Glynis Johns Movies
Throaty-voiced, kittenish leading lady Glynis Johns was the daughter of British stage actor Mervyn Johns; she was born while her father and concert-pianist mother were on a tour of South Africa. Enrolled in the London ballet school at age 6, Johns had by age 10 progressed to the point that she was certified to teach ballet. At 12, she made her stage debut in the role of Napoleon's daughter in Saint Helena; at 13, she was cast in the pivotal role of the spiteful schoolgirl in the London production of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour. This led to her first film, 1937's South Riding, in which she played another petulant, foot-stamping adolescent. Johns graduated to coquettish leading roles in the 1940s, most famously as the alluring mermaid in Miranda (1946). Her best-known Hollywood assignments include the roles of Maid Jean in Danny Kaye's The Court Jester (1956) and the suffragette Mrs. Banks in Disney's Mary Poppins (1964) (Johns was the only cast member to have the foresight to demand a portion of the royalties for the Poppins soundtrack record). In 1963, she starred in Glynis, a lukewarm TV comedy/mystery series. Eight years later, she won a Tony award for her performance in Broadway's A Little Night Music. Still active into the 1990s, Glynis Johns was recently seen as a belligerent in-law in The Ref (1994) and as a deliciously dotty aunt in While You Were Sleeping (1995). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1962
George Cukor directed this sanitized version of Irving Wallace's tawdry best-seller concerning a survey of the sexual habits of American women. Psychologist George C. Chapman (Andrew Duggan) arrives in a Los Angeles suburb with his assistant Paul Radford (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) in tow. They are looking for volunteers for their sex survey, and four women raise their hands: Sarah Garnell (Shelley Winters) is a middle-aged woman who is having an affair with young theater director Fred Linden (Ray Danton); Teresa Harnish (Glynis Johns) is a happily married woman who becomes attracted to brawny football player Ed Kraski (Ty Hardin); Naomi Shields (Claire Bloom) is an alcoholic nymphomaniac who takes up with an unsavory jazz musician; and Kathleen Barclay (Jane Fonda) is a young widow who thinks she is frigid -- that is, until Radford makes her his personal project. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Shelley Winters, (more)
- 1960
This mystery is based on a 1954 play by Agatha Christie. It tells the story of an ambassador's wife who must hide the corpse of her husband from his daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Director Fred Zinnemann was riding a crest in the '50s with movies like High Noon, From Here to Eternity, Oklahoma, and his success continues in this western-style drama set in Australia in the 1920s. Ida Carmody (Deborah Kerr) is married to Paddy (Robert Mitchum), a sheep drover whose nomadic existence makes him blissfully content. Neither Ida nor their son Sean share his love for roaming, in fact, Ida convinces her husband to take on a job as a sheep-shearer so they can finally have enough to get a mortgage on a farm. At first Paddy agrees but obviously does not know his own mind because in no time at all, he rebels -- though that is not the end of it. Peter Ustinov is also featured as Vanneker, a bachelor who comes to stay with the family, and Glynis Johns plays a hotelkeeper out to change Vanneker's non-marital status. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, (more)
- 1959
Filmed on location, Shake Hands With the Devil is set in Ireland during the "troubles" of 1921. James Cagney plays a brilliant medical professor who doubles as head of the Irish Republican Army. Cagney convinces one of his more pacifistic students, Don Murray, to join the underground struggle against British rule. Murray suffers a crisis of conscience when his sweetheart Dana Wynter is taken hostage by the IRA and is slated for execution by the zealous Cagney. Several members of Dublin's Abbey Players appear in supporting roles in Shake Hands With Devil. Watch for Richard Harris in the small part of Terence O'Brien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Cagney, Don Murray, (more)
Lana Turner stars as Sara Scott, an American war correspondent whose whirlwind romance with a young British journalist (Sean Connery) ends in tragedy when his plane crashes while covering an assignment. After recovering from a nervous breakdown, Sara tries to come to terms with her grief by visiting her lover's widow (Glynis Johns). Based on the novel Weep No More by Lenore Coffee, Another Time, Another Place did excellent box-office business thanks to the concurrent real-life scandal involving the death of Turner's gangster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato at the hands of her teenage daughter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lana Turner, Barry Sullivan, (more)
- 1957
This video contains a trio of swashbuckling episodes from Flynn's series. They are The Duel, The Strange Auction and The Sealed Room. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1956
In this location-filmed domestic seriocomedy, Rosanno Brazzi and Glynis Johns play an accountant and his new wife, honeymooning in Monte Carlo. With the casino in full view and ready for action, the couple would be remiss if they didn't give the gaming tables a try. Besides, Brazzi is certain that he's worked out a "system." Sure enough, the couple's marriage suffers mightily as the lure of the casino becomes stronger than their devotion to each other. Based on a story by Graham Greene, Loser Takes All was remade in 1990 as Strike It Rich, with Robert Lindsay and Mollie Ringwald. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rossano Brazzi, Glynis Johns, (more)
Danny Kaye spoofs medieval swashbucklers in this classic musical comedy. While the infant King of England awaits his rightful place as leader of the British Empire, his rule is usurped by Roderick (Cecil Parker), an evil pretender to the throne. Brave rebel leader The Black Fox (Edward Ashley) intends to remove Roderick from the palace and bring the crown back to its true owner, but in the meantime the baby king needs to be looked after, which is the job of a man named Hawkins (Kaye). The Black Fox travels with the little king and his rebels as they search for the key to a secret tunnel that will allow them passage into the castle. Maid Jean (Glynis Johns), one of the rebels, meets a man en route to the Castle who is to be Roderick's new jester. The rebels quickly hatch a plan: detain the jester and send Hawkins in his place; the king can then find the key and initiate the overthrow. Hawkins is able to persuade Roderick and his men that he is indeed a jester, but his espionage work gets complicated when Princess Gwendolyn (Angela Lansbury) falls in love with him, and he runs afoul of Sir Ravenhurst (Basil Rathbone), the evil genius behind Roderick. Court Jester features Kaye's famous "Pellet with the Poison" routine. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Kaye, Glynis Johns, (more)
Glynis Johns and Cameron Mitchell are top-billed in All Mine to Give, but they're out of the picture halfway through. Johns and Mitchell play a Scottish couple, Mamie and Robert, living in the American wilderness of the mid-19th century. Robert dies, whereupon Mamie takes on the responsibility of raising their six children. And when she succumbs to illness, it is the oldest child, Robbie (Rex Thompson, who'd previously played Louis Leonowens in The King And I), who takes on the challenge of finding homes for his siblings on Christmas Day. Based on a true story, All Mine to Give has heart-tugging potential, but the script isn't up to the performances. One year before its American release, the film was distributed in Great Britain under the title The Day They Gave Babies Away. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, Cameron Mitchell, (more)
Razzle-dazzle showman Michael Todd hocked everything he had to make this spectacular presentation of Jules Verne's 1872 novel Around the World in 80 Days, the second film to be lensed in the wide-screen Todd-AO production. Nearly as fascinating as the finished product are the many in-production anecdotes concerning Todd's efforts to pull the wool over the eyes of local authorities in order to cadge the film's round-the-world location shots--not to mention the wheeling and dealing to convince over forty top celebrities to appear in cameo roles. David Niven heads the huge cast as ultra-precise, supremely punctual Phileas Fogg, who places a 20,000-pound wager with several fellow members of London Reform Club, insisting that he can go around the world in eighty days (this, remember, is 1872). Together with his resourceful valet Passepartout (Cantinflas), Fogg sets out on his world-girdling journey from Paris via balloon. Meanwhile, suspicion grows that Fogg has stolen his 20,000 pounds from Bank of England. Diligent Inspector Fix (Robert Newton) is sent out by the bank's president (Robert Morley) to bring Fogg to justice. Hopscotching around the globe, Fogg pauses in Spain, where Passepartout engages in a comic bullfight (a specialty of Cantinflas). In India, Fogg and Passepartout rescue young widow Princess Aouda (Shirley MacLaine, in her third film) from being forced into committing suicide so that she may join her late husband. The threesome visit Hong Kong, Japan, San Francisco, and the Wild West. Only hours short of winning his wager, Fogg is arrested by the diligent Inspector Fixx. Though exonerated of the bank robbery charges, he has lost everything--except the love of the winsome Aouda. But salvation is at hand when Passepartout discovers that, by crossing the International Date Line, there's still time to reach the Reform Club. Will they make it? See for yourself. Among the film's 46 guest stars, the most memorable include Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer, Jose Greco, Frank Sinatra, Peter Lorre, Red Skelton, Buster Keaton, John Mills, and Beatrice Lillie. All were paid in barter--Ronald Colman did his brief bit for a new car. Newscaster Edward R. Murrow provides opening narration, and there's a tantalizing clip from Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902). Offering a little something for everyone, Around the World in 80 Days is nothing less than an extravaganza, and it won 5 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Cinematography. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Cantinflas, (more)
- 1955
In this romantic comedy, a womanizing uncle tells the story of his good-hearted but fickle niece, whose tendency to always champion the underdog causes her endless romantic woes. It all begins when she breaks up with her fiance on the eve of their wedding so she can marry and help out a half-starved aspiring playwright. With her moral support and his talent, the playwright makes it big. Unfortunately, her old fiance shows up. He has lost his fortune and must flee the police. The tender-hearted lass, unable to resist a hard-luck story, then falls for her former love until he is proven innocent. It is at that point that the niece chooses her man once and for all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, Jack Buchanan, (more)
- 1954
Had the women-behind-bars drama The Weak and the Wicked been made in Hollywood, the cast would probably have included the likes of Ida Lupino, Marie Windsor, Peggie Castle and Hope Emerson. Instead, the film was lensed in Britain, with Glynis Johns and Diana Dors heading the cast. Framed on a charge of fraud, "good girl" Glynis is tossed into prison. Her cellmates include hard-boiled Ms. Dors, murder suspect Jane Hylton, blackmailer-poisoner Dame Sybil Thorndyke and shoplifter Olive Sloane. Each of their stories is detailed in a series of flashbacks. Downplay the potential sensational elments of the storyline, The Weak and the Wicked takes great pains to point out the positive values of a special rehabilitation program, wherein the main characters are given the opportunity to make themselves useful members of society. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glynis Johns, John Gregson, (more)
- 1954
Mad About Men is the delightful sequel to the saucy British comedy-fantasy Miranda. Glynis Johns returns in the dual role of amorous mermaid Miranda and her somewhat more reserved "human" lookalike Caroline. Having inherited a house in Cornwall, Caroline goes on an extended holiday, whereupon Miranda takes her place as mistress of the estate. The dialogue is rather silly and obvious, but there's much fun to be had as Miranda casts out her net for every eligible male in the vicinity. Though not a big hit in the US, Mad About Men became a "Late Show" mainstay on TV, especially when color television came into common usage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anne Crawford, Donald Sinden, (more)
- 1954
This second film version of Somerset Maugham's Vessel of Wrath lacks the casual charm of the first (which starred Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester), but is otherwise quite entertaining. Robert Newton stars as Honorable Ted, a slovenly, bibulous South Sea Island beachcomber. The black sheep of a prominent British family, Ted is paid an annual salary to stay as far away from England as possible. Prim-and-proper missionary Martha (Glynis Johns), the sister of heathen-hating Welsh minister Owen (Paul Rogers), takes it upon herself to reform the intractable Ted. The script then goes off on a tangent not found in the Maugham original. Due to illness, Owen is unable to travel to a native village in an attempt to halt a cholera outbreak. So he sends Martha, with a reluctant Ted along as interpreter, to the village in his stead in an attempt to cure the tribal headman's daughter. After they fail, they and an intern are sentenced to a horrible death by the angry villagers. Despite the radicial differences in their separate acting styles, Robert Newton and Glynis Johns make a copacetic screen team. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Newton, Donald Sinden, (more)
- 1954
Land of Fury is an austere "western" set in New Zealand during the 1820s. The epic-proportioned storyline involves a group of British pioneers seeking a new life in Down Under. Sailor Jack Hawkins and his wife Glynis Johns are the central characters, struggling to impose their British sense of order upon their primitive surroundings. Hostilities between native tribes and greedy settlers lead to a tragic, but not unexpected climax. Land of Fury was originally released in Great Britain as The Seekers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns, (more)
- 1953
The rousing adventure novel by Sir Walter Scott was adapted for this swashbuckler. Richard Todd stars as Robert Roy MacGregor, a clan leader in 18th century Scotland attempting to lead his fellow countrymen in a rebellion against the heavy-handed rule of England's King George I. When the king replaces a sympathetic politician with a lackey working against Rob Roy, it's up to the hardy Scotsman to defeat his enemies without the support of a powerful ally, while also romancing and marrying his true love (Glynis Johns). Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953) was the last of 21 British films produced jointly by Disney and RKO. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Todd, Glynis Johns, (more)
- 1953
The star power of leading lady Gene Tierney enabled the British Personal Affair to get good bookings in the U.S. The story is set in motion by impulsive schoolgirl Barbara Vining (Glynis Johns), who develops a crush on teacher Stephen Barlow (Leo Genn). Barlow's wife Kay (Tierney) confronts Barbara, advising the girl to get over his misguided ardor. Shortly thereafter, Barbara completely disappears. All evidence suggests that she has either met with foul play, or at the very least has killed herself. With nothing but rumor and hearsay to go on, the Court of Public Opinion forms its own vituperative opinions, thoroughly ruining the lives of Stephen and Kay Barlow. In any other circumstances, the outcome of the film might be regarded as a happy ending. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Tierney, Leo Genn, (more)
- 1953
- PG
The second of Disney's British-produced "historicals" (the first was Robin Hood, the last was Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue), The Sword and the Rose eschews historical accuracy in favor of wall-to-wall adventure and eye-filling pageantry. The film takes place in the court of King Henry VIII (James Robertson Justice), whose sister Mary Tudor (Glynis Johns) has fallen in love with soldier of fortune Charles Brandon (Richard Todd). Mary appoints Brandon Captain of the Guards, which rests not at all well with her erstwhile suitor, the Duke of Buckingham (Michael Gough). Rather than foment court intrigue, Brandon decides to move on to America, only to end up in the Tower of London when Mary tags along with him, disguised as a boy. Mary is ordered by Henry to wed the aging King of France (Jean Mercure), who promptly dies, leaving the girl at the mercy of the evil Dauphin (Gerard Oury). When rescued by the Duke of Buckhingham, Mary is informed that Charles is dead, but in fact her true love still lives, as he proves beyond doubt in a climactic battle with the duplicitous Duke. Sword and the Rose was based on Charles Major's novel When Knighthood Was in Flower, previously filmed in 1923 with Marion Davies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Todd, Glynis Johns, (more)
- 1952
The Promoter was based on the Arnold Bennett novel The Card, which served as its British release title. Impoverished young clerk Alec Guinness works his way up the financial ladder until he has become a successful and highly respected loan officer. Actually, Guinness is not as above-board as the world perceives him. Beginning with cheating on a high school exam, he has wheeled and dealed his way to the top, and ethics be damned. Balancing Guinness' cold-blooded business savvy is his comparative ineptitude with women, particularly the bewitching Glynis Johns. Only Alec Guinness could succeed at making his "Sammy Glick" character appealing from first scene to last. The Promoter was scripted by Eric Ambler, who managed to unearth moments of sly cynicism that original author Bennett had barely touched upon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alec Guinness, Petula Clark, (more)
- 1951
The Magic Box was the English film industry's contribution to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Its all-star cast generously forsook their usual salaries for the privilege of paying tribute to that unsung pioneer of cinema, William Friese-Greene, here played by Robert Donat. Adapted by Eric Ambler from the controversial biography by Ray Allister, Magic Box contends that Friese-Greene was the true father of motion pictures, and not such upstarts as W. K. L. Dickson and Thomas Edison. Told in flashback, the film details Friese-Greene's tireless experiments with the "moving image," leading inexorably to a series of failures and disappoints, as others hog the credit for the protagonist's discoveries. The huge cast includes such British film luminaries as Joyce Grenfell, Miles Malleson, Michael Redgrave, Eric Portman, Emlyn Williams, Richard Attenborough, Peter Ustinov, Cecil Parker, Kay Walsh, and, best of all, Laurence Olivier as the confused bobby who witnesses Friese-Greene's first motion picture demonstration. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Donat, Margaret Johnston, (more)
- 1951
The producers of Quartet and Trio concluded their cycle with this omnibus film, which features three stories based, as in the previous film, on tales by W. Somerset Maugham. "The Ant and the Grasshopper" concerns Tom Ramsey (Nigel Patrick), a fiscally unstable young man who is constantly borrowing money from his brother George (Roland Culver). Eventually, George falls on hard times and is forced to sell the family estate, just as Tom marries a wealthy woman and is in a position to purchase it. In "Winter Cruise," Miss Reid (Kay Walsh) is an aging spinster taking a voyage aboard a cargo ship. She has little to do but engage the others on board in conversation, which the passengers find so annoying that they arrange a ship-board romance for her with Pierre (Jacques Francois), a porter, in the hopes that it will keep her quiet. And "Gigolo and Gigolette" features Glynis Johns as Stella Cotman, whose husband Syd (Terence Morgan) earns his living as a performer in a high-wire act. Stella is terribly worried that Syd's risky profession will lead to his death, so she takes their life's savings to a casino in hopes of winning enough that he can retire. However, her plan hardly goes as she hoped. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nigel Patrick, Roland Culver, (more)
- 1951
Henry Koster directs the 1951 aviation drama No Highway in the Sky, based on the novel by Nevil Shute. James Stewart stars as Theodore Honey, a widower and single parent to 11-year-old Elspeth (Janette Scott). He's also an absent-minded engineer who has formed a scientific theory about metal fatigue in a specific model of aircraft. He tries to convince British Airways that their airplanes will come apart after a certain amount of miles, but no one believes him. Then administrator Dennis Scott (Jack Hawkins) sends him on a flying mission to investigate a crash site in Newfoundland. Along the way, he meets stewardess Marjorie Corder (Glynnis Johns) and movie star Monica Teasdale (Marlene Dietrich). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, (more)
- 1951
Don't be misled by the title, and by the presence of Glynis Johns in the cast. The "Venus" in Appointment with Venus is a prized cow. The time is World War II: special operatives David Niven and Glynis Johns are dispatched to a Nazi-held island to rescue Venus, who for some reason or other is vital for British morale. Naturally, this isn't easy and leads to all sorts of complications. Released in the US as Island Rescue, Appointment with Venus was based on a novel by Jerrard Tickell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Niven, Glynis Johns, (more)
- 1951
Three generations of a Scottish clan are chronicled in this melodramatic saga. The film starts with the death of a sickly med student in a Glasgow slum. His fiancee also dies in childbirth. Her brother, who survives, begins raising her baby girl who grows up to have an affair with a lab assistant. Her "father" disapprove and threatens to destroy the wedding. She retaliates by poisoning him and then gets married. She bears a son. Unfortunately she has never recovered from the guilt of her earlier murder and ends up taking her own life. Later her son grows up to discover a vaccine for a fatal disease. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Todd, Glynis Johns, (more)
