Patrick Waddington Movies

When the English Civil War is winding down but the Roundheads and Royalists are still at odds with each other, it is decided that the King, Raymond, should be moved from England to France for safekeeping. When the Cavalier assigned the task is thwarted by the discovery of the scheme, other measures must be taken. Good action scenes with a smidgen of romance thrown in for good measure. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

This meticulous re-creation of the sinking of the Titanic was adapted by Eric Ambler from the best-selling book by Walter Lord, and it preceded the blockbuster Titanic by almost 40 years. The film covers the life and death of the huge vessel from its launching celebration to that fateful night of April 14, 1912, when the "unsinkable" ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Of the 2224 passengers on board, 1513 were drowned as a result of the bad planning of lifeboats and escape routes. Kenneth More heads a huge and stellar cast, with 200 speaking parts, as second officer Herbert Lightoller, from whose point-of-view the story unfolds. Also in the cast are Laurence Naismith as the ill-fated Captain Smith; Michael Goodliffe as conscience-stricken ship's designer Thomas Andrews; Tucker McGuire as feisty American millionaire Molly Brown, whose courage and tenacity saved many lives; and Anthony Bushell as the captain of the Carpathia, who launched a noble but vain rescue mission once he was apprised of the disaster. Also appearing are two future TV favorites: The Avengers' Honor Blackman as a woman who believes that she has nothing to live for, and The Man From UNCLE's David McCallum as a wireless operator. The climactic sinking of the vessel is re-created with painstaking accuracy; filmed in "real time," it is a mere 37 minutes shorter than the actual tragedy. Two years before the film's release, an American TV adaptation of A Night to Remember set a precedent as the most elaborate and technically complex "live" broadcast of its time. Some viewers will find this movie a more accurate and gripping representation of this sea disaster than the romance-heavy Titanic. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a true story (believe it or don't!), The Wooden Horse is set in a wartime German prison camp. It being the duty for every British POW to attempt escape, internees Leo Genn, David Tomlinson and Anthony Steel hit upon a daring scheme. Building an outsized, boxlike vaulting horse, purportedly for exercise purposes, the trio begin digging a tunnel beneath the horse-right under the noses of their German captors. As one of the first of the British "prison camp getaway" genre, The Wooden Horse establishes many of the form's cliches, including the rule-bound German soldiers whose grasp of the obvious is appalling. Eric Williams adapted the screenplay from his novel The Tunnel Escape. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Stop Press Girl is admittedly a one-joke film, though that joke is a good one. Sally Ann Howes plays a winsome British lass who has the power to stop all machinery around her for a period of 15 minutes. It must needs be that Sally falls in love with a newspaperman, thereby justifying the film's title. The plot rears its ugly head when our heroine is reluctantly involved in an attempt to sabotage a rival newspaper. Stop Press Girl is one of those British comedies that used to pop up all over the place on American TV, only to virtually disappear in the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this comedy, a couple visits a fortune teller who gazes into the crystal ball and informs them that the husband only has one month to live. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Though its title suggests that Gaiety George is yet another vehicle for British comedian George Formby, the film is in fact a biopic. Richard Greene plays Irish theatrical impresario George Howard, whose elaborately staged musical entertainments were highlights of the early 20th century. Wounded during World War I, Howard returns to London and virtually forgotten, compelling him to mount a spectacular comeback. Surprisingly, the weakest element is not its banal plotline but the musical numbers, which are staged with little of the "feel" or energy of the period. Released in the US as Showtime in 1948. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Loves of Mme. DuBarry was the American title of the 1935 British operetta I Give My Heart, based on the stage musical The DuBarry. German actress Gitta Alpar stars as Jeanne, the young 18th century Parisian milliner who sleeps her way to the uppermost rungs of French aristocracy, emerging at last as the glamorous Madame DuBarry, mistress of Louis XV (Owen Nares). Refusing to gloss over DuBarry's sexual peccadilloes (as previous films with Norma Talmadge and Dolores del Rio had done), the film presents the "heroine" as a whore, pure and simple-or, on second thought, not so pure and simple! Particularly troublesome for American censors was a scene in which DuBarry is depicted as a resident of a bawdy house. Otherwise, The Loves of Madame DuBarry is standard historical-drama fare, allowing dozens of top European actors to play "dress-up" for 90 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this British drama, based on a popular play, a wealthy young Jew goes to a weekend house party and finds himself victimized by anti-Semitic guests. To add insult to injury, his wallet is then stolen. The fellow exposes the pilferer and threatens to take him to court until the other guests, terrified of scandal, offer to make him a member of their exclusive club. It seems, like a good offer until the other members express their racist reservations about his joining. The angered fellow decides to take it to court after all. The distraught thief is found guilty and subsequently suicides. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi