Reg Lye Movies
- 1983
In this uneven children's story, Molly is a talented little dog who can sing for the people who love her -- but is mute when her vocals are required by the more cold-hearted of the human breed. Her new, young caretaker Maxie (Claudia Karvan) has her hands full because the villainous "Old Dan" Garry McDonald is after Molly's melodious talent for his own financial gain -- but then, maybe the circus troupe that has taken Molly and Maxie under their wing will be able to protect them both. Unfortunately, "Old Dan" is such a sinister, psychotic type that the intended sense of adventure in the film is often no more than a sense of the macabre. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Claudia Karvan, Garry McDonald, (more)
- 1983
- Add For the Term of His Natural Life to QueueAdd For the Term of His Natural Life to top of Queue
For the Term of His Natural Life, Australian novelist Marcus Clarke's epic tale of the hardships and deprivations of his native country in the 1830s, served as the basis for one of the most famous Australian films of the silent era. That was in 1927; 56 years later, Clarke's novel again went before the cameras, this time resulting in a three-part, six-hour TV miniseries. Colin Friels starred as Londoner Rufus Dawes, who thanks to treachery and deceit was arrested on a trumped-up charge and transported to a penal colony in Tasmania, while an impostor laid claim to his birthright. Eighteen years into his incarcaration, Rufus managed to escape, and was subsequently reunited with his sweet Sylvia (Susan Lyons), daughter of the colony's warden. Unfortunately, a happy ending was not in the cards for the hero and heroine. For the Term of His Natural Life aired over Australia's Nine Network in 1983. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1982
Ron (Jon Blake), a young man in his late teens or early 20s, but emotionally younger, has no visible, employable assets, including the ability to articulate, yet he rails at his status in life -- blaming everyone for the fact that his dreams are not coming true. Actually, his main dream is driving down the highway in a Porsche with a sophisticated woman in the passenger seat -- and in this dream, an ominous-looking black limousine just ahead of him starts swerving back and forth and finally dives off the edge of a cliff. In order to fulfill his fantasy, he steals a Porsche and takes off down the road. While on his joy ride, he stops at a roadside eatery and meets the errant Sally, who is on her way to retrieve her baby from a pair of foster parents. The two set off together, and nothing at all goes their way -- Sally fails in her mission, Ron runs down a policeman then has to get rid of Sally and devise some way to escape the law -- now after him in force. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Blake, Candy Raymond, (more)
- 1981
After a particularly bitter argument with her divorced mother, teenager Libby Bellow (Mare Winningham) runs away from home. Eventually, she links up with a traveling carnival and takes on a variety of responsibilities, in so doing coming to the realization that her life at home might not have been so bad after all. In addition to serving as an early showcase for actress Mare Winningham, this made-for-TV film also features a number of original songs by Janis Ian. Freedom was originally telecast by ABC on May 18, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1981
- PG
Director Donald Crombie's fourth feature tackles the problem of out-of-control redevelopment by unscrupulous corporate developers. Angel Street is a row of charming and quaint homes on the shore of Australia's Sydney Harbor. A development company wants to buy the homes, raze the street, and build high-rise apartments in their wake. When B.C. Simmonds (Alexander Archdale), the leader of the residents' group, dies under mysterious circumstances, his daughter Jessica (Liz Alexander) takes up the residents' cause against the developers, assisted by Elliot (John Hargreaves), the Communist union official with whom Jessica had a brief affair. It turns out that the developers are not just businessmen, but have a malevolent connection with the government. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liz Alexander, John Hargreaves, (more)
We prefer the original release title of Disney's A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court: Unidentified Flying Oddball. In this new twist on an old Mark Twain yarn, NASA scientist Dennis Dugan and his robot clone are whisked back in time to the days of King Arthur (Kenneth More). After performing several acts of "sorcery" with the state-of-the-art paraphernalia at his disposal, Dugan incurs the wrath of in-house magician Merlin (Ron Moody). Jim Dale costars as the most hyperkinetic Sir Mordred that you're ever likely too see. Previous versions of Twain's Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court were filmed in 1921, 1931 and 1948; Spaceman in King Arthur's Court would be followed by an early-1990s TV adaptation of Connecticut Yankee starring The Cosby Show's Keshia Knight Pulliam, and by Disney's 1995 theatrical feature, A Kid in King Arthur's Court. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Dugan, Kenneth More, (more)
- 1977
Created by Barry Thomas, the weekly British drama series Wings was set during WWI. The series' 26 episodes dealt with the exploits of the Royal Flying Corps, specifically the division commandeered by Alan Farmer (Tim Woodward), Charles Gaylion (Michael Cochrane), and Richard Bravington (David Troughton, son of Doctor Who star Patrick Troughton). Naturally, these courageous aviators found time to dally with various damsels, among them Alan's wife Molly (Anne Kristen) and the toothsome Lorna Collins (Sarah Porter). Premiering January 2, 1977, Wings lasted two seasons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Woodward, Michael Cochrane, (more)
- 1977
This children's fantasy is about the "Wombles," borrowed from a British TV series, who are furry creatures (actors in suits), normally invisible to anyone but themselves, and whose mission in life is to clean up after humans -- their first chore was to pick up the forgotten apple core in the Garden of Eden. The British Wombles know something is wrong when humans start to notice them, beginning with little Kim Frogmorton (Bonnie Langford) and then her parents. In a series of vignettes, Wombles alone, or humans alone, or both together handle disconnected misadventures -- such as saving the Womble burrow at Wimbledon, fighting against pollution, and moaning over adult topics like an oil shortage, and a theater shortage, for that matter. A few Wombles are professional beasties (such as Kenny Baker of R2-D2 fame), but for the most part, the scenarios are conventional and range from ordinary to insensitive. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Tomlinson, Frances de la Tour, (more)
- 1974
Director Ken Hamman's breakthrough historical drama was the first Australian film of the 1970s to gain international acclaim, paving the way for the Australian New Wave and the success of movies such as The Last Wave and Breaker Morant. Sunday Too Far Away is a story about the struggles of itinerant sheep shearers in the Outback in the 1950s. Jack Thompson won an Australian Best Actor prize for his role as Foley, a hard-drinking, hard-working shearer who is the best at his profession. When local landowners try to drive away the sheep herders, Foley leads a strike to establish their right to exist and live off the land. The dispute turns violent as the landowners retaliate, and Foley struggles to maintain his supremacy. Many scenes were shot in the same shearing barn used in the 1960 British-Australian hit The Sundowners, which was about an Irish sheepherder who emigrates to Australia. The title comes from a traditional song of complaint sung by sheep shearers' wives. The film became a sensation at the Cannes Film Festival. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Thompson, Max Cullen, (more)
This TV-movie adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel of the "undead" was adapted by Richard Matheson and photographed by Oswald Morris. As the titular count, Jack Palance is a reluctant victim of an unwelcome fate, rather than a grinning bloodsucker. Nigel Davenport co-stars as Van Helsing, vampire-hunter deluxe, who pursues the count with his bagful of hammers and stakes. Much of the Stoker novel that had been eliminated in earlier versions has been restored by Matheson. Originally slated for telecast in October of 1973, Dracula was reshuffled to February 8, 1974, due to the late-breaking vice-presidential nomination of Gerald Ford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Roger Corman's New World Pictures took a stab at the tale of the nefarious real-life graverobbers -- and filled it with the studio's usual quota of nudity, softcore sex and tacky humor. The result is pretty much as one would expect -- nothing to rival the excellent Flesh and the Fiends, or even Tod Slaughter's campy The Greed of William Hart. Harry Andrews plays the unscrupulous Dr. Knox, who enlists the aid of grave-plundering dirtbags Derren Nesbitt and Glynn Edwards in obtaining fresh cadavers for the medical academy. When the demand increases and local cemeteries begin to run dry, the industrious pair turn to the living to keep the doctor supplied. This time out, Burke and Hare are particularly randy fellows, who spend more time carousing in Edinburgh whorehouses than stalking their prey. Despite the macabre subject matter, the producers opted for sexploitation over gruesome horror, but the end result is decidedly dull. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1971
10 Rillington Place is the true story of British mass murderer John Reginald Christie, played with chilling "normality" by Richard Attenborough. Throughout the late '40s, Christie lures middle-aged women to his London flat promising to cure their ailments with nitrous oxide, then kills them, assaults their dead bodies, and buries them. One of his victims is Beryl Evans (Judy Geeson), who misguidedly comes to Christie seeking an abortion -- and in the process, not only loses her own life, but sets in motion a horrid sequence of events that threatens to endanger her husband as well. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, Judy Geeson, (more)
- 1970
Not to be confused with the 1966 Diabolique rip-off Games, 1970's The Games is set during the Rome Olympics. The film zeroes in on four contestants in the 26-mile marathon race: Briton Michael Crawford, American Ryan O'Neal, Czech Charles Aznavour and Australian Athol Compton. Scenes of the grueling training sessions are placed in context with the personal dramas of the four men. Crawford is being driven to the breaking point by trainer Stanley Baker, O'Neal is suffering from a dangerous heart condition, Aznavour is past forty but obliged to compete by his government, and Compton is an Aborigine fighting a lifelong battle against prejudice. Eric Segal, himself an avid runner adapted the screenplay of The Games from the novel by Hugh Atkinson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Crawford, Ryan O'Neal, (more)
The Lost Continent is a crazy-quilt of a film, with chunks of several unrelated plotlines sewn together willy nilly. Eric Porter plays Lansen, the captain of a tramp steamer who has agreed to deliver contraband dynamite for a hefty price. His passengers are a polyglot of the good, the bad and the worse. Shipwrecked on an mysterious isle in the Sargasso Sea, Lansen and party find themselves prisoners of a bizarre inbred colony still governed by the long-abandoned edicts of the Spanish Inquisition. The film is no more coherent than the original Dennis Wheatley novel Uncharted Seas, but that doesn't detract from its endearing wackiness. To their credit, the cast members of Lost Continent play the script straight, which merely adds to the kinky fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Porter, Suzanna Leigh, (more)
- 1968
In the third episode of the six-part story "The Enemy of the World," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) impersonates his lookalike, 21st century would-be dictator Salamander (also Patrick Troughton). He does this to penetrate a research station controlled by Salamander's minions, the better to find out if the villain truly is a villain -- and if so, who his most fervent (and dangerous) followers may be. All of this intrigue naturally has an ominous trickle-down effect on the Doctor's traveling companions, Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Victoria (Deborah Watling). Written by David Whitaker, "The Enemy of the World, Episode 3" first aired on January 6, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1968
Robin Hood (Barrie Ingham) again robs from the rich to give to the poor. The evil Sheriff of Nottingham (John Arnatt) is still his foe, but Robin's primary adversary is his own cousin Roger (Peter Blythe). Roger has burned the will of Robin's father which promises all land and money to his son. Roger takes control of the estate, and again Robin is an outlaw hiding out in Sherwood Forest. The sheriff is amused at Roger's inability to corral his cousin Robin, who cavorts with Little John and Friar Tuck in bucolic splendor. The trio must rescue Maid Marian (Gay Hamilton) and her brother from the castle of the wicked King John. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barrie Ingham, Leon Greene, (more)
- 1968
British agents drop like skeets in this convoluted espionage film. Jonas Wilde (Richard Johnson) is a successful British secret agent who wants to hang up his license to kill and retire. His superior, Canning (Harry Andrews), agrees to accept his resignation if he agrees to one last case -- killing a Czechoslovakian defector currently being held by the Americans. Wilde goes along with Canning's plan and, with the help of his housekeeper Rhoda (Diana Dors), completes the mission. But then Jonas is captured by CIA agent Lucinda (Sam Wanamaker), who reveals that an unknown agent in the British secret service is the force behind getting fellow British agents killed. When Jonas and Canning's wife, Barbara (Sylvia Syms), travel to Canning's headquarters, he is told that a British agent has been murdered. Jonas proceeds to take the dead agent's niece Mari (Barbara Bouchet) onto a boat for questioning and discovers false names, deceptions and increasing amounts of dead bodies. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Johnson, Carol Lynley, (more)
Raquel Welch breaks the surly bonds of Earth and loves every minute of it in this lighthearted spy spoof. Fathom Harvill (Welch) is an American skydiver touring Europe with a U.S. parachute team when she's approached by Douglas Campbell (Ronald Fraser), a Scottish agent working with American intelligence. According to Campbell, a triggering mechanism for nuclear weapons has gone missing in the Mediterranean, and Douglas wants Fathom to help find it. After encountering Chinese operative Peter Merriweather (Anthony Franciosa), Fathom discovers that Campbell is actually a private eye and that she's been tricked into helping him snag some jewelry. But what's the whole truth, and whose side is Fathom supposed to be on? ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Franciosa, Raquel Welch, (more)
- 1966
Years before the story proper in The Wrong Box gets under way, a "tontine" is drawn up on behalf several young British boys. Each of the boys' parents had placed 1000 pounds in a pool, to be invested and expanded upon. The resultant fortune will go to the last surving member of the tontine. A series of montages depicts the various demises of the heirs (our favorite occurs when one of them is inadvertently beheaded while being knighted by Queen Victoria). Finally, only two of the tontine participants are left: aged brothers Ralph Richardson and John Mills. On his last legs, Mills is determined that Richardson will not outlive him, and to that end attempts to kill his brother; each attempt fails spectacularly, with the doddering Richardson none the wiser. Standing to benefit from the tontine are Mills' dimwitted med-student son Michael Caine and Richardson's greedy nephews Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. When Richardson is supposedly killed in a train wreck, Cook and Moore don't want the authorities to find out, so they appropriate what they think is their uncle's corpse and ship it home in a box. Thus it is that Caine finds the body of a perfect stranger on his doorstep. The farcical complications begin flying about thick and fast from this point onward. Among the participants in this wacky gigglefest are such formidable talents as Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Wilfred Lawson, Thorley Walters, Norman Rossington, Irene Handl and Cicely Courtenedge. Based on a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, The Wrong Box is a delightful harkback to the glory days of Britain's Ealing comedies. We were so wrapped up in the story that we didn't even notice all those TV antennae sprouting up on the rooftops of Victorian London. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Ralph Richardson, (more)
James Clavell incorporated a few of his own experiences as a British POW in his novel King Rat. Bryan Forbes' film version stars George Segal as the mastermind of all black market operations in a Japanese prison camp. He is called "King Rat" because of his breeding of rodents to serve as food for his emaciated fellow prisoners; the nickname also alludes to Segal's shifty personality. British officer James Fox helps Segal expand his operation to include trading with the Japanese officers. Though on surface level a thoroughly selfish sort, Segal saves the ailing Fox's life by wangling precious antibiotics from the guards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Segal, Tom Courtenay, (more)
When a gang of London thieves, disguised as policemen, begin robbing other thieves....well, that's just not cricket. Benevolent burglar Peter Sellers, the man in charge of all "respectable" crooks in town (he even offers such incentives as a vacation plan and filmed training sessions!), sets about to ascertain how the renegade criminals have received inside information concerning upcoming robberies. He arranges a temporary truce with Scotland Yard so that both criminal and constable can work together in nabbing the miscreants. Alas, he must now contend with incompetent peacekeeper Lionel Jeffries, who poses an even greater threat than the "mole" who's been tipping off the phony cops (who is closer to Sellers than he'd ever suspect). Short, simple and sweet, the black-and-white Wrong Arm of the Law manages to pack more solid laughs than any three of Sellers' later overproduced Technicolor vehicles combined. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Lionel Jeffries, (more)
- 1962
Based on Anthony Kimmins' stage success The Amorous Prawn, this British light comedy stars Joan Greenwood as the wife of an Army general (Cecil Parker). Having fallen upon hard times, the wife hits upon a scheme to raise some quick cash. She opens her husband's highland headquarters to visiting salmon fishermen, a circumstance that displeases the general when several of those anglers turn out to be handsome young men. On the assumption that American audiences would think The Amorous Prawn was a film about shrimp instead of salmon, the US distributor added the "Mr." to the original. When filmgoers failed to respond, the picture was re-retitled The Playgirl and the War Minister, a shameless attempt to exploit the then-current Profumo political scandal. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Carmichael, Joan Greenwood, (more)
- 1958
In this Australian children's movie, a sequel to Smiley, set in the outback, a local policeman tries to help a rambunctious scamp settle down by promising the lad a new gun if he can stay out of mischief and treat other people with respect. Smiley, the boy, does his very best, but when the locals begin teasing him and taking bets on whether or not he will succeed, trouble ensues and the boy ends up getting blamed for robbing an eccentric old woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sybil Thorndike, Chips Rafferty, (more)
- 1957
Australian film favorite Chips Rafferty is both star and producer of Walk Into Hell. Filmed on location in New Guinea, the story concerns the cultural clash between Australian laborers and the local natives. Rafferty plays Steve McAllister, whose job it is to supervise construction of an airfield for the convenience of a New Guinea-based oil company. Any hopes that Steve harbors for peaceful coexistence with the natives are dashed when white hunter Jeff Clayton (Pierre Cressoy) thoughtlessly kills a sacred white bird. Highlights include an edge-of-chair snake attack and an authentic tribal dance ceremony (scenes of bare-breasted native women were judiciously trimmed for American audiences). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chips Rafferty, Françoise Christophe, (more)
- 1957
Based on a best-selling Australian novel by D'Arcy Niland, The Shiralee stars Peter Finch as an Aussie "swagman," or poacher, saddled with a faithless wife (Elizabeth Sellars). Concerned over the well-being of his young daughter (Dana Wilson), Finch takes her out of her hostile environment and hits the road. Against the breathtaking landscapes and panoramas of the Outback, Father and Daughter grow to love and understand one another on a deeper and more profound level than ever before. The storyline rambles more than does Peter Finch, but the relationship between the two main characters holds the film together. The Shiralee was remade as an Australian TV miniseries in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Finch, Elizabeth Sellars, (more)
