Michael Mellinger Movies

This two-part British miniseries chronicled the misfortunes of meek solicitor Henry Farr (Robert Lindsay), trapped in dead-end suburban domesticity and saddled with a feminist virago of a wife named Elinor (Alison Steadman). Finally able to stand no more, Henry plotted to do away with Elinor by means of poison. Alas, his scheme had a few glitches, and before long virtually everyone in the town of Wimbledon had dropped dead except for Elinor. Meanwhile, the local constabulary, led by Detective John Rush (Philip Jackson), tried to figure out what was causing the unusually high mortality rate. Played as much for laughs as for thrills, The Wimbledon Poisoner originally aired in 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A trio of agents are summoned by Interpol to trail the villain Harry Pimm (Sylvester McCoy) in this low-budget spy feature. Elliot Cromwell (Robert Ginty), Sergeant Terry O'Shea (Victoria Barrett), and Major Shan (Shakti) combine forces to track down the international crime boss ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Having already been seen spying for the Nazis in 1979's The Eagle Has Landed, Donald Sutherland once more infiltrates wartime England on behalf of Der Fuhrer in Eye of the Needle. Willing to kill even the most innocent of bystanders to complete his task, Sutherland manages to remain in Britain until the eve of D-Day in 1944. Discovering that the invasion is to take place on Normandy, Sutherland scurries to rendezvous with a U-boat off the treacherous Isle of Storms. His mission is thwarted by Kate Nelligan, the frustrated wife of paralyzed RAF commander Christopher Cazenove. Though having fallen in love with Sutherland, Nelligan nonetheless prepares to turn the man in when he kills her husband. Tension mounts in the closing scene as Sutherland races against time to (a) make contact with the U-boat and (b) stop Nelligan before she blows the whistle on him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This detective thriller features one of the most exciting boat chases ever filmed, a scene that has been compared to the car chase in Bullitt. It is also notable for having much scenic footage of the Netherlands and of Amsterdam. In this film, the headquarters of a drug-smuggling cartel is the quarry of American narcotics agent Paul Sherman (Sven-Bartil Taube). Though the cartel's activities are centered in Amsterdam, Sherman's search for the headquarters leads to an island castle owned by an offbeat religious group. Sherman and his partner Maggie (Barbara Parkins) run into serious trouble when they try to gain access to the forbidding site. Paul escapes captivity and chases the culprits by boat. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Fledgling filmmaker (and future film historian) Kevin Brownlow worked in collaboration with Andrew Mollo for nearly ten years to create It Happened Here. Shot on 16-millimeter stock in stark quasi-documentary fashion, the film is predicated on the postulation that Germany had invaded--and defeated--England in World War II. Brownlow and Mollo's vision of this nightmarish world is perfect in every detail, right down to the German road signs in rural Britain. The plotline is carried by Pauline Murray, playing a nurse who uncovers Nazi atrocities perpetrated on Polish and Russian hospital patients. Begun in 1957 when Brownlow was an 18-year-old editing apprentice, It Happened Here was finally completed in 1964, and released theatrically two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this epic medieval adventure, King Arthur is in his second decade of ruling Camelot when he becomes gravely ill and must journey to the castle of a good Saxon friend to recuperate. The ailing king does not know that the treacherous Saxons there are planning to kill him and commandeer the throne. At first the traitors' plans are foiled by a dashing outlaw who saves the king. Unfortunately, the Saxon dogs eventually succeed. Their leader tries to insure that he gets the crown by marrying Arthur's daughter. But instead, she goes off with another, causing the usurper to proclaim that she has died and that he is now the rightful king. Fortunately, she is not dead but off in the country seeking Merlin. She and her lover succeed and with the mighty magician manage to return to Camelot just as the new king is to be crowned. At this point the crusty Merlin demands that the Saxon prove his fitness to reign by removing Arthur's beloved Excalibur from its scabbard. Of course he fails. And of course the good princess succeeds. Immediately, the usurper and his band flee the country, but not before they are vanquished by the newly united British army. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on the true story of Sergeant-Major Charlie Coward (played by Dirk Bogarde) during World War II, this conventional wartime drama does not convincingly put across Coward's heroism, or his seemingly impossible exploits. A German POW and leader in Stalag 8B, Coward finds ways to humiliate his German captors whenever he can, but most importantly he and the men under him are working out an escape. They have already dug out a 280-foot tunnel, and now Coward has to somehow reach the Polish resistance fighters in order to get the necessary maps and money before exiting through the tunnel. To that end, he gets put in charge of prisoners at a lumber yard, burns the place down, blames it on a German officer, and manages to get an afternoon off in town if he does not rat on the officer. That time off allows him to contact the resistance movement and get the supplies he needs. And this is only the beginning of several adventures that Coward somehow survives. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

An unexceptional spy drama by Andre De Toth, Man on a String is based on an autobiography by counterspy Boris Morros, here given the name of Boris Mitrov and played by Ernest Borgnine. Mitrov was born in Russia but had been a citizen of the U.S. for some time when he joins up with a Russian spy network. He is caught out by the CIA, and they offer him a deal: go to the USSR and spy for our side, or else. Boris' boss is Bob Avery (the handsome Kerwin Mathews) and Colleen Dewhurst is Helen Benson, the lone female in the story. Clichéd dialogue aside, the scenes shot in Moscow and Berlin add convincing realism to the action. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, three criminals break into a man's store so they can get into the bank next door. The trouble really begins when the store owner suddenly shows up. The robbers take him hostage. A man walks past, sees trouble, and tries to assist. Unfortunately, he too is captured. Fortunately, the police show up and capture the three crooks. They also arrest the owner and the passerby because they think they too are involved. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This second film version of Somerset Maugham's Vessel of Wrath lacks the casual charm of the first (which starred Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester), but is otherwise quite entertaining. Robert Newton stars as Honorable Ted, a slovenly, bibulous South Sea Island beachcomber. The black sheep of a prominent British family, Ted is paid an annual salary to stay as far away from England as possible. Prim-and-proper missionary Martha (Glynis Johns), the sister of heathen-hating Welsh minister Owen (Paul Rogers), takes it upon herself to reform the intractable Ted. The script then goes off on a tangent not found in the Maugham original. Due to illness, Owen is unable to travel to a native village in an attempt to halt a cholera outbreak. So he sends Martha, with a reluctant Ted along as interpreter, to the village in his stead in an attempt to cure the tribal headman's daughter. After they fail, they and an intern are sentenced to a horrible death by the angry villagers. Despite the radicial differences in their separate acting styles, Robert Newton and Glynis Johns make a copacetic screen team. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, an ex-safecracker is released from prison and after working as a cabby and then resisting the temptations of a gang, decides to work undercover for the cops to expose the gang leader. Unfortunately, the gang gets wise and attempts to kill him in a giant freezer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide