Gerald Campion Movies

Little Dorrit was intended as the cinematic equivalent to the mammoth, eight hour Royal Shakespeare Company's staging of Dickens' Nicholas Nickelby. The film was released to theatres in two parts, each running approximately three hours. The first part, subtitled "Nobody's Fault," introduced us to the seamstress title character (Sarah Pickering), who chooses to live in debtor's prison with her father (Alec Guinness). Good samaritan Derek Jacobi endeavors to help both father and daughter. The second part, also known as "Little Dorrit's Story," details Dorrit's escape from penury to lasting happiness. Eschewing the usual 19th century-style British music often heard in Dickensian adaptations, director Christine Edzard creatively-and effectively--opts for the strains of Giuseppe Verdi. Edzard's eye for period detail is also deserving of unbounded praise. Unfortunately, Part Two of Little Dorrit spends nearly half of its running time recapping Part One, utilizing much of the same footage. For those familiar with "Nobody's Fault," "Little Dorrit's Story" is more a redundancy than a continuation. Still, taken together, parts one and two all fully deserving of the enthusiastic critical commentary that greeted them upon their original release-not to mention the multiple Academy Award nominations bestowed upon the project and its participants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of the stars of Walt Disney's Mary Poppins, Dick Van Dyke, is re-united with that film's composer and lyricist, Richard M.Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, in this big budget and bloodless children's fantasy musical, based on the children's book by James Bond author Ian Fleming. Van Dyke plays Caractacus Potts, a failed inventor who lives in a big house with his two children -- Jemima Heather Ripley and Jeremy Adrian Hall -- and eccentric father Lionel Jeffries. Potts has to raise 30 shillings so his children can buy a broken-down racing car from the junkyard. After a disastrous attempt to sell his invention of whistling sweets to Lord Scrumptious (James Robertson-Justice), the local candy maker, he finally gets enough money for the car by doing a Dick Van Dyke dance routine at the county fair. Potts takes the car and miraculously transforms the vehicle into a shiny new car named Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. While on a picnic with the children and Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), Lord Scrumptious' beautiful daughter, Potts concocts a fantasy tale about the magical powers of the car, which can now float on water and fly. In the tale, Baron Bomburst (Gert Frobe) wants the car for himself and kidnaps the automobile and the inventor. But Bomburst captures Grandpa by mistake along with the wrong car, so Potts, Truly, and the children have to enlist Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on a rescue mission to Bomburst's lair to save Grandpa. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Made by the then 23-year-old director Michael Reeves, who died after making only one more movie, the notable Witchfinder General (1968), this is an unusual horror film concerning an elderly couple who conduct experiments with mind control, hoping to experience the lost excitements of youth through their subject, a young man whom they have persuaded to become a guinea-pig in the name of science. Once the process has begun however, a conflict ensues between the couple, the woman urging their subject to commit crimes in the pursuit of even greater thrills against the wishes of her husband, which in turn results in a horrific comeuppance for both, the price exacted for meddling in things beyond the province of humanity. With the casting of veteran actor, Boris Karloff in this swinging sixties setting, this is a rare example of the merging of two styles of horror movie-making, the old school which Karloff represented almost gone by the late sixties, a new, grittier contemporary genre waiting to succeed it. ~ Mark Hockley, All Movie Guide

The star of this slapstick comedy is not a person but an antique Bentley sports car, the source of several misadventures. Murdoch Troon (Stanley Baxter) is a simple civil servant who has his heart set on romancing Claire (Julie Christie in an early role), the daughter of wealthy businessman Charles Chingford (James Robertson Justice). As a part of his scheme to appear irresistible, Murdoch takes driving lessons so he will be able to impress Claire in the Bentley. Both the lessons and his driving test produce moments of hilarity, and as might be expected, there cannot be a movie featuring a car without a wacky, wild chase. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A battered houseboat on the Thames provides the setting for this romantic British comedy. Two newlyweds rent the leaky floating home. The trouble begins when the husband decides to move the scow to a better location. The rickety barge disrupts river traffic. Next the two get lost in a fog bank. When it finally lifts, they find themselves in France. Fortunately, their landlord's yacht is moored nearby and they are able to borrow some petrol. The landlord bets that he can beat them across the Channel with his yacht. The race begins. The yachtsman gets terribly drunk and his cannot stay on course. The newlyweds win the race. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the British farce School for Scoundrels, Ian Carmichael plays a naïve young loser, Henry Palfrey, who is anxious to get ahead in the world. He enrolls in a "school" that specializes in teaching one-upmanship -- the slogan is "How to win without actually cheating." Through fair means and foul, Henry learns how to come out top dog in any situation, with such experts as (the real-life) Stephen Potter (Alastair Sim) as his guide. A perceptive series of comic blackouts exposing the essential hypocrisy in all walks of life, School for Scoundrels was based on the book by Potter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this comedy, an ad man attempts to promote his brother-in-law's new cleaning machine. He is backed by a member of the Purity League. It isn't easy, but he eventually helps the product go public. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Rene Clement's Monsieur Ripois was released in English-speaking countries as The Knave of Hearts and Lovers, Happy Lovers. Relying heavily on voiceover narration and subjective camerawork, the film has Gerard Phillipe in the title role. Believing himself to be love with his wife's best friend (Natasha Parry), Ripois pours out his heart to her by recounting his past amours. Though he has known many women, he has never truly loved any of them. This has proved more troublesome for Ripois than for the ladies in his life, but somehow he never learns his lesson--not even during the film's final scene. British actresses Valerie Hobson and Joan Greenwood are well cast as Ripois' wife and former girlfriend, respectively, while Germaine Montero has an effective cameo as a warm-hearted prostitute. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A remake of the 1937 British comedy Where There's a Will, Top of the Form top-bills perennial comic relief Ronald Shiner as a Bilko-like bookmaker. Circumstances dictate that Shiner find himself in charge of a boys' school, where all the students show a natural affinity for gambling. Taking the boys on a tour of the European gaming tables, Shiner gets entangled in a plot to steal a Mona Lisa (not so far-fetched; such a theft actually took place in 1913). With the help of his young charges, Shiner rescues the Da Vinci classic from artnappers. Among Shiner's students are such future luminaries as Anthony Newley and Ronnie Corbett. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Based on the play by Peter Blackmore, Miranda was the first of two British comedies starring Glynis Johns as a mischievous mermaid. Rescued from a watery grave by the finny-tailed Miranda (Johns), handsome doctor Paul Marten (Griffith Jones) agrees under durress to take his lovely rescuer to London. Hiding her scaly lower extremities with a blanket, Miranda pretends to be a patient in Paul's clinic, much to the discomfort of his jealous spouse Clare (Googie Withers). Along the way, two eligible bachelors (David Tomlinson and John McCallum) fall in love with Miranda-and are they in for a surprise! The irreplaceable Margaret Rutherford is a riot as Miranda's befuddled nurse. Incidentally, David Tomlinson and Glynis Johns were reteamed in 1964 as Mr. and Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide