Brian Smith Movies

Based on a novel by Edgar Wallace, this crime drama centers on two car thieves who inadvertently interfere with a kidnapping when they steal the vehicle that contains the ransom for the daughter of a Swedish tycoon. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

First filmed in 1934 with Norma Shearer, Fredric March and Charles Laughton, Rudolf Bessier's stage hit The Barretts of Wimpole Street was lavishly remade in CinemaScope and Metrocolor in 1957. This time around, Jennifer Jones stars as the beautiful invalid Elizabeth Barrett, who lives under the despotic rule of her Victorian-era father Edward Moulton Barrett (John Gielgud). Literally swept off her feet by dashing, romantic poet Robert Browning (Bill Travers), Elizabeth's hopes for happiness are dashed by her autocratic, implicitly incestuous father until Browning takes decisive action. Virginia McKenna, wife of star Bill Travers, plays Elizabeth's rebellious sister Henrietta. The Barretts of Wimpole Street was the final directorial effort of Sidney Franklin, who also helmed the 1934 version. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anna Neagle steps down from her expensive musical extravaganzas to play a recognizable human being in No Time for Tears. She plays the dedicated director of a busy children's hospital, battling red tape, family hassles and public indifference. A large and stellar cast appears in this episodic tale, dramatizing the triumphs and tragedies of pediatrics. An unfortunately predictable happy ending sends the filmgoers home without trauma. No Time for Tears came close to the end of Anna Neagle's starring career; she would appear in two more films, and produce two additional features, before returning to the stage. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Clark Gable's final effort for his longtime home studio MGM, Betrayed is an exciting espionage thriller set during World War II. Intelligence agent Gable is ordered to keep tabs on suspected Nazi collaborator Lana Turner (a brunette for the occasion). Both Gable and Turner join the Dutch underground, making contact with a flamboyant resistance leader known as "The Scarf" (Victor Mature). Turner poses as a sexy chanteuse, the better to gain the confidence of the lascivious Nazi officers. Within the next few weeks, several underground operatives are captured and shot, and it begins to look as though Gable's suspicions concerning Turner are correct. The real collaborator is revealed some twenty minutes before the finale, but the suspense level is expertly maintained throughout. The location-filmed Betrayed would later be mercilessly lampooned in the 1984 spy spoof Top Secret! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Michael Redgrave gives his greatest performance as Andrew Crocker-Harris, a boarding-school teacher who realizes that his life may be a failure, in this powerful adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play with a screenplay by Rattigan himself. Poor health forces Crocker-Harris to give up his teaching position after years of thankless service and scorn from his students and colleagues. His marriage to Millie (Jean Kent) is also in free fall, as his wife is openly having an affair with the school's chemistry teacher, Hunter (Nigel Patrick). The sensitivity of one student (Brian Smith) breaks through Crocker-Harris's reserved British exterior, but it takes the final departure of his wife, right before the school's graduation exercises, to wake him up once and for all. He discards his prepared speech and speaks openly to the assembled students, delivering a moving apology for having failed them as their teacher. The film's rich montage of incident and character detail builds to intense emotional heights that make this version of The Browning Version a classic. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide