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Group 3 Films
Group 3 Films was a short lived British film production company that operated from 1951 to 1955. Background It was set up by the National Film Finance Corporation (NFFC) to help finance movies from newer filmmakers. Its films were to be distributed by the Associated British Film DIstributors (ABFD) subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation and mostly financed by the NFFC with ABFD to make up the balance of finance. Michael Balcon and James Lawrie (film executive), James Lawrie sat on the board and the company was run by John Grierson and John Baxter (director), John Baxter. They produced over 20 films and lost half a million pounds before the NFFC brought the company to a halt. There were two other companies with similar financing: British Film-Makers and the Elstree Group. Critical appraisal ''FilmInk'' wrote "are there any decent Group 3 pictures?" Select Films *''Judgment Deferred'' (1951) - directed by John Baxter starring Joan Collins *''Brandy for the Parson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
You're Only Young Twice (film)
''You're Only Young Twice'' is a 1952 British second feature ('B') comedy film directed by Terry Bishop and starring Duncan Macrae, Joseph Tomelty, Patrick Barr, Charles Hawtrey and Diane Hart. It was written by Reginald Beckwith, Bishop and Lindsay Galloway based on the 1939 play ''What Say They?'' by James Bridie. Premise A young woman visiting a Scottish university in search of her uncle, who is in hiding from the authorities, is mistaken for the principal's secretary, so she pursues the impersonation. Cast * Duncan Macrae as Professor Hayman * Joseph Tomelty as Dan McEntee / Connell O'Grady (writer) * Patrick Barr as Sir Archibald Asher * Charles Hawtrey as Adolphus Hayman, President of Temperance Society * Diane Hart as Ada Shore / posing as "Miss Lamplighter" (pending new principal's secretary) * Robert Urquhart as Sheltie * Edward Lexy as Lord Carshennie * Roddy McMillan as Mr Milligan, President of Students' Union Council * Jacqueline Mackenzie as Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Man Of Africa
''Man of Africa'' (also known as ''The Kigezi Story'') is a 1954 British documentary drama film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Gordon Heath, Frederick Bijurenda and Violet Mukabureza. It was written by Frankel and Montagu Slater, and produced by John Grierson for Group 3 Films. It was entered into the 1954 Cannes Film Festival. Plot In Uganda, a group of the Bakiga people, whose farming is failing due to soil erosion, travel to the unspoilt Kigezi area to build new farms. They encounter the pygmy people, traditionally despised by the Bakiga. The story tells of the Bakiga's hardships in starting new lives and finding peace with the pygmies. Cast * Gordon Heath as narrator * Frederick Bijurenda as Jonathan * Violet Mukabureza as Violet * Mattayo Bukwirwa as the soldier * Butensa as himself * Seperiera Mpambara as Sep * Blaseo Mbalinda as Yokana * Paulo Ngologosa as Jonathan's father * Erisa Bashungula as the chief * Jessica Mukawego as Jessica * Bwenge as Yokana's father * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Oracle (1953 Film)
''The Oracle'' (known as ''The Horse's Mouth'' in the United States) is a 1953 British second feature ('B') comedy film directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards and starring Robert Beatty, Michael Medwin and Virginia McKenna. The film was based on the radio play ''To Tell You the Truth'' by Robert Barr. A journalist goes on holiday to Ireland and encounters a fortune-teller. Plot Timothy Blake, a British reporter holidaying on a remote island offshore of Ireland, hears a man's voice coming from the bottom of a well. The voice turns out to be a modern-day Oracle, or fortune teller, whose predictions prove uncannily accurate. Bob is determined to get a story out of this, but his editor is less enthusiastic and promptly fires him. The newfound publicity though, means the once-sleepy Irish village is now invaded by curiosity seekers, and those seeking the horse racing results. Production The film was shot at Southall Studios on a budget of £43,000. Cast * Robert Beatty as Bob Je ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyril Frankel
Cyril Solomon Israel Frankel (28 December 19217 June 2017) was a British film and television director. His career in television began in 1953 and he directed for over 30 TV programmes until 1990. He directed many episodes of popular British TV shows, such as ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers'', and the Television pilot, pilot episodes of the ITC Entertainment shows ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' and ''Department S (TV series), Department S'' in 1969. In 1970, he directed "Timelash (UFO), Timelash", an episode of ''UFO (British TV series), UFO'', which he described as a very interesting script and one of his personal favourites. Frankel also directed many documentaries and feature films, including ''Never Take Sweets from a Stranger'' (1960) and ''School for Scoundrels (1960 film), School for Scoundrels'' (1960; taking over from Robert Hamer, who was credited as sole director). One of his films, ''Man of Africa'' (1953) - the first film to feature a cast made up of rela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Don Sharp
Donald Herman Sharp (19 April 192114 December 2011) was an Australian film director. His best known films were made for Hammer Film Productions, Hammer in the 1960s, and included ''Kiss of the Vampire (film), Kiss of the Vampire'' (1963) and ''Rasputin, the Mad Monk'' (1966). In 1965 he directed ''The Face of Fu Manchu'', based on the character created by Sax Rohmer, and starring Christopher Lee. Sharp also directed the sequel ''The Brides of Fu Manchu'' (1966). In the 1980s he was also responsible for several hugely popular miniseries adapted from the novels of Barbara Taylor Bradford. Early career Early life Sharp was born in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1921, according to official military records and his own account (some sources still give 1922 as his year of birth). He was the second of four children. He attended St Virgil's College and began appearing regularly in theatre productions at the Playhouse Theatre in Hobart, where he trained under a young Stanley Burbury. He later sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Thomson
Margaret Thomson (10 June 1910 – 30 December 2005) was an Australian-born documentary filmmaker who divided her forty-year career between New Zealand and England. She was the first female film director active in New Zealand. Family and education Margaret Thomson was born in Australia to Gertrude Thomson and James Allan Thomson, a geologist. He was appointed head of the Dominion Museum in Wellington, so Margaret spent most of her childhood in New Zealand. She attended Canterbury University, graduating with a degree in zoology. Film career She moved to England in 1934. Her first film-related job in England was with Gaumont-British Instructional Films, for whom she worked initially as their film librarian and subsequently as editor for a series of films on the ecology of Great Britain. She left in 1938 and worked as a film editor elsewhere, eventually joining Realist Film Unit (RFU) in 1941. Partly due to the onset of World War II, which opened opportunities for women while men ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Child's Play (1954 Film)
''Child's Play'' is a 1954 British science fiction film directed by Margaret Thomson and starring Mona Washbourne and Christopher Beeny. The script was by Don Sharp, who also worked on the film as an assistant. Plot A group of children ("the holy terrors") manage to split the atom and thereby create a new form of popcorn. Cast * Mona Washbourne as Miss Emily Goslett * Patrick Wells as Han 'Einstein' Boltz * Ian Smith as Tom Chizzler * Christopher Beeny as Horatio Flynn (the holy terrors) * Wendy Westcott as Mary Huxley (the holy terrors) * Ian Smith as Tom Chizzler (the holy terrors) * Anneke Wills as Alice Nightingale (the holy terrors) * Ernest Scott as Ernest Chappell (the holy terrors) * Patrick Wells as Hans Blotz (the holy terrors) * Elain Sykes as Linda Cappel (the holy terrors) * Peter Martyn as P.C. Parker * Dorothy Alison as Margery Chappell * Ingeborg von Kusserow as Lea Blotz (as Ingeborg Wells) * Carl Jaffe as Carl Blotz * Ballard Berkeley as Dr. Nightingale * J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laxdale Hall
''Laxdale Hall'' (also known as ''Poacher Story'' and ''The Road to Nowhere''; U.S. title: ''Scotch on the Rocks'') is a 1953 British romantic comedy film directed by John Eldridge and starring Ronald Squire, Kathleen Ryan, Raymond Huntley and Sebastian Shaw, with Prunella Scales and Fulton Mackay in early roles. It was adapted by Alfred Shaughnessy and Eldridge from the 1951 novel '' Laxdale Hall'' by Eric Linklater. The people of a small Scottish community refuse to pay their road tax until the government repairs their road. The story touches upon the British Town Planning system – mocking the New Towns Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68). Plot The few car owners of Laxdale, a remote village near the Isle of Skye at Applecross, refuse to pay their Road Fund taxes, in protest against the poor state of the only road to the village. A series of summonses, sent out via the local police, mysteriously disappear. The government sends a delegation to investigate. It is led by Samu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Margaret Rutherford
Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford (11 May 1892 – 22 May 1972) was an English actress of stage, film and television. Rutherford came to national attention following World War II in the film adaptations of Noël Coward's ''Blithe Spirit (1945 film), Blithe Spirit'', and Oscar Wilde's ''The Importance of Being Earnest (1952 film), The Importance of Being Earnest''. In 1948, she was awarded with Special Tony Award for Outstanding Foreign Company as a ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' cast member and later won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her role as the Duchess of Brighton in ''The V.I.P.s (film), The V.I.P.s'' (1963). In the early 1960s, she starred as Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie's character Miss Marple in a series of four George Pollock (director), George Pollock films. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1961 and a Dame Commander (DBE) in 1967. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Guillermin
Yvon Jean Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015), known as John Guillermin, was an English film director, writer and producer. Working both in the United Kingdom and the United States, he was most active in big-budget, action-adventure films throughout his lengthy career. His better-known films include ''I Was Monty's Double (film), I Was Monty's Double'' (1958), ''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'' (1959), ''Never Let Go (1960 film), Never Let Go'' (1960), ''Tarzan Goes to India'' (1962), ''Waltz of the Toreadors (film), Waltz of the Toreadors'' (1962), ''The Blue Max'' (1966), ''The Bridge at Remagen'' (1969), ''The Towering Inferno'' (1974), ''King Kong (1976 film), King Kong'' (1976), ''Death on the Nile (1978 film), Death on the Nile'' (1978), ''Sheena (film), Sheena'' (1984) and ''King Kong Lives'' (1986). In the 1980s, he worked on much less prestigious projects, and his final films consisted of lower-budgeted theatrical releases and TV movies. According to one obituar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miss Robin Hood
''Miss Robin Hood'' is a 1952 British second feature ('B') comedy film directed by John Guillermin and starring Margaret Rutherford and Richard Hearne. It was written by Val Valentine and Patrick Campbell from a story by Reed De Rouen. Plot A writer named Wrigley creates a comic strip character named Miss Robin Hood for a children's story paper. It is a modernized retelling of the Robin Hood legend in which the heroine robs banks with the assistance of a gang of teenage girls and then redistributes the money. Unfortunately the cartoon is dropped from the paper, and Wrigley leaves his job. However, Miss Honey, who is director of a home for the orphans of London in Hampstead, recruits Wrigley to carry out a little light safebreaking, believing that he has such skills because he created Miss Robin Hood. Difficulties arise when Scotland Yard becomes involved. Cast Production Filming began at Southall Studios in the last week of March 1952. The film features a variety of unusu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
