Angela Thorne Movies
Everyone's favorite collie returns to the screen -- and to her native home back in Britain -- in director Charles Sturridge's faithful adaptation of author Eric Knight's sentimental kid and canine novel Lassie Come Home. When Lassie saves a fox from the hunting hounds of the duke of Rudling (Peter O'Toole), the captivated nobleman becomes obsessed with the idea of purchasing the collie for his adoring granddaughter Cilla (Hester Odgers). Unfortunately for Rudling, the pooch already has a loving family in the form of kindly miner Sam Carraclough (John Lynch), his wife, Sarah (Samantha Morton), and their young son, Joe (Jonathan Mason). When Sam is laid off from his job, however, he is forced to sell the loyal dog to the duke in order to put food on the family table. Incensed at the dog's repeated attempts to escape and seek out her original loving family, the villainous duke charges kennel-keeper Eddie Hynes (Steve Pemberton) with the task of teaching Lassie how to stay as World War II looms ever more heavy on the horizon. When the dogs of war finally stop barking and start biting, Rudling beats a hasty retreat to the safety of northern Scotland with both the child and the canine. Realizing that her newfound companion is far from the people she cares about most, Cilla later helps her ever-loyal four-legged friend escape from the family's heavily fortified compound so that she may begin the 500-mile journey back home to Yorkshire. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter O'Toole, Samantha Morton, (more)
British writer/actor Stephen Fry makes his feature-film debut with the witty, sophisticated comedy Bright Young Things, adapted from Evelyn Waugh's 1930 novel Vile Bodies. Set in London during the '30s, this stylish period film follows an ensemble cast of well-dressed and highly literate partygoers. Aspiring writer Adam Fenwick-Symes (stage actor Stephen Campbell Moore) loses the manuscript of his first novel when traveling through customs. He then sets out to raise enough money to marry his sweetheart, Nina Blount (Emily Mortimer), the daughter of a colonel (Peter O'Toole). All in the name of love, Adam seeks funding through a constant stream of parties, meetings, and conversations with eccentric acquaintances. Cameo appearances are made by the likes of Dan Aykroyd, Simon Callow, and Stockard Channing. Bright Young Things was shown at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Emily Mortimer, Stephen Campbell Moore, (more)
Stella Gibbons' popular novel was published in 1932, and it has been adapted twice for British television, first as a miniseries in 1971, then by director John Schlesinger in 1995. That version proved so popular that it was released to theaters in the U.S. The heroine of Gibbons' story, Flora Poste (Kate Beckinsale), is an aspiring young writer with two needs: material for her first novel, and a cheap place to live and work. A wealthy friend encourages her to take advantage of her country cousins and impose upon them for lodgings. Flora finds Cold Comfort Farm to be a ramshackle affair populated by eccentrics including the imperious Ada Doom (Sheila Burrell), her daughter Judith (Eileen Atkins), Judith's rough but handsome son Seth (Rufus Sewell), and Amos (Ian McKellen), an amateur preacher whose sermonizing seems to release some kind of demons within him. Undaunted by this menagerie, Flora gets to work organizing the household, and she comes to realize that the material for her book is right in front of her. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kate Beckinsale, Sheila Burrell, (more)
A lonely orphan girl makes a most unusual friend as best-selling children's author Roald Dahl's timeless story comes to life in an animated effort that was nominated for Best Children's Program by the Academy of Film and Television. A twenty-five foot prince who harvests the dreams of Dream Country and blows them into the minds of children with his magical trumpet, the Big Friendly Giant is troubled to learn that some of the less friendly giants of the land have left many English boys and girls unable to rest soundly in their beds at night. Now determined to put a stop to the frightening activities of the gargantuan grumps, the Big Friendly Giant joins forces with young orphan Sophie to seek out the aid of Her Majesty the Queen and deliver the most spectacular dreams imaginable to the children who now sleep safely nestled away from the threat of the towering monsters who had once filled their hearts with fear and dread. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Roger Moore took a brief vacation from playing James Bond in this witty adventure drama. Rufus Excalibur ffolkes (Moore), who for some reason prefers not to capitalize his last name, is a scuba-diving adventurer for hire with a sharp mind, a quick wit, a fondness for cats, and a certain distrust of women. When terrorist Lou Kramer (Anthony Perkins) takes over an oil drilling platform in the North Sea and threatens to blow it sky high if his demands are not met, ffolkes is called in by Admiral Brinsden (James Mason) to foil Kramer's scheme before it's too late. ffolkes, also released as North Sea Hijack and Assault Force, was based on the novel Esther, Ruth, and Jennifer by Jack Davies, who also penned the screenplay ("Esther, Ruth, and Jennifer," incidentally, are the code names for the ship, drilling rig, and platform seized by Kramer in the film). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roger Moore, James Mason, (more)
- 1979
- R
This routine espionage drama is based on a novel by Graham Greene about a low-level British informant who is caught in a trap. Castle (Nicol Williamson) has a desk job in British intelligence. Around him are heavyweights like Col. Daintry (Richard Attenborough), Sir John Hargreaves (Richard Vernon), and Percival (Robert Morley) who will cold-bloodedly stop at nothing to do their jobs as they see fit. And Castle certainly is a nobody compared to them. One day when a friend of his in Africa needs some help, Castle is conned into supplying the Eastern block countries with info on demand. No one suspects him because of his low position, but when his office partner is hauled off, Castle begins to rethink his situation. This was director Otto Preminger's last film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Attenborough, John Gielgud, (more)
This is an inspiring BBC-TV tale where a hard-working guardian takes care of three orphaned sisters, trying to provide a nurturing environment. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Thorne, Barbara Lott, (more)
- 1974
Originally made for Canadian television, this romantic and supernatural tale chronicles the adventures of a comely young woman who becomes the governess at a proper English estate and finds herself avoiding the romantic advances of her employer and his son. Things become very complex when she is possessed by the house ghost. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1969
This wickedly hilarious British comedy series was a dead-on spoof of World in Action, a popular BBC investigative-reporting series. On each half-hour episode, the series' "correspondents" promised to tear the lid off a recent scandal, but generally found themselves struggling to make exciting television out of absolutely nothing in particular. The series was produced by Ned Sherrin of That Was the Week That Was fame. The World in Ferment was originally telecast from June 23 to July 28, 1969. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Thorne, Jack Shepherd, (more)
Oh! What a Lovely War is an every-man-for-himself adaptation of Charles Chilton's 1963 play, as staged in London by Joan Littlewood. The tragedy of World War I is redefined in bawdy music-hall terms, beginning with a verbal free-for-all involving the Crowned Heads of Europe. The war is presented as the "new attraction" at the Brighton Amusement Pier, complete with syrupy cheer-up songs, shooting galleries, free prizes and a scoreboard toting up the dead. Throughout the proceedings, the camera concentrates on a middle-class family, whose five sons end up as cannon fodder. The final image is a veddy proper British picnic on a graveyard. Of the many fleeting satiric images parading past the camera, one of the most indelible is the sight of several generals playing leapfrog as the world all around them goes to hell in a handbasket. The awesome all-star cast includes Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Maggie Smith, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Jack Hawkins, John Mills, Susannah York, Dirk Bogarde and Phyllis Calvert. We haven't seen this many Englishmen in one place since the last Wimbledon match. The whole affair was supervised by Richard Attenborough, making his directorial debut (a question: why was he up to the challenge of this musical extravaganza, yet seemed helpless in the face of 1985's A Chorus Line?). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Meriel Forbes, (more)
- 1962
Giving up her career after her stand-in is murdered, alcoholic film star Carla Berotti (Patricia English) takes the first ship to Canada. Here she is blackmailed into acting as a courier for her husband, a double agent. It so happens that Carla's personal physician is Dr. Martin King (Jon Rollason) -- who, of course, is a close associate of John Steed. Apprised of the situation, Steed books passage on the ship in hopes of rounding up the villains once and for all. Written by Lester Powell, "Mission to Montreal" first aired in England on October 27, 1962, and was first shown in America on January 31, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
