Sean Lynch Movies
This is the second sci-fi adventure based on a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first being 1975's The Land That Time Forgot. At The Earth's Core stars Doug McClure as explorer David Innes and Peter Cushing as professor Abner Perry, whose experimental "iron core" drill goes out of control and leads them to the underground kingdom of Pellucidar, where the Wing People are ruled by the monstrous, flying Mahars. With the help of the professor, Innes leads the Wing People in revolt against their evil masters. Monsters and mayhem abound in what is essentially a well-produced, if somewhat juvenile, knockoff of The Time Machine. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doug McClure, Peter Cushing, (more)
Oscar Collins (Jack MacGowran) is a professor who specializes in the behavior and collecting of butterflies. One day, he discovers he can watch his beautiful neighbor Penny (Jane Birkin) through a crack in the wall of his apartment. He is soon overtaken by his voyeuristic tendencies and engages in a series of psychedelic daydreams as he watches the beautiful woman in various stages of her life and lovemaking. The musical score is provided by George Harrison. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack MacGowran, Jane Birkin, (more)
Jean-Luc Godard's Sympathy for the Devil, also known as One Plus One, uses both documentary and staged sequences, alternating between an inside look at a rock band's recording process and reflections on contemporary politics and aesthetics. One half of the film focuses on the Rolling Stones, as they rehearse and ultimately record the song that would become "Sympathy for the Devil." By presenting repeated takes of the entire composition, the film allows the viewer to witness the progressive evolution of the song from its original, slower conception to the more percussive version that became the final recording. The other half of the film -- which is occasionally accompanied by the song -- presents a series of sequences dealing with issues like black power, pornography, racism, and Marxism, amongst others. These sequences, which often focus on a group of revolutionary youth in Paris, provide a chance for Godard to inject political commentary and meta-fictional musings on the nature of cinema. These more cerebral scenes serve as counterpoint to the direct presentation of the creative process seen in the Stones' studio sessions, and provide oblique commentary on the political meanings of popular music. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- The Rolling Stones, Iain Quarrier, (more)
- 1968
Two steadfast members of Frank Sinatra's self-styled "clan," Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr., are the stars of Salt and Pepper. The boys run a swinging nightclub in London's Soho district (which explains their awful "mod" wardrobe) and also reluctantly double as secret agents. Their current assignment is to put the kibosh on a half-baked military officer (John LeMesurier), who plans to hijack a nuclear sub and hold England captive. The film is securely locked into the 1960s, with weird camera angles and out-of-focus optical effects, plenty of compliant young miniskirted damsels, and Bondlike action highlights. Salt and Pepper was followed two years later by a sequel, imaginatively titled One More Time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Lawford, Michael Bates, (more)
- 1966
In this crime melodrama, a Swiss woman finds herself unwittingly involved in a plot to steal from her employer, a London diamond merchant. Her boyfriend is behind the scheme. First he sends two accomplices disguised as German jewelers to see the boss. He is not fooled by their ruse and is killed while the woman is knocked unconscious. She awakens with amnesia and begins aimlessly wandering the London streets. Thinking that his girl has squealed to the police, her boy friend begins scouring the town to find her. Meanwhile, she is taken in by a boxer who returns to the ring to win the money needed to get her out of the country. Trouble ensues when her lover finally finds her after the match and begins beating on the exhausted fighter. To stop him, the woman shoots the villainous lover. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
A cardsharp comes up with the ultimate system for beating the casinos at their own game in this high-style caper comedy. Barney Lincoln (Warren Beatty) is a footloose playboy with a taste for gambling and an ingenious scheme for winning at the leading casinos in Europe. Barney discovers that nearly all of the major gambling houses use playing cards manufactured by the same company; by breaking into their plant and subtly altering the printing plates, he's able to mark the cards with a code only he can read, and he is soon pulling in record winnings across the continent. However, Barney's secret is discovered by his girlfriend Angel McGinnis (Suzannah York), a successful fashion designer, which might not be a problem if her father, "Manny" McGinnis (Clive Revill) weren't a top inspector at Scotland Yard. Manny approaches Barney and makes him a deal -- he won't reveal his secret about the cards if Barney will help him catch Harry Dominion (Eric Porter), a high-level international drug trafficker. Unfortunately, Barney's sleuthing goes awry after a certain amount of initial success, and when Harry gets wind of what he's been doing, he retaliates by kidnapping Angel and demanding repayment of his loss of sales. Jane Birkin makes her screen debut in this film, appropriately enough as a character named "Exquisite Thing." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Susannah York, (more)
- 1965
This British adventure is set in mid-19th century India where a half-caste officer is court-martialed for cowardice. After he is drummed out, the embittered officer joins a wandering band of bandits and gets his revenge upon those who framed him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ronald Lewis, Oliver Reed, (more)
- 1965
In this British wartime comedy, a group of captured con-artists must choose between jail terms or military service. Naturally they choose the army. Once they are assigned to a post they set up successful gambling and liquor operations. When they go overseas, they do the same thing. They are then asked to start a social club to boost morale. They do so, and the operation is only a hair's breadth away from being a brothel. They attempt to keep the joint a secret from visiting Parliamentary members, but it is not long before the cathouse is out of the bag. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry H. Corbett, Stanley Baxter, (more)
- 1963
In this suspenseful espionage film a British agent and a man from NATO attempt to bust a communist spy ring. Following the discovery of a roll of top secret microfilm following a plane crash, the two finds themselves embroiled in a complex web of treachery and double agents. Fortunately, they survive all and bring the rogue spies to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
This microcosmic comedy/drama is set in the kitchen of a swank London restaurant. The kitchen's unofficial father-figure is chef Carl Mohner, who gleefully advises his fellow workers to enjoy life and to seek their heart's desires. But no one is around to boost Mohner's morale when his planned marriage to waitress Mary Yeomans is shot down in flames. This culinary variation of the Grand Hotel theme was the handiwork of screenwriter Sidney Cole. Because of its nonstop action and huge cast, the stage adaptation of The Kitchen has become a favorite of local repertory theatres in both England and the US. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carl Möhner, Eric Pohlmann, (more)
- 1959
A troubled teen discovers that reform isn't always easy in this drama. The lad is on probation for robbery when he falls in love with a wealthy young girl. Wanting to help him out, she gets him a job in her father's textile mill. Things are swell there until her father is unable to find his wallet. Due to the boy's dubious recent past, he is naturally the first suspect. Afraid that no one will believe him innocent, the boy takes off. In desperate need of quick cash, he robs a store. Eventually the police catch up to him, but by this time the wallet has been found and the boy's gal convinces him to go face his crime and go straight for good. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Violent Playground opens with a few West Side Story style shots of a Liverpool street gang, commandeered by a very nasty-looking David McCallum. We're going to be seeing a lot more of McCallum before the final fadeout: His sister (Anne Heywood) is in love with an upright police officer (Stanley Baker). The film plods along predictable grounds until the climactic rumble sequence, which is as good as anything ever seen in Hollywood "J.D." picture. Violent Playground didn't get much American play in 1957, principally because there was a glut of such films at the time. The picture received a new lease on life in the early 1960s to cash in on the Man From UNCLE popularity of David McCallum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Baker, Anne Heywood, (more)
- 1954
Comparatively little known today, Republic's Laughing Anne was a Late Late Show perennial in the early 1960s. One of several Republic features lensed in England in collaboration with producer Herbert Wilcox, the film stars Margaret Lockwood in the title role. A well-known Parisian cabaret singer, Laughing Anne travels to the South Seas with her ex-prizefighter boyfriend Jem Farrell (Forrest Tucker). Here she falls in love with schooner captain Davidson (Wendell Corey), but she eventually breaks off the relationship, fearing reprisals from the brutish Jem. Years later, fate brings Davidson, Anne and Jem back together, and the results are disastrous for at least two of the three. Laughing Anne was loosely based on a story by Joseph Conrad. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendell Corey, Margaret Lockwood, (more)
- 1953
The British Cosh Boy was unsubtly but appropriately retitled The Slasher in the U.S. James Kenney plays Roy Walsh, one of the most thoroughly unpleasant characters ever to appear on screen. When he's not busy beating and robbing the aged and infirm, Roy enjoys slapping around his lady friends. And then one day, he goes too far. Based on a stage play by Bruce Walker, in which James Kenney also starred, Cosh Boy makes few concessions to taste and propriety; as a result, it was in for quite a going over when released stateside. Among the women abused by the "hero" in the course of the film is Joan Collins in one of her first important roles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Kenney, Joan Collins, (more)
