Jack Shepherd Movies

In a universe presumably ruled by a benevolent, all-powerful God, how can events such as the Holocaust possibly come to pass? This is the question posed by a group of inmates in Auschwitz, the Third Reich's most notorious death camp, in this reflective war drama written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Millions, Code 46), and directed by Andy DeEmmony (Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story). Realizing that their extermination is imminent, the prisoners attempt to make sense of their fate by putting God on trial. How is it that the deity they call the Almighty could abandon His chosen people in their hour of need? As the sound of prisoners being marched to the gas chambers drifts hauntingly through the walls, the trial gets underway. The questions posed during the inquest are profoundly difficult and deeply complex, and as the hour draws near when they, too, will face death at the hands of their captors, the thoughtful prisoners finally reach a verdict. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A man who wants to give his family the good things in life decides to start stealing them in this dark comedy from England. Robert Martin (Lee Evans) is a working-class loser -- or at least he might be working-class if he had a job -- who is obsessed with entering contests, certain a big prize will finally make its way to him. Robert has entered a sweepstakes hoping to win an all-expenses-paid vacation on the Isle of Man, and when a well-off couple (Barbara Leigh-Hunt and Frank Finlay) are declared the winners, Robert concludes he deserves the prize far more than they do, and decides to simply take it away from them. Martin packs up his long-suffering wife, Angie (Kathy Burke); his strident mother-in-law (Linda Bassett); his 14-year-old daughter, Katie (Terri Dumont), who happens to be pregnant; and his surprisingly well-adjusted eight-year-old son, Little Bob (Eric Byrne), and they head off for the nightmare vacation of a lifetime. Ray Winstone and Mark Strong also appear in the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Born in Dorsetshire, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) fictionalized the region as Wessex in his short stories and novels. In 1973, stories from Thomas Hardy's collection Wessex Tales (1888) were adapted to television for a BBC-2 series (also titled Wessex Tales) that included a memorable contribution ("A Tragedy of Two Ambitions") scripted by acclaimed British dramatist Dennis Potter, who later adapted Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge for the BBC2 in 1978. The Scarlet Tunic is based on another story from Wessex Tales, "The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion," a 20-page tale of thwarted love, structured as a recollection by Phyllis as told to Hardy shortly before she died. For this $800,000-budgeted British period film, set in the early 19th century, the name Phyllis was changed to Frances (Emma Fielding), daughter of retired doctor Edward Groves (Jack Shepherd). Frances is engaged to her father's friend, dull Humphrey Gould (John Sessions), away on business. A German cavalry regiment is encamped on Groves' land, and one day, Frances meets handsome hussar Matthaus (Jean-Marc Barr), who's ready for action. He would like to either fight the French or return to Germany. The two have an immediate attraction. When the bored soldiers, including Matthaus, make plans to desert, Frances decides to leave with Matthaus. Unfortunately, Gould visits the Groves home on that very night, with resulting confrontations and conflicts. Former second-unit director and stunt coordinator Stuart St. Paul makes his feature directorial debut, with the screenplay (St. Paul, Mark Jenkins, Colin Clements) expanding on both the events and characters as penned by Hardy. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Released in the US on cable television, Blue Ice stars Michael Caine as an older, tireder version of his 1960s "Harry Palmer" character (his name, in fact, is Harry Anders). An M16 agent-turned-nightclub owner, Caine is a man of steadfast loyalties. Thus he takes it personally when several friends from his espionage days are mysteriously killed. Caine investigates on his own, which brings him in very close proximity with enigmatic consul's wife Sean Young. Befitting the fact that Caine's character is a jazz fancier, Blue Ice boasts an evocative musical score by Michael Kamen, of Lethal Weapon and Die Hard fame. Watch for jazz great Bobby Short and an unbilled Bob Hoskins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this film, Barbara, a middle-aged woman living in Edinburgh in the present, is overwhelmed by memories of Greta, her long-dead mother from the 1930s to the 1950s. Flashbacks show the girl with her poetess mother in Edinburgh and the Orkney Isles. Her mother was fascinated by the sea which would later claim her life. In the present, one of her long-time friends is a well-known artist, and Barbara begins to rekindle strong ties with him when they meet at a gallery showing. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Golden Globe-winner Linus Roache stars as tormented postimpressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh in this award winning BBC production that follows the man behind "Starry Night" as he travels from Paris to England, falls in love, creates his masterpieces, and ultimately succumbs to his own inner demons. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Some of the conditions which prompted the development of the United Kingdom's Socialist party (and some radical political movements) are explored in this quasi-biographical historical drama, which goes into the harsh life experienced by one woman who lived and worked in a Welsh coal mining town at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. In the story, Gwen (Sue Roderick) marries a miner, who is killed in the mines. Death in the mines is common, and the mining companies were not in the habit of paying any kind of compensation to the dead miners' survivors. Desperate for money to survive with, she takes the gruesome job of preparing miner's corpses for burial. Despite a seemingly endless succession of difficulties, Gwen somehow survives to become (as seen at the beginning of the film) "the oldest woman in Great Britain," greeted by the Queen and celebrated in the press. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A seemingly harmless man comes to a small town with a deadly mission in mind in this British made-for-television movie. Jack Shepherd stars as Peplow, a reserved man who meets up with a disenchanted, crippled veteran (Peter Egan) on the day of their town's annual fair. Unbeknownst to the curmudgeon vet, Peplow has come to town for more than just the fair. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide

This film within a film is based on the painting Las Meninas by Diego de Velazquez. A young boy enters the canvas of the famous picture of the Spanish king and his court. In order to return to the real world, he must convince the artist to create his famous painting. The other plot involves a film director who is not sure how his film within a film will be created. He is distracted by his troubled marriage and has difficulty focusing on his project. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

During WWII, Sobibor was a notorious Nazi death camp. This gripping, fact-based drama chronicles the courage of an inmate who managed the largest escape from such a place. Thanks to him, over 300 prisoners were freed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Count Dracula is a three-part British television adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. Louis Jourdan plays the count not as villain or pathetic victim of circumstance, but a charismatic charmer, who doesn't need to suck the blood of his lady victims to make them faint. Part One takes place in Transylvania, with British attorney Jonathan Harker (Bosco Hogan) arriving at Dracula's castle to close a real estate deal--and to nearly lose his life and soul to his sinister host. Part Two finds Dracula at large in England, beckoning the unfortunate Lucy (Susan Penhaligon) into the world of the Undead. The story grows more intense in Part Three, with vampire hunter Professor Van Helsing (Frank Finlay) rallying the forces of Good against the elusive Dracula. Count Dracula was first telecast in the US on PBS' Great Performances series in March of 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

The members of a British working-class family see their lives starting to come apart as the Nation prepares to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day (named for an anarchist who tried to blow up Parliament) in Michael Winterbottom's drama Wonderland. Eileen (Kika Markham) and Bill (Jack Shepherd) are a married couple with four grown children. Bill has lost his job and is drifting through life, unsure of what to do. He's also having sexual problems with Eileen, who is being driven insane by their noisy neighbors. Neither Bill nor Eileen have seen their son Darren (Enzo Cilenti) for a long time, and his birthday is a heartbreaking experience for them. (Darren, on the other hand, would prefer to celebrate his birthday by spending the night in a hotel with his girlfriend rather than seeing his parents.) Bill and Eileen also have three daughters, Nadia (Gina McKee), Debbie (Shirley Henderson) and Molly (Molly Parker). Nadia works in a cafe and has trouble meeting men; she's signed up with a dating agency, but has yet to meet anyone she likes. Debbie is suddenly a single mother after separating from her drunken lout of a husband. Debbie drowns her sorrows in a series of meaningless one-night-stands, while her husband flies into uncontrollable rages and their son is left with no one to turn to on either side. And while Molly's story seems happy on the surface -- she's soon to give birth to her first child and her husband has done well in kitchen sales -- she's suddenly thrown into instability when she finds her husband has quit his job, without telling her, to follow his dream of becoming a chef. Wonderland received enthusiastic reviews for its ensemble cast when shown at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide