Bertram M. Ostrer Movies
- 1969
- G
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City thrusts several "name" actors into the specialized world of Jules Verne. Six 19th-century shipwreck victims are rescued by a modernistic submarine. The skipper is Captain Nemo (Robert Ryan), who had not died at the end of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as viewers had been led to believe. Instead, he has installed a fantastic underwater city, using this subterranean metropolis as a base of operations for his war against mankind. The ambitions of the screenwriters and director are defeated by the tackiness of the film's model and miniature work. Captain Nemo and the Underwater City represented MGM's first Jules Verne epic since its 1929 spectacular Mysterious Island. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Ryan, Chuck Connors, (more)
- 1963
This routine wartime drama is set at sea and involves a British convoy trying to elude a group of German U-Boats. After one of the U-Boats is singled out and captured, the British admiral in charge of the current operation hits upon an ingenious but almost suicidal way of defeating the Nazi boats. He orders Lt. Commander Tarlton (Edward Judd) and a group of men to get in the captured U-Boat and then join the other U-Boats as though they had simply wandered off course for awhile. If done quickly and efficiently, Tarlton should be able to radio back the position of the enemy for a fast British offensive. Not an easy task in itself, and made much worse considering that the RAF and other British ships are going to consider the decoy U-Boat to be the enemy. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward Judd, Laurence Payne, (more)
- 1962
Bob Monkhouse and Kenneth Connor, two escapees from Britain's Carry On series, star in Dentist on the Job. Bob and Ken play a daft pair of dental school graduates who pound the pavement trying to sell a new brand of toothpaste. If there is a single solitary oral-surgery gag left untapped (or undrilled) by this film, we'd like to see it. Shirley Eaton, the "gilded girl" from Goldfinger, is around to play nurse while the two stars play doctor. The original British title of Dentist on the Job is Get On With It. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Monkhouse, Kenneth Connor, (more)
- 1961
Essentially a one-joke comedy hanging on the thinnest of plots, this routine series of slapstick situations is directed by Don Chaffey and concerns the ineptitude of an Air Force officer, Captain Kingsley (Jimmy Edwards). The likeable Captain has a fixation on mechanical contrivances, but at the same time he is an accident waiting to happen. The wait is never long, and so the Prime Minister himself orders everyone into action when the Captain comes up missing -- who knows what disaster may lie in the wings. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Edwards, Kenneth Connor, (more)
Gamboling along in a series of sketches without great regard for anything except the next joke, this is a light-minded, unevenly funny comedy by family-oriented director Don Chaffey, put together not long before he began working for Disney studios. At the nexus of the action are David (Bob Monkhouse) and Brian (Ronnie Stevens), two students in the dental school, and Sam (Kenneth Connor) the petty thief who tricks them into selling stolen dental equipment. Humor derives from the antics of the two students after they discover the truth, as Brian the thief poses as a dental student. The usual college staff of deans and secretaries and lecturers throw in extra comic fodder. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bob Monkhouse, Peggy Cummins, (more)
- 1959
In this comedy, a British bus conductor is elated to learn that he has won the lottery's grand prize. Then he finds out that the prize is a visit from two Russian social workers. The conductor's wife cleverly turns the visitation into a drinking party and the Russians are very happy. They have so much fun that they tell all their Russian friends to stop in to the conductor's house for a rousing good time. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1958
The Silent Enemy is based on Commander Crabb, a book by Marshall Pugh. This is the true story of young Lieutenant Crabb (Laurence Harvey), who in 1941 arrives in Gilbaltar to learn the rudiments of deep-sea diving. Crabb isn't interested in recreation, however; there's a war on, and it is common knowledge that a band of Italian frogmen have been sabotaging the British naval forces. Without official permission, Crabb and a band of hardy volunteers take on the task of scuttling the enemy's guerilla activities. Silent Enemy is at its best during its underwater sequences, in which both British and Italian frogmen deploy an astonishing variety of deep-sea weaponry. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laurence Harvey, Dawn Addams, (more)
- 1956
Set in Ireland, The March Hare stars Terence Morgan as Sir Charles Hare, a wastrelly aristocrat who gambles away his family fortune. About to be evicted from his ancestral racing stables, Hare decides to stay on when he's mistaken for a groom by the new American owner's pretty daughter Pat Maguire (Peggy Cummins). Continuing to conceal his true identity, Hare helps Pat to raise a colt for racing purposes, leading to a lengthy but exciting Derby Day finale. Though The March Hare has lapsed into public domain, most existing prints retain the vivid color cinematography of Patrick Hildyard. The film was based on Gamblers Sometimes Win, a novel by Captain Field. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peggy Cummins, Terence Morgan, (more)
- 1954
The Green Scarf may be set in France, but its cast, crew, and overall tone is impeccably British. Michael Redgrave, hidden beneath a mattress of whiskers, portrays a French lawyer who takes on a seemingly hopeless case. His client, Kieron Moore, is a blind deaf-mute seaman accused of murder. Moore has already confessed to the crime, but Redgrave is sworn to give the best defense possible. At times, however, it is the dullest defense possible, despite a few random spurts of imagination. The Green Scarf was adapted from the novel The Brute by Guy des Cars. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, (more)
- 1953
A tired-looking Tom Conway plays a private detective who is framed for murder. Eva Bartok, the head of a smuggling, has arranged the frameup. Eva is herself "set up" by the actual killer, unreconstructed Nazi Robert Adair. At this point, Bartok belatedly sides with Conway. Only one of the three above-mentioned actors is still alive at fadeout time: guess which one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
