Robert Lynn Movies
Between giving up his super powers, confronting criminals from outer space, and having problems with his girlfriend, it's a bad time to be the Man of Steel in this sequel to the 1978 blockbuster. When terrorists threaten to destroy Paris with a thermonuclear device as they hold reporter Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) hostage, Superman (Christopher Reeve) comes to the rescue and flings the weapon into space. However, its blast outside the earth's orbit awakens Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas), and Non (Jack O'Halloran), three villains from Superman's home planet of Krypton who were exiled to outer space for their crimes. Zod and his partners arrive on Earth and use their powers in a bid to take over the U.S., and then the world. However, when Lois realizes that mild mannered Clark Kent and Superman are actually the same person, he brings her to his Fortress of Solitude, where his decision to marry Lois costs him his remarkable strength. Without his super powers, how can Superman vanquish Zod and save the world? Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Susannah York, and Jackie Cooper return from the first film, which was shot at the same time as parts of the sequel. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, (more)
Hammer Studios attempted to inject new blood into their Dracula series by setting their next installment in ultra-mod '70s London, where the Count is revived after 100 years by a gang of devil-worshipping swingers led by the not-so-cleverly-named Johnny Alucard (Christopher Neame), and later joined by Jessica (Stephanie Beacham), granddaughter of the legendary vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing (Peter Cushing, returning to the role after more than a decade). After the group manages to resurrect the Count, he sets about the task of destroying the house of Van Helsing once and forever, leading to a battle in a de-sanctified cathedral. Despite some well-staged scenes, a thrilling prologue (involving a tense battle between Lee and Cushing aboard a runaway coach) and the presence of the stunning Caroline Munro, this is definitely one of the weaker entries in the series, and the script gives Lee very little to do with the hissing, red-eyed villain. Lee may have been bored with reprising the role altogether, as he would only return for one more sequel, The Satanic Rites of Dracula. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
British character actor Lionel Jeffries both directed The Railway Children and adapted its screenplay from the novel by E. Nesbit. Dinah Sheridan plays the mother of three children who must live in reduced circumstances when her husband (Ian Cuthbertson), a government official, is arrested on a false charge of treason. The kids adapt rather well to their new environment, a community located on the edges of a railway. They befriend a kindly porter (Bernard Cribbins) and a wealthy gent (William Mervyn), both of whom strive to prove their father's innocence. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dinah Sheridan, Bernard Cribbins, (more)
Even in an era of cinematic experimentation, Performance stands out as a visually daring major-studio film that deals with questions of sanity and identity rarely touched on in mainstream filmmaking. The elements of Performance certainly looked attractive to studio executives at Warner Bros. -- a gangster on the lam hides out in the home of a reclusive rock star -- especially since that musician was being played by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. But co-directors Nicolas Roeg (who also photographed) and Donald Cammell (who wrote the screenplay) had much more in mind than a walk on the wild side of swinging London. Chas (James Fox) is a sadistic thug who gains our sympathies only because men even crueler than he are out to kill him. After Chas arrives at the mansion occupied by Turner (Jagger) and his female companions Pherber (Anita Pallenberg) and Lucy (Michele Breton), what looks like a decadent idyll fueled by drugs and group sex turns into a series of mind games in which Turner challenges Chas' sexual preference and core identity. Even the film's one musical number, "Memo From Turner," is a William Burroughs-like monologue in which Turner fantasizes taking over Chas' role as a mobster, spewing insults to his colleagues. The film's cult status has been fueled by subsequent films of its co-directors (for Roeg, Walkabout, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and Don't Look Now; for Cammell, White of the Eye), which explored similar themes employing the same kind of jagged editing and striking visuals. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Fox, Mick Jagger, (more)
- 1969
In this children's drama, a loving lighthouse keeper finds a stray seal and brings it home for his children to raise. Meanwhile, the kids try to run heartless poachers out of town. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In this jungle adventure, a downed Yankee flier must make his way alone through the dense Amazon jungle. At one point, he finds himself surrounded by unfriendly natives. He is just about to lose his life when a beautiful white woman, who is revered by the natives as a goddess, swoops down from the trees and saves his neck. The word of the jungle girl's existence gets around and the girl suffers dire consequences when she suddenly finds herself pursued by a wicked carney, a scientist, and the enraged natives, who believe she has betrayed them by rescuing the pilot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
An unemployed, cynical Yankee pilot begins working for a strange colonel flying between Lisbon and Mozambique. He is in one of the wealthy officer's clubs when he meets a promising young singer. From there he finds himself entangled in murder, narcotics smuggling and the white slave trade. The film was shot on location in Mozambique and at Victoria Falls. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
The eponymous partners in this British melodrama are played by Anthony Dawson and Basil Henson. Zena Walker, the unhappy wife of Dawson, talks Henson into murdering her spouse and taking over the business. His next step is to kill his own wife, thus smoothing the path of his romance with Walker. Detective Kenneth Cope smells a rat, despite Walker's carefully laid scheme. Change Partners is a rare non-Edgar Wallace production from Merton Park Studios. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1965
In the mid-1960s, Richard Todd starred in two British films based on Edgar Wallace's Sanders of the River. Coast of Skeletons was the sequel to Todd's earlier Death Drums Along the River. Playing insurance investigator Harry Sanders, Todd comes upon an insidious scheme to steal the valuables from the sunken ships insured by Sanders' firm. The mastermind behind the plan is one A. J. Magnus, played by the usually heroic Dale Robertson. Since we know from the get-go that Sanders will be triumphant, suspense is minimal in Coast of Skeletons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Heinz Drache, Marianne Koch, (more)
- 1965
Three espionage stories with drug smuggling, political assassination and secret agents set in Rome, Vienna and Brazil. ~ All Movie Guide
In this action film, an American detective is hired by an aging millionaire to investigate the murder of his valet. The detective journeys to South Africa and discovers that the murder is linked to Nazi POWs who never went back to Germany. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lex Barker, Ronald Fraser, (more)
- 1963
This crime drama is set in 1910, and tells the tale of a doctor accused of murdering his wife. He swore that he didn't do it. The evidence speaks otherwise. The doctor staunchly claimed the overdose of tranquilizers found in her tea got there by accident and that he and his beautiful mistress had absolutely nothing to do with it. Never mind that after his wife's "accidental" death, he and his lover just happened to choose that moment for a Canadian vacation. Despite their absence, the London police continue investigating until they find the poor wife's body buried in the doctor's cellar. Even after his subsequent capture, extradition and guilty sentence, Dr. Crippen swears his innocence. It's unbelievable, but the story is true. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Donald Pleasence, Coral Browne, (more)
- 1963
In this musical, a hotel contractor tries to buy up two businesses so he can tear them down and build a hotel in their place. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1963
The time is World War I. The scene: a lonely trench, somewhere in the farthest reaches of the French battlefields. British "Tommy" Gary Cockrell shares the trench with his dying company commander. As he breathes his last, the commander informs Cockrell that he, Cockrell, has accidentally killed his own brother in the thick of combat. The rest of this 57-minute quota quickie finds Cockrell trying to make amends for his unintentional fratricide. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this British crime drama, a dying millionaire recluse wills his estate to the beneficiary who survives. A series of murders occurs and a detective is assigned to investigate. He discovers that the murderer is working for one of the recluse's granddaughters. After the guilty one is arrested, the innocent girl is free to collect the estate. She and the detective hook up, leave town, and donate the whole thing to charity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this crime drama, a TV star tries to prove that her lover did not murder his boozy wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1962
In this routine, slapstick, frenetic tale, British comic Spike Milligan stars as Harold Petts, a rural mailman with a sudden promotion that ends up getting him into a lot of trouble. Harold is supposed to be trained behind the scenes at London's busiest post office but even after his first day in the city he is already in difficulties. He soon meets Jean (Barbara Shelley), a mediocre art student with big aspirations for her future. The duo eventually find themselves as top suspects in a mail-theft ring, with the police and the Post Office higher-ups close on their heels. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spike Milligan, Barbara Shelley, (more)
- 1962
In this crime drama, a band of robbers hire a Yankee safecracker but he is captured and arrested by Scotland Yard before he gets there. The robbers then free him from prison. They do not realize that the inmate is really a decoy. They take him to the home of a married couple. After the wife kills her husband she tries to frame the decoy who escapes and ends up hiding in someone else's home. There he calls the head robber. He later cracks the save and retrieves secret government plans. The head robber then plans to kill the safecracker and take off with the murderous wife. Fortunately, the Yard intervenes and the decoy reveals himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sabina Sesselmann, William Sylvester, (more)
- 1956
Filmed in England, The Gamma People is a strange blend of "Prisoner of Zenda" type adventure, comic opera, cold war paranoia and science fiction. The film is set in Gudavia, a mythical European country ruled by scientists. These misguided intellectuals have been utilizing gamma rays to create a race of genius-level supermen, Instead, they wind up either with emotionless automatons or hulking, mindless brutes. American newsman Paul Douglas and British photographer Leslie Phillips, literally stumbling into this situation, attempt to save the day. Also battling the Gamma People is Eva Bartok, the sister of one of the human "experiments". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Douglas, Eva Bartok, (more)
- 1953
Jack Hawkins plays a former British army officer who is surprised in his home one evening by a burglar. His surprise is compounded when the intruder turns out to be one of the men from his World War II army unit. With the straight-arrow diligence of a wartime commander, Hawkins delves into the unfortunate burglar's past, trying to discover why so promising a soldier hit the skids. The film is not so much a mystery but a genteel expose of the socioeconomic problems facing discharged servicemen in postwar England. The Intruder was adapted by Robin Maugham (son of Somerset Maugham) from his own novel Line on Ginger. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Hawkins, Hugh Williams, (more)
- 1952
In this British drama set in the 18th-century, a 14-year-old boy works in a carnival medicine booth. He believes the man he works for is his father, but he finds himself mistaken when his abducted by an avaricious uncle who informs him that he has inherited an important title. The uncle himself desires the title and plans to kill the lad who fortunately escapes. For vengeance the uncle starts a fire and immolates the boy's mentor. The carnies, lead by the strongman, attempt to exact their own revenge against the evil uncle. The whole mess goes to court where the boy's true lineage is revealed. He receives his rightful title. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1951
Future "spectacle" director J. Lee Thompson is confined to the theatrical limitations of his source material in Murder Without Crime. After a bitter quarrel with his wife Jan (Patricia Plunkett), Stephen (Derek Farr) goes off on a bender, picking up bar hostess Grena (Joan Dowling) along the way. As the evening progresses, Stephen gets involved in a fracas in his own home. When it's all over, Grena is lying on the floor, apparently dead. Upstairs neighbor Michael (Dennis Price), sensing that something's amiss, decides to indulge in a little blackmail. The ensuing complications include a most ambulatory "corpse" and a misapplied glassful of poison. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Price, Derek Farr, (more)
- 1950
Linda (Elizabeth Sellars) is driven to the breaking point by her no-good husband. One day, he pushes her too far, and she kills him. With remarkable presence of mind, Linda is able to clean up all evidence of her crime and to effectively dispose of the body. But though she may be able to elude the law, Linda remains a prisoner of her own conscience. Setting this one apart from other British crime mellers of the era was the decision to film on location in a remote rural community. A passable timefiller when first released, Guilt is My Shadow ended up a staple of American TV in the 1950s and 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Sellars, Patrick Holt, (more)
- 1949
The boy is Sam Walters (Patrick Holt). The girl is Susie Bates (future Avengers star Honor Blackman). The bike is one of several used by a British cycling club. Boy and girl have fun peddling about the countryside until the girl's pretty head is turned by David Howarth (John McCallum), a wealthy young man with a snazzy sportscar. When David joins the cyclers, Susie glows and Sam glowers. Set in Yorkshire, the film is pleasant to look at but difficult to understand (at least for those not accustomed to regional British accents). The presence of sex symbol Diana Dors in the cast enabled A Boy, a Girl and a Bike to secure good bookings in the U.S. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John McCallum, Honor Blackman, (more)
- 1948
Future Hammer horror director Terence Fisher filmed this lackluster wartime romance. Derek Wardwell (Shaun Noble) is struck with amnesia, and the last thing he remembers is the beautiful voice of opera singer Helen Maxwell (Evelyn Maccabe). When he regains consciousness, Wardwell thinks he's in love with her. After his amnesia is cured, Wardwell returns to his fiancee while Helen begins a romance with his doctor. Ralph Michael and Christopher Lee co-star in this sappy soap-opera. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
