Lesley Storm Movies

Heart of the Matter is a faithful if somewhat austere adaptation of the same-named novel by Graham Greene. Set in Sierra Leone during WW II, the film stars Trevor Howard as assistant police commissioner Scobie. While his wife Louise (Elizabeth Allan) is away on vacation, Scobie falls in love with Helen (Maria Schell), the widow of a U-boat victim. Scobie would like to get a divorce from his wife, and she from him, but their Catholicism prevents not only this break but Scobie's planned remarriage to Helen. In despair, Scobie chooses a desperate means of solving his dilemma--which only furthers to exacerbate the religious quandary in which everyone finds themselves. Posing several ethical questions throughout its 105 minutes, Heart of the Matter wisely allows the viewers to come up with their own answers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

That deathless Edgar Wallace thriller The Ringer was taken out of cold storage once more in 1951. Donald Wolfit, whose legendary thespic excesses were later fictionalized in the stage play The Dresser, is perfectly cast as a vengeance-seeking master of disguise. He announces publicly that he intends to kill the crooked lawyer (Herbert Lom) responsible for his sister's death. What is more, The Ringer has even appointed the exact time of the lawyer's demise. Scotland Yard surrounds the lawyer with a battalion of constables...but no one knows what the Ringer looks like, nor what disguise he plans to adopt. 1951's The Ringer was the third talkie version of Wallace's classic tale. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this adventure, an archaeologist is working at a Tunisian dig and having a passionate affair with a local girl when he finds himself entangled with a murderous band of arms smugglers. The story is based on one of Victor Canning's novels. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Adapted from the Graham Greene story The Basement Room, director Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol is told almost completely from a child's eye view-but it isn't a children's story. Young Bobby Henrey idolizes household butler Ralph Richardson. Therefore, when it seems as though Richardson might be implicated in a murder, Bobby does his best to throw the police off the track. The boy succeeds only in casting even more suspicion upon Richardson. As the story progresses, Henrey's hero worship is eroded by Richardson's shifty behavior, and even more so when the boy discovers that the butler's boasts of previous heroism are just so much hot air. The ending of the film differs radically from Greene's story. While it would seem that director Reed was merely paying homage to the "happy ending" philosophy (hardly likely, given the doleful climaxes of such films as Odd Man Out and The Third Man), the director had very solid reasons for altering the story: he was more fascinated by the concept of the boy's imagination nearly sending his idol to the gallows, rather than having the butler entrapped by facts. And though the ending is happy for the boy, the butler's fate is much more nebulous. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this touching drama, set in the midst of the Swiss mountains, a philandering husband and his idealistic young wife battle it out for the rights to the White Cradle Inn, her familial estate. The man spends much of his time messing with a maid at the inn. His wife spends time helping the village orphans whom she allows to stay in the manor. She becomes especially bonded to one of the little children. She wants to adopt him, but her husband refuses to allow it unless she is willing to give him all rights to the inn. Her love for the child causes her to give in. Later, the husband and the lad are mountain climbing. They are trapped in a sudden storm and the husband sacrifices his own life to save the boy. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Based on a play by Leslie Storm, Tonight and Every Night is a musical wartime morale booster in which star Rita Hayworth is but one of a lively ensemble. Set in battle-scarred Britain, the action takes place in a seedy old music hall, which never misses a performance even at the height of the "blitz". Five times a day like clockwork, American-born entertainer Rosalind Bruce (Rita Hayworth) and her British cohorts put on a show for their ever-appreciative audiences. Along the way, a romance develops between Rosalind and RAF pilot Paul Lundy (Lee Bowman). Providing excellent support are Janet Blair as the troupe's plucky ingenue and Broadway alumnus Marc Platt as the entourage's resident eccentric dancer. The individual numbers are inventively staged, with one scene creatively harnessing the Technicolor process in an eye-popping manner seldom seen in 1940s films. All that Tonight and Every Night lacks is a memorable score, though Rita's solo number "Anywhere" enjoyed brief hit-parade popularity. Incidentally, one of the chorus girls is a slim-and-trim Shelley Winters! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bob Randall (Richard Greene) is a reporter who gets to witness first-hand the British retreat from Dunkirk in May of 1940. He returns to his job in a London now facing nightly German bombing raids, and finds himself saddled with Carol Bennett (Valerie Hobson), a neophyte reporter. Bob is eager to take on the Nazis and, in the absence of any on the ground that he can fight, he turns to the leaders of a pacifist movement, The People for Peace. But no sooner does he start to look into who they are than he finds himself being shadowed by mysterious men and stirring up a hornet's nest of activity in his wake. While Carol tries to keep up and do her bit, and Bob tries to look out for her and find out just what he's stepped into -- which soon involves kidnappings and murder -- the German bombers keep coming and the newspaper's survival is threatened. Bob and Carol are drawn together romantically in the midst of these overlapping crises, and manage to find some time for each other while helping their long-suffering editor (Brefni O'Rourke) save the newspaper and the British secret service save the country. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Another cheeky entry from the Aldwych Theatre farceurs, Banana Ridge is based on a play by Aldwych perennial Ben Travers. Alfred Drayton plays a wealthy, respected gentleman suddenly confronted with old flame Isabel Jeans. She shows up out of nowhere, claiming that her illegitimate son is his. The possibility of scandal creates a brouhaha with Drayton's wife Adela Dixon, and daughter Nova Pilbeam. Old chum Robertson Hare offers to help Drayton out--and nearly wrecks his own marriage in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide