Marie Burke Movies

This British film examines the choices individuals must make when confronted with a romantic relationship which is rewarding but does not offer them everything they want. In this sympathetic and psychologically precise drama, Alexandra Greville (Glenda Jackson), "Alex" to her friends, has a younger man as her sometime lover, the young sculptor Bob Elkin (Murray Head). Elkin is completely open about the fact that he is also the lover of her acquaintance, Dr. Daniel Hirsch (Peter Finch). These relationships continue in some kind of equilibrium until Alex and Bob agree to house-sit the children of a couple known to the three of them. In their roles, neither Head nor Finch "swished," or otherwise catered to homosexual stereotypes, and theirs was considered to be a groundbreaking, sympathetic portrayal of this kind of relationship, not condescending in any way. One highlight of the film is a scene in which Dr. Hirsch attends the Bar Mitzvah of his nephew. This critically well-received movie was unexpectedly successful at the box office. The film's director and screenwriter, as well as Jackson and Finch, were nominated for Academy Awards. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this wartime melodrama, Lieutenant Colonel Raspeguy (Anthony Quinn) is a French peasant who has worked his way up the military ladder during the French involvement in Indochina. Sent to Algeria, Raspeguy must mold a group of raw recruits into a competent fighting unit. He calls on Esclavier (Alain Delon), his sensitive assistant who eventually deserts the military out of frustration over the pointlessness of war. Raspeguy's other assistant is Boisfeuras (Maurice Ronet), the affable officer whose outside demeanor hides the heart of a vicious killer who loves the bloodlust of battle. Raspeguy takes up with Countess De Clairefons (Michele Morgan), the widow of a respected general. She promises Raspeguy she will marry him if he comes back from the conflict as a general. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Kim Stanley plays a crooked medium who has become slightly unhinged since the death of her son. Craving money and publicity, she concocts a scheme with her weak-willed husband (Richard Attenborough). The pair will kidnap a wealthy young girl, collect the ransom, then use her "powers" to help the parents locate the child. The scheme falls apart, but not in the way that anyone might expect. Adapted by director Bryan Forbes from a novel by Mark McShane, Seance on a Wet Afternoon is a compelling psychological melodrama made doubly powerful by Stanley's mesmerizing performance. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a somewhat sensitive story of a virgin 39-year-old British soccer fan who goes to a bar with a bunch of his pals and is goaded into betting that he can sleep with the sassy waitress. What he doesn't know is that she overhears the bet and decides to call better's bluff. They take off to her apartment and carry on an all-night conversation in which finally ends in less talk and more tickle. ~ All Movie Guide

Zany British comedian Tony Hancock was briefly a major draw in the 1960s, with several popular TV series, sellout personal appearances, and a string of theatrical films to his credit. In The Rebel (released in the US as Call Me Genius), Hancock plays a middle-class businessman who decides to chuck it all and become a painter. He heads for Paris, there to starve in an attic until fame and fortune comes calling. Like many British comedies of the era, The Rebel has great fun at expense of modern art and bohemian artistes; Hancock takes full advantage of every humorous possibility, with suave George Sanders acting as his dignified foil. Alas, by the end of the 1960s, Tony Hancock was dead by his own hand, a victim of alcohol and acute depression. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paul Decker (Peter Van Eyck) arranges what seems to be the perfect murder of his wife, while at her home in Italy. Lightly drugging her into unconsciousness, he seals the room she is in and turns on the gas, and then dons a diving snorkel with hoses drawing air from the outside -- he remains hidden in the room beneath the floorboards even as the police investigate the crime scene. As far as they know, he was just over the border in France when Mrs. Decker committed what appears to be suicide -- and there is no reason to investigate further, beyond a routine inquest. But he doesn't bargain on Candy (Mandy Miller), his wife's daughter by her previous marriage -- she has long believed that Paul killed her own father, and is positive that he was responsible for her mother's death. Try as those around her -- including her guardian (Betts St. John) -- do to convince her otherwise, she won't let go of this idea. And when Paul kills Candy's dog Toto, she tells him he will have to kill her, because otherwise she will kill him. From that moment on, they are on a collision course, as Paul tries at once to protect himself, covering tracks that he never thought anyone would trace -- not having bargained on the obsessive girl -- and to discredit her in preparation for possibly having to kill her. Meanwhile, Candy waits, watches, and asks question after question, hoping for one clue or slip that will allow all of her suspicions to fall into place. And finally, after several rounds of cat-and-mouse, and a near-fatal encounter, they meet face-to-face at the scene of the crime. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

London's colorful but rundown Soho district is the setting for this thinnish romantic comedy. John Gregson plays a Soho roadworker who has little hopes of finding happiness in life. Belinda Lee is a like-minded barmaid in a tiny pub. Gregson and Lee discover each other, and the "miracle" happens. The script was written by Emeric Pressburger, who apparently was so accustomed to "big" projects like The Red Shoes (47) that he couldn't scale himself down to the genuine emotions of normal people. Too, Miracle in Soho cries out for location filming, but the producers insisted upon lensing the story in the most unconvincing of studio sets. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rex Harrison is The Constant Husband in this delightful British comedy. It all begins when amnesia victim Charles Hathaway (Harrison) tries to reconstruct his past with the aid of psychiatrist Llewellyn (Cecil Parker). Our hero would have been better off had his memory remained lost: Llewellyn discovers that he's had seven wives -- simultaneously! Lady lawyer Chesterman (Margaret Leighton) tries to keep Llewellyn out of jail, though in fact he'd prefer incarceration to multiple matrimony. Of the seven spouses, Kay Kendall (the real-life Mrs. Rex Harrison) stands out with a sparkling comic characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Charles Crichton directed this Ealing caper comedy, with a witty script by T.E.B. Clarke that won an Academy Award. Alec Guinness is Henry Holland, an unassuming transporter of gold bullion who, after working for twenty years with no rewards in sight for his faithful service to his company, decides to reward himself by stealing one million pounds worth of gold. Calling on his old friend Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway), a manufacturer of paperweights and an amateur sculptor, and a couple of Cockney crooks, Lackery (Sidney James) and Shorty (Alfie Bass), they conspire to lift a gold shipment. After absconding with the gold, Henry melts the gold into a collection of souvenir Eiffel Towers, which he then ships off to Paris. But chaos reigns when a group of English schoolgirls purchase the gold towers, and the gang now become embroiled in a wild goose chase to recover their stolen gold. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Written by John Gilling, The Man From Yesterday is an other-worldly melodrama in the same vein as J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls. The lion's share of the footage goes to Henry Oscar, playing an Indian mystic. Oscar arrives at the home of Marie Burke, who wants to contact the spirit of her dead fiance. When Marie subsequently dies herself, Oscar accuses jealous John Stuart of arranging both deaths, whereupon Stuart kills Oscar. That's when we find out the whole film has been a dream, and everyone in the household is still alive--but Oscar has died while en route to the house. Future film star Laurence Harvey shows up in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this melodrama, a London girl falls happily in love with a Frenchman and immediately goes blind. Convinced her affliction is a Divine punishment for her sins, she joins a convent. The good sisters know she does not belong there and gently convince her to leave. Shortly after returning to secular life, the Frenchman marries her and they move to France to live in his parents' manor. There, the poor bride begins feeling like an unwelcome guest and like someone wants her dead, but cannot prove it. She expresses her fears, but no one believes her and after a particularly terrible fight, she miscarries. Feeling unloved by her own husband, the poor woman returns to England. There she undergoes a potentially dangerous but successful operation to restore her sight. Still upset her husband's lack of belief, she returns to France to prove her allegations. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Filmed at the DeForest Phonofilm Studios in New York, this crude early talkie resurrected pulp fiction detective Craig Kennedy, whose screen career dated back to the Pearl White serial The Exploits of Elaine. Kennedy (Robert Warwick) relates, in flashback, the story of one of his few unresolved cases: the mysterious poisoning of Mrs. Franklin Ward (Helen Mitchell). The suspect, Mary Wayne (Susan Conroy), apparently administered the fatal dose under the hypnotic influence of Prince Hamid (Milton Krims), an evil swami who managed to escape and remains at large. The swami, of course, is present in the group of people entertained by Kennedy's story and is unmasked by the detective as Count de Navarre. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Dorothy Chappell, who wrote the story for this film, stars as June Waugh in this romantic melodrama. June falls in love with Pennsylvania coal miner Larry Fields (Ralph Kellard) after she saves him from drowning. Larry left his hometown in disgrace when he couldn't swim to save a victim from a similar fate. His sweetheart Mytle Meers (Zena Keefe) even gave back the engagement ring. Larry goes underground emotionally and vocationally until June's love brightens his dark existence and brings new hope to his life. This five-reel feature was made in 1923. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide