Martin Wyldeck Movies

Swordplay, secret messages, and the rustle of ballroom finery make this 1982 adaptation of The Scarlet Pimpernel a gala bash. Anthony Andrews heads the cast as English nobleman Sir Percy Blakeney, a conceited but amusing fop in the drawing rooms of British high society. But beneath his veneer of lacy impertinence is a man of bravado and derring-do. In disguise, he becomes the Pimpernel -- ta-da! -- and steals into France to rescue aristocrats condemned to the guillotine during the French Revolution. After each rescue, he leaves behind a scarlet pimpernel, a flower whose petals close at the approach of stormy weather. He also uses a signet ring engraved with a scarlet pimpernel to identify himself on the sealing wax of letters to compatriots. It is all jolly-good intrigue. Because he cloaks his schemes in great secrecy, not even his new wife Marguerite (Jane Seymour) realizes he is anything more than an innocuous dandy. Frustrated, the French send the ruthless Chauvelin (Ian McKellen) to England to serve as ambassador and ferret out the elusive Pimpernel. In a plot that ensnares Marguerite and closes the Pimpernel's petals, Chauvelin finally confronts his clever adversary, and it's en garde -- parry and thrust! ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide

Jackie (Margaret Brooks) is presented an African bush baby as a lovely parting gift from Tembo (Louis Gossett Jr.). She tries to board an outbound ship with her father and the annoying, squalling animal. Jackie jumps ship to plant the animal in a nearby tree, but the ship takes off and leaves her behind. She convinces the houseboy Tembo to search for a friend of her fathers, dragging him across the continent in her search. Tembo becomes a wanted man when a vicious ivory trader tells the police he has kidnapped Jackie. Soon the trader and the police hunt for Tembo, and the authorities would rather have him captured dead than alive to avoid political embarrassment. The duo must dodge the police, the ivory hunter and cannibals in this jungle adventure. Donald Huston and Laurence Naismith add to the feature with their portrayals of eccentric Englishmen. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

When Sir Edward Markham (Alastair Williamson) is horribly disfigured by African natives, he is kept chained and out of sight by his brother Julian (Vincent Price). When Sir Edward escapes, he goes on a killing spree in a desperate attempt to get even with the society that has made him a monstrous outcast. Julian enlists the help of African witch doctor N'Galo (Harry Baird) for medicine to make Sir Edward appear dead so he can be evicted from the house. Dr. Neuhardt (Christopher Lee) attempts to help the hideous human. There are plenty of female corpses around to drip rivers of fresh, hot blood in this feature, the 13th Edgar Allan Poe story in which Price has appeared. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Based on the true story of the 1963 British Royal Mail robbery, this late '60s British caper film was directed by Peter Yates a year before he made the action classic Bullitt in the States. Opening with an extended jewel theft sequence followed by a action-packed car chase, Robbery details the events before, during, and immediately following the infamous heist. Paul Clifton (Stanley Baker, who also produced) is the main thief who comes up with the idea to steal three million dollars from the overnight mail train that runs from Glasgow to London. While gathering together a crew of thieves, he helps currency expert Robinson (Frank Finlay) break out of jail. The gang successfully holds up the train, takes the money, and retreats to an empty field to divide it up. When Robinson calls his wife on the phone, Inspector George Langdon (James Booth) from Scotland Yard traces the call and arrests them. As the legend goes, one of them manages to escape with the money. Also starring Joanna Pettet, who played Mata Bond in Casino Royale, and a young Robert Powell, who would go on to appear in the crime caper The Italian Job. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

Albert Finney stars in this second film version of Emlyn Williams thriller about an innocent looking but psychopathic killer named Danny. Danny is a Welsh hotel bellboy who commits an axe murder near the home of Mrs. Bramson (Mona Washbourne), a well-to-do widow. Danny disposes of the body in a nearby lake and charms Mrs. Bramson and her maid Dora (Sheila Hancock) into allowing him to stay with them. At Mrs. Bramson's home, Danny plays psychological games with Mrs. Bramson while seducing her daughter Olivia (Susan Hampshire). Meanwhile, alone in his room, Danny engages in strange rituals with the severed heads of his victims, which he keeps in a black hatbox. But the police have uncovered the axe and the headless corpse from the lake, and the authorities begin closing in on Danny, whose psychopathic tendencies are beginning to manifest themselves at Mrs. Bramson's home. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Sean Connery plays one of his early roughneck types in the British gangster picture Frightened City. The story takes place in a rundown section of London, where the citizens are held in the grip of extortionists. After several months of gang warfare, the six major "protection" rings agree to bury the hatchet and combine their efforts under the leadership of a mob boss (Herbert Lom). One of the gangsters opposes the mobster's rule, and is promptly rubbed out. Paddy Damion (Sean Connery), the dead man's best friend, swears revenge. After a bloody confrontation, Damion agrees to provide information to the police -- after plea-bargaining himself into a light sentence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Joe is played by Leslie Randall in this lean British programmer. Working at a detergent company, Joe is ignored by his bosses and co-workers alike. But when the opportunity arises for Joe to become a hero, well, watch out! Motivating the plot is a bit of industrial espionage involving the theft of a secret detergent formula. Of interest in Just Joe is the supporting-cast presence of veteran film star Anna May Wong and future Doctor Who Jon Pertwee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a story by prolific if uninspired sci-fi writer Charles Eric Maine, The Atomic Man stars Peter Arne in the title role. Fished out of the Thames with a bullet in his back, Arne is discovered to be highly radioactive. He turns out to be a missing atomic scientist, whose exposure to radioactive substances, coupled with his brush with death, has endowed him with remarkable prognostic powers (the script explains that he's living 7 1/2 seconds into the future!) With the help of snoopy reporter Gene Nelson, Arne exposes a plot hatched by evil tungsten magnate Vic Perry. Atomic Man was released in Great Britain as Timeslip. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After being caught, a bank clerk embezzler flees the scene and is assisted by Marshall who has problems of her own as she is being blackmailed by a former lover. When the bank clerk saves her, he gets killed. ~ All Movie Guide

Released in the U.S. as Terror on a Train, the British MGM production Time Bomb is brief, to the point, and so suspenseful it hurts. Glenn Ford stars as Peter Lyncourt, who during WW II had been in charge of a bomb demolition unit. As luck would have it, Lyncourt and his French wife Janine (Anne Vernon) are in the vicinity when a freight train carrying explosives to a dockyard chugs into view. Someone has placed a time bomb on the train, forcing an evacuation of the neighborhood and the summoning of the "UXB" corps. When all is said and done, however, it is up to Lyncourt to defuse the bomb, if he can locate the well-hidden fuse, that is! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the stage farce by Vernon Sylvanie, Will Any Gentleman? stars George Cole as milquetoast bank clerk Henry Sterling. While attending a music hall show, Sterling accidentally falls under the spell of stage hypnotist Mendoza (Alan Badel). Undergoing a complete change of character, Sterling becomes an unregenerate womanizer, much to the amazement and dismay of his wife (Veronica Hurst). Anxiously, Mendoza tries to track the latter-day Lothario down and snap him out of his spell. The plot of Will Any Gentleman? certainly wasn't new in 1953, but it was still good for a full supply of belly laughs. Featured in the cast are pair of future "Doctor Who" stars, Jon Pertwee and William Hartnell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide