Bill Alexander Movies
- 1990
Tartuffe, French playwright Moliere's 16th-century satire of religious quackery, is given right and proper treatment by the Royal Shakespeare Company in this videotaped staging. Anthony Sher plays the title role, a haughty, self-righteous phony who inveigles his way into a wealthy household. Not content with robbing his host blind in the name of the Almighty, Tartuffe also sets about to seduce the lady in the house. The satire was so pointed that, when the play was originally presented, Moliere was forced to shoehorn in a scene showing Tartuffe's punishment at the hands of the authorities--the best possible way of distancing Tartuffe's fraudulent piety with the real-life power abuses then being perpetrated by the Church. Also featured in this witty adaptation of the Moliere original is Nigel Hawthorne, who would later be nominated for an Oscar for The Madness of King George. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Directed by Bill Alexander and starring Anthony Sher, the made-for-TV Moliere was designed as a companion piece to the earlier Alexander-Sher collaboration Tartuffe. In this adaptation of the play by Mikhail Bulgakov, 16th century French playwright Moliere (Sher) finds himself facing a prison term. The authorities aren't happy that the central character of Moliere's Tartuffe is a hypocritical clergymen. They are less pleased with the fact that the character gets off scot-free at the end. At great expense to his dignity, Moliere is forced to pen a "politically correct" denoument. Supporting Anthony Sher are the members of the Royal Shakespeare Company. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Screenwriter George Axelrod turns Alfred Hitchcock's classic comedy-thriller into a capering screwball comedy showcase for Cybill Shepherd and Elliot Gould in this style-less remake of The Lady Vanishes. On an express train traveling through pre-World War II Germany, Amanda Kelly (Cybill Shepherd) befriends a cute old nanny, Miss Froy (Angela Lansbury). But when Miss Froy disappears and the rest of the passengers profess no knowledge of the old woman, Amanda and Robert Condon (Elliot Gould -- the only person aboard who will believe her story about the missing woman -- search the train trying to find out what happened to Miss Froy. In the meantime, they uncover an insidious German plot and fall in love. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elliott Gould, Cybill Shepherd, (more)
- 1978
The Sweeney started out as a British TV detective program all about Scotland Yard's Flying Squad. Its popularity spawned a reasonably satisfying 1976 feature film, starring the TV series' Tom Thaw. In Sweeney 2, Thaw is called upon to solve a series of carefully orchestrated bank robberies, which turn out to be the handiwork of an elite team of crooks headquartered in a posh Maltese apartment complex. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, (more)
- 1977
In this feature-film version of the popular British television cop show, Regan (John Thaw) and Carter (Dennis Waterman) are two British Scotland Yard detectives who find themselves involved with the exchange of oil resources on the political and economic fate of the world. Ian Bannen plays Baker, an alcoholic foreign minister involved in a scheme to manipulate a worldwide oil crisis to his benefit. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, (more)
- 1977
In this feature-film version of the popular British television cop show, Regan (John Thaw) and Carter (Dennis Waterman) are two British Scotland Yard detectives who find themselves involved with the exchange of oil resources on the political and economic fate of the world. Ian Bannen plays Baker, an alcoholic foreign minister involved in a scheme to manipulate a worldwide oil crisis to his benefit. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
Set in the immediate post-Civil War era, The McMasters stars Brock Peters as a black Union soldier who finds he must figuratively fight the war all over again. Returning to his southern hometown, Peters quickly learns that nothing has really changed: he is a "free"man in name only. Peters' ex-master Burl Ives magnanimously gives the former slave a plot of land, but only Native-American David Carradine and his tribesmen are willing to work for a black man. The "invasion" of Indians serves to stir up the racial divisiveness even farther, thanks to local rabble-rouser Jack Palance. The McMasters was originally released in two versions with two different endings, succinctly summing up the film's "no easy answers" stance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burl Ives, Brock Peters, (more)
- 1968
The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom stars Shirley MacLaine as Harriet Blossom, the wife of a moderately successful British brassiere manufacturer Robert Blossom (Richard Attenborough). When Harriet's sewing machine breaks down, her husband decides to save a few quid by sending one of his own employees to fix it. That employee is Ambrose Tuttle (James Booth), to whom Harriet takes such a fancy that she hides him in her attic, there to make love to her whenever she is so inclined. Her husband's "delusion" that he hears noises in his attic leads to a nervous breakdown, but the hidden Mr. Tuttle comes to the rescue by passing along stock tips which turn Mr. Blossom into a millionaire. When he finally does learn the truth, Mr. Blossom generously allows his wife and her lover to remain together -- and even presents Tuttle with his bra factory as a gift! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Richard Attenborough, (more)
- 1967
Frank Sinatra stars in this espionage thriller filmed at the height of the Cold War. Sam Laker (Sinatra) is an American industrial designer working in London. When Laker travels to East Germany on business, he brings along his ten-year-old son, and he ends up running into Martin Slattery (Peter Vaughn), an old Army buddy now working with British intelligence. Slattery tries to persuade Laker to put his wartime skills as a sniper to good use against a rogue agent now working with the communists. Laker refuses, but he reluctantly agrees to deliver a message to Karen Gisevius (Nadia Gray), who worked with the anti-Nazi resistance during the war. Laker returns from his errand to discover that his son has been kidnapped; Col. Hartmann (Derren Nesbitt), a communist operative, informs Laker that his boy will be held until he is willing to perform an assassination on their behalf. The Naked Runner was produced by Brad Dexter; Frank Sinatra, a man of fierce loyalties, often worked with Dexter after the producer saved Sinatra's life in a drowning incident. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Peter Vaughan, (more)
