Sheila White Movies

In this detective drama a British gumshoe encounters an art dealer who turns out to be a supposedly dead criminal. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Coming in around the middle of the pack, this so-so drama about motorcycle racing features David Essex, the British pop star, as Nick Freeman. Nick's brother has died before he is able to test and race the motorcycle he developed, and now Nick has inherited that responsibility. In spite of a series of tough setbacks, including the loss of his girlfriend, Nick goes into the big race he has been waiting for with all his energy and concentration bent on winning. An underhanded American racer (Beau Bridges) is among the competition, so there may be trouble before the finish line is crossed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Britain's Confessions series, like the Carry On films, were episodic slapstickfests with emphasis on questionable taste. Based on an autobiographical novel by Timothy Lea, the film stars Robin Askwith as a feckless driving teacher named...Tom Lea. His customers range from inept to dangerous. Their "victims" include golfing dowagers, violinists and boy hikers. Somehow or other, a group of former borstal boys (reform school students) gets mixed up with Lea and his reckless charges. Chronologically, Confessions of a Driving Instructor was wedged between Confessions of a Window Cleaner (one of the few series entries to get an American release) and Confessions of Holiday Camp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Alfie is an incorrigible womanizer who uses his trucking job as a way to commute from tryst to tryst as he makes his way across the women of the nation. Then he meets Townsend, a magazine editor. They have a lot in common; that is, she's as callous and fond of one-night stands as he is. An unlikely relationship builds between the two. But can they stick together? And what other dangers are waiting in the shadows? This sequel to the 1966 hit Alfie is also known as Oh Alfie on video. ~ All Movie Guide

This 13-episode miniseries was adapted from the book by Robert Graves, which chronicles the tumultuous life and times of Claudius (Derek Jacobi), who despite a deformed leg and a speech impediment through prophecy becomes the Roman Empire. An aging Claudius looks back at the bizarre and treacherous times through which he's lived and sets them down in a secret history that is not to be read until after his death. The distinguished cast of I, Claudius includes John Hurt as Caligula, Brian Blessed as Augustus, Sian Phillips as Livia, Margaret Tyzack as Antonia, and Patrick Stewart as Sejanus. The home-video release also includes the documentary The Epic That Never Was, which looks at producer Alexander Korda ill-starred attempt to film Graves' novel in the mid-1930s. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This melodramatic crime drama tells the story of homosexual gang leader Vic Dakin (Richard Burton), who likes a bit of rough sex with his petty criminal pal Wolfe (Ian McShane). Aside from payroll robberies, his gang is not above blackmailing sexually deviant members of Parliament. A Scotland Yard Police Inspector, played by Nigel Davenport, has been after his gang for years and does everything in his power to close it down. When one of the gang members, Frank (Joss Ackland), winds up hospitalized for an ulcer and looks likely to spill the beans to the police, some complicated shenanigans take place. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Two men in their mid-twenties chase their dreams to the big city with tragic results in this acclaimed piece of low-key neorealism from Canada. Joey (Paul Bradley) and Peter (Doug McGrath) are best friends from a small town in Nova Scotia. With jobs scarce and prospects slim at home, Joey and Peter decide to pack up their meager belongings and head west to Toronto, where they're convinced better luck awaits them. Joey's uncle refuses to take in the travelers, and Peter's friends turn out to be short on job leads, but after a few rough nights, Joey, a practical sort, lands a job loading cases in a ginger ale bottling plant. Peter has aspirations toward better things, but it quickly becomes obvious he lacks the education or the temperament for office work, and before long he's hefting cases alongside Joey. For a while, the guys get along on their 80 dollars a week, and Joey finds a girlfriend in Betty (Jayne Eastwood), a pretty but tough-talking waitress. Peter has his eyes on Nicole (Nicole Morin), a beautiful woman who works in the plant's office, but after he gathers up the courage to take her out on the town, Nicole rejects his advances and he's left alone and humiliated. When Joey learns that Betty is pregnant, the two marry, but within a few weeks, both Joey and Peter are laid off, thanks to a seasonal slowdown, and their new lives begin to slip through their fingers. Shot in 16 mm on a shoestring budget, Goin' Down the Road became an unexpected critical success in both Canada and the United States and was named the best English-language Canadian feature of the century by the Toronto-based newsweekly MacLean's. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This musical comedy stars Herman's Hermits, the popular British pop group that made the title song from the movie a million-selling hit record. Herman (Peter Noone) inherits a greyhound and decides to enter the dog in the races. The dog, appropriately named Mrs. Brown, and the group travel from Manchester to London in hopes of entering a national invitational. The group finds work as a pop group (quite a stretch) as Herman falls for the girl next door. The group sings nine songs including the title track and the romantic tune "There's A Kind Of Hush." Herman's Hermits were much more popular in America than they ever were in England. Peter Noone later developed into a competent actor. The original group toured together until 1976. Guitarist Derek Leckenby and drummer Barry Whitwam continued to tour as Herman's Hermits into the 1990s on the oldies circuit. Noone has appeared in several films and television shows and also delivers his string of nostalgia in concert. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

British beat outfit The Spencer Davis Group starred in this comic pop-musical in which their manager Algernon Plumley (Nicholas Parsons) is discovered to be the heir of a large estate. Unfortunately, Algernon's family is having money problems, and his new mansion is in a sorry state. The group gets the idea of fixing up the place and charging people to tour the premises, but while that's fine with Algernon, it doesn't go over so well with the ghost who haunts the old house. Playing keyboards and singing with The Spencer Davis Group was Steve Winwood, who would later form the groups Blind Faith and Traffic and go on to a successful solo career. The Ghost Goes Gear also features performances from Acker Bilk, Dave Berry, The Three Bells, and The M6. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide