On the eve of World War II, zany heiress Amanda Kelly travels by train to Switzerland. While passing through Germany, she meets a sweet elderly lady, who suddenly vanishes. Distraught, she questions her fellow passengers who claim that the woman was never there. Unsure if it's all in her mind or if there's a more sinister plot afoot, Amanda teams up with photographer Robert Condon to discover the truth.
Dad's Army was a 1971 feature film based on the BBC television sitcom Dad's Army. Directed by Norman Cohen, it was filmed between series three and four and was based upon material from the early episodes of the television series. The film told the story of the Home Guard platoon's formation and their subsequent endeavours at a training exercise.
London, 1940. Aspiring jazz musician and future comedy legend Terence 'Spike' Milligan reluctantly obeys his call-up and joins the Royal Artillery regiment at Bexhill, where he begins training to take part in the War. But along the way Spike and his friends get involved in many amusing — and some not-so amusing — scrapes.
John Cleese is hilarious as the descendant of Sherlock Holmes in this modern detective drama of international power politics and intrigue. Unlike his illustrious grandfather however, he only succeeds in bungling every job he organizes. Also stars Arthur Lowe as the "bionic" grandson of Dr. Watson, Stratford Johns as the Commissioner of Police, and Connie Booth as Mrs. Hudson.
When the Earl of Gurney dies in a cross-dressing accident, his schizophrenic son, Jack, inherits the Gurney estate. Jack is not the average nobleman; he sings and dances across the estate and thinks he is Jesus reincarnated. Believing that Jack is mentally unfit to own the estate, the Gurney family plots to steal Jack's inheritance. As their outrageous schemes fail, the family strives to cure Jack of his bizarre behavior, with disastrous results.
In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.
A Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.
An ambitious coffee salesman has a series of improbable and ironic adventures seemingly designed to challenge his naive idealism.
Recruited by the Russians during their days at Cambridge, three young Englishmen rise to become high-ranked MI5 agents until their exposure in 1949.
A documentary about the portrayal of Adolf Hitler in popular culture.
When developer John Goggin plans to build a civic center, only Emma Mannering's corset shop stands in the way, and she refuses to sell, so he sends his unscrupulous assistant Ed Crayshaw to "fix" things, but instead, he's double-crossed.
London at the turn of the century. Three men are on a mission from the IRA to steal all the gold in the vaults of the Bank of England. Norgate, their leader, discovers the bank's weak spot: an old forgotten sewer straight under the vaults.
Fresh-faced young Michael Rimmer worms his way into an opinion poll company and is soon running the place. He uses this as a springboard to get into politics and in the mini-skirted flared-trousered world of 1970 Britain starts to rise through the Tory ranks.
A tragedy played in standard cops and robbers costume. A policeman faced with deep moral choices finds that once he's set foot on the path of corruption he is trapped by an ever more complex web of lies and intrigue. A lifetime of personal honour is at stake and we wonder if redemption is possible.
A despondent young woman travels home to the North of England.
Classic short British comedy, full of stars, about two workmen delivering planks to a building site. This is done with music and a sort of "wordless dialogue" which consists of a few mumbled sounds to convey the appropriate emotion. TV remake of the 1967 short.
A porn-store owner orders some new stuff from his supplier, but the delivery address gets mixed with the address of the local Barclays Bank. Here, David (the bank's assistant manager) and his new wife are shocked when photos, then films and finally two girls are sent to them in their bank-supplied flat. They and the bank's head cashier then hatch a plan to get rid of the porn—without letting their boss, the local police and David's mother in on what is happening.
A stern father and lenient mother try to deal with the ups and downs of their four children's lives in working class Bolton, England.
Four people go to great lengths to obtain the fortune left in a will by a very wealthy practical joker.
Terry Wogan presents a compilation programme celebrating the unique talent of Arthur Lowe. Featuring interviews with those who knew him, and footage from both his classic comedy performances and his many straight roles.
"The Spider and the Fly is set in Paris during the cloud-cuckoo days before WW I. The storyline intertwines the destinies of three people. Guy Rolfe plays Phillipe de Ledocq, a resourceful safecracker who always manages to elude arrest. Eric Portman is cast as police-chief Maubert, who will not rest until Ledocq is behind bars. And Nadia Gray is Madeleine, the woman beloved by both Ledocq and Maubert. Just as Maubert has managed to capture his man, Ledocq is released at the behest of the government, who wants him to steal secrets from the German embassy revealing the whereabouts of the Kaiser's secret agents. And just how does Madeleine figure into all of this? Spider and the Fly is a diverting precursor to the 1960s TV series It Takes a Thief." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A fading seaside resort attempt to revive its fortunes with a summer show.
When Johnny Matlock whisks away a cold war secret from under the noses of Berlin's top secret agents, his every move is followed when he returns to England. His girlfriend Paula is kidnapped but her handbag is discovered at the scene of the crime by the aristocratic private eye, Duke Martin. Inside it he discovers the secret formula that the agents are searching for and tracks down her sister Paula. As Johnny grows frantic for the safe return of his girlfriend, Duke Martin plays a deadly game of double bluff with the enemy agents.
Classic British drama about the residents of a large terrace house in London between Christmas 1938 and September 1939. Percy Boon lives with his mother in a shared rented house with an assortment of characters in central London. Although well intentioned, he becomes mixed up with gangsters and murder. The story focuses on the effects this has on Percy and the other residents.
William is a dashing and eccentric Scotsman whose charms rapidly overwhelm the sweet and naïve Ann, but she nearly as quickly begins to comprehend that her new beau is anything but a one-woman man. In addition to his two ex-wives, with whom he remains remarkably close, William exhibits a disturbing attraction for nearly any female who crosses his path -- Ann's friends among them.
A humorous look at the preparation and writing of reports. Details the essential elements of good report writing. Intended for management in industry, commerce and public service. This film features Jeff Rawle as the young employee and Arthur Lowe as his boss (and some other characters as well).
When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be buried in the family mausoleum, Louis avenges his mother's death by attempting to murder every family member who stands between himself and the family fortune. But when he finds himself torn between his longtime love and the widow of one of his victims, his plans go awry.
US Army Officer Dan Adams, blinded during the war, is framed for a diamond smuggling rap. Upon regaining his sight, Adams goes after the real thieves in an effort to clear his name. In order to trap the wily criminals, Adams pretends that he's still bereft of his vision.
Three workmen assigned to dig a hole in a road for an electrical cable run into problems with local officials who believe the hole is being dug in the wrong place and should be closer to the home of a prissy fashion designer.
Saville is told by a palm reader he is doomed to become a murderer at some future time. He decides to get the inevitable out of the way before his upcoming society wedding, and goes about attempting the crime on several likely victims.
A money-to-burn and girl-chasing Texas oilman, and a sensitive, dignified entomologist find themselves in charge of a brood of wild kids whose parents, both famous explorers, are reported lost while on an African safari.
In an English boys' boarding school, social hierarchy reigns supreme and power remains in the hands of distanced and ineffectual teachers and callously vicious prefects in the Upper Sixth. Three Lower Sixth students, Wallace, Johnny and leader Mick Travis decide on a shocking course of action to redress the balance of privilege once and for all.
Compilation of sketches featuring the much-loved funnymen Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. Includes 'Anthony and Cleopatra' with Glenda Jackson, 'Monty in the Bounty' with Arthur Lowe, the famous 'Singing in the Rain' routine, and Eric and Ernie making breakfast to the sound of 'The Stripper'.
Another stab at Henry Fielding's hilarious novel about the amorous misadventures of a dashing young man in 18th century England. The brilliant 1963 version, starring Albert Finney as the lusty hero, won four Oscars. Joan Collins does a great job as a Wicked Lady style highwaywoman.
An unscrupulous property developer wants to flatten the street to make way for new buildings. Householder George Roper is happy to take the offered money and run but his wife Mildred and their lodgers join with other residents to take a stand and keep things as they are.
A young man becomes infatuated with the exotic Lady Pitts whose much older husband is not pleased.
Unknown to everyone but his shady Middle Eastern bosses, watchmaker Hawkins is actually a professional hired assassin with a predilection for killing his targets with bombs. After disposing of a dictator and millionaire, Hawkins is assigned to kill a politician who is heading to a remote hotel, The Green Man, for a secret tryst with his secretary. There, however, Hawkins' plot is discovered by vacuum salesman William Blake, who determines to stop him.
In Northern England in the early 1960s, Frank Machin is mean, tough and ambitious enough to become an immediate star in the rugby league team run by local employer Weaver.
Reformed drug addict Tim Brett (David Hemmings) is vacationing in Italy with his aunt. When she is murdered, he tries to investigate. Soon his whole life spins out of control.
A pair of reporters try to discover the link between three unsolved, seemingly isolated murders. The only connection between them is they all took place on the same day in three successive years. The police don't trust their instincts - but as 10th July nears again, a solicitor has started receiving threatening letters...
Composed of three shorts – Ride of the Valkyrie, The White Bus, and Red and Blue – from three of Britain’s most-celebrated directors - Lindsay Anderson, Peter Brook, and Tony Richardson. Comic legend Zero Mostel stars as an opera singer (in full costume) navigating the London transport network as he attempts to reach Covent Garden in 'Ride of the Valkyrie'. Scripted by Shelagh Delaney, 'The White Bus' blends realism, drama, and poetry as a despondent young woman travels home to the North of England. And Vanessa Redgrave stars in Tony Richardson’s romantic reverie and musical featurette 'Red and Blue'. Produced in 1967, but ultimately shelved.
Follows the creation of Lindsay Anderson's The White Bus (1968), from pre-production to the shoot and in post.
A reporter tries to prove that his wife is not responsible for the murder of a famous newspaper columnist.
A motley group of soldiers are set loose on swinging England in an initiative test to collect a selection of esoteric items.
A gang of aspiring bank robbers involve themselves with arsonists and purchase their very own fire truck in an attempt to create the ultimate diversion. But posing as firemen leads them to disaster.
Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a visit by the Queen Mother herself. But when investigative reporter Mick Travis arrives to cover the celebration, he finds the hospital under siege by striking workers, ruthless unions, violent demonstrators, racist aristocrats, an African cannibal dictator, and sinister human experiments.
Against the wishes of his domineering mother, Albert Stokes attends a work party. But the evening is not the escape he was hoping for.
A young woman leaves her backwards hometown to go to London to find a runaway suitor. What she doesn't know is that she has inherited a strange ability; if she's in the vicinity of a machine for more than fifteen minutes, it stops working.
After murdering his lover, cross-channel swimmer Joy Webster, Derek Bond attempts to do same to her other boyfriend, Sheldon Lawrence. John Ireland plays an Interpol detective who stems Bond's homicidal hijinks. Black Tide was produced by Monty Berman in his pre-Saint days.
Based on one of Robert Louis Stevenson's short stories, a young reprobate who visits a jeweler with the intention of killing and robbing him, but has an ugly interview with himself before a mirror and quickly changes his mind.
This movie debut for saucy British TV comic Benny Hill has Benny leaving his job as a sweeper after winning some money. He becomes a private detective and investigates a plot to assassinate British scientists.
A vacationing journalist investigates the mysterious death of a composer and debunks the theory that it was suicide.
A very slight tale based on an original American story by Leon Ware centered on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. This adaptation is set on the Tower Bridge in London. A little boy named Tommy watches as his father is arrested after a bad brawl. Tommy believes his father must have killed someone and rather than return home, he heads to Tower Bridge to set up housekeeping there. The atmosphere and life around the bridge are a secondary protagonist in the story, introducing several interesting characters.
It is Mrs Capper's 50th birthday and for years she has quietly gone about doing her best to help others. Her kind gestures have not gone unnoticed with her employers and friends joining together to give her night to remember.
Profile of actress Wendy Richard's remarkable television career, featuring classic clips and contributions from colleagues.
British television film about the life of Charles Dickens directed by Ned Sherrin and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jenny Agutter and Arthur Lowe. Hopkins performance as Dickens saw him nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 1971.
A shop assistant finds a case with £2000 in it, and doesn't quite know what to do with it.
David Shields refuses to go into agriculture and opts instead for ship building
In 1971 the Rugby Football Union produced a promotional film detailing the history and culture of rugby union. It included the following re-enactment of the alleged moment that William Webb-Ellis 'picked up the ball and ran' at Rugby School in 1823.