Murray Brown Movies
- 1976
Steed (Patrick MacNee), Purdy (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) foil the latest mission of Soviet agent Perov (Peter Jeffrey). In retaliation, and in defiance of his superiors, Perov reactivates several "sleeper" agents who have been squirreled away throughout the U.K. for the past 20 years. At first, it would seem that Perov's sole motivation is to kill the Avengers--but there's far more to his sinister scheme. This is the episode in which Gambit poses as a pop star and Purdey impersonates a squealing teenage fan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Macnee, Gareth Hunt, (more)
- 1974
This Hammer-flavored gothic outing (originally titled Daughters of Dracula) involves the sanguinary exploits of two female vampires (Marianne Morris and Playboy centerfold Anulka) who bed down together in a queen-sized coffin by day and seduce male and female victims by moonlight, leading to lots of steamy soft-core sex scenes followed by copious amounts of the red stuff. One of their victims (Murray Brown) falls in love with Moore, even as he grows increasingly anemic due to her nutritional requirements. Moody photography and lush sets enhance the film's fatally hedonistic atmosphere, and the stars assay temptingly feline performances that render their characters' seductive powers chillingly real. This was a late entry in the European "lesbian vampire" sub-genre, a 1970s phenomenon made popular by such filmmakers as Jean Rollin and Jess Franco that made a comeback in the late 1990s. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Marianne Morris, Anulka Dziubinska, (more)
- 1974
Michael Caine stars as an espionage agent whose young son is kidnapped. Complicating matters is the fact that the kidnappers (John Vernon and Delphine Seyrig) are Caine's own colleagues. They want to secure Caine's aid in rounding up a diamond smuggling ring, and they don't care who they have to hurt to do so. He agrees to go along, all the while searching for his missing son. Janet Suzman co-stars as Caine's estranged wife, who is compelled to join him in his search. Helmed by veteran filmmaker Don Siegel, The Black Windmill is based on Seven Days to a Killing, a novel by Clive Egleton. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Donald Pleasence, (more)
This TV-movie adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel of the "undead" was adapted by Richard Matheson and photographed by Oswald Morris. As the titular count, Jack Palance is a reluctant victim of an unwelcome fate, rather than a grinning bloodsucker. Nigel Davenport co-stars as Van Helsing, vampire-hunter deluxe, who pursues the count with his bagful of hammers and stakes. Much of the Stoker novel that had been eliminated in earlier versions has been restored by Matheson. Originally slated for telecast in October of 1973, Dracula was reshuffled to February 8, 1974, due to the late-breaking vice-presidential nomination of Gerald Ford. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1967
John LeCarre's Call for the Dead was the basis for this gloomy, complex spy story. James Mason plays a British secret agent puzzled by the sudden suicide of Foreign Office higher-up Robert Flemyng. Mason had worked on Flemyng's security clearance himself, and can't fathom what personality quirk he might have missed. The agent suspects that the dead man's wife (Simone Signoret), a concentration camp survivor, may hold the answer to Flemyng's despair, but the Foreign Office wants Mason to drop the case. Mason hires retiring Inspector Harry Andrews to do some private detective work. What Mason and Andrews find out is more insidious than they've imagined; worse, Mason is saddled with a new dilemma--his wife (Harriet Andersson) has been unfaithful with a colleague (Maximillian Schell). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Mason, Simone Signoret, (more)
