Ferdinand "Ferdy" Mayne Movies

Despite its provocative name, Britain's Eros Films was a small company set up for second-feature melodramas and murder mysteries rather than sexploitation flicks. The Narrowing Circle is a typical sausage off the Eros assembly line. The film is set in the offices of a magazine, where tensions and jealousies come to a head. A murder is committed; suspects include Paul Carpenter, Hazel Court, Ferdy Mayne and Russell Napier. The storyline cuts to the bone and gets everything settled within 66 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy-thriller, a woman returns to the country to see her godmother only to learn that the old woman has mysteriously disappeared. She quickly enlists the aide of a doctor to help her look. Like her godmother, the woman ends up in the clutches of the robbers. The fugitive thieves have been using the godmother's house as a hide-out and home base. The women are saved by the brave doctor and the police squad he brings with him. The bandits are captured and locked away. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Deadly Game was originally released in England as Third Party Risk. Lloyd Bridges stars as an ex-GI living in Spain. Accused of murdering an army buddy and betraying his country to the Enemy, Bridges must work overtime to clear himself. Though the leading ladies are forgettable, some excellent work is turned in by the male cast contingent, including British reliables Finlay Currie and Ferdy Mayne. Director Daniel Birt adapted the screenplay of The Deadly Game from a novel by Nicholas Bentley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this tuneful, romantic sequel to the classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, two gorgeous brown-haired Broadway chorines head for the City of Light to escape their ardent, predatory fans and find true love after having many adventures. The story is paralleled by that of their mother and aunt who did the same thing during the 1920s. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

While off on a drunken toot, three British naval officers attach an old baby carriage and a pawnbroker's sign to the stern of a foreign naval vessel. The next morning, a zealous officer spots the curious appendage and comes to the conclusion that the "pram" and sign are actually part of a sophisticated, top-secret radar device. Instantly, the British navy brass demands that their ships be outfitted with the same device -- and so it goes, with one bureaucratic misunderstanding after another snowballing into a major "international incident." You Know What Sailors Are top-bills Akim Tamiroff as the president of a mythical Foreign country, but the film belongs to Donald Sinden as the well-meaning young officer who precipitates the whole affair. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this adventure, set in North Africa, a secret agent must find a band of smugglers. The man who recommended her for the job is another American agent who works in foreign law enforcement. Only he knows her real identity and he is soon killed leaving her to break up the ring with the assistance of another agent masquerading as a smuggler. The are also assisted by a friendly saloonkeeper. The story was shot on location in Tangiers. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this bright British comedy, we meet Capt. Henry St. James (Alec Guinness) as he stands before a firing squad and then learn of the curious chain of events that brought him to his fate. Henry is a ship's captain ferrying a steamer between Gibraltar and North Africa on a regular basis, and he's taken the notion of "a girl in every port" to a whole new level; he has a wife on each side of the water. In Gibraltar, there's Maude (Celia Johnson), an even-tempered housewife who keeps the house tidy and has dinner ready when Henry likes it. In North Africa, mate number two is Nita (Yvonne DeCarlo), who is a sultry fun seeker who likes to hit the nightspots and dance 'till dawn. Between the two of them, Henry would seem to have the best of both worlds; Chief Officer Ricco (Charles Goldner) openly envies Henry's remarkable romantic situation. But things start to go sour when Maude suddenly decides she's a stick in the mud and wants to start living it up, while Nita becomes a homebody and begins learning to cook; Henry is none too happy about either development, and before long he finds he has no spouse on either shore. The Captain's Paradise was trimmed from 93 to 84 minutes for its initial United States release. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Robert Beatty stars in this rapid-fire British programmer as an innocent bystander mixed up with drug smugglers. When things look darkest, Beatty is helped out by femme fatale Elizabeth Sellars. The smugglers are routed, and the figurative broken horseshoe of the title is mended so far as Beatty is concerned. The film was based on a popular British TV series by Francis Durbridge. Apparently, Broken Horse-Shoe wasn't popular enough to make it into Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide, which contains write-ups on virtually every other British TV show-cum-B picture. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The British Roadhouse Girl was released in the US as Marilyn, but don't go looking for Ms. Monroe around these parts. Sandra Dorne plays Marilyn, the sexy young wife of ill-tempered garage owner Leslie Dwyer. Assuming that his wife is fooling around with mechanic Maxwell Reid, Dwyer begins punching Reid out. Defending himself, Reid accidentally kills his boss. Marilyn helps Reid cover up the crime, and together the two strike out to find a new life. Several months later, the couple is running a just-getting-by roadhouse. Wealthy Ferdy Mayne agrees to lend the couple some money, figuring the Marilyn will offer her affections as repayment. But things take a sorry turn when Mayne begins to suspect that Reid has committed a murder. Though based on a play by Peter Jones, Roadhouse Girl seems heavily indebted to James M. Cain's The Postman Always Rings Twice. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Made in Heaven is predicated on one of Britain's most curious annual traditions. During the yearly Dunmow Flitch, a side of bacon is awarded to any married couple who can prove at a public trial that their union has been happy and argument-free for a full year. Among the contestants depicted herein are the members of the Topham family: husband (Charles Victor), wife (Sophie Stewart), son (David Tomlinson), daughter-in-law (Petula Clark) and grandfather (A. E. Mathews). Into this household arrives a saucy Hungarian maidservant (Sonja Ziemann), sending the menfolk into a tizzy. No surprises here, just plenty of laughs--and in Technicolor, to boot. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Though Yvonne de Carlo is top billed in Hotel Sahara, the film is stolen hands-down by second-billed Peter Ustinov. The scene is a desert hotel, smack dab in the middle of neutral territory during WW II. Hotel owner Emad (Ustinov) cheerfully changes the decor--and his loyalties--depending upon which army is enjoying his hospitality. Likewise, Emad's sexy fiancee Yasmin (Yvonne DeCarlo) is equally effusive to both the Allies and the Axis. Complications ensue when the British, German and French armies converge upon the hotel all at once. The film's punchline is a beauty. Hotel Sahara is an early directorial effort by Ken Annakin, who later helmed such serious war flicks as The Longest Day and Battle of the Bulge. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Guy Rolfe is top-billed in the British Prelude to Fame, but the critics' attention was directed at young newcomer Jeremy Spencer. This is the story of a poverty-stricken boy named Guido (Spencer) who turns out to be a musical prodigy. Prodded into fame by a wealthy, childless patroness of the arts (Kathleen Ryan), Guido rises to the uppermost rungs of the musical world -- and loses his childhood in the process. Star Rolfe is cast as John Morrell, the philosophy professor who discovers Guido's genius, only to regret what happens to the boy afterward. Best scene: Jeremy Spencer leading the London Philharmonic without adult assistance. Released in America by Universal-International, Prelude to Fame is based on a story by Aldous Huxley. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Huggets Abroad is the last and most contrived of Britain's "Huggetts" film series. The titular family members, first introduced in the 1947 film Holiday Camp, are played by Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Susan Shaw and Petula Clark (the same). Mr. Huggett feels he's in a rut, so he quits his jobs and packs himself and his family off to Africa. In quick order, the innocents abroad (a) become involved with diamond smugglers and (b) wind up in jail. When his job becomes available again, the chastened Mr. Huggett returns to his own back yard. Four writers were required to concoct this tired British Ma and Pa Kettle equivalent. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi