Alex McCrindle Movies

Set in the 1830s, this historical drama stars Robin Soans as George Loveless, a Methodist minister whose flock is a group of working families in Tolpuddle, a small town in the British Southwest. Most of the workers in the community are under the thumb of Frampton (Robert Stephens), a ruthless land owner, and his overseer Clerk (Murray Melvin); Frampton and Clerk demand long hours from their workers and pay meager wages. Convinced that the workers deserve a better shake, Loveless, encouraged by organizer Mr. Pitt (Michael Hordern), forms the Society of Friends, an early labor union, and organizes the men to negotiate with Frampton for better pay. When their salaries are instead cut, Loveless and his men go on strike, which could cripple Frampton financially. However, Frampton is well-connected, and soon both the government and private militias are sent in to break the strike and punish the rebellious laborers. The supporting cast includes James Fox, Freddie Jones, and Vanessa Redgrave. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

George Lucas' mythological popcorn movie is a two-hour roller-coaster ride that has passed into movie legend. The story, for the tiny number of people not familiar with it, concerns a farm boy named Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) who discovers that the used robot recently purchased by his family plays back a message from one Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), begging for help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke asks his father's friend Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) about this, and he discovers that Ben and Obi-Wan are one and the same. Kenobi tells Luke of the battle of the rebels against the ruling Empire and the spiritual energy called "The Force." Soon Luke, Kenobi, and a mercenary named Han Solo (Harrison Ford) join forces to rescue Princess Leia from the Empire's mammoth warship, the Death Star, controlled by evil genius Darth Vader (David Prowse, with the voice of James Earl Jones). George Lucas has frequently cited the influence of several films on Star Wars, particularly Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress and Yojimbo and John Ford's The Searchers, as well as the original Flash Gordon serials. After Star Wars became a success, Lucas announced his intention to turn the film into a series, originally totalling nine films (later pared back to six). Consequently, most reissue prints now feature the title Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope, with The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983) serving as Episodes Five and Six in the serial, and Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace (1999) going back to the myth's beginnings. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Director Jeremy Summers also cowrote the script of the economically produced nailbiter Depth Charge. The whole thing begins off the coast of Scotland, when a fishing trawler accidently unearths an unexploded World War 2 underwater bomb. Things look bleak for the local fisherman until coxswain David Orr volunteers to defuse the weapon. Though hampered by a tiny budget, Depth Charge manages to maintain a respectable level of tension. Still, even at 55 minutes it seems too long. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Trouble in the Glen was one of several felicitous collaborations between Hollywood's Republic Pictures and England's Herbert Wilcox-Anna Neagle productions. Curiously, Ms. Neagle does not appear--just as well, since the film is dominated by Orson Welles. Introducing himself with a typically self-indulgent monologue, the porcine Mr. Welles plays a South American resident who returns to his ancestral home in Scotland to become "Laird of the Glen". He immediately alienates the local populace by closing down the highway that runs through his estate. Hoping to make peace between Welles and the locals is former US air force officer Forrest Tucker, who developed an affection for the community while being stationed there during WWII. Violence threatens to erupt when evicted tinker Victor McLaglen rounds up a gang of toughs to lay siege on Welles' castle. The scenes involving Tucker's polio-crippled daughter (Margaret McCourt) run the risk of sloppy sentiment, but are deftly handled by producer-director Wilcox. Margaret Lockwood costars as Welles' daughter, who adheres to Hollywood formula by falling in love with the handsome Tucker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

I'll Never Forget You is an updated remake of 1933's Berkeley Square; both films used John L. Balderston's stage play as a launching pad. Tyrone Power stars as an American atomic scientist working in London. He lives in an ancestral home which dates back to the 18th century. Late one rainy evening, Power is struck down by lightning just as he enters his home. When he awakens, he finds himself transported back to the 1700s, in the person of his own ancestor. As he falls in love with his beautiful cousin Ann Blyth, Power tries to bring some 20th century technology to his "backward" forebears (this is a departure from the original Berkeley Square, in which the hero so loved the 18th century that he wanted to become part of it). Branded as a lunatic for his "hallucinations" of the future, Power is about to be carted off to Bedlam when he lapses again into unconsciousness. He awakens in his own time, to discover that his long-ago love Ann Blyth was so enamored of him that she died young, without ever marrying. At this point in the original play, the hero shuts himself off from the world, to await his ultimate reunion with his lost love in the afterlife. But I'll Never Forget You couldn't do that to virile matinee idol Tyrone Power, so the adaptors contrive to have him meet a woman who looks just like the girl he left behind 200 years ago. In the tradition of The Wizard of Oz, I'll Never Forget You opens in black and white, then switches to color when Power is sent back in time. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide