Basil Hoskins Movies
This Disney-produced made-for-TV version of the classic children's tale features Noley Thornton as Heidi, the plucky girl from the Alps, with Jane Seymour as a mean-spirited governess and Jason Robards as Heidi's kindly grandfather. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
This demented fusion of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with the legend of Jack the Ripper marks one of the final roles for Anthony Perkins, and certainly one of the weirdest performances of his career. Perkins plays Dr. Jekyll as more of a dedicated 19th-century man of medicine than an obsessed eccentric -- whose research into a safe form of anaesthetic leads to the accidental discovery of cocaine! Jekyll's inadvertent freebasing of the vapors from a cocaine/ether mixture triggers his transformation into Hyde - a murderer of prostitutes who dubs himself "Jack," thus allowing the convenient transition into the "Jack the Ripper" phase of the plot. This Hungarian production has fairly high production values, but Perkins' over-the-top antics and some glaring anachronisms (Jack's streetwalker victims sport accessories that look like Madonna's hand-me-downs) make it impossible to take seriously as a horror film. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Perkins, Glynis Barber, (more)
- 1985
Diminutive Webster star Emmanuel Lewis is virtually the whole show in this made-for-TV update of Oliver Twist. Upset when his divorced fashion-designer mother (Lynne Moody) relocates to London, 8-year-old Davey Williams (Lewis) runs away. Soon thereafter, he joins up with a group of orphaned "buskers" (street entertainers), who are actually pint-sized pickpockets, the disciples of Faginlike Leo Porter (Freddie Jones). How long will it be before Davey reforms the urchins and orchestrates a reconciliation between his mom and dad (Ben Vereen)? Filmed on location, Lost in London premiered courtesy of CBS on November 20, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
Written by Roger Woddis, this episode of The Prisoner guest stars Patrick Cargill (also seen in the previous episode "Free for All") as super sadistic New Number Two. Delighting in tormenting the villagers, Number Two drives at least one of them, Number 73 (Hilary Dwyer), to suicide. Hoping to avenge the woman's death, Number Six begins his own campaign of psychological warfare, utilizing such "weapons" as his collection of Bizet recordings! In addition to resembling an installment of the much later CBS series, Survivor, this episode also predates American Gladiators by offering an "extreme sport" known as Kosho. Originally slated as the 14th episode of The Prisoner, "Hammer into the Anvil" was seen as episode number 10 when it first aired in England on December 10, 1967. It was placed in its original chronology for American television, where it was first seen on August 31, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Unable to assassinate a British traitor, the government is forced to deal with the man in an upcoming round of arms negotiations. Though he despises the assignment, Steed must protect the traitor from harm. He has his work cut out for him. The man originally assigned to kill the turncoat, long thought dead, is alive and well, and he intends to fulfill his deadly mission. Written by Philip Chambers, "The Outside-In Man" originally aired in England on February 22, 1964; the episode made its American cable TV debut on April 2, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1961
A beautiful and wealthy woman in the market for a husband believes she has found the right man -- only to discover he isn't especially interested, in this comedy based on a play by George Bernard Shaw. Epifania Parerga (Sophia Loren) is a woman who has inherited a vast fortune, making her the wealthiest woman on Earth. All Parerga really wants is a happy marriage, but her first stab at matrimony, with Alastair (Gary Raymond), is a disaster, and when she visits a psychiatrist in hopes of learning what she did wrong, her analyst, Dr. Adrian (Dennis Price), attempts to seduce her. Parerga is nearly ready to give up when she meets Dr. Ahmed el Kabir) (Peter Sellers), a shy and well-mannered Indian physician who operates a clinic for the underprivileged. While Kabir is personable, he seems to have no interest in Parerga's money and is unfazed by her beauty; convinced he can love her simply for who she is, Parerga decides Kabir is the man for her. However hard Parerga tries to throw herself at him, Kabir refuses to budge, and even after she bankrolls a new clinic for him, he does not respond to her advances. Eventually, Parerga offers Kabir a challenge -- she bets him that he can't triple his profits at his new clinic in three months, while he in turn wagers her that she cannot live without money for the same period of time. A spin-off of the The Millionairess was a novelty song called "Goodness Gracious Me", in which Sellers and Loren duetting as a doctor from India and his alluring patient; a recording of the tune became a hit single in the United Kingdom. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, (more)
- 1959
Northwest Frontier was the original British title for Flame Over India. When the Moslems attack a British fortress in colonial India, it is imperative that the local Maharaja's son be taken to safety. The man for the job is commander Kenneth More, who uses a rusty old train for that purpose. Among the other fugitives is the boy's British governess Lauren Bacall and the untrustworthy Herbert Lom. A cat-and-mouse session between good and bad guys segues into a heart-pounding chase through the frontier. Welcome comedy relief is in the hands of I.S. Johar as a grizzled old engineer. It looks like a western and sounds like a western, and the original title Northwest Frontier completes the illusion that we're watching Cowboys and Indians rather than Indians and Moslems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth More, Lauren Bacall, (more)
- 1958
The British Ice Cold in Alex was released in the US as Desert Attack. John Mills stars as Captain Anson, a grumbling alcoholic sent on a WW2 mission to Alexandria. Travelling to his destination by ambulance, Anson becomes acquainted with his fellow passengers, nurses Sister Diane Murdoch (Sylvia Syms) and Sister Denise Norton (Mary Clare) and South African officer Captain Van Der Poel (Anthony Quayle). One of these worthies is a German spy-and only two of the passengers will survive until the fade-out. For its American release, Ice Cold in Alex was not only given a new title, but was also trimmed from 132 minutes to 79. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Sylvia Syms, (more)
- 1952
...And it ended in London. This backstage yarn stars Jane Hylton as a talented dress designer who lets nothing get in the way of her success. As she rises in the fashion world, she loses contact with her own humanity. She also forgets that you meet the same people on the way up as on the way down. It Started in Paradise is a unusually plush, Lana Turner-esque production to come from a British studio in the early 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martita Hunt, Jane Hylton, (more)
