Geraldine Sherman Movies
- 1994
Lesbians on ice provide the focus of this British drama. Steffi and Natalie are amateur skaters at the same rink in London. Steffi and her partner, a journalist, are going to write a mainstream article about lesbian participation in the June 1994 Gay Games in New York. Steffi's partner bows out just before they are to go so Steffi tries to get Natalie involved. Natalie has two things against her. One, she is an average skater. Two, she is straight. Steffi successfully seduces Natalie one weekend and Natalie falls in love. Trouble erupts when Natalie discovers that Steffi and her lover were only using her to get a story. Natalie drops out the night before their trip to New York. ~ 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)
Get Carter stars Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a powerful British gangster out for blood. His brother has been murdered in Newcastle, prompting Carter to declare a one-man war on other racketeers. Carter must also get his niece out of the life she is leading as an actress in pornographic films. Now that he is a loose cannon, Carter must be eliminated. Get Carter is typical action fare of the 1970s in that there are virtually no "good guys" -- in fact, the assassin is probably the most likable character in the piece! Originally rated X for violence and female nudity, Get Carter was reclassified as an R after subsequent crime films became even more bloodthirsty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, (more)
- 1970
- R
This 1970 British sex farce stars Hayley Mills as Jenny Bunn, a naïve young schoolteacher from the north of England who comes to swinging London to teach. She moves into a suburb and becomes friends with Anna (Geraldine Sherman). Anna is dating Patrick Standish (Oliver Reed), but when Anna introduces them, Patrick becomes smitten with Jenny. Patrick keeps trying to get Jenny to return his affections, but she is prim and resists. At a party at the home of Julian Ormerod (oel Harrison), she meets Patrick again. They talk, and he convinces her that his intentions are honorable. They agree to have a rendezvous a few days later. But in the meantime, Julian tells Jenny that Patrick really isn't sincere and only wants to see if he can be the one to conquer her virginity. The romantic comedy is based on a play by Louis S. Peterson. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Noel Harrison, Oliver Reed, (more)
The television host of a popular cooking show, Robert Danvers (Peter Sellers) has a real penchant for women. After one episode, he finds Marion (Goldie Hawn) changing from a wedding dress to street clothes. Instantly deciding to get to her and "take over" before the groom, Jimmy (Nicky Henson) has another opportunity, Robert invites her to his bachelor pad, a specially designed command center for his romantic adventures. He turns on the English gentleman's charm, only to have Marion laugh and suggest forthright that they sleep together. She moves in the following day and the two vacation in France on the Riviera and tour the wine country before returning to London. Upon their return, Robert proposes to %Marion; she rejects him in favor of Jimmy, however, who has sworn faithfulness to her and given up cheating forever. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Goldie Hawn, (more)
- 1968
Stefan Zelter (Oskar Werner) is a classical orchestra conductor who is sued for libel after statements made in a newspaper interview. He finds himself blacklisted and out of work and leaves his wife Antonia (Virginia Maskell) to be with the reporter Sally (Barbara Ferris). His wife nobly tells him he must never give up his music even though the two may never reconcile. This dramatic, romantic tearjerker has music by Beethoven, Brahms, Dvorak, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff performed by the British Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Comedian John Cleese has a straight role as a television publicist and Donald Sutherland plays the role of a mutual friend whose marriage is on the rocks. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Oskar Werner, Barbara Ferris, (more)
- 1968
Acclaimed British neo-realist filmmaker Ken Loach made his theatrical debut with this bleak kitchen-sink drama. Joy (Carol White) leads a life that makes her name seem like some sort of a cruel joke. Her husband Tom (John Bindon) is a second-rate burglar who shows neither her nor their infant child much affection. When Tom is jailed for theft, Joy is left on her own, until Tom's best friend Dave (Terence Stamp) invites her to stay with him. Dave is warm and caring in a way that Tom is not, and love begins to blossom between them. However, Dave also supports himself as a thief, and when he's arrested and put behind bars, Joy is left back where she started. Joy takes a job as a barmaid to support herself, and she is persuaded to pose nude for a photographer to bring in some extra money; she files for divorce from Tom and begins seeing other men. However, Tom wants to give their marriage another chance once he's released from prison, much to Joy's chagrin. Several clips with Terence Stamp were later used in The Limey (1999) to illustrate the earlier life of Stamp's character in that film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol White, Terence Stamp, (more)
In this clunky suspense film, straining to be Hitchcockian, Michael Caine plays recovered alcoholic Henry Clarke, who finds himself enticed into the home of Fe Moreau (Giovanna Ralli), where he discovers an unusual arrangement -- apparently Fe Moreau would rather engage in a relationship with an ex-alcoholic than her husband Richard (Eric Portman). Seems Richard is an out-of-the-closet homosexual, complete with a young Spanish stud (Carlos Pierre) as a plaything. The staid home life heats up to a boil when the three misfits decide to steal jewels from a rich playboy. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Giovanna Ralli, (more)
- 1968
The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom stars Shirley MacLaine as Harriet Blossom, the wife of a moderately successful British brassiere manufacturer Robert Blossom (Richard Attenborough). When Harriet's sewing machine breaks down, her husband decides to save a few quid by sending one of his own employees to fix it. That employee is Ambrose Tuttle (James Booth), to whom Harriet takes such a fancy that she hides him in her attic, there to make love to her whenever she is so inclined. Her husband's "delusion" that he hears noises in his attic leads to a nervous breakdown, but the hidden Mr. Tuttle comes to the rescue by passing along stock tips which turn Mr. Blossom into a millionaire. When he finally does learn the truth, Mr. Blossom generously allows his wife and her lover to remain together -- and even presents Tuttle with his bra factory as a gift! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Richard Attenborough, (more)
- 1968
Part of the BBC arts program Omnibus, Song of Summer is a made-for-TV biopic about English composer Frederick Delius, based on the book Delius As I Knew Him by Eric Fenby. Shot in black-and-white, the film was made as part of a series of composer biographies by Ken Russell and originally broadcast on the BBC in 1968. Max Adrian plays Delius, who is both paralyzed and blind as a result of syphilis. In 1928, young musician Eric Fenby (Christopher Gable) worked as his assistant, taking dictations at his home in Grez-sur-Loing, France. Delius turns out to be a bitter, mean old man as well as an accomplished composer. Maureen Pryor plays his wife, Jelka, while David Collings plays fellow composer Percy Grainger. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max Adrian
- 1957
Like many of his best works, filmmaker Douglas Sirk's Interlude is a remake of an earlier Universal soap opera. In this case, Sirk's source material is the 1939 Irene Dunne-Charles Boyer vehicle When Tomorrow Comes. Based on a story by (of all people) James M. Cain, the story concerns the romance between aspiring musician Helen Banning (June Allyson) and famed symphony conductor Tonio Fischer (Rossano Brazzi). Alas, Tonio is married, and his bibulous, vindictive wife (Marianne Cook) isn't about to give him a divorce. Meanwhile, stiff-necked American doctor Morley Dwyer (Keith Andes) waits patiently for his sweetheart Helen to come to her senses and return to his arms. Opulently location-filmed in Austria, Interlude was remade under the same title in 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- June Allyson, Rossano Brazzi, (more)
