Victoria Tennant Movies
British actress Victoria Tennant was the daughter of powerful talent agent Cecil Tennant (her godfather was Sir Laurence Olivier, one of Tennant's clients) and ballerina Irene Baranova. Trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Tennant made her first film appearance in 1972's The Ragman's Daughter. She began the Hollywood phase of her career after scoring a success as Pamela Tudsbury in the megahit TV miniseries The Winds of War (1983). She revived the character for the 1987 sequel War and Remembrance, and also essayed such glamorous roles as silent movie queen Estelle Taylor in the 1988 TV biopic Dempsey. In 1986, Victoria Tennant married comic actor Steve Martin, with whom she appeared in All Of Me (1984) and LA Story (1991); their later divorce was one of the motivating factors in Martin's rueful public confession that he was "stupid" in matters of the heart. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1983
This TV miniseries concerns a Southern village where the murder of a boy has puzzled three different police chiefs since the 1920s. By the time that a black sheriff (Billy Dee Williams) takes over in 1962, he might have just enough evidence to find the culprit. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
This unsettling British Alien clone (released in the U.K. under the sleazy title Inseminoid) is set in the labyrinthine underground caverns of a remote planet, where a team of scientific explorers find themselves in the bizarre predicament of defending themselves from a rampaging, pregnant crew member (Judy Geeson). It seems the poor woman has been impregnated by a slime-covered insectoid alien (as depicted in a surreal and truly disgusting flashback), and the resulting hormonal imbalance has transformed her into an inhumanly strong, psychopathic killer. She promptly sets about dismembering and eating everyone in sight (no doubt because of the baby's nutritional requirements) before finally giving birth to a pair of snarling little mutants bearing a more-than-passing resemblance to the terror tykes from the It's Alive series. Aside from the admittedly "unique" premise, this is a fairly standard rip-off -- complete with characters resembling their Alien counterparts -- and the lovely Geeson's rabid, eye-popping performance is more than a bit uncomfortable to watch. The American video release is missing a great deal of the original's graphic violence. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Judy Geeson, Robin Clarke, (more)
Christopher Walken stars in John Irvin's graphic adaptation of Frederick Forsythe's novel about a mercenary sent to overthrow the government of an African country. Walken is Shannon, an American soldier of fortune who has staged incidents in Central America and Africa that helped topple governments. Shannon decides to take on one more mission when American businessman Endean (Hugh Millais), working for a large mining company wanting to move into an African country, hires Shannon to scout out the terrain of the country and see if the government is weak enough to be overthrown. Shannon assumes the guise of a photographer for a nature magazine and travels through the country, meeting a wide-array of people. But the government becomes suspicious of Shannon and throws him in jail, where, between torture sessions, he meets an imprisoned dissident leader. Through his imprisonment, Shannon comes to understand more fully the struggles of the African country. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger, (more)
- 1981
- PG
After a string of hits that included Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1970), Papillon (1973), and The Boys from Brazil (1978), director Franklin J. Schaffner stumbled badly with this expensive wannabe cousin to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Based on a novel by author Robin Cook, this romance-adventure stars Lesley-Anne Down as Erica Baron, a female archaeologist who is searching for a lost Egyptian tomb, hoping that she will be responsible for the next discovery along the lines of King Tut's Tomb. Erica witnesses the murder of a native, Abdu Hamdi (John Gielgud doing his best Alec Guinness impersonation) and when she attempts to solve the crime, she becomes the target of a campaign to kill her using a variety of creative methods, including bats and entombment. In the course of her adventures, Erica also falls in love with a handsome Egyptologist, Ahmed Khazzan (Frank Langella). Sphinx (1981) was a box office disaster from which Schaffner never recovered, directing only three more pictures. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lesley-Anne Down, Frank Langella, (more)
- 1980
Alec Guinness stars as an elderly Brit who takes in his poor New Yorker grandson (Ricky Schroeder) in this made-for-TV modern-day retelling of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1972
The debut film of director Harold Becker was this low-budget romance that won acclaim for its script by Alan Sillitoe. Simon Rouse stars as Tony Bradmore, a skilled thief who falls for Doris Randall (Victoria Tennant), the stunningly beautiful daughter of a wealthy rag dealer (Leslie Sands). Given Tony's choice of profession, their relationship does get an enthusiastic endorsement from all concerned. Although The Ragman's Daughter (1972) was given a cursory North American release two years after its completion, Becker's subsequent efforts such as The Onion Field (1979) and Taps (1981) would fare considerably better at the box office. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Simon Rouse, Victoria Tennant, (more)
