Norman Wooland Movies

In this comedy, an unemployed ex-con searches for the gang that falsely fingered him for counterfeiting. He attends a charity auction and ends up getting sold as a butler for five pounds. Upon examination, he realizes that the five-pound note is bogus. This leads him to confront the father of the woman that hired him. He accuses him of framing him. Rather than go to prison, the semi-honorable father commits suicide. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ann Markham (Margaret Lockwood) is an employee with the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro. Though ostensibly businesslike and intelligent, Ann can't help falling in love with irresponsible Charlie Kent (Griffith Jones). On their wedding day, Ann discovers that Charlie is on the lam from fraud charges throughout the world. Still, she believes his promise that he'll mend his ways once they've tied the nuptial knot. Not unexpectedly, Charlie goes back on his word, and it is up to handsome millionaire Ashley Morehouse (Norman Wooland) to save Ann from her poor judgment. It was surprising to see the British film industry's resident "wicked lady" Margaret Lockwood playing so gullible a character -- so surprising, in fact, that audiences tended to stay away from Look Before You Love in droves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, set after the war, a WW II flying ace and hero comes to the aid of a hooker who is being harassed by a policeman. He pushes the abusive cop away during the tussle; the cop falls, hits his head, and dies. The former flier is promptly tried and given a three-year prison sentence. He escapes one night during a heavy fog. He is taken in by a caring woman who tries convincing him to surrender. The fugitive at first refuses, but then after seeking sanctuary in a church relents because he does not want the parson to have to lie on his behalf. His surrender is made easier by the knowledge that the woman will wait for him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Eileen Herlie, a German girl of Jewish heritage, is in love with Norman Wooland, but at her family's insistence marries Basil Sydney. Wooland's reaction is swift and decisive: he commits suicide. Years later, Hitler comes to power. Once more, Herlie's fate is in the hands of others. This time, however, she makes up her own mind as to what her future holds in store. An unpleasant, relentlessly unhappy tale, brilliantly acted by a top-drawer cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

That deathless Edgar Wallace thriller The Ringer was taken out of cold storage once more in 1951. Donald Wolfit, whose legendary thespic excesses were later fictionalized in the stage play The Dresser, is perfectly cast as a vengeance-seeking master of disguise. He announces publicly that he intends to kill the crooked lawyer (Herbert Lom) responsible for his sister's death. What is more, The Ringer has even appointed the exact time of the lawyer's demise. Scotland Yard surrounds the lawyer with a battalion of constables...but no one knows what the Ringer looks like, nor what disguise he plans to adopt. 1951's The Ringer was the third talkie version of Wallace's classic tale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Produced by MGM's British facilities, the Technicolor Ivanhoe starred Robert Taylor in the title role. Returning to England from the Third Crusades, Ivanhoe is given a cool but cordial reception by his estranged father Cedric (Finlay Currie), a Saxon who despises the Norman king Richard the Lionhearted. Cedric introduces Ivanhoe's fellow knights De Bois-Guilbert (George Sanders) and Sir Hugh de Bracy (Robert Douglas) to Cedric's lovely ward Rowena (Joan Fontaine), who was in love with Ivanhoe until he cast his lot with Richard. Leaving his father's castle, Ivanhoe rescues Isaac (Felix Aylmer), a wealthy Jew, from a band of anti-Semitic Normans. In gratitude, Isaac's beautiful daughter Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor) finances Ivanhoe's entry into an upcoming tournament; he'd been denied backing by his father because he'd planned to use the prize money to ransom the captured King Richard. At the tournament, the disguised Ivanhoe vanquishes all comers, dedicating his victory to Rebecca, which causes a gust of bigoted gossip from the crowd. Behind the scenes, Richard's wicked brother Prince John (Guy Rolfe) plots to discredit Ivanhoe so that the ransom can never be paid. Joining John in this conspiracy is De Bois-Guilbert, who covets Rebecca, and Sir Hugh, who wants to make Rowena his own. After several thrilling adventures and villainous double-crosses, Rebecca is kidnapped and tried as a witch, the better to bring Ivanhoe out in the open and dispose of him once and for all. But the deux-ex-machina appearance by King Richard (Norman Wooland) and the assistance of loyal "outlaw" Robin Hood (Harold Warrender) brings the bad guys to heel and clears the path for a happy ending. Lensed on an epic scale, this adaptation of the Sir Walter Scott classic remains one of MGM's most solid swashbucklers. The property was remade for television in 1982, with Anthony Andrews in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Generally forgotten today, Romeo and Juliet is a satisfactory, if perfunctory, adaptation of Shakespeare's immortal tragedy. Cast as the "star cross'd lovers" this time out are Laurence Harvey, who's quite good, and Susan Shentall, who isn't. Whether or not Shentall would have improved with experience is a moot point, since she retired from the screen to get married soon afterward. Director Renato Castellani was showered with praise for his decision to lens the story on location in Italy. Less popular was his decision to delete several of Shakespeare's more famous passages, arguing that they held up the progress of the story (sometimes whole scenes, including the one with the apothecary, were chopped out). The supporting cast includes Dame Flora Robson as Nurse, Mervyn Johns as Friar Laurence, Bill Travers as Benvolio, Norman Wooland as Paris, John Gielgud as the (unseen) Chorus, and Sebastian Cabot as Capulet; the rest of the major roles were filled by Italian actors. Though overshadowed by later film versions, this Romeo and Juliet was impressive enough in 1954 to win the Grand Prix at the Venice Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An American army officer is stationed in West Germany and assigned with keeping classified information out of the hands of the Communists. Unfortunately, Red spies know that he suffers from sudden black-outs and use this to make it appear that he is a traitor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this thriller a French woman is arrested for the death of her cruel lover. She certainly had motive as the man was a real snake. She hides him from the Nazis during WW II; he gets her pregnant, betrays her, and has her sent to a concentration camp. Even though it seems obvious that she was the killer, the woman pleads innocent. Two reporters believe her and begin investigating the stabbing. They soon find themselves entangled in a ring of international counterfeiters. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Produced in England, No Road Back was released worldwide by RKO Radio Pictures. Margaret Rawlings dominates the proceedings as Mrs. Railton, the blind and deaf owner of a nightclub. To finance the medical-school education of her son John (Skip Homeier), Mrs. Railton has worked as a fence for a gang of diamond thieves. When John returns from school, his mother plans one last, big heist, after which she'll quit the racket. Things go wrong, however, and a guard is killed during the robbery. John is apprised of his mother's complicity, whereupon the plotline shifts into high gear. No Road Back is best-known today as the feature-film debut of Sean Connery, here cast as a seedy lowlife named Spike. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After spending most of the 1950s in Europe, writer/director Robert Siodmak filmed his only picture in England: The Rough and the Smooth (US title: Portrait of a Sinner). Based on a novel by Robin Maugham, the story concerns a young archaeologist (Tony Britton), engaged to marry the daughter (Natasha Parry) of a wealthy publisher (Donald Wolfit). At the last moment, the archaeologist leaves his bride-to-be for a nymphomaniac (Nadja Tiller) with a masochistic streak. He must wrest her away from an abusive relationship with a no-good lout (William Bendix). Even Robert Siodmak was embarrassed by the lunatic excesses of Rough and the Smooth, dismissing the film with "I've seen worse, but not much worse." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this crime thriller, a convicted embezzler kidnaps his son after his release from prison, not knowing that the boy is diabetic and will die without insulin injections. The police launch a massive manhunt. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide

Religion and medical ethics clash in this provocative drama that tells the story of a man prosecuted by the system because he refused to grant his dying daughter badly needed blood transfusions because he had faith that God would miraculously heal her. Unfortunately, the girl dies and now, in addition to dealing with the courts, angry doctors and an embittered wife (who had finally caved-in and signed the papers too late), he must also wrestle with his own conflicting feelings. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide