Dennis Waterman Movies

Much of this lively, low-budget British comedy is filmed in real-time as it chronicles the strange wedding day of upper-middle-class girl Samantha whose beautiful garden ceremony is abruptly interrupted by three Cockney jewel thieves on the run after their latest heist fell apart. While hiding out at the wedding the crooks get involved with the family. Things really go nuts when the chauffeur chokes on an hors d'ouvre and keels over. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

When a washed-up boxer (Roger Daltrey) invites a British priest (Dennis Waterman) to minister in his South Chicago neighborhood, he never suspects that the priest is not who he says he is. ~ John Bush, Rovi

In this feature-film version of the popular British television cop show, Regan (John Thaw) and Carter (Dennis Waterman) are two British Scotland Yard detectives who find themselves involved with the exchange of oil resources on the political and economic fate of the world. Ian Bannen plays Baker, an alcoholic foreign minister involved in a scheme to manipulate a worldwide oil crisis to his benefit. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

The Sweeney was a groundbreaking British police show of the 1970s that turned John Thaw into a major television star. Created by Ian Kennedy Martin, the series told of Scotland Yard's Flying Squad (roughly the equivalent of the Major Case Squad in New York and other major American cities), nicknamed "The Sweeney" in rhyming slang (Flying Squad/Sweeney Todd) -- the focus of the series was the squad's senior field officer, Detective Inspector Jack Regan, portrayed by John Thaw. A bull of a man who has been known to bend the rules when necessary (or when it suits him), Regan disparages his desk-bound superiors and prefers to stay in the field, often working neck-deep among England's professional and habitual criminals, who are every bit as violent as their American counterparts. Tolerated by his superiors because he gets results, Regan is in a constant struggle to keep his squad ahead of the criminals and free of interference from higher command, the press, or politicians -- with his partner, Detective Sergeant George Carter (Dennis Waterman), Regan and his squad are as tough and ruthless when they have to be as the criminals they pursue.

The series was considered revolutionary in its time on British television for introducing levels of violence and cynicism -- though defenders would call it realism -- that had previously only been seen in American-produced series and movies; the language, the action, the cutting, and the shooting all exuded a gritty, no-nonsense approach to crime-story narrative that was spellbinding. The series started life as part of a series of made-for-television movies produced by Euston Films for its parent company, Thames Television. Regan introduced the character of Jack Regan, and its success got it pegged as the source for a 13-episode series, ultimately titled The Sweeney, starring Thaw and Waterman. That season and the one that followed were immensely popular and yielded a pair of feature-film releases, The Sweeney (1977) and Sweeney 2 (1978). The series shut down after its fourth season, but it is still one of the most talked about series in England a quarter century later. In 2003, the complete series was released on DVD in England, with a brace of bonus materials including commentary tracks, interviews, and special introductions by various guest stars. Seen today, it still comes off as very gritty and violent, and, in many ways, a distant antecedent to the American made-for-cable series The Shield. ~ Rovi

Although an orphaned fox cub was raised in captivity, it does not get pet privileges when it is the object of a fox hunt. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

A star-studded cast highlights this musical adaptation of the classic fantasy tales of Lewis Carroll. One day young Alice (Fiona Fullerton) takes a nasty spill down the rabbit-hole and finds herself in the bizarre kingdom of Wonderland, where she encounters a number of strange and enchanted characters, including the playful White Rabbit (Michael Crawford), the manic March Hare (Peter Sellers), the mysterious Caterpillar (Ralph Richardson), the Doormouse (Dudley Moore), the imperious Queen of Hearts (Flora Robson), and the quizzical Mad Hatter (Robert Helpmann). The cast also includes Spike Milligan, Peter Bull, Roy Kinnear, and Michael Jayston as Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland won two prizes at the 1973 British Academy of Film and Theatre Awards -- for Georfrey Unsworth's photography and Anthony Mendelson's costume design. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Not a sequel to Richard Harris' A Man Called Horse as is sometime alleged, 1971's Man in the Wilderness nonetheless bears a marked resemblance to that earlier film. Star Harris plays a trapper who joins a Northwest Territory expeditionary group. Left for dead after running afoul of a grizzly bear, Harris struggles to regain his strength and exact vengeance against John Huston, the man who deserted him. Flashbacks reveal who Harris is and how he's come to this. Man in the Wilderness alternates between a blood-spattered retribution tale and a gutsy one-man show for frostbitten Richard Harris. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, an Irish Catholic bride is devastated when her pregnant mother miscarries and dies on her wedding day. The young woman, one of seven children, blames her father's lust for the death. When her own wedding night arrives she is terrified and refuses to consummate the marriage. Her husband is gentle and hopes that she will get over her fear. He decides to give her time and so takes a job as a commercial artist in London. The bride stays in Dublin and takes care of her younger brothers and sisters until another sibling urges her to join her spouse. By this time the husband's patience runs out and he tries to take her by force. The bride becomes hysterical and flees back home. Meanwhile the husband eases his sexual tensions with a former girl friend. The bride goes to the doctor who suggests she use contraceptives. Unfortunately, the Church forbids it. She then asks her priest to annul her marriage, but he will not. The poor girl is so upset that she suffers a breakdown and tries to kill herself in the hospital. When her husband hears of this he comes to her. Together, they swear to take all the time they need to help her overcome her terrible fear with love and understanding. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The British/American co-production My Lover, My Son stars Romy Schneider as Frances, the unhappy wife of businessman Robert (Donald Houston). When her lover is accidentally drowned, Frances turns to her teenaged son James (Dennis Waterman) for comfort. Her husband doesn't like this set-up and bundles James off to college, but upon his return the boy enters into an affair with his own mother. Robert discovers the incestuous couple in an embrace and reacts violently, whereupon Frances kills him in self defense. Knocked unconscious during the struggle, James thinks he is the killer and takes the rap. The boy is released on the grounds of self defense and returns to his mother -- only to renounce her when he discovers that he's the illegitimate son of his mother's dead lover. MGM was the American distributor for My Lover, My Son, and that low vibration you feel is Louis B. Mayer spinning in his grave. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The moral dilemma of a young Catholic woman is intensified when her religion forbids the use of birth control. When her own mother dies during childbirth on her wedding day, the woman becomes fraught with a fury of anger, guilt and sexual dysfunction. The woman is forced to care for the seven children her mother left behind as the groom must leave on business, and the tirades of a narrow-minded priest further complicate the relationship between the newlyweds. This film is meant to pose serious questions of universal concern to those who follow the path of religious dogma insisted upon by the church. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Strictly for the kiddies is the British Go Kart Go. The film is built around an annual go-cart race and the youthful participants. Jimpy (Dennis Waterman), Squarehead (Jimmy Capehorn) and Patchy (Pauline Chancellor) are among the aspiring go-carters. They pool their resources to build and enter one single "super" vehicle, with amusing results. Will they win the race? Need one ask? At 55 minutes, Go Kart Go was ideally suited for both Saturday-matinee showings and weekend TV showings. Michael Barnes adapted the script from a story by Frank Wells. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi