Freddie Jones Movies

Two sisters engage in a subtle war for the affections of a man half their age in this British comedy drama. It's 1936, and Janet Widdington (Maggie Smith) and her sister, Ursula (Judi Dench), are a pair of elderly spinsters who share a home in Cornwall on the coast of England. After a storm, the sisters discover that someone has been washed up on the beach in front of their house. Bringing the body inside, they discover the victim is a handsome Polish man named Andrea Marowski (Daniel Brühl) who has suffered a broken ankle and speaks no English, only Polish and German. As the sisters patch up Andrea's ankle, Janet dusts off her old German textbook from school, and begins getting to know more about their guest. It isn't long before Janet develops an infatuation for the good-looking stranger, and attempts to teach him English, which is more than a bit maddening to Ursula, who has fallen head over heels for him -- especially after the sisters discover he's a gifted violinist and hear him display his craft on a borrowed instrument. As the sisters find themselves vying for Andrea's attention, they wonder if they should report his presence to the authorities, especially after Olga (Natascha McElhone), an attractive woman in her early thirties who lives nearby, becomes aware of Andrea's presence in the home and wants to make contact with him. Based on a short story by William J. Locke, Ladies in Lavender marked the directorial debut of actor Charles Dance. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The classic tale of swashbuckling adventure by the senior Alexandre Dumas comes to the screen in its umpteenth incarnation, this time from Kevin Reynolds, directing his first feature in five years. James Caviezel stars as Edmond Dantes, an honest sailor who plans to marry his beautiful lover Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk). Edmond doesn't know that his best friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce) secretly desires Mercedes for himself and schemes with fallen aristocrat Villefort (James Frain) to frame Edmond for a crime he didn't commit. Sentenced to life on the remote island prison of D'If, Edmond becomes consumed by plans for revenge. Thirteen years pass and he meets a fellow innocent convict, Abbe Faria (Richard Harris), who becomes Edmond's mentor in swordfighting, finance, and escape, confiding that a vast treasure awaits a discoverer on the island of Monte Cristo. Eventually, Edmond is able to get away using Faria's tunnels and makes his way to Monte Cristo, where he retrieves the fortune and uses it to make himself over as the wealthy "Count of Monte Cristo." With the help of a loyal sidekick (Luis Guzman), Edmond insinuates himself into French royalty and sets about getting revenge on Villefort and Fernand, who is now married to Mercedes. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) also stars Michael Wincott and Albie Woodington. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

A local bingo emporium finds itself competing against the big boys in this easygoing comedy. The La Scala is a theater in Wales that has offered drama, music, and movies to local audiences over the years, but is now being used as a bingo hall. The hall's manager, Giovanni Anzani (Freddie Jones), serves up free pasta in a bid to keep his dwindling clientele happy, but when it's announced that a major national chain, Mega Bingo, is opening a brand new hall just down the street, things look grim for Anzani and his staff. Linda (Kelly Macdonald) is especially upset. She's deep in debt following her mother's death, and her boyfriend Gavin (Jason Hughes) has just taken a job as a caller for the new bingo hall. Desperate, Anzani cuts his staff's salaries and scrapes up the money to use La Scala as part of a National Bonanza bingo tournament. If one of his patrons wins the million pound jackpot, his share would pull the hall out of debt and put him squarely in the black. In the midst of all this, Linda has recently discovered that she has a sort of ESP that allows her to predict the numbers before they're pulled, though she's not sure if or how she should put this gift to work. House! was directed by Julian Kemp, a newcomer to feature films with a strong background in children's television. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Like Tchaikovsky and other classical geniuses, Franz Schubert buried a dark and somewhat disturbing lifestyle beneath a myriad of extraordinary musical accomplishments. A notorious rake, Schubert contracted such a severe case of syphilis that he endured a forced hospitalization, yet his difficult recuperation and physical suffering reportedly inspired some of his most glorious works. The documentary The Double Life of Franz Schubert: An Exploration of His Life and Work unflinchingly hones in on this period of development and growth in Schubert's life. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Two years before Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan firmly established themselves as detectives Dalziel and Pascoe in the British cop series of the same name, comedians Gareth Hale and Norman Pace essayed the same roles in the semi-serious three-parter A Pinch of Snuff. Based on a novel by Reginald Hill, the story found Inspector Andy Dalziel (Hale) and Sgt. Peter Pascoe (Pace) investigating a murder at an upscale gentleman's club. The fact that the "club" was a front for a porno-film theater only served to add an extra dash of spice to the already zesty proceedings. A Pinch of Snuff made its British-TV premiere on April 9, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This European historical saga presents the true tale of intrigue, regicide, incest, and insanity on which Shakespeare based Hamlet. It begins in the ancient Danish kingdom of Jutland in the sixth century. There ambitious Prince Fenge (Gabriel Byrne) murders his brother the king and one of his sons, but masks it as the casualty of a highway robbery. The dark prince then claims both the throne and his former sister-in-law, queen Geruth (Helen Mirren). Her son Amled saw the killings, but feigns madness to spare his life. Amled then begins preparing his revenge. Fenge is not convinced of Amled's madness and arranges for a beautiful maid to seduce the truth out of him. That doesn't work so Fenge sends his nephew to visit the Scottish home of his friend Aethelwine (Brian Cox), who will receive orders to kill him. Amled learns of the plot and changes the orders, immediately winning Aethelwine's favor, winning a battle for the man, and marrying his daughter (Kate Beckinsale). Then the resourceful prince travels back to Jutland to deal with his uncle. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This drama is adapted from Dicken's unfinished novel and centers upon a choirmaster who is insanely jealous of his fiancee. This jealousy causes him many problems down the road. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Inspector Morse (John Thaw) and Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately) dig up another mystery in this episode of the popular British TV series. In "Who Killed Harry Field?," the duo investigate the mysterious death of the alcoholic artist of the episode's title. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

In this British drama, the sorts of Britons who live in colonial encampments outside of Britain tend to be the most conventional people imaginable, recreating a little bit of home (and not the most interesting bits) in whatever uncouth foreign place they have landed in. In this story, they are living in Africa, and Johnny Deacon (Tom Bell) is so very tired of them. He's tired of his ex-girlfriend who married another; he's tired of his ex-girlfriend's mother, and he's tired of the men. Instead of coping with them any longer, he goes on a solo journey down the Dark River, and there is a good possibility (which he knows at the outset) that he will not survive the experience. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

The three-part British-Australian TV production The Paper Man could be described as the miniseries equivalent of Citizen Kane. John Bach headed the huge cast as Philip Cromwell, a canny Australian entrepreneur who through "ways of his own" became his country's most powerful media mogul. Any resemblance between Cromwell and the real-life Rupert Murdoch was, of course, purely coincidental. Telecast in 1990, The Paper Man was seen in the United Kingdom via Granada Television, and in Australia over that continent's ABC network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A group of former CIA agents team up to ransom the entire world by staging an international crisis in the Orient. Only one man (Brian Kerwin), also an agent, can stop them. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Set in the 1830s, this historical drama stars Robin Soans as George Loveless, a Methodist minister whose flock is a group of working families in Tolpuddle, a small town in the British Southwest. Most of the workers in the community are under the thumb of Frampton (Robert Stephens), a ruthless land owner, and his overseer Clerk (Murray Melvin); Frampton and Clerk demand long hours from their workers and pay meager wages. Convinced that the workers deserve a better shake, Loveless, encouraged by organizer Mr. Pitt (Michael Hordern), forms the Society of Friends, an early labor union, and organizes the men to negotiate with Frampton for better pay. When their salaries are instead cut, Loveless and his men go on strike, which could cripple Frampton financially. However, Frampton is well-connected, and soon both the government and private militias are sent in to break the strike and punish the rebellious laborers. The supporting cast includes James Fox, Freddie Jones, and Vanessa Redgrave. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This TV adaptation of George Elliot's 1861 novel Silas Marner was one of the rare single-episode presentations of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. Ben Kingsley plays Silas Marner, who after being falsely accused of a crime and banished from his own town, becomes a miserly recluse in the small British community of Raveloe. When his precious cache of money is stolen by the town wastrel (Jonathan Coy) Silas can see no reason for going on with life. He is transformed from misanthrope to rehabilitated human being through the love of Eppie, an orphaned child left in his care. Patsy Kensit is featured as the grown-up Eppie. Originally taped in 1985 for the BBC, Silas Marner was first shown in the US on March 15, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi