John Morley Movies

A woman walks a razor's edge between reality and madness in this impressionistic drama written and directed by Robert Altman. Cathryn (Susannah York) is a woman who begins to suspect that her marriage to Hugh (René Auberjonois) is falling apart after receiving a mysterious phone call from a friend who tells her Hugh has been having an affair. Cathryn herself has not been happy with Hugh, and years before she took a lover, Rene (Marcel Bozzuffi), though he died some time ago in a plane crash. Thinking they both need to get away, Hugh takes Cathryn to their house in the country, where Hugh indulges in his hobbies, hunting and photography, and Cathryn works on a book of fantasy tales for children. Before long, Cathryn begins to see apparitions of the late Rene around the house, much to her consternation; while confronting her feelings about the late Rene and the wandering Hugh, Marcel (Hugh Millais), a friend of the couple who makes little secret of his attraction to Cathryn, arrives for a visit, with his daughter Susannah (Cathryn Harrison) in tow. As Rene's appearances become more vivid and Cathryn reaches the end of her tether, she begins to drift deeper into a fantasy world, where it's difficult to tell what is real and what is imagined. Beautifully shot on striking locations in Ireland by Vilmos Zsigmond, Images earned Susannah York an award as Best Actress at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jack Sheppard (Tommy Steele) is the locksmith's apprentice who is forced into highway robbery when he is betrayed by Jonathan Wild (Stanley Baker). Jack runs for his life and takes to a life of crime. He is captured but breaks out of jail, quickly becoming the subject of lore, legend and song. The arrogant and popular Jack ends up heading for the gallows after taunting the King, the Lord Chancellor and a harridan aristocratic dowager. Wild tries to track down the elusive robber and collect on the reward like he has done so many times before in this dramatic adventure biography. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

When people refer to Doris Day as "the world's oldest professional virgin," they generally have the 1962 comedy That Touch of Mink in mind. It isn't that Cathy Timberlake (Day) is above a bit of hanky-panky; it's just that she wants such tangibles as a marriage license and wedding ring first. Thus, when playboy businessman Philip Shayne (Cary Grant) begins actively pursuing Cathy (they "met cute" when Philip's limo splashed mud on the hapless Cathy), she won't say "I will" until he says "I do." She is of the idealistic opinion that she can bring out the best intentions in him, even when he repeatedly tips off his worst intentions by inviting her to accompany him to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Bermuda. After not a few complications and misunderstands, Cathy finally finagles a proposal out of Philip. The film is essentially much ado about nothing, but it is so well-acted and attractively photographed that the audiences are willing to go along for the ride. The high-powered supporting cast includes Gig Young as Roger, Philip's moralistic financial advisor; Audrey Meadows as Connie, Cathy's wise-cracking roommate; Alan Hewitt as Dr. Gruber, a confused psychiatrist; John Astin as Beasley, Cathy's slimy would-be beau; Dick Sargent as a neurotic honeymooner; and an unbilled Richard Deacon as an all-around letch. Best scene: the baseball-dugout rhubarb involving New York Yankees Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rear Admiral Matt Sherman (Cary Grant) visits the submarine Sea Tiger on the morning of its decommissioning and reminisces about his time as the first commander of the boat, in 1941. Three days after Pearl Harbor, the sub is damaged during an enemy air raid in the Philippines; rather than abandoning her, Sherman and his chiefs refloat the boat. He's forced to accept the services of Lt. (jg) Nick Holden (Tony Curtis), who has no sea experience. Sherman appoints Holden -- a born conniver, deal-maker, and scrounger (his motto: "In confusion, there is profit") -- as supply officer, and through a series of burglaries and petty thefts he gets the Sea Tiger seaworthy again. Up to this point, the movie is an increasingly amusing service comedy, akin to the lighter moments of Mr. Roberts, running on Grant's wry exasperation and Curtis's cool arrogance, coupled with Arthur O'Connell's periodic sardonic yet optimistic jabs at their situation and Gavin MacLeod's fidgety nervousness. The Sea Tiger puts to sea ahead of the Japanese with a quintet of stranded army nurses aboard. The film shifts to a new level of humor as the officers and crew try to cope with living in close quarters with five attractive women in their midst. Grant gives a very witty performance as a man who is both exasperated by the situation he is in, having to adjust his masculinity to keep it from clashing with the feminine sensibilities of his guests, and also trying to control the mating urges of his men, starting with Holden, who can't stay away from Lt. Duran (Dina Merrill). Complicating matters more is Grant's awareness that the Sea Tiger is a "virgin" -- she has never engaged the enemy, but when they finally do, the accident-prone Lt. Crandall (Joan O'Brien) causes their torpedo to miss a tanker and sink a truck (probably the funniest sight gag in the movie). The boat also gets an accidental coat of pink paint when their supply of red and white runs low, and ends up carrying several Filipino families -- including two pregnant women. Since neither the Japanese nor the Americans officially has a pink submarine, the Sea Tiger ends uphunted by both sides and come under attack by an American destroyer. That's where the women's presence becomes a godsend. The movie ends 18 years later, with Holden a serious career navy man and responsible father, married to Duran, and Grant married to Crandall, who is as accident prone as ever. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Flood Tide can be described as The Children's Hour gone ballistic. Michel Ray is David Gordon a sweet-faced little boy who dotes on his widowed mother Anne (Cornell Borchers) - but has a nasty, pathological penchant for lying. When a body washes up on the beach and a man is arrested, David tells a few "convenient" lies that get the fellow arrested. The owner of the adjacent beach house, Steve Martin (George Nader) returns from a trip, learns of the situation, and discusses in detail why he thinks the boy is being deceptive; he then spends the rest of the movie romantically pursuing Anne while attempting to earn David's trust and extract a confession from him that will free the unjustly convicted fellow. Flood Tide was directed by Abner Biberman, who as a former movie villain had a good grasp of what makes a sociopath tick--even a ten-year-old one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Andrew V. McLaglen directs his actor father Victor McLaglen in The Abductors. The elder McLaglen plays a 19th century ex-convict, who hopes to spring a master counterfeiter from jail. To this end, McLaglen and his partner George MacReady kidnap the daughter (Fay Spain) of the prison warden, but this schemes comes acropper. Ultimately, the crooks abduct the body of Abraham Lincoln from its tomb in Springfield, holding it for ransom until their confederate is freed. It says here that The Abductors is based on a true story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Garson Kanin's Broadway hit was transferred to the screen with only a few passing nods to the stricter censorship required by films. Judy Holliday won an Oscar for her portrayal of Billie Dawn, a strident, dim-bulbed ex-chorus girl who is the mistress of millionaire junk tycoon Harry Brock (Broderick Crawford). In Washington to put a few senators and congressmen in his pocket (the better to lay the groundwork for an illegal cartel), the rude-and-crude Brock realizes that the unrefined Billie will prove an embarrassment. Thus he hires idealistic but impoverished Paul Verrell (William Holden) to pump some intelligence and "class" into Billie. Paul does his job too well; by awakening Billie's social and political consciousness, he turns the girl into Brock's most formidable foe in his efforts to buy influence in DC. Along the way Paul and Billie fall in love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide