Robert Shaw Movies
Raised in Scotland and then Cornwall, Robert Shaw was drawn to acting and writing from his youth. Shaw trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1949 he debuted onstage at the Shakespeare Memorial Theater at Stratford-on-Avon. From 1951 he appeared in British and (later) American films as a character actor, frequently playing heavies. He became better known internationally after appearing in the James Bond movie From Russia with Love (1963), and he received a "Best Supporting Actor" Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Henry VIII in A Man for All Seasons. (1966). In the mid '70s he suddenly became a highly paid star after his appearances in several blockbuster movies, including The Sting (1973), Jaws (1975), and The Deep (1977). He wrote a play and several novels, including The Man in the Glass Booth (1967), which he adapted into a play; it was successful in both London and New York, and in 1975 was made into a film. His novel The Hiding Place (1959) was the source material for the screen comedy Situation Hopeless -- But Not Serious (1965). He died of a heart attack at age 51. His second wife (of three) was actress Mary Ure. ~ All Movie Guide- 1964
Charles Dickens' classic tale A Christmas Carol is revisited yet again in this made-for-television holiday drama. Told with a different twist, in this version, a melancholy father spends his Christmas Day mourning the son he lost in World War II. His holiday grieving is interrupted by the visiting ghosts of Christmases past, present and future. Henry Mancini provides the score. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
Adapted by Robert Bolt and Constance Willis from Bolt's hit stage play, A Man for All Seasons stars Paul Scofield, triumphantly repeating his stage role as Sir Thomas More. The crux of the film is the staunchly Catholic More's refusal to acknowledge King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw)'s break from the church to divorce his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn (an unbilled Vanessa Redgrave). Sir Thomas willingly goes to the chopping block rather than sacrifice his ideals. Director Fred Zinnemann retains the play's verbosity without sacrificing the film's strong sense of visuals. The impeccably chosen cast includes Wendy Hiller as Sir Thomas' likably contentious wife Alice, John Hurt as the deceitful Richard Rich (More's put-downs of this despicable character provide some of the film's biggest laughs), Orson Welles as a dour Cardinal Woolsey, Leo McKern as the ambitious Thomas Cromwell, and Susannah York as More's daughter Margaret. The "Common Man," an important bridging-the-scenes character in the original play, is removed from the film version, which does just fine without him. A Man for All Seasons won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, as well as seven British Film Academy awards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, (more)
- 1972
- PG
In A Reflection of Fear a young woman, Marguerite (Sondra Locke), cloistered in a turn-of-the-century Victorian dream-world by her mother, vies for the attention of her visiting dad, Michael (Robert Shaw), both conventionally and sexually, in hopes that she'll get to live with him. Her plans are complicated by a series of murders that may or may not be by Marguerite or her eerie life-size doll Aaron. The perpetrator moves around the estate through secret passageways. The first victims are Marguerite 's mother and grandma. While the investigation is under way, a local boy tries to woo the girl, but whenever he gets too close, the girl lashes out in unpredictable ways. Meanwhile Michael's fiancée, Anne (Sally Kellerman), becomes suspicious of Marguerite and what she understandably sees as Marguerite's creepy competitions for her dad's love. Anne's initial efforts to befriend Michael's daughter turn into exasperation and disgust. As the situation spirals out of control, the long-absent father is forced to confront Marguerite 's twisted personality and upbringing. ~ Michael Buening, All Movie Guide
A priest--a former revolutionary--finds himself the target of a manhunt in a small Mexican town. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Telly Savalas, Martin Landau, (more)
- 1955
Produced in England, The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel was a weekly half-hour TV adaptation of Baroness Orczy's classic French Revolution-era adventure novel. Marius Goring plays Sir Percy Blakeney, insufferable British fop by day, daring rescuer of French aristocrats by night. Also appearing is a young Robert Shaw as Blakeney's faithful assistant. This volume consists of two episodes: "Hostages" and "The Ambassador's Lady." Like the simultaneously produced radio version of The Scarlet Pimpernel, the TV series was assembled by Harry Alan Towers' "Towers of London" Productions. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1979
- PG
Lee Marvin plays a CIA agent who lures a Soviet biological warfare expert aboard a European train in the hopes of murdering the expert, thus eliminating a world threat. Things go awry when the train is caught in an avalanche. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Lee Marvin, (more)
James Bond-flick director Guy Hamilton helmed this episodic, all-star World War II film. With Sir Laurence Olivier heading up an ensemble cast as flight commander Sir Hugh Dowdling, The Battle of Britain pays tribute to other nationalities instrumental in fending off the waves of Luftwaffe planes, notably the expatriate Polish and Czech pilots. Trevor Howard, Michael Caine, and Michael Redgrave also populate the cast. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Andrews, Trevor Howard, (more)
In December of 1944, the Allied high command is convinced that German forces in Belgium are in a low state of readiness, and perhaps even about to withdraw. Only one officer on the front lines, intelligence specialist Lt. Col. Kiley (Henry Fonda), believes otherwise -- that the Germans are actually planning an attack. His opinion is rejected by his immediate superior (Dana Andrews) and his commanding general (Robert Ryan). Kiley spots several suspicious signs of German activity behind enemy lines on a reconnaissance flight, and he is at the front looking for evidence when the German counter-offensive starts. Taking advantage of Allied unpreparedness and a weather front that grounds all aircraft, their heavy tank units, supported by infantry, roll over the American forces, assaulting the lines at five different points in an attempt to ultimately divide the Allied forces in the west. The German top tank officer, Colonel Hessler (Robert Shaw), has planned his operation perfectly, but he is in a race against time, to take as much territory as possible before the weather front moves out and American aircraft can fly again, and to capture the American fuel supplies so that the offensive can continue right to the port of Antwerp. He has the total dedication of his men, but engenders doubts from his aide, Conrad (Hans-Christian Blech), who is weary of the fighting and wonders what it is all for. Meanwhile, Kiley is trying to uncover the weak spot in the German offensive, and he crosses paths with several other key players in this drama: Charles Bronson as a combat officer charged with the defense of the collapsing American position, James MacArthur as a neophyte lieutenant who becomes a leader, and Telly Savalas as a conniving sergeant in command of a tank who unexpectedly finds a nobler, less mercenary side of himself. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, (more)
- 1956
Ex-Hollywoodite A. Edward Sutherland co-directed the British programmer Bermuda Affair with Robert J. Shaw. Gary Merrill and Ron Randell play a pair of army chums who run a postwar air transport service. Reversing the cliché, it is Merrill, the homelier of the two men, who turns out to be a rat with women. Merrill messes around with Randell's wife Zena Marshall, but makes up for all past misdeeds when he gives up his own life to save his friend from certain doom. Filmed on location, Bermuda Affair was released worldwide by Hollywood's Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Bruce Dern is ideally cast as Lander, a crazed Vietnam veteran, in Black Sunday. Lander joins terrorists Dahlia (Marthe Keller) and Fasil (Bekim Fehmu) in a plot to create a bloodbath at the annual Super Bowl. Piloting the ubiquitous Goodyear blimp, Lander is to ram the aircraft into the capacity Orange Bowl crowd, then fire thousands of poisoned darts into the fleeing spectators. Israeli military officer Kabakov (Robert Shaw) struggles to thwart Lander's plan before it comes to fruition. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, (more)
Opening with a montage depicting its subject's Civil War exploits, Custer of the West carries us across four years of fighting in less than four minutes of screen time. The Civil War ended, George Armstrong Custer (Robert Shaw) longs for action and to hold onto his rank of general, so General Phil Sheridan (Lawrence Tierney) sends him West, admitting that there will be no nobility to his cause there -- the government and the people want the land, and that means getting the Indians off of it by any means necessary. He arrives in time to see a party of Cheyenne (whom the real Custer never fought) kill a pair of miners by sending them rolling down a long hill in a runaway wagon -- that motif is repeated, in ever more striking, elaborate, and violent fashions, in two subsequent action scenes. Custer organizes his command around Major Marcus Reno (Ty Hardin), depicted as an ambitious officer with a drinking problem, and Captain Benteen (Jeffrey Hunter), a humane officer with a strange, almost mystical streak, who understands the Indians better than anyone else in Custer's command. Also present are Mary Ure as Custer's loving wife and Robert Ryan in a very flamboyant performance as a larcenous sergeant who comes to no good end after being stricken with gold fever. After getting his command into the shape it needs to be -- mostly by running everyone except a lone sergeant into the ground in an extended drill -- he carries out his mission, quietly detesting the motives behind his orders but executing them out to the letter. Regarded as a hero in the East, Custer returns to Washington only to jeopardize his career by testifying about the corruption he's found around him in the West. He is left a political pariah but once more. Sheridan intercedes, again getting Custer posted with the Seventh Cavalry now engaged against the Sioux. He is, by this time, disillusioned with the army that he serves and the politicians and the business interests in whose service it functions. Though he craves the glory that comes with battle, he sees soldiering of the type he is being asked to carry out as little more than organized slaughter, even relying on machines to do the killing in ever more indiscriminate ways with none of the contest between men, of strategies, and arms and resourcefulness -- that was his real joy. The demons and goals that drive him culminate with Custer's disastrous action at Little Big Horn, which is beautifully (if not necessarily accurately) staged, in a stunning visual and aural denouement. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Mary Ure, (more)
- 1975
Actor Maximillian Schell functioned as coproducer and director of End of the Game. Conversely, director Martin Ritt is the leading actor in this existentialist crime story. Ritt plays Hans Barlach, a Swiss police inspector who has spent 30 years trying to pin the murder of the woman he loved on Richard Gastmann, an "untouchable" industrialist (Robert Shaw). When Barlach's assistant Donald Sutherland is killed while trying to get the goods on Gastmann, the inspector puts idealistic detective Walter Tschantz (Jon Voight) on the case. Jacqueline Bisset costars as Anna Crawley Sutherland's girl friend, who attempts to solve the case on her own. Author Friedrich Durrenmatt, long fascinated with the intangible aspects of Guilt and Innocence, wrote the novel (The Judge and His Hangman) upon which End of the Game is based. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, Jacqueline Bisset, (more)
- 1974
- PG
Menahem Golan directed this low wattage heist movie enlivened by Robert Shaw in a dual role as twin brothers. Shaw plays a jaded British aristocrat who decides to become a jewel thief in order to get back at his brother (also played by Shaw), a security expert who has constructed an impregnable vault in Israel where a cache of diamonds are stashed. The tired plot concerns the intricate preparations for the diamond theft and the time-consuming task of cracking the safe. Shaw organizes a gang consisting of Richard Roundtree and Barbara Hershey. Shelley Winters is also on hand as an American widow who tries to seduce Shaw. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Richard Roundtree, (more)
- 1956
In this espionage drama, Soviet spies use a Cornish salmon poacher to ferry them across the English Channel. When the man realizes who they are, he maroons them. He becomes a hero. Then he finds himself up on poaching charges. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1970
- PG
Depending upon viewers' feelings towards filmmaker Joseph Losey, they'll either consider Figures in a Landscape deeply profound or hopelessly mannered. Based on a novel by Barry England, the film stars Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell as two escaped prisoners in an unidentified totalitarian country. MacConnachie (Shaw) and Ansell (McDowell) occasionally pause to exchange profundities but spend most of their time on the run from an omnipresent police helicopter. Along the way, the two men are helped by "the people," who obviously are as contemptuous of the powers that be as MacConnachie and Ansell. But it's all for not: the convicts' fate was sealed the moment they broke out. Pamela Brown has the only other role of substance, as an enigmatic widow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Malcolm McDowell, (more)
Force 10 From Navarone was a sequel to the 1961 blockbuster The Guns of Navarone and tells the tale of ten widely divergent WW II troubleshooters who attempt to blow up a crucial bridge in Yugoslavia. As in the first Navarone film, one of the guerillas is a traitor: group leader Mallory (Robert Shaw) knows the identity of the turncoat, but can't prove it until it's almost too late. The beautiful female resistance leader is played by Barbara Bach, while Harrison Ford, fresh from his Star Wars success, is the romantic lead. Others in the cast include Edward Fox, Franco Nero and Alan Badel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, (more)
From Russia With Love, the second in the series of James Bond films, is the film that solidifies all the Bond film elements into a formula -- the action sequences are intensified and lend greater tension to the proceedings; John Barry's inimitable score makes its first appearance; Q is seen for the first time; and Sean Connery as Bond has nailed down his role as 007 -- accentuating Bond's stylishness and sophistication, while toning down his cold-bloodedness. In From Russia With Love, the bad guys don't want to take over the world. They want something more mundane -- a Russian decoding device. Assigned to the mission of stealing the decoding device are No. 3, former KGB agent Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), and No. 5, Kronsteen (Vladek Sheybal), an expert chess player who has plotted every move of the mission. Kronsteen's plan requires using Bond's weakness for women as an element in acquiring the decoding device. Once Bond obtains the decoding device from Russian cipher clerk Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), SPECTRE muscleman Red Grant (Robert Shaw) is to forcibly take it from Bond and kill him. But Bond suspects a trap. Being Bond, however, he can't resist the lure of a beautiful woman. So, flaunting danger, Bond travels to Istanbul to meet Tatiana. The centerpiece of this 007 feature is the thrilling fight to the death between Bond and enemy agent Red Grant aboard the Orient Express. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Daniela Bianchi, (more)
- 1956
Filmed in Surrey, England, Hell in Korea was shipped out to more conservative movie houses as A Hill in Korea. The title essentially tells all in this no-nonsense account of a group of UN soldiers during the Korean "police action" of the early 1950s. This "skeleton" patrol maintains its tenuous hold over a strategic hill, while determining the best method of sneaking into a communist-held village. While Korean veterans tended to dismiss the film as Hollywood-style hokum, Hell in Korea has stood the test of time far better than many other more elaborate "realistic" wartime dramas. The film, based on a novel by Max Catto, served as the movie debut of Michael Caine, who does not receive screen credit in the original prints--an oversight rectified in TV prints issued after Caine's rise to stardom. In his second film, Robert Shaw is securely ensconced in a good supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- George Baker, Harry Andrews, (more)
Based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel, Steven Spielberg's 1975 shark saga set the standard for the New Hollywood popcorn blockbuster while frightening millions of moviegoers out of the water. One early summer night on fictional Atlantic resort Amity Island, Chrissie decides to take a moonlight skinny dip while her friends party on the beach. Yanked suddenly below the ocean surface, she never returns. When pieces of her wash ashore, Police Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) suspects the worst, but Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton), mindful of the lucrative tourist trade and the approaching July 4th holiday, refuses to put the island on a business-killing shark alert. After the shark dines on a few more victims, the Mayor orders the local fishermen to catch the culprit. Satisfied with the shark they find, the greedy Mayor reopens the beaches, despite the warning from visiting ichthyologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) that the attacks were probably caused by a far more formidable Great White. One more fatality later, Brody and Hooper join forces with flinty old salt Quint (Robert Shaw), the only local fisherman willing to take on a Great White--especially since the price is right. The three ride off on Quint's boat "The Orca," soon coming face to teeth with the enemy. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, (more)
- 1959
A man is forced to prove who he really is -- and discovers that it isn't as easy as one might think -- in this drama. Sir Mark Loddon (Dirk Bogarde) is a titled member of the British aristocracy who lives a life of wealth, privilege, and notoriety, until one day Jeffrey Buckenham (Paul Massie), a pilot from Canada, makes a startling accusation. Buckenham and Loddon were both inmates in the same POW camp during WWII, and Buckenham is convinced that Loddon is not the man he claims to be; Frank Welney, an actor who was also a prisoner in the same camp, bore a striking resemblance to Loddon, and he is convinced that the actor has taken Loddon's place. The press picks up Buckenham's story, and the question of Loddon's identity becomes the talk of all England; Lady Maggie Loddon (Olivia de Havilland), Mark's wife, is deeply offended and insists that he sue for libel to restore his good name. Mark obtains the services of Sir Wilfred (Robert Morley), one of the nation's best-respected attorneys, but it soon becomes evident that proving Mark's identity in court may not be as simple as it might seem; Mark suffered severe head injuries during the war that cause him to stutter at times and also result in periodic spells of amnesia; the testimony of the many witnesses called by Sir Wilfred and his opponent, Hubert Foxley (Wilfrid Hyde-White), establish no clear consensus of who Loddon really is. Libel was based on the popular stage drama by Edward Wooll. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Bogarde, Olivia de Havilland, (more)
- 1952
Loosely based on the true story of Lieutenant Colonel Peter Ortiz, this mystery centers on an American WW II veteran who heroically served as both an officer and a member of the French Foreign Legionnaire. During the war he had been instrumental in assisting in the French Resistance. With such a sterling war record--his exploits are revealed via flashback-- it is therefore a great shock when he is charged with the murder of a Resistance leader. It does not help that the accused lieutenant is thought dead following a key mission and is not around to clear his sullied name. During the trial, several dubious witnesses tell their version of the tale. A former communist spy presents the most conclusive "proof" that the lieutenant killed the Resistance leader. Fortunately, the lieutenant is not dead and bursts in at the crucial moment to clear his name and point out which of the witnesses is the real killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cornel Wilde, Steve Cochran, (more)
Though the story told in Robin and Marian is unfamiliar to most audiences, it is actually quite faithful to several of the ancient Robin Hood legends. During the Crusades, Robin (Sean Connery) is still loyal to King Richard the Lionheart (Richard Harris), but even he has trouble adjusting to the monarch's ever-increasing paranoia and lunacy. After Richard's death, Robin returns to England, his first visit to his home turf in 20 years. He looks up his beloved Maid Marian (Audrey Hepburn, last seen in 1967's Wait Until Dark), who is now a middle-aged nun. No sooner do Robin and Marian renew their relationship than the aging Merry Men demand Robin's services in thwarting their old foe, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robert Shaw). Marian is aghast that the long-standing feud between Robin and the sheriff threatens to expand into wholesale bloodshed. The two venerable enemies agree to one last mano a mano battle -- only to watch helplessly as the all-out war they'd tried to avoid commences anyway. Both the tragic climax and Robin's last, defiant arrow shot are drawn directly from authentic Robin Hood ballads of the 14th and 15th centuries. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn, (more)
- 1958
Victor McLaglen made his last film appearance in the British Sea Fury. McLaglen plays the brawny captain of a salvage vessel, while Stanley Baker is his second in command. The two men battle over the affections of South American beauty Luciana Paluzzi. Baker has the advantage, but Luciana's father disapproves. During the climactic rescue sequence, Baker proves his mettle, while McLaglen is permanently removed from the scene. Sea Fury was instrumental in the spectacular comeback of director Cyril Endfield, who'd been forced to flee Hollywood and seek out work in England thanks to the Blacklist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Stanley Baker, Victor McLaglen, (more)
- 1965
A pair of American Allied fliers (Michael Connor and Robert Redford in his second feature film appearance) are shot down in a small German village near the end of WW II and end up captured and held prisoner in the wine cellar of a lonely old man (Alec Guiness). The old man likes having the two around and so endeavors to keep them in his cellar even though the war is over. The two remain there for seven years and while they wait, the old man regales them with tales of a wonderful Nazi world. The strange plot of this comedy is based on a novel by Robert Shaw. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Connors, Robert Redford, (more)
- 1946
Looking for all the world like Robin Hood, Robert Shaw starred in this typically threadbare Sam Katzman serial as David Trent, a nobleman who forms an outlaw group to combat his evil uncle Sir Edgar Bullard (Charles King). The outlaws of Sherwood Forest (yes, Sherwood Forest!) are championing young Roger Mowbray, really Prince Richard (Robert "Buzz" Henry), whose right to the throne is being usurped by an evil regent (John Merton). With a supporting cast that included Charles King, Leonard Penn, and good old Al Ferguson, the serial bore a strong resemblance to a B-Western despite its mock medieval settings. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
