Godfrey Tearle Movies

The first Ealing Studios comedy shot in color, Titfield Thunderbolt takes place in a tiny British village serviced by a branch railway line. When the government plans to close the line down, the locals are in a panic--except for a group intending to set up an expensive bus service. The local vicar (George Relph) concocts a scheme with the town's wealthiest man (Stanley Holloway) for the villagers to run the rail line themselves; in this way they hope to prove to the railway inspectors that their branch is still worth keeping. When the bus interests attempt to sabotage this undertaking, the villagers respond by stealing a stray locomotive--and when this proves cumbersome, they reactivate a 19th century train engine from the local museum. The Titfield Thunderbolt is uniquely British in humor and approach, but not so "inside" as to alienate American filmgoers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Released in Britain as Crash of Silence, Mandy is a straightforward story about a handicapped child's efforts to adapt to a normal world. Born deaf, Mandy is mute for most of her childhood. Her desperate parents enroll her in special education classes. It's a slow, uphill climb, but by film's end Mandy is talking and playing happily with non-impaired children. A well-intentioned effort, Mandy unfortunately falls prey to corniness, save for the thoroughly convincing performance by child actress Mandy Miller (who was not deaf). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

White Corridors was based on Yeoman Hospital, a novel by Helen Ashton. Told episodically, the story concentrates on the day-to-day activities in a busy hospital, where research pathologist Neil Marriner (James Donald) conducts experiments in the hopes of curing diseases impervious to penicillin. Marriner is aided in this endeavor by lady surgeon Dr. Sophie Dean (Googie Withers), who happens to be in love with him. After a tragedy occurs for which Marriner holds himself responsible, the film builds steadily to an exciting climax involving a untested -- and potentially dangerous -- serum. The top-rank British supporting cast includes Barry Jones, Moira Lister, Petula Clark, Basil Radford, Dagmar (later Dana) Wynter, Bernard Lee, and, in a minor role, future "Dr. Who" Patrick Troughton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmed not long after the actual events, The Beginning or the End is a sober, intelligent account of the development and deployment of the Atom Bomb. Step by step, the film details the progress of The Manhattan Project, from its inception in the early stages of the war through the dawn of the Atomic Age over the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Brian Donlevy stars as Brigadier General Leslie Groves, assigned by President Roosevelt (Godfrey Tearle) to act as military supervisor of the top-secret project at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After a grueling trial-and-error period, the first atomic bomb is tested before an assemblage of scientists and military personnel-even though there's the disturbing possibility that the explosion may cause a chain reaction that will wipe out all mankind. Woven into the proceedings is an unnecessary but innocuous romance between idealistic young scientist Matt Cochran (Tom Drake) and his new bride Anne (Beverly Tyler), who cannot understand why she and her husband are forced to live in isolation with scores of other scientists and their families because Matt, like his associates, has been sworn to total secrecy. Though the Cochrans are fictional, many real-life participants in the Manhattan Project are depicted herein, including J. Robert Oppenheimer (played by Hume Cronyn), Enrico Fermi (Joseph Calleia), Albert Einstein (Ludwig Stossel) and Col. Paul Tibbetts (Barry Nelson), pilot of the bomb-bearing Enola Gay. Refreshingly free of propagandizing, Beginning or the End would make an excellent companion feature to Fat Man and Little Boy (1990), a highly politicized retelling of the same events. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A proud but aging WW I war-horse is deeply offended when his offer to lead during WW II is rejected by the government that once lauded his bravery with a series of medals. Embittered and despondent over their callousness, he heads back to his isolated country estate where he plots his permanent escape from the cold cruel world. When the government sends six mischievous cockney youths to stay with him during the bombing of London, the despondent old man must abandon his suicidal musings and attend to the ensuing chaos of the rambunctious rapscallions. This touching British drama follows the tough general's attempts to control and understand the energetic little hellions. As he comes to know them, he reluctantly begins to care and in so doing, finds renewed zest for life ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Monica Dickens' novel One Pair of Feet was the source of the sociological drama The Lamp Still Burns. Like the original novel, the film is a plea for better conditions in English hospitals-and, more specifically, for better treatment of England's selfless nurses. Rosamund John is a tower of strength as Hilary Clarke, a young woman who sacrifices all in pursuit of a nursing career. The many trials and tribulations facing Hilary in her daily work are amplified in wartime, when she and her colleagues are forced to work under appalling conditions in air raid shelters, subway cars and amidst the rubble of bombed-out buildings. The Lamp Still Burns was produced by actor Leslie Howard, who was killed in the service of his country not long after the film was released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This subtle, unadorned British war drama was the second collaboration between "The Archers," Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Six British bomber crewmen are obliged to bail out over Holland. To escape detection from the Nazis, the crewmen accept the hospitality of several Hollanders, all dedicated to the freedom-fighting activities of the Underground. The film is constructed along the lines of the earlier Powell-Pressburger film The Invaders, except that the escapees are British rather than German and their Dutch contacts are willing rather than reluctant co-conspirators. The six male stars are Godfrey Tearle, Eric Portman, Hugh Williams, Bernard Miles, Hugh Burden, and Emrys Jones; among those who aid them in their flight to freedom are Googie Withers, Joyce Redman, and Peter Ustinov. The austere photography by Ronald Neame is complemented by the to-the-point editing of future director David Lean. Adding to the verisimilitude of One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is the utter absence of a musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The "Grand Hotel" format was mixed with elements from the popular railroad melodramas Rome Express and The Ghost Train in the British The Last Journey. The scene is a speeding passenger train, peopled by the usual polyglot of commuters. There's a pair of pickpockets, a detective in pursuit of those crooks, an eloping couple, a jilted suitor, a whining sourpuss, and so on and so forth. What none of these worthies know is that their ride may well be their last on Earth: The crazed engineer (Julien Mitchell), forced into retirement, intends to kill himself and his passengers by crashing the train. Fortunately, there's yet another passenger on this particular journey: A psychoanalyst (Godfrey Tearle), who anxiously tries to persuade Mitchell to give up his suicidal intentions before it's too late. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British drama, a colonel is upset to learn that his daughter is planning to leave her dishwater-dull husband in favor of his male secretary. More trouble ensues when the colonel learns that his secretary is the son of his butler. He decides to end the affair and heads for Paris where he does just that. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The ambitious and beautiful Sonya Mendel (Jetta Goudal) works her way up from the ghetto and lands a job as a reporter for a Jewish newspaper. She sets out to interview wealthy John Manning (Godfrey Tearle) about his plans for a new settlement, and winds up falling in love with him. Manning invites Sonya to dinner, and she convinces designer Jackey Solomon (Jose Ruben) to loan her some nice clothes, then borrows 150 dollars from Banker Ben (Elihu Tenenholtz) to dress up her shabby apartment. The note she gives Ben promises to pay the money back when she marries Manning. She does marry him, and Manning seeks to shut down Ben's illegal loan activities. To stop him, Ben tells Sonya that he will reveal the note. She refuses to play ball with him. Even though Manning finds out about the note, he forgives Sonya, and shows Ben who is in charge. Godfrey Tearle was the brother of Conway Tearle. This drama is based on the play by Anzia Yezierska and featured a supporting cast made up of actors from New York's Yiddish theater community. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide