Cleo Laine Movies
- 2000
- Add The Last of the Blonde Bombshells to QueueAdd The Last of the Blonde Bombshells to top of Queue
A group of trailblazing female musicians try to take another shot at success in this musical comedy-drama produced for the premium cable network HBO. In the 1940s, the Blonde Bombshells were the finest all-female jazz band in the U.K., playing hot swing music that helped raise England's spirits during the dark days of WWII. Fifty years later, Elizabeth (Judi Dench), one of the band's sax players, is trying to decide what to do with herself after the death of her husband. Pulling her axe out of mothballs, Elizabeth starts playing again, and after meeting Patrick (Ian Holm), the group's former manager (and drummer-in-drag), they decide to put the group back together for a reunion tour. But they soon discover that putting the band back on the road after over fifty years is no easy task. The Last of the Blonde Bombshells also stars Leslie Caron, Olympia Dukakis, and jazz vocalist Cleo Laine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judi Dench, Ian Holm, (more)
Vivien Leigh plays Karen Stone, a middle-aged actress whose career is in a tailspin. To assuage her hurt feelings, Karen goes on a vacation to Rome with her husband, who dies en route. Her best friend (Coral Browne) compassionately arranges for a young Italian escort (read: gigolo) to keep Karen from wallowing in her grief in Rome. The man hired for the task is sneering, contemptuous Pablo di Leo, played by Warren Beatty. Despite Pablo's rude behavior, the lonely Karen throws herself at him, showering him with expensive gifts and demanding his undivided attention. This being an adaptation of a Tennessee Williams novel, Blanche Dubois --er, Karen Stone must pay the piper for her eleventh-hour surfeit of passion; she is dispensed with by an "Angel of Death" in the form of psycho Jeremy Spencer. More operatic than dramatic, The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone represents the only feature-film directorial effort of experimental-theatre maven Jose Quintero; his assistant was future Bullitt helmer Peter Yates. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Vivien Leigh, Warren Beatty, (more)
- 1961
In this taut thriller, a philandering husband and his pregnant lover plot the death of his wife, her sister. Fortunately things don't happen has planned. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1958
Six-Five Special is an expansion on the popular BBC TV variety series of the same name. Not unlike America Bandstand, the BBC's Six-Five Special spotlighted England's top rock-and-roll and R&B acts, as well as a few talented newcomers on the verge of stardom. The predictable plotline involves a group of teenaged hopefuls who compete for the honor of a few minutes' glory on the "telly." This slender scenario is, of course, an excuse to trot 16 well-known singing acts across the screen. Among the performers featured on 6.5 Special are Lonnie Donegan, Petula Clark, Jim Dale, Johnny Dankworth, Cleo Lane, Mike & Bernie Winters and the King Brothers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lonnie Donegan, Jim Dale, (more)
