Malcolm Stoddard Movies
Adapted from a novel by Rosamunde Pilcher, the two-part British miniseries Coming Home re-created the years between 1936 and 1941 as experienced by a brace of young and impressionable girls. Meeting in a boarding school, Judith Dunbar and Loveday Carey-Lewis became close friends, though they were miles apart in terms of social status. But when Judith's wealthy Aunt Louise perished during the 1940 London Blitz, Judith inherited a fortune, and was thus "acceptable" to Loveday's upper-crust family. Complications ensued when Billy Fawcett, the decadent middle-aged sweetheart of Loveday's married mother Diana, began to lust after the hapless Judith. Boasting a stellar cast of reliable British stage and screen actors including Peter O'Toole, former New Avengers co-stars Joanna Lumley and Patrick Macnee, and onetime Man From U.N.C.L.E regular David McCallum, Coming Home was seen through the facilities of ITV in the autumn of 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Joanna Lumley, (more)
- 1998
An adaptation of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel, featuring 1991 Academy Award winner Jack Palance as the salty pirate Long John Silver. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Palance, Kevin Zegers, (more)
- 1990
- R
Innocent Victim is a psychological thriller based on the Ruth Rendell novel Tree of Hands. London based, best-selling author, Benet (Helen Shaver), who has just written a controversial novel, lives alone with her young son. Benet's mother, Marsha (Lauren Becall), visiting from the United States, is a manic-depressive who has psychotic episodes. When Benet's young son dies, Marsha kidnaps a local child to serve as a substitute. Benet believes she should return the child but upon investigation she finds out that the child has been severely abused by his parents. After the child's disappearance, the parents are charged with the murder. A more skillful filmmaker might have dealt, as the novel does, with the moral issues of guilt and responsibility and the terrible moral dilemma faced by Benet. Instead, director Giles Foster presents the film in a rather straightforward, nonjudgmental fashion which allows for little character growth and diminishes the impact of what should be an ironic and disturbing ending. Innocent Victim, while at times compelling, and based on an interesting premise, would have been a memorable film if Foster had taken more chances and pushed his actors to give the performances that they are capable of but here are only hinted at. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Helen Shaver, Lauren Bacall, (more)
- 1989
In this telemovie outing, from the late 1980s/early 1990s revival of the character known as The Saint, Simon Templar (Simon Dutton) teams up with a beautiful Russian-American woman (Pamela Sue Martin of Dynasty) to investigate the mysterious deaths of a number of scientists. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 1984
This drama makes an interesting observation about human nature as it chronicles a torrid affair between two adulterers that soon ends after one of their spouses suddenly dies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1981
Taking control of Scorpio, Avon guides the ship away from Xenon and heads to a different planet. Alas, this world is under the thumb of the newly regenerated Federation, which has developed an even stronger mind-control drug than before. Crew members Tarrant (Steven Pacey) and Dayna (Josette Simon) are given the task to locate the antidote for this drug, and in so doing run across an old enemy (though they don't realize it at first). "Traitor" originally aired on October 12, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Keating, Paul Darrow, (more)
- 1980
In The Assassination Run, a British made-for-TV espionage thriller, directed by Ken Hannam, a retired British spy is forced out of retirement to kill the kidnapper's of his wife. This below-average thriller fails to generate much suspense, and director Hannam takes much too leisurely a pace. This is average television spy fare that might interest lovers of the genre but will fail to hold the attention of many others. Viewer should use the fast-forward button with discretion. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- 1980
The three-part British miniseries The Treachery Game was a sequel to the earlier The Assassination Run. Falsely accused of murdering a biochemist, disgraced former British Intelligence agent Mark Fraser (Malcolm Stoddard) took it on the lam in hopes of clearing his name. Fraser's plight was intensified by the fact that agents from three different countries were hotly pursuing him, hoping to prevent him from revealing a vast array of dirty little secrets. Also appearing was Mary Tamm as Mark's beleaguered wife, Jill. The Treachery Game debuted over the BBC on January 15, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
An Anglo-American co-production, S.O.S. Titanic is a costly, 150-minute reenactment of the infamous sea disaster of 1912. Heading the cast is David Janssen as millionaire John Jacob Astor, who went down with the Titanic, and Cloris Leachman as raucous Denver dowager Molly Brown, who didn't (for the record, Leachman had previously played Brown on a 1957 episode of the TV anthology Telephone Time). Third-billed is Susan Saint James as fictional passenger Leigh Goodwin, who carries most of the dramatic load. Written by Hallmark Hall of Fame veteran James Costigan, the made-for-television S.O.S. Titanic premiered September 23, 1979. In subsequent network and syndicated showings, the film was pared down to 102 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- R
This meandering distaff variant on The Omen begins with a visit from a strange pregnant woman (Angela Pleasence) to the house of a young suburban couple (Malcolm Stoddard and Cyd Hayman), where she gives birth to a baby girl and promptly exits stage left. The befuddled pair decide to adopt the white-haired, angelic-looking infant, only to discover the child's true nature in the years to come. One by one, the couple's natural offspring are killed off in horrible ways; any future attempts at conception end in miscarriage and Stoddard's eventual sterility. These horrific events unfold over a period of several years -- a concept which probably served better in print than on screen, where such leisurely plot development dooms any chance for suspense. Worse, the vague supernatural explanation is not adequately clarified by the film's denouement, leaving little more than a somber tale of meaningless tragedy. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cyd Hayman, Malcolm Stoddard, (more)
- 1976
Purdey (Joanna Lumley) heads to an obstacle-laden firing range in hopes of breaking Steed's (Patrick MacNee) perfect marksmanship record. Five of Steed's previous associates have attempted the same thing at the same range, have fallen short of a perfect score by a mere fraction--and have promptly died of poisoning. Unless Gambit (Gareth Hunt) can run the range and score 100%, Purdy will be Victim Number Six. Roy Boyd, the actor cast as Bradshaw, was a last-minute replacement for frequent Avengers guest star Frederick Jaeger), who caught a cold during filming and was "demoted" to a smaller part. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
Adapted for the screen by Edward Anhalt from the play by John Osborne, Luther stars Stacy Keach as religious leader and "heretic" Martin Luther. In minimalist fashion, the film traces Luther's disillusionment with the Catholic Church, and his eventual spearheading of the Reformation movement. Over the course of the film, Keach ages from an ingenuous seminarian to a disgruntled, middle-aged firebrand. Director Guy Green does little to cinematize the material, instead favoring a theatrical approach and thus allowing the rich dialogue to be better appreciated. Luther was a production of the American Film Theatre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
