Alan Tilvern Movies

Much of 1919 takes place in 1984, but the spectre of that year looms large over the proceedings. Paul Scofield and Maria Schell play two of the surviving patients of Sigmund Freud. Currently residing in the US, Schell happens to see Scofield being interviewed on a TV show. She decides to seek her fellow patient out and compare notes. As they recall their long-ago therapy, the film fades back to the past, with Colin Firth and Claire Higgins playing, respectively, the younger Scofield and Schell. Freud himself is never seen, though his voice is heard (courtesy of actor Frank Finlay). Concluding that Freud wasn't all that he was cracked up to be, Scofield and Schell emerge from their nostalgia session with a mutual affection and attraction. The first dramatic effort of documentary filmmaker Hugh Brody (whose recreation of Times Past is succinct and remarkably accurance), 1919 was originally a coproduction of Britain's Channel Four and the British Film Institute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Controversial animator Ralph Bakshi's literal adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, is brought to the screen in a reverent, stilted way, with Bakshi forsaking his sharp-edged animated looniness for a rotoscoped dullness. Although the film's title encompasses the entire Tolkien trilogy, this longish Bakshi feature, in fact, covers only the first book, The Fellowship of the Ring, and the first half of the second, The Two Towers. Given the complexity of the original story line, this unfortunately means that only those intimately familiar with the books will be able to understand what is happening in the movie. In brief, however, an evil sorcerer from a previous era created a magical ring which enables its users to call upon its tremendous powers to rule the world, but it inevitably warps them to evil. It was believed lost, but during a resurgence of magical evil in the world, Bilbo, a simple, plain-spoken hobbit, recovers it from its hiding place. The forces of good give his nephew Frodo the choice to bear the awful burden of the ring to a place where it may be destroyed. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This low-budget horror film offers a veritable feast of campy fare as it tells the tale of an insane scientist's attempt to bring back the Third Reich by thawing out the prominent Nazis he has been storing in a deep freeze since WW II. He successfully thaws them out and gets them moving, but unfortunately their brains do not function correctly. In an attempt to rectify the situation, the doctor shaves and cuts off a young woman's head, lays it on a table, wires it to a strange machine, and forces her to control the zombie men telepathically. Unfortunately, she is mule-stubborn and refuses to do this. Instead, she telepathically calls for help, and then using her increasing powers, reanimates a few handy severed arms to take care of the wicked Nazis. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

After declaring a holy war to rid the Sudan of Anglo-Egyptian rule in the 1880s, the fanatical Sudanese leader Muhammad Ahmad (Laurence Olivier) massacres a British-led force of 8,000 and marches on the strategic city of Khartoum at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The British government of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone (Ralph Richardson) then sends one of its greatest generals, Charles George Gordon (Charlton Heston), to Khartoum to make peace and save the city. Gordon had previously served with distinction in the Crimea, China, India and South Africa. Most important, he had also served as governor of the Sudan in the late 1870s at the request of the khedive of Egypt, instituting administrative reforms, reducing the slave trade and bolstering the economy. However, before Gordon reaches Khartoum with his aide, many of his former Sudanese friends defect to the Mahdi. Nevertheless, Gordon receives a rousing reception when he arrives in the city in February 1884. Heartened, he meets in the desert with the Mahdi to try to forge a peace agreement, but the Arab leader tells Gordon he is bent on taking Khartoum. What's more, he means to conquer other cities -- Cairo, Mecca, Baghdad and Constantinople -- to establish a vast empire under his leadership. Convinced that more war is inevitable, Gordon and the loyal Egyptian troops under his command prepare for battle. Meanwhile, in London, the Gladstone government is reluctant to dispatch troops to support the outnumbered Khartoum forces because colonial meddling has become bad politics. To forestall disaster, Gordon diverts the Nile to create a moat around Khartoum and leads a foray in which he steals cattle from the Mahdi's herd to supply the besieged city with food. But when the Nile recedes, the stage is set for the final battle that will decide the fate of Khartoum. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

In the final episode of the three-part story arc "Planet of Giants," the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions have finally managed to reach the authorities with their story of a diabolical germ-warfare plot hatched by businessman Forester (Alan Tilvern). Unfortunately, no one listens -- mainly because the crew of the TARDIS has shrunk to a height of one inch. Further perils await the Doctor and his entourage when they are designated as "aliens" and hunted down like -- well, like bugs. Written by Louis Marks, "Crisis" originally aired on November 14, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the second episode of the three-part story arc "Planet of Giants," the crew of the TARDIS, still shrunk to a height of one inch, tries to alert the authorities to the evil plans of Smithers (Reginald Barrett) and Forester (Alan Tilvern) to spread the deadly pesticide DN6 throughout the world. Unfortunately, the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions must make their way through a veritable jungle of giant matchboxes, deep sinkholes, and "huge" domestic pets. Even worse, our heroes must also face what one Doctor Who chronicler has described as "a new sort of death." Written by Louis Marks, "Dangerous Journey" originally aired on November 7, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a young woman goes undercover at a stripjoint to investigate the murder of her brother, a police detective. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy set in Saudi Arabia, a gentle British travel-agency clerk decides that it would be a smashing idea to open up a desert resort in Arabia. He heads to the desert and immediately finds himself on the bad side of a local sheik as the fellow tries to build his resort atop oil-rich land. A war erupts between rival desert bands as they vie for the rights to the oil, but it is the travel agent who wins out in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

"Invisible Man" Peter Brady is disheartened by the news that eminent British scientist Professor Owens (Walter Fitzgerald) is losing all his money at the gambling tables in Italy. But appearances are deceiving: Owens is actually being forced to pose as a "ruined" man as part of a scheme hatched by gangsters who have kidnapped his daughter Suzy (Julia Lockwood). With the assistance of his sister Diana (Lisa Daniely, Peter utilizing his invisibility to foil the scheme and save the Owenses from a particularly nasty demise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this suspenseful crime drama, a decent British sailor stationed in France is forced to smuggle gold when one of the gang members mistakes him for their contact who was killed. Real trouble ensues when the seaman is arrested and interrogated by a group of international police. He finally proves his innocence to them and at their request becomes their spy. He returns to the gang and soon finds that they and the police think he is double-crossing them all. The poor sailor ends up badly beaten by cops and crooks alike until at last he helps the cops get the smugglers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An American army officer is stationed in West Germany and assigned with keeping classified information out of the hands of the Communists. Unfortunately, Red spies know that he suffers from sudden black-outs and use this to make it appear that he is a traitor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

MGM's first CinemaScope production was the lavishly appointed Knights of the Round Table. Without overlapping into any copyrighted material (specifically T.H. White's The Once and Future King), the film spins a lucid account of the King Arthur legend. The good king is played by Mel Ferrer, while Queen Guenevere is essayed by Ava Gardner. Arthur's efforts to create a perfect society in Camelot are compromised when Guenevere falls in love with trusted knight Sir Lancelot (Robert Taylor). The ambitious Mordred (Stanley Baker) uses his knowledge of the Queen's indiscretion to destroy both Camelot and King Arthur's round table. Most of the story material in Knights of the Round Table is lifted from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

What if General George S. Patton didn't die in a car accident, as history tells us, but at the hands of a paid assassin? That's the premise of Brass Target, another in a series of espionage thrillers, like The Eagle Has Landed, that speculates on the fates of real-life figures from World War II. Robert Vaughn, Ed Bishop, and Edward Herrmann are three Allied officers in occupied Germany who steal Nazi gold with the help of OSS officer Patrick McGoohan. Patton (George Kennedy) personally supervises the investigation of the theft, assisted by Major Joe DeLuca (John Cassavetes). Soon, however, a professional assassin (Max Von Sydow) is on their trail, Patton is killed on the orders of his own staff, and only DeLuca and his lover (Sophia Loren), who is also involved with the assassin, are left alive for the finale. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide