Geraldine McEwan Movies
One of William Shakespeare's lesser-known plays, Titus Andronicus was staged in New York by award-winning theatrical director Julie Taymor in an acclaimed 1995 production, before her widely praised Broadway version of The Lion King. Taymor revisits that production for her first motion picture, with the addition of a star-studded cast. Roman General Titus Andronicus (Anthony Hopkins) has returned from defeating the Goths in a bloody battle, but the victory has left him with mixed feelings, as the war took the lives of several of his sons. Titus is reminded by his first-born son Lucius (Angus Macfadyen) that their faith demands the sacrifice of an enemy prisoner as a gift to the gods for their victory. Titus chooses the eldest son of Tamora (Jessica Lange), the Queen of the Goths, who has since been taken hostage by Titus's troops. Tamora pleads for her son's life, but Titus goes ahead with the sacrifice. She then becomes the lover of the new emperor of Rome, Saturninus (Alan Cumming), a weak-willed and corrupt man. Tamora uses her connection to the throne for her own ends: in retaliation for the death of her son, Tamora and her surviving sons, Chiron (Jonathan Rhys Myers) and Demetrius (Matthew Rhys), brutally rape Titus's beloved daughter, Lavinia (Laura Fraser). This act sets in motion an ever-tightening spiral of revenge and retaliation that leaves few of the participants unscathed. The supporting cast includes Colm Feore as Marcus, Harry Lennix as Aaron, and James Frain as Bassianus. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, (more)
Helen (Kate Capshaw) runs a bookstore in Loblolly By The Sea, a small fishing community in New England where everyone seems to know everyone else's business. A 42-year-old single mother, she is emotionally distant and fearful of getting too close to anyone. George (Tom Selleck) has known Helen since they were schoolmates, and he's been in love with her for ages, but has always settled for just being her friend. Convinced she wasn't interested in him, he married another woman years ago. Helen also has another secret admirer, Johnny (Tom Everett Scott), who isn't at all put off by the fact that Helen is twice his age. Johnny, however, is currently occupied with Jennifer (Julianne Nicholson), a fellow student who also works at the bookstore and is crazy about him. Into this tangled web of unrequited love comes an amorous letter that Helen finds in the store one day. The letter bears no signature and no address; it's at once passionate and oblique, fervent and cryptic. It's very interesting stuff. So who wrote it? And to whom was the writer planning to send it? Before long, the letter has made its way through this circle, and everyone has an idea (or a hope) of who their secret love is, although no one knows for sure or just how to find out. The Love Letter marked the American debut of director Peter Ho-Sun Chan, who enjoyed success in Hong Kong with Comrades: Almost A Love Story and He's A Woman, She's A Man. The supporting cast includes Ellen DeGeneres, Blythe Danner, and Gloria Stuart. The Love Letter may be best remembered as the only major studio film to open the same week as Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Capshaw, Blythe Danner, (more)
The life of the reluctant Old Testament prophet is told in this made-for-television biblical drama. When the Pharaoh Ramses calls for the death of all Hebrew children, a mother puts her son Moses in a basket and sends him down the Nile to save his life. The baby is found by a princess and raised as the heir to the family throne. Called upon by God, the hesitant Moses (Ben Kingsley) accepts the challenge to lead his enslaved people out of Egypt for what becomes a 40-year journey into the promised land. This extravagant production was nominated for the "Outstanding Mini-Series" Emmy. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- PG13
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This film is a '90s version of the classic Robin Hood story, with Kevin Costner starring as the good-guy thief. Costner is joined in his efforts against the murdering Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) by Morgan Freeman who plays a philosophizing Moor, and by Nick Brimble, who plays Little John (anything but little). After Robin barely survives a watery skirmish with Little John, the two become allies and Robin joins forces with Little John's band of robber thieves to overcome the evils of the dastardly Nottingham sheriff. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, (more)
- 1989
Filmed in Britain, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit stars Charlotte Coleman as a champing-at-the-bit teenager named Jess. The girl's domineering mother (Geraldine McEwan), a religious fanatic, wants Jess to become a missionary; to that end, she refuses to allow the girl any friends her own age. Jess' father has nothing to say in the matter--indeed, he has had nothing to say to anyone for years. The girl's growing awareness of her own sexuality (depicted in steamy detail) flies in the face of her mother's carefully orchestrated plans. Funny in a dark sort of way, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit was first seen in America over the Arts and Entertainment cable service in late 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Kenneth Branagh makes his feature film directorial debut with this adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V. After the Chorus (Derek Jacobi) introduces the play, young king of England Henry V (Kenneth Branagh) begins an angry dialogue with King Charles of France (Paul Scofield). The king's son, Dauphin (Michael Maloney), insults Henry and the argument escalates into war. In flashback, Henry is seen as a young man drinking in a tavern with Falstaff (Robbie Coltrane), Bardolph (Richard Briers), Nym (Geoffery Hutchings), Pistol (Robert Stephens), and Mistress Quickly (Judi Dench). Meanwhile, Henry and his captain, Fluellen (Ian Holm), assemble an army and invade France. The French greatly outnumber the British troops, yet Henry leads them to victory in the Battle of Agincourt after delivering his famous St. Crispin's Day Speech. Throughout this struggle, Henry also courts Katherine (Emma Thompson) and eventually wins her over. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, (more)
- 1986
- PG13
Victor Banerjee, the India-born star of David Lean's A Passage to India, is the central figure of director Ronald L. Neame's Foreign Body. Jobless in Calcutta, Banerjee steals money from his own father to afford passage to Britain. There he makes contact with his cousin Warren Mitchell, who arranges for Banerjee to get a job as a bus conductor. But when he begins to ardently pursue a lovely young white woman, Banerjee loses his job at the behest of the girl's influential father. His luck changes radically when Banerjee administers mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a bus accident victim, whereupon he is mistaken for a doctor by friendly model Amanda Donohoe (probably the nicest she's ever been on film). Donohoe talks up the skills of this "new Indian doctor", and before he knows what has hit him, Banerjee is head physician to the Prime Minister of England--with virtually every woman in the land vying for his services in bed! Never letting on where it is heading next, Foreign Body is adapted from an equally tricky novel by Roderick Mann. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Banerjee, Warren Mitchell, (more)
Adapted from a series of novels by Anthony Trollope, the Masterpiece Theatre production of The Barchester Chronicles features Donald Pleasence as Reverend Harding. Scandal taints the town of Barchester after the local church becomes the object of a scathing investigative report about the use of church funds. The husbands of Harding's daughters are feuding with each other and each manipulates Harding for their individual purposes. A change in church leadership brings Harding into contact with Reverend Obadiah Slope (Alan Rickman), an unpleasant man who may be hiding some deep secrets. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- 1978
Nine years after Jay Presson Allen's theatrical version of the Muriel Spark novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was adapted as a film with Maggie Smith in the title role, the property served as the basis for a seven-part British miniseries. Geraldine McEwan starred as Miss Jean Brodie, a highly unorthodox teacher in a 1930s Edinburgh private girl's school. Surrounded by adoring students, Miss Brodie did her best to instill the values of her pet political movement, Fascism, in the hearts of her "gels." Though the heroine was successful in countermanding the orders of her stern and fervently anti-fascist headmistress, she was finally defeated by the sly machinations of one of her students, who mounted a campaign to woo Miss Jean's beau away from her. In the end, Miss Jean's political fervor caused nothing but heartache and tragedy for everyone in her orbit. The TV version of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie was shown via the ITV's Scottish Television service in 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine McEwan, Lucinda Bateson, (more)
- 1976
- G
The Littlest Horse Thieves is a Walt Disney Production. Set in early 20th-century England, the film concerns three Yorkshire children who take pity on the ponies that are used as beasts of burden in the coal mines. The kids "liberate" the ponies with the help of a sympathetic groom. This action arouses so much public sympathy that the miners threaten to strike if the ponies are returned to their living deaths in the pits. A plot-solving last minute rescue segues into a joyous celebration, stage-managed by twinkly old Lord Harrogate (played by the indispensable Alastair Sim). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Peter Barkworth, (more)
- 1976
This is not the same kind of film as the 1962 production, Tom Jones. In fact, it is a "nudie musical", as evidenced by the presence of singing star Georgia Brown in the dual role of Jenny Jones and Mrs. Waters. The project originated as a Las Vegas stage presentation, with Nicky Henson in the lead. The plot of the Henry Fielding novel about the "boy born to be hanged" is followed in spirit rather than to the letter, with busty Joan Collins thrown in like a lagniappe as a lady highwayman. Wandering through the proceedings are such English stalwarts as Trevor Howard and Terry-Thomas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nicky Henson, Trevor Howard, (more)
- 1968
This Swedish melodrama is set upon a small fortresslike island. Upon the island lives a bitter artillery captain, his wife and his family. The officer is angry at never receiving the promotion he felt was his due. He constantly argues with his wife. Complicating matters is the captain's illness, which he has kept secret. His wife cousin, a quarantine officer, comes to the isle with his son. The captain immediately begins trying to destroy him socially, professionally, and financially. More trouble ensues when the cousin's son and the captains daughter fall in love. The two perceptive youths observe the twisted relationship between the fathers. As the daughter finally chastises the father for his behavior, the captain has a stroke, writhes about upon the floor with foam dripping from his mouth, and dies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
This is one of the rare comedies by director Gerald Thomas that does not have the words "Carry On...." in the title, and that is the first indication that the wacky, hare-brained, ribald core of the "Carry On" series is missing here. The premise is that a young couple, David and Catherine Robinson (Leslie Phillips and Geraldine McEwan), have to turn their large country house into a money-making proposition. Their solution is to invite the kids of the rich and famous, since that is where the money lies, to spend a summer enjoying all the loving care and attention they miss at home. After the youngsters arrive, David quickly realizes what the offensive little punks need is some real discipline, and so the summer begins. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Geraldine McEwan, Julia Lockwood, (more)
- 1953
In this comedy, a diamond merchant's secretary gets fired by her new boss for being too efficient. She ends up kidnapped by a ring of jewel thieves. The clever hostage soon convinces the crook that she is with them and joins the gang. She then sneaks a note to her former boss and he comes to save her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
