John Woodvine Movies

William Makepeace Thackeray's witty assessment of the British class system, as seen through the experiences of one young woman, is brought to the screen with some serious star power in this period comedy drama. Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon) is a bright and ambitious girl born to a poor British family. Becky is determined to make something of herself however she can, and after accepting a job as a nanny for the children of the powerful and aristocratic Sir Pitt Crawley (Bob Hoskins), she wastes no time ingratiating herself with the family. Pretty Becky catches the eye of Crawley's handsome and eligible son Rawdon (James Purefoy), and becomes chummy with sharp-tongued Aunt Matilda (Eileen Atkins). Between the two of them, Becky is introduced to London's most exclusive social circle, where she becomes re-acquainted with Amelia Sedley (Romola Garai), a former school chum who is amused by Becky's efforts to scale the ladder of social influence. Becky weds Rawdon, but following initial happiness, the social and economic stability she dreamed of begins to collapse when he begins drowning his troubles in gambling and drink, and soon she turns to the powerful Marquess of Steyne (Gabriel Byrne) for support. Meanwhile, Amelia's fortunes fall even harder following the death of her husband. Vanity Fair was directed by Mira Nair, who enjoyed a surprise international success with 2002's Monsoon Wedding. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Haydn Gwynne, Robert Bathurst, and Stella Gonet co-star in the British telemovie The Secret (2002), a melodrama originally produced for (and aired on) the BBC. The story concerns Emma Faraday (Gwynne) -- on the surface, a relatively well-adjusted housewife and mother of two children, but beneath it all, the victim of a devastating and traumatizing childhood event that she has resolutely kept buried and locked away for years. All appears well in Emma's adult life -- until an embittered childhood friend, Nadia (Gonet), turns up and resurrects the past, jovially wielding the deadly weapon of blackmail by bringing Emma's secret back to bear on her and threatening to destroy everything that Emma has worked so carefully and diligently to build for herself. Alrick Riley (MI-5) directs. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

What if Germany had won WW II and successfully taken over Europe? Based on a novel by Robert Harris, this compelling drama is set in just such a world, 30 years after the Germans defeated the Allies at Normandy on D-Day. By this time, the country is known as Germania and since the war it has been at odds with the United States. In hopes of bringing peace, the two government leaders, Hitler and president Joseph Kennedy Sr. are planning a historic summit in hopes of obtaining detente. It's a tense situation and matters are made worse when an SS detective and an American reporter begin investigating a series of murders. Together, they discover a horrible and long-suppressed secret: Hitler and his regime were responsible for the deaths of over six million Jews during the war. Armed with this damning information, the two must hurry to the summit to stop President Kennedy from making a terrible mistake. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV movie was produced in Canada and focuses on the research leading to the development of insulin in the 1920s. Based on Michael Bliss' The Discovery of Insulin, this movie depicts the discovery, from the initial rivalry of the four researchers who are hunting for a treatment for diabetes, through the eventual Nobel Prizes awarded for the discovery. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

