John Bird Movies

Pianist, composer and archivist Percy Grainger was publicly known for a brief concert career, several interesting contemporary classical compositions, and researching and documenting a wealth of English folk music. Privately, Grainger's life was tumultuous and unconventional, as chronicled in the film Passion. Set in London in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I, Percy Grainger (Richard Roxburgh) is making a name for himself as a pianist; his recitals are known for his fiery performing style and fondness for dropping non-traditional pieces into his repertoire. Percy's career is guided by his mother, Rose (Barbara Hershey). Their relationship goes far beyond the normal bounds of family or business; Percy and Rose are also lovers, with Percy satisfying Rose's sado-masochistic impulses (which are aggravated by the fact she's contacted syphilis). Percy is also attracted to Alfhild (Claudia Karvan), who is uncooperatively married to his best friend, Herman (Simon Burke). Karen (Emily Woof), a lovely piano student, is interested in being tutored by Percy; Alfhild and Herman think this is a fine idea, and surprisingly so does Rose. However, Karen soon becomes Percy's lover as well as his student, and when Rose discovers Karen is willing to satisfy Percy's erotic appetites for pain, she no longer approves of Karen's presence. The film follows Grainger's life until he moves to New York City, where he spent most of his life until committing suicide in 1961. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A bungling gumshoe tries hard to affect a hard-boiled demeanor, despite the fact that his latest assignment is to protect the bratty young heiress to a fortune in this lively spoof of detective movies. Henry Brilliant, Private Eye, is no stranger to the ways of the wealthy as he too comes from a blue-blooded family, but he tries to ignore that to become the classic Chandleresque detective as he heads for Europe to follow the girl on her tour and keep her from being kidnapped by her stepmother who is really after her husband's secret formula for controlling the weather. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Halfway between a sitcom and a dramedy, the British series A Very Peculiar Practice was the story of idealistic, newly divorced young doctor Stephen Decker (Peter Davison). Accepting a position with the Student Health Service of Lowlands University, Stephen tried to do his job to the best of his ability, and to pursue romance with a variety of toothsome young ladies, among them student-policewoman Lyn Turtle (Amanda Hillwood) and fellow doctor Greta Growtowska (Joanna Kanska). Unfortunately, Stephen was surrounded by eccentric, backbiting, and downright incompetent co-workers, including nutty vice-chancellor Ernest Hemingway (John Bird), hypersensitive lesbian Dr. Rose Marie (Barbara Flynn), vainglorious Dr. Bob Buzzard (David Troughton), and chronic drunkand Dr. Jock McCannon (Graham Crowden). An endless succession of bizarre events and surreal running gags paraded through the halls of Lowlands, especially after the college was taken over by corporate-invading American Jack B. Daniels (Michael J. Shannon). Debuting May 21, 1986, A Very Peculiar Practice ran for 14 50-minute episodes, the last of which aired on April 6, 1988. A 90-minute spin-off, A Very Polish Practice, was seen on September 6, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, a yuppie couple experiences renewed marital turmoil when the marriage of two close friends breaks up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The highlights of two benefit concerts staged in support of Amnesty International are collected in this British performance film, which features ample helpings of both music and comedy. The members of the Monty Python comedy troupe serve as headliners, performing live variations on some of their most famous sketches. Additional humor is provided by such luminaries as Peter Cook, while the musical segments include performances by Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton, and Sting, amongst others. While all of the performers deliver the goods, the film's overall effectiveness is unfortunately limited by the purely functional direction and often poor image quality. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

An innocent country farmer experiences a number of improbable misadventures that culminate in a battle against the titular beast in this broadly comic fantasy. The first solo outing of director Terry Gilliam, who served as animator and co-director on Monty Python and the Holy Grail, returns to the medieval setting that had previously served him so well, and brings along fellow Pythonite Michael Palin for the ride as reluctant hero Dennis Cooper. Cooper's journey to defeat the fearsome Jabberwock is filled with a similar combination of traditional fairy-tale narrative and irreverent humor, which at times aims to be even raunchier than classic Python fare. But while the film is too awkward and repetitive to succeed, it does boast impressively grungy medieval sets and costumes, and flashes of the visual brilliance that would characterize Gilliam's more mature works. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

The setting for this British sitcom was the Earl's Court District of London. By day a photographer and sculptor, John Dally (John Bird) moonlighted as a private eye. Dally's hectic if well-balanced existence was upset by the arrival of John Chance (John Fortune), who claimed to have been a college pal of Dally's from Cambridge. Presumptively moving in with his "old friend" for what was supposed to be a few days, Chance remained on the premise for what seemed to be forever -- or at least, for the duration of the series' seven episodes. Written by its two stars, Well Anyway was originally broadcast from September 24 to November 5, 1976. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this spy thriller, Gorenko (Max Von Sydow) is on the run from his Russian spymasters, and wants to defect. The Americans hide him in their Beirut embassy until they can sneak him into the States. Colonel Kesten (Chuck Connors) appears to be an American, but is actually a Russian double agent with orders to kill Gorenko. Their dangerous cat-and-mouse game continues until Kesten is revealed for what he is and is finally subdued. Chuck Connors' performance is one of the highlights of this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this sex comedy, a bountiful blonde woman saves a despondent fellow from suicide and teaches him to love life again. Meanwhile a sexy aspiring actress seduces the son of a man whom she believes is a powerful producer, and a cabbie dreams of a world filled with bikini clad women and exotic dancers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This wickedly hilarious British comedy series was a dead-on spoof of World in Action, a popular BBC investigative-reporting series. On each half-hour episode, the series' "correspondents" promised to tear the lid off a recent scandal, but generally found themselves struggling to make exciting television out of absolutely nothing in particular. The series was produced by Ned Sherrin of That Was the Week That Was fame. The World in Ferment was originally telecast from June 23 to July 28, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Anthony Mann's final film (Mann died during the filming, and the production was completed by the film's star, Laurence Harvey) is a kitchen-sink espionage drama with Harvey as Eberlin, a Russian spy and double-agent, homesick and pining for the Russian steppes. It is in this risky mood that Eberlin falls in love with the emaciated Caroline (Mia Farrow). Complications arise when he is directed to kill a Russian spy -- but the Russian spy happens to be himself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The casual British viewer might have tuned into the BBC anthology weekly A Series of Birds in hopes of seeing a delectable parade of females (or "birds," as they were nicknamed at the time). Instead, the series consisted of eight 30-minute playlets, all starring versatile young stage performer John Bird. Bird also wrote much of the material, together with John Fortune and a bright new team named Michael Palin and Terry Jones (who obviously had a future in the business). The program began its run on October 3, 1967, and ended on November 21 of that same year. John Bird went on to essay a wide variety of roles in a number of other TV projects, including several entries in BBC's ambitious anthology of Shakespeare's plays and the 2000 satirical special My Government and I. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide