Nora Nicholson Movies

Jean Simmons is a housewife on a brief shopping trip to London. A young, unemployed lout (Leonard Whiting) who, seeing her on the inbound train, sets his sights on her, and tries to get a response from her as he chases her all over town. At one point desperate, he steals her purse so that he will be the one chased. Eventually, he breaks down her reserve and they are able to meet properly, converse, and get to know one another. A romantic energy has developed in their relationship as the unlikely twosome joins together briefly. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Marcello Mastroianni marks his English language film debut in this featherweight caper film directed by first-time director Christopher Morahan. Mastroianni plays the owner of a London boutique who also happens to be the fourth in line to succeed the Russian throne. Mastroianni, feeling that the collection of Russian imperial jewels actually belongs to him, determines to steal them and return them to their rightful owner -- himself. To carry out his plan, he puts together a cadre of pulchritudinous female crooks and arranges for his gal gang to model the imperial jewels at a fashion show. But, as usual, complications set in to mess up his plans. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Hugo is mad as heck, and he's not going to take it any more! Hugo is the dummy used by the Great Vorelli, a ventriloquist and hypnotist who wows London with his amazing act. Hugo can walk as well as talk, and he does other interesting things. Neglecting his statuesque mistress Magda, Vorelli pursues a pretty volunteer from the audience named Marianne; he know she is a wealthy heiress, and is after her money as well as her charms. Following a charity concert at Marianne's country estate, he mesmerizes the girl, who then falls into a baffling coma. When (in one of the movie's best sequences) a jealous Magda challenges the hypnotist over his attentions to the younger woman, Vorelli lulls her into submission, then gets rid of her, using Hugo to ensure his own alibi. Marianne's journalist boyfriend Mark investigates the mysterious murder and discovers another killing in Vorelli's past with interesting connections to the present. This underrated British horror story could be the best filmed variation on the "dummy with a soul" theme inaugurated by a brief sequence in Alberto Cavalcanti's classic 1945 anthology Dead of Night and continuing more recently with Magic (1978.) Fine photography by Gerald Gibbs, convincing performances by Bryant Halliday, Sandra Dorne and Yvonne Romain and flawless animation and editing of Hugo's scenes provide a galvanizing elaboration of the original, somewhat skeletal, concept. A rental video is hard to find, but available. ~ Michael P. Rogers, All Movie Guide

Based on a whimsical novel by Paul Gallico, Disney's Three Lives of Thomasina is an imaginative tale of a resourceful cat. Thomasina is the pet of Karen Dotrice, the daughter of taciturn Scottish veterinarian Patrick McGoohan. When Thomasina falls ill, McGoohan coldly diagnoses the cat as suffering from tetanus and declares that the pet must be put out of its misery. As Dotrice and her friends sadly prepare to bury the "dead" Thomasina, backwoods girl Susan Hampshire, who is said to be a witch, shows up and runs off with the kitty corpse. Using equal doses of intuition and love, Hampshire revives Thomasina, who of course wasn't dead at all. While in limbo, Thomasina ascends to Cat Heaven, where her case is heard by the Cat Goddess (this is a wonderful piece of special-effects wizardry, even if you don't like cats). Returned to life, Thomasina has no memory of her previous existence. Thus, the cat runs off in terror when Dotrice sees her again during a torrential downpour. Now it is Dotrice who becomes seriously ill, necessitating a collaboration between the cold, cut-and-dried ministrations of her father and the tender loving care of the "bewitched" Hampshire. As it turns out, Thomasina is the catalyst for both Dotrice's recovery and the film's happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A humorous, sometimes absurd and sometimes just light-hearted comedy, this story sets up the premise of a couple's search for a housemaid, with a series of impossible women providing the hilarity. When Richard and Kate (Michael Craig and Anne Heywood) return from their honeymoon, they discover that Kate's father has given them a maid as a wedding gift. The trouble is that the maid has a good portion of the U.S. Navy in the house when they arrive, in a more-or-less wild orgy. Exit maid. The couple then hire Rosemary (Joan Hickson) who tipples to excess, making her service at a dinner party an insurmountable challenge. Exit Rosemary. Enter Blodwen (Joan Sims) a homesick woman from Wales who cannot live outside her native environment. Exit Blodwen. And so it goes, even through a gorgeous French maid (Mylene Demongeot) who causes more than a mild uproar among the couple's friends. It seems the help is either too bad or too good. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A father discovers that being a good role model for your son isn't always easy -- especially when you're a criminal -- in this bright British comedy. Percy Brand (Michael Redgrave) is an all-purpose con artist and small-time crook who makes a good living on the wrong side of the law but often finds himself behind bars as a result. Not wanting to present too bad an example to his son and needing an explanation for his frequent time away, he tells young Colin (Jeremy Burnham) that he's a missionary working with a religious group, and his good deeds take him all over the world on sudden missions of mercy. Colin accepts his father's word to the letter, and he grows up to be a law-abiding citizen who works as a barrister for Judge Crichton (Robert Morley), who has had to deal with Percy a number of times over the years. By this time, Percy has retired to a village by the ocean and is living nicely off his ill-gotten gains, but he gets roped into a scheme smuggling brandy and soon finds himself in trouble with the law again. Rather than go back to the pokey (and embarrass Colin), Percy and his mates concoct a bizarre plan by which they'll implicate Judge Crichton in the smuggling and send him to jail in their place. Director Charles Crichton directed a number of fine British comedies, right up to his final picture, A Fish Called Wanda, which he completed at the age of 78. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a woman finds herself addicted to auctions and begins bringing the strangest things back to her home. Her husband, ignorant of her passion, begins suspecting her of kleptomania and hires a detective to spy on her. He next sends her to a psychiatrist. After the woman gets wise to the schemes, she reveals the identity of the real thief. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

British actor Kenneth More's screen charisma helps smooth over the rough spots of Raising a Riot. More plays Tony, a young husband and father. When Tony's wife Mary (Shelagh Fraser) takes a trip to Canada, the hapless hubby is left in charge of their three precocious (to put it mildly) children. The film then goes off on several directions, many of them hilarious: some of the best scenes involve the kids' ongoing feud with a bunch of American children. One of the three youngsters is played by Mandy Miller, who'd previously burst onto the movie scene with her brilliant portrayal of a deaf child in Crash of Silence. Ronald Squire indulges in his usual scene-stealing as the kid's rogueish grandpa. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This British crime drama is set in a supposedly haunted London theater and centers upon a producer who rents the building from its female owner to put on a show. She does so on the condition that no one unlock the dressing room where her husband was murdered years before. Later, the woman's son is murdered on stage. The police find clues that lead them to the mysterious locked room. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

British film star Googie Withers took a break from the steamy melodramas that had previously been her specialty in Once Upon a Dream. Withers plays Carol Gilbert, happily married to Major Gilbert (Guy Middleton). One evening, Carol dreams of an extramarital affair with Gilbert's former aide Jackson (Griffin Jones). Upon awakening, she is convinced that the assignation took place, and behaves accordingly, much to the confusion of both her husband and her "lover." More silly than funny, Once Upon a Dream is kept alive by the enthusiastic performances of its leading players. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rising British star Sally Ann Howes was given a worthwhile screen vehicle with Fools Rush In. Howes plays Pamela Dickson, an impulsive young bride-to-be, while Guy Rolfe portrays her long-lost father Paul. Ostensibly a cad and bounder, Paul turns out to be just the opposite when he arrives for Pamela's wedding. The girl immediately drops her own wedding plans to arrange a reconciliation between her father and mother (Nora Swinburne). Screenwriter Geoffrey Kerr adapted the script from a play by Kenneth Horne. Fools Rush In is as light as a feather, but it pleases the crowd. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide