Virginia Vernon Movies
In this British comedy, a new nurse comes to replace her predecessor, the town pump, in an English country town. Soon, she herself becomes grist for the nasty town rumor mill. Fortunately, she becomes friends with the town doctor, his son, and shop owner. As the nurse is a dreadful driver, she gets into an accident with a wealthy farmer who falls in love with her. Later he attempts to evict a young couple staying on his property, but the nurse argues for the woman who is almost ready to have a baby. It is she that delivers the babe in a field thereby winning her the affection and respect of the villagers and the wealthy farmer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Juliet Mills, Ronald Lewis, (more)
- 1961
A beautiful and wealthy woman in the market for a husband believes she has found the right man -- only to discover he isn't especially interested, in this comedy based on a play by George Bernard Shaw. Epifania Parerga (Sophia Loren) is a woman who has inherited a vast fortune, making her the wealthiest woman on Earth. All Parerga really wants is a happy marriage, but her first stab at matrimony, with Alastair (Gary Raymond), is a disaster, and when she visits a psychiatrist in hopes of learning what she did wrong, her analyst, Dr. Adrian (Dennis Price), attempts to seduce her. Parerga is nearly ready to give up when she meets Dr. Ahmed el Kabir) (Peter Sellers), a shy and well-mannered Indian physician who operates a clinic for the underprivileged. While Kabir is personable, he seems to have no interest in Parerga's money and is unfazed by her beauty; convinced he can love her simply for who she is, Parerga decides Kabir is the man for her. However hard Parerga tries to throw herself at him, Kabir refuses to budge, and even after she bankrolls a new clinic for him, he does not respond to her advances. Eventually, Parerga offers Kabir a challenge -- she bets him that he can't triple his profits at his new clinic in three months, while he in turn wagers her that she cannot live without money for the same period of time. A spin-off of the The Millionairess was a novelty song called "Goodness Gracious Me", in which Sellers and Loren duetting as a doctor from India and his alluring patient; a recording of the tune became a hit single in the United Kingdom. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sophia Loren, Peter Sellers, (more)
- 1943
Released in the US as The Randolph Family, Dear Octopus was based on the internationally popular play by Dodie Smith. The story is motivated by the Golden Wedding anniversary of Charles and Dora Randolph (Frederick Leister, Helen Haye). As the relatives gather, each reveals his or her personal quirks and shortcomings. Caught in the middle is family secretary Penny Fenton (Margaret Lockwood), who has the unenviable task of sorting and smoothing out the family's many deep-set hostilities and jealousies so that a good time will be had by all. The basic premise of Dear Octopus is established early on; the rest of the film is variations on a single theme, albeit consistently amusing ones. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding, Sr., (more)
