Anthony Steel Movies
Cambridge-educated leading man Anthony Steel had several seasons of theatrical work behind him when he first stepped before the movie cameras in 1948. His heyday was in the 1950s, a fact that can be attributed as much to his well-publicized marriage to actress Anita Ekberg as to such starring vehicles as Storm Over the Nile (the 1954 remake of The Four Feathers) and The Black Tent (1955). In the 1960s, he was often as not seen in Italian costume pictures and actioners. Anthony Steel rather surprisingly re-emerged in the 1970s as a featured player in such soft-core erotica as The Story of O, then played character parts in films like The Mirror Crack'd until his retirement in the early '80s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1986
This made-for-television drama is a two-hour movie from the Britain's Robin of Sherwood series. Michael Praed stars as the legendary Robin Hood, possessor of one of the seven sought-after Swords of Wayland. In this installment, Robin defends himself against a coven of witches posing as nuns. New-age music pioneers Clannad provide the soundtrack music. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
- 1980
This 1980 British production is based on the trashy romantic novel of the same name by Jackie Collins. Fabulously-successful advertising executive David Cooper (Anthony Franciosa) is a jet-setting philanderer who has a woman in seemingly every port of call. His long-suffering wife Linda (Carroll Baker) finally gets fed up with his infidelities, and she sets out to even the score. Linda exacts her vengeance by having her own string of affairs at several exotic locations, and also by launching various nefarious schemes to entrap and embarrass her husband. Collins is credited as the screenwriter. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Franciosa, Carroll Baker, (more)
- 1978
In this mystery, Scotland Yard sends out its best detective when several powerful business executives turn up dead. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
A notorious international thief, the authorities, and just about every other small time hoodlum imaginable pursue a man recently released from the army after stumbling into a valuable, top-secret device with mysterious powers. Lance Corporal Gordon Laid (Robin Askwith) is a civilian again, but upon arriving at his borrowed luxury apartment he is shocked to discover a man fighting for his life. After discovering that his new neighbor is none other than stage and screen luminary Maxine Lupercal (Fiona Richmond), Laid unwittingly procures a much sought-after device known only as PJ46. Suffice it to say, it doesn't take long for international swindler Montcrieff Dovecraft (Anthony Steel) and his henchmen to find out about the curious device, and before long it seems like everyone is out to get Laid. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
On March 24, 1944, in the Ardeatine Caves outside Rome, one of the most infamous atrocities of World War II occurred -- the mass execution of 330 Italians in retaliation for the deaths of 33 Germans. The book Death in Rome contends that Pope Pius XII knew of the German plan but did nothing to stop it. In this film adaptation, Richard Burton plays Col. Herbert Kappler, a Nazi officer torn between his devotion to Hitler's cause and his love for Italy when he is ordered by his superior officer, Gen. Kurt Maelzer (Leo McKern), to see that this execution is carried out. Opposing the Germans and reacting against the silence of the Pope is Vatican priest Don Antonelli (Marcello Mastroianni), who chooses to die with the Italians rather than continue to act as a middleman between the German army and the Romans. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Burton, Marcello Mastroianni, (more)
- 1969
A classical music conductor lives with his mistress and her teenage daughter. When he and the daughter begin a love affair, the mother allows the tryst to continue for fear of losing him should she deny him her daughter's affections. The young girl falls for an avant garde musician, and the conductor tries to sabotage the relationship. He is successful for a short time, but the girl eventually runs off with the musician. The man is left with the mother, who for some strange reason still loves the lecherous lout. The film attempts to be critical of the cruel and snobbish high society that the man must tolerate in order to insure his economic survival. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Steel, Françoise Prevost, (more)
- 1968
An international gang of criminals pulls off a heist of $2,000,000 in foreign currency. The head of the group is known as "Major," and he boards a plane from Frankfort to meet with his cohorts in Vienna. When the plane crashes at the Vienna Airport, the mortally injured Major confesses his sins to a priest before he dies. The priest is then kidnapped by the rest of the gang, who torture him in an effort to find out where the money is hidden. To further complicate matters, one of the gang is an undercover insurance agent who is trying to recover the stolen loot. The priest, a specialist in hearing the confessions of the dying, is constantly being contacted by police who wish to partake of his services in this fast-moving crime drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Günther Stoll, Günther Neutze, (more)
- 1967
This drama centers upon a female thief and her robber band as they try to hide out from the cops on a deserted island. Their only shelter is an abandoned mansion. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
This melodramatic Italian and French anthology is comprised of four unrelated short films directed by four different directors. The first vignette, "Queen Sabina" (or "The Hitchhiker") chronicles the sexual misadventures of a teenage girl on the road home. "Queen Armenia" (aka "The Room with a Juke Box") centers on a self-serving opportunistic gypsy babysitter who uses her employer's kids for her own gain. The third episode, "Queen Elena" (aka "The Digestive Tablet") centers on a husband who learns a lesson about the perils of infidelity after he succumbs to the wiles of the seductive wife next door. The last vignette, "Queen Marta" (aka "Giovanni") centers on a wealthy woman who, when drunk, uses her butler as an outlet for her lust. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Vitti, Enrico Maria Salerno, (more)
- 1964
In this sword-and-sandal epic, it is up to the plucky sister of a Roman emperor to figure out how to keep the barbarians from invading her land. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1964
In this western, an entry in the "Winnetou" series based on Germany's Karl May's novels, follows the attempts of two con men to cheat the Apaches out of their oil rights. They are foiled by Old Shatterhand and Winnetou, his Apache partner. The film was made on location in Yugoslavia. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, (more)
- 1963
In this crime drama a philandering woman finds herself in deep trouble when her diabetic lover is accidentally killed by a gang of youths. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The villains in the British The Switch are members of a wristwatch-smuggling gang. Poor Zena Marshall knows too much, so the gangs abducts her. Stalwart customs official Anthony Steel struggles manfully to rescue the girl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this swashbuckler, a sensuous female pirate takes over her retired father's ship and sails off for high-seas adventure and romance. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1960
This average spy film stars Anthony Steel as Mike Gibson, a reporter who finds the safety of the free world on his shoulders when he must rescue a kidnapped nuclear scientist. The scientist has been taken prisoner by an international espionage ring which wants to use his knowledge to hold the world hostage to their terrorist demands. Peter Bourne's direction is adequate, although the film offers little out of the ordinary to make it worth hunting down. Bourne and Ingemar Johansson appear in cameos. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Britain's Michael Powell, co-creator of the international success The Red Shoes (48), returns to the world of ballet for the Spanish/English coproduction Honeymoon. Prima ballerina Ludmilla Tcherina stars as an ex-dancer who marries Anthony Steel and heads to a new life in Spain. The call of her muse is strong indeed, as are the charms of a handsome male dancer (Antonio), and Ludmilla is sorely tempted to renounce her current existence and return to the ballet. The dramatic portion of the film is for the birds, but the two ballet highlights (from Los Amantes de Teruel and El Amor Brujo) are worth a few moment's attention. The original Spanish title of Honeymoon was Luna de Miel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
In this drama, a couple experiences marital turmoil because the husband is a hot-tempered race-car driver with a jealous streak. The woman then gets pregnant and begins hoping that a baby will bring them back together. Unfortunately, the two get into a terrible accident, she loses the baby, and her husband is rendered sterile. This makes her all the more desperate to have one and so she suggests artificial insemination. Her husband isn't totally for it, but then decides to go through with it. Unfortunately, he then changes his mind after the deed is done. At his father's urging, he files for divorce. In court, a jury must decide whether adultery (the film was made in the days before no-fault divorce) was committed. They cannot, but that is okay with the couple who reconcile and go on to become wonderful parents. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie London, Anthony Steel, (more)
- 1958
The mysterious Indian jungle provides the setting for this adventure where a one-legged hunter pursues a terrifying tiger, a man-eater. On the hunt, the man encounters the cowardly fellow who caused him to lose his leg in a POW camp. Together they face the snarling, cornered jungle cat. Again, the fellow chickens out, resulting in the near-fatal mauling of the hunter. Later, the coward's wife helps the battered hunter recuperate. As she ministers to him, the hunter can't help but fall in love with her. He begins to drink heavily. He stops when he learns that the coward's son has wandered off into the dangerous jungle. Not wanting the lad to be tiger chow, the hunter sets off to kill the beast. He succeeds. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stewart Granger, Barbara Rush, (more)
- 1957
Anita Ekberg amply fills the title role in the offbeat western Valerie. Clearly inspired by Rashomon, the film offers contradictory flashbacks during a lengthy trial. The defendant, Civil War hero John Garth, Sterling Hayden, is accused of seriously wounding his wife Valerie and murdering her parents. At first, the jury's sympathy is with Garth, who claims that his faithless wife was running off with preacher Blake (played by Ekberg's then-husband Anthony Steel) and that the death of his in-laws was accidental. But as testimony proceeds, it is revealed that the highly respectable, much-beloved Garth is a beast in human form. The complicated outcome of the trial has so many twists and turns that it would be criminal to reveal any one of them. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sterling Hayden, Anita Ekberg, (more)
