Peter Graham Scott Movies
Long esteemed as one of the most gifted directors (and occasional producers) of British telefilms, Peter Graham Scott arrived in that venue via a somewhat circuitous route. Born in East Sheen, Surrey, England, Scott accepted his mother's prompting to pursue an acting career, actualized with a bit part in an Alfred Hitchcock film, Young and Innocent (1937). Scott then realized,... (read more) mid-production (while quietly watching Hitchcock set up a key tracking shot), that he wanted to direct his own ideas and stories. A brief stint at the British Ministry of Information, followed by an abortive attempt to shoot a script by Dylan Thomas, a helming assignment on a documentary, and an editing gig on the Graham Greene picture Brighton Rock (1947) preceded Scott's decision to join the BBC as a producer-in-training. His foremost ability, however -- as he had initially sensed -- lay in directing actors, and he indeed made his most enduring impact in that capacity, with such critically acclaimed efforts as Escape Route (1952), Hideout (1956), One (1956), and the 1958 Women in Love (not to be confused with the 1969 Ken Russell picture or an adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's work).
In time, Scott ventured into helming episodes of ongoing British television series, particularly the cult spy-themed programs The Prisoner and The Avengers. In the 1970s and '80s, Scott also gravitated more from direction to production; his credits during that period include Kidnapped (1979), Jamaica Inn (1983), The Canterville Ghost (1986), and Passion and Paradise (1989). His Kidnapped qualified as the first British series to make it to U.S. cable television. Scott's greatest accomplishment over the course of his career, however, arguably lay in launching the careers of such legends as Judi Dench, Oliver Reed, Sean Connery, Glenda Jackson, and Peter Sellers, whom he hired for small-screen productions when they were virtual unknowns.
Scott spent the final years of his career at the HTV network in Great Britain. He died at age 83 on August 25, 2007, of unspecified causes. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
Blowin' in the Wind
2005
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Passion and Paradise
1989
The four-hour TV movie Passion and Paradise traces the rise and fall of real-life British playboy Alfred de Marigny (Armand Assante). Little better than a gigolo, de Marigny...
Freedom Fighter
1988
The made-for-TV Freedom Fighter is set in the divided Berlin of 1961. Tony Danza plays an idealistic American GI whose sweetheart is among those stranded in East Berlin by...
The Canterville Ghost
G 1986
John Gielgud stars in this adaptation of Oscar Wilde's classic ghost tale. Simon de Canterville (Gielgud) becomes trapped in his family's estate after he runs away...
Arch of Triumph
PG 1985
Erich Maria Remarque's novel Arch of Triumph was originally adapted to film in 1948 with stars Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman under the direction of Lewis...
Jenny's War
PG 1985
Dyan Cannon stars in this 4-hour TV drama as Jenny Baines, an American woman of the pre-WW II era. Anxious to learn the fate of her son, a pilot who was shot down over Germany,...
The Master of Ballantrae
1984
It was not unusual in the 1980s for a British TV miniseries to resurface in America in the form of a re-edited feature-length "movie." The Master of Ballantrae, based on the...
Jamaica Inn
1983
This made-for-TV remake of the Alfred Hitchcock adventure stars Patrick McGoohan as the head of a crew of smugglers; Jane Seymour plays his niece, who discovers the...
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
1980
Originally made for television, the film centers on an Egyptian archaeological expedition, and the discovery of the tomb of the famed Pharaoh. After it is opened, disturbing...
Kidnapped
1979
This multipart TV version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure novel Kidnapped is regarded by Stevenson purists as one of the best adaptations ever. Set in 18th...
Children of the Stones [TV Series]
1977
Originally airing in England in 1977, the haunting mini-series Children of the Stones takes place in an British village called Milbury, which is home to a Stone Henge-esque...
The Promise
1969
The Promise is a sentimental romantic triangle with a World War II. Russian soldiers John Castle and Ian McKellen fend off the Nazis during the siege of Leningrad....
Subterfuge
1968
CIA agent Donovan (Gene Barry) travels to Britain to untangle a web of international spies. He falls for the estranged wife of local secret agent Langley (Tom Adams). Anne...
Mister Ten Percent
1967
When a builder writes a serious drama, the world views it as a comedy and it turns into a huge success. ~ Rovi...
The Prisoner: The General
1967
The fine line between knowledge and insight becomes a battleground in this episode of the classic British television series The Prisoner. Number Six (Patrick McGoohan)...
This Man Craig
1966
The title of this British series would seem to suggest that, at the very least, the "Man Craig" in question was a private eye or secret agent. Instead, protagonist Ian Craig...
Avengers: The Master Minds
1965
A highly respected government minister is caught trying to steal top-secret documents. Figuring that there's more to the story than meets the eye, Steed poses as a "genius" and...
Avengers: The Murder Market
1965
Steed and Emma investigate when several clients of a marriage bureau are suddenly and inexplcably murdered. It turns out that the agency also sidelines in assassination -- but...
The Troubleshooters
1965
When this weekly 50-minute British adventure series debuted in 1965, it went out under the title Mogul. Created by John Elliot, the series chronicled the exploits of a...
Avengers: A Sense of History
1965
A prestigious university is the site for skullduggery when a noted economist is murdered while working on a plan to eliminate all forms of poverty. Arriving on the campus of Saint...