Philip Leaver Movies

Popular British film starlet Betta St. John essays a dual role as Toni and Terry Trent, twin entertainers hired to perform for the USO in Britain. After witnessing a murder, Terry abruptly vanishes, whereupon Toni asks Peter Brady to locate her missing sister. It is up to Brady to pull out his patented invisibility tricks to fool the gangsters holding Terry captive--but there's more to the intrigue than meets the eye (or in this case, doesn't meet the eye). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In anticipation of Elvis Presley's Kissin' Cousins, British rock-and-roll idol Tommy Steele plays a dual role in The Duke Wore Jeans. Tony (Steele) is a young nobleman who wants to wriggle out of an arranged marriage-especially since he's already taken a bride in secret. Upon meeting a carefree bloke named Tommy (also Steele), Tony talks his new friend into trading places. In a twinkling, Tommy is jetting off to the mythical banana republic of Rittalia, where he promptly gets mixed up in political intrigue. Playing the pretty princess whom Tony/Tommy is slated to marry is June Laverick, while Michael Medwin provides laughs as the obligatory comical valet. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in England, The Gamma People is a strange blend of "Prisoner of Zenda" type adventure, comic opera, cold war paranoia and science fiction. The film is set in Gudavia, a mythical European country ruled by scientists. These misguided intellectuals have been utilizing gamma rays to create a race of genius-level supermen, Instead, they wind up either with emotionless automatons or hulking, mindless brutes. American newsman Paul Douglas and British photographer Leslie Phillips, literally stumbling into this situation, attempt to save the day. Also battling the Gamma People is Eva Bartok, the sister of one of the human "experiments". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This anthology tells three stories of feminine crime. In the first vignette, a woman must decide whether or not to rat upon her lover, a killer. In the second a kleptomaniac girl faces prison until her true love shows up to save her. The third tale centers on a wife who knows that her husband has killed his accountant, but loyally keeps silent until she learns that he has been cheating upon her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Virtually every Lutheran in America has seen Martin Luther during a church-basement screening. Niall McGinniss plays the title role, while the rest of the cast is an adroit mixture of professional actors, clerics and Biblical scholars. The film recounts Martin Luther's 16th-century break from Catholicism, his posting of the 95 theses, and his ultimate creation of the Protestant Movement. The dramatic highlight is Luther's "Here I stand" speech, straightforwardly directed by Irving Pichel (who also plays a supporting role). Filmed in West Germany, Martin Luther was a collaboration between Lutheran Productions Inc. and Louis de Rochemont associates. The film caused a minor brouhaha when its Chicago TV debut in 1956 was successfully blocked by the local Catholic Archdiocese. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Most baby-boomers are familiar with the Powell-Pressburger production of the Offenbach opera Tales of Hoffman only through the full-color stills from the film which were reproduced in the "Motion Picture" section of The World Book Encyclopedia. If this is your only memory of the film, we advise you to seek out a copy of this lengthy but visually enthralling picture as soon as possible. Metropolitan opera star Robert Rounseville plays Hoffman, a university student who is spectacularly unlucky in affairs of the heart. Each of his love affairs with Olympia (Moira Shearer), Giulietta (Ludmilla Tcherina) and Antonia (Ann Ayars) is doomed to failure due to circumstances far beyond our hero's control (Olympia, for example, turns out to be nothing more than a life-sized mechanical doll). As in the previous Powell-Pressburger collaboration The Red Shoes, the film's best moments are its ballet sequences, choreographed by Jane Ashton. Offenbach's score is given a splendid rendition by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of the legendary Sir Thomas Beecham. Most prints of Tales of Hoffman run 118 minutes, eliminating the closing "Tale of Antonia" sequence; the laserdisc version has been restored to 127 minutes, while the search goes on for the complete 138-minute negative. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Detective Dyall is requested to solve the mystery of the incinerated heiress, a friend of his secretary Lang. ~ All Movie Guide

The British Alibi is based on the warhorse story by Marcel Archard, previously filmed in France in 1931. Raymond Lovell steps into the old Erich Von Stroheim role as Professor Winkler, a phony mystic playing to capacity crowds in Paris. Confronting a man who'd previously exposed him as a fraud in the US, Winkler kills the man. He then establishes an alibi by paying nightclub hostess Helene (Margaret Lockwood) to tell the police that she was in his company at the time of the murder. The upshot of this is that Helene herself is accused of the crime. Hoping to get to the truth of the matter, Inspector Calas (Hugh Sinclair) asks his deputy Andre Laurent (James Mason) to pretend to be in love with Helene. The plot thickens when Laurent genuinely falls for the distressed damsel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This Man is News is a British imitation of Hollywood's Thin Man pictures. The "Nick and Nora" herein are Barry K. Barnes as an investigative reporter and Valerie Hobson as his helpful wife (?) After writing a series of articles about an elusive gang of jewel thieves, Barnes is framed for robbery. He goes after the crooks himself, despite the "cease and desist" warnings of Scotland Yard and his own editor. This Man is News did well enough to warrant a sequel, but This Man in Paris did poorly enough to bring this would-be series to an abrupt end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Lady Vanishes, Alfred Hitchcock's comedy-thriller, came at the end of his British period; this film's success brought Hitchcock to the attention of Hollywood. He would complete only one other British production, Jamaica Inn, before crossing the Atlantic to working for David O. Selznick on Rebecca. The film concerns the young Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood), heading home on a train after spending the holidays in the Balkans. Iris becomes friends with a kindly old lady, Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty) after Iris gets hit in the head with a flowerpot meant for Miss Froy. On the train, recovering from the blow, Iris falls asleep. When she awakens, Miss Froy has vanished, replaced by someone else in Miss Froy's clothing. Iris talks to the other passengers, a bizarre collection of eccentrics who think that Iris is crazy for insisting on there even being a Miss Froy -- everyone denies having ever seen the old woman. Finally, Iris finds a young musician, Gilbert (Michael Redgrave), who believes her and the two proceed to search the train for clues to Miss Froy's disappearance. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

British musical comedy star Gracie Fields made a bid for stardom in the U. S. with this lighthearted story. Music hall entertainer Gracie Gray (Fields) has grown tired of dealing with her less-than-honest manager and quits her job in the revue, with the rest of the cast soon following suit. Gracie moves out to her uncle's farm, with her friends tagging along; they happen to meet Bert (Roger Livesey), a successful musician, and with his help and advice, Gracie and the gang work up a whole new act. Taking their routines to the stage of a theater in Brighton, Bert and Gracie's show proves to be a huge hit. As usual, Fields sings several songs, including "Swing Your Way to Happiness" and "The Holy City." Notable among the supporting cast is Skippy the dog, who as "Asta" became a scene-stealer in The Thin Man. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide