The 39 Steps 1959  N/R, 93 min.
Genre: Drama / Thriller
aka: The Thirty-Nine Steps
Director: Ralph Thomas
Cast: Kenneth More, Taina Elg, Brenda De Banzie, Barry Jones, Reginald Beckwith, Faith Brook, Michael Goodliffe, James Hayter, Duncan Lamont, Jameson Clark, Andrew Cruickshank, Leslie Dwyer, Sid James, Betty Henderson, Joan Hickson
This is an entertaining remake of the 1935 Hitchcock classic. Richard Hannay (Kenneth More) inadvertently becomes involved in espionage and murder after attending a vaudeville show with a young nanny (Faith Brook). Violence erupts at the show, and Richard takes the nanny to his home where she is stabbed by an assailant and is killed–but not before telling Richard that he has only two days to stop an espionage plot. And the race against time begins.
|  | |
633 Squadron 1964 N/R, 102 min.
Genre: Action
Director: Walter Grauman
Cast: Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, Maria Perschy, Harry Andrews, Donald Houston, Michael Goodliffe, John Meillon, John Bonney, Angus Lennie, Scott Finch
A German V2 rocket factory is located in a well-secured location in Norway during World War II, and the British 633 Squadron, under the leadership of American flyer Roy Grant (Cliff Robertson), is assigned to destroy it. Help is obtained from Norwegian freedom fighter Erik Bergman (George Chakiris) who will conduct a simultaneous ground attack. But Erik is captured by the Germans and, after brutal torture, reveals the plans. Some good action footage in this "Guns of Navarone"-inspired film.
| | |
The 7th Dawn 1964   N/R, 123 min.
Genre: Action
aka: The Seventh Dawn
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: William Holden, Susannah York, Capucine, Tetsuro Tamba, Michael Goodliffe, Allan Cuthbertson, Maurice Denham, Sydney Tafler, Beulah Quo, Tony Price
Communist terrorists, British officials, and the people of Malaya fight for control of the country.
| | |
The Battle of the River Plate 1956 N/R, 119 min.
Genre: Adventure / Action / Drama
aka: Pursuit of the Graf Spee
Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Cast: John Gregson, Anthony Quayle, Peter Finch, Ian Hunter, Jack Gwillim, Bernard Lee, Lionel Murton, Anthony Bushell, Peter Illing, Michael Goodliffe, Christopher Lee, Peter Scott, Patrick Macnee, John Chandos, Douglas Wilmer
The Graf Spee, the Bismarck, the Scharnhorst, and the Gneissau were heavily armed German battleships that wreaked havoc on Atlantic shipping in the early stages of World War II. This is the story of outmanned British ships dealing with this threat, and the story is shown through both the German and the British perspectives. Good documentary-style film.
| | |
Carve Her Name with Pride 1958 N/R, 119 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Virginia McKenna, Paul Scofield, Jack Warner, Denise Grey, Alain Saury, Maurice Ronet, Anne Leon, Sydney Tafler, Avice Landone, Nicole Stephane, Noel Willman, Bill Owen, Billie Whitelaw, William Mervyn, Michael Goodliffe
This story is based on the real life of Violette Szabo (Virginia McKenna) who joined the British secret service during World War II. Her husband (Alain Saury) had just been killed in North Africa, but Violette left her baby girl behind and parachuted into enemy territory to begin work as a British agent. Violette was captured and sent to a concentration camp where she was tortured and finally executed. Her bravery in not revealing British secrets earned her (posthumously) the George Cross.
| | |
Cry, the Beloved Country 1951  N/R, 105 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: African Fury
Director: Zoltan Korda
Cast: Canada Lee, Charles Carson, Sidney Poitier, Geoffrey Keen, Lionel Ngakane, Joyce Carey, Edric Connor, Michael Goodliffe, Charles McRae, Vivien Clinton, Albertina Temba, Henry Blumenthal
This is the film adaptation of Alan Paton's thought-provoking novel about apartheid in South Africa. The story centers on the murder of a White man by a Black man, Absalom Kumalo (Lionel Ngakane). The man Absalon killed was the son of a wealthy farmer, James Jarvis (Charles Carson). Absalom's own father is a priest, Stephen Kumalo (Canada Lee), who, with help from a young priest, Rev. Maimangu (Sidney Poitier), comes looking for his son and finds that he is now a criminal. Through the fathers of the two men, both of whom have lost their sons, hope is seen for an end to apartheid.
| | |
The Day the Earth Caught Fire 1961 N/R, 99 min.
Genre: Sci-Fi
Director: Val Guest
Cast: Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Edward Judd, Michael Goodliffe, Bernard Braden, Reginald Beckwith, Gene Anderson, Arthur Christiansen, Austin Trevor, Renee Asherson
The worst fears of the Cold War are realized when both the U.S. and the Soviet Union detonate nuclear devices at the same time. This causes the Earth to get knocked out of orbit, and it starts a spiral toward the sun. What's a person to do? Not a bad flick; overall well directed and acted.
| | |
The End of the Affair 1955 N/R, 106 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Edward Dmytryk
Cast: Deborah Kerr, Van Johnson, John Mills, Peter Cushing, Michael Goodliffe, Stephen Murray, Charles Goldner, Nora Swinburne, Frederick Leister, Nan Munro, Joyce Carey
While living in London during World War II, American author Maurice Bendrix (Van Johnson) has an affair with Sarah (Deborah Kerr), the wife of civil servant Henry Miles (Peter Cushing). But, when Henry is injured during the London Blitz, Sarah feels guilty and vows to return to Henry if his life is spared. He survives, and Sarah ends the affair and returns to Henry. Based on the Graham Greene novel and remade in 1999 starring Julianne Moore and Ralph Fiennes.
| | |
Man in the Middle 1964  N/R, 94 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Guy Hamilton
Cast: Robert Mitchum, France Nuyen, Barry Sullivan, Trevor Howard, Keenan Wynn, Sam Wanamaker, Gary Cockrell, Alexander Knox, Robert Nichols, Michael Goodliffe
Toward the end of World War II, Lieutenant Winston (Keenan Wynn) murdered a British sergeant. During the ensuing murder trial, Winston's lawyer, Lieutenant Colonel Barney Adams (Robert Mitchum), begins to suspect that his client is being sacrificed by the United States government to maintain good relationships in foreign diplomacy with Britain.
| | |
A Night to Remember 1958  N/R, 122 min.
Genre: Action / Drama
Director: Roy Ward Baker
Cast: Kenneth More, Laurence Naismith, Michael Goodliffe, Frank Lawton, David McCallum, Jill Dixon, Honor Blackman, Alec McCowen, Ronald Allen, Anthony Bushell, Robert Ayres, John Cairney, Jane Downs, Kenneth Griffith, Ralph Michael
Based on Walter Lord's book, this is an excellent recreation of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. The account was previously filmed five years earlier as "Titanic." While both films are good, this one is considered better with its attention to details of the disaster, using about 200 actors. Then, there is the 1997 Academy Award winner, which is great but not as historically accurate.
| | |
 Peeping Tom 1960 N/R, 109 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Michael Powell
Cast: Karl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley, Brenda Bruce, Martin Miller, Nigel Davenport, Esmond Knight, Shirley Anne Field, Michael Goodliffe
While this film was denounced when first shown, it now has a cult following. The gruesome story is about a psychopathic killer (Karl Boehm) who photographs his victims immediately prior to murdering them–he gets his kicks out of viewing the helpless terror on their faces.
| | |
Sea Devils 1953 N/R, 91 min.
Genre: Adventure
Director: Raoul Walsh
Cast: Yvonne De Carlo, Rock Hudson, Maxwell Reed, Denis O'Dea, Michael Goodliffe, Bryan Forbes, Jacques B. Brunius, Ivor Barnard, Arthur Wontner, Gerard Oury, Larry Taylor, Keith Pyott
Set during the Napoleonic Wars, this story revolves around the efforts of British agent Drouette (Yvonne De Carlo) who is trying to get close enough to spy on Napoleon (Gerard Oury). She runs into smuggler Gilliatt (Rock Hudson), and the two of them try to outsmart each other. But, by story's end, Gilliatt rescues Drouette and, in the process, saves England from an invasion by the French.
| | |
Sink the Bismarck! 1960 N/R, 97 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Kenneth More, Dana Wynter, Carl Mohner, Laurence Naismith, Karel Stepanek, Geoffrey Keen, Michael Hordern, Maurice Denham, Michael Goodliffe, Esmond Knight
This film is based on the true World War II assignment of the British Navy to locate and sink the German battleship Bismarck. It is filled with intrigue and excitement as the British zero in on their target.
| | |
To the Devil a Daughter 1976  R, 92 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Peter Sykes
Cast: Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman, Denholm Elliott, Michael Goodliffe, Nastassja Kinski, Eva Maria Meineke, Anthony Valentine, Derek Francis, Isabella Telezynska
Good scenery and special effects are the saving grace of this Hammer Film. Father Rayner (Christopher Lee) is an ex-priest and is now the head of a Satanic cult. He intends to sacrifice young Catherine (Nastassja Kinski), whose father had sold her soul to guarantee his own safety. But now the father has second thoughts and asks occult expert John Verney (Richard Widmark) to save the day.
| | |
Up the Creek 1958 N/R, 83 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Val Guest
Cast: David Tomlinson, Peter Sellers, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Vera Day, Michael Goodliffe, Lionel Jeffries, Frank Pettingell, Reginald Beckwith, Sam Kydd, Lionel Murton, Tom Gill, John Warren, Donald Bisset, Peter Coke, Basil Dignam
Humor in United States Navy protocol is the subject of this slapstick film.
| | |
Von Ryan's Express 1965  N/R, 117 min.
Genre: Action / Drama / Adventure
Director: Mark Robson
Cast: Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Raffaella Carra, Brad Dexter, Sergio Fantoni, Edward Mulhare, Wolfgang Preiss, James Brolin, John Van Dreelen, Adolfo Celi, John Leyton, Vito Scotti, Richard Bakalyan, Michael Goodliffe, Michael St. Clair
During World War II, United States Colonel Joseph Ryan leads a group of 600 British prisoners in an escape from an Italian POW camp. They use a German freight train as their vehicle to get out of Nazi-held territory, and drive the train on a suspenseful trek through Italy to Switzerland searching for a safe haven. Lots of great action.
| | |
Woman of Straw 1964 N/R, 117 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Basil Dearden
Cast: Gina Lollobrigida, Sean Connery, Ralph Richardson, Johnny Sekka, Peter Madden, Alexander Knox, Michael Goodliffe, Andre Morell, Edward Underdown, Douglas Wilmer
A wheel-chair-bound millionaire (Ralph Richardson) is murdered, and more than one person has a motive for the killing.
| | |
The Wooden Horse 1950 N/R, 100 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Jack Lee
Cast: Leo Genn, David Tomlinson, Anthony Steel, David Greene, Peter Burton, Patrick Waddington, Michael Goodliffe, Anthony Dawson, Bryan Forbes, Dan Cunningham, Peter Finch, Hans Meyer, Jacques B. Brunius
During World War II, British soldiers find an way to escape from their German POW camp by digging a tunnel under a wooden vaulting horse used for exercising. After digging for months, they escape and now must find the way out of enemy territory on their way to freedom.
| | |
| 1. The 39 Steps (1959)
aka: The Thirty-Nine Steps
2. 633 Squadron (1964)
3. The 7th Dawn (1964)
aka: The Seventh Dawn
4. The Battle of the River Plate (1956)
aka: Pursuit of the Graf Spee
5. Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)
6. Cry, the Beloved Country (1951)
aka: African Fury
7. The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
8. The End of the Affair (1955)
9. The Gorgon (1964)
10. Man in the Middle (1964)
11. A Night to Remember (1958)
12. Peeping Tom (1960)
13. Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue (1953)
14. Sea Devils (1953)
15. Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
16. To the Devil a Daughter (1976)
17. Up the Creek (1958)
18. Von Ryan's Express (1965)
19. Woman of Straw (1964)
20. The Wooden Horse (1950)
In The News
|
