Susannah York Movies

More commonly known as Zee & Co., this cautionary tale of extramarital discretions finds a threatened and desperate wife lashing out in order to salvage a faltering marriage. An upper-crust couple living the high-life in post-'60s London, Zee (Elizabeth Taylor) and Robert (Michael Caine) Blakely's love-hate relationship is beginning to leave Robert longing for something more. Setting his sites on unassuming country girl Stella (Susannah York), Zee soon catches on and quickly begins scheming to bring the newfound romance crashing to the ground. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Brian Keith plays a wealthy stockbroker who purchases dusty Nevada ghost town. Remembering his own humble roots, Keith sets up the town as a community where life's losers can congregate. Here these unfortunates are afforded a "second chance"-which also happens to be the name of the town. If this made-for-TV feature sounds like a pilot film, that's because it is. Filmed on location in Phoenix, Arizona, Second Chance first aired February 8, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Happy Birthday, Wanda June takes us to the Ryan household, where Penelope Ryan (Susannah York) has learned to accept the death of her husband Harold, a supremely macho explorer and big game hunter who married her when she was working as a carhop. He disappeared in the jungles of the Amazon eight years ago and has never returned; as one character puts it, "Not even Mutual of Omaha believes he's alive anymore." Since then, Penelope has becomes educated, independent, and engaged to Norbert Woodley (George Grizzard), a doctor. Only Paul (Steven Paul), Harold's son, still believes that his father might still be alive. Paul turns out to be right after all when Harold (Rod Steiger) comes marching home after eight year in a jungle hell, only to discover nothing is as he left it, Penelope is an entirely different person, and his ideal of masculinity has become an anachronism. Meanwhile, someone picks up a cake at half price with the inscription "Happy Birthday, Wanda June," and in time we learn of Wanda June's sad fate and visit with her new friends in the Kingdom of Heaven. While Kurt Vonnegut Jr. was vocally unhappy with this adaptation of his play, it's actually quite accurate to its source and features several fine performances, especially William Hickey, reprising his stage role as Harold's sidekick, Looseleaf Harper. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A total of nine Academy Award nominations went to this wildly acclaimed, allegorical drama set amongst the contestants in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression. Gig Young stars as Rocky, the obnoxious emcee for a dance marathon that offers prize money of $1,500, a small fortune during hard economic times that brings out the worst in several participants. Among them are Gloria Beatty (Jane Fonda), a malcontent who's partnered with a drifter, Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin); a pregnant farm girl (Bonnie Bedelia) and her husband (Bruce Dern); a sailor (Red Buttons); and an aspiring actress (Susannah York). As the marathon winds into a staggering second month, suspicion, doubt and insecurity rages among the competitors and even the decaying and increasingly manipulative Rocky, leading to a shocking crime. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

James Bond-flick director Guy Hamilton helmed this episodic, all-star World War II film. With Sir Laurence Olivier heading up an ensemble cast as flight commander Sir Hugh Dowdling, The Battle of Britain pays tribute to other nationalities instrumental in fending off the waves of Luftwaffe planes, notably the expatriate Polish and Czech pilots. Trevor Howard, Michael Caine, and Michael Redgrave also populate the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sebastian (Dirk Bogarde) is an undisciplined mathematics genius who works in the "cipher bureau" of the British government. While cracking enemy codes, Sebastian finds time to romance co-worker Susannah York. The film dwells upon Sebastian's rather lax morals (even by 1968 standards), culminating in his refusal to commit himself to York once he's rendered her pregnant. This aspect of the story is frankly more fascinating than the main espionage plotline. Keep an eye out for Canadian actor Donald Sutherland in a bit as an American. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A year after helming The Dirty Dozen, director Robert Aldrich took on this controversial drama based on the play of the same name by Frank Marcus. Beryl Reid stars as soap opera star June, an alcoholic lesbian who spends most of her time with her younger lover, Alice (Susannah York). When vindictive television executive Mercy Croft (Coral Browne) takes a liking to Alice, she arranges to have June's character, Sister George, killed off the show. Drunk and paranoid, June struggles to keep it together or risk losing Alice. Because of its exploration of a subject as taboo as homosexuality, The Killing of Sister George earned an X rating. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Adapted by Robert Bolt and Constance Willis from Bolt's hit stage play, A Man for All Seasons stars Paul Scofield, triumphantly repeating his stage role as Sir Thomas More. The crux of the film is the staunchly Catholic More's refusal to acknowledge King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw)'s break from the church to divorce his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn (an unbilled Vanessa Redgrave). Sir Thomas willingly goes to the chopping block rather than sacrifice his ideals. Director Fred Zinnemann retains the play's verbosity without sacrificing the film's strong sense of visuals. The impeccably chosen cast includes Wendy Hiller as Sir Thomas' likably contentious wife Alice, John Hurt as the deceitful Richard Rich (More's put-downs of this despicable character provide some of the film's biggest laughs), Orson Welles as a dour Cardinal Woolsey, Leo McKern as the ambitious Thomas Cromwell, and Susannah York as More's daughter Margaret. The "Common Man," an important bridging-the-scenes character in the original play, is removed from the film version, which does just fine without him. A Man for All Seasons won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, as well as seven British Film Academy awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama, William Holden plays Ferris, an American soldier who led troops in Malaya during World War II. After the end of the war, Ferris opts to stay in Malaya to seek his fortune. He invests in land there and does quite well, but soon his new life with his girlfriend, a local girl named Dhana (Capucine), is disrupted by local politics. Candace (Susannah York), the daughter of Malaya's British governor, is infatuated with Ferris, which puts a crimp in his relationship with Dhana. And one of his old buddies from the war, Ng (Tetsuro Tamba), reemerges with some disturbing news -- following the war, he spent several years in the Soviet Union and is now working with Communist-backed guerilla forces. Ferris doesn't want to help the British capture his old friend, but his friend seems to have no such scruples about framing his buddy Ferris. The Seventh Dawn was adapted from the novel The Durian Tree by Michael Koen. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Tony Richardson's adaptation of Henry Fielding's classic novel was one of the most critically acclaimed and popular comedies of its time, winning four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The film follows Tom Jones (Albert Finney), a country boy who becomes one of the wildest playboys in 18th century England, developing a ravenous taste for women, food, and rowdy adventures. Over the course of the film, Jones tries to amass his own fortune and win the heart of Sophie (Susannah York). Not only does John Osborne's Oscar-winning screenplay stay true to the tone of the novel, but the cast -- including Lynn Redgrave in her first screen role -- tears into the story with spirited abandon, making the movie a wildly entertaining and witty experience. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

A young Susannah York had her first lead role in this drama about a teenage girl on the cusp of womanhood. When her mother falls ill during a vacation in the French wine country, 16-year-old Joss Grey (York) is left to her own devices as she and her three younger siblings are left in the reluctant care of Madame Zisi (Danielle Darrieux), the proprietor of the hotel where they were staying. Eliot (Kenneth More), Zisi's strapping boyfriend, offers to show the youngsters some of the sights in the countryside, and Joss finds herself developing a strong infatuation with the older man. However, when she realizes that Eliot and Zisi are lovers, she becomes despondent and ends up getting drunk on wine with Paul (David Saire), a boy who works in the kitchen at Zisi's hotel. When Joss learns that Eliot is actually a jewel thief wanted by the law, she informs the police of his whereabouts. However, that same night, Paul's efforts to seduce Joss degenerate into a violent attempt at rape, but when Eliot hears her screams for help, he comes to Joss' rescue. Having spared her virtue and perhaps her life, Joss confesses to Eliot that she has turned him in to the police, and urges him to flee for his own safety. One of Joss' sisters is played by Jane Asher, a distinguished actress who was most famous in the United States not for her abilities as a performer, but for spending several years as Paul McCartney's girlfriend. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, an amiable demolitions expert finds himself entangled with a band of criminals masquerading as doctors. In this guise, the thieves attempt to build a tunnel between the hospital and the bank next door. The expert successfully blows open the vault, and the criminals escape with their loot, leaving the hapless safecracker to take the rap. Five years pass before he is released from prison. The man has learned his lesson and tries to reform by taking a job in a small resort. More trouble ensues when he sees the most prominent citizen in town cheating his neighbors by selling bogus shares in the future of the town. To stop him the ex-safecracker enlists the aid of his old gang who begin masquerading as American soldiers offering to build a missile base in the town. Naturally the avaricious businessman desires a piece of the pie and so buys back all of the land he had sold. Using his special talent, the hero blows up the villain's land. Fortunately, the real American army gets involved by offering to rebuild the destroyed town on the land, causing the townsfolk to cheer the former con-man on as the police haul him back to prison. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide