Henry Hewitt Movies

Now and Forever is a very slight piece, buoyed by the charm and attractiveness of its young stars. Janette Scott and Vernon Grey play Janette Grant and Mike Pritchard, who fall in love despite the objections of Janette's wealthy parents. Realizing that they will never be permitted to marry, Janette and Mike run off together, sparking a nationwide search for the two elopers. By the time the authorities catch up with the pair, public sentiment is firmly in favor of their union, culminating in a conditional change of mind on the part of Janette's mom and dad. Though the film seems flat and obvious when viewed on television, it truly comes to life before a large and appreciative moviehouse audience. Forgotten for many years, Now and Forever was happily rediscovered by the late film historian William K. Everson in his 1979 book Love in the Film, which was dedicated to star Janette Scott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The rousing adventure novel by Sir Walter Scott was adapted for this swashbuckler. Richard Todd stars as Robert Roy MacGregor, a clan leader in 18th century Scotland attempting to lead his fellow countrymen in a rebellion against the heavy-handed rule of England's King George I. When the king replaces a sympathetic politician with a lackey working against Rob Roy, it's up to the hardy Scotsman to defeat his enemies without the support of a powerful ally, while also romancing and marrying his true love (Glynis Johns). Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953) was the last of 21 British films produced jointly by Disney and RKO. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Where's Charley?, Frank Loesser's hit Broadway musical version of Brandon Thomas' evergreen stage farce Charley's Aunt, was brought to the screen in 1952 with most of its original cast intact -- including, thank heaven, star Ray Bolger. In the original Brandon Thomas version, Oxford undergrad Lord Fancourt Babberly was coerced into disguising himself as "Charley's Aunt, from Brazil, where the nuts come from" so that his roommates Charley Wyckeham and Jack Chesney would have a proper escort for their visiting sweethearts Amy Spettigue and Kitty Verdun. In the musical version, Lord Fancourt is eliminated, and Charley plays his own aunt, making innumerable quickie costume changes throughout the proceedings. Complications ensue when three older characters show up: Jack's father Sir Francis Chesney, Amy and Kitty's irascible guardian Stephen Spettigue, and Charley's real aunt Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez. It goes without saying that Ray Bolger plays both Charley and the faux aunt, brilliantly recreating the sidesplitting comic turns that brought down the house on Broadway. Less successful is his re-creation of the audience-participation song "Once in Love With Amy," simply because it's difficult for a film actor to come "out" of the picture and encourage the audience to sing along. The other Loesser songs -- "Make a Miracle," "My Darling" and "New Ashmoleon Marching Society" are more satisfactorily rendered. For the record, the rest of the cast includes Allyn McLerie and Mary Germaine as Amy and Kitty, Robert Shackleton as Jack, Horace Cooper as Spettigue, Howard Marion Crawford as Chesney, and Margaretta Scott as Donna Lucia. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Hundred Hour Hunt was originally released in Britain as Emergency, then as Emergency Call. A woman lies in a hospital near death. She needs a transfusion, but her blood type is extremely rare. It's up to Inspector Lane (Jack Warner) to track down the three potential donors. The rest of the film deals with the various crosses borne by these three: a sailor about to ship out, a disgraced boxer, and a murderer on the run. Hundred Hour Hunt is a surprisingly polished product from the Butchers studio, the threadbare forerunner of Hammer Films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Widely considered to be the definitive of the many film versions of Charles Dickens' classic novel is this 1951 British adaptation, starring Alastair Sim (entitled "Scrooge" in its U.K. release). Sim plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a London miser who, despite his wealth, refuses to make charitable contributions and treats his sole employee, Bob Cratchit, as an indentured servant. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who was as selfish as Scrooge in life and has been condemned to an eternity of wandering the Earth in shackles. Marley informs Scrooge that he's to receive a trio of spirits that night who will take him on a journey through Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. As Scrooge encounters each apparition, he is taken on a tour of his life and realizes what a wretch he is, transformed by greed from an idealistic youth into an embittered ogre. Infused with a new, cheery outlook, Scrooge sets about earning his redemption. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Assembled by the reliable team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, London Belongs to Me stars Richard Attenborough as a young, full-of-beans boy looking for fun. Bursting into a staid, wearisome London neighborhood, Attenborough exhorts the others to get some kicks out of life. Unfortunately, his search for thrills gets him involved in a murder. Just when you think that the film is a dour "slice of life" drama, a new comic element is introduced as the locals start up a petition to release Attenborough from jail. The presence of Alastair Sim in the cast should have tipped us off that London Belongs to Me wasn't meant to be taken entirely seriously. The film was released in the US as Dulcimer Street. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Released worldwide by 20th Century Fox, Carol Reed's The Young Mr. Pitt is a static but sincere filmed biography of 19th century British prime minister William Pitt Jr., here played by Robert Donat. Appointed to his office at the tender age of 24, Mr. Pitt spends most of his time in Parliament alerting his countrymen of the dangers posed by France's Emperor Napoleon (Herbert Lom, in his first English-speaking role). The Frank Launder-Sidney Gilliat screenplay works overtime drawing parallels between the Pitt-Napoleon conflict and the present crisis involving Great Britain and Nazi Germany. Various historical personages are impersonated by the likes of Phyllis Calvert, John Mills, and Robert Morley, with Morley stealing the show hands down. Like its thematic "twin" Penn of Pennsylvania, Young Mr. Pitt is lavishly produced, but suffers from pedantic speechifying and substandard special effects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this WW II comedy, a professor teaching a correspondence school gets in hot water when he entangles himself with the Nazis who are trying to prevent the signing of an important trade agreement between South American countries and England. When the professor learns that a Nazi agent has breached security and is posing as the economics expert responsible for lining out the international agreement, the good professor tries to find the real expert, who has been kidnapped and hidden. To find him, the prof must utilize numerous ridiculous disguises. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

American leading lady Gertrude Michael tops the cast of the British Just Like a Woman. Reprising her misbehavior in Hollywood's The Notorious Sophie Lang, Michael plays jewel thief Ann Heston, who purloins a string of valuable pearls right from under the long noses of the law. She is then pursued halfway around the world by insurance investigator Tony Walsh (John Lodge), who doesn't know what the audience does-that Ann is actually the daughter of his boss. Predictably, Ann is revealed to be operating with the best of intentions, allowing for a satisfying romantic finale. Perhaps inspired by the film's "Yankee" leads, the British cast members of Just Like a Women adopt mid-Atlantic accents throughout most of the story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

With a plot that twists like a plumber's snake, this is more a story of family secrets than anything else, in which the British commander of a West African garrison has to prevent the exposure of an ugly scandal involving his daughter. The story was based on a novel by Lewis Robinson entitled The General Goes Too Far. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Admirals All was based on the British stage farce by Ian Hay and Stephen-King-Hall. Wynne Gibson takes over from the stage version's Laura La Plante as temperamental American movie star Gloria Gunn. While on board a battleship for publicity purposes, Gloria is kidnapped by a band of comic-opera Chinese pirates. Even though no one is particularly anxious to get the girl back, gormless petty officer Dingle (Gordon Harker) scurries off to her rescue (Dingle was but a minor character in the play, but Harker was a major box-office draw). George Curzon, best remembered as the eye-twitching murderer in Hitchcock's Young and Innocent, scores a comic bull's-eye as the oafish pirate captain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set during an ugly divorce proceeding, a faithless second wife is found guilty of adultery (with a wealthy nobleman whom she wants to marry) after the wronged husband's first wife shows him irrefutable evidence. Soon after the judge's gavel falls the newly freed husband and his first bride joyously reunite. Melodramatic but tuneful tripe. ~ All Movie Guide