Nicol Williamson

Former Monty Python members Terry Jones, Eric Idle, John Cleese, and Michael Palin were reunited by director Jones for this live-action adaptation of the 1908 children's fantasy classic by Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932). The actors have only slight physical changes to suggest animal characteristics, plus tails protruding from their Edwardian-style costumes. In pre-WW I England, fascist Weasels prowl the countryside, forcing modest Mole (Steve Coogan) from his underground home after the Weasels acquire the meadow from wealthy, waddling Mr. Toad (Jones). Toad's inheritance is leaking away because of his fascination with the recently invented motorcar. After Mole takes shelter with refined Rat (Idle), the two set out for Toad's cavernous mansion. Toad crashes into another vehicle, but unfortunately, his attorney (Cleese) has nothing nice to say in Toad's defense. Toad's behavior in court prompts the judge (Stephen Fry) to give him a century-long jail sentence. Rat and Mole plan to spring Toad with the help of the hibernating Badger (Nicol Williamson), but Toad simultaneously puts his own escape plan into motion. Back at Toad Hall, the Weasels construct a dog-food factory and intend to destroy the main house by blowing it up-so the threatened animals make plans to retake Toad Hall.

Crew members who worked on past Python films include James Acheson (production/costume design) and John Du Prez (original music and songs). Lawrence Van Gelder (New York Times) reviewed, "The Wind in the Willows, brimming with verbal and visual wit and imagination, driven by high adventure, reveling in English eccentricity, enlivened by bursts of song, unafraid of ideas and filled with color and splendid performances, exposes most other movies intended to attract children as out-and-out pap." This film should not be confused with the 1996 animated adaptation which also has Michael Palin in the cast. Filmed at Burnham Beeches (in Buckinghamshire, England). Other earlier versions: the second half of Disney's animated The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949); live-action by the Minneapolis Children's Theatre (1983); stop-motion animation for British TV (1983); 1982 stop-motion animation by John Semper (Spider-Man); and Rankin-Bass animation for U.S. TV (1987). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

William Peter Blatty, author of The Exorcist, directed this intriguing, deliberately-paced thriller based on his novel Legion. Ignoring the events of John Boorman's disappointing Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), the film moves ahead 15 years from the end of the original, when Georgetown is being plagued by occult murders bearing signs of the long-dead Gemini Killer, James Venamon (Brad Dourif). Although the killer was executed 15 years earlier, a young boy is horribly mutilated and the ailing Father Dyer (Ed Flanders) is drained of blood in his hospital bed. George C. Scott takes over the role of dedicated police Lt. William Kinderman, who is convinced that the key to the killings lies in an amnesiac mental patient who looks exactly like the dead Father Karras (Jason Miller) at some times, and like Venamon at others. It appears that Venamon was executed at the exact moment that Father Karras became possessed by the killer/devil and hurtled from the window at the end of the first film. Kinderman slowly comes to accept that the patient is Venamon and enlists an exorcist, Father Morning (Nicol Williamson), to free Karras' soul and stop the murders. The Exorcist III is heavy on dialogue, but contains some fine performances and some chilling moments, particularly the haunting opening in a Georgetown church. George DiCenzo, Viveca Lindfors, and Zohra Lampert also appear in this underrated, low-key horror film. Award-winning makeup artist Greg Cannom contributed to the special-effects, Gerry Fisher's cinematography is excellent, and the cast includes some notable bit parts by Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Ewing, and Tyra Ferrell. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

In this melodramatic made-for-television romance, a Singapore financier falls in love with the daughter of a powerful smuggler. The film is a remake of a popular "B" movie from the '30s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy was a 6-part British miniseries, first telecast in the US on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. The series covers the years 1946 through 1947, during which time the British government granted independence to India. War hero Lord Mountbatten (Nicol Williamson), although considered a political lightweight, is appointed the task of overseeing the transition of power. It is the sort of test that separates the Lords from the boys: Mountbatten must not only unite the squabbling factions within India, but also counteract the rhetoric of Winston Churchill (Malcolm Terris), who is dead set against losing the Empire's "jewel of the crown." Once independence is officially granted, Mountbatten is challenged with open combat between the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, as well as territorial demands from Pakistan and the Kashmir. Also appearing in this epic production is Sam Dastor as Gandhi, Ian Richardson as Nehru, and Vladek Sheybal as Jinnah. Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy was first seen on Masterpiece Theatre from January 26 through March 2, 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The made-for-TV Sakharov stars Jason Robards as famed Soviet nuclear physicist D. Andrei Sakharov. Lauded by his government for his scientific achievements, Sakharov nonetheless becomes an outspoken critic of Russia's human rights violations. He is reclassified as a "non-person" and exiled to the cloistered city of Gorky. He is also awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize. Originally slated for a September 1984 premiere, Sakharov debuted over the HBO cable service on June 20. This coincided with Sakharov's internationally publicized hunger strike, designed to secure much-needed medical attention outside the Soviet Union for his second wife, Dr. Yelena Bonner (played in the film by Glenda Jackson). Sakharov was filmed in England and Austria with two separate crews. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jill Clayburgh plays, as one character calls her, "a pill-popping dingbat" in this film adaptation of television producer Barbara Gordon's autobiographical account of her addiction to prescription drugs. Clayburgh plays Gordon in the film as a successful television documentary filmmaker whose mounting pressures force her to pop a Valium or two for nerves. She then ingests a few more pills after an argument with boyfriend Derek Bauer (Nicol Williamson). And thus begins her slow and steady compulsion to keep taking more and more Valium. Finally realizing her addiction, Gordon makes a disastrous attempt to go cold turkey but fails miserably, finally having to undergo a painful rehabilitation in an institution. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This routine espionage drama is based on a novel by Graham Greene about a low-level British informant who is caught in a trap. Castle (Nicol Williamson) has a desk job in British intelligence. Around him are heavyweights like Col. Daintry (Richard Attenborough), Sir John Hargreaves (Richard Vernon), and Percival (Robert Morley) who will cold-bloodedly stop at nothing to do their jobs as they see fit. And Castle certainly is a nobody compared to them. One day when a friend of his in Africa needs some help, Castle is conned into supplying the Eastern block countries with info on demand. No one suspects him because of his low position, but when his office partner is hauled off, Castle begins to rethink his situation. This was director Otto Preminger's last film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

At first glance, How to Dial a Murder would seem to be a TV remake of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane. But no, it's a 90-minute installment in the Columbo series, as we soon discover. Nicol Williamson guest stars as a wealthy psychologist and movie buff. He has already murdered his wife, and now he intends to do in her lover. To deflect suspicion from himself, he sets up the killing by phone. The victim-to-be answers, is prodded into repeating the word "Rosebud"-and is then torn asunder by Williamson's dobermans, who've been conditioned to attack upon hearing this verbal clue. Williamson manages to be miles away when the murder is pulled off. Still, the diligent Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) manages to beard the culprit in his memorabilia-laden den. How to Dial a Murder originally aired April 15, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marsha Mason is known as "The Goodbye Girl" because of all the live-in boyfriends who have said ta-ta to her in the past few years. A former Broadway chorus dancer, the divorced Mason lives in the Manhattan apartment of her latest lost love with her daughter Quinn Cummings. Enter arrogant actor Richard Dreyfuss, who has subleased the apartment from Mason's former boyfriend and moves in bag and baggage in the middle of the night. Dreyfuss and Mason spend the next few weeks getting in each other's way and fighting like cats and dogs. The wind is taken out of Dreyfuss' sails when he opens in a production of Richard III, which has been sabotaged by the director (Paul Benjamin), who insists that Dreyfuss portrays Richard as a hip-swinging homosexual. The play closes after one performance, and the once-overconfident Dreyfuss goes on a self-pitying drunken binge. Touched by his vulnerability, Mason begins falling in love with Dreyfuss despite her lousy track record with men. Richard Dreyfuss became the youngest ever "Best Actor" Oscar winner as a result of his performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Though the story told in Robin and Marian is unfamiliar to most audiences, it is actually quite faithful to several of the ancient Robin Hood legends. During the Crusades, Robin (Sean Connery) is still loyal to King Richard the Lionheart (Richard Harris), but even he has trouble adjusting to the monarch's ever-increasing paranoia and lunacy. After Richard's death, Robin returns to England, his first visit to his home turf in 20 years. He looks up his beloved Maid Marian (Audrey Hepburn, last seen in 1967's Wait Until Dark), who is now a middle-aged nun. No sooner do Robin and Marian renew their relationship than the aging Merry Men demand Robin's services in thwarting their old foe, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw). Marian is aghast that the long-standing feud between Robin and the sheriff threatens to expand into wholesale bloodshed. The two venerable enemies agree to one last mano a mano battle -- only to watch helplessly as the all-out war they'd tried to avoid commences anyway. Both the tragic climax and Robin's last, defiant arrow shot are drawn directly from authentic Robin Hood ballads of the 14th and 15th centuries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Adapting the Gothic novel The Monk, by Matthew G. Lewis, Luis Buñuel and Jean-Claude Carrière wrote the screenplay for this French film, directed by Buñuel's friend, Ado Kyrou. In the story, Ambrosio (Franco Nero) is a monk who is sexually tempted by an emissary of the Devil, a young girl in monk's robes. After he has committed numerous crimes, it appears that he will be caught and punished by the Inquisition. Instead, he signs up on the Devil's team and wins his freedom...and eventually, the papacy. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Set in London and the Riviera, Laughter in the Dark stars Nicol Williamson as Edward, a wealthy, knighted art dealer who falls hard for tartish usherette Margot (Anna Karina). She is kept by a glorified pimp (Jean-Claude Drouot), who conspires with the girl to take Edward for everything he's got. The art dealer is blinded in an auto accident, after which he switches emotional gears and plans to kill the girl and her keeper. Somehow this all worked better back when Hollywood people like Joan Bennett and Dan Duryea were involved. Based on a 1938 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, the film version of Laughter in the Dark "updates" the piece with flash shots of "mod" London, which now seems more anachronistic than anything in the 1930s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide