Jane Aird Movies
- 1954
The "little lady" in this British melodrama is the amply proportioned Mai Zetterling. The actress plays prima ballerina Nina Gordon, who is exploited by her avaricious husband Mark (Terene Morgan). During a celebration of Nina's triumphal debut at the Royal Opera House, she discovers that Mark is not only greedy, but unfaithful. She becomes so upset by this that she drives off madly into the night, breaking her leg in a motor accident. Told that she'll never dance again, Nina is callously abandoned by Mark. With the help of a kindly doctor (Guy Rolfe), Nina is able to walk once more--and to live her life vicariously through her talented daughter (Mandy Miller) When Mark reenters Nina's life, intending to take control of the daughter's dancing career, it is he who emerges the loser--and how! Dance Little Lady was one of several ballet dramas produced in the wake of the phenominally successful The Red Shoes (1948). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Morgan, Mai Zetterling, (more)
- 1953
In this suspenser, set upon the campus of a women's college, a strangler has come to call. Death ensues. The music instructor suspects that the killer is a member of the college. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Originally titled Quatermass II, Enemy from Space was the sequel to The Quatermass Xperiment (US title: The Creeping Unknown). Based on the British TV serial by Nigel Kneale (who reportedly disliked the finished product), the film stars Brian Donlevy, repeating the role of Professor Quatermass. This time, the good professor must contend with a "meteor shower" which turns out to be a secret alien invasion. The extraterrestrials arrive on earth in rocklike vehicles, then take over the minds and nervous systems of earthlings, the better to go about their business undetected. Subliminally a cruel satire of British bureaucracy and obfuscation, Enemy from Space also works on a pure-horror level, building slowly and methodically to a powerhouse finale. For many years a "lost" film due to legal tangles, Enemy from Space has recently become available again on video and cable TV. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Donlevy, John Longden, (more)
Despite its come-on title, The Day the Earth Caught Fire is an intelligent, disturbing piece of speculative fiction. Through the eyes of British reporter Peter Stenning (Edward Judd), we learn that both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. have simultaneously set off nuclear explosions to test their efficiency. The twin blasts have caused the Earth to go off its axis. The result is a disastrous upheaval in the balance of nature; floods and fires being the principal plagues. With the end of the world staring everyone in the face, chaos reigns. The only hope lies in another massive nuclear explosion, which will hopefully rebalance the Earth. The film ends ambiguously, with viewers allowed to decide for themselves whether or not the world has been saved. In the original prints of The Day the Earth Caught Fire, the opening and closing reels were tinted yellow, representing the scorching heat beating down on the frightened populace. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Janet Munro, Leo McKern, (more)
- 1952
If the plot of the 1993 Kevin Costner film A Perfect World seemed vaguely familiar, perhaps it's because it bears a more than passing resemblance to the British-made 1952 thriller The Hunted (U.S. title: Stranger in Between). Dirk Bogarde stars in this emotional melodrama as an escaped murderer, sloshing through the North Country mud. Bogarde is reluctantly saddled with a fugitive orphan boy (Jon Whitely), who insists upon tagging along. The murderer ends up sacrificing his freedom to rescue the injured boy from certain death. While The Hunted was greeted with moderate enthusiasm in Britain, its virtues were trumped by the French film critics of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Jon Whiteley, (more)
- 1956
X the Unknown is a well-crafted imitation of the Quatermass British sci-fi pictures of the 1950s. A group of soldiers on maneuvers in Scotland stumble across a gravel pit which emanates an unusual amount of radiation. Several deaths occur before the radioactive material is mysteriously stolen. Researcher Dr. Adam Royston (Dean Jagger) speculates that the thief is some sort of inhuman monstrosity dwelling at the Earth's core. He points out that past radioactive disturbances have been occurring at 50-year intervals, each followed by sudden deaths and the disappearance of the material. Royston suggests that the unknown monster has been resuscitated by humankind's recent atomic experiments. Sure enough, the monster manifests itself as a huge slab of glowing radioactive mud (laugh now if you must -- you won't laugh when you see it). X the Unknown works well within its limited budget; unfortunately, many TV prints have been truncated, robbing some of the best horrific moments of their full impact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, (more)
