Dennis Lotis Movies
- 1963
In this comedy, two disgruntled brothers conspire to regain their fortune after their wealthy grandmother disinherits them and leaves it all to their lovely cousin. At first, the two fellows decide that one of them should marry her, but then they decide that it would be less trouble if they simply killed her. Try as they might, the two schemers fail at every attempt to murder her. Eventually the cousin gets wise to them and ends up marrying her butler. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this marital comedy, a married mother and daughter team up to teach their husbands to pay more attention to them. Their scheme to change the men's personality is quite elaborate and comic mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Originally titled Maid for Murder, this British laughspinner is essentially a vehicle for the comedy team of Bob Monkhouse and Alfred Marks. Down to their last farthing, Monkhouse and Marks learn that their distant cousin, maidservant Anna Karina, has inherited a fortune. After their clumsy courtship efforts fail, the boys decide to murder Anna and claim the legacy for themselves. The same basic premise was better handled in the 1976 American black comedy The Fortune. She'll Have to Go was based on We Must Kill Toni, a play by Ian Stuart Black. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Monkhouse, Alfred Marks, (more)
- 1960
Having portrayed Robin Hood on TV for five years, Richard Greene reprises the role in Hammer Films' Sword of Sherwood Forest. This time, Robin does a little undercover work to determine the wicked machinations of the Sheriff of Nottingham (played by Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing). Our Hero and the Merrie Men do their best to foil a plot to kill the Archbishop of Canterbury (Jack Gwillim). Sarah Branch co-stars as the obligatory Maid Marian. Sword of Sherwood Forest was released in the US by Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Greene, Peter Cushing, (more)
George Baxt scripted this extraordinarily good chiller from a story by Milton Subotsky, who also co-produced. A college student (Venetia Stevenson) with an interest in witchcraft goes to the Massachusetts town of Whitewood. It's a foggy, spooky town which gets even scarier when Stevenson discovers that the owner of the Raven's Inn, Mrs. Newlis (Patricia Jessel) is in fact a 268-year old witch. Jessel sold her soul to the Devil to regain her life after being burned at the stake. The whole town is her coven, including Stevenson's kindly history professor (Christopher Lee). Stevenson's boyfriend and brother arrive to look for her and discover human sacrifices and all sorts of evil goings-on. One of the few horror films of the period which still has the power to frighten, Horror Hotel is required viewing for genre fans. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1959
A persuasive ad man cons a British TV makeup artist to slip in a promotion for Bonko Detergent during a show in this comedy. The ploy is a success until the makeup man is fired. He and the ad man team up and create a pirate station that broadcasts their commercials into other shows. They soon find themselves in trouble when thieves, believing their roving broadcast van is filled with gold, steal the vehicle. The adman radios the police and the robbers are captured. This leads him to get a new job with the television network. The makeup man then interrupts the man's first show with his commercials. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Askey, Sidney James, (more)
- 1958
In this lightweight drama, an adventurous couple endeavors to open a coffee bar and record production company. They begin searching for a recording star to promote. Their first choice is their own handyman, a bit of an amateur singer. He and some of the other new singers for the company hit the popular charts. This attracts the notice of a major record company that immediately tries to take the little company over. Just as it looks like the little company is to be swallowed up, an American company merges with them and the day is saved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Patterson, Mary Steele, (more)
- 1956
No relation to the 1939 Claudette Colbert-James Stewart comedy of the same name, It's a Wonderful World is essentially a vehicle for British-based bandleader Ted Heath. The thinnish plot is set in motion by would-be songwriters Terence Morgan and George Cole, who manage to sell a tune by claiming that it was composed by a reclusive musical genius. When the tune hits the top of the charts, Morgan and Cole find themselves in the embarrassing position of having to produce the "real" composer. Director Val Guest manages to extract new laughs out of such old setpieces as showing a snobbish audience being gradually won over by pop music. The principal attraction of It's a Wonderful World--to modern viewers, at least is the presence of Ted Heath, whose screen appearances were all too few and far between. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Morgan, George Cole, (more)
- 1956
The Extra Day is a portmanteau film in the tradition of the earlier Derby Day. The ball gets rolling when Joe Blake (Richard Basehart), the assistant to film director Kurt Vorn (Laurence Naismith), routinely summons a group of movie extras for a few necessary retakes. The audience then learns the "backstories" of the various extras. Starving artist Steven Marlow (George Baker), who has been doing crowd work to pay the bills, is the object of movie star Michele Blanchard's (Simone Simon) affections, even though he doesn't know it. Prizefighter Barney West (Sidney James) worries that he'll lose his extra job if his face is messed up in the ring. Socialite Toni Howard (Josephine Griffin) works in films to get away from the social whirl; her callback to Vorn's set nearly scotches her impending marriage to a famous singing star. And so it goes until the extras are assembled and Vorn yells "action." Future pop star Shani Wallis makes her screen debut in The Extra Day in a minor role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Basehart, Simone Simon, (more)
