Simon Langton Movies

At the time this made-for-TV historical drama first aired on ABC, critics praised the fact that it was more accurate than the 1939 Spencer Tracy vehicle Stanley and Livingstone; while this is generally true (unlike the earlier film, this one was lensed on location in England and Kenya), the pop-psychology sensibilities depicted in the TV movie smack more of the late 20th than the late 19th century. In 1871, young American reporter Henry Morton Stanley (Aidan Quinn) sets out to prove that Scottish-born missionary David Livingstone (Nigel Hawthorne), who years earlier had disappeared somewhere in Central Africa, was still alive, and not "cooked in a stew" as was generally believed. The film is divided into three parts: the search for Livingstone, Stanley's spiritual odyssey after finding his quarry, and Stanley's seemingly futile efforts to prove that he actually found Livingstone to the skeptical and downright hostile members of the Royal Geographic Society in London. Forbidden Territory: Stanley's Search for Livingstone debuted December 7, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This period drama was based on the best-selling novel by Catherine Cookson. Edward MacFell (Tom Bell) is a violent and tyrannical man who operates a large farm, but treats both his family and hired help with casual brutality. One day, Edward pushes someone too far and is killed. While his son Charlie (Lloyd Owen) witnessed the murder, he refuses to inform on the guilty party. But there is another witness, Ginger Slater (Antony Byrne), who sees this as a perfect opportunity to make a fortune through blackmail. Circumstances force Charlie to marry Victoria Chapman (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a woman with a scandalous reputation, even though he's in love with her sister Nellie (Maria Miles), but both affairs are put on hold when Charlie is sent off to war. The Cinder Path was originally produced as a miniseries for British television, though an edited feature-length version was released on home video in the U.S. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Diana Rigg won the BAFTA Best Actress award for her bravura performance in the British miniseries Mother Love. Light-years removed from her Avengers heroics, Rigg was cast as the ultra-possessive Helena Vesey, who dearly loved her grown son Kit (James Wilby). In fact, she was willing to love Kit to death, and this fact resulted in disaster for Kit's lovely young wife, not to mention several other unfortunates who happened to get in Helena's way. Also in the cast was another veteran of the 1960s TV spy-show craze, David McCallum. Based on the novel by Laura Black, Mother Love was broadcast in four 55-minute installments by the BBC in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Harry Hamlin stars in this made-for-cable thriller as a private eye who returns to his boyhood home only to find himself on the trail of a serial killer. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The best-known of the 12 filmed adaptations of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina include the 1936 Garbo vehicle and the 1947 Vivien Leigh vehicle. This made-for-TV version is every bit as elaborate and tasteful as those earlier efforts. Jacqueline Bisset makes her TV-movie debut as Anna, the wife of 19th century Russian nobleman Karenin (Paul Scofield). When she falls in love with the dashing Count Vronsky (Christopher Reeve), Anna runs afoul of the rigid social structure of the era-and of a husband whose anguish translates into revenge. The teleplay was by James Goldman, author of The Lion in Winter and screenwriter of another Russian-based period piece, Nicholas and Alexandria. Anna Karenina premiered March 26, 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This made-for-TV film is an Americanized remake of the 1975 German film The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum (based on the novel by Heinrich Böll). Shorn of most of her movie-star glamour, Marlo Thomas plays Kathryn Beck, whose one-night stand with handsome Ben Cole (Kris Kristofferson) all but ruins her life. Cole is suspected of being a political terrorist; as a result, Kathryn is seized by the authorities and relentlessly questioned. Her ordeal intensifies when she becomes the target of a ruthless investigative reporter. When she seeks legal aid, Kathryn finds that her basic civil rights aren't even as well protected as those of the fugitive Cole. Act of Passion: Lost Honor of Kathryn Beck premiered on January 24, 1984, minus the Act of Passion portion of the title, which was added later to pump up rerun ratings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A sequel to 1980's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, this BBC miniseries once again focuses on British spy George Smiley (Sir Alec Guinness), once again called out of retirement, this time by the fussy Oliver Lacon Anthony Bate, to deal with a scandal in the British spy establishment. An ex-Russian general and British spy (Curt Jurgens) is found brutally murdered in a London park after frantically contacting the British Secret Service. His cryptic message: "Tell Max it concerns the Sandman." It seems that the general and his crony Otto Leipzig (Vladek Sheybal) were cooking up a scheme to blackmail the head of the Russian secret service, Karla (Patrick Stewart), when they were murdered. Smiley gathers his old associates (almost all the actors reprising roles from the first miniseries) and picks up the general's harrowing trail. He finds that Karla has been secretly supporting a daughter in the West through almost comically inept intermediaries such as Grigoriov (Michael Lonsdale). This information allows him to face off against his old adversary and avenge the humiliation he and his agency suffered with the double agent Karla had in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Made in 1982, the sequel has one major casting substitution: Michael Byrne instead of Michael Jayston as Peter Guillam, Smiley's faithful lieutenant. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide

Originally telecast by the BBC in 1979, Therese Raquin was a three-part, three-hour adaptation of Emile Zola's ultra-realistic 1867 novel. Kate Nelligan starred as Therese, a bored Parisian housewife who found herself entwined in an extramarital affair with her husband Camille's childhood friend, Laurent. After her lover killed Camille, Therese did her best to cover up the crime, only to imagine herself being haunted by the restless spirit of her deceased spouse. Considered rather explicit for its time, this British miniseries managed to barely squeak by the network censors, and also won a BAFTA award for its costume designer, Reg Samuels. Therese Raquin subsequently aired in the U.S. as part of public television's Masterpiece Theatre anthology beginning April 12, 1981. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

October, 1929: After making a killing in the American stock market, James Bellamy (Simon Williams) encourages the Bellamy household to get in on the gravy train. Impressed by James' enthusiasm, Rose (Jean Marsh) invests her life savings in a "sure thing." Inevitably, Rose, along with everyone else at Eaton Place, is wiped out by the Wall Street crash. Written by Jeremy Paul, "All the King's Horses" originally aired in England on December 14, 1975. Though the episode was made available to America's PBS stations on April 24, 1977, many markets ran it on May 1, 1977, due to their annual spring pledge drives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide