Lionel Jeffries Movies
Lantern-jawed, mustachioed, phlegmatic British actor Lionel Jeffries was trained at RADA following military service. In films from 1949, Jeffries hit his stride in the 1960s, playing a variety of ineffectual cops, bumbling bureaucrats, petty criminals and absent-minded professors. He was shown to best advantage in such films as Wrong Arm of the Law (1962) First Men in the Moon (1963) and Spy with a Cold Nose (1966). He was also adept at more sober-sided characterizations, such as the Marquis of Queensbury in The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960). In 1971, Lionel Jeffries turned to directing with The Railway Children, the first of several efforts aimed at the family trade: his other directorial assignments in this vein include Baxter (1972) The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972), The Water Babies (1978) and Wombling Free (1978). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1988
- PG
Alan Ayckbourn's riotously funny play about a small-time acting troupe in the sticks is brought to the screen by director Michael Winner. Jeremy Irons plays Guy Jones, a mild-mannered flunky for an electronics firm who finds himself transferred to the British seaside town of Scarsborough. Bereft after the death of his wife and seeking a diversion, he tries out for a local amateur opera company's production of The Beggar's Opera. This local company is lorded over by the scabrous and slightly insane Welshman Dafydd Ap Llewellyn (Anthony Hopkins). Dafydd is in a constant rage because of his resentment at having to deal with these rank amateurs who merely try out for his production to pass the time. But his ranting and raving dwindles the number of his cast members with the result that Guy's part in the play is forced to grow larger and more important. But as Dafydd snorts and fumes, he is oblivious to the fact that Guy's increased stature in the production has made him a local lothario. Not only does Guy find himself in the passionate embraces of Fay (Jenny Seagrove), who plays a prostitute in the production, but he also falls into the arms of Dafydd's frumpy and frustrated wife Hannah (Prunella Scales). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irons, Anthony Hopkins, (more)
- 1957
In this slapstick British comedy, a proud man from a family of seamen is so prone to seasickness that even the slightest aqueous movement makes him unbearably ill. The man's illustrious family history is witnessed from the Stone Age via flashback. To preserve his family's name and his own honor, he opens up a hotel for sailors with an amusement pier. It is a great success and this inspires the jealousy of the local residents who try to destroy his new empire. Fortunately, the fellow's sailor pals intervene and save the day. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Irene Browne, (more)
- 1956
Jill Day plays Mary in this frolicksome British comedy. While on vacation in Switzerland, Mary finds herself the object of several tourists' affection. Two of the men, Nigel Patrick and David Tomlinson, are British. The third, Leo McKern, is a wealthy, boorish Greek. Throughout the film, the actors remain vastly superior to their material. All for Mary was adapted from a play by Harold Beck and Kay Bannerman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nigel Patrick, Kathleen Harrison, (more)
- 1973
When actor Lionel Jeffries turned to directing in the 1970s, he exhibited a preference for whimsy, as witness The Railway Children. Jeffries' Baxter is a notable exception to this rule, though, as with his other directorial efforts, he shows a keen sensitivity for the travails of troubled youngsters. Scott Jacoby plays Baxter, a boy with a marked speech impediment. His affliction worsens as his parents' marriage disintegrates. Patricia Neal plays a dedicated speech therapist who realizes that Baxter's problems go deeper than his inability to speak normally. Baxter was scripted by "Golden Age" TV veteran Reginald Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Neal, Jean-Pierre Cassel, (more)
- 1958
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
- Starring:
- Michael Redgrave, Tony Britton, (more)
- 1983
The usually reliable director Bryan Forbes came acropper in Better Late Than Never. In one of his last films, a noticeably weary David Niven plays Nick, the supposed grandfather of 10-year-old heiress Bridget (Kimberly Partridge). Charley (Art Carney) shows up to cramp Nick's act, claiming that he is the genuine grandpa. Both men once slept with Bridget's grandmother, and she was never certain which of the two "inaugurated" her family. Neither Nick nor Charley are exactly prime parental material, so Bridget must choose from the lesser of two evils. Maggie Smith and Catherine Hicks are excellent in their thankless secondary roles. Better Late Than Never was lensed on location in the South of France; the scenery is the film's most pleasing aspect. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Art Carney, (more)
- 1956
Ava Gardner was never more alluring than as the half-caste heroine of Bhowani Junction. Set during India's battle for independence from Britain, the film begins with Gardner returning to her native land after spending several years in England. Her true loyalties, and her own sense of who she really is, are put to the test by the two men in her life: Stewart Granger, whose job it is to prevent saboteurs from destroying the trains at Bhowani Junction, and Bill Travers, another half-caste. When she kills a potential rapist in self-defense, Gardner is given comfort by Communist insurrectionist Peter Illing, further dividing her fidelities. A climactic attempt on the life of Mahatma Gandhi provides a rousing finish to this romantic melodrama. Bhowani Junction was adapted from the novel by John Masters. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, (more)
- 1956
Writer/artist Roland Searle's diabolical "belles" of St. Trinian's Girls School return in this raucous British comedy. Because the girls cannot behave themselves, their headmistress (Alastair Sim in drag!) has been thrown in jail, and the school is surrounded by police and army troops. The students escape their durance vile by winning an all-expense-paid trip to Europe (by cheating, of course). While laying waste to the Continent (with Terry-Thomas driving the bus), the girls are enmeshed in a diamond theft instigated by the father (George Cole) of one of the students. The film ends with an elongated water polo game, played with the ladies' usual sense of sportsmanship and fair play. In the 1950s and 1960s, the "St. Trinians" series was as popular a British movie attraction as the "Carry On" films--but unlike "Carry On", they don't play quite as well with American audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terry-Thomas, George Cole, (more)
- 1959
A full thirty years before Look Who's Talking would hit the screens with its verbose little infant, Max Bygraves and Shirley Jones starred in this routine comedy about a talking baby. Little Bobbikins (Steven Stocker) is the 14-month-old son of Benjamin and Betty (Bygraves and Jones) who is perfectly normal until his father comes home from his stint in the Navy and decides to reprise a career in show business. When nothing seems to go right for him, little Bobbikins decides to give Dad a few helpful hints. He never talks to anyone else, and this leads others to think his father is hearing things. Soon the baby gives some hot tips when his Dad becomes friends with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, leading to a killing on the stock market. Now rich and definitely affected by it, this new Dad has baby wondering if there is something he could do to bring him back down to earth again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Max Bygraves, Shirley Jones, (more)
- 1963
It's Bob Hope as phony explorer Matt Merriwether, who promotes himself as an expert on the dark continent, basing his exploration of the African subcontinent on old diaries of his uncle. When an American space capsule crashes in an uncharted region of Africa, Merriwether, based on his alleged expert knowledge of the region, is selected to recover the capsule. Joining Merriwether and his pre-Kervorkian suicide kit, is security agent Frederica Larsen (Edie Adams). Hot on their heels are Russian agents Luba (Anita Ekberg) and Dr. Ezra Mungo (Lionel Jeffries), who want to get to the space capsule first. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Hope, Anita Ekberg, (more)
Joshua Logan directs this lavish version of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe Broadway success with Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, and Franco Nero in the lead roles originally portrayed on Broadway by Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet. The musical, based on T.H. White's The Once and Future King, chronicles the legend of King Arthur (Richard Harris) and his tortured love affair with his queen Guenevere (Vanessa Redgrave). Arthur first encounters Guenevere, on the day of their wedding, in the enchanted forest surrounding Camelot. After the wedding, Arthur's bliss at his marriage to the lovely Guenevere prompts him to establish the Knights of the Round Table, a lofty order of chivalry in which all the member knights are bound by a desire the help the oppressed, keeping faith with trust and honor. Such is the fame of the Knights of the Round Table that a young French knight, Lancelot Du Lac (Franco Nero), seeks to join the order. Lancelot quickly becomes the most celebrated of all the knights, and Guenevere, aloof at first, falls in love with him. Although both have a deep love for Arthur, their passion knows no bounds, and they begin an illicit love affair behind Arthur's back. Arthur ignores the rumors circling around him, but when his illegitimate son, Mordred (David Hemmings) arrives at Camelot, he exposes Lancelot and Guenevere during a tryst. Lancelot escapes, but Guenevere is sentenced to be burned at the stake. Lancelot rescues her at the last minute, and Arthur prepares for battle, his dreams of an idealistic Camelot shattered. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave, (more)
- 1969
- PG
Child Bride was the original release title for the British Charles Bronson vehicle Lola (which in some areas bore a third title, Twinky). Bronson plays a middle-aged author who falls in love with 16-year-old Susan George. Their subsequent marriage causes such friction with George's family that she and Bronson are compelled to move from London to New York. Here the marriage is roundly condemned by Bronson's family. Before this can be ironed out, Bronson and George realize that their marriage was a mistake from the get-go, and they gradually drift apart. Filmed in 1969, Lola didn't receive a widespread release until 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
One of the stars of Walt Disney's Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke, is re-united with that film's composer and lyricist, Richard M.Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, in this big budget and bloodless children's fantasy musical, based on the children's book by James Bond author Ian Fleming. Van Dyke plays Caractacus Potts, a failed inventor who lives in a big house with his two children -- Jemima Heather Ripley and Jeremy Adrian Hall -- and eccentric father Lionel Jeffries. Potts has to raise 30 shillings so his children can buy a broken-down racing car from the junkyard. After a disastrous attempt to sell his invention of whistling sweets to Lord Scrumptious (James Robertson-Justice), the local candy maker, he finally gets enough money for the car by doing a Dick Van Dyke dance routine at the county fair. Potts takes the car and miraculously transforms the vehicle into a shiny new car named Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. While on a picnic with the children and Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), Lord Scrumptious' beautiful daughter, Potts concocts a fantasy tale about the magical powers of the car, which can now float on water and fly. In the tale, Baron Bomburst (Gert Frobe) wants the car for himself and kidnaps the automobile and the inventor. But Bomburst captures Grandpa by mistake along with the wrong car, so Potts, Truly, and the children have to enlist Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on a rescue mission to Bomburst's lair to save Grandpa. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, (more)
- 1989
Danny, the Champion of the World is set in rural England. Nasty country squire Robbie Coltrane, who owns half the land, covets the other half. His principal opponents are a father-and-son team of farmers. The warm relationship between the two "good guys" hardly needs to be forced, since the roles are played by Jeremy Irons and his real-life son Samuel. Cyril Cusack and Jean Marsh also appear in this colorful comedy-drama. Produced for British television, Danny, the Champion of the World was based on a story by Roald Dahl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1957
Inspired in part by David Lean'sThe Sound Barrier, Decision Against Time stars Jack Hawkins as a bold but cautious test pilot. If he wants to keep his job, Hawkins must prove the efficacy of an accident-prone airplane prototype. The pilot is plagued with Earthbound problems as well, personified by his insensitive wife (Elizabeth Sellars). In the climax, Hawkins tests his endurance (and the audience's) by refusing to bail out when the prototype bursts into flame. The original British title for Decision Against Time was Man in the Sky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Sellars, (more)
The third of the droll British "Doctor" series, Doctor at Large once more stars Dirk Bogarde as young Dr. Simon Sparrow. Back in his old stamping grounds at St. Swithin's Teaching Hospital, Sparrow misses his chance at becoming chief surgeon when he crosses swords with the formidable Sir Lancelot Spratt (James Robertson Justice). Forced to go job hunting, our hero undergoes a variety of hilarious medical and romantic misadventures before ending up right where he started. Some of the film's best scenes involve shapely nurse Nan, played by Shirley Eaton of Goldfinger fame. Like its predecessors, Doctor at Large was based on characters created by real-life medico George Gordon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Dandy Nichols, (more)
- 1966
This uneven black comedy went into production as My Last Duchess. It then went through three title changes, representing, in the words of historian Leslie Halliwell, "a descending order of wit": Arrividerci, Baby, Drop Dead, Darling, and You Just Kill Me! Tony Curtis plays a charming contemporary Bluebeard who murders a succession of wives in order to fatten his bank account. At the beginning of the film, the 42-year-old Curtis, decked out in Buster Browns, does in his own stepmother. The remaining murders alternate between moderately amusing and just plain silly; our favorite scene is the disposal of Zsa Zsa Gabor, but that's just on basic principles. Curtis finally meets his match in a much-married widow who plots his demise (a plot point which, incidentally, was planned and abandoned for Chaplin's far superior Monsieur Verdoux). Director Ken Hughes and Ronald Harwood based their screenplay upon the Richard Deming novel The Careful Man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tony Curtis, Rosanna Schiaffino, (more)
- 1958
One of the most significant moments in the history of British warfare (in both the best and worst sense) is given reverent but reserved treatment in Dunkirk. The film takes place during the 1940 evacuation of Allied troops across the English channel. One party of British soldiers becomes detached from the rest of the retreating Allies. John Mills plays an inexperienced lance corporal who resists an increase in rank, but when the chips are down performs with courage and authority in organizing the lost troop and shepherding them to Dunkirk. Running 135 minutes in its original release (much of the footage comprised of newsreel shots), Dunkirk was based on two novels: Eleston Trever's The Big Pick-Up and Lt. Col. Ewan Hunter and Maj. J. S. Bradford's Dunkirk. The above time pertains to the original British theatrical version; the film was reedited and shortened to 113 minutes for U.S. release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, Bernard Lee, (more)
- 1991
Made for British television, this is a black comedy/drama concerning the exploits of five elderly people whose friendship during one long Christmas holiday is sorely tested. The film features a notable cast of distinguished performers from stage and film. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide
Ziggy (Mark Lester) is the young boy who witnesses the murder of a visiting black official by the police. Much like the boy who cried wolf, Ziggy has been known to stretch the truth and exaggerate. He is unable to convince the adults that he witnessed the killing. The murderous cops are soon on his trail as he hits the road with his sister (Susan George)and her boyfriend (Tony Bonner). The real police soon follow, after convincing his parents that Ziggy has told the truth for once. The boys grandfather (Lionel Jeffries) is the retired Colonel, a lighthouse keeper and lovable curmudgeon. Jeremy Kemp is the police chief, and the main heavy is played by Peter Vaughan. The boyfriend's car is cornered on a treacherous cliff where the villains try to ram the vehicle to the jagged rocks below. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Lester, Lionel Jeffries, (more)
- 1956
In this thriller a woman witnesses a robbery, runs away from the scene and is rundown by a bus. The two thieves, realizing that she could get them arrested, sneak into the hospital where they plan to kill her. Their repeated attempts all end in failure. At the end, one of the thieves, feeling guilty about killing her, murders the other thief and saves the woman's life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Sinden, Muriel Pavlow, (more)
Fanny was adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the final chapter of Marcel Pagnol's "Marseilles Trilogy". Pagnol's original, titled Cesar, ends with protagonist Marius returning to the sea, leaving behind his lover Fanny and their son. Expanding upon the original, Fanny picks up the narrative nine years later. Marius (Horst Buchholtz) finally meets his son and is reunited with Fanny (Leslie Caron). She tells him that Panisse (Maurice Chevalier), the elderly suitor who married Fanny to save her from disgrace, is dying. On the verge of shuffling off his mortal coil, Panisse gives Fanny and Marius his blessings, hoping that they'll marry at long last. Charles Boyer co-stars as Cesar, the philosophical gent portrayed in the 1930s film versions of the Pagnol trilogy by the great Raimu. Fanny goes its merry way without any of the songs in the original Broadway score, despite the proven musical talents of Caron and Chevalier. Producer/director Joshua Logan saved himself plenty of embarrassment when he agreed not to release this film as Joshua Logan's Fanny. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier, (more)
This hastily assembled sequel to the popular British service farce Up the Creek finds David Tomlinson returning in the role of Lt. Fairweather, skipper of the not-so-good ship Aristotle. This time, however, Fairweather's enterprisingly larcenous bos'un is played not by Peter Sellers but by music-hall favorite Frankie Howerd. The plot finds the Aristotle being sold to a mythical middle-eastern country. Assigned to deliver the vessel to its new owners, Fairweather discovers that his faithful bos'un has once again sold tickets to passengers, in direct violation of regulations. The resulting comic complications are as predictable as they are hilarious. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Tomlinson, Shirley Eaton, (more)
