John Scott Movies
- 1970
- PG13
- Add The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes to QueueAdd The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes to top of Queue
In Billy Wilder's cinematic homage to the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British stage luminary Robert Stephens plays Holmes, while Colin Blakely is his friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. This self-described "hitherto suppressed and thoroughly fascinating" tale concerns Holmes' search for a missing mining engineer -- a case that may have a far-reaching effect on the national security of England. Along the way, Holmes falls in love for the first time in his life, with enigmatic foreign beauty Gabrielle Valladon (Genevieve Page). In this 1970 film, Wilder emphasizes such then-current topics as homosexuality (notably during the film's prologue) and drug addiction. Christopher Lee, a former screen Holmes himself, has a cameo (minus toupee) as Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes. Heavily re-edited and rearranged both before and after its release, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was a box-office disappointment when it came out in 1970. Since that time, its reputation has grown immeasurably, especially among those lucky enough to have seen a complete print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely, (more)
- 1965
This convoluted crime drama chronicles the exploits of an ingenious trio of car thieves who work out of a junkyard. There they write bad checks to the people who sell their cars. A young man is killed in a car and one of the thieves takes the wreck to the yard. There he removes the plates, which say KIL 1, puts them on another wreck of the same make, paints it to look like the other, and then tries to sell it. Meanwhile a mechanic for the mob is discovered sleeping with the thief's girl friend and is beaten up. The mechanic gets revenge by killing the thief. He then steals the newly painted car and sets off with the girl. Unfortunately, the dead boy's father sees the plate, and believing it is his son's car, reports the sighting to Scotland Yard. The news is sent to the Yard inspector assigned to the check fraud scam. Meanwhile the mechanic continues to flee. He sees a police roadblock, and as he tries to avoid it the car careens over a cliff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
Stuffed with nearly all the essential ingredients for a '50s drive-in classic -- including rubber monsters, clean-cut biker gangs, countless inane rock & roll numbers, and twistin' teeny-boppers who appear to be about 35 -- this uproariously awful monster flick has secured a fond place in the hearts of bad-movie buffs. The horror of the title comes in the form of numerous scaly creatures whose fishy mouths are filled with a tube-like apparatus that makes them appear stuffed to overflowing with frankfurters. Spawned from both human remains and sea life (thanks to a healthy dose of ocean-dumped radioactive waste), the monsters emerge from the sea to dine on surfers and bikini-clad nymphs during a nearly constant teen beach party. Allen Laurel portrays a completely useless scientist who manages to find a solution to the monster menace only after his maid knocks over a vial of sodium on a specimen of one such creature. Armed with this knowledge, Laurel locates the flooded quarry that serves as the beasts' lair, allowing the military to give the critters what-for with a hail of sodium bombs. Director Del Tenney reportedly helmed several scenes from his sickbed while battling the flu... which probably explains quite a lot. The soundtrack features a plentitude of non-hits performed by surf-rockers The Del-Aires (named after the director?) including the toe-tapper "Zombie Stomp." ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1963
One-and-a-half seconds after his election, a muckraking politician is murdered. Hoping to get to the bottom of the mystery, Steed arranges for Cathy to take the dead man's place. But it turns out that the "murder victim" is very much alive, and he intends to detonate a nuclear warhead in London on Guy Fawkes' Day. Originally telecast in England on November 2, 1963 (three days before the annual Guy Fawkes celebration), "November Five" was written by Eric Paise. The significance of its title (and its topicality) was lost to American viewers when the episode made its U.S. TV debut on March 12, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
A British officer must save the Barbary apes on Gibralter at all costs in this WW II farce. He does this, because it is believed that if the apes leave the rock, Britain will fall. The trouble begins when the only male ape dies. To save the rest, the officer and his side-kick sneak in to Zurich and steal an ape from a German circus. This results in a promotion for the officer, and now he and his partner are assigned to protect the ravens in the Tower of London. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Throughout his life, Stephen Bolt (Sean Kelly) has been tortured by a recurring nightmare, in which he is murdered at the hands of a stranger. This horrible dream has made a nervous wreck of Bolt, losing him the respect of his father and the love of his sweetheart. To purge himself of his inner demons, Stephen describes the face of his "nightmare killer" to a sketch artist, then sets out sea in hopes of finding his murderer and stopping him before the premonition comes true. This is one of several One Step Beyond episodes filmed in England. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Horror tale inspired by the classic Edgar Allan Poe story, in which a writer fantasizes murdering his friend over a beautiful woman, and then hearing the dead man's heart continuing to beat. (Alternate title: The Hidden Room Of 1,000 Horrors) ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide
