Anthony Newley Movies
British entertainer Anthony Newley began as a child star, passing for 10 or 11 even as the Artful Dodger in Oliver Twist (1948), when in fact he was already of driving and shaving age. As a young leading man, Newley learned the ins and outs of self-promotion, chiefly the ability to convince the populace that he could do anything well. In 1959, he became a pop recording star thanks to his singing appearance in Idle on Parade, but this was only the beginning. Stop the World, I Want to Get Off was cowritten by Newley and Leslie Bricusse, but to the world at large Anthony Newley, who also starred in the play, was the whole show. This 1961 London-to-Broadway musical was a superbly written piece and a success. Newley followed up this production with another stage collaboration with Bricusse, 1965's The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd, this time sharing the spotlight (but not without a struggle) with veteran Cyril Ritchard. Few people can remember the plotlines of either of Newley's musical plays, but such song standards as "What Kind of Fool Am I," "Gonna Build a Mountain," "Look at That Face" and "Where Would You Be?" have become audition standards. Newley's overwhelming stage presence didn't translate that well to films, with Dr. Doolittle being the most obvious example of this (it is said that Newley and co-star Samantha Eggar kidded around on the set so much that Rex "Dr. Doolittle" Harrison had to resoundingly insist upon professional decorum). Since Doolittle, Newley has been content to merely write songs for other people's movies, occasionally stepping before the camera in such pictures as Mr. Quilp (1975) and It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1976). And in 1969, Anthony Newley directed his then-wife Joan Collins in Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness, a woebegone attempt at "hip" which gained fame only through the embarrassed co-starring stints from Milton Berle and George Jessel, and the fact that many American newspapers refused (probably at the request of studio publicity flacks) to mention the film's slightly licentious title in their movie listings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1963
Based on a BBC television program, this underworld drama set in London's Soho district created a different sort of role for star Anthony Newley, normally a performer associated with light musical comedy. Newley is the titular character, the master of ceremonies at a sleazy strip club owned by Gerry (Robert Stephens). Sammy owes a substantial amount of money to a bookie, Fred (Kennth J. Warren), and has only five hours to pay off the debt, but he strikes out with his deli-owner brother Lou (Warren Mitchell). Desperately trying to raise the money before Fred's goons rough him up, Sammy is forced to help a naïve young girl, Patsy (Julia Foster), who shows up to the club ready to strip -- based on Sammy's outrageous claims and promises at an earlier meeting. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Newley, Julia Foster, (more)
- 1963
In this collection of clips from The Judy Garland Show, which ran for 26 episodes on CBS television in 1963 and 1964, the legendary singer and actress performs a number of songs, several of them collaborations with up-and-comer Barbra Streisand, grand dame Ethel Merman, and Garland's own daughter, the then-teenaged Liza Minnelli. Garland's solos include several of her signature numbers, from "I'm Nobody's Baby," which she performed as a fresh-faced MGM star in 1940's Andy Hardy Meets Debutante, to "The Man That Got Away," written especially for 1954's comeback vehicle A Star Is Born. Garland and Streisand alternate friendly banter about hating each other's talent with solo renditions and two extended medleys. The most famous of these pairings is their show-stopping combination of the standards "Get Happy" and "Happy Days Are Here Again"; Garland had performed the former in 1950's Summer Stock, while Streisand recorded the latter the same year the program aired. In another segment, Merman appears in the middle of the audience and joins Streisand and Garland for a leather-lunged rendition of "There's No Business Like Show Business." The Merman and Streisand footage was taped on October 4, 1963, for episode nine of Garland's eponymous program. A sequence featuring three duets and lots of clowning with Minnelli was taped a few months earlier, on July 16, for episode three. Several years after her program was cancelled, Garland was set to play Helen Lawson, a character based on Merman, for the film version of Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls; she was replaced, however, by Susan Hayward. Streisand would go on to star in her own remake of A Star Is Born, while Minnelli would mine her mother's legacy in her own repertoire. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Released in the US in 1963, the British Let's Get Married was actually filmed three years earlier. Anthony Newley plays a medical student who buckles under pressure. Hoping to get accustomed to dealing with people, he takes a job as a delivery boy. While thus employed, he meets and marries model Anne Aubrey, who's been impregnated by her previous beau. When Aubrey goes into early labor, Newley's first impulse is to panic. Will this prove to be his emotional coming of age-or his Waterloo? Based on a novel by Ken Taylor, this lightweight effort allows both Newley and Aubrey to sing a few sprightly tunes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey, (more)
- 1960
The late Anthony Newley's star was already rising when he shared billing just after Robert Taylor and before Anne Aubrey in this fast-paced adventure story set in Africa. Adamson (Taylor) is an engineer in charge of a project to set up a railroad track through East Africa, the first of its kind -- well, almost. A rival railway gang is around to give him trouble. Aside from that kind of trouble, Adamson has to handle the convicts who are working underneath him, hungry crocodiles, dangerous lions, rhinos, and similar wild beasts, as well as Jane (Aubrey), a woman along for the duration. His sidekick Hooky (Newley) is a stand-out with his high energy brand of whimsy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Taylor, Anthony Newley, (more)
- 1960
The "nick" in this standard prison farce is a modernistic, forward-looking jail without bars. At its core of staff are dedicated young psychologist Dr. Newcombe (Anthony Newley) and tough-minded but fair overseer Chief Officer Williams (Harry Andrews). Their jobs are made that much more difficult when four hardened criminals are inexplicably sent to the minimum security prison. The leader of this gang of four is Spider (James Booth) whose main job is to rally his cohorts into defeating a rival gang and lording it over other inmates. Their tactics and the efforts of the good doctor to reform them provide the comic fodder for the film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey, (more)
- 1960
This is a crime-comedy-musical romance by director Ken Hughes that has an identity problem. Bert (Anthony Newley) is an electrician who gives the wrong people a "song and dance" about his supposed expertise as a cat burglar and now he has to pay the piper. The gang of young thieves brings him into their plans for a big heist and there is no obvious way Bert can get out of it. Just when things get serious, Bert or someone else then literally breaks into a song and dance routine -- hard to smoothly integrate with the comic sequences and serious moments that have gone before. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey, (more)
- 1959
Bandit of Zhobe is what actor Hans Conried once described as a "western in burnoose." Victor Mature plays the title character, one Kasim Khan. Cutting a swath of terror and pillage through India, Kasim Khan pauses only to romance the romanceable Anne Aubrey. Khan's principal foes are the British, who have wiped out his family--or so he thinks, until set aright in the final scenes. Anthony Newley co-stars as a comedy-relief British tommy, behaving as though he's just wandered in from another movie. Bandit of Zhobe was coproduced by Albert Broccoli, on the verge of bigger and better things as one of the mentors of the James Bond series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Anne Aubrey, (more)
- 1959
A musical and comedic bit of fluff without any other pretensions, The Lady Is a Square plays off the popularity of Frankie Vaughan to help carry the story as Johnny Burns, a young man with a passion for pop music. He insinuates his way into the home of the widowed Frances Baring (Anna Neagle) by pretending to be a piano tuner, in reality, he has fallen for her daughter Joanna (Janette Scott). He soon learns that the widow, dedicated to promoting a series of classical music concerts, has no cash. More than willing to help out, he takes on the job of butler and then sets his sights on getting his own hit recording out. In spite of the widow's aversion to pop music, and her aversion to his interest in her daughter, Johnny keeps at his goal of stardom. Notable in this stock storyline is the character of Johnny's brash manager, played by up-and-coming Anthony Newley, about to make it big with Stop the World - I Want to Get Off. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Neagle, Frankie Vaughan, (more)
- 1959
The otherwise routine story and themes of this comedy are greatly balanced by talents of Anthony Newley as Jeep Jackson, a singing idol called up to serve in the British army and Lionel Jeffries as Bertie, a fussbudget adjutant. One of Jackson's superior officers is the brash Sgt. Lush (William Bendix) whose bark is much worse than his bite. Aside from the usual army types, Caroline (Anne Aubrey), the commander's daughter, adds a romantic nuance to the story when she falls for Jackson. And as in any story about a pop singer anywhere, Jackson manages to belt out a few songs. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Bendix, Anthony Newley, (more)
- 1959
A cynical wounded war hero becomes the athletic director at a boys' camp. The lively children brighten his days and make him more optimistic about life. ~ Steve Huey, All Movie Guide
- 1959
Herbert Wilcox wrapped up his long and prestigious film career as the director of Heart of a Man, which was produced by Wilcox' actress wife Anna Neagle. British teen idol Frankie Vaughn plays a sailor with a penchant for bursting into song. Vaughn has no intention of making a living as a vocalist, but a chance meeting with a whimsical hobo, coupled with a deepening relationship with nightclub thrush Anne Heywood, convinces Vaughn to go for the gold in the music world. In addition to enhancing the already successful career of Frankie Vaughn, Heart of a Man also gave a big boost to Anthony Newley, who popped up in a comic supporting role. As for producer Anna Neagle, this was the second and last of her Frankie Vaughn vehicles; after appearing in one more film (The Lady is a Square [59]) she followed her husband's lead and gracefully exited the British film industry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Vaughan, Anne Heywood, (more)
- 1958
A stellar cast redeems the tawdry European-filmed melodrama 3DThe Man Inside3D. Nigel Patrick plays Sam Carter, a mild-mannered British clerk who spends half his life fantasizing about stealing a valuable diamond. When he is finally able to pull off this heist, it is at the cost of another man's life. Escaping to the Continent, Sam lives like a king, throwing his money around and romancing an unending stream of willing females. Private detective Milo March (Jack Palance) suspects that Sam is in some way tied in with the jewel theft, as are several less reputable types. Among the latter category are femme fatale Trudie Hall (Anita Ekberg) and two-bit crooks Lomer (Bonar Colleano, whose last film this was) and Rizzio (Sean Kelly). Anthony Newley also shows up briefly as a comedy-relief cabbie. If 3DThe Man Inside3D seems like a dry run for the "James Bond" films of the 1960s, it may be because the film was produced by Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and scripted by Richard Maibaum, both mainstays of the Bond series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Palance, Anita Ekberg, (more)
- 1958
In this WW II adventure, five brave Allies endeavor to escape from an Italian POW camp in North Africa. They succeed, but their trials are not over as they must still cross the burning Libyan desert to get safely behind Allied lines. En route they are captured by a Nazi-loving sheik. The sheik takes considerable time to decide the fate of the escapees; in that time, the five manage to escape again. This time they kill their captors. The film is also titled No Time to Die. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Mature, Anthony Newley, (more)
Jack Lemmon and Robert Mitchum star as Tony and Felix, co-owners of a tramp-steamer service in the West Indies. Threatening their friendship is itinerant trollop Irena (Rita Hayworth). Tony seethes with jealousy as Irena gravitates towards Felix, leading to a heated confrontation. Felix retaliates by blowing the whistle on Tony's under-the-counter smuggling activities. Tony in turns plots to kill his former partner, but changes his mind when Felix saves his life during a shipwreck. The supporting cast includes Herbert Lom, Bernard Lee, and Anthony Newley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum, (more)
- 1957
This satire takes a sharp poke at the intrinsic laziness of British aristocracy who would rather die of starvation than perform an honest day's work. The tale begins when a destitute nobleman conspires to murder his rich Canadian uncle for the inheritance. Unfortunately he continually fails in his efforts to off him. Instead he winds up killing his own family one-by-one. In the end, the slightly addled fellow offs himself when he walks into one of his own traps which he had set in his uncle's room. The uncle is then arrested for his nephew's murder. Fortunately an elderly aunt manages to clear the Canadian's name. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nigel Patrick, Charles Coburn, (more)
- 1957
In this drama, the commanding officer of a British Royal Air Force flight training school must deal with an ornery, irresponsible cadet. The lad reminds the officer of himself when he was young. It also reminds him that his own youthful arrogance and foolishness caused the death of the new recruit's father. The young man only settles down when the C.O. saves him during maneuvers. The boy is injured during the flight which gives him serious pause for thought. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Bernard Lee, (more)
- 1957
1957's The Good Companions was the second film version of the well-known J. B. Priestly play. The story revolves around the Dinky Doos, a provincial musical troupe living from hand to mouth. Eric Portman, Celia Johnson and John Fraser are three Britons from various classes and walks of life who become involved in the fortunes of the Dinky Doos. Pooling their resources, the diverse "good companions" save the troupe from disbanding. Good-natured and high-spirited, Good Companions might have even been better had the director adopted a more intimate and less showbizzy approach. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eric Portman, Celia Johnson, (more)
- 1956
Widely regarded as one of the best and most intelligent British war dramas of the 1950s, The Battle of River Plate is the story of Britain's first significant naval victory in WW2. John Gregson heads the cast as Captain Bell, skipper of the Exeter, one of several vessels engaged in pursuit of the "indestructable" Geman battleship Graf Spee. Taking refuge in the neutral harbor of Montevideo, the Graf Spee is covertly protected by the Uruguayan government. Eventually, however, German captain Langsdorff (Peter Finch) is faced with a difficult decision: either stand his ground and fight a losing battle against the Exeter and its sister ships, or scuttle the Graf Spee and save the lives of his crew. Battle of the River Plate was released in the US as Pursuit of the Graf Spee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, (more)
- 1956
X the Unknown is a well-crafted imitation of the Quatermass British sci-fi pictures of the 1950s. A group of soldiers on maneuvers in Scotland stumble across a gravel pit which emanates an unusual amount of radiation. Several deaths occur before the radioactive material is mysteriously stolen. Researcher Dr. Adam Royston (Dean Jagger) speculates that the thief is some sort of inhuman monstrosity dwelling at the Earth's core. He points out that past radioactive disturbances have been occurring at 50-year intervals, each followed by sudden deaths and the disappearance of the material. Royston suggests that the unknown monster has been resuscitated by humankind's recent atomic experiments. Sure enough, the monster manifests itself as a huge slab of glowing radioactive mud (laugh now if you must -- you won't laugh when you see it). X the Unknown works well within its limited budget; unfortunately, many TV prints have been truncated, robbing some of the best horrific moments of their full impact. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dean Jagger, Edward Chapman, (more)
- 1956
Adapted from a novel by Bernard Victor Dyer, Port Afrique offers an unusual screen romantic team in the form of two-fisted Phil Carey and ethereally beautiful Pier Angeli. Carey plays Rip Reardon, a WW2 veteran who returns to his "second home" in Morocco for a reunion with his wife. Upon arrival, Reardon discovers that his wife was murdered, though the police insist that she died by her own hand. Smelling a cover-up, Reardon conducts his own investigation, which leads him through some of the seedier portions of Port Afrique. Along the way, he meets and briefly romances nightclub singer Ynez (Angeli), who may or may not have had something to do with his wife's death. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Maria Pier Angeli, Philip Carey, (more)
- 1956
Though his Hollywood career had petered out, Tom Conway continued to star in British films throughout the 1950s. In Last Man to Hang, Conway heads the cast as Roderick, who at present is on trial for his life. Accused of poisoning his wife, Roderick's fate rests in the hands of the jury, who must decide whether or not the death was accidental. The most damning evidence is provided by Roderick's housekeeper Mrs. Tucker (Freda Jackson), who will do anything to see her ex-employer swinging from a gibbet. The title refers to the British Parliament's mid-1950s efforts to outlaw capital punishment; this legislation would in fact not come about until after the miscarriage of justice dramatized in 1972's Ten Rillington Place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Conway, Elizabeth Sellars, (more)
- 1955
Jose Ferrer was both star and director of the British WW2 drama Cockleshell Heroes. Ferrer is cast as Major Stringer, the officer in charge of a delicate naval operation. Stringer and seven volunteers are expected to paddle four canoes into Nazi-held waters, plant limpet mines on enemy boats, and return safely to their own lines. Of the eight courageous saboteurs, only two survive. The story is abundant with suspense, humor and irony, buoyed by a top-rank supporting cast, including Trevor Howard, Victor Maddern and Anthony Newley (Christopher Lee shows up briefly as a German sub commander). Howard delivers the best performance as a subtly resentful officer who was passed up for promotion in order to work with Major Stringer. Cockleshell Heroes was released in the US by Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- José Ferrer, Trevor Howard, (more)
- 1955
The British-filmed The Blue Peter was released in the US under the title Navy Heroes. This was an oblique reference to the protagonist, a wartime hero played by Kieron Moore. Disoriented and aimless after the war, Moore accepts a job as a physical trainer at a school for boys. In helping these kids find their proper niche in society, Moore helps himself to find his own ultimate purpose in life. Filmed in color, The Blue Peter scores best in its exterior scenes, wherein we see the salutary results of Moore's tough but compassionate training methods. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1955
Judging by the number of times it has shown up on TV, Above Us the Waves may be American viewers' favorite British war film. Most of the film is set in a British midget submarine, commandeered by John Mills. The sub's mission (together with its "fellow" vessels) is to sink the German battleship Tirpitz. This will be accomplished by the midget sub fleet sneaking into Norwegian waters, floating beneath the Tirpitz, then planting explosives. Only Mills' sub manages to complete the mission. Based on a true-life 1943 incident, Above Us the Waves takes a revisionist approach by showing the German officers and seamen to be human beings rather than faceless minions of Hitler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Mills, John Gregson, (more)
