Alastair Hunter Movies

This romantic comedy finds Candida (Barbara Ferris) going to live with her elderly spinster aunts after the death of her father. Finding things very unexciting there, she quickly leaves for Paris and enrolls in a university to study. She becomes pregnant after meeting a young student at a museum. When the baby is born, she manages to convince the nosey relatives she is just caring for the baby of a friend. A trip to Italy finds her in the arms of an American man and Candida is soon pregnant again. A woman gives her baby to Candida as she prepares to leave for home at the train station. She suddenly has two young babies and another on the way, getting far more education than she had bargained for. Her main confidant is Savage (Harry Andrews), her late father's caretaker, to whom she reveals the truth about her experiences. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In this children's movie some kids work to recondition an abused cow. With love and patience they restore it to health, protect it from the wicked rustlers, and enter it in a dairy show. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

British musical star Tommy Steele had starred in Half a Sixpence in London and on Broadway, thus he was first choice for this garish film version. Based on the H.G. Wells story Kipps (previously filmed in 1941 with Michael Redgrave), Half a Sixpence tells the tale of a humble London drapery clerk (Steele) who inherits a fortune. He briefly forgets his old mates and his faithful girl friend (Julia Foster), but soon discovers that High Society isn't his cup of tea. Filmed during the "monster musical" cycle fostered by The Sound of Music, Half a Sixpence isn't really suited for the spectacular approach dictated by co-producer Charles H. Schneer. Fortunately, the guiding directorial hand is the film's other producer: George Sidney, a veteran of MGM's Arthur Freed unit, who knew how to successfully weld music with story. Thanks to Sidney and star Steele, Half a Sixpence never gets too out of hand, though we'd argue with some of the eyestrain-inducing color choices in the bigger numbers. The film might have done better at the box office had the score yielded a few hit songs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime thriller, a convicted embezzler kidnaps his son after his release from prison, not knowing that the boy is diabetic and will die without insulin injections. The police launch a massive manhunt. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a man chooses an unethical way to help keep a financially struggling boy's club from closing down, by threatening to publish incriminating articles about prominent people who have recently died. His blackmail scheme is successful until he attempts to extort from a gangster's family. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Director John Ford traveled to England to film this adaptation of the novel by J.J. Maraca, which details a typical day in the busy life of a detective for Scotland Yard. Inspector George Gideon (Jack Hawkins) begins his working day by confronting one of his fellow officers who is believed to be accepting graft. The sergeant stubbornly denies the charge, but he dies later the same day in a mysterious hit-and-run accident that piques Gideon's curiosity. While confronting internal strife within Scotland Yard, Gideon also has more typical crimes to investigate, including a murder in Manchester and a burglary in London, both of which were performed by the same vicious criminal. Gideon himself becomes the victim of a holdup and is forced to take a bullet for his troubles, while on the home front he finds himself in disfavor with his family when he forgets to bring home salmon for dinner and lets his daughter's recital slip his mind. Along with Jack Hawkins, Gideon's Day features a stellar cast of British actors, including Cyril Cusack, Anna Massey, Laurence Naismith, Dianne Foster, and Billie Whitelaw. For its initial American release, Gideon's Day (also shown as Gideon of Scotland Yard) was cut from 91 minutes to a mere 54, and distributed in black and white prints instead of the original Technicolor. Fortunately, nearly all the prints currently in circulation are of the uncut, color edition. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama a murderer covers his tracks by framing his wife. He does this by posing as his victim and forcing his wife to shoot him (with a blank-filled gun). The woman then confesses her crime. Fortunately, a sharp-eyed police inspector doesn't buy her story and soon brings the real killer to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Wicked as They Come stars Arlene Dahl as Kathy Allen, whose sour attitude on life has been formed by a sexual assault in her childhood. Rising out of the shabbiness of the Lower East Side, Kathy ruthlessly climbs the social and financial ladder by using and then abandoning a series of gullible older men. When she finally gets what she wants out of life, it still isn't enough, and it is this insatiability that leads to her downfall. Extensive location filming in London and Paris adds an exotic touch to this predictable melodrama. Wicked as They Come is based on Portrait in Smoke, a novel by Bill Ballington. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a shop assistant finds a briefcase containing a large sum of money. His daughter's creepy boyfriend steals the case. He gets his just desserts when he discovers that the cash is counterfeit. The whole mess works out for the best when the resultant brouhaha brings in scores of new customers to his shop. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Dark Avenger was the European-release title of the Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Warriors; 20th Century-Fox handled European distribution, while Allied Artists released the film stateside. Lensed on location in Hertfordshire, England, the film stars Flynn as Edward, the "Black Prince" of England. At the end of the Hundred Years' war, Edward remains in France to guard the lands taken by his predecessor-father. He is opposed in this by the heavy of the piece, Count DeVille (Peter Finch). The story comes to a rousing conclusion as Edward and his followers defend their castle against DeVille's minions. Joanne Dru costars in Dark Avenger as Lady Joan Holland, who like Count DeVille is wholly a product of screenwriter Daniel B. Ullman's imagination. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Trouble in the Glen was one of several felicitous collaborations between Hollywood's Republic Pictures and England's Herbert Wilcox-Anna Neagle productions. Curiously, Ms. Neagle does not appear--just as well, since the film is dominated by Orson Welles. Introducing himself with a typically self-indulgent monologue, the porcine Mr. Welles plays a South American resident who returns to his ancestral home in Scotland to become "Laird of the Glen". He immediately alienates the local populace by closing down the highway that runs through his estate. Hoping to make peace between Welles and the locals is former US air force officer Forrest Tucker, who developed an affection for the community while being stationed there during WWII. Violence threatens to erupt when evicted tinker Victor McLaglen rounds up a gang of toughs to lay siege on Welles' castle. The scenes involving Tucker's polio-crippled daughter (Margaret McCourt) run the risk of sloppy sentiment, but are deftly handled by producer-director Wilcox. Margaret Lockwood costars as Welles' daughter, who adheres to Hollywood formula by falling in love with the handsome Tucker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The always welcome Greta Gynt plays a mystery writer in Three Steps in the Dark. Greta's uncle, millionaire Nicholas Hannen, calls his heirs together to announce a change in his will. Someone isn't pleased with this codocil, and Hannen is promptly done away with. Herself a suspect, Greta circumvents the cops to solve the mystery herself. With only 60 minutes at its disposal, this British meller dispenses with such inconsequentials as characterization and logic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like many of the Robert S. Baker-Monty Berman productions of the 1950s, the British White Fire was released stateside by Lippert Films. Hollywood's Scott Brady heads the cast as US merchant marine officer Gregor Stevens. Arriving in London to pay his brother a visit, Stevens discovers that his sibling is to be hanged for murder within three days. After digesting this unpleasant news morsel, Stevens sets about to prove his brother's innocence. Before the 72 hours has transpired, our hero has become involved with a gang of diamond smugglers--not to mention gorgeous nightclub chanteuse Yvonne Durante (Mary Castle). Director John Gilling cowrote the screenplay with Paul Erickson, who also appears in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide