William Douglas Home Movies

Loosely based on the 1958 comedy The Reluctant Debutante starring Sandra Dee, the family-friendly comedy What a Girl Wants features popular Nickelodeon teen star Amanda Bynes in her first feature-starring performance after her debut in Big Fat Liar. She plays teenager Daphne Reynolds, who lives in New York City with her musician mother, Libby (Kelly Preston). After she turns 17, Daphne is undecided about her future, so she takes off by herself to London in search of her father. She immediately meets cute musician Ian (Oliver James) before sneaking in to her father's estate to surprise him. He turns out to be Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth), a fabulously wealthy aristocrat who doesn't even know that she exists. He had met her mother in Morocco and the two were married in a tribal ceremony. Upon their return to England, she left him and went back to the U.S. without ever revealing that she was pregnant. The uptight Henry is already flustered by his campaign for election, advised by doting aide Alistair Payne (Jonathan Pryce). His no-nonsense fiancée, Glynnis (Anna Chancellor), and her bratty daughter, Clarissa (Christina Cole), are threatened by Daphne's presence, thinking that she will hurt Henry's political aspirations by causing a scandal. However, the family matriarch (Eileen Atkins) takes a liking to her and she soon finds herself trying to liven things up at several stuffy aristocratic parties. Meanwhile, the evil Glynnis and Clarissa conspire against her by trying to sabotage her appearance, leading up to the conclusion at Daphne's very own coming-out party. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

The English-language title for the Italian L'Anatra All'arancia was Duck in Orange Sauce. Though Ugo (Ugo Tognazzi) is comfortably married to Lisa (Monica Vitti), he nonetheless takes up with pretty (and fetchingly underdressed) American Patty (Barbara Bouchet). In retalitaiton, Lisa begins an affair with French count Jean Claude (John Richardson), arousing Ugo's jealousy. At his request, the four members of this romantic quadrangle repair to a summer house to come to a "civilized understanding"--which erupts into something out of the Keystone Kops. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This romp through the comedic world of spy-chase stories starts with Dick Lanchester (David Tomlinson), a less-than-brilliant British diplomat, taking an atomic scientist to a NATO meeting. A simple escort service turns into disaster when the so-called scientist steals major secrets and escapes with the sensitive material on a roll of film -- but not for long. The precious negatives are gobbled up by a racehorse, and the chase begins. The scientist and his fellow spies are after the racehorse, the British security network is after the spies, and meanwhile, there is the matter of how to retrieve the film... ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

During World War II, the impenetrable Colditz castle in Germany was selected as the site for a POW camp. The Germans reason that, since Colditz has been virtually impossible to get into or out of for centuries, it is ideal for housing the most contentious allied prisoners. British officer John Mills doesn't agree, and leads an escape through a subterranean tunnel. Only three of the prisoners (Mills included) survive the escape; the next step is to get out of Germany itself. Colditz Story is based on the reminiscences of P. R. "Pat" Reid, the real-life English officer portrayed in this film by John Mills. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The fourth directorial effort of actor Robert Montgomery, Eye Witness was lensed on location in England. Montgomery plays an American attorney whose British pal (Michael Ripper) has been accused of murder. Ripper insists that he spent the evening of the crime with a woman, who has seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth. Montgomery dedicates himself to locating the missing witness before sentence can be pronounced. A compact courtroom drama highlighted by unexpected moments of humor, Eye Witness was released in some areas as Your Witness. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, a frustrated upper-class writer decides that he will find real inspiration by examining his subjects first-hand. This leads him to begin wandering about the seamiest side of town where he witnesses a murder. When an innocent man is arrested, the writer refuses to assist him as the knowledge that he has been "slumming" could destroy his career. The young man is sentenced to 15 years in prison. Upon his release, he hears his own story in a radio drama written by the author. This enables the ex-con to get the necessary evidence to clear his name. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sleeping Car to Trieste is a remake of one of the best railroad melodramas of the 1930s, Rome Express. The film's "maguffin" is a diary containing important political information. Stolen from a diplomat in Paris, the diary finds its way on board the Orient Express. Already, the two thieves have double-crossed each other, and among the passengers there are plenty of interested parties-heroes and villains alike-who hope to claim the diary for their own purposes. When one of these parties is murdered, police chief Jolif (Paul Dupuis) takes charge of the case, but there's still many a plot twist to come before the guilty are punished and the innocent rewarded. An inordinate amount of footage is devoted to the wisecrackery of Bonar Colleano, cast as yet another stereotyped American. The climax of Sleeping Car to Trieste is a classic, endlessly imitated by future-and lesser-Orient Express espionagers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi