Laurence Harvey Movies
Laurence Harvey was one of Hollywood's stranger success stories; never a major star, or even the subject of a cult following, his films were rarely hits, and those that were often seemed to achieve their popularity in spite of him. A cold, remote actor, he proved highly unsuited to the majority of the roles which came his way, and his performances were typically the subject of unanimous critical dismissal; even his co-stars frequently derided his abilities. At the same time, however, Harvey enjoyed a career much longer and more prolific than many of his more lauded contemporaries, and was one of the most prominent onscreen presences of the 1960s. Also to his credit, his resumé includes at least one certified classic, 1962's The Manchurian Candidate.Harvey was born Lauruska Mischa Skikne on October 1, 1928, in Joniskis, Lithuania. Raised in South Africa, he served in Egypt and Italy during World War II, and after performing in the army show The Bandoliers he returned to Johannesburg to begin his theatrical career. He later relocated to Britain, where he tenured with the Manchester Library Theater and also worked as a male prostitute. In 1948, Harvey made his feature debut in the horror thriller House of Darkness, and its success earned him a two-year contract with Associated British Studios, resulting in lead roles in 1949's Man on the Run and the following year's Cairo Road. Smaller turns in Landfall and The Black Rose followed before he appeared in a disastrous West End revival of Hassan.
Harvey continued to languish in B-movies like 1951's There Is Another Sun before appearing in 1953's Women of Twilight. The picture was not a success, but the studio Romulus was so impressed by his performance that they made his career a top priority and cast him in the comedy Innocents in Paris. Harvey then appeared for the 1952 season with the Memorial Theatre at Stratford, earning almost unanimously poor notices. He responded by giving interviews which claimed that regardless of the critics, he was in fact a great actor, a game of cat-and-mouse with the press that went on for years. Despite his disappointing Shakespearean performances, Harvey was cast in a 1954 film treatment of Romeo and Juliet, delivering a virtually expressionless portrayal of the title hero. He then starred in the Warner Bros. production of King Richard and the Crusaders.
Upon returning to Britain, Harvey again worked under the auspices of Romulus, where in 1955 he starred in The Good Die Young. Margaret Leighton, one of his co-stars in the picture, later became his wife. After starring in I Am a Camera, he appeared opposite popular television comedian Jimmy Edwards in 1957's Three Men in a Boat, which became Harvey's first real hit. However, a series of disappointments -- After the Ball, The Truth About Women, and The Silent Enemy -- were to follow before he could again taste success in 1959's Room at the Top. Hollywood again took interest in Harvey, and in 1960 he co-starred with John Wayne in The Alamo, followed by an appearance in the Elizabeth Taylor hit Butterfield 8. A role in the 1961 British production The Long and the Short and the Tall was next, trailed by a pair of Hollywood flops, Two Lovers and Summer and Smoke.
Harvey remained a frequent target of reviewers' derision in all of these films, and even co-star Jane Fonda criticized his performance in 1962's Walk on the Wild Side. Finally, in John Frankenheimer's masterful The Manchurian Candidate, he found a role perfectly suited to his talents, portraying a brainwashed assassin shorn of emotion; the performance was the best of his career, but in a cruel twist of irony the film was pulled from distribution by producer/star Frank Sinatra when its plot too closely foreshadowed the tragic death of President John F. Kennedy. With 1963's The Ceremony, Harvey turned screenwriter and director as well as star. The result was a critical lambasting even more severe than usual, with response to both 1964's Of Human Bondage and The Outrage not much better.
A small role in John Schlesinger's superb Darling followed in 1965, but both 1966's The Spy With the Cold Nose and 1967's A Dandy in Aspic (which Harvey finished directing upon the death of original helmer Anthony Mann) sank without a trace. He then filmed 1969's Rebus in Italy with Ann-Margret, remaining there to produce and star in L'Assoluto Naturale. Appearances in 1970's The Magic Christian and the next year's Paul Newman vehicle W.U.S.A. followed, but Harvey proved unable to revive his stalling career. After working with Elizabeth Taylor in 1972's Night Watch, he directed and starred in one final film, 1974's Welcome to Arrow Beach, but did not live to see its premiere; he died of cancer on November 25, 1973. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- 1974
- R
The consumption of human flesh is the main course of this off-beat horror movie that centers on a war veteran who returns to California a cannibal. His sister likes peopleburgers too. The trouble begins when a gentle hippie chick encounters the hungry duo enthusiastically eating their latest meal. The terrified girl heads for the police, but they refuse to believe her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
Night Watch a suspenseful, under-rated thriller tells the story of a lonely, unhappily married woman who believes that she sees a murder committed in the deserted house across her courtyard. Ellen Wheeler (Elizabeth Taylor) spends her nights alone, drinking, wandering around her living room, and looking out the window. One night she witnesses a murder. She calls the police, who investigate, but find nothing. Her husband John (Laurence Harvey) believes that she has imagined the entire thing, but her friend Sarah (Billie Whitelaw), while skeptical, is sympathetic to her deeply troubled friend. Director Brian G. Hutton fills the film with a number of distracting red-herrings and directs with a leisurely pace which tends to lessen the suspense. However, Taylor is splendid in the central role of a woman who seems to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and she creates a sympathetic believable character. Laurence Harvey, in his final performance, is less effective but is believable as the neglectful, emotionally abusive husband. Night Watch has a bloody, surprise ending, which while stretching credibility, is perfectly in keeping with the melodramatic intensity created by Taylor. Night Watch, reminiscent in some respect of Gaslight will be of interest to fans of Elizabeth Taylor and should entertain any fan of psychological thrillers. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, (more)
- 1972
The ongoing plight of Russian Jewry serves as the backdrop for the Golan-Globus effort Escape to the Sun (Habricha el Hashemesh). Laurence Harvey is cast against type as Major Kirsanov, a nasty KGB officer who refuses to allow Soviet Jews Nina Kaplan (Josephine Chaplin, Charlie's daughter and Geraldine's sister) and Yasha Bazarov (Yuda Barkin) to emigrate to Israel. In desperation, Nina, Yasha and several others hijack a jetliner. Kirsanov foils the plan, but Nina and Yasha manage to escape--if you can call heading to the desolate Russian steppes an "escape." The actors are talented and the locations well chosen, but the script is a real let-down. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
Paul Newman served as co-producer of this allegorical drama and stars as Rheinhardt, a opportunistic drifter who ends up in New Orleans and hits up his old friend Farley (Laurence Harvey), a con man-turned-phony preacher, for a job. Farley is able to get Rheinhardt hired on as an announcer at a local radio station, WUSA, but the station is a right-wing propaganda mill that devotes its air time to venomous tirades against political and social progress. Rheinhardt is happy to be making decent money, and he makes the friendly acquaintance of a local working girl, Geraldine (Joanne Woodward), so he refuses to look his gift horse in the mouth. However, when he finds out that WUSA is actually involved in shadowy political actions, he is at a loss for what to do, especially after a naïve and troubled social worker (Anthony Perkins) is tricked into starting a race riot. Robert Stone wrote the screenplay, adapted from his novel A Hall of Mirrors. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, (more)
- 1969
The love-hate relationship between a poet and his mistress provides the basis for this metaphorical drama. The trouble seems to come from the fact that the two have very different approaches to their relationship. The poet is interested in a more traditional romance while his hot-blooded lover would rather spend all their time having sex. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Sylva Koscina, (more)
This zany British comedy finds a homeless hobo (Ringo Starr) being adopted by the world's richest man, Sir Guy Grand (Peter Sellers). Setting sail on the luxury liner The Magic Christian, Sir Grand tests the limit of human avarice. With money to motivate the greedy, Laurence Harvey combines his Hamlet soliloquy with a striptease. A vile cesspool of excrement is seeded with cash and the money-hungry dive right in. Wilfred Hyde White is the drunken captain, Yul Brynner is uncredited in his performance as a chanteuse transvestite, and John Cleese is the director of Sotheby's auction house. Roman Polanski, Richard Attenborough and Raquel Welch also appear in this offbeat comedy. Paul McCartney wrote and produced "Come and Get It," the first international hit from the power-pop group Badfinger. John "Speedy" Keene wrote "Something In The Air" and performed the track with his group Thunderclap Newman. Sellers, Cleese, Graham Chapman and Terry Southern co-authored the screenplay taken from Southern's novel. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Sellers, Ringo Starr, (more)
- 1968
This 99-minute film constitutes the first half of Robert Siodmak's mammoth two-part epic Der Kampf um Rom (Fight for Rome). The film depicts the Goths' sacking of Rome in 526 AD. No expense was spared in bringing this story to the screen: for example, Siodmak utilized six companies of Rumanian cavalry for the battle sequence, and the epic packs in an all-star cast including Laurence Harvey as Celhegus, Orson Welles as Justinian and Sylva Koscina as Theodora. The film carefully lays a groundwork of corruption and infighting, suggesting that the siege of Rome was virtually justified. Screenwriter Ladislas Fodor (a former government agent best known for his espionage yarns) adapted his script from the best-selling novel by Felix Dahn. The second half, Der Kampf um rom 2: Der Verrat (which also clocks in at just over 1.5 hours) was issued in 1969, a year after the first; Four years after that (c. 1973), the two parts of Der Kampf um Rom were edited together, cut down to 94 minutes, and distributed as a single entry in the United States.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Orson Welles, (more)
- 1968
Director Anthony Mann's final film (Mann died during the filming, and the production was completed by the film's star, Laurence Harvey) is a kitchen-sink espionage drama with Harvey as Eberlin, a Russian spy and double-agent, homesick and pining for the Russian steppes. It is in this risky mood that Eberlin falls in love with the emaciated Caroline (Mia Farrow). Complications arise when he is directed to kill a Russian spy -- but the Russian spy happens to be himself. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Tom Courtenay, (more)
- 1968
This feature is a filmed stage production of the tragedy by William Shakespeare. Laurence Harvey stars as Leontes, the jealous king who eventually repents his wrongdoings. Moira Redmond is Queen Hermione who is victimized by the indiscretions of her monarch husband. Jane Asher is the village peasant girl Perdita and Diana Churchill plays Paulina. The role of Autocylus is played admirably by Jim Dale, who also provided the music for this production. The performance comes from a television show produced at the Intertel Wembley studios. Along with Romeo and Juliet, 1968 was a good year for the immortal bard, whose timeless plays were being received by a younger, receptive audience through shrewd production and prudent casting with an eye towards capturing a more youthful audience. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Jane Asher, (more)
- 1966
When the Soviet Prime Minister accepts a beautiful English bulldog as a gift from the British government, he has no idea that the dog has a highly sensitive bug in its stomach. This lively British espionage farce follows what happens after the dog becomes sick. It's a sticky situation, for if a Russian vet examines the creature, he will surely find the device. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Daliah Lavi, (more)
Julie Christie won an Oscar for her portrayal of a bored, amoral fashion model in this cynical melodrama from director John Schlesinger. Following the break-up of a teenage marriage, Diana Scott (Christie) drifts into the world of modeling and acting, where she meets a television news reporter, Robert Gold (Dirk Bogarde), who leaves his family for her and introduces her to a more powerful and wealthy set. Soon Diana meets somebody more attractive: public relations mogul Miles Brand (Laurence Harvey). After briefly leaving and then drifting back into Robert's life, experiencing an orgy and even getting an abortion, Diana eventually leaves the swinging London scene behind and settles down to an unfulfilling if comfortable life as the wife of millionaire Italian widower Cesare (Jose-Luis deVillalonga). Shocking in its day, Darling (1965) won Oscars for its costumes and script from Frederic Raphael. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Julie Christie, Dirk Bogarde, (more)
- 1965
Life at the Top is a belated sequel to Room at the Top, John Blaine's "angry young man" British novel that was made into a film in 1959. Laurence Harvey is back as Joe Lampton, the man-on-the-rise protagonist who in Room had given up true love in favor of a career-boosting (and antiseptic) marriage to his boss' daughter. Ten years have passed: Lampton is a business success, but utterly bored by his dead-end marital setup. His wife feels the same, and it isn't long before Mr. and Mrs. Lampton begin conducting separate affairs. While the original Room was a fairly accurate evocation of its era, Life at the Top works too hard and too noisily to be "mod," in reflection of the ethereal Swinging London era. The inclusion of flashbacks from Room at the Top, in which Harvey is seen making love to Simone Signoret, only serves to emphasize the shortcomings of the sequel. The best moments in the later version can be found in the early establishing scenes set in Yorkshire. Life at the Top was followed by a TV series called Man at the Top, starring Kenneth Haigh as Lampton, which in turn was followed by a theatrical feature of the same name. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Jean Simmons, (more)
Derived from the classic 1951 Japanese film Rashomon, director Martin Ritt's The Outrage attempts to modernize the original story of rape and murder, transporting from medieval Japan to the American Southwest of the 1870's. The story is told within the framework of three men waiting at a railway station. A con-man (Edward G. Robinson) listens to the account of a trial held recently in the town as told by a prospector (Howard Da Silva) and a preacher (William Shatner) suffering from a crisis of faith in humanity. Three witnesses at the trial of a Mexican outlaw give conflicting testimony. Each version is shown in flashback. The outlaw, Juan Carrasco (Paul Newman), confesses that he bound the husband (Laurence Harvey), raped the wife, and killed the husband in a duel of honor. The wife (Claire Bloom) claims that the outlaw raped her, and then she stabbed her husband when he contemptuously blamed her for inviting the assault. The third witness, an old Indian (Paul Fix), declares that he found the dying husband who stated that he stabbed himself because he couldn't live with the humiliation. As the story continues to unfold, the validity of each of the stories is questioned before the truth is finally revealed. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, (more)
- 1964
This third screen adaptation of Somerset Maugham's novel about the destructiveness of sexual obsession stars Laurence Harvey as Philip Carey, a club-footed artist who after two unsuccessful years in Paris decides to pursue a career in medicine instead. During his medical studies he falls in love with a waitress, Mildred Rogers (Kim Novak), who takes advantage of his attraction to her. When Mildred leaves him to marry another man, Philip falls in love with a writer (Siobhan McKenna), who encourages him to complete his studies. Under her tutelage, Philip excels in medical school. But when Mildred returns, pregnant and abandoned by her husband, Philip takes her in and cares for her, breaking off with the kind-hearted writer. Staying with Philip at his flat, Mildred has an affair with his best friend. Confronting her with her indiscretions, Mildred tells Philip how repulsed she is by his club foot and walks out on him. Philip once again throws himself into his studies, passing his examinations and taking an internship at a London hospital. There he hears Mildred has become a cheap prostitute. Philip travels to the brothel where she is living in poverty with her child and takes her under his wing once again. As before, Mildred walks out on Philip, trashing his apartment and taking to the streets. When Philip comes upon her again, he finds that her child has died and she is suffering from the advanced stages of syphilis. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Novak, Laurence Harvey, (more)
- 1963
Based upon a novel by Shelley Smith, The Running Man opens at the memorial service for Rex Black (Laurence Harvey), the owner of a small air transport company who is believed to have drowned in a recent glider accident. It soon turns out, however, that Black is very much alive; he faked his death as a means of getting back at the insurance company who denied an earlier claim because he was one day late in making his payment. He has enlisted the cooperation of his wife Stella (Lee Remick) in this scheme. While she waits for the insurance company to approve the claim, he disguises himself, assumes a new identity (that of Charles Erskine, a shoe salesman) and goes to wait for Stella in Spain. Once there, he meets drunken Australian millionaire Jim Jerome in a bar; when Jerome inadvertently leaves his passport at the bar, Rex confiscates it and hatches a new plan to collect on Jerome's insurance as well. In the meantime, Stella has met with insurance representative Stephen Maddox (Alan Bates), who eventually approves her claim. She journeys to Spain, but finds Rex a changed man, and isn't comfortable with either his new personality or his latest scheme. To make matters worse, Maddox shows up. Is it a coincidence or is he suspicious? The rest of the film hinges on the answer to this question, as well as what Maddox's plans are in either case. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Lee Remick, (more)
- 1963
Actor Lawrence Harvey made his debut as a writer and director with this downbeat drama. Sean McKenna (Harvey) is awaiting execution in a prison in Tangiers after being convicted of murder. McKenna was trying to prevent the crime in question but was instead made the scapegoat. With his life hanging in the balance, McKenna's girlfriend Catherine (Sarah Miles) and his brother Dominic (Robert Walker Jr.) engineer an escape plan, and McKenna is able to beat his date with the hangman. However, McKenna's reunion with Dominic and Catherine proves not to be as joyous as he had expected when he discovers that they have been having an affair. Harvey was to direct only two more films, the second of which, Welcome to Arrow Beach, would prove to be his final work. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Sarah Miles, (more)
- 1962
This long, 135-minute feature is divided into four different segments, three highlighting fairy tales and the first introducing the two Brothers Grimm. Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) is the dreamer, and Jacob (Karl Boehm) is the practical one, and between them, some marvelous fairy tales develop. Seguing into the first tale about the "Dancing Princess," co-directors Henry Levin and George Pal -- also the producer -- allow their special-effects artists full rein. In-between dancing, the princess (Yvette Mimieux) falls in love with a charming woodsman (Russ Tamblyn). In the second story about the "Cobbler and the Elves," a Christmas miracle of dedicated labor helps the cobbler out when he most needs it. In the last story, a fire-breathing dragon threatens the kingdom until a lowly servant (Buddy Hackett) saves the day. One of the highlights of this production are the Puppetoons, and another is Cinerama -- three projectors working to create a three-paneled (sometimes visibly so), wide-screen panorama. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, (more)
- 1962
Certain film historians are perpetually amazed that the doggedly unappetizing Laurence Harvey became a major film star. In Girl Named Tamiko, Harvey is once more the embittered heel, this time playing a Eurasian photographer who pretends to be in love with numerous American ladies. His only true interest is obtaining American citizenship, something most of his erstwhile amours find out all too late. Harvey's latest prospect is Martha Hyer; his true love, however, is innocent Japanese girl France Nuyen, the Tamiko of the title. Stuck with a cold fish for a leading man, producers Hal Wallis and Paul Newman and director John Sturges work overtime to get the audience to "pull" for the luckless Ms. Nuyen. A Girl Named Tamiko was one of several early-1960s Paramount films shot on location in the Orient--though certainly not the best of the group. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, France Nuyen, (more)
This moody and controversial drama takes place in Depression-era New Orleans. Dove (Laurence Harvey) has traveled by bus from Texas to find his wayward lover Hallie (Capucine). He meets young Kitty Twist (Jane Fonda) as the two get off in the crescent city. Teresina (Anne Baxter) gives him a job at her small cafe. In his free time, Dove searches for Hallie and finds her at work as a prostitute in the Doll's House. Dove implores Hallie to return to him but she refuses. When the lecherous lesbian madame Jo (Barbara Stanwyck) discovers Dove's intentions towards Hallie, she has him beaten to a bloody pulp by her hired goons. He is found by Kitty, now a happy hooker at the Doll House, and is taken back to the cafe where the compassionate Teresina heals his physical and emotional wounds. The film taken from the novel by Nelson Algren is much tamer than the original text. The title track, sung by Brook Benton, was nominated for an Academy Award. The "black-cat stalking" opening and closing sequences (by designer Saul Bass) is a perfect little "film-within-a-film." This footage, with its superb lighting, framing, panning, and editing, should be appreciated by anyone who wants to know more about the art of cinematography. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Capucine, (more)
An unusually tense and intelligent political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate was a film far ahead of its time. Its themes of thought control, political assassination, and multinational conspiracy were hardly common currency in 1962, and while its outlook is sometimes informed by Cold War paranoia, the film seemed nearly as timely when it was reissued in 1987 as it did on its original release. It opens with a group of soldiers whooping it up in a bar in Korea as their commander, Sgt. Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), arrives to inform them that they're back on duty. These men obviously have no fondness for Shaw, and he feels no empathy for them. While on patrol, Shaw and his platoon are ambushed by Korean troops. Months later, Shaw is receiving a hero's welcome as he returns to the United States to accept the Congressional Medal of Honor, and several of the soldiers who served under Shaw repeatedly refer to him as "the bravest, finest, most lovable man I ever met." It soon becomes evident that after their capture by the Koreans, Shaw and his men were subjected to an intense program of brainwashing prior to their release. While several are troubled by bad dreams and inexplicable behavior, it's Capt. Bennett Marco (Frank Sinatra) who seems the most haunted by the experience. In time, Marco is able to piece together what happened; it seems Raymond Shaw was programmed by a shadowy cadre of Russian and Chinese agents into a killing machine who will assassinate anyone, even a close friend, when given the proper commands. On the other side of the coin, Shaw is also used for political gain by his harridan mother (Angela Lansbury), who guides the career of her second husband, John Iselin (James Gregory), a bone-headed congressman hoping to win the vice-presidential nomination through a campaign of anti-Communist hysteria.
The Manchurian Candidate features a host of remarkable performances, several from actors cast cleverly against type. Frank Sinatra's edgy, aggressive turn as Marco may be the finest dramatic work of his career; Laurence Harvey's chilly onscreen demeanor was rarely used to s better advantage than as Raymond Shaw; James Gregory is great as the oft-befuddled Senator Iselin; and Angela Lansbury's ultimate bad mom will be a shock to those who know her as the lovable mystery writer from Murder, She Wrote. George Axelrod's screenplay (based on Richard Condon's novel) is by turns compelling, witty, and horrifying in its implications, and John Frankenheimer's direction milks it for all the tension it can muster. While Frankenheimer's career has had its ups and downs, The Manchurian Candidate and Seconds (1966) suggest that he deserves to be recognized as one of the most brilliantly paranoid American filmmakers of the '60s. Entertaining yet unsettling, both films indicate that things in the '60s were not what they seemed, with a resonance that still echoes uncomfortably in the present. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
The Manchurian Candidate features a host of remarkable performances, several from actors cast cleverly against type. Frank Sinatra's edgy, aggressive turn as Marco may be the finest dramatic work of his career; Laurence Harvey's chilly onscreen demeanor was rarely used to s better advantage than as Raymond Shaw; James Gregory is great as the oft-befuddled Senator Iselin; and Angela Lansbury's ultimate bad mom will be a shock to those who know her as the lovable mystery writer from Murder, She Wrote. George Axelrod's screenplay (based on Richard Condon's novel) is by turns compelling, witty, and horrifying in its implications, and John Frankenheimer's direction milks it for all the tension it can muster. While Frankenheimer's career has had its ups and downs, The Manchurian Candidate and Seconds (1966) suggest that he deserves to be recognized as one of the most brilliantly paranoid American filmmakers of the '60s. Entertaining yet unsettling, both films indicate that things in the '60s were not what they seemed, with a resonance that still echoes uncomfortably in the present. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, (more)
- 1961
Released in Great Britain as The Spinster, this romantic drama is based on a novel by Sylvia Ashton-Warner. Shirley MacLaine plays Anna Vorontosov, a Pennsylvania-born schoolteacher who has taken a job in rural New Zealand. The permissive habits of the Maori families whose children she teaches continually shock her. Though she is emotionally repressed, Anna is a remarkable teacher who brings innovative classroom methods to her job. Her racially mixed classes are thriving. W.W.J. Abercrombie (Jack Hawkins) is a school administrator who is won over by her methods. Paul Lathrope (Laurence Harvey) is a teacher who longs to be a singer but is lonely and irresponsible. The icy Anna, frightened of men, rebuffs their advances. Her chief aide, Whareparita (Nobu McCarthy), a 15-year-old Maori, becomes pregnant. The Maoris accept this as a natural development. But her baby dies during childbirth. Soon after, Paul crashes his motorcycle and dies. When Anna learns that Paul was the baby's father, she wonders whether the crash was an accident or a suicide, and she blames her rejection of Paul for the pregnancy. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Shirley MacLaine, Laurence Harvey, (more)
