A Christmas Carol 1951  N/R, 86 min.
Genre: Fantasy / Drama
aka: Scrooge
Director: Brian Desmond Hurst
Cast: Alastair Sim, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Patrick Macnee, Peter Bull, Michael Hordern, Miles Malleson, Ernest Thesiger, George Cole, Francis De Wolff, Michael Dolan, C. Konarski, Glyn Dearman
This popular version of Charles Dickens' classic story "A Christmas Carol" stars Alastair Sim as the miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, whose life is turned around one Christmas Eve when he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future (Michael Dolan, Francis De Wolff, and C. Konarski). After their visit, Scrooge reassesses his treatment of Tiny Tim (Glyn Dearman) and his family. Sim is great and makes this film a must for everyone.
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 Cleopatra 1963  G, 245 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Martin Landau, Pamela Brown, Roddy McDowall, Michael Hordern, George Cole, Hume Cronyn, Cesare Danova, Kenneth Haigh, Andrew Keir, Robert Stephens, Francesca Annis, Gregoire Aslan
This film stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as Cleopatra and Marc Antony, but the film is more famous for the off-screen romance of the two stars. Cleopatra is queen of Egypt and uses her wiles to begin an affair with Roman emperor Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) in order to gain power to retain her empire. When Caesar is killed in the Roman Senate, Cleopatra seduces Roman general Marc Antony planning to make him her protector. But, Marc Antony is defeated at the Battle of Actium, and the doomed lovers meet for the last time. The film won four Oscars (Best Cinematography, Art Direction, Costume, and Special Visual Effects) and had five nominations including Best Picture and Actor (Harrison).
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Fright 1971  N/R, 87 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
aka: Night Legs
I'm Alone and I'm Scared
Director: Peter Collinson
Cast: Susan George, Honor Blackman, Ian Bannen, John Gregson, George Cole, Dennis Waterman, Tara Collinson, Maurice Kaufmann, Michael Brennan, Roger Lloyd-Pack
Amanda (Susan George) is hired as a babysitter by Helen (Honor Blackman). The straightforward job turns into terror when Helen's husband (Ian Bannen), who has escaped from a mental institution, breaks in with the intent of killing his wife.
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 Gone in 60 Seconds 1974 PG, 105 min.
Genre: Action / Drama
Director: H.B. Halicki
Cast: H.B. Halicki, Marion Busia, Jerry Daugirda, James McIntyre, George Cole, Ronald Halicki, Markos Kotsikos, Parnelli Jones, Billy Englehart, Jonathan E. Fricke, Gary Bettenhausen
Car thief Maindrian (H.B. Halicki–who wrote, directed, and performed incredible stunt-driving scenes in this film) and his gang steal cars and then "fix" them up for resale. When a client wants a large number of luxury vehicles, the challenge is met. It all ends up in a 40-minute, wild, car chase after the police are tipped off. In all, 93 cars were wrecked, bombed, etc., in the chase scene, which is the highlight of the film. A follow-on was filmed in 1982.
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The Green Man 1957  N/R, 80 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Robert Day, Basil Dearden
Cast: Alastair Sim, George Cole, Terry-Thomas, Jill Adams, Avril Angers, Raymond Huntley, Colin Gordon, Eileen Moore, Dora Bryan, John Chandos, Cyril Chamberlain, Richard Wattis, Vivien Wood, Marie Burke
In his spare time, watchmaker Hawkins (Alastair Sim) is a professional assassin. He is hired to kill Sir Gregory Upshoot (Raymond Huntley) and tracks him to the run-down seaside Green Man hotel, but vacuum cleaner salesman William Blake (George Cole) catches on to Hawkins' plot and is determined to save Sir Gregory.
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Lady Godiva Rides Again 1951 N/R, 90 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Frank Launder
Cast: Dennis Price, John McCallum, Stanley Holloway, Pauline Stroud, Gladys Henson, Bernadette O'Farrell, George Cole, Diana Dors, Eddie Byrne, Kay Kendall, Renee Houston, Joan Collins, Sid James, Tommy Duggan, Dana Wynter
Waitress Marjorie Clark (Pauline Stroud) enters a national beauty contest and wins money and a movie contract in London. But, Marjorie has no acting talents and ends up performing nude on the stage–until her boyfriend Larry (John McCallum) makes her promise to leave the show business world and settle down in the domestic world with him.
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Laughter in Paradise 1951 N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Mario Zampi
Cast: Alastair Sim, Guy Middleton, Fay Compton, George Cole, Hugh Griffith, Joyce Grenfell, John Laurie, Beatrice Campbell, Anthony Steel, Audrey Hepburn
Four relatives share a fortune–if they perform the actions designated in a very strange will left by a practical joker. That cigarette girl is Audrey Hepburn in her film debut.
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 Mary Reilly 1996 R, 108 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Stephen Frears
Cast: Julia Roberts, John Malkovich, Glenn Close, George Cole, Michael Gambon, Kathy Staff, Bronagh Gallagher, Ciaran Hinds, Michael Sheen, Linda Bassett
Mary (Julia Roberts) is the chambermaid of Dr. Jekyll (John Malkovich), and this version of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is told through Mary's perspective. As a young woman who has endured cruel treatment from a drunken father, Mary loves the kind Dr. Jekyll in her present circumstances, while Mr. Hyde represents her past life with her father.
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Morning Departure 1950  N/R, 102 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
aka: Operation Disaster
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Cast: John Mills, Helen Cherry, Richard Attenborough, Nigel Patrick, Peter Hammond, Andrew Crawford, Michael Brennan, George Cole, Victor Maddern, Roddy McMillan, Frank Coburn, Bernard Lee, Kenneth More, James Hayter, Lana Morris
While on a routine peace-time mission, the submarine "Trojan" strikes a mine and sinks to the bottom of the ocean. All but 12 men are killed. After deciding who will survive, the captain, LCDR. Armstrong (John Mills), manages to get eight men out through the gun hatch and the conning tower. The remaining four crewmen must wait, entombed in the submarine, hoping for rescue.
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Quartet 1949 N/R, 120 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Ralph Smart, Harold French, Arthur Crabtree, Ken Annakin
Cast: Basil Radford, Jack Watling, Mai Zetterling, Dirk Bogarde, Honor Blackman, George Cole, Hermione Baddeley, Susan Shaw, Nora Swinburne, Cecil Parker
Four of W. Somerset Maugham's stories are presented in this film, with each being introduced by the author. The stories are: "The Facts of Life," "Alien Corn," "The Kite," and "The Colonel's Lady." All are excellent, and due to the success of this omnibus, three others were produced the following year in "Trio."
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 The Vampire Lovers 1970 R, 91 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller / Mystery
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Cast: Ingrid Pitt, Pippa Steel, Peter Cushing, Madeline Smith, George Cole, Dawn Addams, Kate O'Mara, Douglas Wilmer, Ferdy Mayne, Jon Finch, Kirsten Lindholm, Janet Key, John Forbes-Robertson, Charles Farrell, Harvey Hall
Hammer Films gets into more sex and violence in this first of three films based on Sheridan LeFanu's "Carmilla," the tale of a lesbian vampire. Our vampire heroine (Ingrid Pitt) awakens from her death sleep and, using the name of Marcilla, heads to a European town to exact revenge on those responsible for killing off her family. She starts having lesbian encounters and then drains the blood of her "partner." It's time to bring in the vampire killer! Followed by "Lust for a Vampire" and "Twins of Evil."
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| 1. A Christmas Carol (1951)
aka: Scrooge
2. Cleopatra (1963)
3. Fright (1971)
aka: Night Legs
aka: I'm Alone and I'm Scared
4. Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)
5. The Green Man (1957)
6. Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951)
7. Laughter in Paradise (1951)
8. Mary Reilly (1996)
9. Morning Departure (1950)
aka: Operation Disaster
10. Quartet (1949)
11. The Vampire Lovers (1970)
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