Mischa Spoliansky Movies

In this British farce, the British Home Secretary satisfies the men of London by sanctioning a government-run brothel. This comedy chronicles what happens when secretary John Bird appoints Sir Francis Leybourne to run the place. Bird then has his lovely girlfriend Babbette act as the Madame. Sir Leybourne owns an opium plantation in India and one day goes there to see it. Unfortunately, he gets killed in an uprising, leaving his prim niece Josephine Pacefoot in charge of the cathouse. A staunch believer in social reform, she is quite sure what to do with the disreputable business. Leybourne's son has plenty of ideas too and wants the fortune and the bordello for himself. The ensuing struggle creates plenty of trouble and many laughs. Though the film originally received a British "X" rating, the sex is pretty tame by modern standards. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Northwest Frontier was the original British title for Flame Over India. When the Moslems attack a British fortress in colonial India, it is imperative that the local Maharaja's son be taken to safety. The man for the job is commander Kenneth More, who uses a rusty old train for that purpose. Among the other fugitives is the boy's British governess Lauren Bacall and the untrustworthy Herbert Lom. A cat-and-mouse session between good and bad guys segues into a heart-pounding chase through the frontier. Welcome comedy relief is in the hands of I.S. Johar as a grizzled old engineer. It looks like a western and sounds like a western, and the original title Northwest Frontier completes the illusion that we're watching Cowboys and Indians rather than Indians and Moslems. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After an extensive talent search, producer-director Otto Preminger selected a 17-year-old unknown from Iowa, Jean Seberg, to play Joan of Arc, a role traditionally portrayed by actresses twice to three times Seberg's age. Seberg is cast opposite such venerable pros as Richard Todd (as Dunois), Anton Walbrook (the Bishop of Beauvais), John Gielgud (Earl of Warwick) and Felix Aylmer (The Inquisitor). Cast as the vacillating Dauphin is Richard Widmark. Graham Greene's screenplay refashions the original Shaw text in the form of a flashback. Seberg eventually became an accomplished actress by virtue of her appearances in such nouvelle vague films as Breathless, but it was too late to salvage Saint Joan, which was figuratively burned at the stake by critics and filmgoers alike. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three disparate male travellers quietly amuse themselves by fantasizing about the same beautiful blonde in this interesting, episodic comedy. A French bus driver sees her first and promptly imagines that she is a seductive photographer's model. In his fantasy, the two end up having a passionate affair on the French Riviera. In the next episode, a Yankee Army officer sees her on the ferry across the Channel and imagines that she is a cabaret chanteuse from Berlin. In the final episode, a British fellow sees her on the boat and imagines that she is a film star who needs his help to get away from the pesky press. Unfortunately, for the three, she proves to be a different sort of woman all together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a novel by John Brophy, Turn the Key Softly takes place within a single day. The film follows the exploits of three newly released female convicts. Monica (Yvonne Mitchell) is full of hatred for the man who led her into a life of crime. Stella (Joan Collins) is an impulsive streetwalker who is determined not to return to her old lifestyle. And Mrs. Quillam (Kathleen Harrison), an elderly shoplifter, misses out on her chance to start anew in a most ironic fashion. Slightly hoked up with a rooftop chase, Turn the Key Softly is an otherwise straightforward psychological drama. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Into the Blue is enhanced by the presence of two veteran British movie favorites. Jack Hulbert and Constance Cummings star as John and Kate Ferguson, who embark upon their first vacation in years. Travelling from England to Norway by yacht, the Fergusons are joined by their taciturn skipper Bill (Edward Rigby) and romantic leads Nicholas Foster (top-billed Michael Wilding) and ship's cook Jackie (Odile Versois). The film's central conflict arises from the fact that Foster is a stowaway. And that's about all the plot there is; the film's real strong suits are its stars and its location photography. Into the Blue was originally released as The Man in the Dinghy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Anglo-American musicomedy Happy Go Lovely is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, during a major film festival. The gathered throngs are aghast when unknown