Peter Fraser Movies

Toothy, ukelele-plucking British music hall favorite George Formby is at it again in Bell-Bottom George. From the title, you'd think that Formby has joined the Royal Navy. Well, sort of: when he's declared 4F (or the British equivalent of 4F), Formby poses as a Jack Tar to impress his girl friend Ann Firth. After a series of fitfully funny complications, Formby captures a nest of Nazi spies. Bell-Bottom George was a hit with both British military and civilian audiences; American videotape aficionados may have to run the picture twice to fully grasp all the colloquial humor and wartime slang. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this thriller, an aspiring actor from London lets a room in a hotel filled with theatrical personalities. No sooner does he arrive, than the man in the adjoining room, an Australian acrobat, is found murdered. Being the newest tenant, the Londoner is immediately blamed. But then the killer attempts to murder him while he wanders through a Hall of Mirrors. The Londoner lives and catches the real killer thereby clearing his name. He then gets an acting job. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Hollywood films were linking up dance halls with criminal activities long before the British-made Dancing with Crime, which does not mean that this 1949 melodrama is any less worthwhile. Adding a contemporary twist, the criminals operating within the shilling-a-dance joint are black marketeers (wartime rationing would be in effect in Britain until the early 1950s). A wisecracking taxi dancer (Sheila Sim) gets wind of what's afoot. Working with the law, the girl tries to get the goods on the criminals but nearly catches a shiv in the rib cage. 1930s crime-film star Barry K. Barnes co-stars in Dancing with Crime, together with up-and-comer Richard Attenborough. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the second episode of the six-part story "Dalek Invasion of Earth," the Doctor (William Hartnell) and Ian (William Russell) are captured by the Daleks, who rule the Earth of the 22nd century. Rescued by freedom fighters, the two time travelers learn of the plague that has enslaved all of humankind. As his other companions, Susan (Carole Ann Ford) and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill), spearhead an attack against the Daleks, the poor Doctor is recaptured and strapped to a Dalek operating table. Written by Terry Nation, "The Daleks" first aired on November 28, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The six-part Dr. Who adventure "Dalek Invasion of Earth" gets under way when the TARDIS materializes in 22nd century England. Trapped outside of their time-traveling vessel, the Doctor (William Hartnell) and his companions quickly learn that the Earth has been taken over by the mutant Daleks from the planet Skaro. Before the Doctor can do anything with this knowledge, his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford) vanishes, and Barbara (Jacqueline Hill) is seriously injured. Written by Terry Nation, "World's End" first aired on November 21, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the fourth episode of the six-part story "Dalek Invasion of Earth," the crew of the TARDIS tries to find out why the conquering Daleks have turned the British community of Bedfordshire into a huge mine. At last, the horrible truth is revealed: The Daleks intend to destroy the earth's magnetic core and convert the planet into their own personal space vehicle. Having injured his spine while filming the previous episode "Day of Reckoning," William Hartnell (the Doctor) is largely absent from this episode, with his stand-in, Edmond Warwick, replacing him in long and medium shots. Written by Terry Nation, "The End of Tomorrow" first aired on December 12, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Made by the then 23-year-old director Michael Reeves, who died after making only one more movie, the notable Witchfinder General (1968), this is an unusual horror film concerning an elderly couple who conduct experiments with mind control, hoping to experience the lost excitements of youth through their subject, a young man whom they have persuaded to become a guinea-pig in the name of science. Once the process has begun however, a conflict ensues between the couple, the woman urging their subject to commit crimes in the pursuit of even greater thrills against the wishes of her husband, which in turn results in a horrific comeuppance for both, the price exacted for meddling in things beyond the province of humanity. With the casting of veteran actor, Boris Karloff in this swinging sixties setting, this is a rare example of the merging of two styles of horror movie-making, the old school which Karloff represented almost gone by the late sixties, a new, grittier contemporary genre waiting to succeed it. ~ Mark Hockley, Rovi