Michael McStay Movies
A temperamental London lawyer adapts to the challenges of fatherhood when he is left with sole responsibility for his infant daughter in this well-performed British comedy-drama. Richard E. Grant stars as Jack, a high-pressure attorney who believes his life is on the right track: a successful career, a beautiful wife (Imogen Stubbs), and a baby on the way. Tragedy strikes, however, when his wife dies during labor, leaving Jack to raise his daughter Sarah, named in his wife's honor. Shocked and depressed, Jack is forced to deal with his grief for the sake of the new child. At first reluctant to turn to others, he receives help from a local derelict (Ian McKellen) who begins to act as Jack's butler, and a charming young American woman, Amy (Samantha Mathis), who becomes Sarah's nanny. The new challenges of fatherhood provide Jack with his solace and eventually lead him reevaluate his life and behavior. The debut film of writer-director Tim Sullivan, Jack and Sarah follows a well-worn path, but Grant's nuanced central performance and a strong supporting cast elevate the material above its predictable outline. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard E. Grant, Samantha Mathis, (more)
This spy outing hones in on secret agent Magnus Pym (Peter Egan). Having impersonated so many different people during his career as a British spy, Pym eventually lost track of who he really was -- a confusion compounded by the fact that he knew nothing of his actual past. Ultimately feeling that he could trust no one -- not even his so-called friends -- Pym turned his back on the British and began trading secrets with the Enemy. Filmed on location in England, Europe, and the U.S., the seven-episode A Perfect Spy originally aired in the U.K. in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Egan, Ray McAnally, (more)
- 1986
Robin Chapman based his teleplay for the 1986 BBC production Blunt: The Fourth Man on a true story. Ian Richardson plays Sir Anthony Blunt, an above-reproach aristocrat and renowned art expert. In 1951, Blunt sells out his country by helping turncoat British spy Donald MacLean (Michael McStay) escape to Moscow. Blunt's stake in all this intrigue is personal: he is the former gay lover of MacLean's partner in espionage, the notorious Guy Burgess (Anthony Hopkins). The revelation of Blunt's role as the "fourth man" in Britain's most famous modern spy scandal is not made public until 1979. Blunt: The Fourth Man was first telecast in the US over the A&E cable network on July 24, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ian Richardson, Anthony Hopkins, (more)
- 1976
In the second episode of the six-part story "The Seeds of Doom," the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah (Elisabeth Sladen) are stranded in the Antarctic while investigating a series of attacks on an expedition party. The attacks are related to the discovery of a mysterious vegetable pod, which the Doctor identifies as a Krynoid pod -- and, according to him, these things are highly dangerous and always travel in pairs. Meanwhile, a second pod is stolen by the minions of demented horticulturalist Harrison Chase (Tony Beckley). First telecast February 7, 1976, "The Seeds of Doom, Part 2" was written by Robin Banks Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, (more)
- 1976
The "Seeds of Doom" in this six-part Doctor Who adventure are discovered in a vegetable pod in the Antarctic. This discovery is closely followed by a series of mysterious attacks on the members of the expedition party. UNIT is summoned to Antarctica to investigate -- and when UNIT arrives, can the Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah (Elizabeth Sladen) be far behind? First telecast January 31, 1976, "The Seeds of Doom, Part 1" was written by Robin Banks Stewart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, (more)
- 1971
The Persuaders were a pair of globe-trotting, sophisticated playboys who solved crimes of passion and espionage every week on television. This video contains the second episode in the series. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In this rabid anti-communist science fiction tract, scientist Arnold Kramer (Peter Arne) convinces the Pentagon that the communist Chinese are digging a complex series of tunnels from China and beneath the United States, from which they plan to detonate nuclear weapons and destroy the free world. Kramer enlists Commander Jonathan Shaw (Kerwin Mathews) to assist Kramer in trying to prevent the literal and final collapse of the U.S.A. Shaw sets up shop inside an extinct Hawaiian volcano, attempting to destroy the main supply tunnel coming from China. But before the team can complete their mission, they are captured y the evil Chinese. Now it is up to Shaw and Kramer to escape the clutches of the Chinese in order to activate a nuclear stockpile inside the tunnel and incinerate the Chinese forces. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kerwin Mathews, Vivienne Ventura, (more)
- 1967
Based on the true story of the 1963 British Royal Mail robbery, this late '60s British caper film was directed by Peter Yates a year before he made the action classic Bullitt in the States. Opening with an extended jewel theft sequence followed by a action-packed car chase, Robbery details the events before, during, and immediately following the infamous heist. Paul Clifton (Stanley Baker, who also produced) is the main thief who comes up with the idea to steal three million dollars from the overnight mail train that runs from Glasgow to London. While gathering together a crew of thieves, he helps currency expert Robinson (Frank Finlay) break out of jail. The gang successfully holds up the train, takes the money, and retreats to an empty field to divide it up. When Robinson calls his wife on the phone, Inspector George Langdon (James Booth) from Scotland Yard traces the call and arrests them. As the legend goes, one of them manages to escape with the money. Also starring Joanna Pettet, who played Mata Bond in Casino Royale, and a young Robert Powell, who would go on to appear in the crime caper The Italian Job. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Baker, Joanna Pettet, (more)
- 1965
This cheap, but colorful British period horror piece follows an ill-fated archaeological expedition to the cursed tomb of the pharaoh, Ra-Antef, whose sarcophagus the team's leader opts to sell to a smooth-talking American promoter who intends to set it up as part of an exploitive side-show attraction. No sooner has the tomb reached the States than the foul-tempered pharaoh is released; he then begins stalking and strangling all those who have desecrated his resting place. The bandaged one's vendetta doesn't stop there; he also has a score to settle with the reincarnation of a man who betrayed him eons ago. This rather dull mummy muddle was originally double-billed with Hammer Studio's superior chiller The Gorgon. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Morgan, Fred Clark, (more)
- 1964
Patricia Neal plays Allison Crawford, a woman who has suffered psychosomatic blindness for a number of years. Upon psychological examination, Allison seems to have a gap in her memory which may reveal the cause of her emotional distress. When she and her husband Eric (Curt Jurgens) move in with her provocative younger sister (Samantha Eggar), Allison uses her ailment as an excuse to do some of her own investigative research. Slowly gaining back her eyesight, Allison finds the missing pieces of her memory. Julian Halevy based her screenplay on Francoise des Ligneris's novel, Psyche 63. Though the titular number is never explained, it has been suggested that it refers to the year in which the lead character suffered her traumatic experience. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Curd Jürgens, Patricia Neal, (more)
