Lesley Brook Movies

In this psychological thriller, an avaricious man covets his stepbrother's home. The greedy fellow knows that his stepbrother has a heart condition and so sets off a fatal attack by smashing a beloved violin. He then throws his wife and his other step-brother out of the house. But his actions do not come without a terrible price, and soon he begins to go mad. Thinking that he hears the plaintive songs of the broken violin, he runs to the piano and begins to loudly play hoping drown out the hellish sounds. A wild fear overtakes the man as the violin plays on and on until at last he crumples, face down upon the keyboard, a victim of a massive, fatal heart attack. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on the novel by Pamela Hansford Johnson, Trojan Brothers offers the unlikely screen team of music hall funster Bobby Howes and up-and-coming leading man David Farrar. The stars are cast as Benny and Sid, two-bit vaudevillians who tour the provinces with a "horse" act. Sid plays the front end of the horse, while Benny brings up the rear (type-casting, as it turns out). The harmony between the two troupers is disrupted when Sid falls in love with fickle socialite Betty Todd (Patricia Burke). Meanwhile, Benny finds happiness -- or at least security -- with plain-looking Maggie (Barbara Mullen). In case all this sounds like a lighthearted comedy, it isn't, especially when the maddened Sid exacts revenge upon the faithless Betty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This domestic melodrama chronicles three generations of a family of music-hall owners. The place was founded by two stage stars in the early 1900s and soon became a success until WW I erupted and one of the partner's sons is killed in a dog fight. Following the war, the popularity of music halls declined and their hall falls into disrepair. Fortunately, a partner's grandson decides to save the hall. He does so until he joins the RAF to fight in WW II. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Bells Go Down is a dramatization of London firefighting efforts during the 1940 Blitz. In structure, the film is very much like any other smoke-eating melodrama, with perhaps more emphasis on comedy than usual. The omnipresence of the Luftwaffe gives the film an urgency that others in its genre tend to lack. Making it all the more remarkable is the fact that most British studios were just as vulnerable as London's burned-down landmarks--a fact not lost on the actors, who perform with heightened credibility. Many of the better composed shots in The Bells Go Down would find their way into TV documentaries of the 1950s and 1960s as "reality" footage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, two lovers plan to marry when the man returns from his stint in the war. The woman's life is shattered when she learns that he is listed as missing in action. She then becomes a nurse and falls in love with a doctor. Later the husband, an amnesiac returns. His memory also returns when he hears his favorite romantic song. This reunites him with his true love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this family drama a crippled young man is arrested and accused of robbery. His father, a lawyer's clerk, must now defend his son. To do so, he learns the ins and outs of legal counsel. He ends up saving his son and finding the real thief. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this crime drama, a boys' school matron is brutally murdered after she wins the French lottery. The story tells how it was done. She is killed by a French loan shark who tricks her into coming to his place. He then kills her and has another woman put on her clothing and collect the lottery winnings. The law pursues the killer, who commits two more murders before he kills himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this British crime drama an argument over a new anaesthetic results in the murder of a hospital doctor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a meek, mild-mannered movie lover travels to Boulogne and ends up entangled in a great adventure that begins when he is mugged by a gang of British robbers. He then must return home aboard an onion boat. Later he and his gal try to catch the gang. They then discover that they are jewel thieves and end up trapped in a house with the gang's loot. Fortunately, the cops come and save them in the nick of time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A loving mother sacrifices all for her son in this drama. She is an artist's model who finds herself financially drained by a dead-beat artist when she falls in love with a younger man, marries him and bears a son. When her beloved husband dies in the war, the old artist tries to win her back. When that doesn't work, he lures her into his studio and pulls a gun on her. During the ensuing struggle, she accidentally shoots him and ends up spending 15 years in jail. Upon her release she heads for America to keep her son from discovering the truth. In the States, she gets involved with a gambler, but then returns to England and discovers her son is being flimflammed by gamblers. She then saves him from losing it all, but the ungrateful son only has eyes for his lover and his mother slowly fades from view. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a plucky woman visiting the south of France attempts to catch herself a movie star. To help her, she cons a womanizing count to woo her and make her boyfriend jealous. Unfortunately, it backfires and the count falls for her. She then hatches a new scheme in which the count and the movie star kidnap her. Along the way, the movie star offends her and she goes running back to the count. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, a wealthy heir is shamed by his fiancee at a fancy party and ends up taking off to the bad side of town. There he encounters an ex-con who mistakes the distraught fellow for a high-class thief. The ex-con takes the millionaire into a house for reformed criminals. It is managed by a pretty woman and immediately the rich boy and she are attracted to each other. Unfortunately, the not-so-reformed ex-con takes him away from the girl and forces him to pull off a heist for the crook and his gang. Fortunately, the lovely landlady intervenes and saves him before it is too late. In gratitude, the rich man buys the house for the woman so she can run it as she sees fit. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide