John Baxter Movies
British director/writer John Baxter was a theatre manager and actor's agent until entering films in 1932. After a few months' work as casting director for the Sound City studio complex, Baxter directed his first film, the unprepossessingly titled Doss House (1933). During most of the 1930s, he specialized in cut-to-the-bone "quota quickies" aimed at working-class movie houses; unlike many of his contemporaries, however, he attempted to inject some style into his cheap little entertainments. Baxter was producer/director for British National during the war years, and in 1951 he became managing director for Group 3 Films. John Baxter's best film was Love on the Dole, a perceptive look at a Depression-era Lancashire family; his most profitable efforts include his "Old Mother Riley" comedy programmers and his Bud Flannigan-Chesney Allen vehicles. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1959
A persuasive ad man cons a British TV makeup artist to slip in a promotion for Bonko Detergent during a show in this comedy. The ploy is a success until the makeup man is fired. He and the ad man team up and create a pirate station that broadcasts their commercials into other shows. They soon find themselves in trouble when thieves, believing their roving broadcast van is filled with gold, steal the vehicle. The adman radios the police and the robbers are captured. This leads him to get a new job with the television network. The makeup man then interrupts the man's first show with his commercials. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arthur Askey, Sidney James, (more)
- 1957
Prejudice is a main theme in this crime drama that follows the case of a West Indian man accused of a murder because of his dark skin. A lawyer helps the boy avoid arrest until the true murderer is revealed. The killer is discovered after the lawyer saves the boy who was captured by him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
In this British parody of an American western, an Englishman travels to Canada to run the ranch he recently inherited from his grandfather, a crusty old sheriff. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1955
In this comedy, two rabid football fans begin an unstoppable train of events when they physically harass a referee. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The Brave Don't Cry aspires to the "feel" of a documentary, right down to the deliberate absence of background music. A mine in Scotland falls victim to a cave-in, trapping some one hundred workers. Rescue parties are formed as the tremulous families of the miners wait in agony. As in the actual incident upon which this film is based, the rescue is nip and tuck and times, but eventually successful. The faces of real-life Scottish mining folk are melded with the professional actors in The Brave Don't Cry, adding poignancy to this otherwise cut-and-dried film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gregson, Meg Buchanan, (more)
- 1952
A notorious Irish rebel poet disguises his true identity while working as a gatekeeper at a Scottish university. He also moonlights as a bookie and things go well until a pretty young relative shows up and spills the beans. Comedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1951
In this drama, a reporter helps prove the innocence of a man wrongfully incarcerated for dealing drugs. The reporter learns of the situation when the convict's vagabond pals, with his influence and support, justice soon prevails. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Barge worker Gordon Harker signs onto a suspicous-looking vessel as a crew member. Harker knows full well that the ship is being used by smugglers, and he intends to keep his mouth shut and do his job. But only until the opportunity arises for him to avenge the death of his best friend at the hands of his new employers. But the crooks get wise, and kidnap Harker's son and his pal David Hannaford (the "second mate" of the title). Tension mounts as Harker not only faces his own imminent demise, but also the deaths of those nearest and dearest to him. A literally explosive finale caps this British programmer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
A short story by Janet M. Smith was the basis for the equally short (52 minute) British programmer The Dragon of Pendragon Castle. The castle in question, a dank, foreboding affair, is owned by poverty-stricken nobleman J. Hubert Leslie. The old duffer has a pair of rambunctious grandkids, played by Robin Netscher and Hilary Rennie, who seeks a means to heat the bone-chilling castle. To that end, they invite a friendly fire-breathing sea dragon to enjoy their hospitality. Engagingly assembled, The Dragon of Pendragon Castle pleased many a British Saturday matinee audience in the early 1950s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
This sci-fi adventure was originally aimed at younger audiences. It tells the story of a young woman who falls from a horse frightened by a gunshot and is assisted by two clever brothers who begin investigating and discover that the girl's father is being chased by crooks after his innovative ray gun. Later the girl and her father are kidnapped and stashed in a secret subterranean hideout. To save her, the brothers get help from a G-man and together they see that justice is done. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Douglas Barr and Angela Glynne, children of truckers, expose a plot to steal a trucking shipment before it reaches it's destination. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1947
Naughty, bawdy British music hall comedian Frank Randle is the whole show in When You Come Home. The story opens as Randle, decked out in old-codger makeup, relives his glory days in the British Army, a good a cue as any for the title song. The film then segues into an extended flashback to 1908, with the younger Randle causing havoc in a seedy London theater. The distinctive Lancashire humor of Frank Randle, coupled with his doubleand single-entendre quips, invariably resulted in huge box office returns in England, though American audiences were either baffled or bored by the star's cheeky vulgarity. When You Come Home was also released as Home Sweet Home. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Randle, Leslie Sarony, (more)
- 1947
In this children's movie a young inventor dreams of becoming an engineer. He has even created a new gadget, but before he can finish it, he needs more money so he and his pal begin washing windows. The inventor's pal wants to use the money to go home to Ireland so he can see his dying grandpa. His good-hearted partner gladly gives up his share. Later, he is praised for his genius. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1946
An old junk dealer is assisted by 3 young boys when he sets out for a journey down the coast of England to confront the man responsible for his smuggler son's death. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1945
In this musical comedy, two idealistic bit players decide to rewrite a movie script in order to make it suit their values. At the same time, another a conniving pressman, sneakily re-writes his late partner's will so he can get part of the deceased's newspaper company. To cover himself, he frames one of the movie extras and gets him sent to jail. Things for the new publisher go well until the innocent actor escapes and is able to prove his innocence and bring the real crook to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Bud Flangan and Chesney Allen, members in good standing of Britain's Crazy Gang comedy troupe, carry the story in Dreaming. The story involves a cheeky British soldier who is knocked unconscious and begins...yes, dreaming. Our hero imagines himself at New York's Stage Door Canteen, at the Ascot races, in Northern Africa and in the middle of Nazi Germany. There's not much in the way of plot, but Flanagan & Allen seldom needed plots, merely premises. Hazel Court shows up in several different characterizations as the hero's dream girl. It might prove interesting to compare Dreaming to the similar 1945 Fred MacMurray vehicle Where Do We Go From Here? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1943
Adapted from the stage hit by J. B. Priestly, When We Are Married is a barbed satire of smug British conservatism. Set in turn-of-the-century Yorkshire, the story concerns three middle-aged married couples, who tend to look askance towards anyone who does not come up to their high moral and religious standards. These pecksniffs are especially critical towards those who advocate a break from the repressive sexual taboos of the era. Imagine their dismay, then, when all three couples discover that they're not legally married. Their efforts to hide this fact, and their eventual comeuppance, provides several hearty laughs. When We Are Married remains a favorite of the British repertory circuit, due to its large number of colorful and well-rounded characters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lloyd Pearson, Raymond Huntley, (more)
- 1943
Once again comedian Arthur Lucan dons an old woman's togs to become the tart-tongued Irish washerwoman. This time Mother Riley ends up mixed up with gangsters and busts up a ring of smugglers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1943
In this comedy, a prop man working at the nearly bankrupt Theatre Royal organizes a musical benefit featuring the talented theater staff, to save the establishment from an avaricious rival. When backers catch the rehearsals, they immediately offer to support the show. It is a great success and in the end, the theater owner offers the prop man a partnership. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1943
The Shipbuilders is a rare film of true merit from prolific British "quota quickie" director John Baxter. Clive Brook heads the cast as the owner of a shipbuilding firm, presently dedicated to the War effort. Though naturally concerned that his business will flag once the war is over, it is shown that Brook has nothing to worry about, so long as diligent, patriotic men like riveter Morland Graham are on his payroll. The film's message is clear: While it's important to think of one's service to the present National Crisis, it is equally important to take the Future into consideration. Actual footage shipbuilders at work give this hastily assembled patriotic exercise a veneer of reality. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Clive Brook
- 1942
Let the People Sing is an offshoot of J. B. Priestly's earlier show business-based fable The Good Companions. In Companions, a trio of mismatched dogooders save a musical troupe from ruin. In Let the People Sing, Alastair Sim is a besotted nobleman who comes to the aid of indigent comedian Fred Emney. Through Sim's intervention, the planned closing of a local music hall is prevented. Even if Sim hadn't let the people sing, as the title implores, they probably would have done so anyway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Fred Emney, (more)
- 1942
Comic actors Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen, members in good standing of Britain's "The Crazy Gang", head the cast of the wartime mirthspinner We'll Smile Again. The film is set at a movie studio, where production of an Arabian Nights epic is constantly interrupted by the fumbling and bumbling of Bob Parker (Flanagan) and Gordon Maxwell (Allen). The two screw-ups redeem themselves by capturing a Nazi spy ring, headed by film star Gina Cavendish (Phyllis Stanley) and Teutonic director Steiner (Meinhardt Maur). Bumptuous radio comedian Horace Kenny contributes to the zaniness as a self-important studio makeup man. The producers engagingly make fun of the film's ultra-low budget with the opening disclaimer "The Anglo-American Film Corporation announces proudly that no expense has been spared to save money on this production." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, (more)
- 1941
In this socially conscious drama, an eccentric, wealthy young man impersonates a hobo in order to save a flophouse that is slated for destruction. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Filmed in the North Country of England, this is a film noir set in the 1930s as a family struggles with poverty and unemployment. Depressing and realistic, it portrays the lengths to which a family can go in order to survive., though there is some humor interlaced to keep the bleakness under control. The beautiful, sepia-tinted photography enhances the portrayals, which are excellent. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Kerr, Clifford Evans, (more)
