Charles "Bud" Tingwell Movies

In order to raise the money for his "breakthrough" film Breaker Morant, Australian director Bruce Beresford dashed off the guaranteed audience pleaser Money Movers. Terence Donovan masterminds a bank-vault heist that will potentially net his gang 20 million Australian dollars. The scheme predictably goes sour, but this conclusion is reached via a most unexpected fashion. Ed Devereaux, best known to American audiences for his leading-man gig on the TV series Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo, is second billed as "Dick Martin" (no, not the American TV-comic Dick Martin). Money Movers was based on a novel by Devon Minchin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Australian Eliza Fraser tries for the wig-and-bodice bawdiness of Tom Jones. The title character, played by Susannah York, is an 18th century lass who is shipwrecked together with Trevor Howard on a remote Australian island. Her lively exploits among the refugees help to make Eliza famous--or rather, notorious--throughout the British empire. Once rescued, Eliza earns her keep at county fairs by regaling audiences with her own tales of her adventures. Tim Burstall both wrote and directed Eliza Fraser from an original screenplay by David Williamson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Several female hitchhikers have been murdered in a small Australian seacoast community. The principal suspects are brothers Robert and Mark Gifford (George Mallaby and John Waters). One is an apparently helpless paraplegic, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the filmmakers are going to cop out with the "least likely suspect" revelation. We do know, however, that each brother is covering up for the other. Director/writer Tim Burstall imbues this filming of Russell Braddon'snovel Endplay with his expected healthy vulgarity and leering voyeurism. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A police investigator is forced to rely on the man he's been instructed to apprehend in this cold war thriller. Sir James Quentin (Christopher Plummer) is a high level negotiator with the British government who is approached by Scobie Malone (Rod Taylor), an Australian detective who has been instructed to arrest Quentin in connection with the murder of his first wife 25 years earlier. Quentin calmly asks Malone if he could wait until he completes his work at a diplomatic conference, and Malone agrees; Quentin even allows Malone to stay at his home with his second wife Shelia (Lilli Palmer). Malone's assignment soon proves to be more complicated (and dangerous) than he expected when he has to save Quentin from an assassination attempt. Quentin must protect a fellow diplomat also targeted by gunmen, and Malone learns that Shelia has a deadly secret. The High Commissioner was also released under the title Nobody Runs Forever. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Christopher Lee dons the evil Count's cloak once again after an 8-year hiatus for this first "authentic" sequel to Hammer Studios' Horror of Dracula (the literal 1960 follow-up Brides of Dracula did not feature Lee). The story begins when two stuffy vacationing couples make an ill-fated stopover at Castle Karlsbad in the Carpathian mountains -- despite the warnings of the mysterious Fr. Sandor (Andrew Keir) and the near-destruction of their coach when the terrified driver runs for his life. After a slightly tedious stretch, one of the men (Charles Tingwell) is sacrificed in a bloody Satanic ritual, orchestrated by the Count's loyal manservant Klove (Philip Latham) to bring the legendary vampire back to life. The revived Count immediately sets his sights on the man's wife (Barbara Shelley), making her his undead bride; the surviving pair seek refuge in Fr. Sandor's abbey, with the undead bloodsuckers in hot pursuit. This stylish and chilling production is imbued with Gothic atmosphere by director Terence Fisher (one of his last films for the studio) and remains one of the classier entries from Hammer's heyday. Also known as Revenge of Dracula. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

Murder Most Foul represented Margaret Rutherford's third appearance as Agatha Christie's spinsterish sleuth Miss Marple. The film opens with Marple serving on a murder-trial jury. She forces a mistrial because she considers the accused to be innocent; to prove her theory, she traces the trail of evidence to a down-at-the-heels repertory company run by Ron Moody. She auditions for the troupe with a stirring rendition of "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," securing the job by flashing a roll of bills in front of the covetous Moody. While snooping about backstage, Miss Marple discovers both murderer and motive-and, as is customary in the "Marple" films, she nearly loses her own life in the process. Based on the Agatha Christie novel Mrs. McGinty's Dead, Murder Most Foul co-stars Margaret Rutherford's real-life husband Stringer Davis as Marple's friend and confidante Mr. Stringer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is one of a series of competent murder mysteries directed by George Pollock based on the Agatha Christie character, Miss Marple. Margaret Rutherford stars as the grey-haired, wily sleuth who will not give up until all the pieces of a puzzle have been neatly put in place. This time around, an old village recluse is found dead and everyone except Miss Marple believes he had a heart attack. She is suspicious because four members of the dead man's family stand to benefit from his death, especially when a highly valuable painting is added into the kitty. As she follows her instincts and logic, a few more murders eliminate the same number of suspects, and Miss Marple is compelled to lend haste to her investigation before someone else turns up dead. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Dumpy, dough-faced British comedienne Margaret Rutherford was not precisely the physical type Agatha Christie had in mind for the prim, tweedish sleuth Miss Marple. Still, Rutherford's first "Marple" movie Murder, She Said did so well at the box office that there was no question she would continue appearing in the role in the inevitable sequels. In this initial effort, Marple witnesses a murder being committed on a speeding train. She informs the authorities, but they find no evidence of a killing and write off Marple as a doddering eccentric. Determined to prove that she's not imagining things, Marple investigates the area around the stretch of railroad track where the murder occurred. She winds up on the estate of James Robertson-Justice, disguised as a maid. Many family skeletons are exhumed by Miss Marple before she proves that she indeed saw a murder and pinpoints the guilty party. Stringer Davis, Margaret Rutherford's husband, makes his first appearance as Miss Marple's chaste companion Mr. Stringer. Based on Agatha Christie's 4:50 From Paddington, Murder, She Said was released in some markets as Meet Miss Marple. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Captain Gort (Bernard Lee) is an airline pilot who must answer to a Court of Inquiry after the crash of a Phoenix jet. Although he passes a battery of tests, pilot error is the determined cause of the accident. Sir Hobbes (George Sanders) is the Queen's council whose relentless prosecution helps blame Gort. When a second crash occurs, Gort is defended by Captain Judd (Peter Cushing), who is convinced that mechanical malfunctions, not the pilot, caused both crashes. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This film is based on the popular British TV series Emergency Ward 10. A surgeon arrives from the U.S. with a new heart-lung machine in order to save a young boy who has a hole in his heart. The doctor is treated coolly by a jealous rival, and an old man dies while on the new life-saving machine. Controversy erupts, among his more traditional colleagues, over the American doctor's experimental methods. Character diversity is well-represented by the patients; a woman waiting to bear quadruplets, the old man, the young boy, and the neglected wife. Romance, humor and drama surround the doctors, nurses and patients, all leading to an inevitable hospital party. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The first of two films based on characters created by novelist Moore Raymond, this tells of a mischievous Australian boy (Colin Peterson), Smiley, who wants a bicycle, but the funds aren't available. He goes through numerous adventures in his quest for his "dream" vehicle, the most heart-pounding of which involves drug smugglers. In the end, Smiley finally gets his coveted bike. This slim narrative is bolstered by the appearance of several reliable character actors, notably Australian film stalwart Chips Rafferty and British stage legend Ralph Richardson (as a bush parson). Smiley was followed by an unnecessary sequel, Smiley Gets a Gun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide