Anthony Bate Movies

A family on the run for their lives finds themselves in a beautiful but utterly unfamiliar world in this drama based on the autobiographical novel by Stefanie Zweig. Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze) is a successful Jewish lawyer living in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich. Aware of the increasing dangers of remaining in Germany, Walter seeks exile on a farm in Kenya, while his socially prominent wife, Jettel (Juliane Koehler), and his young daughter, Regina (Lea Kurka), stay behind, as does his father, Max (Gerd Heinz), and Jettel's sister, Kaethe (Regine Zimmermann). In time, as the pogroms against the Jews increase in Germany, Jettel and Regina join Walter in Kenya, but the transition is not easy for Walter, who is still learning the nuts and bolts of running the farm (and discovers that Germans are not welcomed by the British settlers in Kenya), or Jettel, who is not accustomed to physical labor and resents having to help with the farming. While Regina at first finds her new surroundings alienating and unfamiliar, she soon becomes fascinated with the rugged beauty of Kenya and becomes fast friends with Owuor (Sidede Onyulo), who serves as the family's cook. In time, Germany invades Africa, and Walter finds himself in a British internment camp; Jettel and Regina also are captured, but Jettel uses her sexual allure to persuade a British officer to arrange for Walter to be put in charge of another farm, and Regina is sent to a boarding school for girls. After the war, the Redlichs must decide whether to remain in Kenya or to return to the country that would have persecuted them. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Polish bureaucrat Jozef Burski (Donald Sutherland) all but loses his reason for living when he is "downsized" by his government. Reduced to non-person status, Burski reaches out to his friends for moral support, but they turn their backs on him. Worse still, he doesn't know why he's been targeted for this emotional abuse; every time he tries to find out, something calamitous happens. The emotional strain takes its biggest toll on Burski's wife Mira (Anne Archer), who ends up in a state asylum. Suddenly, Burski's exile is lifted: it's all been a test of his loyalty to his homeland. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Heavy with symbolism and light on storyline, this unbalanced tale of an unbalanced woman leaves a few open questions at the end. When Nelly (Eileen Atkins) is first encountered in a hotel, she does not remember her family or her friends and draws a blank when a detective arrives to connect her with a series of crimes. Eventually, Nelly goes back to her family and reprises a fairly boring, mundane existence -- are there any clues within this life that lead to the crimes she supposedly committed, or even lead to her amnesia? Maybe. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

This version of Crime and Punishment is a British television miniseries adaptation of the classic work of literature by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. John Hurt stars as Rodya Raskolnikov, a 19th century Russian intellectual living in poor conditions who struggles with the moral choice to commit a crime in order to save his sister. Originally airing on the BBC in 1979, it was also shown as part of Masterpiece Theatre on PBS. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Anthony Bate, Derek Jacobi, and Michael Culver star in director Gordon Flemyng's docudrama detailing the Russian spy scandal that rocked Great Britain at the absolute height of the Cold War. In the three decades after college buddies Kim Philby (Bate), Guy Burgess (Jacobi), and Donald MacLean (Culver) were recruited to work as Russian spies, each of the men maintained high-level government security posts. Later, after passing along valuable U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, the three double agents were exposed, ultimately defecting to the Soviet Union in order to escape prosecution. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Steed is the latest in a long line of aristocrats who have been accused of crimes thanks to carefully planted evidence. He also finds himself victimized by a blackmailer, who uses his ill-gotten gains to purchase works of art. Making matters worse, Steed cannot entirely rely on Tara for assistance, inasmuch as she has been immobilized by a broken ankle. Written by Philip Levene, "Curious Case of the Countless Clues" first aired in England on February 5, 1969, some ten months after its American debut on April 3, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Carson (not Johnny Carson, as listed in some source books) stars in the grim British programmer Act of Murder. Carson plays an actor who still carries a torch for his ex-mistress Justine Lord, even though she is now happily married to Anthony Bate. With cold-blooded resolve, the actor conducts a campaign to drive Bate to a nervous breakdown. Instead, the distracted husband is driven to commit murder. Act of Murder was given a limited American release by Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Set-Up was another in the long-running British second-feature series based on the works of Edgar Wallace. Maurice Denham plays a businessman who blackmails ex-con Brian Peck into committing a robbery. Peck is told to break into Denham's house and steal some valuable jewels so that the businessman can collect the insurance. But when Peck arrives at the crime scene, he comes across the body of Denham's wife--and is promptly accused of the murder. Inspector Jackson (John Carson) is the dogged detective who unravels the insidious plot woven by the crafty Denham. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Gamboling along in a series of sketches without great regard for anything except the next joke, this is a light-minded, unevenly funny comedy by family-oriented director Don Chaffey, put together not long before he began working for Disney studios. At the nexus of the action are David (Bob Monkhouse) and Brian (Ronnie Stevens), two students in the dental school, and Sam (Kenneth Connor) the petty thief who tricks them into selling stolen dental equipment. Humor derives from the antics of the two students after they discover the truth, as Brian the thief poses as a dental student. The usual college staff of deans and secretaries and lecturers throw in extra comic fodder. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi