Peter Bowles

Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, and Lucy Boynton headline director Sandra Goldbacher's made-for-television adaptation of author Noel Streatfield's classic novel of the same name. The setting is 1930s London. Orphans Pauline (Watson), Petrova (Paige), and Posy Fossil (Boynton) have all been adopted by eccentric explorer Professor Brown (aka "Gum"), and raised as sisters by Brown's benevolent niece Sylvia (Emilia Fox). Before the three girls get to know their adventurous adoptive father, however, Gum vanishes for over a decade. Though her faithful retainer, Nana (Victoria Wood), does her best to keep the family afloat, Sylvia simply can't keep up with the demands of raising a family, and her health begins to deteriorate. Eventually, faced with dwindling financial resources, she decides to take in lodgers. Those who arrive as household guests include the lively academics Dr. Smith (Harriet Walter) and Dr. Jakes (Gemma Jones), plus curvy dance instructor Theo Dane (Lucy Cohu) and kind-but-pensive Mr. Simpson (Marc Warren). As the nontraditional family begins to see their lives changed by these new arrivals in ways that they never anticipated, Pauline, Petrova, and Posy enroll in the local theater school and set about establishing themselves as stars of the stage. But while Pauline dreams of becoming a world-famous actress and Posy longs to grow into a graceful ballerina, Petrova just wants to take to the sky as an aviator. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

War turns two strangers into lovers at a most inopportune moment in this made-for-TV drama based on a true story. Eric Newby (Callum Blue) is a British soldier, who, while on a mission behind enemy lines during World War II, is captured by Axis troops and taken to a makeshift P.O.W. camp located in an abandoned orphanage in Italy. Eric is able to escape easily enough, but soon discovers that German troops are blanketing the area, determined to capture the prisoners who've gotten away. Wanda (Barboura Bonulova), a woman living in a nearby village, takes in the runaway and saves his life by hiding him from the Germans. In order to help Eric disguise himself as a villager, Wanda begins teaching him how to speak Italian; as they spend more time together, Eric and Wanda find themselves falling in love, but the war that brought them together could also tear them apart at any moment. Adapted from Eric Newby's memoirs of his wartime experiences, In Love and War was first aired as part of the award-winning anthology series The Hallmark Hall of Fame. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The troubled career of blacklisted director Herbert Biberman, who endured a considerable struggle to make the 1954 pro-Labor film Salt of the Earth, provides the centerpiece for this historical drama. The film opens at the 1937 Academy Awards, where Biberman's wife, Gale Sondergaard (Greta Scacchi), wins the first ever "Best Supporting Actress" Oscar. Although the anti-Fascist sentiment in her acceptance speech gets her labeled a "commie" by some observers, she and Biberman (played here by Jeff Goldblum) are placed under contract at Warner Bros. Ten years later, with Cold War paranoia growing, a group of predominantly Jewish Hollywood directors -- Biberman, Sondergaard, Danny Kaye, and Dalton Trumbo among them -- are labeled Communists and questioned before Congress. Refusing to name names, Biberman is thrown in prison for six months; his wife's similar refusal to testify severely threatened her career as well. After his release from prison, Biberman, no longer able to work in Hollywood, strikes out on his own with other blacklistees, producer Paul Jarrico (John Sessions) and writer Michael Wilson (Geraint Wyn Davies), to make Salt of the Earth. Biberman's production is far from easy, however, as it comes under attack from both the FBI and redneck vigilantes. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

In this comic British caper film, an LA computer whiz finds herself recruited by an eccentric British lawyer who wants her to use her skills to defraud a powerful London bank that has been using its money to exploit a Third World country for tourism. She accepts his offer and mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

While vacationing in Paris, Park Avenue socialite Helen Hollander (Connie Sellecca) cannot shake the feeling that she is being watched. Helen's instincts aren't failing her: Ever since disembarking from her plane, sinister-looking characters have been monitoring her every move. Flippant private eye Hank McCay (Ed Marinaro) tries to help Helen shake her pursuers, but he's not so good a detective that he notices the highly volatile contents of our heroine's suitcase. A US-Hungarian coproduction, the lighthearted TV-movie thriller Passport to Murder made its first appearance over NBC on March 7, 1993. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Beryl Markham: Shadow on the Sun was a two-part TV movie originally telecast in May of 1988. Stefanie Powers is right in her element as the real-life Beryl Markham, an Englishwoman living in Kenya with her family. Bucking the male-dominated Kenyan social structure, Beryl becomes the first woman in Africa to train horses on a professional level. And in 1936, she thrills the world by being the first aviatrix to fly from England to the US across the Atlantic. With four hours to fill, the film is obligated to trace Beryl's love life, which (according to the script) was not always as rewarding as her public accomplishments. Inasmuch as Beryl was a contemporary (and friendly rival) of author Karen Blixen--better known as Isaak Dinesen--Beryl Markham: Shadow on the Sun contrives to include several characters introduced in Out of Africa. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After a three-year hiatus, the internationally popular British legal series Rumpole of the Bailey returns for a third season of six hour-long episodes, which originally aired in the U.K. from October 11 through November 15, 1983. Leo McKern likewise returns as the equisitely slovenly barrister Horace Rumple, with Peggy Bates-Thorpe as his formidable wife Hilda, aka "She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed." In the season opener "Rumpole and the Genuine Article", his client is a disarmingly phlegmatic artist accused of forgery. This is followed by "Rumpole and the Golden Thread", wherein Rumpole heads to a former British colony in Africa to defend a former law pupil charged with murder. In "Rumpole and the Old Boy Net", we meet Rumpole's wide-eyed new law pupil Fiona (Rosalyn Landor), who helps him defend a pair of accused blackmailer-procurers. The notorious East End Timson gang is back in "Rumpole and the Female of the Species", as Rumpole defends a former client (and onetime street gang member) charged with accessory to robbery In "Rumpole and the Sporting Life", things get personal when Fiona's own sister Jennifer is charged with killing her husband. And in "Rumpole and the Last Resort", our hero juggles his personal financial travails with his defense of a seedy realtor suspected of fraudulent business practices. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This collection of six hour-long episodes from the British comedy-drama series The Irish R.M. has been given a workman-like presentation on disc for this North American release. The Irish R.M.: Vol. 1 and 2 has been transferred to disc in the full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, while the audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono. The dialogue is in English with no multiple language options included. Bonus materials include a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the series, filmographies for the leading cast members, biographical sketches on the show's writers, and a visit into the kitchen of Mrs. Cadogan, complete with recipes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Season Two of the British legal comedy-drama series Rumpole of the Bailey serves up six new episodes, initially telecast by ITV1 from May 29 through July 3, 1979. First on the docket is "Rumpole and the Man of God", in which gloriously irreverent barrister Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) defends a vicar who though accused of shoplifting refuses to offer any defense for his alleged crime; at the same time, Rumpole's old friend George Frobisher (Moray Watson) pays a heavy price for loving neither wisely nor too well. The second episode, "Rumpole and the Case of Identity" finds the title character in court during the Christmas season, defending a man whose alibi on a murder charge depends upon a most untrustworthy witness. A trip to the North Country results in Rumpole exercising his declamatory skills to save an actress from a murder sentence in "Rumpole and the Showfolk". Then in "Rumpole and the Fascist Beast" the lifelong-liberal barrister works on behalf of a notorious racist politician charged with inciting a deadly riot. "Rumpole and the Course of True Love" concerns not only a schoolteacher charged with seducing an unwilling pupil, but also an embarrassing incident in the past life of Rumpole's lovely colleague Phyllida (Patricia Hodge. And in "Rumpole and the Age for Retirement", Rumpole's son Nick urges his father to hang up his wig and move to Maryland (of all places!) after wrapping up his defense of an accused art thief. As a coda of sorts to Season Two, a special two-hour episode, "Rumpole's Return", in which our hero emerges from retirement to tackle a particularly lurid murder case involving a sinister cult, was telecast on December 30, 1980, and has since been added to the standard Rumpole of the Bailey rerun package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this outing, Benji finds himself on the loose in Athens. An international spy (Ed Nelson) places a secret oil formula within the folds of Benji's paw, and before the poor dog knows what's happening, he's being pursued through the ancient metropolis by a daunting variety of villains. Fortunately, Benji is smarter than his pursuers, so a happy ending is never in doubt. Writer/director Joe Camp managed to keep the Benji} franchise alive into the 1980s, even writing a book about his filmmaking adventures with the clever canine. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Richard Matheson adapted the screenplay of The Legend of Hell House from his own novel. In the tradition of Shirley Jackson's Haunting of Hill House, four people with alleged extrasensory powers are called upon to spend a weekend in a supposedly haunted house, to either prove or disprove the presence of ghosts. Roddy McDowall has been in the house before, and refuses to treat the possibility of paranormal activity lightly; scientist Clive Revill believes that he can trace the happenings to rational explanations involving electric current; Pamela Franklin is convinced that, if spirits exists, she will be able to communicate with them; and Gayle Hunnicutt plays Revill's young wife, ripe for "possession." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide