Nicholas Pennell Movies
British leading and supporting actor Nicholas Pennell found success on stage, screen, and television. As with many British actors, he started out on stage. The Hammer horror film Rasputin, the Mad Monk (1965) was Pennell's film debut. His most notable television role was that of Michael Mont in The Forsythe Saga. Pennell regularly performed at the Stratford Festival after the early '70s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A great deal of director Al Viola's version of this film was pruned away for its general release. The missing portions are not only the heart of the story, but they are the heart of the novel by Graham Billings which gave rise to the film. The whole story is that Forbush (John Hurt) is going nowhere in his romance of Tara (Hayley Mills) because he is basically an uninteresting, shallow man. In desperation, he decides to go off to Antarctica and study penguins. He hopes that his heroism in doing this will prove his sincerity to Tara. Once there, he grows genuinely enchanted by his project and develops a real interest in penguins. It is this, rather than his courage, which wins him Tara's affections. The truncated version omits most of the film's reputedly spectacular and affecting Antarctic footage (shot by Arne Sucksdorff) in order to concentrate on the love story. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Hayley Mills, (more)
- 1971
In the third episode of the six-part story "Colony in Space," the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) takes time off from mediating an argument between the Earth colonists of the planet Uxarius and the Interplanetary Mining Corporation to investigate the whereabouts of the planet's original inhabitants. He learns that the local natives worship a machine maintained by the Guardian, the last remaining vestige of a once-great civilization. The machine turns out to be a "doomsday device" -- and this fact will, in weeks to come, prove beneficial for the Doctor's longtime enemy, the Master (Roger Delgado). Written by Malcolm Hulke, "Colony in Space, Episode 3" first aired on April 24, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, (more)
- 1971
In the second episode of the six-part story "Colony in Space," the Earth colonists on the planet Uxarius are embroiled in a property-rights battle with the Interplanetary Mining Corporation. Hoping to mediate between the two combatants, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) will soon be aided and abetted by the newly arrived Adjudicator. Unfortunately, this "ally" is actually his old nemesis, the Master (Roger Delgado), in disguise. Written by Malcolm Hulke, "Colony in Space, Episode 2" first aired on April 17, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, (more)
- 1971
The titular colony in this six-part Doctor Who adventure is located on the planet Uxarius in the year 2472 A.D. Traveling through space and time in the temporarily reactivated TARDIS, the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo (Katy Manning) hope to retrieve a Time Lord file stolen by the Doctor's perennial nemesis, the Master. Arriving on Uxarius, the time-travelers soon find themselves mediating an argument between the colonists and the Interplanetary Mining Corporation. Written by Malcolm Hulke, "Colony in Space, Episode 1" first aired on April 10, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, (more)
- 1971
In the conclusion to the six-part story "Colony in Space," the Adjudicator, sent from earth to mediate a land dispute between the colonists of the planet Uxarius and the Interplanetary Mining Corporation, has revealed himself to be the Master (Roger Delgado), longtime nemesis of the Doctor (Jon Pertwee). Now in control of a doomsday device that is worshipped as an idol by the planet's natives, the Master intends to wreak havoc throughout the Universe. Inasmuch as this story is set in the year 2472 A.D., there is no telling how things will turn out until the very end. Written by Malcolm Hulke, "Colony in Space, Episode 6" first aired on May 15, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, (more)
- 1971
In the fifth episode of the six-part story "Colony in Space," the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) tries to persuade the Guardian (Norman Atkyns) of the planet Uxarius to destroy a doomsday machine that is worshipped as a god by the local natives. But he is thwarted in this pursuit by the Master (Roger Delgado), who intends to use the machine for his own nefarious purposes. Written by Malcolm Hulke, "Colony in Space, Episode 5" first aired on May 8, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, (more)
- 1971
In the fourth episode of the six-part story "Colony in Space," the Doctor (Jon Pertwee) discovers that the natives of the planet Uxarius have deified a machine which is capable of wiping out entire planets. Likewise taking an interest in this doomsday device is the Master (Roger Delgado), who has arrived on Uxarius in the guise of a land-dispute mediator. Naturally, the Master wants to steal the machine in order to take over the universe -- or destroy in the process. Written by Malcolm Hulke, "Colony in Space, Episode 4" first aired on May 1, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, (more)
This lackluster 1970 version of Charles Dickens' classic novel, David Copperfield (made as a film twice before) turns Dickens' picaresque tale into an extended flashback, with David Copperfield (Robin Phillips) as a young man, brooding on a deserted beach, recalling his youth. The characters are all trotted out in choppy flashbacks as David remembers his life as a young orphan, brought to London and passed around from relatives, to guardians, to boarding school. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, Cyril Cusack, (more)
James Bond-flick director Guy Hamilton helmed this episodic, all-star World War II film. With Sir Laurence Olivier heading up an ensemble cast as flight commander Sir Hugh Dowdling, The Battle of Britain pays tribute to other nationalities instrumental in fending off the waves of Luftwaffe planes, notably the expatriate Polish and Czech pilots. Trevor Howard, Michael Caine, and Michael Redgrave also populate the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Andrews, Trevor Howard, (more)
- 1968
Vanessa Redgrave stars in this film biography of the free-spirited modern interpretive dancer Isadora Duncan. Trained in classical dance, Duncan shattered the traditional conformities in her art and her personal life. The film begins at the end of her life as she recalls the past while dictating her memoirs to her male secretary. Her uninhibited sexuality and insistence on personal freedom and expression shocked more conservative and narrow-minded patrons and audiences. She brought in elements of classic Greek dance during the height of the jazz age and had children in and out of wedlock. Married to sewing-machine heir Paris Singer (Jason Robards) and the Russian poet Sergei Essenin (Ivan Tchenko), her life was a rollercoaster ride of success and tragic failures. Two of her children drowned when her chauffeur left the car unattended and the vehicle plunged into a river. Duncan lived by her own rules, often shunned by the very people who had so passionately embraced her pioneering efforts in dance, women's liberation and free thinking. Redgrave was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vanessa Redgrave, John Fraser, (more)
- 1968
Richard Attenborough, David Hemmings and Alexandra Stewart play three con artists planning a big-time scam. The object is to sell ammunition to a group of African militants -- or at least to pretend to. The trick is to keep at least one step ahead of the militants, lest the tricksters end up full of holes. A serviceable Len Deighton espionage novel was the source for Only When I Larf, which hooked up the material with "mod" gags about '60s fads and foibles. In the same spirit, the usually straightforward director Basil Dearden makes like Richard Lester, with a multitude of jump cuts, zoom-ins and hand-held shots. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, David Hemmings, (more)
- 1966
The life story of the legendary Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin gets the highly fictionalized Hammer Films treatment with this liberal mix of horror and history that presents the mysterious sage as a demonic, otherworldly creature. Christopher Lee stars as the titular monk, who gains entrée to the world of the tsar by casting a hypnotic spell on two courtiers, Dr. Zargo (Richard Pasco) and the beautiful Sonia (Barbara Shelley). Becoming a trusted aide and confidant of the tsarina (Renee Ashershon), Rasputin threatens the national power structure. After Sonia kills herself, Zargo resolves to kill the interloper, but stabbing, poisoning, and even bullets don't seem to be able to kill the diabolical Rasputin. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, (more)
