Christopher Rozycki Movies
- 1991
This four-part British miniseries took place just after the fall of the Soviet Union. Going through Kremlin files, a team of Soviet bureaucrats discover that two KGB "sleepers," or secret agents, were assigned to England 20 years before, and had been there ever since. One of the sleepers was a shop steward in the North, the other an urban professional in London, and neither man had any desire to return to Moscow. The Kremlin dispatched an attractive female agent to retrieve the renegade duo, thereby setting the stage for a maddening procession of double-crosses, multi-pronged conspiracies, and other assorted mayhem perpetrated by both the "good" and the "bad" guys. As much a comedy as a thriller, Sleepers was broadcast over BBC2 in 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nigel Havers, Warren Clarke, (more)
Pianist Nina (Juliet Stevenson) and cellist Jamie (Alan Rickman) played together and loved together. When they weren't making music with each other, they made love. It was an idyllic romantic and musical partnership, and when Jamie dies, Nina takes it very hard. The condolences of friends and relatives don't help much when everything in the apartment they shared reminds her of him. She's a real basket case, and can barely get on with her life. One day, while plunking dejectedly on the piano, Nina looks up to discover Jamie, in ghostly form, lively as ever and just as loving. With a few new wrinkles (such as parties which include Jamie's newfound ghost friends), they resume living their relationship almost as before. Nina's friends are puzzled at her change from suicidal despondency to giddy cheefulness, but Jamie has pledged Nina to secrecy about their renewed relationship. For that reason, she cannot find any good excuses for not responding to the romantic advances of a living man, Mark (Michael Maloney). Before long, she will have to choose between the two of them. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, (more)
This spy outing hones in on secret agent Magnus Pym (Peter Egan). Having impersonated so many different people during his career as a British spy, Pym eventually lost track of who he really was -- a confusion compounded by the fact that he knew nothing of his actual past. Ultimately feeling that he could trust no one -- not even his so-called friends -- Pym turned his back on the British and began trading secrets with the Enemy. Filmed on location in England, Europe, and the U.S., the seven-episode A Perfect Spy originally aired in the U.K. in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Egan, Ray McAnally, (more)
- 1985
The two-part British miniseries Wynne and Penkovsky was based on the true story of a Soviet G.R.U. colonel who worked as an undercover agent for the U.S. and Britain from 1960 to 1962. Until his arrest, Oleg V. Penkovksy (here played by Christopher Rozycki) was at the center of several volatile political incidents, and had been credited with providing the intelligence necessary for the Allies' successful maneuverings during the Berlin and Cuban Missile crises. Of the many books written about Penkovsky's activities, the best-known was The Man From Moscow by former British intelligence operative Greville Wynne (played by David Calder), who served as the Russian mole's contact man and go-between. It was Wynne's volume that served as the principal source for Wynne and Penkovsky, which first aired in the U.K. on January 2, 1985. A 100-minute "feature film" version has been released to video as The Man From Moscow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Calder, Christopher Rozycki, (more)
Bill Forsyth's whimsical tale of sweet-natured corporate rapacity features standout performances by Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert. Lancaster plays Texas billionaire Felix Happer, who would rather gaze at the stars than worry about his multi-national oil company. Happer dispatches Mac MacIntyre (Peter Riegert) and Danny Oldsen (Peter Capaldi) to the small Scottish fishing village of Ferness to negotiate buying the entire town so Happer can drill for oil in the North Sea. Much to Mac's surprise, the entire town is happy to sell itself for big money, and the local innkeeper, Gordon Urquhart (Denis Lawson) -- who is also the town's accountant and mayor -- works with Mac on the negotiations. But a wrinkle appears in the deal when Ben Knox (Fulton Mackay), an old man who lives in a shack on the beach which has been owned by his family for centuries, refuses to sell. His reasons? "Who'd look after the beach then? It would go to pieces in a short manner of time." The deal stalls so seriously that Happer travels to Ferness to oversee negotiations as Mac and Danny are seduced by the charm of the Scottish town. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Riegert, Burt Lancaster, (more)
