Nan Munro Movies

Charlotte Bronte's classic Victorian novel is once again put through the paces, this time by Delbert Mann, in this stodgy Masterpiece Theater style television adaptation. Susannah York is Jane Eyre, the orphan girl who secures a position as a governess to the ward of Edward Rochester (George C. Scott), lord of an English manor house called Thornfield, whose halls hide a dark and sinister secret. Jane and the moody and the tyrannical Rochester fall in love and agree to marry. But at their wedding ceremony, Rochester is revealed to have been already married. Suddenly his dark past comes crashing in on both himself and the innocent Jane. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by Winston Graham, The Walking Stick stars Samantha Eggar as Deborah, a polio-stricken woman courted by charming artist Leigh Hartley (David Hemmings). She moves in with Leigh, who immediately suggests that she help him rob the antique store where she works. Her common sense clouded by love, Deborah agrees. She is laboring under the misapprehension that Leigh will use the stolen loot to open up their own antique shop. He of course has no such intention, having orchestrated the whole romance for his own greedy gain. Both Samantha Eggar and David Hemmings are too talented for the sluggish goings-on in The Walking Stick, but actors do have to eat once in a while. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This musical comedy stars Herman's Hermits, the popular British pop group that made the title song from the movie a million-selling hit record. Herman (Peter Noone) inherits a greyhound and decides to enter the dog in the races. The dog, appropriately named Mrs. Brown, and the group travel from Manchester to London in hopes of entering a national invitational. The group finds work as a pop group (quite a stretch) as Herman falls for the girl next door. The group sings nine songs including the title track and the romantic tune "There's A Kind Of Hush." Herman's Hermits were much more popular in America than they ever were in England. Peter Noone later developed into a competent actor. The original group toured together until 1976. Guitarist Derek Leckenby and drummer Barry Whitwam continued to tour as Herman's Hermits into the 1990s on the oldies circuit. Noone has appeared in several films and television shows and also delivers his string of nostalgia in concert. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Two brothers looking to avoid becoming pawns of the establishment come up with a better way of making a living -- through theft -- in this satiric comedy. David Tremayne (Oliver Reed) is a successful London architect, and his younger brother Michael (Michael Crawford) is weighing his options after being kicked out of school. The brothers share a bemused disgust with the world around them and a desire to get through life without the burden of labor; toward this end, one day they begin plotting an elaborate scheme to steal the British Crown Jewels. Mind you, they don't intend to sell them, or even keep them very long -- the idea is to return them after a week, simply to prove that it could indeed be done, and make themselves famous in the process. After studying the procedures of Scotland Yard's Bomb Disposal Unit, the inner working of the Tower of London's Jewel Room, and the London ambulance services, the Tremaynes come up with a foolproof plan -- they call in a bomb threat to the Tower, and they are able to enter the Jewel Room posing as men from the bomb squad. They then feign injury and are able to escape in an ambulance. It all seems simple enough, and it actually works, until Michael "forgets" his part of the agreement to take half of the responsibility for the theft. The supporting cast includes Edward Fox, Frank Finlay, and Harry Andrews. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this mystery, a Scotland Yard agent must break up a ring of jewel thieves. He goes undercover and successfully infiltrates the gang, but trouble begins when he finds himself falling for one of the late gang members' widows, and she learns his real identity. She threatens to expose him until he decides to quit the Yard and become a real criminal. Fortunately, Fate intervenes, and he accidentally leads the gang to the waiting police. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A battle of the sexes begins to rage in an isolated private school in this charming British comedy. Just outside of London during World War II, Axis bombing forces the evacuation of a private all-girls school, St. Swithins. Thanks to a bureaucratic mix-up, the girls of St. Swithins and their Headmistress Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford) are to be billeted at the nearby Nutborne Boys School. While the students learn to make do with the crowded conditions, Nutborne headmaster Wetherby Pond (Alistair Sim) is less than pleased with the situation, especially after he and Whitchurch begin butting heads over which of them is truly in charge. The Happiest Days Of Your Life was based on a popular stage comedy by playwright John Dighton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide