Geoffrey Hibbert Movies

One of the minor comedy-dramas to come out of Britain, this story by director Jay Lewis and scripter Jack Trevor Story is about an unscrupulous salesman, Albert (Ian Hendry), who is beset by a whole series of problems, all of his own making. In order to advance his career, Albert makes a habit of seducing his female customers to better convince them to buy beyond their means, on credit. Even though he has thus far spawned two progeny with this technique he is not about to change his ways. Albert is also cheating on his girlfriend in the process, and more directly just simply cheating his boss, his real estate agent, and a long list of creditors -- not a good way to insure an auspicious future. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, an American author living in London gets involved with the wicked wife of a well-known jewel fence. The trouble begins when she coerces the writer to rob her own husband. He pulls the job off admirably, but soon afterward, the fence is found dead. To make it worse, a blackmailer begins threatening to tell the authorities that the writer killed the victim. Not willing to take the extortion lying down, the brave author heads for the police to turn himself in. It is then that he learns the true identity of the killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The moral dilemma of a reluctant American spy is chronicled in this psychological drama. He becomes an agent after he, originally a pilot, is grounded during WW II. He is trained to assassinate a Paris lawyer suspected of colluding with the Nazis. During his rigorous training for the killing, the new spy begins to have doubts about his upcoming assignment; these doubts increase when he actually meets his prey as the spy is unsure that the lawyer is really guilty. Still he fulfills his grim duty. Later he learns that the lawyer was innocent. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Boyish leading man Jack Watling is caught up in a rather mature set of circumstances in Links of Justice. In concert with his mistress Kay Callard, Watling plots to murder his wealthy wife Sarah Lawson. The best laid schemes gang aft agley, and the wrong person ends up dead. In a variation of Dial M for Murder, a false murder accusation is dissipated by the timely arrival of a housebreaker. Chalk up another serviceable second-feature British melodrama for the production team of Edward and Harry Danzinger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Arthur Watkyn's droll theatrical piece For Better, For Worse was expertly adapted for the big screen in 1954. Popular young star Dirk Bogarde and strangely forgotten newcomer Susan Stephen star as a young married couple who struggle to make things run smoothly in their first year together. The usual travails befall them, from unpaid bills to uninvited in-laws. Somehow they survive, a denouement tipped off to the audience by the film's airy mood and sparkling color photography. The American distributor of For Better, for Worse pounced upon one isolated incident in the narrative and came up with the new title Cocktails in the Kitchen. ~ 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

The Shipbuilders is a rare film of true merit from prolific British "quota quickie" director John Baxter. Clive Brook heads the cast as the owner of a shipbuilding firm, presently dedicated to the War effort. Though naturally concerned that his business will flag once the war is over, it is shown that Brook has nothing to worry about, so long as diligent, patriotic men like riveter Morland Graham are on his payroll. The film's message is clear: While it's important to think of one's service to the present National Crisis, it is equally important to take the Future into consideration. Actual footage shipbuilders at work give this hastily assembled patriotic exercise a veneer of reality. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Few morale-boosting wartime films have retained their power and entertainment value as emphatically as Noël Coward's In Which We Serve. To witness Coward's sober, no-nonsense direction (in collaboration with his co-director/editor, David Lean) and to watch his straightforward portrayal of navy captain Kinross, one would never suspect that he'd built his theatrical reputation upon sophisticated drawing-room comedies and brittle, witty song lyrics. The real star of In Which We Serve is the British destroyer Torrin. Torpedoed in battle, the Torrin miraculously survives, and is brought back to English shores to be repaired. The paint is barely dry and the nuts and bolts barely in place before the Torrin is pressed into duty during the Dunkirk evacuation. The noble vessel is finally sunk after being dive-bombed in Crete, but many of the crew members survive. As they cling to the wreckage awaiting rescue, Coward and his men flash back to their homes and loved ones, and, in so doing, recall anew just why they're fighting and for whom they're fighting. Next to Coward, the single most important of the film's characters is Shorty Blake, played by John Mills. (Trivia note: Mills' infant daughter Juliet Mills appears as Shorty's baby.) Even so, the emphasis in the film is on teamwork; here as elsewhere, there can be no stars in wartime. For many years, the only prints available to television were from the bowdlerized American version, which crudely cut out all "hells" and "damns." Fortunately, this eviscerated American release has since been shelved in favor of the full, glorious 115-minute version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in the North Country of England, this is a film noir set in the 1930s as a family struggles with poverty and unemployment. Depressing and realistic, it portrays the lengths to which a family can go in order to survive., though there is some humor interlaced to keep the bleakness under control. The beautiful, sepia-tinted photography enhances the portrayals, which are excellent. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide