Noel Willman Movies

The Odessa File is set in Hamburg in the winter of 1963. Jon Voight plays Peter Miller, a German reporter who is investigating the whereabouts of missing Nazi war criminals. After reading the diary of a Holocaust survivor who has recently committed suicide, Miller goes on the trail of in-hiding SS officer Eduard Roschmann (Maximilian Schell). The reporter finds his investigation blocked by members of a secretive group called Odessa. With the help of Israeli activists, Miller persists in his search. Schell's sister Maria also appears in The Odessa File as Miller's mother, the widow of a German soldier. Based on a nailbiting novel by Frederick Forsyth, The Odessa File is highlighted by the exquisitely Teutonic score of Andrew Lloyd Webber. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This chilling monster film metaphorically examines the horrors brought home by British colonialism. Harry and Valerie (Ray Barrett, Jennifer Daniel) inherit the Cornwall home of Harry's brother, who died under mysterious circumstances. The local villagers are tight-lipped and afraid, and the couple's neighbor, the hostile Dr. Franklin (Noel Willman), hides in a large mansion with his frightened daughter Anna (Jacqueline Pearce) and a strange foreign man (Marne Maitland). The truth is that Franklin had been investigating a secret tribe of snake-people on his last trip to Borneo, and they had reacted to his intrusion by making Anna one of them. As a result, the girl turns into a hideous cobra-woman every winter, with bulging eyes, a scaly face, and large, venomous fangs. Other than the unusual monster, The Reptile may as well be a direct remake of Hammer's The Mummy, a film which this one apes in many of its contrivances. Director John Gilling does manage some effective setpieces, such as the sulfur-spring below the mansion, which keeps Anna warm as she writhes beneath a blanket to shed her skin. Underrated character-actor Michael Ripper appears in one of his more substantial roles as Tom, the local pub-owner, who goes from avoidance to digging up graves and risking his life to save the couple. There are some inconsistencies in Anthony Hinds' script, but the film is handsomely mounted and delivers its share of shocks. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Producer Anthony Hinds used the alias John Elder to pen the screenplay of Kiss of the Vampire. Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman), an early 20th century Bavarian, entices a British honeymooning couple, Gerald and Marianne (Clifford Evans, Jennifer Daniel), to accept his hospitality. Once ensconced in Ravna's chateau, the couple discovers with horror that Ravna, Bavaria's biggest fan of Count Dracula, is the leader of an enthusiastic vampire cult. Clifford Evans plays the Van Helsing counterpart, Professor Zimmer, a vampire expert who first tries to warn the couple out of the area and then saves Marianne. Not as horrific as the title suggests, Kiss of the Vampire concentrates on the seductive, sensual side of vampirism, especially in a surrealistic masked-ball sequence. Though it contains far less bloodletting than most Hammer productions, Kiss of the Vampire was severely cut for its American TV release (and retitled Kiss of Evil). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Two Living, One Dead examines the pitfalls of hero worship, and the culpability of the media in fostering misguided adulation. A robbery and murder is committed in a British pub, during which Bill Travers, a friend of the dead man, apparently acts with rare courage. His companion Patrick McGoohan, also apparently, did not lift a finger to help during the holdup. Travers is lauded publicly as a hero, while McGoohan is condemned as a coward. When the truth comes out, Travers is exposed not only for his feet of clay but for his intimate involvement in the fatal incident. Two Living, One Dead is an undeservedly obscure work from a major British director. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Captain Gort (Bernard Lee) is an airline pilot who must answer to a Court of Inquiry after the crash of a Phoenix jet. Although he passes a battery of tests, pilot error is the determined cause of the accident. Sir Hobbes (George Sanders) is the Queen's council whose relentless prosecution helps blame Gort. When a second crash occurs, Gort is defended by Captain Judd (Peter Cushing), who is convinced that mechanical malfunctions, not the pilot, caused both crashes. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

The true story of Violette Szabo, a heroine of the Second World War for her espionage activities on behalf of the British government. Born Violette Bushell (Virginia McKenna) to a French mother and an English father, she chances to meet Etienne Szabo (Alain Saury), a French officer, whom she later marries. They have a child, Tania, but Etienne is fatally wounded in the Battle of El Alamein. Violette is already contributing to the war effort at home, but soon discovers that her bi-lingual skills make her a potentially valuable member of England's Special Operations Executive, the country's wartime overseas espionage unit. She agrees to join and, after extensive training, is sent into France in the spring of 1944, on a mission to salvage a resistance unit in Rouen area. Szabo completes that mission successfully and returns home, intending to resume her life as a mother raising her daughter -- but she is offered a second mission in France, immediately after the Normandy landings, and accepts, with tragic consequences. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi

In this supenseful and provocative high-seas drama, the captain of a luxury liner is suddenly faced with life or death decisions when his ship sinks, leaving himself and a few survivors floating at sea in an overcrowded lifeboat that does not contain enough food, water and medical supplies to support them all. The captain, Alec Holmes (Tyrone Power) is a decent fellow, and initially intends to save everyone. But it soon becomes clear to one of the ship's men, Frank Kelly (Lloyd Nolan) that this is impossible. As Kelly sacrifices himself by leaping overboard and into the sea, he shouts out a warning to Holmes that it will be necessary to rid the boat of its ill passengers if the rest are to survive, as not enough food and water exists to provide for everyone. Defying the requests of his sweetheart, Nurse Julie White (director Mai Zetterling), and his buddy and fellow officer, Will McKinley (Stephen Boyd), Holmes disposes of the sick individuals on board. He initially gains the support of the rest of the passengers, but when a rescue ship finally turns up, their support turns to contempt and hostility. In Great Britain the story is titled Seven Waves Away. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The Dark Avenger was the European-release title of the Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Warriors; 20th Century-Fox handled European distribution, while Allied Artists released the film stateside. Lensed on location in Hertfordshire, England, the film stars Flynn as Edward, the "Black Prince" of England. At the end of the Hundred Years' war, Edward remains in France to guard the lands taken by his predecessor-father. He is opposed in this by the heavy of the piece, Count DeVille (Peter Finch). The story comes to a rousing conclusion as Edward and his followers defend their castle against DeVille's minions. Joanne Dru costars in Dark Avenger as Lady Joan Holland, who like Count DeVille is wholly a product of screenwriter Daniel B. Ullman's imagination. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Malta Story stars Alec Guinness as WW II camera reconnaissance pilot Peter Ross. Crash-landing in Malta, Ross presents his photographs to the resident air officer (Jack Hawkins). The photos reveal that the Italians are planning a major invasion of the island. Low on fuel and men, the officer is all but helpless as the Italians mount their attack. Only the last-minute arrival reinforcements and supplies prevent Malta from falling into the hands of the enemies--but the story doesn't end there. Filmed on location, The Malta Story boasts some exceptional aerial photography, not to mention excellent performances from Guiness, Hawkins, Anthony Steele, Muriel Pavlow, Flora Robson and the rest of the stellar cast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

With George Bernard Shaw safely in his grave, RKO chief Howard Hughes had no qualms about twisting and bending Shaw's Androcles & the Lion to accommodate his own notions of entertainment. Happier, wiser heads prevailed before the Hughes-commissioned "Vestal Virgins" sequence, complete with near-naked dancing girls, was foisted on the public. Originally, Harpo Marx was to have played Androcles, the simple-hearted Christian tailor whose friendship with a lion saves himself and his friends from martyrdom in the Roman Colosseum. A few days into shooting, however, Harpo was replaced by Alan Young, who was okay but not in Marx's league. RKO habitués Jean Simmons and Victor Mature co-star as, respectively, a courageous Christian girl and the bullheaded Roman captain who falls in love with her. Every Shaw play has one character who acts as the playwright's alter ego; in Androcles, it's none other than Caesar himself, here wittily essayed by Maurice Evans. Director Chester Erskine co-adapted the play for the screen with Ken Englund; serving as producer was Gabriel Pascal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi