Humphrey Lestocq Movies

Steed infiltrates a school for butlers in order to unmask a traitor. While he is being drilled in the finer points of silent servitude, Emma attempts to charm her way into the heart of a suspected turncoat who is also a notorious lecher. If any doubts still lingered that The Avengers was not intended to be taken seriously, this episode would dispell them instantly. Written by Brian Clemens, "What the Butler Saw" first aired in England on February 26, 1966; it was subsequently shown on American network television on July 28, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

No, this isn't Noel Coward's Design for Living, it's the British "beat generation" comedy Design for Loving. Hoping to capture the youth market, fashion mogul-ess June Thorburn hires beatnik Pete Murray as her chief consultant. Murray is actually a nobleman in disguise, so you can imagine the comic complications. This is one of those "trendy" films of the 1960s that wound up an anachronism almost from the moment it hit the theatres. Design for Loving was released in the US by Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Timothy Bateson stars as a timorous bank clerk who fancies himself a brilliant scientist. Experimenting with alchemy in his spare time, Bateson stumbles across a method of manufacturing gold. Naturally, a group of unscrupulous businessmen gets wind of Bateson's marvelous discovery, and do their best (or worst) to appropriate it for themselves. Before the picture is over, the nervous clerk is obliged to rescue his kidnaped girlfriend Maureen Beck. Featured in the cast of The Golden Rabbit is Willoughby Goddard, whom 1950s TV addicts will remember as Gessler on the weekly series William Tell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The British The Court Martial of Major Keller is similar in theme if not in outcome to the American film Time Limit. Major Keller (Lawrence Payne) is up on charges for killing his superior officer. He refuses to defend himself, leaving it to his attorney to probe the reason for his silence. An intensive line of questioning reveals that Keller's motives were patriotic: His commander was about to desert to the enemy. Court Martial of Major Keller was written by Brian Clemens, a loyal staffer on TV's long-running The Avengers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, a safe designer suffers amnesia after jewel thieves trick him into cracking a safe. He cannot clear his name until he can regain his memory. His wife assists him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a prominent doctor marries a wealthy young woman. Their happiness is marred when a French woman begins blackmailing him with her claims that they are still married. Her actions cause an investigation and it is revealed that he'd been involved in the underground. As a result, his life is nearly destroyed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The off-spring of the legendary British bandit dons his father's tights to help save his countrymen from the tyrannical rule of an evil aristocrat. Unfortunately, the "son" is a sham and after several unsuccessful attempts to stop the nasty nobleman, the merry men decide to send for Robin's real son. Imagine their surprise when they discover that Robin, Jr. is a she! Still the men rally around her and the imposter. Together they successfully defeat the evil-doer and the country is again safe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Johnny Fraser is a middle-class Briton jealous of the conspicuous consumption of his next door neighbors (Peter Reynolds, Lana Morris). To show them up, Fraser buys his wife (Eileen Moore) a valuable mink jacket. He goes deeply into debt, then goes deeper still as he borrows to pay for the loan that he's already taken out. Overwhelmed by his creditors, Fraser ends up selling the mink coat to pay for the loan that paid for the loan that paid for the mink coat... A "good beginning", indeed! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The British Conflict of Wings was also released as Fuss over Feathers: Both titles are applicable, but only the second title captures the mood of the proceedings. The story takes plays in a Norfolk-country village, where the populace is up in arms over the announcement that the RAF plans to build a target range. It seems that the village is the site for a bird sanctuary that was allegedly established 400 years earlier by King Henry VIII. Faced with an intractable government and an equally unsympathetic bureaucracy, the villages decide to resolve matters in their own inimitable way. Commendably, the RAF is not cast as the villain of the piece: both sides are well represented in the argument, though audience sympathy understandably leans in the direction of the bird-huggers. Conflict Over Wings was adapted by Don Sharp from his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Angels One Five" is the cognomen bestowed upon a group of WW II British fighter pilots. The squadron leader is Tiger Small (Jack Hawkins), who is taken out of commission after an accident. Despite the protests from his fellow flyboys, Tiger insists upon taking to the air again, thereby setting the stage for the film's exciting and inspirational finale. Angels One Five differs from other combat films in that the battles generally take place offscreen; the progress of the principal characters is relayed to the audience via radio reports and control-room charts. If this sounds dull and static, it isn't: in fact, Angels One Five is among the best of the "Battle of Britain" war epics. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Charles Saunders based his screenplay for Come Back Peter on a play by A.P. Dearsley. The story concerns an elderly British couple (Humphrey Lestocq, Kathleen Boutall) who move from their old home to smaller but comfortable newer digs. The couple is then invaded by their grown children, who insist upon moving in with them. Some laughs, some tears, some pretzels, some beers. Come Back Peter went down easily in a brisk 80 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stop Press Girl is admittedly a one-joke film, though that joke is a good one. Sally Ann Howes plays a winsome British lass who has the power to stop all machinery around her for a period of 15 minutes. It must needs be that Sally falls in love with a newspaperman, thereby justifying the film's title. The plot rears its ugly head when our heroine is reluctantly involved in an attempt to sabotage a rival newspaper. Stop Press Girl is one of those British comedies that used to pop up all over the place on American TV, only to virtually disappear in the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide