John Arnold Movies
John Arnold was a technical pioneer in the development of cinema as well as a cinematographer. He earned a degree in engineering at Columbia University and later joined the engineering department of the Thomas Edison company. Eventually he went on to work with early film companies such as Biograph where he made many technical advances. In 1915, he began working as a cinematographer and became noted for his successful experiments with lighting and special effects. During the 1920s, he was recognized as one of the premiere cinematographers in film. Arnold retired from actual photography in 1929, but then he went on to helm the American Society of Cinematographers from 1931 through 1936. Beginning in 1931, Arnold also began his 25-year stint as the head of the MGM camera department.~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1999
Set in Victoria, Australia, the made-for-TV Witch Hunt concerns an infant girl named Hannah, who is abducted by her grandmother Barbara Thomas (Jacqueline Bisset). Hannah's father David Overton (Cameron Daddo), convinced that Barbara is the head of a coven of witches, inaugurates a desperate nationwide search for his missing daughter. However, David may have a sinister agenda of his own, as indicated by the fact that his wife recently died under mysterious circumstances. Originally telecast by Australia's Network Ten on May 2, 1999, Witch Hunt later aired in the U.S. courtesy of cable's Lifetime network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1996
Crime pays, but not very well for a handful of burglars in this drama with comic overtones. Jumbo (Shane Meadows) heads up a gang of very-small-time thieves in an economically crippled British town near Nottingham. Jumbo and his mates Malc (Mat Hand), Willy (Jimmy Hynd), and Bets (Leon Lammond) are having a hard time unloading their latest score -- a large supply of dog food -- which generates a significant amount of tension between the hoods and their usual fence, Lenny (Tim Cunningham). Meanwhile, Malc's girlfriend Kate (Gena Kawecka) is getting tired of the way Jumbo slaps around his significant other, Ruby (Dena Smiles) and forces Malc to choose between staying with the gang or staying with her (and their child). Small Time marked the feature-length directorial debut for writer, director, and star Shane Meadows; it was shown theatrically with one of Meadows' earlier short subjects, Where's The Money, Ronnie? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1995
This European thriller, set in Sri Lanka, attempts to expound upon the philosophical implications of life, death, and memory. JB, an academic famed for his studies of oriental culture and alcoholic who has never recovered from his wife's suicide, returns to Sri Lanka to translate a book written on glass. It is supposed to contain Buddha's discourse upon memory. While he is there, an attractive nurse, Julia asks him to assist a young boy who wants to locate his father who is now living in a Tamil-occupied area. The Tamil terrorists will kill any trespassers. Compounding JB's conflict in deciding to go is that his former home where he lived with his wife is in that area. Unbeknownst to him, the boy is really a Tamil spy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-François Balmer, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, (more)
- 1992
- R
In this hectic farce, Louis Aubinard (Bob Hoskins) is at the bottom of every totem pole he's ever come near, a nebbish and unattractive man who makes a poor living as a photographer of religious tableaux. His sister doesn't respect him and deliberately cooks awful food just to makes his life more miserable. At work, he is in danger of losing his job if he can't find a suitable model for a Christ-on-the-cross photo. One of his friends (Jean-Pierre Cassel) asks him to fill in for him on a movie project, and without knowing what he's being asked to do, Louis agrees to help out. He is astonished to discover that he is to provide the voiced-over cries of orgasmic delight for a porn movie. His fellow dubber is a lovely woman named Sybil (Natasha Richardson), and together, they voice a world-shaking sexual climax for the movie. Sybil then asks the hapless Louis to do a favor for her, and once again, he agrees. He meets the actress' boyfriend (Jeff Goldblum) as he is being released from jail and simultaneously finds his model for the troublesome photo. Things become particularly frenetic when the addle-pated ex-con takes his holy image too much to heart and begins trying to work miracles. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hoskins, Jeff Goldblum, (more)
- 1992
- PG
In this comedy, an actor masquerades as another more appealing man in hopes that his ex-wife will fall in love with him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- C. Thomas Howell, Ally Sheedy, (more)
The third adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' classic novel Les Liasons Dangereuses, Milos Forman's Valmont was released one year after Stephen Frears' more famous version of the de Laclos original, Dangerous Liaisons. The plot remains the same: two debauched, depraved 18th century French aristocrats, the Vicomte de Valmont (Colin Firth) and the Marquise de Merteuil (Annette Bening), conspire to destroy several innocent lives, just for the fun of it. But whereas Stephen Frears concentrated on the machinations of the marquise, Forman, per his film's title, devotes most of his screen space to Valmont (played in the Frears version by John Malkovich). In fact, Forman's film concludes with Valmont's conscience-stricken renunciation of his past sins, and his duel to the death, rather than de Meurteil's well-deserved comeuppance. Forman has chosen to set the story back some 50 years, de-emphasizing the opulence that was vital to Frears' vision; he has also utilized a younger cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Firth, Annette Bening, (more)
- 1980
As this gritty drama about a young teen's fight to overcome her past begins to unfold, flashbacks are interspersed with the present-tense story. This technique keeps viewers wondering exactly where Sam (Tracey Mann) is going: in the direction that led her to jail, or towards a normal life? After she gets out of prison, her old friends and a corrupt cop named Brady (Bill Hunter) provide formidable obstacles. They all see her as a rebellious delinquent in spite of her efforts to change. Faced with nearly insurmountable odds, Sam's struggle for her future is not going to be easily won. Mann won a 1980 Best Actress Award from the Australian Film Institute for her performance. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tracy Mann, John Arnold, (more)
- 1966
A young hot rodder, needing money to go to college, decides to participate in an illegal drag race. He knows he has the fastest car around and so does his competitor who is willing to stop at nothing to win the large pot and begins plotting to shooting the hero. When the good driver's best friend learns of the scheme he races off to warn him. Unfortunately, the wicked driver runs him over right in front of the aspiring student's girl friend, who learns of the plot from the dying friend. The quick-witted girl saves her lover's life in one ingenious, and ultimately, gory stroke. The film was shot on location in Washington, D.C. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1949
Based loosely on the Dostoyevsky novel, The Gambler stars Gregory Peck as a sensitive 19th-century Russian author. His "great sin" is gambling, which starts when he attempts to rescue aristocratic Ava Gardner from the gaming tables. He succeeds, only to lose himself to gambling fever, which costs him his friends, his reputation and his talent. Director Robert Siodmak was never happy with the screenplay for The Great Sinner, constant revisions bloated the film's rough-cut running time to nearly six hours! After Siodmak pared the film down, MGM insisted that the director reshoot the love scenes. Siodmak refused, thus the new sequences were filmed sans screen credit by Mervin LeRoy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, (more)
- 1943
In this war drama set during WW II, an engineer in a Dutch shipyard assists the Nazis with the construction of two new kinds of submarines and finds himself a social pariah. Even his wife turns against her apparently traitorous husband. During the maiden voyage of one of the subs, the engineer talks high-ranking Nazis into joining him aboard their vessel. The Germans are unaware that the engineer has loaded the hapless vessel with dynamite. As that ship explodes, a group of commandos capture the other sub and smuggle it to England. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Googie Withers, (more)