A Jewish Londoner embarks on a journey to find himself after learning some shocking news about his past in this eccentric British comedy. As the film begins, Leon (Mark Frankel) is already in a time of transition, having quit his job for moral reasons and assumed a position in his mother's catering firm. His life is thrown into even more disarray when a bizarre coincidence reveals the truth behind his birth: not only was his birth the result of artificial insemination, but a lab mix-up means that his real, biological father is a complete stranger. The confused Leon sets out to find his "real" dad, and unexpectedly discovers that he is descended from a family of Yorkshire pig farmers. Co-directors Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor move their story in fits and starts, allowing room for countless digressions, from a torrid affair with a outrageous artist (Maryam d'Abo) to the accidental breeding of a rather unique pig. While the film proves uneven, fans of the quirkier varieties of British comedy should find Leon the Pig Farmer's off-beat tone and taste for surrealistic details suitably entertaining. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Danny, the Champion of the World is set in rural England. Nasty country squire Robbie Coltrane, who owns half the land, covets the other half. His principal opponents are a father-and-son team of farmers. The warm relationship between the two "good guys" hardly needs to be forced, since the roles are played by Jeremy Irons and his real-life son Samuel. Cyril Cusack and Jean Marsh also appear in this colorful comedy-drama. Produced for British television, Danny, the Champion of the World was based on a story by Roald Dahl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Glory Enough for All was the second presentation in the 1989-90 season of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. Glory is a two-part dramatization of the discovery of insulin. R. H. Thompson plays Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting who, fresh out of World War One, virtually stumbles onto the insulin theory. With his loyal assistant Best (Robert Wiseden), Banting spends a hot and uncomfortable summer in his lab, attempting to put his notions concerning pancreatic secretions to practical use. In the second half of the saga, the doctors continue to refine their insulin serum. Meanwhile, such rival scientists as MacLeod (John Woodvine) and Collip (Michael Zelinker) race to develop serums of their own, the better to beat Banting and Best to the punch. The intense rivalry between the scientists provides the dramatic thrust of what might have been a pedantic recitation of statistics and historical facts. The first 90-minute installment of Glory Enough for All was telecast on November 4, 1989. Part two was first telecast on November 11, 1989.serums of their own, the better to beat Banting and Best to the punch. The intense rivalry between the scientists provides the dramatic thrust of what might have been a pedantic recitation of statistics and historical facts. Part two of Glory Enough for All ran 90-minutes; it was first telecast in the US on November 11, 1989, as an entry of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Helen Hayes makes her second TV appearance as Agatha Christie's female sleuth Miss Marple in Murder with Mirrors. Marple has been summoned to the lavish country estate of her old friend Carrie Louise Serrocold (Bette Davis). Carrie's stepson has been killed, and she fears that his won't be the last corpse to befoul the estate. She's right, and the game is afoot for Miss Marple once more, with a full contingent of prime suspects (including John Mills, Leo McKern and Dorothy Tutin). Murder with Mirrors was filmed on location on a genuine 13th century British estate. If Helen Hayes seems more spirited than Bette Davis (eight years Helen's junior), it's because Bette was seriously ill prior to and during shooting. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Playwright Tom Stoppard, best known for such works as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and Arcadia, turned his attention to recent Polish history in this television film about the early 1980s formation of the Solidarity movement. Filmed just two years after the actual events, Squaring the Circle initially focuses on the inner workings of the Politburo and their reactions to the strikes led by deeply dissatisfied workers. When the strikes become more prominent and unified, with demands for independent trade unions, the film's attention shifts to the leaders of the workers, especially the charismatic Lech Walesa. For a brief period, the workers and the Politburo make a doomed attempt to come to an acceptable compromise in order to avoid internal violence and prevent the intervention of Russian troops. Stoppard addresses the complexities of dramatizing recent history by telling his tale through an unreliable narrator, who is occasionally interrupted and corrected by a native Pole regarding certain historical and political facts. Originally made for British television by director Michael Hodges, the film underwent a number of unauthorized changes in the hands of the American co-producers; the detrimental effects of these changes are detailed in Stoppard's introduction to the published script. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

While wandering the English moors on vacation, college yanks David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) happen upon a quaint pub with a mysterious patronage who warn them not to leave the road when walking after dark. Irreverent of such advice as characters in horror films always are, the two decide to find a short cut....David wakes up in the hospital with a nasty bite wound to his shoulder; the freshly deceased, and rapidly decomposing, Jack arrives soon after to deliver the grim news that, unless he commits suicide, David will become a werewolf when the moon is full. David dismisses the encounter as a hallucination, but all indicators point to lycanthrope; evenings of barking and bloodletting follow closely behind. While the story is thin and much of the tongue-in-cheek humor is overdone, there are plenty of genuine jolts thanks to makeup guru Rick Baker's eye-popping special effects. The werewolf, resembling a cross between a bear and a wolverine, appears frighteningly real, and, given the fantastic premise, the gore is most convincing (although surprisingly and refreshingly scant). The hospital dream sequences are creative, and the scenes in which the werewolf runs rampant through downtown London are particularly good. In all, An American Werewolf in London is an original, atmospheric film that manages both to scare and amuse. While dismissed by most American critics upon its release, the film managed to secure a place in the annals of American cinema when Baker won an Academy Award for his amazing effects and creature designs. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

In the fourth episode of the six-part story "The Armageddon Factor," the Doctor (Tom Baker) is still on the planet Atrios, still determined to locate the sixth and final segment of the Key to Time. In this pursuit, he has offered his aid to Princess Astra (Lalla Ward) in Atrios' war against its twin planet Zeos. Gumming up the works is a secret henchman of the Black Guardian, who has vowed that the Key to Time will never be put together again. The henchman is hiding on a mysterious, hidden Third Planet between Atrios and Zeos -- and it is up to the Doctor to locate that planet. Written by Bob Baker and David Martin, "The Armageddon Factor, Episode 4" originally aired on February 10, 1979. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide