Derek Jacobi Movies
One of Britain's most distinguished stage performers, Derek Jacobi is one of two actors (the other being Laurence Olivier) to hold both Danish and English knighthoods. Primarily known for his work on the stage, he has also made a number of films and remains best-known to television audiences for his stunning portrayal of the titular Roman emperor in I, Claudius.Born in Leytonstone, East London, on October 22, 1938, Jacobi was raised with a love of film, and he began performing on the stage while attending an all-boys school. Thanks to the school's single sex population, his first roles with the drama club -- until his voice broke -- were all female. It was with one of his first male roles that Jacobi earned his first measure of acclaim: playing Hamlet in a school production staged at the 1957 Edinburgh Festival, he made enough of an impression that he was approached by an agent from Twentieth Century Fox. Ultimately deemed too young to be signed to the studio, Jacobi instead went to Cambridge University, where he studied history and continued acting. His stage work at Cambridge was prolific and allowed him to work with classmates Ian McKellen and Trevor Nunn, and, thanks to his performance as Edward II, landed him his first job after graduation. Jacobi acted with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre until his portrayal of Henry VIII attracted the attention of Laurence Olivier. Olivier was so impressed with Jacobi's work that he invited him to London to become one of the eight founding members of the prestigious National Theatre.
Jacobi went on to become one of his country's most steadily employed and respected actors, performing in numerous plays over the years on both sides of the Atlantic (in 1985, he won a Tony Award for his work in Much Ado About Nothing). He also branched out into film and television, making his film debut with a secondary role in Douglas Sirk's Interlude (1957). He acted in numerous film adaptations of classic plays, including Othello (1965) and The Three Sisters (1970). However, it was through his collaborations with Kenneth Branagh on various screen adaptations of Shakespeare that he became most visible to an international film audience, appearing as the Chorus in Branagh's acclaimed 1989 Henry V and as Claudius in the director's 1996 full-length adaptation of Hamlet. Jacobi made one of his most memorable (to say nothing of terrifying) screen impressions in Branagh's Hitchcock-inspired Dead Again (1991), portraying a hypnotist with a very shady background. In 1998, Jacobi earned more recognition with his portrayal of famed painter Francis Bacon in John Maybury's controversial Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon.
On television, in addition to his celebrated work in I, Claudius, Jacobi has also earned praise for his roles in a number of other productions. In 1989, he won an Emmy for his performance in the 1988 adaptation of Graham Greene's The Tenth Man. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Author Yoram Kaniuk's celebrated 1971 novel concerning a charismatic yet questionably sane Holocaust survivor comes to the screen in this dark drama starring Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, and Derek Jacobi. In the years before World War II, Adam Stein (Goldblum) was a Berlin entertainer who thrilled audiences with extravagant circus acts and spectacular magic tricks. Later, when Hitler took power and Europe was plunged into chaos, Stein and his family were locked away in a concentration camp presided over by the sadistic Commandant Klein (Dafoe). The only reason Stein survived those dreadful years was because he managed to become the commandant's personal "dog," entertaining his captors even as his wife and daughter are marched off to die. Flash-forward to 1961, when Stein is a patient at an Israeli mental hospital for Holocaust survivors. Seemingly able to read minds, Stein confounds head doctor Nathan Gross (Jacobi) with the question "Who brought a dog in here?" Despite Gross' vehement denial that any such animal is on the premises, Stein soon tracks the scent to a young boy who has spent his entire youth locked in a basement and chained to a wall. Over time, Stein and the boy see in each other something undeniably familiar, and the two kindred spirits set out on a remarkable journey together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, (more)
- 2002
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Based on the stories by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig,Angelina Ballerina: The Show Must Go On features the titular mouse losing out on the chance to play the lead in a school production. She selfishly quits the play when given a secondary part, but after an accident she learns her lesson and selflessly commits herself to making sure the play goes on. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Based on a Victorian novel by Wilkie Collins, Basil is a British-made costume drama that ended up on cable and home video. Jared Leto plays Basil, a well-to-do young aristocrat with an uptight Victorian father (Derek Jacobi). He befriends the mysterious gentleman John Mannion (Christian Slater) and falls in love with the lower-class girl Julia Sherwin (Claire Forlani). His father is upset about his questionable choices and threatens to disown him, thereby renouncing his birthright to inherit Windemere Manor. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jared Leto, Christian Slater, (more)
- 1980
The untimely demise of an estate owner is planned by his butler who hopes to gain control of his properties. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
A scheming servant intends to be the new owner of his employer's mansion, but a recent German staff recruit makes things difficult for him. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Originally produced for the BBC and Masterpiece Theatre, Breaking the Code tells the life story of the famed mathematician and computer science pioneer Alan Turing, the primary designer of the Turing Machine, an early computer used to solve the German Enigma code during World War II, a solution many believe was instrumental in the Allied victory. The title refers to both the solution of the Enigma code and Turing's open admission to his homosexuality, which at the time violated not only the codes of polite society but British law. Hugh Whitemore's screenplay, based upon his play and Andrew Hodges' book Alan Turing: The Enigma, frames Turing's life as a puzzle, beginning in 1952 with the mysterious robbery of some of the mathematician's few possessions. The rest of the film travels backwards and forwards through time, providing associative glimpses of Turing's past and present, including his school days, his wartime efforts, and his post-war experiences. Discussions of his mathematical and logical work alternate with glimpses of his turbulent personal life, including his boyhood love, the unrequited attentions of his female assistant, and his later relationships with younger men, drawing connections between his theoretical work and his personal traumas. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Jacobi
- 1996
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In acquiescence to the wish of the Prior of Shrewsbury Abbey to have the bones of St. Winifred on display, a group of monks trek to Wales to dig up her remains. The monks are met with great hostility that escalates when a man opposed to their excavation is found dead. The monks are held under suspicion, and things are further complicated by a young monk's insistence that he is seeing visions of St. Winifred. Although Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) exposes the monk's vision as fraudulent, he withholds the truth behind the monk's lies. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Adapted for television by Russell Lewis from the novel by Ellis Peters, "Monk's Hood" was the fourth in a series of 90-minute Cadfael mysteries. In 12th century Shrewsbury, a young man is murdered, apparently so that the killer can get his or her hands on the victim's inheritance. Investigating the case, warrior-turned-monk Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) is enmeshed in the bureaucracy of conflicting Welsh and Norman Laws. Complicating matters is the fact that the dead man was killed by one of Cadfael's own poisonous concoctions -- and, even more intriguing, the victim's widow Aldith (Sophie Lawrence) was Cadfael's childhood sweetheart. First broadcast in England on June 19, 1994, "Monk's Hood" appeared in America a few months later as part of the PBS anthology Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Jacobi
Based on the novel by Ellis Peters, "One Corpse Too Many" was the first of thirteen 90-minute Cadfael mysteries, focusing on the exploits of a murder-solving monk in 12th century Shrewsbury. While sifting through the bodies of rebels recently executed on the orders of King Stephan (Michael Grandage), Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi stumbles across a corpse that doesn't belong there. With the help of his unofficial assistant, landowner/sheriff Hugh Beringer (Sean Pertwee), Cadfael assembles the necessary evidence to uncover a murderer. Adapted for television by Paul Pendar, "One Corpse Too Many" originally aired in Britain on May 29, 1994, and shortly thereafter was seen in America as part of PBS' Mystery anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Jacobi
- 1997
Brother Cadfael and his fellow 12th Century holy men at Shrewsbury Abbey return in this mystery based on the novel by Ellis Peters. The festivities of the annual Shrewsbury Fair are spoiled when a travelling merchant is murdered; his harsh personality earned him few friends among the local salespeople, but Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) believes something more serious than an argument gone too far is involved -- especially after another merchant is killed. A young woman's life is put in danger by the crimes, and she's brought to the Abbey for her own safety; however, she's kidnapped shortly after the key suspect dies while trying to escape questioning. As Cadfael and his brothers attempt to find the girl, the former soldier finds himself challenged to a battle with swords by the man responsible for the killings. Brother Cadfael: St. Peter's Fair was produced for British television and first aired in America on the PBS series Mystery!. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Jacobi
- 1996
Ellis Peters' 12th-century monk who finds time in his daily devotionals to ferret out crime comes alive in this made-for-TV drama. A young man named Meriet (Christian Anholt) arrives at Shrewsbury Abbey eager to become a novice, but Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) somehow doubts the boy's good intentions, and a Senior Cleric decides to take a look into his past. When the Cleric turns up dead, Meriet confesses to the murder, but once Cadfael learns more about the young man's troubled history, he wonders if Meriet might be offering himself as a sacrifice to cover someone else's tracks. Brother Cadfael: The Devil's Novice also features Terence Hardiman and Mark Charnock; the drama was originally shown in the U.S. as part of the PBS series Mystery! ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
When a flood threatens to engulf Shrewbury Abbey, the monks quickly remove all the sacred objects, including the precious relics of St. Winifred. After the deluge, it is discovered that those relics have been stolen. While trying to solve the crime, Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) must protect the truth about the relics (which he uncovered in the previous Cadfael episode "A Morbid Taste for Bones"). He must also discern the link between the robbery, the kidnapping of a slave girl (Louise Delamere), the horrible confessions of a penitent monk (Julian Firth), and a thread of fabric found upon a corpse. Adapted by Ben Rostul from the novel by Ellis Peters, the 90-minute Cadfael drama "The Holy Thief" originally aired in England on June 23, 1998, and shortly thereafter was seen in America as part of PBS' Mystery anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1994
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This 90-minute Cadfael mystery gets under way when the lovely Iveta (Tara Fitzgerald) balks at the prospect of her arranged marriage to the wealthy and powerful Baron Huon. Amateur sleuth Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) of Shrewbury Abbey is drawn in to the situation when both the Baron and Iveta's guardian are found dead. Who did it? And why did the Baron ride off to parts unknown on the day of his wedding? Adapted by Paul Pendar from the novel by Ellis Peters, "The Leper of St. Giles" was originally telecast in England on June 12, 1994, then subsequently aired on the American public-TV anthology series Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This 90-minute Cadfael mystery first aired in England on December 28, 1998. Set in 12th century Shrewbury, the story concerns two religious pilgrims: an older man and his devoted young companion. A corpse is found tied in a sack -- could the pilgrims be responsible for the murder, or is one of the men covering for the other? Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi), ex-warrior, present monk, and dilettante detective, uses his scientific know-how to get to the bottom of things. Adapted by Richard Stoneman from the novel by Ellis Peters, "Pilgrim of Hate" was seen in the United States during the 1998-1999 season of the PBS Mystery anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The unidentified body of a woman is discovered in a field near Shrewbury Abbey. The locals suspect that the dead woman was the wife of town potter Ruald (Gregor Tutter), who claims not to have seen his wife since she went on a pilgrimage the year before. Suspected of murder, Ruald puts his fate in the hands of amateur sleuth Brother Cadfael ( Derek Jacobi), who tries to make sense of such seemingly unrelated clues as a vial of hemlock and a missing ring. As the evidence mounts, Cadfael begins to suspect that the killer is lurking somewhere within the abbey itself. Adapted by Christopher Russell from the novel by Ellis Peters, "The Potter's Field" was first broadcast in England on December 28, 1998; it was shown in America the following year as part of the PBS Mystery anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1997
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The new parish priest of Shrewsbury, Father Ailnoth, proves to be most unpopular with his parishioners. After refusing to baptize the illegitimate baby of a prostitute, he's found dead in the river; unsurprisingly, there is no shortage of murder suspects. Cadfael's (Derek Jacobi) subsequent investigation fails to expose the murderer, but a new clue presents itself when he finds the priest's old skull cap on a nail underneath the bridge. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
After Brother Eluric, a young monk, begins courting a beautiful young widow in Shrewsbury town he is found brutally murdered. Cadfael's (Derek Jacobi) ensuing investigation lead from Eluric's death to another murder, which exposes the greed and hypocrisy at work amongst the town's residents. The widow, meanwhile, has no interest in any of her numerous suitors, but ends up finding love with a very unlikely candidate for her affections. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Twelfth century warrior-turned-monk Brother Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) tackles another murder mystery in the 90-minute drama "The Sanctuary Sparrow." A prominent goldsmith is robbed and murdered during his son's wedding. Accused of the crime, traveling juggler Walter (Roy Barraclough) takes refuge in Shrewbury Abbey. Believing in the juggler's innocence, Cadfael uses his scientific know-how to scrutinize the clues at hand -- and comes to the unpleasant conclusion that the actual murderer is someone he knows all too well. Adapted by Russell Lewis from the novel by Ellis Peters, "The Sanctuary Sparrow" aired in England on June 5, 1994, then ran in the U.S. as part of the PBS anthology Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Derek Jacobi stars in this 12th century drama as Brother Cadfael, a former soldier in the Crusades who has become a monk but occasionally pauses in doing the Lord's work to solve the occasional mystery. In this story, Oswin, a novice under Cadfael, confesses to the rape and murder of a young nun whose body is found in a nearby stream. Convinced Oswin is innocent, Cadfael begins investigating the crime and discovers the foul activities of a group of rouge soldiers from the Crusades, as well as a young squire who might be his son. Brother Cadfael: Virgin in the Ice was produced for British television and was first shown in America as part of the PBS series Mystery! ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Jacobi
- 1980
- R
In a true story beginning in the year before the outbreak of WW II in France, Charlotte (Birgit Doll), a young woman sent to the safety of her grandfathers in the south of France by her Jewish family in Germany, starts to paint pictures that recall some of the terrors she has already known in Germany before leaving. The movie slips back and forth between the memories her paintings conjure up, and her life in France. At first, back in Germany, Charlotte was convinced that her own optimistic, romantic outlook would save her from all harm. But then that self-deception fades a little as her father, a doctor, is picked up by the Gestapo. Even though her father's release is finally secured by Charlotte's step-mother (an opera singer), the situation steadily deteriorates until her parents send her away in the hope that she will be better off in France. Once there, the harsh reality intrudes so much on her life that not even her paintings can afford her any solace. Her despair becomes stronger as the Nazi atrocities begin to multiply, affording her little real hope of survival. An epilogue to the movie tells the audience the fate of the real Charlotte, since the movie ends before that time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Birgit Doll, Derek Jacobi, (more)
