Derek Blomfield Movies
- 1964
In this adventure, set in 19th-century India when the British were attempting to stop the slave trade against the Sudanese Moslems, a brave trooper and a new lieutenant must help a governess and her charge get to safety. The two soldiers despise each other. The experienced trooper has little tolerance for the naive bumblings of the lieutenant. As they travel, they encounter a variety of adventures including bouts with wild animals, dangerous geography, and Moslem guerrillas. The two men begin to respect each other. The older soldier also falls in love with the governess. Eventually, the rag tag travelers end up blowing an arsenal sky-high and rescuing several British soldiers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms, (more)
- 1960
In this crime drama, an unemployed thespian gets a job as an escort-protector and winds up framed for murder after one of his wealthy clients is killed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1957
The grass is always greener.... In this British comedy, two drunken comrades find out the truth of that saying when they decide to trade places for a while. One of the boozers is a public relations man who knows nothing about sailing, while the other is a captain for the Royal Navy. Riotous comic mayhem ensues as the hapless "captain" tries to run his ship and follow orders. When the bumbling fellow's inadvertence sinks one of the fleet's own ships, he ends up locked in a rubber room until the two manage to extort someone into helping them resume their rightful identities. The film was originally titled The Ship was Loaded, and bears no relation to the popular "Carry On" series. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Tomlinson, Peggy Cummins, (more)
- 1957
In this British comedy, a young man resorts to spying, extortion and just plain begging after he learns that he is to be replaced as headwaiter by a young woman. The story is based on a popular play. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
One of the many inspirational true stories told about WWII, this is the story of Douglas Bader, an undauntable character who was involved in an accident which cost him both of his legs. Despite this, he became a WWII squadron commander and was a hero during the Battle of Britain. Shot down over France and held prisoner by the Germans, he still survived and returned to England leading 3,000 planes over London in a victory flight. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kenneth More, Muriel Pavlow, (more)
- 1956
It's Great to Be Young stars John Mills as Dingle an easygoing high school teacher. When autocratic new headmaster Frome (Cecil Parker) begins imposing all sorts of repressive rules, Dingle does his best to stand up for his students, only to be dismissed for his troubles. The kids conspire to not only reinstate their favorite teacher, but to circumvent Frome's refusal to purchase new instruments for an upcoming music festival. Among the fresh new faces in the supporting cast is young Carole Shelley, who later played one of the "coo-coo Pigeon sisters" in The Odd Couple (1968). It's Great to be Young was one of a package of Associated Pathe productions to be given fitful distribution in the US by Allied Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Cecil Parker, (more)
- 1956
No relation to the 1939 Claudette Colbert-James Stewart comedy of the same name, It's a Wonderful World is essentially a vehicle for British-based bandleader Ted Heath. The thinnish plot is set in motion by would-be songwriters Terence Morgan and George Cole, who manage to sell a tune by claiming that it was composed by a reclusive musical genius. When the tune hits the top of the charts, Morgan and Cole find themselves in the embarrassing position of having to produce the "real" composer. Director Val Guest manages to extract new laughs out of such old setpieces as showing a snobbish audience being gradually won over by pop music. The principal attraction of It's a Wonderful World--to modern viewers, at least is the presence of Ted Heath, whose screen appearances were all too few and far between. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Morgan, George Cole, (more)
A "Hobson's Choice," as any slang expert will tell you, is no choice at all. In this 1953 filmization of Harold Brighouse's 1915 play Hobson's Choice, hero John Mills finds after several reels of evidence to the contrary that he does have a choice over how he'll conduct his life after all. Mills is the assistant to domineering boot-shop owner Charles Laughton, who lords it over his employees and three daughters by day, then tumbles through the streets on many a drunken evening. Laughton's "old-maid" daughter Brenda DeBanzie breaks free of her father's tyranny, marries Mills, and together with her new husband sets up a rival boot shop when Laughton refuses her a dowry. Father rants and raves, but finally agrees to a merger with his daughter that will assure Mills a large measure of freedom over managing things. The winner of the British Film Institute "Best Film" award of 1954, Hobson's Choice chalked up another international success for director David Lean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Laughton, John Mills, (more)
- 1953
Three disparate male travellers quietly amuse themselves by fantasizing about the same beautiful blonde in this interesting, episodic comedy. A French bus driver sees her first and promptly imagines that she is a seductive photographer's model. In his fantasy, the two end up having a passionate affair on the French Riviera. In the next episode, a Yankee Army officer sees her on the ferry across the Channel and imagines that she is a cabaret chanteuse from Berlin. In the final episode, a British fellow sees her on the boat and imagines that she is a film star who needs his help to get away from the pesky press. Unfortunately, for the three, she proves to be a different sort of woman all together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burgess Meredith, Jean-Pierre Aumont, (more)
- 1953
Floating Dutchman was an early product of Merton Park Productions, a British firm best known for its "Edgar Wallace" series of the 1960s. Dermot Walsh stars as a detective who goes undercover to smash a jewel-smuggling ring. The head man is played by Victor Tafler, heretofore "untouchable" because of his connections in high places. The title refers to one of the smugglers' victims, an unfortunate Dutch gem specialist. As the film rushes to its conclusion, it appears as though the detective, too, is headed for a watery grave. The Floating Dutchman is based on a novel by Nicholas Bentley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Don't be misled by the title, and by the presence of Glynis Johns in the cast. The "Venus" in Appointment with Venus is a prized cow. The time is World War II: special operatives David Niven and Glynis Johns are dispatched to a Nazi-held island to rescue Venus, who for some reason or other is vital for British morale. Naturally, this isn't easy and leads to all sorts of complications. Released in the US as Island Rescue, Appointment with Venus was based on a novel by Jerrard Tickell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Glynis Johns, (more)
Jules Dassin's Night and the City opens with cheap grifter Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) running for his life through the streets of London. Harry wants to be big-time, and he does not care how he raises cash for his schemes. Like a junkie, he uses and steals from his girlfriend Mary (Gene Tierney), a singer at the Silver Fox, a seedy nightclub owned by the physically grotesque Phil Nosseross Francis L. Sullivan. Harry, who also works for Phil steering unsuspecting customers to the club, comes up with a plan to wrest control of professional wrestling from promoter and underworld kingpin Kristo (Herbert Lom) by manipulating Kristo through his father, retired wrestling great Gregorius (Stanislaus Zbyszko). For financial backing, Harry turns to Phil and Phil's wife Helen Googie Withers, both of whom give him the money, but only to further their own ends. When Gregorius is accidentally killed by his protege's upcoming opponent, Strangler (Mike Mazurki), and Phil realizes that Helen is leaving him for Harry, the scheme quickly unravels. Truly a glimpse of hell, Night and the City's distorted visuals and dark symbolism depict an underworld from which there is no escape and in which redemption comes at a very high price. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, (more)
- 1943
The British Alibi is based on the warhorse story by Marcel Archard, previously filmed in France in 1931. Raymond Lovell steps into the old Erich Von Stroheim role as Professor Winkler, a phony mystic playing to capacity crowds in Paris. Confronting a man who'd previously exposed him as a fraud in the US, Winkler kills the man. He then establishes an alibi by paying nightclub hostess Helene (Margaret Lockwood) to tell the police that she was in his company at the time of the murder. The upshot of this is that Helene herself is accused of the crime. Hoping to get to the truth of the matter, Inspector Calas (Hugh Sinclair) asks his deputy Andre Laurent (James Mason) to pretend to be in love with Helene. The plot thickens when Laurent genuinely falls for the distressed damsel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Hugh Sinclair, (more)
- 1941
When the bagpipes play, death will follow in this spooky comedy set in a dank and creepy Scottish castle during WW II. It begins when a school teacher at a London boy's academy must evacuate his charges to the castle. There they hear the legend of the deadly pipes. Sure enough their mournful call is heard and one of the boys dies. They cry again and another dies. It is in when the pipes are blown a third time that the headmaster solves the mystery: it is not a phantom killing the lads, but a German sympathizer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1938
The British Emil was yet another adaptation of Erich Kastner's frequently-filmed children's novel Emil and the Detectives. John Williams (no relation to the British character actor of the same name) stars as 11-year-old Emil, who while en route to London to visit his aunt is robbed of his money-six pounds--by a shifty thief (George Hayes). Turning to a group of self-styled "junior detectives" for help, Emil manages to track down both the thief and his money, but not before experiencing a series of hair-raising adventures. Bobby Rietti costars as "The Professor", the leader of the juvenile sleuths. When Emil and the Detectives was filmed again by Disney in 1965, the story returned to its original Berlin setting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George "Gabby" Hayes, Mary Glynne, (more)
- 1936
In this mid-19th century costume romance, a Scottish minister's daughter falls in love with an army officer. Their love is destroyed by the woman's jealous sister. During the Crimean War, the woman joins Florence Nightingale on the front and serves as an army nurse. There she again sees her beloved. This time she saves his life and happiness ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1936
In this musical melodrama, a young man's ascent from humble sailor to ship captain is chronicled. His career is going swimmingly until his ship is rammed and he, in order to save the lives of all aboard, is forced to jump ship. Later, the dishonored fellow is stripped of his command and forced to retire into the country with his family. Several years later, his good-hearted son reassembles his father's old crew, puts them aboard the old boat and gets his father to be the captain once more. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
