Fred Pearson Movies
- 1998
The ninth feature-length episode in the British mystery series Dalziel and Pascoe, "Child's Play" is set, as usual, in Yorkshire, the home and workplace of weary, aging police detective Andy Dalziel (Warren Clarke) and his young, eager-beaver partner, Peter Pascoe (Colin Buchanan). The case at hand involves a middle-aged man who shows up uninvited at the funeral of a much-hated local dowager, claiming to be the dead woman's long-lost son (lost for fifty years, in fact) -- and the sole heir to her fortune. Meanwhile, Dalziel and Pascoe's colleague Sgt. Wield (David Royle),a closeted homosexual who keeps his preferences secret for fear of being dismissed, is plagued by a blackmailer. These two plot streams converge into one when murder rears its ugly head. Originally telecast as single, two-hour special in the U.K., Dalziel and Pascoe: Child's Play made its American debut as a two-part miniseres, shown on November 6 and 13, 1998, by the A&E cable network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A priest is torn between church dogma and his personal beliefs in this British drama. Father Greg (Linus Roache) is a Catholic priest who tends to a parish in Liverpool. Like his superior, Father Matthew (Tom Wilkinson), Father Greg is not dealing well with his vow of celibacy. While Matthew has been discreetly having an affair with his housekeeper, Greg is homosexual, and he occasionally slips out to gay clubs for anonymous encounters with strangers. One night, Father Greg meets a man named Graham (Robert Carlyle) at the bar; when he bumps into him on the street a few days later, he realizes that he's falling in love with him. As Father Greg struggles with his sexual and spiritual identity, he hears a confession from 14-year-old Lisa Unsworth (Christine Tremarco), who tells him that her father has been molesting her. Mr. Unsworth (Robert Pugh) confirms his daughter's allegation during confession, and he tells the priest that he will not stop his incestuous behavior. Should Father Greg violate the seal of the confessional to save Lisa from further abuse? Priest, which opened in America on Good Friday, generated considerable controversy, both with Catholic organizations (who denounced the picture) and the MPAA (the film had to be re-edited to gain an R rating for U.S. release). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, (more)
- 1993
- PG
Monty Python's Michael Palin plays an Oxford don with acute female trouble in American Friends. While on holiday in the Swiss Alps, Palin crosses the path of American tourist Connie Booth and her adopted daughter Trini Alvarado. Both women express an inordinate desire for the bookish Palin, leading to profound changes in the lives of all concerned. Michael Palin insists that the plot of American Friends was drawn from an actual incident in the life of his own great-grandfather. The film unfolds like a good novel; slow on the uptake, but fascinating once it gets going. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Palin, Trini Alvarado, (more)
- 1992
This slight multi-national comedy concerns a young Polish woman who becomes engaged to a British doctor in Warsaw. When the doctor leaves the country, the woman travels to London to meet her fiancée and get married. But upon arrival in London she discovers his mother disapproves of the match and the doctor refuses to marry her. However, the spurned woman wants to stay in England and arranges a marriage of convenience with a small-time crook, who discovers his new bride is much more trouble than he expected. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gary Kemp, Joanna Trepechinska, (more)
- 1991
Chimera was originally produced for Britain's BBC television network. The title creature is a half man, half ape (Douglas Mann), the product of a hush-hush government project. Journalist John Lynch gets wind of the experiment when his girlfriend dies in a fertility clinic explosion. At the center of things is a mad-as-a-hatter scientist, whom the government continues to protect until it's almost Too Late. Christine Kavanaugh costars in this new twist on the old Frankenstein story. Chimera premiered in the US over the A&E Cable service on November 1, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Elizabeth Gracen makes her first series appearance as Amanda, the troublesome Immortal ex-girlfriend of Duncan MacLeod (Adrian Paul). A circus performer who moonlights as a cat burglar, Amanda has run afoul of her partner in crime, Zachary Blaine (Jason Isaacs), who intends to remove both her head and Duncan's. Slyly, Amanda plays Duncan and Blaine against each other for her own ill-gotten gain. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adrian Paul, Alexandra Van Der Noot, (more)
