Alan White Movies
Versatile Australian actor Alan White played leads on stage, radio, television, and screen. In 1954, he moved to Britain to continue his film career. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1988
- PG
Mike Jittlov, a master of special effects who's strutted his stuff in several short films, is both the director and star of The Wizard of Speed and Time. Jittlov plays himself, an eager-beaver director who offers a reel of special effects to a TV producer. The director makes a huge bet to the producer that he, Jittlov, can expand his reel into a fantastic feature film. Unfortunately, he's out of money, so Jittlov is obliged, Rocky style, to employ friends and family for his epic. In the picture-within-a-picture, Jittlov plays a second role, as the Wizard of Speed and Time (from the movie of the same name). The producer sends out some hired goons to prevent Jittlov from finishing his job, but our hero--both of him--emerges triumphant. Adding to the Pirandellian quality of The Wizard of Speed and Time is the fact that the avaricious fictional producer is played by the film's real producer, Richard Kaye. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mike Jittlov, Richard Kaye, (more)
J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone) directed this Cold War action thriller. Gregory Peck is the American Dr. John Hathaway, a Noble Prize-winning scientist, teaching at a university in London. Lieutenant General Shelby (Arthur Hill), from the American Embassy, asks Hathaway to go on a mission to Communist China to obtain an enzyme, being developed by his old teacher Soong Li (Keye Luke), that permits crops to grow in any climate. Since the country holding the formula to this growth enzyme would be able to control the world, Shelby tells Hathaway that both the United States and the Soviet Union are anxious that the enzyme not stay in China. Hathaway doesn't want to go because of a burgeoning love affair with attractive professor Kay Hanna (Anne Heywood) and an opposition he holds to American foreign policy. But a call from the President changes his mind, and he is off to China. A transmitter is placed in his skull so that he can communicate with London. But Hathaway doesn't realize that the head implant can also be detonated from London, if necessary, and blow Hathaway's brains out. In China, Hathaway works with his old mentor Soong Li to perfect the enzyme. As they are near completion, the Red Guard storms the laboratory and attack Soong Li because of his opposition to the new movement in China, and Hathaway has to flee the country. Detecting the transmitter in Hathaway's head, the Chinese are in full pursuit. Hathaway makes it to the Sino-Soviet border, but then Shelby decides to activate the explosive device in Hathaway's head once he crosses over into Russia. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Anne Heywood, (more)
- 1967
In this episode of the allegorical television series The Prisoner, No. 6 (Patrick McGoohan) discovers a new sort of danger has come to the Village, while a carnival attempts to distract the villagers from their gloom. No. 6 recognizes a new resident, and learns that he is being tortured by No. 2 (Marn Morris) in order to learn the truth about No. 6 and his past. As both No. 6 and the newcomer are subjected to interrogation to find out what they know, a body washes up on the beach, which No. 6 discovers has a radio in his pocket. Will he be able to get the radio to work and find out what's happanmed in the outside world? And can he somehow send a signal to the people outside the Village about his plight? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mary Morris
- 1966
Preacher Flynn manages to return Heath, Walker and Richmond to the faith until he is martyrized by the persecutors. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1966
In the second episode of the four-part story "The Tenth Planet," the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions come face to face with the Cybermen from the Earth's twin planet Mondas. In his effort to prevent the aliens from taking over the world, the Doctor begins to undergo a very profound change. Written by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet, Episode 2 first aired on October 15, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hartnell, Annika Wills, (more)
- 1966
Written by Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, the four-part "The Tenth Planet" was the first "transitional" adventure in the Doctor Who canon. When the TARDIS docks at the South Pole in December 1986, the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions find that they've arrived just in time to witness a missile launching -- but they'd better get out of the way lest they be launched as well. This crisis is but a prologue for an even greater danger in the form of the dreaded Cybermen. The first of four episodes, Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet, Episode 1 first aired on October 8, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Hartnell, Annika Wills, (more)
- 1964
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, All Movie Guide
- 1964
When a beautiful model is found shot in her apartment, a famous television star is felt to be the murderer in a failed extortion plot. Although the investigation turns up a surprise ending, by the time most viewers get there they could not care less who did it. Singularly uninspired murder drama. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- 1963
Released in England under the title The World Ten Times Over, this dour drama is about the misfortunes of two aging single women. Billa (Sylvia Sims) and Ginnie (June Ritchie) live together in an apartment, and each works as a hostess at a night club. Billa is jaded and fed up with men, while Ginnie is an accomplished seductress. When Bob Shelbourne (Edward Judd), a rich executive who is separated from his wife, gets involved with Ginnie, Billa becomes envious. Bob gets Ginnie a job in a business run by his father (Francis De Wolff), who doesn't like the cozy arrangement. Billa's schoolteacher father (William Hartnell) visits, and Billa shocks him by revealing details of her affairs. The romantic entanglements proceed to challenge the friendship between Billa and Ginnie. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvia Syms, Edward Judd, (more)
- 1962
In this crime drama, an ex-con goes looking for his late cellmate's hidden loot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Filmed on location, Shake Hands With the Devil is set in Ireland during the "troubles" of 1921. James Cagney plays a brilliant medical professor who doubles as head of the Irish Republican Army. Cagney convinces one of his more pacifistic students, Don Murray, to join the underground struggle against British rule. Murray suffers a crisis of conscience when his sweetheart Dana Wynter is taken hostage by the IRA and is slated for execution by the zealous Cagney. Several members of Dublin's Abbey Players appear in supporting roles in Shake Hands With Devil. Watch for Richard Harris in the small part of Terence O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Don Murray, (more)
- 1958
In this comedy, two spinsters find their holiday in a rented cabin interrupted when a police detective appears looking for the corpse of the former renter's wife. A skeleton is discovered and the man is formally charged for the murder of his wife until it is revealed that the skeleton belongs to an ancient Englishman, not a modern woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
The celebrated stage farce 3DThe Middle Watch3D was the basis of the maritime comedy 3DGirls at Sea3D. While briefly in port, the British battleship 3DScotia3D, hosts a wild party, brimming over with wine, women and more women. Three of the female revellers-Mary (Ann Kimball), Jill (Mary Steele) and Antoinette (Nadine Tallier) are inadvertently left on board when the 3DScotia3D sets sail. It's up to the ship's by-the-book captain (Guy Rolfe) to keep the ladies safe-and out of sight-as the 3DScotia3D engages in maneuvers off the coast of Italy. Michael Hordern has some dryly amusing moments as the hapless Admiral, who suspects that something's amiss-but never suspects that it's 3Dthree3D misses. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Guy Rolfe, Ronald Shiner, (more)
- 1957
Anna Neagle steps down from her expensive musical extravaganzas to play a recognizable human being in No Time for Tears. She plays the dedicated director of a busy children's hospital, battling red tape, family hassles and public indifference. A large and stellar cast appears in this episodic tale, dramatizing the triumphs and tragedies of pediatrics. An unfortunately predictable happy ending sends the filmgoers home without trauma. No Time for Tears came close to the end of Anna Neagle's starring career; she would appear in two more films, and produce two additional features, before returning to the stage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Neagle, Anthony Quayle, (more)
- 1950
Taking time out from his duties as head of Australia's Embassy Pictures, Tom O. MacCreadle served as director of Into the Straight. The film concentrates on a horse-raiser who becomes involved with the wrong kind of girl. The racing scenes are well done, the dramatic sequences less so. Charles Tingwell, the film's leading man, went on to TV popularity as star of such British action series as Emergency Ward Ten and Homicide. American distribution of Into the Straight was handled by Universal-International, which by and large confined the film to the lower half of double features. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles "Bud" Tingwell, Muriel Steinbeck, (more)
