Peter Collinson Movies

Despite its title, The Earthling is not a science fiction opus. Instead, it's a low-key character study about a doomed man who finds a new lease on life by helping another lost soul. Suffering from terminal cancer, Patrick Foley (William Holden) returns to his native Australia. Intending to live out his last few months alone, Foley comes out of his shell long enough to teach impressionable young orphan Shawn Daley (Ricky Schroder) a few Bush Country survival skills. Ironically, director Peter Collinson was himself a cancer victim, who died shortly after the film's completion. The Earthling works best on a kiddie-matinee level, with Holden's performance and the gorgeous photography its chief assets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

African Rage is a comparatively little-known political thriller, set in an African hospital. Top-billed Anthony Quinn plays a male nurse, assigned to care for a powerful tribal leader (Simon Sabela). With many threats against his well-being, the leader is heavily guarded around the clock. But Quinn manages to kidnap his patient, leading to a series of curious and occasionally confusing plot twists. African Rage was completed in South Africa in 1976 as Tigers Don't Cry, but not put into general American release for nearly nine years. Other alternate titles include Target of an Assassin, The Long Shot, and Fatal Assassin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this action-packed spy drama, a retired CIA agent reluctantly returns to espionage at the request of his treacherous student, who messed up and went to the Soviet side. Now the agent wants out, causing both the US and the USSR to send out their best hit men to get him. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television remake of a taut thriller from 1946 concerns a small-town psycho stalking disabled female victims, whom he shoots with a silencer pistol. His next intended prey is a poor young woman who cannot speak. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Innocent Bystanders stars Stanley Baker as a Bondlike British secret service agent. In collaboration with fellow spies Geraldine Chaplin and Dana Andrews, Baker is sent behind the Iron Curtain to locate a Russian scientist who has escaped from Siberia. There's a likelihood that the scientist was permitted to escape so that he can spy on the Good Guys. Baker must decide if the escapee is to be rescued or eliminated. The level of sadism and bloodshed in Innocent Bystanders is such that at times it makes the James Bond films look like models of decorum. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this thriller, a naive young woman travels from Liverpool to London to search for a man willing to sire her child. She meets a perfectly charming fellow and decides that he is the one. Unfortunately, "Mister Perfect" turns out to be a psychotic killer. The film is also titled Til Dawn Do Us Part. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

As the Ottoman Empire collapses throughout Turkey in 1922, a number of adventurers from all over the world sign on to protect the locals from thieves and marauders--for a hefty price. Two such mercenaries are Adam Dyer (Tony Curtis) and Josh Corey (Charles Bronson), who are hired by provincial Turkish governor Osman Bey (Gregoire Aslan). Adam and Josh are expected to protect their boss' gold shipment, and to provide safe conduct for Osman Bey's three daughters. Along the way, our "heroes" decide to forget their mission and abscond with the gold, but their plans are foiled by their own inherent ineptitude--and by the bothersome interference of duplicitious Colonel Elci (Fikret Hakan). You Can't Win 'Em All is best described as a "western with fezzes." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this somber drama set during WWII, John (David Hemmings), Cliff (Tony Beckley), and Tom (Tom Bell) are three British soldiers trapped in German territory while waiting for their commanding officer to rescue them. John detests war, Cliff revels in it with a perverse enthusiasm, and Tom is simply weary of the whole business. While trying to avoid capture, the three find a German officer, Helmut (Alan Dobie), and take him prisoner. While they consider executing him on the spot, Helmut pleads with the Britons that if they'll let him live, he'll guide them to his commanders. They agree, but while Helmut proves good to his word, they're too late -- to the shock of all four, they discover that the German general has been murdered, leaving the Englishmen and their captive to find their own way behind enemy lines. The Long Day's Dying won awards at the 1968 Cannes and San Sebastian International Film Festivals for its director, Peter Collinson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A man and woman with a shameful secret are confronted by a pair of sadistic thugs in this unsettling drama. Bruce Victor (Terence Morgan) is a not-so-happily married real estate agent having an affair with Barbara Willason (Suzy Kendall), an overly credulous young woman who believes that Bruce will leave his wife for her, though he has no real intentions of doing so. Through his company, Bruce has access to a furnished flat which he and Barbara use for their liaisons. One morning, while they're at the penthouse, Tom (Tony Beckley) and Dick (Norman Rodway) appear at the door, claiming to be meter readers. Barbara lets them in; they soon tie Bruce to a chair, and after dulling Barbara's senses with alcohol and drugs, they repeatedly violate her. When Tom and Dick finally leave, a seriously distraught Bruce and Barbara wonder if there's any way that they can tell their story to the police without revealing their adultery when Harry (Martine Beswicke) appears at the door, announcing that she is Tom and Dick's parole officer. Writer and director Peter Collinson adapted The Penthouse from the play The Meter Man by Scott Forbes. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide