Jack May Movies
Character actor Jack May is best-remembered for playing Nelson Gabriel on the popular BBC radio series The Archers for over 45 years. He made his feature film debut in Give Me the Stars (1944). His subsequent screen appearances have run the gamut from science fiction, romance, and drama, to historical and animated television series. May first appeared on television in the movie One (1956). ~ 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)
- 1968
A former World War II submarine captain and his friend turn to smuggling when a former crew member lays out a plan to retrieve some hidden diamonds. Geoffrey (Richard Johnson) and his sidekick David (Roy Dotrice) listen to Riker (Jeremy Kemp) as he tells of the hidden treasure near the Skeleton Coast of Africa. Julie (Honor Blackman) is the passenger whose late husband supposedly hid the diamonds. With a dim-witted German named Johann (Peter Vaughan) as their guide, the crew battle fierce storms and underwater danger as they make the treacherous trek to collect the missing diamonds in this action adventure. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Johnson, Honor Blackman, (more)
- 1966
Adam Adamant Lives was first screened on BBC1 on June 23, 1966, and ran for two seasons. Over the 29 episodes this quirky fantasy -- the BBC's answer to The Avengers, conceived by Sydney Newman, the creator of Doctor Who -- became a household name, and family favorite. Adam Adamant, a much-celebrated hero of the Edwardian era (played by RADA-trained actor Gerald Harper), had been frozen in time in 1902 by his archenemy, The Face, only to be discovered by accident, unearthed from a building site in 1966. After initial confusion the out-of-time gentlemen soon finds trusty companions: Swinging '60s Londoner Georgina Jones (Juliet Harmer), and the eccentric entertainer William Simms (Jack May), both of whom help him solve a series of mysterious crimes in '60s London. ~ Jon Mills, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gerald Harper, Juliet Harmer, (more)
- 1964
The murder of a secret agent appears to be tied in with a seemingly normal suburban wine shop. Following the evidence trail, Steed finds that the shop conceals a photographic darkroom. As an upshot, Cathy finds herself attending a séance conducted by a spirtualist (Alice Landon) who sidelines in blackmail. Written by Ludovic Peters, "The Secrets Broker" made its British TV debut on February 1, 1964; its first American exposure was delayed until March 28, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
The Big Zapper is based on the popular British comic strip of the same name. Linda Marlowe plays a lady private eye, while Gary Hope co-stars as her long-suffering sidekick. They go from one life-threatening adventure to another, Modesty Blaise style. As in the original comic strip, the adventure content is overridden by humor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on Noël Coward's play "Still Life," Brief Encounter is a romantic, bittersweet drama about two married people who meet by chance in a London railway station and carry on an intense love affair. Sentimental yet down-to-earth and set in pre-World War II England, the film follows British housewife Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson), who is on her way home, but catches a cinder in her eye. By chance, she meets Dr. Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard), who removes it for her. The two talk for a few minutes and strike immediate sparks, but they end up catching different trains. However, both return to the station once a week to meet and, as the film progresses, they grow closer, sharing stories, hopes, and fears about their lives, marriages, and children. One day, when Alec's train is late, both become frantic that they will miss each other. When they finally find each other, they realize that they are in love. But what should be a joyous realization is fraught with tragedy, since both care greatly for their families. Howard and Johnson give flawless performances as two practical, married people who find themselves in a situation in which they know they can never be happy. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, (more)
- 1957
This not-so-subtle variation on Val Lewton's classic Cat People (1942) is enlivened by the presence of exotic Barbara Shelley -- who would later grace many Hammer Studios productions (most notably Terence Fisher's Dracula -- Prince of Darkness) with her feline beauty. Shelley plays Leonora, a woman who believes she has inherited a curse which will transform her spirit into the body of a ferocious, man-eating leopard. Though her disbelieving psychiatrist (Robert Ayres) tries to persuade her that this belief is merely a by-product of her rage toward her unfaithful husband, the vengeful "phantom" cat she releases from her subconscious triggers the curse and spells doom not only for those who betrayed her, but perhaps for Leonora's own soul as well. Despite a superb performance by the smoldering Shelley and noir-ish direction from Alfred Shaughnessy (though nothing to compete with that of Jacques Tourneur), it's hard to overlook the obvious parallels to Lewton's film, which outclasses it in nearly every respect and makes the entire effort seem unnecessary. Produced by British Lion, this film was later distributed in the United States by the ubiquitous American International Pictures, sometimes under the title Cat Woman. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Shelley, Robert Ayres, (more)
- 1969
The "space pirates" of the title are a band of renegade Argonites. Materializing on a space beacon, the TARDIS finds itself in the middle of an Argonite attack against the Army Space Corps. The pirates succeed in capturing the TARDIS and leaving the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions stranded a billion miles from nowhere. Written by Robert Holmes, the six-part "The Space Pirates" began its original TV run on March 8, 1969. At present, all but episode two of this adventure is missing from the BBC archives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1969
In the second episode of the six-part story "The Space Pirates," the renegade Argonites have captured the TARDIS and abandoned the Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Jamie (Frazier Hines), and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) in Deep Space. Though without a ship to his name, the Doctor concocts a scheme to save himself and his marooned companions. Meanwhile, a second plot line develops, involving a long-standing conflict between the Interstellar Mining Corps and eccentric engineer Milo Clancey (Gordon Gostelow). Written by Robert Holmes, "The Space Pirates, Part 2" originally aired on March 15, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1969
In the third episode of the six-part story "The Space Pirates," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) miraculously saves himself and his companions Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) from being marooned in space forever. Landing on the planet Ta, the TARDIS crew locates the hiding place of the Argonite space pirates. Alas, no sooner have they done so than the Doctor and his friends are captured by the villains. Written by Robert Holmes, "The Space Pirates, Part 3" originally aired on March 22, 1969. This episode apparently no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1969
In the fourth episode of the six-part story "The Space Pirates," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his companions have become enmeshed in a series of intrigues involving the Instellar Mining Corps, a band of renegade Argonite pirates, and eccentric mining expert Milo Clancey (Gordon Gostelow). Captured by the pirates, the Doctor, Jamie (Frazer Hines), and Zoe (Wendy Padbury) are aided in their escape by the enigmatic Clancey. Unfortunately, the foursome runs right into a trap set by pirate chieftain Craven (Dudley Foster). Written by Robert Holmes, "The Space Pirates, Part 4" originally aired on March 29, 1969. This episode apparently no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1969
In the fifth episode of the six-part story "The Space Pirates," the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his friends are once more in the clutches of Argonite pirate leader Craven (Dudley Foster). Salvation arrives from an unlikely source: Madeleine Issigi (Lisa Danniely), the daughter of Craven's partner Dom (Esmond Knight). But the Doctor has precious little time to enjoy his freedom: He now faces an even deadlier peril than the pirates. Written by Robert Holmes, "The Space Pirates, Part 5" originally aired on April 5, 1969. This episode apparently no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1969
In the conclusion of the six-part story "The Space Pirates," Argonite pirate chieftain Craven (Dudley Foster) draws up plans to destroy the Space Corps -- and the entire planet Ta -- with a super bomb. It is up to the Doctor (Patrick Troughton), his friends Zoe (Wendy Padbury) and Jamie (Frazer Hines), eccentric miner Milo Clancey (Gordon Gostelow), and reformed pirate-girl Madeleine (Lisa Danniely) to prevent this catastrophe. Written by Robert Holmes, "The Space Pirates, Part 6" originally aired on April 12, 1969. This episode apparently no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, (more)
- 1944
Give Me the Stars is a British comedy aimed squarely at the regional audiences of the 1940s. Lenni Lynn plays an American girl (complete with a line of unconvincing slang) who heads to Scotland on family business. She appoints herself protector of her cranky Scots grandfather (Will Fyffe), who of course is not nearly as helpless as she believes. While tolerably produced, Give Me the Stars rather resembles an elongated music hall sketch. But Will Fyffe was enormously popular, and the film brought in the shillings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
While it might not have been the best idea on earth to remake the 1939 classic Goodbye Mr. Chips as a musical, the end result is not altogether displeasing. Peter O'Toole steps into the old Robert Donat role of Arthur Chipping (originally Charles Chipping), a young by-the-book schoolmaster at a 1920s British boys school who is humanized by the love of good-natured music-hall singer Katherine Bridges (played by Petula Clark; Greer Garson essayed this role, then named Katherine Ellis, in the original). Though Chips must endure the tragedy of Katherine's death during the 1940 London blitz (a scene filmed from the bomb's point of view!), he is able to persevere by devoting himself to his young charges. In retrospect, this version of Goodbye Mr. Chips might have worked better without the songs, which never rise above banality. And though Petula Clark can't match the poignancy of Greer Garson's performance (in all fairness, she didn't have much of a script to work with), Peter O'Toole is terrific as the title character, convincingly ageing and mellowing as the story unfolds. Originally road-shown at 151 minutes, Goodbye Mr. Chips is today generally available in its 131-minute general-release version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Petula Clark, (more)
Among the first of the late 60s anti-war films that reflected growing concern over the Vietnam War, How I Won the War takes a cold, dark look at the Good War, World War II. In adapting Patrick Ryan's 1963 novel, screenwriter Charles Wood and director Richard Lester offered a narrative fractured by characters making side comments to the camera, stylized cinematography, inserts of newsreel war footage, and plenty of absurdist humor and slapstick. Ernest Goodbody (Michael Crawford) is a bumbling British officer who manages to get most of his small company of musketeers killed while on a mission in North Africa to set up a cricket pitch behind enemy lines for officers of the advancing British army. The rest of the company dies in an ensuing campaign in Europe near the war's end, but all of the men continue to march along, appearing as monochromatic ghosts. (Original prints of the film intercut real battle footage tinted to match the color of the soon-to-be ghost soldier. Some prints of the film, including one shown on Turner Classic Movies, present the newsreel shots in black and white, undercutting the stylized touch.) The story is framed as a flashback, with Goodbody relating his version of events to a German officer (Karl Michael Vogler), while the real version of events, demonstrating Goodbody's ineptitude, plays out on screen. Among the supporting players are John Lennon, who had worked with Lester on A Hard Day's Night and Help; Roy Kinnear, a Lester regular, as a fat soldier who is certain his wife is cheating on him; Jack MacGowran as the troop's designated fool, and Michael Hordern as a general almost as oblivious to his suffering men as Goodbody. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Crawford, John Lennon, (more)
- 1953
Innocents in Paris is a series of anecdotes bundled together by geography. First we see the efforts by British diplomat Alastair Sim to loosen up Soviet-agent Peter Illing long enough to forge an economic plan between Russia and England. Then we watch as dotty artist Margaret Rutherford purchases a copy of the Mona Lisa. Next we see British officer Jimmy Edwards go off on a toot in a Parisian bistro. The next vignette involves impressionable Claire Bloom, who is swept off her feet by a local rake (the human variety, not the garden implement). And so it goes for 102 minutes in the British version of Innocents in Paris, and 93 minutes in the American print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Ronald Shiner, (more)
- 1956
In this drama, a construction contractor gets into trouble when he inadvertently receives some stolen property. This makes it even more difficult for him to frantically finish a housing estate designed to harbor a visiting princess. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
A serial killer is keeping Chief Inspector Rowan (Gilbert Wynne) busy late at night, much to the frustration of his young wife, Jenny (Linda Marlowe). After being picked at random in a police lineup, self-styled lothario Pete Laver (Donald Sumpter) is arrogant and disdainful to Rowan, and he even makes crude remarks about Jenny when she stops by her husband's office. Pete is released for lack of evidence, and that evening, Jenny is slashed to death by the killer while showering. Choked with rage, Rowan shadows Pete relentlessly, hounding him night and day until he can catch him in a mistake. The maniac strikes again, murdering a prostitute, and Pete is stuck without an alibi, so it appears that the crime has been solved. Judge Lomax (Jack May), long known to be tough on crime and social decay, presides over the case, but in the preceding weeks, his wife and colleagues have noticed a change in his behavior. His temper is short, his demeanor is cold, and he sometimes appears disoriented. Soon it becomes apparent that the judge has been the culprit all along, donning a black leather suit and an ill-fitting wig to commit his crimes. Stoked on pornography and willing to resort to transvestism to elude capture, the judge falls completely under the spell of his dementia and is confronted by the police on the waterfront, pleading for help and waving a pistol. Also available under the titles He Kills Night After Night After Night, Night After Night, and Night Slasher. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Based on the play by Joan Temple, No Room at the Inn takes place in the early stages of WW2, when the children of London were evacuated to the Country. A group of these youthful refugees are taken in by Mrs. Voray (Freda Jackson), who already has several orphans in her charge. Outwardly the soul of Christian charity, Mrs. Voray is actually a drunken harridan who treats the children like her own personal slaves. It is said that when the villainess received her comeuppance, movie audiences were known to stand up and cheer. The most intriguing aspect of this melodramatic exercise is that the screenplay was written by legendary Welsh poet Dylan Thomas! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Freda Jackson, Joy Shelton, (more)
- 1965
In this British crime drama a small-town detective gets tired of Scotland Yard's constant meddling and takes a leave-of-absence from his regular duties to start his own detective agency. It is there that he solves the puzzling jewelry store heist that caused the death of the owner's wife who worked there. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This fourth film dramatization of the 1789 mutiny aboard the H.M.S. Bounty is based not on the familiar Nordhoff and Hall book, but on Richard Hough's novel Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian. This time, the infamous Captain Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) is as strict a disciplinarian as ever. He is, however, no monster; faced with his crew's increasing laxity after an idyllic visit to Tahiti (the search for breadfruit takes second place to limitless sex with the island girls), Bligh is forced to resort to flogging and other such means to keep his men in line. Mr. Christian (Mel Gibson), formerly Bligh's friend, is of little use to the captain, having fallen in love with a native girl himself. Christian becomes the leader of the mutiny virtually in spite of himself; and when the mutineers try to seek refuge on Tahiti, they find that the local chief wants no part of them, which is why they settle for the nearly uninhabitable Pitcairn. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, (more)
A movie version of the stage play The Doctor and the Devils, written in the 1950s by Welsh poet/playwright Dylan Thomas, had been planned and shelved by several filmmakers before producer Mel Brooks and director Freddie Francis finally brought the project to fruition in 1985. Essentially, the story is the old one about grave robbers Burke and Hare and Scottish surgeon Dr. Robert Knox (which also yielded the 1945 Val Lewton classic The Body Snatcher). Timothy Dalton plays 18th century doctor Thomas Rock, who must rely upon the disreputable Robert Fallon (Jonathan Pryce) and Timothy Broom (Stephen Rea) to provide fresh cadavers for Dr. Rock's teaching hospital. When they can't dig up corpses fast enough to suit Dr. Rock, Fallon and Broom decide to streamline their methods via murder. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Timothy Dalton, Jonathan Pryce, (more)
The Man Who Would Be King opens with author Rudyard Kipling (Christopher Plummer) working in his study. His solitude is broken by the arrival of a tattered, half-mad derelict, who is soon revealed to be his old acquaintance Peachy Carnahan (Michael Caine). As Kipling listens in rapt fascination, Peachy relates the incredible adventures of himself and his partner-in-chicanery Daniel Dravot (Sean Connery). Con men Carnahan and Dravot have masterminded all sorts of underhanded money-making schemes, the most elaborate of which takes them to a remote city in the hills of eastern Afghanistan. Here, through methods both foul and fair, Daniel passes himself off as the incarnation of Alexander the Great, the better to lay his hands on the vast riches all around him. Unfortunately, Daniel begins to believe his own lies, and the results are disastrous for both himself and Peachy. Inadvertently exposing Daniel's scheme is his native wife, played by Shakira Caine (Michael Caine's real-life wife). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Michael Caine, (more)
