87% (2) The Dam Busters 105 min, Approved, [Drama, History, War] [Michael Anderson] [16 Jul 1955]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 74%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.
Actors: Basil Sydney, Michael Redgrave, Richard Todd, Ursula Jeans
Writer: Paul Brickhill (book), Guy Gibson (based on Wing Comdr. Gibson's own account in "Enemy Coast Ahead"), R.C. Sherriff (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK
Plot: The British are desperate to shorten the length of WW2 and propose a daring raid to smash Germany's industrial heart. At first the objective looks impossible until a British scientist invents an ingenious weapon capable of destroying the planned target.
Rotten Tomatoes: The British film tells the story of the development and utilization of the "bouncing bombs" in WWII. Michael Redgrave stars as Dr. Barnes Wallis, who developed these unorthodox explosives. Most of the film is devoted to the two years spent in creating the bombs and training the pilots.
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70% (1) Treasure Island 96 min, PG, [Adventure, Family] [Byron Haskin] [19 Jul 1950]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Basil Sydney, Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton, Walter Fitzgerald
Writer: Lawrence Edward Watkin (screenplay), Robert Louis Stevenson (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK, USA
Plot: Enchanted by the idea of locating treasure buried by Captain Flint, Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Jim Hawkins charter a sailing voyage to a Caribbean island. Unfortunately, a large number of Flint's old pirate crew are aboard the ship, including Long John Silver.
Rotten Tomatoes: Prepare for a swashbuckling good time as Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of treasure and treachery on the high-seas comes to the screen in an old fashioned adventure that the whole family will enjoy. Frank Gorshin stars and Dave Heather directs. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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65% (1) A Question of Adultery 86 min, [Drama] [Don Chaffey] [10 Feb 1959]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 65%, External Reviews
Actors: Anthony Steel, Basil Sydney, Donald Houston, Julie London
Writer: Anne Edwards (written for the screen by), Denis Freeman (additional scenes), Dan Sutherland (play)
External Links: IMDb Language: English Country: UK
Plot: Mark Loring is madly jealous of his wife, Mary, former American cabaret singer. Due to an automobile accident, she loses her unborn child, and Mark becomes sterile. His father, Brit-stuffy Sir John Loring, has never approved of the marriage and, again, tries to break it up. Believing that a child will hold the marriage together, Mary suggests artificial insemination to Mark, who finally agrees to accompany her to a clinic in Switzerland. However, when she is again pregnant, Mark finds it impossible to reconcile himself to the situation and leaves her. Prompted by his father, Mark sues for divorce, accusing her of adultery. She contests the divorce and a trial concerns itself with whether or not artificial insemination is a question of adultery. The Catholic Church's National League of Decency placed this film on its Condemned" list.
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63% (1) Simba 99 min, Not Rated, [Adventure, Drama] [Brian Desmond Hurst] [09 Sep 1955]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 63%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 nomination.
Actors: Basil Sydney, Dirk Bogarde, Donald Sinden, Virginia McKenna
Writer: Anthony Perry (original story), John Baines (screenplay), Robin Estridge (additional dialogue)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Website Language: English Country: UK
Plot: When Alan Howard, a young Englishman, arrives in Kenya to visit his older brother on his farm he finds the latter has been brutally murdered by the Mau Mau. He decides to go on exploiting the farm and to fight the rebels with all his energy. He falls in love with Mary, the daughter of a settler who lives close to his estate. Although the young woman shares his love she disapproves of Alan's hatred of Blacks. Alan will eventually mellow after Dr. Karanja, a native physician, sacrifices his life to prevent the slaughter of a group of white settlers.
Rotten Tomatoes: The recent Mau Mau uprising in Kenya served as story material for the 1955 British film Simba. White farmer Dirk Bogarde and his neighbors are targeted for extermination by the zealously nationalistic Mau Maus. Native doctor Joseph Tomelty, whose brother had earlier been killed under questionable circumstances, endeavors to help the whites escape the hordes, only to discover that his own father is the local leader of the insurrectionists. Given the cruelties of colonial rule in Africa, it is hard for any film to make the Mau Mau total villains, despite their own well-documented brutal treatment of their enemies. Simba downplays side-taking and ideology, choosing instead to concentrate on the adventure and suspense elements. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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59% (1) Hell Below Zero 90 min, Approved, [Action, Adventure, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller] [Mark Robson] [15 Jan 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 59%, External Reviews
Actors: Alan Ladd, Basil Sydney, Joan Tetzel, Stanley Baker
Writer: Alec Coppel (screenplay), Max Trell (screenplay), Richard Maibaum (adaptation), Hammond Innes (novel)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK, USA
Plot: Duncan Craig signs on a whaling ship, partly because his own business deal has fallen through, partly to help Judie Nordhall find her father. Rumor has it that her father may have been murdered by Erik Bland, son of her father's partner and her one-time lover. Duncan and Erik find themselves on rival whaleboats and, ultimately, on an ice floe.
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58% (1) Accused 83 min, [Crime, Drama] [Thornton Freeland] [08 Jan 1937]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 58%, External Reviews
Actors: Basil Sydney, Dolores del Rio, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Florence Desmond
Writer: Zoe Akins (dialogue), Zoe Akins (screenplay), George Barraud (additional dialogue), George Barraud (screenplay)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK
Plot: Tony Seymour and his partner, Gaby Ramarios are a dance team who perform an Apache specialty number, which ends with Tony, via a steel waistcoat with a scabbard arrangement, getting a knife plunked into his back but he is unharmed. Gaby is an expert knife thrower. They are auditioning for parts in "La Nouvelle Revue" which is to open in three weeks at the Alhambra of Paris. The star is Yvette Delange, described as "a beautiful woman who could not hide with the most perfect makeup the ravages of time." She also does not like rehearsals, but perks up at the sight of Tony. Alphonse de la Riviere, once a great star but now just an assistant to the producer, Morel, winces when he hears this. Later, Yvette sends Alphonse to fetch Tony to her dressing room, and informs Tony that Gaby is not invited. Tony accepts her invitation. Gaby is not pleased. Yvette is found murdered, stabbed with a knife belonging to Gaby. And Gaby is charged with murder. Tony's mission now is to clear Gaby and find the real killer. Tony's suspects include Morel, Alphonse, Dubec the concierge and possibly Ninette Duval, a member of the chorus, who has her eye on Tony. She is also the only one who knows that Tony and Gaby are married.
Rotten Tomatoes: Accused is a British melodrama starring American actor (and confirmed Anglophile) Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Somewhat incongruously cast as an Apache dancer, Fairbanks and his dance partner/wife Dolores Del Rio headline a Paris musical. Fairbanks becomes the unwilling target for the attentions of performer Florence Desmond (the famed British impressionist, here playing a hateful adventuress). Desmond is later murdered with the dagger used by Fairbanks and his wife in their act, and Dolores is accused of the crime. A florid court trial unmasks the real killer. Zoe Akins, a prominent playwright of the 1920s whose once-celebrated works seem somewhat childish today, was one of the scenarists of Accused. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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