dancer Janet Jones (Vera-Ellen) steps daintily from a limousine owned by a Scottish millionaire. A few miles earlier, the girl had thumbed a ride from the limo driver, but the public doesn't know this, and soon rumors are flying. Before she knows what has happened, Jones has become the festival's main attraction. She is also romanced by B.G. Bruno (David Niven), whom she assumes to be a reporter but who, of course, is the millionaire in disguise. Ostensibly a musical, Happy Go Lovely is limited to two songs, though both are performed con brio by the fabulous Vera-Ellen. The film was produced independently by N. P. Rathvon and released by Rathvon's former studio, RKO Radio. It was shot in black and white but is now reportedly only available in a colorized print. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

MGM's expensive remake of the 1937 British adventure film King Solomon's Mines stars Stewart Granger as fearless-explorer Alan Quartermaine, and Deborah Kerr as the spunky Irish lass who hires him on to locate her husband. Kerr's spouse has disappeared somewhere in Africa while attempting to unearth the long-lost diamond mines of King Solomon. Quartermaine wants no part of so risky an undertaking until Kerr waves 5000 pounds of sterling under his nose. Coming upon a Watusi tribe, the explorers discover that their taciturn native bearer (Siriaque) is actually a deposed Watusi king, who intends to wrest the throne back from his usurpers. Quartermaine uses his wits to quell the natives and keep his party from being killed on the spot. The group finally reaches King Solomon's Mines, where rests the bones of Kerr's late husband. The ending of this version of King Solomon's Mines doesn't pack the same ironic punch as the climax of the 1937 version, but this MGMization is more concerned with the blossoming romance between the leading man and leading lady than with full fidelity to the H. Rider Haggard novel on which it is based. King Solomon's Mines was filmed on location in Africa, which proved an excellent decision in the long run: for several years afterward, MGM adventure films like Watusi (1959) and Trader Horn (1973) were able to economically lift huge chunks of Technicolor stock footage from King Solomon's Mines. The property would be remade once more in 1985, this time as an Indiana Jones rip-off starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this drama a power-mad psycho woman vents her frustration by being cruel and abusive to her family. Because she disapproves of her daughter's marriage to a doctor, the wicked mother destroys the marriage. She tires of her husband and poisons him so she can get a new one. The only one she leaves alone is her darling son, a renowned medical researcher. When he wises up to her evil ways, he calls the cops. In the end the woman is convicted and sent to an asylum for the criminally insane. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The Idol of Paris is based on Paiva, Queen of Love, a novel by Alfred Schirokauer. Set in the mid-19th century, the film traces the rags-to-riches story of a girl named Theresa (Beryl Baxter). Sleeping her way to the top, she becomes a highly sought-after Parisian courtesan, one worthy of the attentions of the Emperor Napoleon (Kenneth Kent). But Theresa has no time for the Emperor, not with such virile lovers as Hertz (Michael Rennie) around and about. Despite inherent censorship problems, The Idol of Paris was picked up for American distribution by Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The state of Israel was still not officially in existence when the 50-minute documentary Tales of Palestine was released in early 1947. Produced in Britain, the film unsurprisingly takes the British point of view of the ongoing Palestinian crisis, though politics are by-and-large set aside during the proceedings. Producer-writer-director Joseph Leytes prefers to concentrate on the positive aspects of Palestine, showing how the previously uninhabitable desert regions were being successfully converted into decent living quarters for hundreds of thousands of wartime Jewish refugees. Special emphasis is placed upon the children of the region, who in Leytes' eyes represent the hope for a brighter future. Complementing the image throughout is the symphonic musical score by Mischa Spoliansky. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this British crime drama, an honest railroad signalman finds himself sorely tempted when he witnesses a murder and later finds $20,000 floating in the harbor. The trouble begins when he decides to take the money and leave town with his daughter and a gold digger. The killer is in hot pursuit when the railroadman kills him. In the end, the signalman's conscience erupts and he returns the stolen loot. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide