David McCallum Movies

This meticulous re-creation of the sinking of the Titanic was adapted by Eric Ambler from the best-selling book by Walter Lord, and it preceded the blockbuster Titanic by almost 40 years. The film covers the life and death of the huge vessel from its launching celebration to that fateful night of April 14, 1912, when the "unsinkable" ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Of the 2224 passengers on board, 1513 were drowned as a result of the bad planning of lifeboats and escape routes. Kenneth More heads a huge and stellar cast, with 200 speaking parts, as second officer Herbert Lightoller, from whose point-of-view the story unfolds. Also in the cast are Laurence Naismith as the ill-fated Captain Smith; Michael Goodliffe as conscience-stricken ship's designer Thomas Andrews; Tucker McGuire as feisty American millionaire Molly Brown, whose courage and tenacity saved many lives; and Anthony Bushell as the captain of the Carpathia, who launched a noble but vain rescue mission once he was apprised of the disaster. Also appearing are two future TV favorites: The Avengers' Honor Blackman as a woman who believes that she has nothing to live for, and The Man From UNCLE's David McCallum as a wireless operator. The climactic sinking of the vessel is re-created with painstaking accuracy; filmed in "real time," it is a mere 37 minutes shorter than the actual tragedy. Two years before the film's release, an American TV adaptation of A Night to Remember set a precedent as the most elaborate and technically complex "live" broadcast of its time. Some viewers will find this movie a more accurate and gripping representation of this sea disaster than the romance-heavy Titanic. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ivan Tors Productions, the firm responsible for such aquatic TV delights as Sea Hunt and Flipper, was the prime mover behind MGM's Around the World Under the Sea. The official stars include Lloyd Bridges, Shirley Eaton, Brian Kelly, David McCallum, Keenan Wynn, Marshall Thompson, and Gary Merrill. The real stars are underwater photographer Lamar Bowen, diving-sequence director Ricou Browning, and the folks in Tors' special effects department. The plot concerns a series of underwater volcanic eruptions. Sub commander Bridges (who else?) heads into the depths to find out the cause of the disturbances. Before the THE END sign presents itself, Bridges and his crew are nearly devoured by a sea monster and sucked into a vortex. Though the film's technology-both on-screen and behind the camera--is dated, Around the World Under the Sea is still credible, not to mention thoroughly enjoyable. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The producers of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight team with some of the most respected anime artists in Japan to explore Bruce Wayne's transition from tormented crime fighter to heroic icon of a crumbling metropolis. Separated into six distinct chapters but intended to be viewed as a whole, this stylized look at immortal DC Comics superhero is the result of a collaboration between Shojiro Nishimi (Tekkonkinkreet), Yasuhiro Aoki (Steamboy), Futoshi Higashide (Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack), Toshiyuki Kubooka (The Secret of Blue Water), and Hiroshi Morioka (Chronicle of the Wings). ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Herman Melville's short novel Billy Budd is adapted for the screen, distinguished by Robert Krasker's expressive black-and-white cinematography and Peter Ustinov's crisp direction. Terence Stamp is Billy Budd, a seaman forced to serve in the British Navy during the war between England and France in 1797. Billy looks upon all men as inherently good and, although his crewmates are initially skeptical about this sailor who appears too good to be true, he proves his mettle by his skills as a sailor and gains the respect of the crew -- all except for the ship's reviled master-at-arms John Claggert (Robert Ryan), who attempts to poison Billy's reputation by accusing him of instigating a mutiny. When the ship's captain, Edward Vere (Peter Ustinov), questions Billy about the charges, Billy reacts by striking Claggert, who falls over and dies from a blow on the head. A court-martial is called and Vere has to determine whether Billy should be hanged or acquitted. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Adapted from a novel by Rosamunde Pilcher, the two-part British miniseries Coming Home re-created the years between 1936 and 1941 as experienced by a brace of young and impressionable girls. Meeting in a boarding school, Judith Dunbar and Loveday Carey-Lewis became close friends, though they were miles apart in terms of social status. But when Judith's wealthy Aunt Louise perished during the 1940 London Blitz, Judith inherited a fortune, and was thus "acceptable" to Loveday's upper-crust family. Complications ensued when Billy Fawcett, the decadent middle-aged sweetheart of Loveday's married mother Diana, began to lust after the hapless Judith. Boasting a stellar cast of reliable British stage and screen actors including Peter O'Toole, former New Avengers co-stars Joanna Lumley and Patrick Macnee, and onetime Man From U.N.C.L.E regular David McCallum, Coming Home was seen through the facilities of ITV in the autumn of 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Winner directs a curious amalgam of his own Death Wish and Abel Ferrara's Ms. 45, in this intense, post-feminist serial-killer movie, based on the bestseller by Helen Zahavi. After an explosive love affair crashes and burns, Bella (Lia Williams) leaves London for Brighton, where she begins to receive a series of obscene telephone calls from her deranged neighbor. Soon her neighbor also begins to stalk her. When the local police refuse to help her, Bella determines to take the matter into her own hands. Finally, at the urging of a loony Asian clairvoyant (Ian Richardson), Bella sneaks into the stalker's apartment in the dead of night and beats him to death with a claw-hammer. And to Bella's surprise, she finds that she likes it. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Escape out of a maximum-security German prison camp to the Swiss border is the goal of a group of Allied POWs. ~ All Movie Guide

Per its title, Jack Smight's Frankenstein: The True Story, strives for greater faithfulness to Mary Shelley's novel than prior versions. Thus, as in the book, Dr. Frankenstein's (Leonard Whiting) creation is no monster, but a handsome young man of high intelligence (Michael Sarrazin). In fact, the doctor and his creature are the best of friends until the latter's body begins to deteriorate. This sends the creature over the bend into insanity, prompting Frankenstein -- with the help of his evil mentor, Dr. Polidori (James Mason), a character not in the Shelley novel -- to try, try again to create a viable synthetic human. The film ends more or less as the novel does, with the outcast Frankenstein and his creature expiring in the frozen wastes of Antarctica. Adapted for television by Christopher Isherwood, Frankenstein: The True Story was originally telecast in two parts on November 30 and December 1, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed in Germany by American director John Huston, Freud is a sincerely felt but overly simplistic biopic of the pioneering psychotherapist. The brooding, introspective Montgomery Clift was a curious choice for the role of Sigmund Freud; at times he looks more off the beam than some of his patients (his comic-opera Viennese accent doesn't add to the credibility). The screenplay takes the shape of a detective mystery, attempting to link various crises in Freud's private and professional life with his theoretical conclusions, most often doing so within well-staged dream sequences. Less successful are the scenes with the poor unfortunates who come to Freud for help, notably an embarrassing sequence with a young man suffering from an Oedipus complex. Freud was at one point supposed to have been scripted by existentialist playwright Jean-Paul Sartre, who gave up after he realized that the subject would require a four- or five-hour film at the very least. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An ex-con becomes a paramedic in this drama that also contains messages about the plight of the elderly. Nickel has just been paroled to a work-release program where he is to work off his final year in an ambulance service at the local hospital in the retirement resort, Seabreeze. He learns to be a paramedic from his cynical trainer Brent who sensitively categorizes his patients as "lizards, sevens, and turkeys" (translated as old folks, corpses, and fakers). During training, he encounters many characters such as Igor Vostovic, a Russian emigre institutionalized against his will. Igor becomes a father figure to Nickel and guides him to the straight and narrow. Nickel also begins to fall for Francie who spends all her time caring for her sickly grandma. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this efficient British crime drama, Tom Yately (Stanley Baker) is an ex-con looking for honest work. He thinks he's found it when he takes a job as a truck driver, but he soon discovers that the trucking firm he's signed on with is not playing by the rules. Red (Patrick McGoohan), the company's best driver, and Cartley (William Hartnell), the manager, have created five fictional drivers who have been added to the payroll. The other staff drivers are given the shifts that the phony drivers are supposed to be working, while Red and Cartley divide their pay packets. When Tom attempts to expose the corruption at the trucking firm, he soon discovers that he's taken his life in his hands in the process. Keep an eye peeled for a supporting performance by a young Sean Connery (it was only his fifth screen role); the cast also includes Herbert Lom, Jill Ireland, Peggy Cummins, and David McCallum. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide