Faith Brook Movies

The hour-long feature Elgar's Tenth Muse: The Life of an English Composer hearkens back to early 20th century Great Britain. Within the framework of that time and place, the film dramatizes the affections that blossomed between English Romantic composer Edward Elgar (James Fox) and the tenth woman who functioned as his muse, his depthless well of creative inspiration - the lithe and sensual young Hungarian violinist called Jelly d'Aranyi (Faith Brook). Selma Alispahic and Rupert Frazer co-star; the film features classical performances by violinists Maxim Vengerov and Natalie Clein. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

In this Bill Murray-driven remake of the 1946 Tyrone Power film, Murray plays the lead, Larry Darrel, a World War I survivor who takes off on a foreign trek to discover the meaning of his life. Apparently Murray said he'd film Ghostbusters only if Columbia would let him do Razor's Edge. ~ Rovi

Having already been seen spying for the Nazis in 1979's The Eagle Has Landed, Donald Sutherland once more infiltrates wartime England on behalf of Der Fuhrer in Eye of the Needle. Willing to kill even the most innocent of bystanders to complete his task, Sutherland manages to remain in Britain until the eve of D-Day in 1944. Discovering that the invasion is to take place on Normandy, Sutherland scurries to rendezvous with a U-boat off the treacherous Isle of Storms. His mission is thwarted by Kate Nelligan, the frustrated wife of paralyzed RAF commander Christopher Cazenove. Though having fallen in love with Sutherland, Nelligan nonetheless prepares to turn the man in when he kills her husband. Tension mounts in the closing scene as Sutherland races against time to (a) make contact with the U-boat and (b) stop Nelligan before she blows the whistle on him. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Roger Moore took a brief vacation from playing James Bond in this witty adventure drama. Rufus Excalibur ffolkes (Moore), who for some reason prefers not to capitalize his last name, is a scuba-diving adventurer for hire with a sharp mind, a quick wit, a fondness for cats, and a certain distrust of women. When terrorist Lou Kramer (Anthony Perkins) takes over an oil drilling platform in the North Sea and threatens to blow it sky high if his demands are not met, ffolkes is called in by Admiral Brinsden (James Mason) to foil Kramer's scheme before it's too late. ffolkes, also released as North Sea Hijack and Assault Force, was based on the novel Esther, Ruth, and Jennifer by Jack Davies, who also penned the screenplay ("Esther, Ruth, and Jennifer," incidentally, are the code names for the ship, drilling rig, and platform seized by Kramer in the film). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Julius Grace is the husband of middle-aged Faith Brook. Or, rather, he was: long before the story begins, Julius dies. The thrust of this 1978 British drama is the effect that Julius' demise has upon Brooks and her young daughters-twenty years after the fact. Originally presented as a multipart TV miniseries, After Julius contains some nudity, which posed very little difficulty to British censors but which was deemed unacceptable by American taste-arbiters. After Julius is based on the popular novel by Elizabeth Jane Howard (sidebar: star Faith Brook is the daughter of British stage and film star Clive Brook). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Of the many stage, screen, and television adaptations of Leo Tolstoy's mammoth novel War and Peace, this multi-episode British TV version is widely regarded as one of the most thorough and entertaining. The grim days of Napoleonic wars and the "Little Corporal's" ill-fated invasion of Russia were shown through the eyes of a large, interwoven group of protagonists, including the sensitive intellectual Pierre (played by a young Anthony Hopkins, who won the BAFTA Best Actor award) and the ethereally lovely Natasha (Morag Hood). Of the supporting cast, Alan Dobie as Prince Bolkonsky and David Swift as Napoleon were standouts. The 20 45-minute episodes of War and Peace first aired in the U.K. from September 28, 1972 through February 8, 1973. The series was syndicated in the U.S. courtesy of PBS beginning November 20, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A love triangle is the basis of this chilly romantic drama. The story centers on an engineer who marries a recently widowed woman. The trouble begins when the new groom begins an affair with his bride's comely daughter. Though the wife knows about it, she holds her peace. Time passes and she finds that the triangle has become tiresome and so asks her husband to get rid of the girl. The somewhat dutiful husband obeys and begins looking for a suitable suitor for the girl. Unfortunately, no sooner does he succeed than he gets terribly jealous and picks a fight with the girl's new love. It is a terribly battle and the husband ends up seriously injured and bedridden. Ironically, both women lovingly tend to his recovery. At the story's end, a group of officials enter the engineer's mansion to give him a special award for his good work. Unfortunately, as they enter, three gunshots ring out from the bedroom. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this psychological drama set at a posh boy's school, a tenured teacher is enraged after learning that the school board has again assigned the position of headmaster to someone else. Angry and extremely bored with his life and marriage to an independently wealthy woman, the teacher drives himself insane with his desire to change things. First he pays a corrupt student to claim that the teacher molested him. This creates a terrible scandal for the school. Then, he and his mistress humiliate his wife so badly that she kills herself. Suddenly, for the first time, the school teacher is free. Unfortunately, the freedom is short-lived as the police soon move in and bring him to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sidney Poitier, who in 1955 played a student in a tough inner-city high school, portrays a teacher assigned to a similar institution in To Sir, With Love. Unable to find work as an engineer, Poitier accepts a teaching post in London's East End slums. To reach his sullen, rebellious students, Poitier throws away his textbooks and endeavors to reach them as human beings--and as the adults they're going to become. It's an uphill climb, but gradually the students are won over. They begin referring to Poitier as "Sir," not out of blind obedience but as a gesture of genuine affection. Not that there aren't obstacles to overcome: in addition to trying to get through to hardcase student Christian Roberts, Poitier must face down the resistance and hostility of his fellow teachers. The sweetly sentimental finale amply displays the vocal talents of Lulu, who trills the title song. Based on the novel by E. R. Brainwaite, To Sir, With Love was one of the biggest moneyspinners of 1967 (with this film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night, Sidney Poitier had quite a year). In 1996, a belated made-for-TV sequel was produced, briefly reuniting To Sir with Love co-stars Sidney Poiter, Lulu and Judy Geason, none of whom looked a day older. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The innocuous title We Shall See obscures the fact that this British melodrama is perhaps the earliest "killer bee" effort. The film gets under way when Alva Collins (Faith Brook), the mentally unbalanced wife of airline pilot Evan Collins (Maurice Kaufmann), is subjected to the stings of thousands of bees. Whoever was responsible for this knew full well that Alva was allergic to the tiny scourges, thus suspicion immediately falls upon her husband. After this lively opening, the film settles down to business as Scotland Yard searches for the bee-happy assailant. We Shall See was one of several 1960s British programmers produced by Merton Park Productions and based on the works of suspense novelist Edgar Wallace. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Having survived the Holocaust, Ruth Goldman (Catherine Feller), a Jewish refugee relocated to Warsaw, lives for the day that she can exact revenge against the Nazis. She finally gets her chance when, walking through the war-ravaged streets, she comes upon a seriously injured German soldier--and promptly kills the man. But when the soldier's body is taken to the morgue, the doctor reports that the man has been dead for six years. This is one of several One Step Beyond episodes filmed in England. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Why has total stranger Richard Todd shown up at the villa of wealthy Anne Baxter? Why does he claim to be her long-lost brother? Is Todd planning to finagle Baxter out of her inheritance? Is someone going to end up seriously dead? The answers to these questions can be found in Chase a Crooked Shadow, a confounding chiller with more than a few adroit plot twists. Before the film has run its course, we learn that the true villain is not necessarily whom it appears to be--nor is the heroine all that she seems. Chase a Crooked Shadow was based on an 1943 Whistler radio play; the plot was later reworked into no fewer than three American made-for-TV movies. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi