Stephen Whittaker Movies

While working as a technical consultant on a film about astronauts, Tony (Larry Hagman) begins going out with the star, gorgeous Rita Mitchell (Nancy Kovack). Seething with jealousy, Jeannie (Barbara Eden) decides to win Tony back by going into the movies herself. There's only one teeny-tiny problem: Genies can't be photographed! This is the first episode to open with the now-familiar animated "Dancing Genie" credit titles. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the third episode of the six-part story "The Web of Fear," an army of Yeti robots runs amok in the London subway system, controlled by the alien Great Intelligence. To prevent this havoc from reaching the surface, the Doctor (Patrick Troughton) enlists the aid of the entire British Army. Nicholas Courtney makes his first series appearance as Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart. Originally telecast February 17, 1968, "The Web of Fear, Episode 3" was written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln; this episode apparently no longer exists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Doctor (Patrick Troughton) once more crosses paths with the robotic Yeti from the earlier Doctor Who adventure "The Abominable Snowmen" -- and with the alien Great Intelligence who controls the monsters. The adventure begins when the Doctor investigates some unusual activity in the contemporary London subway system -- little realizing that there's more to this case than a few renegade commuters who refuse to pay their fare! Written by Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, this adventure lasted six episodes, beginning its run on February 3, 1968. Unfortunately, only episode one of "The Web of Fear" is available; the rest have apparently vanished from the earth. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A six-foot biker chick grabs a shotgun, jumps on her Harley and hits the highway with two compadres to search for the ones who murdered her brother in this lurid actioner that is the first biker flick to have a female director. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

John Schlesinger directs the war romance Yanks, based on the story by Colin Welland. Set in England at the end of WWII, the story concerns three American GIs and their affairs with British women of varying social status. The central romance concerns Sgt. Matt Dyson (Richard Gere) and Jean Moreton (Lisa Eichhorn making her film debut), who is the daughter of shopkeepers (Rachel Roberts and Tony Melody). He falls in love with her but she is still infatuated with her boyfriend Ken (Derek Thompson). Higher up on the class scale, the officer John (William Devane) has a brief extramarital affair with socialite Helen (Vanessa Redgrave). The third pairing involves Sgt. Danny Ruffelo (Chick Vennera) in a fling with Mollie (Wendy Morgan). Eventually, the Americans and the Britains find themselves surrounded by racism at a New Year's Eve dance. Annie Ross from the vocal jazz group Lambert, Hendricks, & Ross appears briefly as a Red Cross nurse. Yanks won two BAFTA awards in 1980: to Shirley Russell for Best Costume Design and to Rachel Roberts for Best Supporting Actress. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

The Keep is an ambitious visual feast from director Michael Mann, whose previous effort was the moody, stylish Thief, and who would soon produce the quintessential pastel-colored '80s TV series Miami Vice. Adapted from the novel by F. Paul Wilson and set in German-occupied Romania of 1943, the film introduces the invaders to the dark presence lurking within the walls of an ancient fortress in the Carpathian Alps -- a presence which doesn't take well to unwanted guests. When soldiers under the command of Captain Woermann (Jurgen Prochnow) begin to die horribly, he receives the unwanted assistance of Nazi Major Kampffer (Gabriel Byrne), who immediately assumes command and forcibly enlists the aid of the local expert on ancient languages, the Jewish Doctor Theodore Cuza (Ian McKellen), in the translation of the cryptic writings left near a murdered soldier's body. When Cuza comes face-to-face with the Keep's ancient resident -- an ethereal creature which gains strength by draining the life-force from its enemies -- he forms a pact with the creature in the hope that it will escape and destroy Hitler's armies. When a mysterious stranger (Scott Glenn) arrives at the nearby village and befriends Cuza's daughter Eva (Alberta Watson), he reveals the true nature of the beast within the Keep, as well as his intent to destroy it before Cuza can release it -- a task which, if failed, will spell doom for all mankind. The film's fever-dream-logic casts a hypnotic spell -- ably assisted by Tangerine Dream's pulsating, ethereal music (including electronic variations on a theme by Thomas Tallis) -- with a story that seems to play by the Keep's own eerie supernatural rules. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

Adapted from the autobiographical novel by Nigel Nicolson, the four-part British miniseries Portrait of a Marriage was inspired by the marriage of convenience between Nicolson's parents, historian Harold Nicolson and novelist Vita Sackville-West (Janet McTeer). Although the elder Nicolson was homosexual, his wife Vita was not only forgiving, but also obliging when he strayed from home and hearth to pursue partners of his own gender. After all, Vita was herself embroiled in a torrid -- and ultimately tragic -- affair with one Violet Keppel (Cathryn Harrison). The winner of a BAFTA award for Best Costume Design (Dinah Collin), Portrait of a Marriage was telecast in Britain and New Zealand in 1990, and in the United States two years later. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Belgium's greatest export since the waffle, master detective Hercule Poirot is on the case once again in this made-for-TV feature adapted from the classic novel by Agatha Christie. A devious blackmailer is murdered in the middle of an airline flight, and it's all but impossible to separate the legitimate suspects from the innocent bystanders -- or at least it seems that way until it's discovered that Monsieur Poirot (David Suchet) is on board. Poirot: Death in the Clouds was aired in the U.S. as part of the PBS series Mystery!, and it reunites Suchet with Philip Jackson as Inspector Japp. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This 2000 TV miniseries is based on an 1839 Charles Dickens novel, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. The film begins with the burial of Mr. Nickleby beneath snow-covered earth. Attending are Nickleby's wife and teenage children, Nicholas (James D'Arcy) and Kate (Sophia Myles). Because Mr. Nickleby died broke after speculating on stocks, Nicholas needs money fast to provide for his mother and sister. When he seeks help from his uncle, Ralph Nickleby (Charles Dance) -- a cold-hearted businessman -- Ralph refuses cash and instead arranges for Nicholas to assist at a boarding school operated by Wackford Squeers (Gregor Fisher), a sadistic overlord who whips and starves his students. Soon, Nicholas rebels against the inhumane conditions at the school, thrashes Squeers, and flees. A pitiful and sickly student named Smike (Lee Ingleby) joins Nicholas and becomes a family friend. After working as an actor, Nicholas gets a good job at a counting house operated by the kindly Cheeryble brothers. Meanwhile, Ralph Nickleby tricks Kate into meeting his friend, Sir Mulberry Hawk (Dominic West), who wants to defile her. When Hawk strongarms her onto a billiard table, Kate escapes. Enraged, Nicholas and Ralph become thoroughgoing enemies. When Ralph uses his financial leverage to force an innocent young woman, Madeleine Bray (Katherine Holme), to marry one of his cronies, Nicholas foils the plot -- then falls in love with Madeleine himself. Ralph tries to strike back at his nephew through Smike, but fails -- although poor Smike dies. As the production reaches its climax, Ralph learns a startling secret when he and Nicholas confront each other. The final scenes of the film reveal the fates of the principal characters. ~ Mike Cummings, Rovi

Stephen Whittaker loosely based his Rocket Post -- a romantic period drama leavened with quirky humor -- on the life and experiences of German rocket scientist Gerhard Zucher. The film opens circa 1938 in Southern England, where two expatriate aerospace engineers, Gerhard Zucher (Ulrich Thomsen) and Heinz Dombrowsky (Eddie Marsan), are attempting to use rockets as rapid-fire transports for regular postal mail. A regulating British official decides to assign both men to the Scottish isle of Scarp, where they can conduct rocket experiments sans interference. Personal complications arise, however, when Gerhard falls in love with local Scottish woman Catherine MacKay (Shauna MacDonald) -- and she with him. They enjoy a sweet, gentle, funny romance, and as Gerhard breaches success with his experiments, he finds his spirits lifted by the vicissitudes of Scottish life. But events take a decidedly darker turn when the Nazis show up and demand that Zucher return to Germany; if he refuses, his sister and her children will be executed. Suddenly, Zucher finds himself torn between his undying love for Catherine and his familial loyalty. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi