Frederick Lloyd Movies

The second of director David Lean's adaptations of a Charles Dickens novel (Great Expectations (1946) was the first), Oliver Twist expertly boils down an enormous novel to a little less than two hours' screen time. The film begins with baby Oliver left on the doorstep of an orphanage/workhouse by his unwed mother. Proving a difficult charge to the wicked orphanage official, Oliver (John Howard Davies) is sold into a job as an undertaker's apprentice. He runs away and joins a gang of larcenous street urchins, led by master pickpocket Fagin (Alec Guinness). Oliver is rescued from this life by the kindly Mr. Brownlow (Henry Stephenson); but, with the complicity of evil Bill Sikes (Robert Newton), Fagin abducts Oliver. Sikes' girl friend Nancy (Kay Walsh) restores Oliver to Brownlow, leading to tragic consequences before an ultimately happy ending. Oliver Twist was filmed in England in 1948, but its American release was held up for three years due to the allegedly anti-Semitic portrayal of the duplicitous Fagin. Even in its currently censored form, Oliver Twist is one the best-ever film versions of a Dickens novel. It served as a blueprint for Oliver! (1968), the Oscar-winning musical version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Laurence Olivier plays a young Londoner implicated in a brutal murder. According to the rules of British law, he is permitted 21 days of comparative freedom from the time of the first hearing to the time of trial -- provided he does not leave London. As the three weeks pass, Olivier falls deeply in love with girlfriend Vivien Leigh, who at first believes in his innocence. But as the deadline approaches, Olivier's mood swings and erratic behavior shakes Leigh's faith in him. Scripted by British suspense expert Graham Greene, 21 Days Together was originally released under the simpler title 21 Days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The WW1 melodrama I Married a Spy was originally released in England in 1937 under the title Secret Lives (the title of the Paul de Sainte Colombe novel upon which it was based). German film favorite Birgitte Horney stars as Lena Schmidt, a Teutonic lass who is forced into a marriage of convenience with French lieutenent Pierre de Montmalion (played by Hollywood's Neil Hamilton). If she hopes to avoid deportation from her adopted country of Switzerland, Lena will have to act as a French spy against her German countrymen. Her dilemma is exacerbated by the fact that Lt. De Montmalion despises her, and has no qualms about telling her so. Ultimately, however, the two fall in love, making the film's tragic finale all the more poignant. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A stellar Hollywood cast gives an extra boost to the atmospheric British feature Everything is Thunder. The story involves a Canadian POW being hidden by a German citizen during World War I. The surprise herein is that the German is Constance Bennett, one hundred percent sympathetic and (eventually) apolitical. Douglass Montgomery is the prisoner, first discovered in Connie's bathroom while the police scramble through her apartment building. Despite the possibility of being liquidated as a traitor, Ms. Bennett, who has a remarkable propensity for disguise, helps the likeable Montgomery reach the allied lines. The pro-German sentiments in Everything is Thunder (and in the Jocelyn L. Hardy book on which it was based) were not all that uncommon in 1936 Britain; funny, though, how this film disappeared from circulation in 1939. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

His Hollywood career a thing of the past, director Herbert Brenon returned to his native England in 1934, where he continued making films until his retirement in 1940. Brenon's first project upon his arrival in London was the feature-length documentary Royal Cavalcade. Covering a 25-year period, the film is an encapsulation of the comings and goings of the British empire since the 1910 coronation of King George V. The highlights, drawn from the newsreel files of several English and European archives, include Captain Scott's arrival at the South Pole (and the tragic aftermath), the First World War, the Roaring 20s, and the Depression. Of special interest to show-biz buffs is the footage of the first Royal Command Performance at the Palace in 1911, featuring such matchless performers as Anna Pavlova and George Robey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on Walter Reisch's play The Song is Ended, The Song You Gave Me is a British attempt to emulate the glossy "continental" style. Hollywood's Bebe Daniels (who later took up permanent residence in London) stars as Mitzi Hansen, the personal secretary to world-renowned singer Karl Linden (Victor Varconi). He falls in love with her, but she keeps him at arm's length. As time goes by, of course, Mitzi wins Karl on her own terms. Bebe Daniels handles her musical numbers with her usual charm and grace, while Frederick Lloyd offers silly-ass comedy relief as "Baron Bobo." Eva Moore, cast as Daniels' grandmother, was at the time of The Song You Gave Me the mother-in-law of Laurence Olivier. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a portly stable boy ends up buying a Derby-winning horse from his financially ruined boss. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This first talkie version of Conan Doyle's classic thriller The Hound of the Baskervilles stars Robert Rendel as master detective Sherlock Holmes. Though the story has been modernized, the basic sequence of events remains. After being apprised of the curse of the Baskervilles by Dr. Mortimer (Wilfrid Shure), Holmes makes the acquaintance of Sir Henry Baskerville (John Stuart), who is quite concerned over a stolen boot. And well he should be: That boot has been pilfered by a master criminal, who hopes to lead Sir Henry to his doom on the Grimpen Mire near Baskerville Hall. It is said that the stately country manor is haunted by the ghost of a gigantic hound, but Holmes suspects that the vicious animal is very much alive, and very much the part of a scheme to murder Sir Henry so that his assailant can lay claim to the Baskerville millions. Complicating Holmes's efforts to shield Sir Henry from harm is the curious behavior of the film's two heroines, Beryl Stapleton (Heather Angel) and Laura Lyons (Elizabeth Vaughan). Though Edgar Wallace's screenplay for Hound of the Baskervilles exists, the film itself has all but vanished; only fragments of the picture negative are known to survive, while the soundtrack has apparently been lost forever. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The time is WWI. British guerilla fighter Col. Duncan Grant (Brian Aherne) makes his way behind enemy lines to foil the Germans' plans to destroy those towns presently controlled by the Allied Expeditionary Forces. The Germans have planted a series of mines throughout the countryside, in a pattern resembling the letter "W" hence the film's title The W Plan. Assisting Grant in his mission is his pre-war sweetheart Rosa Hartman (Madeleine Carroll), German by birth but sympathetic to the Allied cause. Based on a novel by Graham Seton, The W Plan was distributed in the U.S. by RKO Radio. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a jilted fiance takes a job as the maid of the woman that seduced her lover away from her in hopes that she will be able to break them up. She soon finds herself falling in love with another man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This German comedy contains the feature film debut of Sir Lawrence Olivier. He plays a modern artist who has not yet found an audience for his futuristic visions. The trouble begins when he apparently drowns during a boating accident and leaves his wife standing accused of murder. Eventually another man confesses. The wife and her lawyers go out to celebrate their good luck. At dinner, her "dead" husband suddenly appears and reveals himself to be the one who confessed. It is then revealed that he and his wife concocted the whole scheme as a publicity stunt. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide