Olwen Brookes Movies
- 1959
This rollicking political satire stars Ian Carmichael as an impressionable British TV personality. His vanity is stroked by a group of political managers who talk him into running on the Conservative ticket during a political campaign. The managers hope that Carmichael's name value will draw voters, but don't intend to permit him anything like actual legislative power. Carmichael suddenly develops an abiding interest in politics when he meets his Labour Party opponent--lovely Patricia Breden. Left, Right and Center is blessed with an abundance of supporting character comedians, headed by Alistair Sim as Carmichael's avaricious uncle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Bredin, Eric Barker, (more)
- 1957
1957's The Good Companions was the second film version of the well-known J. B. Priestly play. The story revolves around the Dinky Doos, a provincial musical troupe living from hand to mouth. Eric Portman, Celia Johnson and John Fraser are three Britons from various classes and walks of life who become involved in the fortunes of the Dinky Doos. Pooling their resources, the diverse "good companions" save the troupe from disbanding. Good-natured and high-spirited, Good Companions might have even been better had the director adopted a more intimate and less showbizzy approach. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Portman, Celia Johnson, (more)
- 1957
In this British mystery, set backstage at a theater, a beautiful actress is starring in a successful playwright's newest hit. Unbeknownst to her, the writer is in love with her. Because he is jealous of all those who might steal her away, he refuses to allow her to break her contract and work in an American playwright's newest show. Trouble ensues when the jealous playwright is found stabbed with a pair of the actress's scissors. The American is afraid that she is being framed and so helps her move the body. When the police find it, everyone becomes a suspect until it is learned that the actress was guilty all along. The American, who also loves her, takes the rap for her crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dale Robertson, Lois Maxwell, (more)
- 1954
Alan Ladd once more journeyed to England to make a film for Columbia's British counterpart (Warwick Studios), and the result was the lively swashbuckler The Black Knight. Ladd plays John, a young swordmaker who aspires to join the Knights of the Round Table. Unfortunately, he is falsely accused of cowardice and banished from his community. Thanks to the secret tutelage of one of Arthur's knights, John is able to train himself in the art of combat, and soon reemerges as the vengeance-seeking Black Knight. In this guise, he is able to bring a group of traitors to justice, rout a band of invading Saracens, and rescue his lady love Linet (Patricia Medina) from certain doom. Anthony Bushell, who was soon to completely forsake acting in favor of producing and directing, costars as King Arthur, while the villains of the piece are essayed by Peter Cushing and future Dr. Who Patrick Troughton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alan Ladd, Peter Cushing, (more)
- 1954
The comfortable complacency of the British Birling family is upset when Inspector Poole (Alastair Sim) comes calling. An impoverished young working girl named Eva Smith (Jane Wenham) has committed suicide, and Poole hopes that the Birlings will help him find out why. As the evening progresses, a series of flashbacks reveal that each member of the Birling family has in some small way been responsible for Eva's demise. A twist ending adds a mystical, thought-provoking touch to the proceedings. Bryan Forbes, who plays the Birling son, matriculated into the noted director of such films as The L-Shaped Room, King Rat and The Whisperers. An Inspector Calls was based on a play by J.B. Priestley, which recently scored a huge hit when it was revived in London and New York. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Arthur Young, (more)
- 1953
Handel's "Messiah" becomes a bone-of-contention in a tiny Welsh community in this comedy. The trouble begins when the choirmaster chooses a new contralto to sing the solo. Unfortunately, this leaves out the soloist who has sung the part for the past 15 years. This precipitates a family feud the women belong to the wealthiest family's in town. To reunite the warring factions, a young couple put off their elopement, but the real solution comes when the choirmaster turns the solo into a duet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1952
The British Something Money Can't Buy offers a few smaller-scale variations on themes previously explored in the 1946 Hollywood Oscar-winner The Best Years of Our Lives. Harry Wilding (Anthony Steel), a high-ranking wartime military officer, has trouble adjusting to his go-nowhere civilian job and the monotony of his home life. Harry's wife Anne (Patricia Roc) tries to make things easier for her husband, but there are no easy answers to his plight. The inherent drama of the situation is leavened by moments of gentle humor, not to mention the warm rapport between stars. The supporting cast includes hirsute comic actor (and longtime David Niven crony) Michael Trubshawe and the venerable A. E. Mathews, at the time billed as England's oldest working actor. Director Pat Jackson co-authored the perceptive screenplay of Something Money Can't Buy with James Lonsdale Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Roc, Anthony Steel, (more)
- 1951
Don't be misled by the title, and by the presence of Glynis Johns in the cast. The "Venus" in Appointment with Venus is a prized cow. The time is World War II: special operatives David Niven and Glynis Johns are dispatched to a Nazi-held island to rescue Venus, who for some reason or other is vital for British morale. Naturally, this isn't easy and leads to all sorts of complications. Released in the US as Island Rescue, Appointment with Venus was based on a novel by Jerrard Tickell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Glynis Johns, (more)
- 1950
A battle of the sexes begins to rage in an isolated private school in this charming British comedy. Just outside of London during World War II, Axis bombing forces the evacuation of a private all-girls school, St. Swithins. Thanks to a bureaucratic mix-up, the girls of St. Swithins and their Headmistress Muriel Whitchurch (Margaret Rutherford) are to be billeted at the nearby Nutborne Boys School. While the students learn to make do with the crowded conditions, Nutborne headmaster Wetherby Pond (Alistair Sim) is less than pleased with the situation, especially after he and Whitchurch begin butting heads over which of them is truly in charge. The Happiest Days Of Your Life was based on a popular stage comedy by playwright John Dighton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alastair Sim, Margaret Rutherford, (more)
- 1949
British novelist Erik Linklater was well-represented in 1949, with adaptations of two of his best novels hitting the screen almost simultaneously. In Linklater's Poet's Pub, a rhyme-spinner named Saturday Keith (Derek Bond) assumes control of a rustic inn. All Keith wants is a little peace and quiet so that he can write his poems without interruption. Alas, his little Pub becomes a veritable Grand Central Station for a wide variety of eccentrics, ranging from absent-minded professors to bumbling crooks. Stealing the show is the peerless Joyce Grenfell as a toothy patroness of the arts. Poet's Pub has no real plot to speak of, just a series of vignettes unified by a central locale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Derek Bond, Rona Anderson, (more)
- 1949
Based on a novel by Mary Mitchell, Warning to Wantons is the story of 17-year-old Renee (Anne Vernon). After wriggling out of a convent school, Renee manages to crash high society. She twists several wealthy men around her little finger before making a surprising marital decision. David Tomlinson, stuffy second lead of many a Disney film, is fun to watch as a high-society twit. The film's 144-minute running time had to be boiled down considerably before the film was distributed to America. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harold Warrender, Anne Vernon, (more)
- 1949
Stop Press Girl is admittedly a one-joke film, though that joke is a good one. Sally Ann Howes plays a winsome British lass who has the power to stop all machinery around her for a period of 15 minutes. It must needs be that Sally falls in love with a newspaperman, thereby justifying the film's title. The plot rears its ugly head when our heroine is reluctantly involved in an attempt to sabotage a rival newspaper. Stop Press Girl is one of those British comedies that used to pop up all over the place on American TV, only to virtually disappear in the mid-1970s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Ann Howes, Gordon Jackson, (more)
- 1948
There's dirty work backstage in the British melodrama My Sister and I. Sally Ann Howes plays Robina Adams, an aspiring actress who lands a job at the provincial repertory company managed by Miss Havisham-like Mrs. Camelot (Martita Hunt). Still carrying a torch for her late husband, Mrs. Camelot makes everyone's life miserable until she is found dead of gas poisoning. The solution to the murder is hinted at in the film's title, which is all that can be revealed for now. A subplot concerns the romantic tug-of-war between Robina and her two would-be swains, actor Graham Forbes (Dermot Walsh) and lawyer Roger Crisp (Patrick Holt). ies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hazel Court, Helen Goss, (more)
- 1947
In this costume drama, a woman finds herself the prize in a battle between two jealous brothers. Eventually she marries the suave one, but finds that he is most displeased by her inability to behave in a matter he deems appropriate for a woman of her station. The sad wife takes her troubles to the other brother who suggests she divorce her husband and take up with him. She ignores the advice and reconciles with her man. The angered brother then poisons the husband and tries to get the wife blamed for the death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sally Gray, Eric Portman, (more)
- 1946
This holiday comedy is set during the Christmas of 1946 and centers upon a fellow who has returned to his native Canada to spend the Yule. When he receives a telegram from "the Fergusons," many memories of the Christmas they spent together come flooding back. The story jumps backward four years when the man was serving in the Canadian army and was stationed in England. This family took him in for the holiday. While there, the soldier finds himself pursued by the Fergusons' daughter and by their maid. The story then jumps to the present where the former maid--now in the military too--is seen preparing the soldier's Christmas dinner in their home. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Walls, Jeanne de Casalis, (more)
