Ronald Lewis Movies

The main attraction of this teen romance is likely to be the soundtrack music of Elton John. A young English boy, suffering from neglect at home, runs away and becomes friends with a French girl in the same plight. Together, they go to an idyllic seaside location in France (the Camergue), become lovers, set up housekeeping, have a baby, and play at being responsible adults, discovering along the way many of the troubles involved. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This British adventure is set in mid-19th century India where a half-caste officer is court-martialed for cowardice. After he is drummed out, the embittered officer joins a wandering band of bandits and gets his revenge upon those who framed him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this epic medieval adventure, King Arthur is in his second decade of ruling Camelot when he becomes gravely ill and must journey to the castle of a good Saxon friend to recuperate. The ailing king does not know that the treacherous Saxons there are planning to kill him and commandeer the throne. At first the traitors' plans are foiled by a dashing outlaw who saves the king. Unfortunately, the Saxon dogs eventually succeed. Their leader tries to insure that he gets the crown by marrying Arthur's daughter. But instead, she goes off with another, causing the usurper to proclaim that she has died and that he is now the rightful king. Fortunately, she is not dead but off in the country seeking Merlin. She and her lover succeed and with the mighty magician manage to return to Camelot just as the new king is to be crowned. At this point the crusty Merlin demands that the Saxon prove his fitness to reign by removing Arthur's beloved Excalibur from its scabbard. Of course he fails. And of course the good princess succeeds. Immediately, the usurper and his band flee the country, but not before they are vanquished by the newly united British army. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Herman Melville's short novel Billy Budd is adapted for the screen, distinguished by Robert Krasker's expressive black-and-white cinematography and Peter Ustinov's crisp direction. Terence Stamp is Billy Budd, a seaman forced to serve in the British Navy during the war between England and France in 1797. Billy looks upon all men as inherently good and, although his crewmates are initially skeptical about this sailor who appears too good to be true, he proves his mettle by his skills as a sailor and gains the respect of the crew -- all except for the ship's reviled master-at-arms John Claggert (Robert Ryan), who attempts to poison Billy's reputation by accusing him of instigating a mutiny. When the ship's captain, Edward Vere (Peter Ustinov), questions Billy about the charges, Billy reacts by striking Claggert, who falls over and dies from a blow on the head. A court-martial is called and Vere has to determine whether Billy should be hanged or acquitted. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this heavy drama, a race car driver suffers a head injury on his wedding day and becomes a mental case. The couple puts off their honeymoon while he is treated by a psychiatrist. Later when they make love, he tries to strangle her. This behavior becomes a habit, for every time they are romantic he becomes insanely angry with her. He thinks he has really gone 'round the bend until he sees his new bride and the shrink together. He goes to the doctor and confronts him. In turn, the shrink tries to make the man believe that he is hallucinating. A chase ensues between the men. The frightened doctor tries to flee in a cable car and ends up having a fatal fall. The married couple then continues their honeymoon. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this 1961 William Castle film based on Ray Russell's novel Sardonicus, Guy Rolfe stars as the wicked Sardonicus, a wealthy count who wears a mask because his face is frozen in a horrifying death grimace. Ronald Lewis stars as Sir Robert Cargrave, a brilliant doctor who is at the top of his field in the early 20th century. A curious letter from his former love, Maude (Audrey Dalton), draws him to Europe where she lives in a remote castle with her brooding husband, his badly scarred, but dedicated man-servant, Krull (Oscar Homolka), and a frightened housekeeper whom Sir Robert finds tied up and covered with leeches. The good doctor soon discovers the truth behind the leeches...and the true nature of his visit when Sardonicus reveals his terrible story: He dug up his father's grave in search of a winning lottery ticket, and upon seeing the corpse, his face muscles froze leaving him looking like a living skull. Dangling Maude as his ransom, Sardonicus forces Sir Robert into attempting a radical treatment to make his face normal again, but even when it is a success, the evil Sardonicus can find no cure from the curse of his father's desecrated corpse. Castle appears in the climax to offer viewers an opportunity to afford additional punishment on Sardonicus which leads to a satisfying conclusion. ~ Patrick Legare, Rovi

The Wind Cannot Read is a tearful British star crossed romance effort set against the backdrop of World War II. RAF officer Dirk Bogarde is assigned to learn Japanese in order to interrogate prisoners. His language instructor is the lovely Yoko Tani, daughter of an anti-Tojo businessman. Bogarde and Tani fall in love and secretly marry. Not long afterward, Borgarde is captured and tortured by the Japanese. While listening to the POW camp radio loudspeaker, he hears the voice of Tani, broadcasting anti-British propaganda. At first heartbroken, Bogarde vows to be reunited with Tani when he discovers that she is dying from brain disease. Escaping from the camp, Bogarde finally makes his way to the hospitalized Tani, where they share a tender moment before death enshrouds her. Richard Mason based his script for The Wind Cannot Read on his own novel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

One of several feature film versions of the late 19th century novel by Rolf Boldrewood, this frontier adventure is set not in the Wild West of the U.S., but in the equally untamed Australian Outback of the same era. Two brothers, Jim (David McCallum) and Dick Marsten (Ronald Lewis) follow in their father's footsteps by leaving home to seek adventure as gunfighters. They become outlaws in the roving band led by stylish Captain Starlight (Peter Finch), who leads them on a series of escapades robbing banks and rustling cattle. Though they find the excitement and romance they craved, the Marstens soon become disillusioned with a life on the run and begin to wish that they could resume the mantle of honest, hard-working citizens. Unfortunately, events transpire to put the entire Starlight gang out of operation before the brothers can recommence their formerly law-abiding ways. Produced by Britain's Rank Organization, Robbery Under Arms (1957) was followed by a television series remake in 1985 and a handful of other films set against the colorful backdrop of the Australian frontier, including The Man from Snowy River (1982) and Quigley Down Under (1990). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Sailor Beware was originally released in England as Panic in the Parlour. The panic begins when a sailor named Albert (Ronald Lewis) plans to get married to a gal named Shirley (Shirley Eaton). On the day of the ceremony, Albert gets cold feet when he discovers that Shirley's gorgonlike mother Emma (Peggy Mount) has bought a house just three doors away from their honeymoon cottage. The question now is: how long will it be before the worm turns and Emma is put in her place by both her prospective son-in-law and her henpecked husband? Based on a popular stage comedy, Sailor Beware is worth watching today to spot an unbilled Michael Caine in a bit part as one of Albert's fellow seamen. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This fourth film version of A.E.W. Mason's adventure yarn The Four Feathers relies heavily on stock footage from the more famous 1939 adaptation (both were produced by Alexander Korda and codirected by Korda's brother Zoltan). Anthony Steel stars as 19th cntury British officer Harry Faversham, who begs off from serving with Kitchener's forces in the Sudan, preferring to stay in London with fiancee Mary Burroughs (Mary Ure). Almost immediately, Faversham receives the traditional "white feather" of cowardice from his three closest friends--and then is handed a fourth feather by Mary. Determined to prove that he is not a coward, Faversham heads off to the Sudan to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with his comrades. He also intends to return those dreaded feather to his three former friends, even resorting to native disguise at one point to do so. Laurence Harvey essays the old Ralph Richardson role of John Durrance, who is blinded by the sun and thus unaware of Faversham's true identity, while James Robertson Justice fills the shoes of Four Feathers' crusty C. Aubrey Smith ("War was war in my day, sir!") ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

British theatrical director Peter Glenville made his film directorial debut with 1955's The Prisoner (Glenville had previous helmed the London stage production of this Bridget Boland play). The film is based on the real-life travails of Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty, who after suffering under Nazi persecution was imprisoned by the new Communist regime for remaining loyal to his religious convictions. Alec Guinness, his head shaved, plays an unnamed Cardinal in an unspecified Eastern European country who is clapped into jail. Here he is ordered by the politicos to issue a phony statement to his flock, one that will effectively end Catholicism in his country. Jack Hawkins plays the diabolically clever "Interrogator", who is almost successful in convincing Guinness that his false statement will have a beneficial effect. The Prisoner fared better in its American release than it did in Europe, where it was branded both "pro-Communist" and "anti-Communist" by various single-issue pressure groups. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The contentious world of prizefighting provides the setting of this episodic drama that chronicles the lives of five different fighters. Each of the fighters explains their reasons for becoming professional pugilists. One of the fighters, Kid Curtis, ends up dead after a particularly brutal beating. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi