Jerry Verno Movies

British pop performer Michael Sarne stars as young Ricky, a kid from London's East End who is yet another victim of urban socio-economic blight. Discouraged and frustrated, Ricky gets involved with a local gang hoping to support his family by turning to a life of crime. Rita Tushingham, in her third film appearance, plays the role of Ricky's girlfriend Catherine. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Outrageously sexist, The Perfect Woman is also very funny if you're in a politically incorrect mood. A dotty scientist (Stanley Holloway), fascinated with the concept of artificial life, creates a synthetic woman (the staggeringly beautiful Patricia Roc) in his lab. This ersatz female is considered the "perfect woman" because she will do anything she is told, and will keep her mouth shut in the bargain. The scientist's niece (also Patricia Roc) decides to have some fun by posing as the robot girl. Based on a play by Wallace Geoffrey and Basil Mitchell, The Perfect Woman takes a while getting started, but the payoff makes up for the slow build. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's influential musical tragedy set the stage for the climactic dance ballets that became a staple of the Arthur Freed-MGM musicals (An American in Paris, Singin' in the Rain and The Band Wagon) of the early 1950s. Hans Christian Andersen's tragic fairy tale forms the basis of this film about betrayal, love and art. The story begins as struggling composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring) attends a performance of the Lermontov Ballet Company and recognizes his own score in the production of "Hearts of Fire." Julian protests to ballet company director Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook) about the unauthorized use of his music. Impressed by Julian's talent, Boris hires him to compose the score for his next ballet -- a dance version of "The Red Shoes." Boris also hires an attractive young dancer, Victoria Page (Moira Shearer), to perform in the ballet. When the lead ballerina announces that she plans to get married, Boris, in a pique over being abandoned, casts Victoria in the starring role. As Julian works on the score and Victoria struggles to perfect her dance technique, the two fall in love. When "The Red Shoes" ballet is premiered -- seen in a stunning and glorious fifteen-minute sequence -- it is a raging success and it makes Victoria a star. But when Boris learns that Julian and Victoria have fallen in love, Boris, who is secretly in love with Victoria, in a fit of rage forces Julian to leave the ballet company; Victoria leaves with him. Since Boris owns the rights to "The Red Shoes" ballet, he forbids Victoria to perform the dance and she becomes unemployable. Time passes and Julian and Victoria are now happily married. Julian's compositions have made him an international success. One day, with Victoria disembarking from a train in Paris, she meets Boris, who implores her to do one performance of "The Red Shoes" in Monaco. Victoria agrees as Julian cancels an engagement in London to travel to Monte Carlo in order to convince his wife not to perform the ballet. But Victoria goes on with the performance, with tragic results. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The British maritime meller Pirate of the Seven Seas first saw the light of day as Queer Cargo in 1938. John Lodge stars as Captain Harley, a slick pearl-smuggler saddled with a rebellious crew. Harley's men finally mutiny at the precise moment that their vessel is boarded by pirate leader Cabini (Kenneth Kent) and his band of cutthroats. Faced with choosing the lesser of two evils, Harley's crew finally decides to cast their lot with the captain, who has become the film's hero by default. Though filmed nearly two years before the outbreak of WW2, Pirate of the Seven Seas was foresighted enough to include a German villain in its cast of characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a remake of Chinese Bungalow, which came out in 1930. A Chinese banker gets revenge when his wife, an Englishwoman, has an affair with an English plantation manager. After he gets his revenge, he changes his mind and decides that the one he really desires is his wife's sister. Alas, his love is unrequited. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a scientist endeavors to turn into a caveman after drinking a secret formula. Instead he becomes a child. In this state, he overhears three Yankees conspiring to take the Crown Jewels. As soon as he is back to normal, he stops them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this entry in the long-running British comedy series, boisterous Irish washerwoman Mother Riley finds herself entangled in an adventure with spies after she goes to Paris to find her daughter. The trouble begins when she is mistaken for a spy and ends up catching a real one. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

As early as 1937's Young and Innocent, Alfred Hitchcock was beginning to repeat himself, but audiences didn't mind so long as they were thoroughly entertaining-which they were, without fail. Derrick De Marney finds himself in a 39 Steps situation when he is wrongly accused of murder. While a fugitive from the law, De Marney is helped by heroine Nova Pilbeam, who three years earlier had played the adolescent kidnap victim in Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much. The obligatory "fish out of water" scene, in which the principals are briefly slowed down by a banal everyday event, occurs during a child's birthday party. The actual villain, whose identity is never in doubt (Hitchcock made thrillers, not mysteries) is played by George Curzon, who suffers from a twitching eye. Curzon's revelation during an elaborate nightclub sequence is a Hitchcockian tour de force, the sort of virtuoso sequence taken for granted in these days of flexible cameras and computer enhancement, but which in 1937 took a great deal of time, patience and talent to pull off. Released in the US as The Girl Was Young, Young and Innocent was based on a novel by Josephine Tey. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While W.C. Fields poked fun at the asinine notion of a high-speed airplane with an open observation deck in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941), the producers of the futuristic British melodrama Non-Stop New York (1937) take this notion quite seriously. The film's setpiece is a streamlined luxury plane designed for transatlantic passenger flight (something that would not become a common occurrence until 1940). Anna Lee plays a chorus girl whose has been targeted for extermination by the London underworld because she can provide an alibi for a murder suspect. The police won't believe her, but that doesn't dissuade the syndicated hit men. Seeking escape, Lee stows away on a plane bound for New York; the gangsters follow, overpower the pilots, and parachute from the plane, leaving Lee and the passengers helplessly hurtling through the clouds. The day is saved by detective John Loder, who'd also boarded the plane in search of Lee. The climax involves an aerial fistfight on the wing of the speeding plane. If you believe this sequence, chances are you'll swallow whole the rest of Non-Stop New York: if not, you'll have a grand old time all the same. The script by (among others) Curt Siodmak and Roland Pertwee was based on Sky Steward, a novel by Ken Attiwill. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hollywood leading-man John Lodge later became governor of Connecticut. Before he turned to politics, however, Lodge found time to squeeze the British melodrama River of Unrest into his schedule. Lodge plays a county inspector, smack in the middle of yet another set-to between the British and the Irish. John Loder, a British officer in love with Irish colleen Antoinette Cellier, is force to shoot rebel-fighter Niall MacGinnis. Loder has no inkling that MacGinniss was the brother of Cellier. She uses his ignorance to lure Loder into a trap, cursing herself all the way but remaining loyal to her people. River of Unrest was based on The Trouble, a play by Dudley Sturrock and Noel Scott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this romantic comedy, a plucky gypsy travels to London with her lover, a captain of the guard masquerading as a musician. She does not know that he is a fugitive from prison incarcerated for dueling with a high official. In London, the musician organizes a gypsy band that begins playing in a small cafe. They are soon spotted by an American promoter who believes that he can take them to the States and make them stars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This beautifully rendered cinemadaptation of Pagliacci is sung in English, with the Leoncavallo music newly arranged by Hans Eisler. The noted counter tenor Richard Tauber is Signor Canio, head of a comic-opera troupe touring the Italian provinces. On stage Canio, dressed as a clown, is expected to laugh everyone's troubles away: offstage, he is tormented with the knowledge that his beautiful young wife (Steffi Duna) is in love with handsome soldier Silvio (Arthur Margetson). These real-life travails eventually spill over onto the stage, with tragic consequences. The film's high point, of course, is Richard Tauber's plaintive rendition of the famous aria "Veste la Giubba". Unlike so many other filmed operas, Pagliacci is thoroughly cinematic, with carefully chosen camera angles and attractively designed compositions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide