John Hopkins Movies

A nervous hotel manager has all sorts of monkey business to deal with (actually orangutan business, but you get the idea) in this comedy for the family. Robert Grant (Jason Alexander) is the manager of The Majestic Hotel, a large and highly luxurious five-star facility. Grant is harried, overworked, and wants to take his two sons, Kyle (Eric Lloyd) and Brian (Graham Sack), on a well-deserved vacation, but when the owner of the Majestic, Mrs. Dubrow (Faye Dunnaway), hears that the hotel is being considered for the newly-minted and very prestigious six-star rating by the Le Monde Guide, it falls on Robert to make sure that everything is perfect when the guide's staff arrives. Since the inspectors will arrive unannounced, Robert has to chase after anyone who looks like they could be a VIP, so he finds himself giving the star treatment to new guest Lord Rutledge (Rupert Everett) when he spots Rutledge using a pocket camera to snap pictures in the lobby. However, Rutledge is actually a skilled jewel thief who has come to the Majestic to take advantage of its wealthy clientele, and he's arrived with his pet orangutan, Dunston, who has been trained to be Rutledge's partner in crime. Dunston gets lost in the hotel's air duct system; Kyle finds the friendly ape and discovers he makes a great playmate, which makes things all the more difficult for Robert. Paul Reubens (aka Pee Wee Herman) also appears as a trigger-happy animal control officer. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Male middle-aged crises come in many different forms. Poetry teacher/part-time deejay Red's comes in the form of an obsession with his childhood hero Roy Rogers. In his secret heart, Red himself wants to be a cowboy hero, and as time passes and his life becomes more frustrating, the desire grows increasingly strong. Upon learning of the unexpected death of a close friend, Red snaps and impulsively leaves his wife and kids to take up with the enigmatic Whitie and her lovely daughter Mauve. Romance blooms between him and the 18-year-old girl, who is soon caught up in Red's obsession. Together, they embark upon a cross-country trek to search for a Roy Rogers Riders Club Membership Card that contains the "Cowboy Code" on the back. They are not long on the road when Red abandons Mauve and sets off on his own. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Director John Frankenheimer and writers Edward Anhalt and George Axelrod try to inject some life into this adaptation of Robert Ludlum's best-selling espionage novel. Michael Caine stars as Noel Holcroft, who was adopted in Germany by an American family in the waning days of World War II. Now middle-aged, Noel learns that his biological father, who had been one of Hitler's key economic advisors, left him more than $4 billion at his death. Noel is supposed to dispense the money to specific individuals who had suffered under the oppression of Hitler. But Noel comes to realize the money is, in fact, being used by fascists starting a new Nazi regime. When the neo-Nazis find out Noel is wise to their plans, they chase him through Europe, trying to assassinate him and make way for a Fourth Reich. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

A sequel to 1980's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, this BBC miniseries once again focuses on British spy George Smiley (Sir Alec Guinness), once again called out of retirement, this time by the fussy Oliver Lacon Anthony Bate, to deal with a scandal in the British spy establishment. An ex-Russian general and British spy (Curt Jurgens) is found brutally murdered in a London park after frantically contacting the British Secret Service. His cryptic message: "Tell Max it concerns the Sandman." It seems that the general and his crony Otto Leipzig (Vladek Sheybal) were cooking up a scheme to blackmail the head of the Russian secret service, Karla (Patrick Stewart), when they were murdered. Smiley gathers his old associates (almost all the actors reprising roles from the first miniseries) and picks up the general's harrowing trail. He finds that Karla has been secretly supporting a daughter in the West through almost comically inept intermediaries such as Grigoriov (Michael Lonsdale). This information allows him to face off against his old adversary and avenge the humiliation he and his agency suffered with the double agent Karla had in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Made in 1982, the sequel has one major casting substitution: Michael Byrne instead of Michael Jayston as Peter Guillam, Smiley's faithful lieutenant. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., Rovi

In The Offence, Sean Connery plays Johnson, a normally unflappable British police inspector who is emotionally shaken by a case of child molestation. For reasons he cannot explain, he is driven to kill the suspect while interrogating him and is suspended from the force. The incident leads to a nervous breakdown -- and the implication that Johnson had beaten the molester to death to purge himself of his own hidden pederastic tendencies. Based on John Hopkins' stage play This Story of Yours, The Offence made little headway at the box office, but United Artists was compelled to release the film to assure Connery's participation in UA's next James Bond movie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This situation comedy finds rookie soldiers of the British Army trying to cope with military life while stationed in Malaya. Brigg (Hywel Bennett) is a young clerk who falls for the local school teacher Phillipa (Lynn Redgrave), the daughter of Royal Sergeant Major Raskin (Nigel Patrick). Brigg loses his virginal status in an encounter with the prostitute Juicy Lucy (Tsai Chin), while Phillipa also becomes sexually active for the first time. The film strikes a nice balance between comedy and serious drama as the soldiers are put to the test when a train wreck necessitates their involvement, and later several soldiers try to get sick leave by requesting circumcisions. Brigg and Phillipa finally get together when a bombing raid puts them in close proximity in this engaging military comedy. The Kinks' Ray Davies wrote the title track. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

One of the most successful and influential British TV miniseries of the 1960s, Talking to a Stranger was a Rashomon-like experience written by John Hopkins. A traumatic weekend experience was recalled by four different members of the same family -- daughter, father, son, mother -- each with a radically different perspective; by the time all four tales were told, it was obvious that irreparable emotional damage had been inflicted on the hapless principals. The first of the series' four 90-minute episodes, telecast October 2, 1966 by BBC2, featured the daughter's story, played by a young Judi Dench, who won the BAFTA Best Actress award for her efforts. Subsequent episodes were devoted to the father (Maurice Denham), the son (Michael Bryant), and, finally, on October 23, 1966, the mother (Margery Mason). Talking to a Stranger was restaged for Canadian TV in 1971, starring Budd Knapp (the father), Douglas Rain (Alan), Martha Henry (Terry), Norma Renault (the mother). John Hopkins' teleplay also served as the inspiration for The Offense, a 1973 theatrical feature starring Sean Connery. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A British sex farce, this movie stars Nyree Dawn Porter as a flirtatious young waitress, Eileen. Her seductive ways so arouse a young customer, Alan Crabbe (Michael Crawford), that he tries to seduce her. But he is so inept that she becomes bored and ditches him. Eileen goes off to a nightclub to find more experienced men. Alan hooks up with a shop clerk named Beth Crowley (Julia Foster). At a wedding of another friend, Alan sees Eileen and is again smitten with her, so much so that he gets into a fight with her boyfriend. The film is based on a coming-of-age novel, In My Solitude, by David Stuart Leslie. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi