Annabel Leventon Movies

This romantic comedy concerns Kate Swallow (Carole Bouquet), who works in a French department store to help support her husband Alec (Jonathan Pryce), an egocentric novelist who insists on peace and quiet when he writes. Kate has literary aspirations herself, but Alec complains that the clacking of the keys on her laptop is too much of a distraction for him (he prefers to write longhand). Alec's editor Vanni Corso (Christopher Walken) has high hopes for his next book, which needs to sell well if his company is to pull itself out of the red. While Vanni is interested in Alec's novel, he also becomes interested in Alec's wife, and Kate becomes quite taken with Vanni as well. In time she leaves Alex to pursue a relationship with Vanni and work on her own book. Kate's novel turns out to do quite well indeed, but there's trouble in paradise when Vanni tells her he's not so sure her second novel is going to go anywhere. Business Affair was loosely based on the real-life literary and romantic travails of author Barbara Skelton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The story in this two-part TV biopic was probably "untold" mainly because it was untrue. According to the revisionist script by Stirling Silliphant, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (overplayed by George C. Scott) may have been a fascist, a tyrant, a mass murderer and an intimate of Adolf Hitler, but he also had his warm and fuzzy side. This was manifested in his genuine love for his gorgeous mistress Clara Petacci (Virginia Madsen), whose devotion to Il Duce was equally strong, so much so that she willingly went to her death along with him when the Axis collapsed and the ex-dictator was summarily shot. Despite his extramarital shenanigans, Mussolini had plenty of affection left over for his long-suffering wife Rachel (Lee Grant) and his children. With a cast comprised largely of non-Italians (notably the aggressively Irish Gabriel Byrne as Mussolini's son Vittorio), this epic had more phony dialects than a Marx Bros. picture. Despite its distant relation to the facts and its flaccid treatment of one of history's darkest periods, Mussolini: The Untold Story (filmed not in Italy but in Yugoslavia) garnered respectable ratings when it was originally telecast by NBC on November 24 and 26, 1985--and also earned a brace of Emmy award nominations. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British romance, a lively London lad decides to create a little excitement by dreaming up a convincing story involving the theft of a Rembrandt; he then tells the story to a local newspaper. According to the imaginative imp, the painting was stolen by a motely gang who worked for a powerful South African guerilla leader. Unfortunately for the boy, there is a real Rembrandt thief about, and he is out to get the boy before his lies end up getting the crook captured. Meanwhile, the boy is in love with a pretty girl, about whom he frequently fantasizes. He does get together with the girl for a while, but the she jilts him. Fortunately, by the story's end, the crook is captured, she returns, and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This low-budget freak show/cult classic/cultural institution concerns the misadventures of Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick) and Janet Weiss (Susan Sarandon) inside a strange mansion that they come across on a rainy night. After the wholesome pair profess their love through an opening song, their car breaks down in the woods, and they seek refuge in a towering castle nearby. Greeting them at the door is a ghoulish butler named Riff Raff (Richard O'Brien), who introduces them to a bacchanalian collection of partygoers dressed in outfits from some sort of interplanetary thrift shop. The host of this gathering is a transvestite clad in lingerie, Dr. Frank N. Furter (Tim Curry), a mad scientist who claims to be from another planet. With assistants Columbia (Nell Campbell) and Magenta (Patricia Quinn) looking on, Frank unveils his latest creation -- a figure wrapped in gauze and submerged in a tank full of liquid. With the addition of colored dyes and some assistance from the weather, Frank brings to life a blonde young beefcake wearing nothing but skimpy shorts, who launches into song in his first minute of life. Just when Brad and Janet think things couldn't get any stranger, a biker (Meat Loaf) bursts onto the scene to reclaim Columbia, his ex-girlfriend. When Frank kills the biker, it's clear that Brad and Janet will be guests for the night, and that they may be next on Frank's list -- whether for murder or carnal delights is uncertain. And just what is that mystery meat they're eating for dinner, anyway? In addition to playing Riff Raff, O'Brien wrote the catchy songs, with John Barry and Richard Hartley composing the score. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

This offbeat comedy finds Teddy (Marty Feldman) as a television advertising man given a seemingly meaningless project. Slated to make frozen porridge commercials, he comes up with the idea to find an erotic Goldilocks to sell the product. Soon a nationwide search is launched for the female spokesperson. He has trouble at home because his wife is the leader of the "Keep Television Clean" movement. Teddy dreams up a wild bunch of commercials and his daydreams harken back to silent era comedies. This was the first full length film for Feldman, the bug eyed comic who parlayed his television success in Britain into a comedy film career in Hollywood. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide