Brian Desmond Hurst Movies

Adapted from the classic play by John Millington Synge, The Playboy of the Western World opens with the arrival of a stranger, Christy Mahon, in a small Irish town. Entering Michael James's pub, the locals -- including pretty Pegeen, the innkeeper's daughter -- convince him to tell his story, whereupon he reveals that eleven days previous he hit his mean, persecuting father with a shovel and killed him. Rather than being scandalized, however, the denizens applaud his courage and audacity; James even hires him, thinking the lad will keep his daughter safe from harm when he must be away. Pegeen's fiancé, Shawn, disapproves, but Pegeen dismisses him. Christy grows more bold as he sees the respect and admiration his deed has earned for him. What is he to do, then, when an unexpected visitor shows up -- his father, who it turns out did not die from Christy's blow and who now has come to punish his errant son and take him back home? When he is unmasked in front of all, Christy improvises a solution, but it fails to return him to the town's -- or Pegeen's -- good graces. Eventually, Christy leaves the town, a different man than when he entered. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide

Distinguished British actress Vanessa Redgrave makes her feature film debut in this hospital-set drama that chronicles the deadly rivalry between two head surgeons. She is one of the surgeons. She and her competitor have radically different ideas about how the hospital should be run. The film features one of the first scenes of actual open-heart surgery being shown upon a closed-circuit TV screen. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Anthony Steel stars in this fanciful wartime drama. Stationed in Libya, British soldier Steel is wounded, then nursed back to health by a band of Nomads. He manages to marry the tribal chieftan's daughter (Anna Maria Sandri) before getting down to the serious business of fending off the Nazis. Ten years afterwards, Steel's brother returns to the tribe, there to take his late father's place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Malta Story stars Alec Guinness as WW II camera reconnaissance pilot Peter Ross. Crash-landing in Malta, Ross presents his photographs to the resident air officer (Jack Hawkins). The photos reveal that the Italians are planning a major invasion of the island. Low on fuel and men, the officer is all but helpless as the Italians mount their attack. Only the last-minute arrival reinforcements and supplies prevent Malta from falling into the hands of the enemies--but the story doesn't end there. Filmed on location, The Malta Story boasts some exceptional aerial photography, not to mention excellent performances from Guiness, Hawkins, Anthony Steele, Muriel Pavlow, Flora Robson and the rest of the stellar cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Widely considered to be the definitive of the many film versions of Charles Dickens' classic novel is this 1951 British adaptation, starring Alastair Sim (entitled "Scrooge" in its U.K. release). Sim plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a London miser who, despite his wealth, refuses to make charitable contributions and treats his sole employee, Bob Cratchit, as an indentured servant. On Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who was as selfish as Scrooge in life and has been condemned to an eternity of wandering the Earth in shackles. Marley informs Scrooge that he's to receive a trio of spirits that night who will take him on a journey through Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. As Scrooge encounters each apparition, he is taken on a tour of his life and realizes what a wretch he is, transformed by greed from an idealistic youth into an embittered ogre. Infused with a new, cheery outlook, Scrooge sets about earning his redemption. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

The misery caused by a long-term feud between two Irish families provides the framework in this drama based on a book by Daphne du Maurier. The saga begins in 1840 as the father of the Donovan clan rebels against the Brodrick family, the owners of the copper mine located on what was formerly Donovan land. In the ensuing conflict, the mine is destroyed and the eldest Brodrick son is killed. His younger brother then becomes the clan leader. He cares not a fig for mining; instead he would rather spend his time wooing a beautiful local girl whom he marries. They have four children and when the brother dies, his eldest son succeeds him. The new patriarch and his mother are terribly greedy and eager to take control of the mine. His mother is distraught when her son suddenly rejects her. The unwanted woman goes to London where she soon gets involved with gambling and drugs to ease her broken heart. One day, her son travels to the city and runs into her. To ease his aching conscience he asks her to return home. Just as she gets there, the eldest son is killed by another Donovan during a labor dispute. She then has one Donovan arrested. An aging servant manages to talk the bereaved mother into dropping the charges so that the feud may finally end. She does. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Theirs is the Glory earned some of the highest critical praise ever afforded a British wartime docudrama. This is the filmed record of the ill-fated battle of Arnhem in September of 1944, when the Allied forces combined to force a total German retreat from Holland. The "bridge too far" at Arnhem proved to be the Waterloo of this particular strategy, due to a series of unforseen mishaps and miscalculations. Of the 10,000 troops engaged in the offensive, 8,000 lost their lives. Without sugarcoating the disaster, the film points out the courage and sacrifice of the men involved in the mission. Brian Desmond Hurst directed Theirs is the Glory, while the large cast of "re-enactors" performed sans screen credit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

That ubiquitous British character actor Frederick Leister essayed one of his largest and most rewarding screen roles in The Hundred Pound Window. Leister plays Ernest Draper, a mild-mannered race-track auditor who has spent his entire life playing it safe financially. All of this changes dramatically when Draper is put in charge of the track's "Hundred Pound Window", where the highest wagers are registered and the clientele consists of the Rich and Famous-and not a few crooked gamblers. A subplot involving a gang of black marketeers is handled by up-and-coming romantic lead David Farrar as Scotland Yard inspector George Graham. Filmed by England's Teddington Studios, The Hundred Pound Window was released stateside by Teddington's Hollywood "sister studio" Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The semidocumentary war film The Lion Has Wings states its case in broad strokes, juxtaposing images of rampaging German-dictator Adolf Hitler and appeasing British prime minister Neville Chamberlain with stock shots of bleating sheep. The film then depicts Great Britain as a great lion, willing and able to sprout "wings" in the form of waves of planes to hurl back the Luftwaffe. The dramatic portion of the film, lensed in ten days to assure timeliness (and, incidentally, a low budget) features an all-star British cast reflecting their native country's many reactions to the inevitability of war. All the on-camera talent involved (including Merle Oberon, Ralph Richardson and June Duprez) donated their salaries to the war effort. Produced by Alexander Korda (who also directed a few bridging sequences, sans credit), The Lion Has Wings was distributed in the US by United Artists. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this European drama, a girl in reform school finds herself falling in love with school physician, but must compete with the liberal thinking superintendent for the doctor's affection. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A Somerset Maugham novel was the source of the British The Tenth Man. John Lodge plays George Winter, a self-made businessman who lets nothing get in the way of his climb to the top. Whenever he meets a competitor who can't be bought, Winter destroys the man through methods both legal and underhanded. When one of his victims threatens to expose his tactics, Winter kills him -- just seconds before learning that his desperate gesture was thoroughly unnecessary. Not an entirely successful Maugham adaptation, The Tenth Man is worthwhile if only to see the usually heroic John Lodge in a thoroughly despicable role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Future Connecticut governor John Lodge stars in the British crime drama Sensation. Lodge plays a hotshot reporter who devotion to his job is messing up his private life. Despite warnings from his girl friend that she'll walk out if he follows up one more hot scoop, Lodge tries to flush out the murderer of a waitress. A packet of incriminating love letters is the "maguffin" in this one. Based on a play by Basil Dean and George Munro, Sensation packs an awful lot of story in its 54 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama set within an Irish hospital, a handsome young physicician is pursued by two women. He is attracted to one of them, but as she has expensive taste he does not feel he can afford to be with her. The other woman is a manipulator and tricks him into an engagement with a kiss. The poor physician is utterly confused and so heads into the country to help with a typhoid epidemic. As soon as it is halted, he finds that he himself has the dread disease. All his colleagues believe he is a goner, but true love prevails and the first one takes care of him until his health is restored. Often cited as the first "talkie" to feature a primarily Irish cast. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide