Terry Alexander Movies

A woman seeks justice for herself, her family, and her people in this emotional drama. Judith (Sophia Loren) is a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp; she was once married to Gustav Schiller (Hans Verner), a German, but with the onset of WWII, he threw his support behind the ruling Nazi party, and when his marriage to Judith went sour, he turned her in as a Jew, along with their son. While Judith made it out of the camp alive, she has no idea what happened to her son. In 1947, Palestine, still under British rule, is being torn apart by fighting between Jewish and Arab forces, and Gustav, now wanted as a war criminal, has re-appeared there, leading a squadron of Arab terrorists. Aaron Stein (Peter Finch), is the head of an underground Jewish battalion called Haganah, and he needs help in ferreting out Gustav and learning what he's planning. He enlists the aid of Judith, who is just as eager as Stein to see Gustav put out of commission, as she seeks revenge for what he did to her and their child. Judith also features Jack Hawkins as Major Lawton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Terrence Rattigan, the playwright who brought us the multicharactered, multistoried Separate Tables, again offers us an episodic cross-section of humanity in The V.I.P.'s. When a heavy London fog paralyzes all air traffic, the lives of several people are profoundly affected. As indicated by the title, most of the characters in this portmanteau film are of the social and/or financial elite. Elizabeth Taylor wishes to leave her enormously wealthy husband Richard Burton in favor of playboy Louis Jourdan. Peripatetic European film producer Orson Welles is hoping to escape London with his newest protegee Elsa Martinelli in order to avoid paying his income tax. Australian businessman Rod Taylor, accompanied by his devoted (and adoring) secretary Maggie Smith, is anxious to head to New York to stave off a hostile takeover of his firm. And impoverished aristocrat Margaret Rutherford (who won an Oscar for her performance) would rather not go to Florida to accept a job as a social arbiter, but the wolf must be kept from the door. Before the fog disperses, you can be sure that at least one of the many plotlines will intersect with another. David Frost, in a tiny part as a reporter, was fond of recalling in later years that, while the major stars of The VIPS were introduced in the opening titles with animated limousines, he was consigned a tiny Volkswagen; alas, no such cartoon joke appears in the film, though on occasion the actors-particularly Mr. Welles-behave as though they were cartoons. Mercilessly skewered by the critics, The VIPS was a winner at the box-office, due in great part to the Cleopatra-inspired publicity concerning the top-billed Liz Taylor and Dick Burton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A scientist's attempts to clear the name of a friend nearly destroy his life in this intelligent science fiction drama. Prof. Sharpley (Harold Goldblatt) is a research scientist from Oxford University working with the British government on experiments in sensory deprivation. One day, Sharpley suddenly and shockingly commits suicide by throwing himself under an oncomming train while holding a briefcase stuffed with cash. While investigating the death, the police present the theory that Sharpley was a double agent, perhaps allied with the Communists, and that the death was the final result of his shame over betraying Great Britain. However, Sharpley's friend and associate Dr. Henry Longman (Dirk Bogarde) strongly disagrees, and he speculates that Sharpley's death had something to do with his research. In hopes of clearing Sharpley's name with police investigator Maj. Hall (John Clements), Longman begins subjecting himself to sessions in a sensory deprivation tank in order to prove that use of the technique can make one unusually suceptable to brainwashing or hypnotic suggestion. Longman emerges from the chamber frightened and disoriented, and in Long's presence one of his associates is able to convince Longman that he no longer cares for his wife Oonagh (Mary Ure). The doctor returns home displaying a callous and distant attitude toward his pregnant wife, and his personality begins to display an increasing number of deeply troubling changes. James Kennaway adapted the screenplay from his own novel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This clumsily titled British sex farce comes to us courtesy of the prolific Danzinger brothers. A young vamp sets her sights on a wealthy gent. The girl's roommates decide it's time for her to lose out for a change. They hire a ham actor to pose as Mr. Moneybags, thereby rescuing the real millionaire from a costly mistake. If there was any more substance to this little meringue, we'd tell you. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this Edgar Wallace mystery, the trouble begins when a Rhodesian jewel thief kills a policeman and simply disappears. Now it is up to an intrepid detective, a former cop, to solve the crime. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When an ex-con changes his name and tries to make a new start, everything seems to conspire against him in his efforts. First of all, he is trying to fend of the attentions of his boss' wife. Then, to make things worse, an ex-cellmate shows up and blackmails him by threatening to tell about his past. Push comes to shove and our man, innocent of any crime, winds up back in jail with a murder conviction hanging on him. Not as interesting as it sounds. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

An engrossing suspenser with dashes of comedy, League of Gentlemen is about a daring group of highly trained army men, turned bank robbers. When Hyde (Jack Hawkins) is drummed out of the army after years of devoted service, he decides to get back at society in general. One by one, he finds seven other army officers who are now broke and who walk on the shady side of the law. All eight men go into hiding as they plan the robbery with the care and attention of a behind-the-lines reconnaissance mission. As they undertake tasks like raiding a military depot for explosives and similar stunts, suspense and incidental humor increase, leading up to bank day when the really big show has to be pulled off without a hitch. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Set in an Italian P.O.W. camp during World War II, this conventional escape drama shines the most in the portrayals of the various prisoners. Richard Todd is Lt. Col. David Baird, intensely and single-mindedly set on escaping. Bernard Lee is Lt. Col. Huxley who is the careful senior British officer with a view of the entire situation. Michael Wilding plays the deceptively dashing Major Charles Marquand, and some comic relief is provided by Dennis Price, an actor-prisoner more devoted to his production of Hamlet than leaving before the curtain goes up. The hitch in the plans to escape is insidious -- there is a traitor among the prisoners and before they can succeed, they have to find him. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this British comedy, set during WWII, a street laborer likes to harass the British soldiers and ends up drafted into becoming part of the British army labor regiment. Unfortunately, a mix-up occurs and he ends up being parachuted behind Nazi lines where he is mistaken for a Nazi officer. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Alistair Sim plays a mild, innocuous little watchmaker who spends his off-hours as a professional assassin. His present target is windbag cabinet member Raymond Huntley. After various misfire attempts, Sim plants a bomb in a small radio and waits for the tube to warm up--but the authorities by now are on to him. The Green Man has some excellent setpieces, notably a droll snatch of black humor involving a body stuffed in a piano. The film's only debit is that, in the play upon which it is based, Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat's Meet the Body, Sim's character is secondary, almost peripheral. By reshaping the film into a star vehicle, much of the play's intimate (albeit ghoulish) charm is dissipated. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lantern-jawed British comedian Frankie Howerd, best known to American TV fans as the star of the raucous historical satire Up Pompeii, heads the cast of The Runaway Bus. Howard plays Percy Lamb, a novice bus driver assigned to drive a coach from one London ariport to another. Alas, the city is enveloped in a thick fog, and poor Percy gets lost, along with his half-dozen passengers and a hidden cache of stolen gold. Most of the film's best moments go to Margaret Rutherford as a not-so-sweet old lady and Belinda Lee as a spy-novel addict. Petula Clark, who was already a top recording star in 1954, appears as a perky airline hostess. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This documentary profiles the work of a palm reader who assures a woman bent on suicide that she will find happiness and assists a woman in the search for her long-lost son. ~ All Movie Guide