass-enclosed hothouse, where the two protagonists race against time to neutralize thousands of poisonous insects. One bizarre sequence finds a drug-benumbed Lockwood imagining herself as the star of a popular British radio serial! Future Saint mentor Roy Baker directed from a script supplied by no less than Eric Ambler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Dane Clark, (more)
- 1948
Low-hanging clouds and low-cut blouses dominate the brooding British melodrama Jassy. Margaret Lockwood is at her teeth-baring best as a tempestuous gypsy girl who is hired as a servant in an aristocratic 19th century household. Dennis Price is her handsome master, with whom she falls in love. They marry, and it comes to pass that the master comes to a violent end. The girl is accused of murder, but appearances are deceiving. An early arrival to American TV, Jassy received a new lease on life in the 1960s by virtue of its lush Technicolor photography. The film was based on a popular bodice-ripping novel by Norah Lofts. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Patricia Roc, (more)
- 1947
Years ago a woman discovers that she married a bigamist and gives her baby boy to a couple for adoption. Now she has remarried and wants the baby back. This heart-wrenching drama chronicles her attempts to do so. Unfortunately, the boy loves his adoptive mother, not her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Roc, Rosamund John, (more)
- 1946
Produced, directed and scripted by Peter Ustinov (who did not star), Secret Flight was released in Great Britain in 1946, but not distributed in the U.S. until 1951 -- at which time it was panned as being out-of-date! The fact-based screenplay details the efforts of five dedicated British scientists to develop Radar and other preventative measures on the eve of WW II. The five "boffins" are played by Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, John Laurie, Ernest Jay and David Tomlinson. Some excitement is engendered when a test pilot (Richard Attenborough) cooperates with the scientists' remote-control airflight experiments. Given the film's sober treatment of certain British wartime military maneuvers, it is surprising that Peter Ustinov frequently chooses to depict the scientists as Dr. Watson-style comic figures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Raymond Huntley, (more)
