Richard Davies

An old "urban legend" stemming from an incident at the 1893 Paris Exposition is the inspiration for this episode. While visiting London, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) comes across a corpse in her hotel room. She summons the authorities, only to find that the corpse has disappeared--and subsequently, virtually everyone, including the police, adamantly insist that there never was a body, and that Jessica is merely imagining things. Ingredients essential to this intriguing yarn are a double espionage agent, a Scotland Yard detective, a slimy concierge, and a brazen "tart". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the conclusion of the three-part story "Delta and the Bannermen," the Bannerman Warfleet steps up its efforts to assassinate Princess Delta of Chimeron (Belinda Mayne), as well as the infant heir apparent to the throne. In trying to prevent this, the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) learn to their surprise that the Chimeron infant doesn't really need any help. Watch for the Doctor's eyeglasses in the climactic chase scene (though quite nearsighted, actor McCoy was determined to drive a motorcycle without the assistance of a stunt man). Written by Malcolm Kohll, "Delta and the Bannermen, Episode 3" originally aired on November 16, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Imagine Monty Python's Flying Circus crossed with Dr. Strangelove, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what went on in the uproarious "black" British sitcom Whoops! Apocalypse. Three of the world's superpowers collide head-on in their efforts to replace the recently deposed Shah of Iran: U.S. President (and former silent movie star) Johnny Cyclops (Barry Morse), half-loony British Prime Minister Kevin Pork (Peter Jones), and senile Soviet premier Dubienkin (Richard Griffiths). The fly in the ointment is flamboyant international terrorist Lacrobat (John Cleese), who is determined to get his mitts on the all-powerful Quark bomb. If it is possible to invoke laughter from the prospect of wholesale nuclear annihilation, then this series succeeded beyond all expectations. Originally telecast in six half-hour episodes from March 14 to April 18, 1982, Whoops! Apocalypse was later pared down and released as a single "feature film" on home video, and was ultimately adapted as a genuine theatrical feature film in 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A scheming servant intends to be the new owner of his employer's mansion, but a recent German staff recruit makes things difficult for him. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a London school teacher has full hands trying to cope with rowdy slum kids when they go for their annual camping excursion. The film is based on a popular British television series. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Rebellious students at an English private school plan a violent revolt against their repressive environment in director Lindsay Anderson's highly acclaimed but extremely controversial drama. Centering on a small group of non-conformists led by Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell), the film paints a distinctly negative picture of the British school system and, by extension, English society. Seeing the powers-that-be as humorless, bureaucratic, and needlessly restrictive, Mick and his cohorts indulge in small acts of rebellion, including sneaking into town to romance a local waitress. Their actions are discovered and punished with harsh beatings, leading the students to plot revenge. This effort culminates in the film's most famous sequence, a surrealistic depiction of a bloody uprising by the students against the adult world. Daring and unpredictable in content and form, If... mixes color and black-and-white cinematography as easily as it mingles satire with dark fantasy. The film's ambiguous attitude toward violence caused controversy at the time, as many commentators saw the film as a potential incitement to violence. It became a great success among younger, counter-culture audiences who appreciated the audacious shock tactics and embraced the satirical, anti-establishment message. Often compared to Jean Vigo's French classic Zéro de conduite, which also featured surrealistic boarding-school rebellion, If... has become a high point in the cinema of youth rebellion. Anderson and McDowell later collaborated on O Lucky Man! (1973), Look Back in Anger (1980), and Britannia Hospital (1982). ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

In this drama, high-school sweethearts elope while still in school, and later have a second ceremony to please their parents. When reality sets in, the new husband abandons his dream of becoming a doctor to become a mechanic. They then move into the father of the bride's home where he lays down strict rules. When the groom gets involved with auto thieves, trouble ensues until both sets of in-laws team up to send him to college where he belongs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Republic's Swingin' on a Rainbow utilizes a plotline that had already done service in several of the studio's previous budget musicals. Would-be songwriter Lynn Ford (Jane Frazee) comes to the Big City, demanding $1000 from bandleader Jimmy Rhodes (Richard Davies). It seems that Rhodes has scored a hit with one of Lynn's songs, which he has plagiarized. While hunting Rhodes down, Lynn meets a personable young man named Steve Ames (Brad Taylor) -- who, unbeknownst to her, is the pen-pal lyricist with whom she's been collaborating for the past year. Former comedy great Harry Langdon makes his final film appearance in a Robert Benchley-esque supporting role; Langdon died while rehearsing a song-and-dance number for the film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A strong contender for the title of Universal's worst horror film of the 1940s, Jungle Woman continued the melodramatic exploits of "Ape-Woman" Paula Dupree (Acquanetta from Captive Wild Woman) including seemingly endless "flashback" footage. (Captive, of course, had itself "benefitted" from plenty of stock footage courtesy of the studio's 1933 Clyde Beatty film, The Big Cage.) Poor Dupree is found roaming an all-too familiar back lot jungle and is once again captured by a scientist (J. Carrol Naish), who proceeds to torment the girl to death. At his trial, Dr. Carl Fletcher is acquitted when he proves that the girl was not only more simian than human, but jealously stalked the good doctor's lovely daughter (Lois Collier). Fletcher is acquitted after an excursion to the morgue, where the body of Dupree has indeed transformed into that of an "Ape Woman." The film's odorous repute, even among the most ardent Z-movie apologists, stems mainly from its overuse of stock footage and some notoriously rotten acting. The studio's "Scream Queen," first-billed Evelyn Ankers, basically walked through her repeating role as Beth Mason and the film's only comedy relief was provided by the patently unfunny Edward M. Hyans, Jr., whose eventual demise thus came as a true relief. Worst of all, Irish-American character actor J. Carrol Naish, who was between Academy Award-nominated performances in Sahara (1943) and A Medal for Benny (1945), delivered perhaps the only bad performance of his long career as the not-so-mad doctor. Acquanetta (né Mildred Davenport), a former fashion model claiming to be the result of a liaison between an Arapaho princess and British royalty, was allowed to speak this time around, a fact which hasn't exactly enhanced the film's reputation either. Starlet Julie London was lucky; her small role as one of Lois Collier's friends landed on the cutting-room floor. The third and final installment in Universal's "Paula, the Ape Woman" trilogy, The Jungle Captive (1945), replaced Acquanetta (who had become a "goodwill ambassador" to South America for President Roosevelt) with 18-year-old starlet Vicky Lane. The series' strongest critic at the time, John T. McManus, actually took Universal to task for spreading "Nazi propaganda" through the work of legendary make-up artist Jack Pierce. "In Mein Kampf," McManus wrote, "Hitler calls the Negro a 'half-born ape.' Jungle Woman illustrates the point, changing a Hollywood glamor girl into an ape and vice versa with the Negro stage inserted right where Hitler says...Apparently it is to be an annual outrage unless somebody passes a law against propounding Nazi race theories in America." Still much debated today, Jungle Woman has a certain notoriety for modern audiences. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this entry, the detective must find two missing industrialists. They and $100,000 suddenly vanished while flying in a passenger plane. It does not take long for the supersleuth to discover that their disappearance is part of a conspiracy against the government. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Iron Major is the saga of WW1 hero-cum-football coach Frank Cavanaugh, played with his usual no-nonsense professionalism by Pat O'Brien. Leaving home and hearth behind to serve his country in the Great War, Cavanaugh goes on to lead the Dartmouth, Boston College and Fordham football teams to victory. His credo throughout is "Love of God?Love of Country?Love of Family"-inspiriational words indeed in war-torn 1943. Based on the memoirs of Cavanaugh's wife Florence (played in the film by Ruth Warrick), The Iron Major suffers from repetition and overkill. But, as Humphrey Bogart once said in an unrelated interview, "Pat O'Brien was good? Pat was always good." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Considering the fact that it was the only Universal horror film directed by cult favorite Joseph H. Lewis, it's a shame that Mad Doctor of Market Street isn't better than it is. Lionel Atwill dominates the proceedings as Dr. Benson, an addlepated medico obsessed with the notion of restoring the dead to life. After his experiment on the unfortunate William Saunders (Hardie Albright) goes awry, Benson escapes from the authorities by boarding a passenger ship. When the vessel sinks during a storm at sea, Benson and several survivors manage to pull ashore on a remote tropical island. Here the mad doctor wows the natives with his scientific knowhow, and before long he is appointed king of the tribe. In this capacity, he hopes to marry helpless heroine Patricia (Claire Dodd) and to use the rest of the shipwreck survivors as guinea pigs for his experiments. The main problem with Mad Doctor of Market Street is the inclusion of youthful Una Merkel as the heroine's aunt, a role obviously intended for an older, less prominent actress. Obliged to radically alter and "beef up" Merkel's part, the screenwriters were forced to shortchange the rest of the picture, and as a result Mad Doctor of Market Street is nowhere near as frightening or atmospheric as it should have been. Still, the film is worth the price of admission for its chilling closing sequence alone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide