Martine Beswicke Movies
One of Great Britain's foremost pin-up girls, the delightful Martine Beswicke has managed the neat trick of being kinky and classy all in one. Billed as "Martin Beswick," Beswicke made her first film appearance as one of the fighting gypsy girls in the 1963 James Bond flick From Russia With Love; she returned to Bondland with a more substantial role in Thunderball (1965). After drawing attention away from a near-naked Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. (1966), Beswicke was awarded with the leading role in the similar Prehistoric Women (1967). She attracted the notice of the intelligentsia with her performance as a leather-clad lesbian in 1967's Penthouse, then went on to play half the title role in Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971). By contrast, her portrayal of Xaviera Hollander in The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood was a model of restraint. American TV viewers were given ample opportunity to drink in the charms of Martine Beswicke in the 1979 miniseries The Innocent and the Damned -- not to mention her brief but impressive (and fully clothed) appearance in a well-circulated beer commercial of the early '80s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1967
A man and woman with a shameful secret are confronted by a pair of sadistic thugs in this unsettling drama. Bruce Victor (Terence Morgan) is a not-so-happily married real estate agent having an affair with Barbara Willason (Suzy Kendall), an overly credulous young woman who believes that Bruce will leave his wife for her, though he has no real intentions of doing so. Through his company, Bruce has access to a furnished flat which he and Barbara use for their liaisons. One morning, while they're at the penthouse, Tom (Tony Beckley) and Dick (Norman Rodway) appear at the door, claiming to be meter readers. Barbara lets them in; they soon tie Bruce to a chair, and after dulling Barbara's senses with alcohol and drugs, they repeatedly violate her. When Tom and Dick finally leave, a seriously distraught Bruce and Barbara wonder if there's any way that they can tell their story to the police without revealing their adultery when Harry (Martine Beswicke) appears at the door, announcing that she is Tom and Dick's parole officer. Writer and director Peter Collinson adapted The Penthouse from the play The Meter Man by Scott Forbes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Suzy Kendall, Terence Morgan, (more)
It is early in the 20th century, and an American traveler has come to Mexico at just the wrong time to continue living a peaceful life, for the Revolution has begun and he quickly finds himself in the thick of it. At first, he is right in the middle between government troops and the revolutionaries and bandidos as they attack a train. Later, he finds himself among the decidedly scruffy-looking revolutionaries and even finds some romantic interest in a hot-tempered girl who is among them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gian Maria Volontè, Lou Castel, (more)
Filmed on the sets of One Million Years B.C., this adventure fantasy centers on a hunter who accidentally ends up lost and stranded in a mysterious world ruled by statuesque, raw-meat eating, big-haired and scantily-clad brunettes who enslave their blonde sisters and worship the horns of rhinoceroses. The brunettes capture the hunter place him in a cage with other males who must suffer the terrifying fate of making love to the sexually insatiable Amazon queen (played by Martine Beswick). Over the years, the film has developed a cult following. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martine Beswicke, Michael Latimer, (more)
This film was advertised with the slogan "See Raquel Welch In Mankind's First Bikini!" While archeologists tell us humans did not live at the same time as dinosaurs, and our prehistoric ancestors probably didn't look much like Ms. Welch and her co-stars, One Million Years B.C. is a good bit more fun than more scientifically accurate portrait of the era might have been. Tumak (John Richardson) of the Rock People is exiled from his tribe after a fight with his father, and after days of endless wandering is in sad shape before he's taken in by the more peaceable Shell People. He attracts the attention of well-proportioned cave woman Loana (Raquel Welch), but once again finds himself a man without a country after his violent nature alienates the Shell People. Along with Raquel (whose character is remarkably well-groomed given the time period), this movie's greatest selling point are the special effects; legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen created a dazzling collection of prehistoric creatures for this film that still look impressive, even in the more sophisticated era of computer generated imaging technology. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raquel Welch, John Richardson, (more)
Thunderball finds James Bond matching wits with the sinister espionage organization S.P.E.C.T.R.E, (which stands for Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). This time, S.P.E.C.T.R.E. hijacks a NATO nuclear bomber, hiding the bombs under the ocean depths and threatening to detonate the weapons unless a ransom of 100,000,000 pounds is paid. The mastermind behind this scheme is international business executive Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), who maintains a pool full of sharks for the purpose of eliminating enemies and those henchmen who fail to come up to standard. Dispatched to the Bahamas, lucky Mr. Bond enjoys the attentions of three nubile ladies: Largo's mistress Domino Derval (Claudine Auger), British spy Paula Caplan (Martine Beswick, previously seen as a gypsy girl in the 1962 Bond epic From Russia With Love) and enemy agent Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, (more)
- 1964
This British comedy details what happens to five sailors and a passenger as they spend fifteen hours on shore leave in London while waiting for their cargo ship to unload. The passenger, a lonely widowed business man named George (Bernard Lee), finds his way to a West End bar, where he meets Wanda (Erika Remberg), a seductive blackmailer, working in cahoots with photographer Paul (Derek Bond). Meanwhile, Lee (John Bonney), an Australian sailor, meets and falls in love with wacky beatnik Penny (Heather Sears). Arthur (David Lodge) tells the sailors that he is going to visit his mother when, in reality, he is heading off to seek a prostitute. Rough-and-tumble Harry (Inigo Jackson) finds himself robbed and left penniless after visiting a Soho saloon. Shy and naive Jamie (Colin Campbell) falls in love with the homeless Jean (Francesca Annis). As the hours go by, Jamie has to decide whether to leave Jean or to jump ship and marry her. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heather Sears, Bernard Lee, (more)
From Russia With Love, the second in the series of James Bond films, is the film that solidifies all the Bond film elements into a formula -- the action sequences are intensified and lend greater tension to the proceedings; John Barry's inimitable score makes its first appearance; Q is seen for the first time; and Sean Connery as Bond has nailed down his role as 007 -- accentuating Bond's stylishness and sophistication, while toning down his cold-bloodedness. In From Russia With Love, the bad guys don't want to take over the world. They want something more mundane -- a Russian decoding device. Assigned to the mission of stealing the decoding device are No. 3, former KGB agent Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), and No. 5, Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal), an expert chess player who has plotted every move of the mission. Kronsteen's plan requires using Bond's weakness for women as an element in acquiring the decoding device. Once Bond obtains the decoding device from Russian cipher clerk Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), SPECTRE muscleman Red Grant (Robert Shaw) is to forcibly take it from Bond and kill him. But Bond suspects a trap. Being Bond, however, he can't resist the lure of a beautiful woman. So, flaunting danger, Bond travels to Istanbul to meet Tatiana. The centerpiece of this 007 feature is the thrilling fight to the death between Bond and enemy agent Red Grant aboard the Orient Express. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, (more)
