William Lucas Movies

A real-life historical incident becomes the basis for this military thriller from director Kathryn Bigelow that's reminiscent of such submarine dramas as Das Boot (1981), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Crimson Tide (1995), and U-571 (2000). Harrison Ford stars as Captain Alexi Vostrikov, a Russian naval officer who's being given command of the Soviet Union's first nuclear submarine, K-19, at the height of the Cold War in 1961. The vessel's previous commander, Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) has been demoted to executive officer following a botched test and his outspoken assertions that the flagship is not yet ready for deployment, but he curbs his resentment and resolves to serve his new superior well. Polenin's concerns are well founded: parts are not yet installed, equipment is missing, and the ship's doctor is killed in an auto mishap. Political pressure forces Vostrikov to sail his crew into the North Atlantic anyway, for a missile fire test that serves as a warning to the U.S. that its enemy is now its technological equal. The test is a success, but a disastrous leak in the K-19's reactor cooling system soon threatens to create enough heat to detonate the craft's nuclear payload -- which would certainly be mistaken for the first salvo in a worldwide atomic exchange and spark the beginning of World War III. With no other option, Vostrikov orders his men to repair the damage in ten-minute shifts, irradiating them hopelessly. The conflict between the seemingly bureaucratic Communist Vostrikov and the more humane Polenin escalates, until a surprising twist reveals where both officers' loyalties truly lie. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

In the second episode of the four-part story "Frontios," the Doctor (Peter Davison) and his companions have made contact with a group of survivors from a nuclear holocaust on planet earth who have pitched camp on the futuristic planet Frontios. When the colonists begin disappearing in a mysterious but dramatic fashion, the Doctor investigates, all the while steeling himself against the incessant bombardment of meteors which has been plaguing Frontios since his arrival. Originally telecast on January 27, 1984, "Frontios, Episode 2" was written by Christopher H. Bidmead. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the conclusion of the four-part story "Frontios," the super-intelligent insectoid Tractator race prepares to convert the planet Frontios into a huge space vessel. The Doctor (Peter Davison) must prevent this, lest he, his companions, and a group of survivors from a war-ravaged planet earth be completely wiped out. Complicating matters is the fact that the Tractators have commandeered the Doctor's TARDIS time-traveling vehicle. Originally telecast on February 3, 1984, "Frontios, Episode 4" was written by Christopher H. Bidmead. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Also titled The Price of Freedom, Operation Daybreak is a retelling of the terrible consequences attending the assassination of Nazi-occupation leader Richard Heydrich. When Heydrich puts all of Czechoslovakia under his thumb, a group of Czech expatriates parachute into their homeland to kill the man known as "The Hangman." They succeed, and in retaliation the Nazis wipe the tiny Czech village of Lidice off the map, killing its male residents and carting off its women and children to concentration camps. For the purposes of the plot, assassins Timothy Bottoms and Martin Shaw survive the massacre, albeit only briefly. The Heydrich/Lidice tragedy was previously dramatized in two wartime films, Hangmen Also Die (1943) and Hitler's Madman (1943). Operation Daybreak was adapted from Seven Men at Daybreak, a novel by Alan Burgess. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This gory low-budget British outing involves a team of archaeologists landing on fog-shrouded Snape Island -- recently the site of a hideous double murder -- in search of the tomb of a Phoenician chief and subsequently falling victim to an unseen maniac. Accompanying the shore party is a private detective (Bryant Halliday), hired by the family of the young woman suspected of the crimes (Candace Glendenning), who is determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious murders. Though it is eventually determined that the real killer is still at large, the archaeologists stubbornly refuse to abort their dig...and summarily suffer the consequences. Released originally in 1972, this crass, exploitative potboiler (based on a story by horror author George Baxt) found its way to American theaters in 1981 as Beyond the Fog in an attempt to cash in on John Carpenter's 1980 film. Released later to video and cable as Tower of Evil. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

In this children's movie, a young boy is tempted to follow in his imprisoned father's footsteps until he joins a motorbike club and learns important life lessons along with the rules-of-the-road. He puts his new outlook to the test when he must face-down a pair of car thieves. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The title of this British drama series was in the nature of a pun (albeit a misspelled one). The protagonist was an investigative reporter named Eddie Pryor, played by the always reliable William Lucas. When Eddie's wife was murdered on an island in the Firth of Clyde, he defied the local authorities by conducting an intense investigation of his own. Running six episodes, The Prior Commitment was first telecast in 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

During an important conference, a key delegate suddenly runs out of the building and into the street, where he is promptly killed by an automobile. It turns out that the dead man had had premonitions of just such a tragedy, and all the other delegates have had similar premonitions. It's up to Steed and Emma to find out just what's been going on. . .and to prevent what seems to be the grim inevitable. Written by Philip Levene, "Death's Door" was originally broadcast in England on October 7, 1967; its first American telecast took place on January 31, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This suspenseful crime drama features cameo appearances by some of Great Britain's more popular pop groups of the mid-1960s as it tells the tale of an ex-crook who finds success managing several of the groups. The trouble begins when a master jewel thief blackmails him into becoming a gem smuggler. Together, they set sail across the Channel to get a fortune in diamonds safely to Amsterdam. They are pursued by two determined detectives. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this British crime drama, bank robbers accidently detonate a bomb left over from WW II while tunneling into a bank vault. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

It's Hoppity Goes To Town with sex in this 1963 British version of the old chestnut concerning an innocent country lass who travels to the big city and becomes corrupted, in this film version of Patrick Hamilton's novel The Street Has a Thousand Skies. Janet Munro runs the gamut of emotions as Jennie, a young girl from Wales who, with her girlfriend, is seduced and abandoned by a couple of heartless creeps in London, where she is later befriended by a kindly bartender John Stride. But Jennie snubs the bartender and takes up with a an unfeeling playboy. However, Jennie has gone around the park one time too many and is now torn between going back home or committing suicide. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

In this mystery, set in Devon, England, a writer, a fugitive and his sister, and a detective must solve a murder at a smuggler's farm. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this detective film, a Chinese detective breaks up a drug smuggling ring and tries to find the "Daffodil Killer." The drug smugglers had devised the ingenious method of smuggling heroin from Hong Kong in the stems of daffodils. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi