Bridget Boland Movies

Anne of the Thousand Days is the belated film adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's 1948 stage play. The story concentrates on the romance between Britain's King Henry VIII (Richard Burton) and his ill-fated second wife Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold). After holding out for marriage rather than an illegitimate union, Anne marries Henry after he sheds himself of Katherine of Aragon -- causing a rift between the Crown and the Church in the process. Anne's inability to produce a male heir leads Henry to look about for other suitable mates. Henry's sinister right-hand man Cromwell (John Colicos) arranges for Anne to be condemned on a charge of adultery. She is beheaded, while Henry disconsolately sits in Windsor Castle, regretting this callous example of political expediency. Richard Burton is ideally cast in Anne of the Thousand Days, but it is Genevieve Bujold who delivers the best, most complex performance in the film. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

War and Peace is a commendable attempt to boil down Tolstoy's long, difficult novel into 208 minutes' screen time. In recreating the the social and personal upheavals attending Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia, $6 million was shelled out by coproducers Carlo Ponti, Dino de Laurentiis and Paramount Pictures. Some of the panoramic battle sequences are so expertly handled by second-unit director Mario Soldati that they appear to be Technicolor-and-Vistavision newsreel footage of the actual events. Still, the film falters dramatically, principally because of a lumpy script and King Vidor's surprisingly lustreless direction. In addition, the casting is wildly consistent: for example, while Audrey Hepburn is flawless as Natasha, Henry Fonda is far too "Yankeefied" as the introspective Pierre. Proving too long and unwieldy for most audiences, War and Peace died at the box office; far more successful was the epic, scrupulously faithful 1968 version, filmed in the Soviet Union. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this crime drama an American is assigned to guard a US art exhibit in London to protect one of da Vinci's most priceless paintings, "Madonna and Child." A series of art thefts has put the museum officials on red alert and they anxiously await the painting's arrival. Unfortunately, the painting is stolen en route to the show and replaced by an imitation. The intrepid guard follows the thieves to a private gallery run by a wealthy criminal. The film contains some useful and interesting information on art forgeries. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Shortly after the end of World War II, a pair of British soldiers hold an increasingly hostile group if refugees in a German theater in preperation for returning them to their homelands. Confused by the seemingly constant struggle that still surrounds them despite the official declaration that the war has ended, the soldiers and their captives are briefly unified when word of a coming plague begins to spread. As time passes and the group remains, the British soldier's handle on the situation losens as their captives' momentarily placated hostility once again boils to the surface. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

In this WW II propaganda film, a German doctor, highly praised by his Nazi employers, finds it increasingly difficult to support the oppressive, increasingly brutal movement. At first he does nothing as his friends are persecuted and his wife becomes increasingly enamored with the party's misguided philosophies. Eventually he enlists the aide of an engineer and creates a secret radio station where he broadcasts condemnations of Hitler and prays for a "better" Germany to arise out of the ashes of his ruined country. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this entry in the long-running British comedy series, boisterous Irish washerwoman Mother Riley plays the wardrobe lady for her daughter, a chorus girl. Her daughter then falls for a wealthy fellow. To spy, Riley dons a maid's uniform and begins working in the beau's family home. Mayhem ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

The 1940 British production of Gaslight was the first of two cinematic adaptations of Patrick Hamilton's play. Oozing faux continental charm, Anton Walbrook inveigles his way into the confidence of the young mistress (Diana Wynyard) of a large Victorian mansion. Walbrook is searching for the rubies that he'd stolen from the previous owner of the house -- whom he'd also murdered. Suspecting that Wynyard is about to catch on to his secret, Walbrook enlists the aid of a sluttish maidservant to drive his loving bride crazy. The ploy almost works, but Wynyard is rescued by an unexpected ally. Gaslight was released in the U.S. as Murder in Thornton Square, then withdrawn entirely on the occasion of MGM's expensive 1944 remake of Gaslight, which starred Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. To avoid confusion, MGM allegedly ordered that all prints of the original Gaslight be destroyed. Evidently that order was not honored to the letter, since the 1940 Gaslight is still safely available for both theatrical and TV exhibition. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi