Dorothy Bramhall Movies
- 1956
Time is of the essence in this comedy when an American cabaret singer learns that she is in line for a large inheritance. The money will be hers if her ex-husband cannot produce a son by a given date. She immediately takes off to London to find him. Unfortunately, she discovers that his new wife is due to give birth any day. The situation grows complicated as they deal with the unborn's unknown gender, and the fact that neither the man's new marriage, nor the divorce may be legal. The time difference between New York and London is also a factor. At the last possible minute, the new wife bears twins: one girl, and one boy. The singer still gets the money, as the newlyweds did not consider the ramifications of Daylight Savings Time. Fortunately, she shares the wealth. Songs include "Give Me a Man" and "You're the Only One." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shelley Winters, John Gregson, (more)
- 1952
Brilliant plastic surgeon Philip Ritter (Paul Henreid) loses the love of his life, concert pianist Alice Brent (Lizabeth Scott), to her manager, David (Andre Morell). As a balm to his wounded pride, Dr. Ritter Henreid makes over a hideously scarred female criminal into the spitting image of the woman who jilted him (the girl is played by Mary McKenzie "before," and, of course, by Lizabeth Scott "after"). Alas, he cannot make over her personality as well, and soon she's run off with her own crooked crowd. A not-bad precursor to Hitchcock's Vertigo, A Stolen Face was produced by Britain's Hammer Films, and distributed in the U.S. by Lippert. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Henreid, Lizabeth Scott, (more)
- 1951
The producers of Quartet and Trio concluded their cycle with this omnibus film, which features three stories based, as in the previous film, on tales by W. Somerset Maugham. "The Ant and the Grasshopper" concerns Tom Ramsey (Nigel Patrick), a fiscally unstable young man who is constantly borrowing money from his brother George (Roland Culver). Eventually, George falls on hard times and is forced to sell the family estate, just as Tom marries a wealthy woman and is in a position to purchase it. In "Winter Cruise," Miss Reid (Kay Walsh) is an aging spinster taking a voyage aboard a cargo ship. She has little to do but engage the others on board in conversation, which the passengers find so annoying that they arrange a ship-board romance for her with Pierre (Jacques Francois), a porter, in the hopes that it will keep her quiet. And "Gigolo and Gigolette" features Glynis Johns as Stella Cotman, whose husband Syd (Terence Morgan) earns his living as a performer in a high-wire act. Stella is terribly worried that Syd's risky profession will lead to his death, so she takes their life's savings to a casino in hopes of winning enough that he can retire. However, her plan hardly goes as she hoped. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nigel Patrick, Roland Culver, (more)
- 1949
In this comedy, two brothers, both of them Welsh coal-miners, win a contest and get to go on a day trip to London. Upon their arrival in the town, they miss their newspaper escort and get separated. Mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Donald Houston, (more)
- 1948
In this comedy, a couple visits a fortune teller who gazes into the crystal ball and informs them that the husband only has one month to live. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Ann Markham (Margaret Lockwood) is an employee with the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro. Though ostensibly businesslike and intelligent, Ann can't help falling in love with irresponsible Charlie Kent (Griffith Jones). On their wedding day, Ann discovers that Charlie is on the lam from fraud charges throughout the world. Still, she believes his promise that he'll mend his ways once they've tied the nuptial knot. Not unexpectedly, Charlie goes back on his word, and it is up to handsome millionaire Ashley Morehouse (Norman Wooland) to save Ann from her poor judgment. It was surprising to see the British film industry's resident "wicked lady" Margaret Lockwood playing so gullible a character -- so surprising, in fact, that audiences tended to stay away from Look Before You Love in droves. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Griffith Jones, (more)
- 1948
In this ironically titled British WW II drama, a widowed housewife provides housing for two navy men while her daughters serve as Wrens and her son serves in the military. The woman and one of the daughters end up falling for the sailors and marrying them. Following D-Day and the end of the war, the son returns home. All must now deal with the grim possibility of yet another world war. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ursula Jeans, Cecil Parker, (more)
- 1944
No relation to the 1970 box-office blockbuster of the same name, the 1944 British film Love Story was originally released in the US as The Lady Surrenders. Margaret Lockwood stars as one of those brilliant but troubled concert pianists, so beloved of British wartime filmgoers. Knowing that she suffers from a potentially fatal heart condition, Margaret has one last fling with RAF pilot Stewart Granger, who is slowly going blind. As in such earlier romantic dramas of the One Way Passage variety, Margaret and Stewart keep their afflictions secret from each other. When the truth comes out, Granger agrees to a dangerous and experimental operation to restore his sight. This sets the stage for a war of wills between Lockwood, who wants Granger to undergo the surgery, and Gragner's fiancee Patricia Roc, who, for reasons of her own, does not. Love Story was cowritten and directed by Leslie Arliss, son of eminent British stage star Sir George Arliss. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Stewart Granger, (more)
- 1944
The Caryl Brahams-S. J. Simon novel The Elephant is White is the basis for the British Give us the Moon. Comic actor Vic Oliver delivers a broad performance as Sascha, a dour suicide-prone chap who belongs to an "I won't work" club. The organization was founded by Nina (Margaret Lockwood) on behalf of those who have no intention of ever making a living, and who make no bones about it. Romance enters the picture when the industrious son (Peter Graves) of a hotel owner poses as a member of the idle rich, the better to be close to Nina. To take the curse off an "unemployment" comedy in the middle of WW2 (when everyone was expected to "do their bit"), Give Us the Moon is set in a fanciful postwar London. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Margaret Lockwood, Vic Oliver, (more)
