Noel Langley Movies

In this family-oriented comedy, Snow White is taken to the woods to be killed at the behest of her evil stepmother and ends up abandoned and alone. Fortunately she stumbles across a charming cottage inhabited by the Three Stooges, and comical fairy-tale chaos ensues. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

The Search for Bridey Murphy was inspired by the purportedly true story of a Colorado housewife named Virginia Tighe, who while under hypnosis insisted that she'd lived a previous life as an 18th century Irish housemaid named Bridey Murphy. The hypnosis sessions were conducted under the supervision of Dr. Morey Bernstein, who later wrote a book on the subject. This hastily assembled filmization of Dr. Bernstein's book stars Teresa Wright as Ruth Simmons (Ms. Tighe's pseudonym) and Louis Hayward as Bernstein. Except for the "astral world" sequences, Search for Bridey Murphy adopts a semi-documentary approach, often to the point of tedium. Bridey Murphy herself is portrayed at various ages by Teresa Wright, Ruth Robinson, Denise Freeborn and Hallene Hill. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

MGM's first CinemaScope production was the lavishly appointed Knights of the Round Table. Without overlapping into any copyrighted material (specifically T.H. White's The Once and Future King), the film spins a lucid account of the King Arthur legend. The good king is played by Mel Ferrer, while Queen Guenevere is essayed by Ava Gardner. Arthur's efforts to create a perfect society in Camelot are compromised when Guenevere falls in love with trusted knight Sir Lancelot (Robert Taylor). The ambitious Mordred (Stanley Baker) uses his knowledge of the Queen's indiscretion to destroy both Camelot and King Arthur's round table. Most of the story material in Knights of the Round Table is lifted from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Produced by MGM's British facilities, the Technicolor Ivanhoe starred Robert Taylor in the title role. Returning to England from the Third Crusades, Ivanhoe is given a cool but cordial reception by his estranged father Cedric (Finlay Currie), a Saxon who despises the Norman king Richard the Lionhearted. Cedric introduces Ivanhoe's fellow knights De Bois-Guilbert (George Sanders) and Sir Hugh de Bracy (Robert Douglas) to Cedric's lovely ward Rowena (Joan Fontaine), who was in love with Ivanhoe until he cast his lot with Richard. Leaving his father's castle, Ivanhoe rescues Isaac (Felix Aylmer), a wealthy Jew, from a band of anti-Semitic Normans. In gratitude, Isaac's beautiful daughter Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor) finances Ivanhoe's entry into an upcoming tournament; he'd been denied backing by his father because he'd planned to use the prize money to ransom the captured King Richard. At the tournament, the disguised Ivanhoe vanquishes all comers, dedicating his victory to Rebecca, which causes a gust of bigoted gossip from the crowd. Behind the scenes, Richard's wicked brother Prince John (Guy Rolfe) plots to discredit Ivanhoe so that the ransom can never be paid. Joining John in this conspiracy is De Bois-Guilbert, who covets Rebecca, and Sir Hugh, who wants to make Rowena his own. After several thrilling adventures and villainous double-crosses, Rebecca is kidnapped and tried as a witch, the better to bring Ivanhoe out in the open and dispose of him once and for all. But the deux-ex-machina appearance by King Richard (Norman Wooland) and the assistance of loyal "outlaw" Robin Hood (Harold Warrender) brings the bad guys to heel and clears the path for a happy ending. Lensed on an epic scale, this adaptation of the Sir Walter Scott classic remains one of MGM's most solid swashbucklers. The property was remade for television in 1982, with Anthony Andrews in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Mistaken identity and underhanded dealings set the stage for this adventure story based on Anthony Hope's classic novel. Rudolph Rassendyll (Stewart Granger) is a British tourist visiting the nation of Ruritania in the Balkans. A number of people comment upon Rassendyll's remarkable resemblance to Prince Rudolph, who in a matter of days is to be crowned the nation's new king, and the prince's staff even arranges a meeting between the two men. But Rudolph's devious brother believes it is he who should be the king, and he arranges for Prince Rudolph to be poisoned the night before his coronation. Desperate, Rudolph's minders beg Rassendyll to participate in the ceremony in Rudolph's place so that the usurper cannot take the throne. Rassendyll agrees, and the ceremony goes off without a hitch, but when the brother's men discover this subterfuge, they imprison the real Prince as they threaten to reveal the secret of the new "king." Rassendyll's dilemma is compounded when he finds himself falling in love with Princess Flavia (Deborah Kerr), Rudolph's intended. This was the fourth screen adaptation of The Prisoner of Zenda; a fifth, which focused on the tale's comic possibilities, starred Peter Sellers and was released in 1979. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Tom Brown's Schooldays was the second film version of Thomas Hughes' semiautobiographical novel. John Howard Davies, who'd previously essayed the title role in Oliver Twist, stars as first-year Rugby student Tom Brown. In his efforts to adjust to boarding-school life, Tom must contend with the calculated cruelties of all-around bully Flashman (John Forrest). One of the boy's few allies is new schoolmaster Doctor Arnold (Robert Newton), who believes that discipline can be tempered with kindness, a "radical" notion so far as his colleagues are concerned. Despite the authenticity of its British surroundings, the 1951 version of Tom Brown's Schooldays isn't quite as good as the 1940 Hollywood adaptation. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Trio was the 1950 follow-up to the successful Somerset Maugham "omnibus" feature Quartet. Maugham himself introduces the three short playlets in this captivating collection. "The Verger" stars James Hayter as a church verger who loses his position when it is discovered that he can neither read nor write. With the help of sympathetic Kathleen Harrison, Hayter becomes a successful tobacconist, a turn of events leading inexorably to the story's beautifully ironic punchline. In "Mister Know-All," Nigel Patrick plays an obnoxious, garrulous passenger on a luxury cruise, who becomes a hero simply by knowing when to shut up. The final story, "Sanitorium," details the touching romance between tuberculosis victims Michael Rennie and Jean Simmons. Like Quartet, this was popular and successful enough to inspire a sequel, 1951's Encore. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Based on a play by Pepine de Felipe, Her Favorite Husband is a British comedy set in Italy. Housewife Jean Kent is bemused by her husband Robert Beatty, who is not quite himself these days. In truth, he is not himself at all: Jean's husband has been replaced by a lookalike gangster who is plotting a big bank robbery. Once she tumbles to the truth, Kent is alternately repulsed and fascinated by her "new" spouse. Not exactly Shakespeare, Her Favorite Husband is a genial romp distinguished by a sizeable supporting cast of familiar British players. The film was released in the U.S. as The Taming of Dorothy. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Veteran British music hall favorite Sid Field made his second and last film appearance in Cardboard Cavalier. Set during the 17th-century British Civil War, the film stars Field as vegetable vendor Sidcup Butterfield. Our hero is dragooned into delivering important documents on behalf of the anti-Cromwell forces. Somehow he winds up in the court of King Charles II (Anthony Hulme) and finds himself wooing royal courtesan Nell Gwynne (Margaret Lockwood). Nothing is sacred in this historical burlesque, which even manages to work a little pie-throwing into the proceedings. One of the scripters is Noel Langley, who in 1939 contributed to the screenplay of The Wizard of Oz. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Clem Morgan (Trevor Howard), an embittered ex-RAF pilot, mistakenly believes the life of crime is for him in this exceptionally dark British film noir, directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. He joins a gang of black marketeers led by the aptly named Narcey (short for Narcissus) (Griffith Jones), an egotistical and sadistic thug. The two develop an almost immediate mutual dislike, leading Narcey to frame Morgan for killing a policeman. While serving the resulting 15-year sentence, Morgan is visited by Narcey's sometime girlfriend Sally (Sally Gray), who tells him that the thug has taken up with the prisoner's fiancée, and that a witness to the frame might come forward. This triggers an even more bitter Morgan to escape and return to London to try to clear and avenge himself. Many postwar American films noirs dealt with alienated but law-abiding veterans, some of them framed for crimes they did not commit, e.g. Alan Ladd's Johnny Morrison in The Blue Dahlia. This British effort goes a noteworthy step further by placing the protagonist in the criminal underworld. Its downbeat ending is consistent with its unrelenting cynicism. ~ Steve Press, Rovi

The British maritime meller Pirate of the Seven Seas first saw the light of day as Queer Cargo in 1938. John Lodge stars as Captain Harley, a slick pearl-smuggler saddled with a rebellious crew. Harley's men finally mutiny at the precise moment that their vessel is boarded by pirate leader Cabini (Kenneth Kent) and his band of cutthroats. Faced with choosing the lesser of two evils, Harley's crew finally decides to cast their lot with the captain, who has become the film's hero by default. Though filmed nearly two years before the outbreak of WW2, Pirate of the Seven Seas was foresighted enough to include a German villain in its cast of characters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The third and definitive film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's fantasy, this musical adventure is a genuine family classic that made Judy Garland a star for her heartfelt performance as Dorothy Gale, an orphaned young girl unhappy with her drab black-and-white existence on her aunt and uncle's dusty Kansas farm. Dorothy yearns to travel "over the rainbow" to a different world, and she gets her wish when a tornado whisks her and her little dog, Toto, to the Technicolorful land of Oz. Having offended the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton), Dorothy is protected from the old crone's wrath by the ruby slippers that she wears. At the suggestion of Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (Billie Burke), Dorothy heads down the Yellow Brick Road to the Emerald City, where dwells the all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who might be able to help the girl return to Kansas. En route, she befriends a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), a Tin Man (Jack Haley), and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr). The Scarecrow would like to have some brains, the Tin Man craves a heart, and the Lion wants to attain courage; hoping that the Wizard will help them too, they join Dorothy on her odyssey to the Emerald City.

Garland was MGM's second choice for Dorothy after Shirley Temple dropped out of the project; and Bolger was to have played the Tin Man but talked co-star Buddy Ebsen into switching roles. When Ebsen proved allergic to the chemicals used in his silver makeup, he was replaced by Haley. Gale Sondergaard was originally to have played the Wicked Witch of the West in a glamorous fashion, until the decision was made to opt for belligerent ugliness, and the Wizard was written for W.C. Fields, who reportedly turned it down because MGM couldn't meet his price. Although Victor Fleming, who also directed Gone With the Wind, was given sole directorial credit, several directors were involved in the shooting, included King Vidor, who shot the opening and closing black-and-white sequences. Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg's now-classic Oscar-winning song "Over the Rainbow" was nearly chopped from the picture after the first preview because it "slowed down the action." The Wizard of Oz was too expensive to post a large profit upon initial release; however, after a disappointing reissue in 1955, it was sold to network television, where its annual showings made it a classic. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this actioner, two guards lose their jobs after they start a fight with a lascivious Arab prince who tries to seduce one of their girl friends. Fortunately, the girl friend's father is thankful and gives her love a job managing one of his tobacco warehouses in Turkey. Unfortunately, he meets a beautiful Russian girl there and soon falls in love. Later he learns that she is being used by the prince who is conspiring to take over the Turkish government. Later his ex-partner and his girl come to Turkey to help him stop the prince. Action ensues, but in the end the prince is defeated and Turkey is saved. In 1940, the film was reissued as The Spy in White. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi