British Invasion

[films featuring performers born in Great Britain]

39 Steps, The
1935, Spy, 87 mins
Starring: Robert Donat
Maltin Says 4 stars: Classic Hitchcock mystery with overtones of light comedy and romance, as innocent
Donat is pulled into spy-ring activities

Advise and Consent

1962, Political, 139 mins
Starring: Peter Lawford, Charles Laughton, Henry Fonda
Maltin Says 3 stars: Long but engrossing drama of Washington wheeling and dealing, from Allen Drury
novel.

Airport
1970, Disaster, 137 mins
Starring: Jacqueline Bisset, Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jean Seaburg
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: ultraslick, old-fashioned movie that entertains in spite of itself, detailing hectic
winter night at metropolitan airport.

Alfie
1966, Drama, 114 mins
Starring: Michael Caine
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Well-turned version of play. Caine is superb as philandering Cockney playboy who
can't decide if bachelor life is so bloody marvelous.

Algiers
1938, Crime, 95 mins
Starring: Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamar, Charles D Brown
Maltin Says 3 stars: Boyer as Pepe Le Moko falls in love with alluring Lamarr visiting Casbah district of
Algiers: Calleia as police official, Lockhart as informer, stand out in well-cast romance.

All This, And Heaven Too

1940, Romance, 143 mins
Starring: Boyer, Charles
Maltin Says stars:

All Through the Night

1942, spy, 107 mins
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Judith Anderson
Maltin Says 3 stars: Bogart's gang tracks down Fifth Columnists in WWII NYC. Interesting blend of spy,
gangster, and comedy genres

And Then There Were None

1945, Mystery, 98 mins
Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston, Judith Anderson
Maltin Says 4 stars: Highly suspenseful Agatha Christie yarn of ten people invited to lonely island where
one by one they're murdered

Anna Karenina
1935, Drama, 95 mins
Starring: Greta Garbo, Freddie Bartholomew
Maltin Says 4 stars: Tolstoy's tragic love chronicle makes excellent Garbo vehicle, with fine support from
March as her lover, Rathbone her husband, and Bartholomew, her adoring son
Anne of the Thousand Days
1969, Historical, 145 mins
Starring: Geneviève Bujold, Richard Burton
Maltin Says 3 stars: Often inaccurate but totally engrossing, well-acted historical drama centering on
Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII. Lovely scenery, brilliant performance by Bujold

Arsenic and Old Lace

1944, Comedy, 118 mins
Starring: Cary Grant
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Hilarious adaptation of hit play about two seemingly harmless old ladies who
poison lonely gentlemen callers. Frantic cast is excellent

Arthur
1981, Comedy, 97 mins
Starring: Dudley Moore, Liza Minelli
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Spoiled millionaire Moore must choose between continued wealth (in a planned
marriage) and true love (with working-class waitress Minnelli).

Awful Truth, The

1937, Comedy, 92 mins
Starring: Cary Grant. Irene Dunne
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Hilarious screwball comedy; Cary and Irene divorce, she to marry hayseed
Bellamy, he to wed aristocratic Molly Lamont. Each does his best to spoil the other's plans.

Bachelor Mother
1939, Comedy, 81 mins
Starring: David Niven, Ginger Rogers
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Rogers unwittingly becomes guardian for abandoned baby in this delightful comedy

Barefoot in the Park

1967, Comedy, 105 mins
Starring: Charles Boyer, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford
Maltin Says 3 stars: Plotless, entertaining Neil Simon comedy finds Fonda and Redford newlyweds in
five-story walkup apartment

Becket
1964, Historical/Drama, 148 mins
Starring: Richard Burton, Sir John Gielgud, Peter O'Toole
Maltin Says 4 stars: Stunning filmcenters on stormy friendship between Archbishop of Canterbury
Thomas à Becket and his English King, Henry II. Superbly acted and magnificently photographed

Birds, The
1963, Horror, 120 mins
Starring: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Hitchcock's classic about a woman and mass bird attacks that follow her around
isolated California community. Not for the squeamish; a delight for those who are game.

Blithe Spirit
1945, Fantasy/Comedy, 96 mins
Starring: Rex Harrison
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Delicious adaptation of Noel Coward's comedy-fantasy about a man whose long-
dead first wife appears to haunt—and taunt—him in his newly married life.

Bringing Up Baby
1938, Comedy, 102 mins
Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn
Maltin Says 4 stars: Hepburn plays a madcap heiress—"Baby" is her pet leopard—who sets her sights on
absentminded zoologist Grant and inadvertently (?) proceeds to make a shambles of his life. Now
considered the definitive screwball comedy and one of the fastest, funniest fil
Cabaret
1972, Musical/Drama/Dance, 128 mins
Starring: Michael York, Liza Minelli
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Stylish film based on Broadway musical, vehicle for Minnelli as Sally Bowles,
American girl caught up in phony glitter of pre-war Berlin

California Suite
1978, Comedy, 103 mins
Starring: Michael Caine, Dame Maggie Smith
Maltin Says 3 stars: Four Neil Simon skits set at the Beverly Hills

Charly
1968, Drama, 103 mins
Starring: Claire Bloom, Cliff Robertson
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Robertson won Oscar for fine work as retarded man turned into super-brain in
scientific experiment

Diamonds Are Forever

1971, Spy, 119 mins
Starring: Sean Connery
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: After a one-picture hiatus, Connery returned as James Bond in this colorful comic-
book adventure set in Las Vegas

Dr No
1962, spy, 111 mins
Starring: Sean Connery
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: First James Bond film is least pretentious, with meatier story, better all-round
production of Ian Fleming caper.

Dr. Strangelove or; How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
1964, Black Comedy, 93 mins
Starring: Peter Sellers
Maltin Says 4 stars: U.S. President must contend with the Russians and his own political and military
leaders when a fanatical general launches A-bomb attack on U.S.S.R. Sellers plays the President, British
captain, and mad inventor of the Bomb in this brilliant black comedy,

Eagle Has Landed, The

1977, War, 123 mins
Starring: Michael Caine
Maltin Says 3 stars: Action-packed wartime adventure taken from fanciful Jack Higgins best-seller about
Nazi plot to kidnap Winston Churchill. Hardly a dull moment,

Easter Parade
1943, Musical/Dance/Comedy, 103 mins
Starring: Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Delightful Irving Berlin musical about Astaire trying to forget ex-dance partner Miller
while rising to stardom with Garland. Too good to watch just at Eastertime.

Entertainer, The
1960, Drama, 97 mins
Starring: Albert Finney, Laurence Olivier
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Seedy vaudevillian ruins everyone's life and won't catch on. Film captures flavor of
chintzy seaside resort, complementing Olivier's brilliance as egotistical song-and-dance man.

Father Goose
1964, War/Comedy, 115 mins
Starring: Cary Grant, Trevor Howard
Maltin Says 3 stars: Grant goes native as shiftless bum on a South Seas island during WWII, who's
persuaded to become a lookout for the Australian navy—and finds himself sheltering Caron and a gaggle
of schoolgirls fleeing the Japanese
From Russia With Love
1963, Spy, 118 mins
Starring: Sean Connery, Robert Shaw
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Second James Bond film is one of the best; plenty of suspense and action, and one
of the longest, most exciting fight scenes ever staged

Georgy Girl
1966, Drama/Comedy, 100 mins
Starring: Lynn Redgrave, James Mason
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Delightful, adult British comedy of modern-day morals, with Redgrave as ugly-
duckling Georgy, Mason as the wealthy, aging married man who wants her for his mistress

Gigi
1958, Musical, 116 mins
Starring: Hermione Gingold, Leslie Caron, Maurice Chevalier
Maltin Says 4 stars: Charming turn-of-the-century musical based on Colette's story of a French girl who's
groomed to be a courtesan.

Grease
1978, Musical/Dance/Comedy, 110 mins
Starring: Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta
Maltin Says 3 stars: Energetic, imaginative filming of long-running Broadway show that fantasizes life in
the 1950s; spirited cast, clever ideas

His Girl Friday

1940, Comedy, 92 mins
Starring: Cary Grant
Maltin Says 4 stars: Splendid comedy remake of THE FRONT PAGE with Grant as conniving editor,
Russell as star reporter (and his ex-wife), Bellamy as mama's boy she's trying to marry amid hot murder
story.

Houseboat
1958, Comedy, 110 mins
Starring: Cary Grant
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Loren becomes Grant's housekeeper and takes his three motherless kids in hand.
Predictable romance ensues, in this delightful comedy

Lemon Drop Kid, The

1951, Musical/Comedy, 91 mins
Starring: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell
Maltin Says 3 stars: Hope is hilarious as racetrack tout who owes big money to gangster and must pay or
else.

