Elizabeth Spriggs Movies

Set in a futuristic world where man and machines compete, this comical fantasy centers upon a rather eccentric man who prefers raising his special giant, euphoria-producing mushrooms to working and spending time with his fiancee. He means well, for he believes that his funny fungus will help combat the increasing dehumanization of society. However, unable to withstand his bride's pressure, he finally takes a real job in a power plant. There he knocks out the power and then feeds his mushrooms to the authorities. While they walk around in a hallucinatory daze, he and his fiancee take a baby carriage filled with mushrooms and hightail it out of town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

As indicated by the title, the main setting for this British anthology series was a village hall somewhere in the farm region. The cast remained the same from week to week, but their characters changed and the stories themselves were set in different time periods. Among the prominent playwrights contributing their talents to this ambitious project were Kenneth Cope and Willis Hall. The first of the 14 hour-long episodes of Village Hall was broadcast on July 16, 1974. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1979 BBC/Time-Life production of Julius Caesar faithfully follows Shakespeare's original version. When the film begins, cheering throngs hail Julius Caesar (Charles Gray) as he parades through the streets of Rome after conquering Pompey the Great. But a soothsayer unsettles the crowd when he shouts to Caesar, "Beware the Ides of March," then repeats his warning. Paying no heed, Caesar moves on, unaware that a prominent citizen, Cassius (David Collings), is at that very moment hatching a plot to murder Caesar on the Ides (March 15). Cassius and other Romans fear Caesar will assume absolute control of Rome as a king, thereby ending freedom and curtailing the influence of noblemen. After Cassius persuades the highly respected Marcus Brutus (Richard Pasco) to participate in the plot, other prominent citizens join them. That evening, a violent storm shakes Rome, and Caesar's wife, Calpurnia (Elizabeth Spriggs), believes it is an omen signaling grave danger to Caesar if he goes to the Capitol the next day. Hearing of other signs, she tells Caesar, "A lioness hath whelped in the streets, and graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead; fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds...which drizzled blood upon the Capitol." Caesar agrees to remain home until one of the conspirators, Decius Brutus (Alex Davion), visits him and persuades him that his wife misinterpreted the omens. The image of blood she saw, the conspirator says, "signifies that from you great Rome shall suck reviving blood." After Caesar arrives at the Capitol on the Ides, the conspirators surround and stab him. News of his death brings civil war. At the funeral, Marcus Antonius (Keith Michell), Caesar's friend, eulogizes Caesar in an emotional speech that arouses the people against Brutus and the conspirators. Then Antony and two allies form a ruling partnership and track down the fleeing armies of Cassius and Brutus. Seeing that all is lost, Cassius and Brutus commit suicide. Viewers of the play have long argued over who is its real villain -- Caesar, because of his apparent lust for power, or Brutus, because of his betrayal of Caesar. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

The once-notorious D. H. Lawrence novel Lady Chatterly's Lover seemed like kid stuff by the time this 1981 adaptation hit the screens. To pep up Lawrence's tale of an aristocratic woman who conducts an affair with her earthy gamekeeper, soft-core porn specialist Just Jaeckin attempted to convert the material into Emmanuelle Goes to England. To this end, Jaeckin utilized the undraped talents of his Emmanuelle star Sylvia Kristel, who behaves more like a saloon hall gal than the mistress of an 18th-century manor. Lady Sylvia--er, Lady Chatterly--can't get no satisfaction from her paralyzed spouse, so she dallies with low-born Nicholas Clay. As in most other Just Jaeckin films, the production values and photography are exquisite, the dialogue and acting less so. An earlier, more sedate version of Lady Chatterly's Lover was filmed in France in 1959, with Danielle Darrieux and Erno Crisa in the leads. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Windsor is a peaceful town on the Thames where hardly a leaf falls to disturb the silence. And then England's most notorious mischief maker, Sir John Falstaff (Richard Griffiths), arrives from London with his hooligans -- Bardolph (Gordon Gostelow), Nym (Michael Robbins), and Pistol (Nigel Terry) -- to steal and make merry. After breaking into a lodge and killing a deer on private land, they arouse the wrath of the locals. But quick tongues and pleadings of innocence exonerate them and even earn Falstaff a meal at the home of George Page (Bryan Marshall), a Windsor gentleman. There, Falstaff converses with Mrs. Page (Prunella Scales) and her neighbor, Mrs. Ford (Judy Davis), both of whom rule the purse strings of their households. Falstaff then decides to woo both women and charm them free of their money. But after he writes them a love letter -- the same letter word-for-word except for the name of the addressee -- the two "merry wives" compare letters and decide to give Sir John his comeuppance. Meanwhile, Mr. Ford (Ben Kingsley) gets wind of Falstaff's designs on his wife and, riven with jealousy, plots to surprise Falstaff when he comes calling. Scenes ensue in which Mr. Ford bursts through his front door in an attempt to discover Falstaff. The tee-heeing wives couldn't be happier, for these occasions give them a chance to humiliate Falstaff -- once by having him hide in a laundry basket which is dumped in the muddy Thames and another time by dressing as "the fat woman of Brentford." A subplot follows three men as they woo Mrs. Page's lovely daughter, Anne (Miranda Foster). In the end, Falstaff acknowledges his bad behavior, Anne Page gets her man, and good feelings abound. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

This chilling made-for-cable production stars winsome Amanda Pays as a prissy English college student who accompanies her estranged father (George Segal) to East Germany in an attempt to reconcile their differences. Shortly after her arrival, she begins to experience intense feelings of cold and dread in their flat -- which eventually progress into strange mental fugues wherein she is apparently transported to the era of Nazi occupation. As her perception of the present begins to unravel, she is thrust into a harrowing adventure involving a young anti-Nazi activist who is being hunted by Hitler's SS. Whether these time-slips are a product of her deteriorating sanity or the result of an actual rift in time is never fully explained -- until the effective climax, in which the parallel storylines intersect. Despite a few vague stretches and some unresolved plot holes, this is overall a well-crafted thriller which plays like a slick feature-length episode of The Twilight Zone. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this suspenseful thriller, David Parker (Bryan Brown) is a married businessman with three children, a mistress in Germany, and a brother dealing drugs -- a combination of relationships that will eventually prove fatal to several people. After David leaves his London home and family behind for a short business-trip to Munich, he is held captive for more than a week by ten men and one woman, their identities disguised by masks. David starts to suspect Jillian, his mistress (Hannelore Elsner) is involved because when he goes to the police with his story once he is released, he discovers he was never reported missing. Why did Jillian remain silent about his disappearance for eleven days? And there were no ransom demands. After awhile the police inspector assigned to David's case (Kurt Raab) and David's wife (Cherie Lunghi) begin to doubt the kidnapping itself. At that point, David launches into a full-scale investigation on his own that sets into motion a series of killings and a strong suspicion of drug-world involvement. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In the third episode of the four-part story "Paradise Towers," the residents of the titular apartment complex continue to be held in thrall by a malevolent -- and murderous -- superbrain known as the Great Architect Kroagnon, who, appalled at the untidiness of his customers, has dispatched the villainous Chief Caretaker (Richard Briers) on a killing rampage. Caught in the middle between the complex's helpless residents and the various and sundry threats to their safety, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) must figure out a way of staying alive -- or at the very least, of avoiding the bureaucratic red tape which has tied the other characters in knots. Written by Stephen Wyatt, "Paradise Towers, Episode 3" first aired on October 19, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Melanie (Bonnie Langford) decide to use the swimming pool at the Paradise Towers luxury-apartment complex. Unfortunately, the formerly award-winning complex has degenerated into a breeding ground for crime and vice -- and the current residents seem to be totally unaware of the danger surrounding them. Comic actor Richard Briers does an about-face as the villainous Chief Caretaker. Written by Stephen Wyatt, Episode 1 of the four-part adventure "Paradise Towers" first aired on October 5, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Aimed at the ten- to 15-year-old demographic, this six-episode British series offered an entertaining if not entirely accurate overview of celebrated comedian Charlie Chaplin's formative years. Though fairly explicit in detailing the alcoholism of Chaplin's music hall headliner father Charles Chaplin Sr. (Ian McShane) and the mental illness of Charlie's mother Hannah (Twiggy), the series had a predilection for broad, unsubtle comedy, suggesting that the Chaplin family's various tiltings with landlords, policemen, and orphanage officials were actually "dress rehearsals" for Charlie's famous two-reel comedy films (one sequence with David Kossoff was a virtual carbon copy of Chaplin's 1916 short The Pawnshop). Also, the chronology of events was sometimes fuzzy or misleading, especially concerning such famous Chaplin associates as vaudeville entrepreneur Fred Karno and fellow comic Stan Laurel. Otherwise, Joe Geary was excellent in the title role, as was Lee Whitlock as Charlie's protective half-brother Sydney. Originally telecast in England beginning on January 25, 1989, Young Charlie Chaplin was subsequently seen in America as part of the PBS Wonderworks anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin, better known in the literary world as George Sand, not only took a man's name, but trotted around wearing pants and smoking cigars in public. No great shakes today, but in the 1800s she was perhaps the most famous (or infamous) woman in the world. One of the first original celebrities, aside from her garb and literary output, she was known to inspire many duels and broken hearts among other famous hedonist artists. One character describes her in Impromptu, as "that graveyard." The film engages in a sexual roundelay among Sand's (Judy Davis) many friends -- Eugene Delacroix (Ralph Brown), Alfred DeMusset (Mandy Patinkin), Franz Liszt (Julian Sands), and Frederick Chopin (Hugh Grant). The entire crew heads off to the summer estate of the Duke and Duchess d'Antan (Anton Rodgers and Emma Thompson), invited there by the culture-vulture hosts. Sand takes a bead on the sickly Chopin and spends her time throwing herself at him. Also on hand is Liszt's mistress Marie d'Agoult (Bernadette Peters) and Felicien Mallefille (Georges Corraface), Sand's recently jilted lover. Mallefille is jealous of any of the other guests who glance in Sand's direction and continually challenges them to duels. Marie, on the other hand, is enlisted by Sand to deliver a note to Chopin. But Marie, jealous of Sand, delivers the note substituting her name for Sand's. And as the weekend continues, the sexual merry-go-round continues at full tilt. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Two years before Warren Clarke and Colin Buchanan firmly established themselves as detectives Dalziel and Pascoe in the British cop series of the same name, comedians Gareth Hale and Norman Pace essayed the same roles in the semi-serious three-parter A Pinch of Snuff. Based on a novel by Reginald Hill, the story found Inspector Andy Dalziel (Hale) and Sgt. Peter Pascoe (Pace) investigating a murder at an upscale gentleman's club. The fact that the "club" was a front for a porno-film theater only served to add an extra dash of spice to the already zesty proceedings. A Pinch of Snuff made its British-TV premiere on April 9, 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The recipient of seven Oscar® nominations, this film version of Jane Austen's classic 1811 novel stars Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood. With her mother and sisters, Elinor struggles financially after the death of her father, who bequeathed the Dashwood estate to his oafish son by an earlier marriage. While sorting out the family's affairs, the shy, self-sacrificing Elinor secretly falls for her stepbrother-in-law, Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant), a sensitive, well-educated bachelor who cannot court her because of his foolhardy youthful engagement to the greedy Lucy Steele (Imogen Stubbs). The grateful Dashwoods are offered a modest country home by family friends, which they accept. Once relocated, Elinor's brash, spirited sister Marianne (Kate Winslet) falls for a dashing local, John Willoughby (Greg Wise), a womanizer who nevertheless seems to share her affections. A prominent neighbor, Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman), also falls in love with Marianne, but she is oblivious to the older man's affections. Eventually, Willoughby fails Marianne, breaking her heart, until she realizes Brandon's feelings. When Edward's family disowns him, Lucy marries his brother instead, leaving him free to pursue an exultant Elinor. Thompson won the film's sole Oscar® for her screenplay adaptation of Austen's novel. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide