It is French Colonial Vietnam in 1929. A young French girl from a family that is having some monetary difficulties is returning to boarding school. She is alone on public transportation when she catches the eye of a wealthy Chinese businessman. He offers her a ride into town in the back of his chauffeured sedan, and sparks fly. Can the torrid affair that ensues between them overcome the class restrictions and social mores of that time? Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Maugerite Duras.
Read More »
Tag Archives: UK
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980) Piers Haggard, Richard Quine, Peter Sellers, Helen Mirren, David Tomlinson, Comedy
Fu Manchu’s 168th birthday celebration is dampened when a hapless flunky spills Fu’s age-regressing elixir vitae. Fu sends his lackeys to round up ingredients for a new batch of elixir, starting with the Star of Leningrad diamond, nabbed from a Soviet exhibition in Washington. The FBI sends agents Capone and Williams to England to confer with Nayland Smith, an expert on Fu. Nayland suspects Fu will kidnap the king and queen and demand the George V diamond as ransom. Scotland Yard recruits Alice Rage to stand-in for the queen. Fu nabs the “fake” queen; Rage becomes enamored of Fu and aids him in his quest for the George V diamond.
Read More »
The Acid House (1998) Paul McGuigan, Stephen McCole, Maurice Roëves, Garry Sweeney, Comedy, Drama
Three twisted tales from the seamy side of Scotland and the mind of Irvine Welsh. The Granton Star Cause: in the same day a young Leith lad is dumped by his football team, his girlfriend and his parents, arrested and beaten up by the police and turned into a fly by God, whom he meets in a pub. The Soft Touch: a man is too soft to do anything when his wife moves in with the thug upstairs. The Acid House: while tripping on acid, Coco Bryce is struck by lightning, causing him to switch bodies with a newborn baby.
Read More »
La deuda interna / The Debt (1988) Miguel Pereira, Leopoldo Aban, Juan José Camero, Guillermo Delgado, Drama, War
The drama tells the story of an Argentine elementary-school teacher sent by the government to a rural hamlet located in the northwestern province of Jujuy. It shows how he touches the lives of the villagers, especially the young and impressionable boy Verónico, whose mother died and father left to seek work when he was an infant. The film is based on a non-fiction book written by Fortunato Ramos, a rural teacher in northwest Argentina, that discusses his teaching experiences.
Read More »
Holocaust 2000 (1977) Alberto De Martino, Kirk Douglas, Simon Ward, Agostina Belli, Horror, Thriller
An executive in charge of a Middle Eastern nuclear plant discovers that his son is the Anti Christ and sets out to stop him from using the nuclear power at his fingertips to wipe out mankind.
Read More »
The Secret Partner (1961) Basil Dearden, Stewart Granger, Bernard Lee, Haya Harareet, Crime, Drama, Mystery
A wealthy London-based shipping magnate is blackmailed by an evil dentist which threatens to reveal an old case of fraud, while the dentist himself is threaten by a mysterious masked man.
Read More »
Bhowani Junction (1956) George Cukor, Ava Gardner, Stewart Granger, Bill Travers, Adventure, Drama, History
The year is 1947, the British are on the verge of finally leaving India. Amongst the few who are sorry to see the British leave are the Anglo-Indians, half British and half Indian, for they are going to miss the patronage of their white cousins, the job reservations, and the important status and positions they currently hold. The British, quite frankly, do not think well of Anglo-Indians, nor do the Indians. Victoria Jones is one such Anglo-Indian, a WAC in the British Army, her father a railway engine driver, and her mom a housewife. She is close to another Anglo-Indian, Patrick Taylor, but changes her mind about him as he harbors deep hatred for the Indians. She witnesses Col. Rodney Savage instruct his soldiers to pour filthy water and garbage at the hands of untouchables on high-caste men and women who are protesting by laying down on the railway tracks to prevent trains from moving. Repulsed and shocked at this, she turns to Ranjit Singh Kassi, a Sikh, and longs to be Indian.
Read More »
Chase a Crooked Shadow (1958) Michael Anderson, Richard Todd, Anne Baxter, Herbert Lom, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A man shows up at Kimberley Prescott’s villa claiming to be her brother. But Ward Prescott died in a car accident a year ago, so how can this man be him? Despite Kim’s protests that the stranger isn’t her brother, everyone else accepts him, including their uncle. Kim begins to fear for her sanity and her life.
Read More »
Mark of the Phoenix (1958) Maclean Rogers, Julia Arnall, Sheldon Lawrence, Anton Diffring, Crime, Drama, Thriller
A sample of an advanced new metal is stolen and made into a cigarette case in Brussels ready for smuggling to the East. An American jewel thief accidentally finds it in his possession and becomes the centre of much attention
Read More »
Soft Beds, Hard Battles (1974) Roy Boulting, Peter Sellers, Lila Kedrova, Curd Jürgens, Comedy
In this comedy, set during the Nazi occupation of France, Peter Sellers plays most major male parts, so he stars in nearly every scene, always bumbling in inspector Clouseau-style. As British Major Robinson he is hidden in Madame Grenier’s Parisian brothel, right under the nose of the Nazi clients, such as Gestapo agent Herr Schroeder (again him). As Général Latour he leads the French resistance, which includes the brothel madam -made a colonel in charge of her sexy ‘troops’- and a priest, and is joined by young US diplomat Alan Cassidy. As Japanese imperial Prince Kyoto he becomes a target for the resistance in a monastery on his way to Hitler (again him). At the end he decorates the heroes as French president.
Read More »