Patrick Magee Movies
Silver-haired, steely-eyed Irish actor Patrick Magee cemented his reputation on several modern, ofttimes experimental stage productions. Among his loftier theatrical efforts were Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade (in which he played the Marquis de Sade), and Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape, which was specially written for Magee. In films from 1960, Magee was often seen in horror efforts and crime melodramas, though he professed to be a gentle soul, as frightened by his films as the movie audience. He was a favorite of director Stanley Kubrick, appearing as the vengeance-driven beating victim of street punk Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange (1970). Patrick Magee's final film appearance was in a documentary celebration of one of his theatrical mentors, Samuel Beckett: Silence to Silence (1982). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1962
Ricochet originated as an hour-long episode of the TV anthology series Dick Powell Theatre. Van Heflin plays a tough Marine sergeant facing a crisis of conscience. A young Marine recruit has died under Heflin's command during basic training. Though the victim perished because he didn't follow orders, Heflin feels responsible for the death--and the other recruits heartily concur in this opinion. Ricochet first aired October 3, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Director Sidney J. Furie was betwixt and between his Canadian TV work and his theatrical-film prominence vis-a-vis Ipcress File (65) when he helmed the British social melodrama The Boys. The title characters are four youths, all implicated in the murder of a night watchman. Robert Morley plays the defense attorney who tries to convince the jury to render a charitable verdict. His basic argument is that the government expects a death sentence in cases involving robbery, but is more lenient towards crimes of passion. Prosecuting attorney Richard Todd is unmoved; his job is to prove that the boys aren't the innocent victims of society they're made out to be. The Boys benefits from Furie's dextrous use of flashbacks during the testimony scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Todd, Robert Morley, (more)
- 1962
In this British drama, a seventeen-year-old girl flees from her dreadful home and hitchhikes to London's Soho district. There, a carnival fortune teller befriends her and helps her get a job waiting tables. Her new boss makes sexual advances and the girl rejects him. She in turn makes a successful play for an aspiring singer. He impregnates her and they marry. They decide to move to Canada, but they need cash so the singer burglarizes their employer's home. Unfortunately, the employer awakens during the theft and shoots the singer. The wounded singer retaliates and kills his boss; he then steals a car, grabs his wife, and flees with the police in hot pursuit. They move in closer and the cornered killer tries to hold them at bay until he drops dead from blood loss. His wife sobs beside his crumpled form. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
This effective crime caper involves an attempted robbery of no one less than the U.S. Army, a heist which has its beginnings when Turpin (Stanley Baker) is drummed out of the service for his black-market activities. Apparently chaffing at this unjust treatment and also fueled by greed, Turpin enlists two cohorts -- Swavek and Fenner (Helmut Schmid and Tom Bell) to help him carry out his revenge. After much rehearsal of his plan, the three put on uniforms and walk into an army camp just before the troops are mustered out to the Middle East during a crisis over the Suez Canal. The trio's intention is to rob the payroll ($700,000), stash the cash in a spare tire, and drive out of there. That is the plan, but the reality turns out quite different, after one of the three gets a reaction to a vaccination and another is called up for KP duty ("kitchen police"). ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Baker, Helmut Schmidt, (more)
- 1961
An insurance investigator looks into the mystery surrounding the "accidental" death of a jockey. He finds that the death was actually caused by a gambling ring and is able to save the life of another jockey who has already had a couple of "accidents." ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
Directed by American expatriate Joseph Losey, the British The Criminal is a gloom-wallow elevated by superb performances. Top crook Stanley Baker plans a clever bank robbery. It goes off hitchless, but the clerk responsible for "laundering" the stolen money insists upon a bigger percentage of the take, else he'll blow the whistle. Baker hides the money, whereupon he is turned over to the law by his ex-girlfriend, who is in cahoots with the clerk. Baker refuses to reveal the whereabouts of the loot, so his old gang arranges to have him broken out of jail -- and also arranges for Baker's "accidental" demise. Appearing as the greedy clerk in Concrete Jungle is Sam Wanamaker, who like Joseph Losey fled to England as a result of the Hollywood blacklist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker, (more)
