Elspeth March Movies

This expensive production attempts to bring Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer's subtle philosophical novel The Magician of Lublin to the screen. In the story, Yasha Mazur (Alan Arkin) is a perfectionistic turn-of-the-century Jewish stage magician, con-man and mystic, who is touring through eastern Europe, at the same time managing to progressively sabotage his own career. In nearly every town Yasha has a girlfriend, from the youthful Zeftel (Valerie Perrine), to the feisty Elizabeta (Shelly Winters). His harassed manager/impressario Wolsky (Lou Jacobi) arranges for him to have one more chance at theatrical success, which requires that he pull off the trick of a lifetime in a Warsaw theater. Reviewers, fans of Singer's works, and ordinary filmgoers all expressed disappointment in this beautifully filmed and ambitious movie, which was a box-office failure. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Like Socrates of ancient Athens, Michael Rimmer (Peter Cook) of modern England believes the key to success is to ask the right questions. Lots of questions. So he gets a job with an advertising agency that conducts polls, rises swiftly through the ranks, and eventually runs the agency. Then he bombards England with questions. His ingenious system enables him to predict the outcome of a general election. (Every voter in England had received a questionnaire.) So accomplished is Rimmer at asking questions that he finds his future wife through market research. To insure that he gets the right answers, Rimmer is not above manipulating the polls. For example, when he asks residents of Coventry their religion, 95 percent identify themselves as Buddhists, thanks to an influx of Rimmer stooges. Then he enters politics. In a short time, he gets himself elected to Parliament, becomes a cabinet minister and eventually moves into Ten Downing Street as prime minister after pushing the incumbent prime minister off an oil platform. By this time, every eligible voter in Britain can cast ballots with a television remote control. Alas, the electorate tires of the endless referendum questions that they must answer as part of their daily routine. This development serves only to catapult Rimmer to further success, for the people decide to place all decisions in his hands as dictator of England. So Rimmer keeps rising and rising and rising. And asking questions. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

A couple tries to hold their relationship together despite the twenty-three year gap in their ages in this romantic comedy/drama. Scott Wardman (Charles Bronson) is an 39-year-old American author living in England who supports himself by writing pornographic novels. Scott meets Twinky (Susan George), an attractive young woman who tells him she's almost 20. Scott quickly falls for her beauty and charm, but he discovers her definition of "almost" is looser than that of most people -- it seems Twinky is only 16 years old. In a moment of romantic impulse, Scott and Twinky travel to Scotland and get married, but Twinky's parents are less than enthusiastic when they hear the news. Scott soon brings his new bride to New York City to meet his friends, and while they're not as upset, they have a hard time believing this is true love, especially after the differences in Scott and Twinky's ages become increasingly apparent. Lola (also released as Twinky) was an early film credit for director Richard Donner, who at the time was still best known for his work in television. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The British "Carry On" series was in its 12th year when Carry On Again, Doctor was unleashed upon a panting public in 1969. Veteran Carry On-ers Kenneth Williams, Sidney James, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Jim Dale and Barbara Windsor fill the principal roles in this hospital farce. Dale has the central role as a manic medico who stumbles upon a formula for weight control. The film's South-Sea setting permits plenty of female pulchritude to insinuate its way across the screen in between the one-liners and slapstick setpieces. Gerald Thomas directs, as ever. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Vittorio De Sica directs the 1967 episodic sex comedy Sette Volte Donna (Woman Times Seven), consisting of seven short stories each starring Shirley MacLaine. In "Funeral Possession," she plays opposite Peter Sellers as a widow at her husband's funeral. In "Amateur Night," she's a wife who's driven to prostitiution to get revenge on her adulterous husband (Rossano Brazzi). In "Two Against One," she plays an interpreter who gets naked and reads T.S. Eliot to an Italian (Vittorio Gassman) and a Scot (Clinton Greyn). In "The Super Simone," she's a houswife who acts insane to get the attention of her author husband (Lex Barker). In "At the Opera," she's a rich woman determined to get a specific dress. In "The Suicides," she forges a suicide pact with lover Alan Arkin. In "Snow," Michael Caine is hired to spy on her. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

This crime drama is set in 1910, and tells the tale of a doctor accused of murdering his wife. He swore that he didn't do it. The evidence speaks otherwise. The doctor staunchly claimed the overdose of tranquilizers found in her tea got there by accident and that he and his beautiful mistress had absolutely nothing to do with it. Never mind that after his wife's "accidental" death, he and his lover just happened to choose that moment for a Canadian vacation. Despite their absence, the London police continue investigating until they find the poor wife's body buried in the doctor's cellar. Even after his subsequent capture, extradition and guilty sentence, Dr. Crippen swears his innocence. It's unbelievable, but the story is true. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the classic play by John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World opens with the arrival of a stranger, Christy Mahon, in a small Irish town. Entering Michael James's pub, the locals -- including pretty Pegeen, the innkeeper's daughter -- convince him to tell his story, whereupon he reveals that eleven days previous he hit his mean, persecuting father with a shovel and killed him. Rather than being scandalized, however, the denizens applaud his courage and audacity; James even hires him, thinking the lad will keep his daughter safe from harm when he must be away. Pegeen's fiancé, Shawn, disapproves, but Pegeen dismisses him. Christy grows more bold as he sees the respect and admiration his deed has earned for him. What is he to do, then, when an unexpected visitor shows up -- his father, who it turns out did not die from Christy's blow and who now has come to punish his errant son and take him back home? When he is unmasked in front of all, Christy improvises a solution, but it fails to return him to the town's -- or Pegeen's -- good graces. Eventually, Christy leaves the town, a different man than when he entered. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Crook Chaplin hides from the police while pretending to be a Swedish widow's long-lost son. Unfortunately, the widow wants more than a son! ~ All Movie Guide

Kit (Doris Day), an American married to wealthy London businessman Tony Preston (Rex Harrison) becomes the terrified victim of a mysterious stalker, who she hears but can never see. She is threatened by the eerie, high-pitched voice as she walks in the thick London fog. She then begins receiving repeated threatening telephone calls. The now totally panicked Kit is nearly killed when someone pushes her in front of a bus. Unfortunately for Kit, no one but she hears the voice or the telephone calls and neither Tony, Kit's visiting aunt Bea (Myra Loy), or Scotland Yard take any of these incidents seriously. The only one who seems to believe Kit is Brian Younger (John Gavin), a construction foreman, but Kit is not convinced that she can trust him. The tension builds to a thrilling climax as Kit flees for her life on a scaffolding outside her apartment building. Midnight Lace is an exciting thriller, with many surprising plot twists and a nice sinister performance by Rex Harrison. Roddy McDowall is also fun as the son of Kit's housekeeper, who keeps hitting up his mom for money. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Whatever the "miracle" is in this story, set back in the 19th century, it tends to be buried underneath the multiple romances of the heroine Teresa (Carroll Baker), a woman who leaves the convent to find one specific man. Teresa falls in love with Michael (Roger Moore) a dashing Englishman in the British army that is fighting Napoleon in Spain. She opts for leaving the cloister to find her love. Meanwhile, during her absence, a statue of the Virgin Mary comes to life and takes her place in the convent, hence the "miracle" of the title. Along her journey, Teresa meets and eventually marries a handsome gypsy (Vittorio Gassman) who comes to an unhappy end. Widowed and grieving, young Teresa next becomes enamored of a bullfighter (Gustavo Rojo) whose luck in the ring ends tragically one day. At this point, it would seem the cloister was a better offer, but Teresa continues in her journey to find Michael. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Originally advertised as "Colossal Quo Vadis," this opulent MGM production is far and away the most elaborate of the many versions of Henryk Sienkiewicz' novel. The plot, as always, concerns the romance between a beautiful early Christian woman (Deborah Kerr) and the initially agnostic Roman soldier Marcus Vinicius (Robert Taylor). This love story is laid against the larger intrigues of the debauched emperor Nero (Peter Ustinov), who hopes to gain immortality by destroying Rome with a fire and remaking it in his own image. Part of Nero's master plan is the elimination of the Christian "threat," leading to the climactic lion picnics in the arena. In spite of the many more celebrated highlights (the burning of Rome, the rescue of Lygia [Deborah Kerr] from a rampaging bear, the upside-down crucifixion of Simon Peter), the scene that remains most vivid in the memory is the posthumous "final insult" delivered to Nero by his contemptuous former aide Petronius (Leo Genn). Sophia Loren can be briefly spotted as an extra during one of the crowd scenes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide