Noel Hood Movies
- 1964
In this confused parody, a lovely South Seas island girl travels to England following her father's death and becomes the ward of her cousin. The women is exotically beautiful and men turn into fools whenever she passes by. But the innocent lass has no idea that she is so lovely and seductive. At one point she poses nude for an artist and nearly starts a riot amongst the normally staid upper-crust gentlemen. In the end, the beautiful native girl marries the son of her kindly cousin who eventually becomes the head of his father's school. Meanwhile his father moves to the girl's native island. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nancy Kwan, John Fraser, (more)
- 1963
20,000 Pound Kiss was the 45th of 47 British second features based on the works of Edgar Wallace, all released between 1960 and 1963. The film jams quite a lot of plot into its 57 minutes, starting off with an extortion scheme. A man of limited means is told to ante up 20,000 pounds or face public exposure as a philanderer. Murder inevitably follows. 20,000 Pound Kiss was filmed at the Merton Park headquarters of producer Jack Greenwood; its release in America was confined to a TV package titled The Edgar Wallace Mysteries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Director Leo McCarey returned to the religious themes of his classics Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) for this action drama, his final film. William Holden stars as Father O'Banion, a Catholic priest assigned to relieve the retiring Father Bovard (Clifton Webb) at a mission in China. Along the way, O'Banion has unwittingly picked up a follower with a crush on him, Siu Lan (France Nuyen). The girl becomes the mission's cook, but before Bovard can depart, Mao's 1949 communist takeover begins. Red soldiers led by Chung Ren (Robert Lee) seize the mission as their local command center. Chung Ren rapes Siu Lan, impregnating her, while O'Banion is forced to watch. Unable to cross China's closed borders, both priests remain at the mission, ministering to the locals despite harassment by Chung Ren. Delighted by his son's birth, Chung Ren begins undergoing a change of heart. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Holden, Clifton Webb, (more)
This is one of the rare comedies by director Gerald Thomas that does not have the words "Carry On...." in the title, and that is the first indication that the wacky, hare-brained, ribald core of the "Carry On" series is missing here. The premise is that a young couple, David and Catherine Robinson (Leslie Phillips and Geraldine McEwan), have to turn their large country house into a money-making proposition. Their solution is to invite the kids of the rich and famous, since that is where the money lies, to spend a summer enjoying all the loving care and attention they miss at home. After the youngsters arrive, David quickly realizes what the offensive little punks need is some real discipline, and so the summer begins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine McEwan, Julia Lockwood, (more)
Peter Sellers stars as an inmate in a "model prison" run by Maurice Denham. Though Sellers is disinclined to escape (he's never been as comfortable in his life), he is convinced to do so by phony vicar Wilfred Hyde-White, who breaks into jail to outline a robbery scheme. Hyde-White's plan is to have Sellers and his cellmates David Lodge and Bernard Cribbins take a brief "vacation" from jail, pull off a big-time robbery, then return undetected to prison, thereby establishing a perfect alibi. Within its 87-minute time span, Two-Way Stretch takes satirical potshots at political bleeding hearts, obese Middle Eastern potentates, and regulation-bound British police officials. One cannot be faulted for wishing that Peter Sellers had stuck to engaging small-scale British farces such as this and had never ventured into such unamusing big-budgeters as The Bobo and There's a Girl in My Soup. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White, (more)
- 1959
A full thirty years before Look Who's Talking would hit the screens with its verbose little infant, Max Bygraves and Shirley Jones starred in this routine comedy about a talking baby. Little Bobbikins (Steven Stocker) is the 14-month-old son of Benjamin and Betty (Bygraves and Jones) who is perfectly normal until his father comes home from his stint in the Navy and decides to reprise a career in show business. When nothing seems to go right for him, little Bobbikins decides to give Dad a few helpful hints. He never talks to anyone else, and this leads others to think his father is hearing things. Soon the baby gives some hot tips when his Dad becomes friends with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, leading to a killing on the stock market. Now rich and definitely affected by it, this new Dad has baby wondering if there is something he could do to bring him back down to earth again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max Bygraves, Shirley Jones, (more)
- 1959
The off-spring of the legendary British bandit dons his father's tights to help save his countrymen from the tyrannical rule of an evil aristocrat. Unfortunately, the "son" is a sham and after several unsuccessful attempts to stop the nasty nobleman, the merry men decide to send for Robin's real son. Imagine their surprise when they discover that Robin, Jr. is a she! Still the men rally around her and the imposter. Together they successfully defeat the evil-doer and the country is again safe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Hedison, June Laverick, (more)
- 1959
In this suspenseful drama a baker accidentally whips up a batch of bad bread and must somehow find it before people begin to die. He enlists the aid of a police sergeant and together they begin their desperate search. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
In anticipation of Elvis Presley's Kissin' Cousins, British rock-and-roll idol Tommy Steele plays a dual role in The Duke Wore Jeans. Tony (Steele) is a young nobleman who wants to wriggle out of an arranged marriage-especially since he's already taken a bride in secret. Upon meeting a carefree bloke named Tommy (also Steele), Tony talks his new friend into trading places. In a twinkling, Tommy is jetting off to the mythical banana republic of Rittalia, where he promptly gets mixed up in political intrigue. Playing the pretty princess whom Tony/Tommy is slated to marry is June Laverick, while Michael Medwin provides laughs as the obligatory comical valet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tommy Steele, June Laverick, (more)
Alan Burgess' novel The Small Woman was the source for the British/American co-production Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Set in the China of the 1930s, the film stars Ingrid Bergman as real-life missionary Gladys Aylward. Against the advice of practically everyone, Gladys heads into the war-ravaged interior to spread the Christian gospel. She finds a powerful ally in the form of an elderly Mandarin (Robert Donat) who, despite his early efforts to rid himself of the troublesome Gladys, eventually converts to Christianity. Gladys' burgeoning romance with Chinese army officer Lin Nan (Curt Jurgens) is interrupted when she is obliged to guide a group of Chinese children to safety over some of the most treacherous of Northern China's mountain regions. Inn of the Sixth Happiness retains its entertainment value some four decades after its production, even allowing for the preponderance of Occidental actors in Oriental roles. The film also served to breathe new life into the old children's nonsense song "This Old Man" (aka "Knick, Knack, Paddywhack"). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ingrid Bergman, Curd Jürgens, (more)
- 1957
This satire takes a sharp poke at the intrinsic laziness of British aristocracy who would rather die of starvation than perform an honest day's work. The tale begins when a destitute nobleman conspires to murder his rich Canadian uncle for the inheritance. Unfortunately he continually fails in his efforts to off him. Instead he winds up killing his own family one-by-one. In the end, the slightly addled fellow offs himself when he walks into one of his own traps which he had set in his uncle's room. The uncle is then arrested for his nephew's murder. Fortunately an elderly aunt manages to clear the Canadian's name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nigel Patrick, Charles Coburn, (more)
- 1957
The British Family Doctor was based on The Deeds of Dr. Deadcert, a novel by Joan Fleming. Young American medico Jethro (Rick Jason) pays a visit to a seaside resort in Devonshire. Ostensibly on vacation, Jethro is actually investigating the mysterious death of his ex-wife. He suspects that his wife's second husband, highly respected Doctor Dysert (Marius Goring), was responsible, but he can't prove it. Despite opposition from the local authorities, Jethro continues his probing, and before long he discovers that the saintly Dysert had been married to two other women, both of whom also met with an untimely demise--leaving Dysert with a tidy sum in the bank. Thus, Family Doctor isn't so much a Whodunit as a "When-Will-He-Get-His?" The film was released in the US by 20th Century-Fox as Rx Murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rick Jason, Lisa Gastoni, (more)
- 1957
In this melodrama, a surgeon overcomes his humble beginnings to become a renowned physician. His success is threatened when he messes up during an operation and a patient dies. To save his career, the desperate doctor kills the two assistants who saw the mistake. He then prepares to murder his wife. Fortunately, he ends up killed before he can get at her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
In this drama, the commanding officer of a British Royal Air Force flight training school must deal with an ornery, irresponsible cadet. The lad reminds the officer of himself when he was young. It also reminds him that his own youthful arrogance and foolishness caused the death of the new recruit's father. The young man only settles down when the C.O. saves him during maneuvers. The boy is injured during the flight which gives him serious pause for thought. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Bernard Lee, (more)
Curse of Frankenstein was the "breakthrough" picture for the fabled Hammer Studios. Told in flashback, the story centers around Baron Victor Frankenstein (Peter Cushing), a dangerously arrogant scientist who takes it upon himself to play God. Using portions of dead bodies, Victor fashions a synthetic monster (Christopher Lee) with a bad attitude. In a radical departure from the Frankenstein canon, it is the imperious Victor who orchestrates the film's two murders by "borrowing" the brain of a learned professor, then leaving his next victim at the mercy of the monster. In 1958, the film spwaned the sequel Revenge of Frankenstein. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, (more)
- 1955
Rex Harrison is The Constant Husband in this delightful British comedy. It all begins when amnesia victim Charles Hathaway (Harrison) tries to reconstruct his past with the aid of psychiatrist Llewellyn (Cecil Parker). Our hero would have been better off had his memory remained lost: Llewellyn discovers that he's had seven wives -- simultaneously! Lady lawyer Chesterman (Margaret Leighton) tries to keep Llewellyn out of jail, though in fact he'd prefer incarceration to multiple matrimony. Of the seven spouses, Kay Kendall (the real-life Mrs. Rex Harrison) stands out with a sparkling comic characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Harrison, Margaret Leighton, (more)
- 1940
Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne repeat their "Charters and Caldicott" characterizations from Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes for the British comedy-mystery Crooks Tour. This time, our cricket-happy heroes take a vacation in unoccupied Europe. They cross the path of a seemingly dedicated Nazi lass (Greta Gynt) who is actually loyal to the British crown. Laughs are in abundance, but the verbal wit displayed by Radford and Wayne in earlier films is noticeably lacking. Crooks Tour was one of hundreds of British films that were run to death during the early days of American television. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, (more)
