Arthur White Movies
- 1968
Vanessa Redgrave stars in this film biography of the free-spirited modern interpretive dancer Isadora Duncan. Trained in classical dance, Duncan shattered the traditional conformities in her art and her personal life. The film begins at the end of her life as she recalls the past while dictating her memoirs to her male secretary. Her uninhibited sexuality and insistence on personal freedom and expression shocked more conservative and narrow-minded patrons and audiences. She brought in elements of classic Greek dance during the height of the jazz age and had children in and out of wedlock. Married to sewing-machine heir Paris Singer (Jason Robards) and the Russian poet Sergei Essenin (Ivan Tchenko), her life was a rollercoaster ride of success and tragic failures. Two of her children drowned when her chauffeur left the car unattended and the vehicle plunged into a river. Duncan lived by her own rules, often shunned by the very people who had so passionately embraced her pioneering efforts in dance, women's liberation and free thinking. Redgrave was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vanessa Redgrave, John Fraser, (more)
- 1967
Number Six learns of an impending assassination, "Plan Division Q," in which the target is the Retiring Number Two (Andre Van Gyseghem). Actually, these plans were deliberately divulged by the New Number Two (Derren Nesbitt), who hopes thereby to discredit Number Six. With no one willing to believe that an assassination is about to take place, Number Six finds that his fate may rest in the hands of a watchmaker (Martin Miller) and his daughter (Annette Andre). Written by Michael Cramoy, "It's Your Funeral" was supposed to have been the 10th episode of The Prisoner, but instead was telecast in England as episode number 11 on December 17, 1967. Its original chronology was restored when it debuted in America on August 10, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
Considered ultra-mature film fare in 1962, The L-Shaped Room stars Leslie Caron as a unmarried, pregnant French girl. Arranging for an abortion (illegal at that time), she takes up residence in a ramshackle British boarding house where most of the other residents are also outcasts of society. Many of the character types were new to films of the era, but have since become cliches: the understanding young black, the lesbian actress, the prostitutes without golden hearts. There is also a Christopher Isherwood type writer (Tom Bell) who observes the passing parade and writes a book on the subject. Director Bryan Forbes brings his usual muted sensibilities to the project, resulting in a work that downplays the sensational aspects and emphasizes characterization. Surprisingly, while The L-Shaped Room was considered too "hot" for several corporate-owned American movie houses, it was an early arrival on 1960s TV, where it frequently ran uncut. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Caron, Anthony Booth, (more)
- 1953
Frank Randle tones down the impurities of his music hall routines in the British service comedy It's a Grand Life. Randle plays a put-upon private, while zaftig Diana Dors co-stars as a female corporal. Surprise: Randle's not in love with Dors, but his friend Dan Young is head over heels. In time-honored Cyrano tradition, Randle gets Dors' attention by rescuing her from the unwanted advances of sergeant-major Michael Brennan, then points her in Young's direction. As was his custom, Frank Randle collaborated on the screenplay of It's A Grand Life, reserving for himself as many smirky one-liners as the footage would allow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