Lifeboat
1944, War/Drama, 96 mins
Starring: Tallulah Bankhead
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Penetrating revelations about shipwreck survivors adrift in lonely lifeboat during
WWII. Bankhead remarkable as spoiled journalist, Slezak fine as Nazi taken aboard. Only Hitchcock
would take on the challenge of such a film—and succeed

Lion in Winter, The

1968, Historical/Drama, 135 mins
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Timothy Dalton, Katharine Hepburn
Maltin Says 4 stars: Brilliant, fierce, and personal drama of Henry II deliberating over a successor on
fateful Christmas Eve.

Look Back In Anger

1958, Drama, 99 mins
Starring: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: John Osborne's trend-setting angry-young-man play, with Burton rebelling against
life and wife, realistically filmed and acted; dialogue bristles.
Manchurian Candidate, The
1962, Political/Thriller, 126 mins
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Tingling political paranoia thriller about strange aftermath of a Korean war hero's
decoration and his mother's machinations to promote her Joseph McCarthy-like husband's career

Marnie
1964, Thriller/Romance, 129 mins
Starring: Sean Connery, Tippi Hedren
Maltin Says 3 stars: This story of a habitual thief whose employer is determined to understand her illness
was considered a misfire in 1964 … but there's more than meets the eye, especially for Hitchcock buffs

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

1948, Comedy, 94 mins
Starring: Cary Grant, Myrna Loy
Maltin Says 3 stars: Slick comedy of city couple attempting to build a house in the country; expertly
handled, with Cary at his peak

Murder By Death
1976, Mystery/Comedy, 94 mins
Starring: Alec Guinness, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith
Maltin Says 3 stars: Capote invites world's greatest detectives to his home and involves them in a baffling
whodunit

My Favorite Blonde
1942, spy/comedy, 78 mins
Starring: Bob Hope
Maltin Says 3 stars:

My Favorite Brunette
1947, Mystery/Comedy, 87 mins
Starring: Bob Hope
Maltin Says 3 stars: Better-than-usual Hope nonsense with Bob as a photographer mixed up with
mobsters

Network
1976, Drama, 121 mins
Starring: Peter Finch, William Holden, Wesley Addy
Maltin Says 4 stars: Paddy Chayefsky's outrageous satire on television looks less and less like fantasy as
the years pass; uninhibited tale chronicles fourth-place network that will air anything for a big rating

Nun's Story, The

1959, Religious/Biography, 149 mins
Starring: Peter Finch, Audrey Hepburn
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Tasteful filming of Kathryn Hulme book, with Hepburn the nun who serves in
Belgian Congo and later leaves convent

Of Human Bondage
1934, Drama, 83 mins
Starring: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis
Maltin Says 3 stars: Smoothly filmed, well-acted version of W. Somerset Maugham's story of doctor
Howard's strange infatuation with a vulgar waitress

Operation Petticoat
1959, War/Comedy, 124 mins
Starring: Cary Grant, Tony Curtis, Marion Ross
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Hilarious comedy about submarine captain Grant who's determined to make his
injured ship seaworthy again
Petrified Forest, The
1936, Crime, 83 mins
Starring: Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Solid adaptation of Robert Sherwood play, focusing on ironic survival of the
physically fit in civilized world. Bogart is Duke Mantee, escaped gangster, who holds writer Howard,
dreamer Davis, and others hostage at roadside restaurant in Arizona.

Picture of Dorian Gray, The

1945, Horror, 110 mins
Starring: George Sanders, Donna Reed, Angela Lansbury, Peter Lawford
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Haunting Oscar Wilde story of man whose painting ages while he retains youth.
Young Lansbury is poignant,

Planet of the Apes

1968, Science Fiction, 112 mins
Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Modern near-classic sci-fi. Heston leads a group of surviving astronauts in shocking
future world where apes are masters, humans slaves. Only liabilities: somewhat familiar plot, self-
conscious humor; otherwise, a must-see.

Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The

1969, Drama/Comedy, 116 mins
Starring: Maggie Smith
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Smith as eccentric teacher in Edinburgh school who wields a spellbinding influence
on her "girls."

Rebecca
1940, Thriller, 130 mins
Starring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, Judith Anderson
Maltin Says 4 stars: Hitchcock's sumptuous production of Daphne du Maurier novel of girl who marries
British nobleman but lives in shadow of his former wife.

Rio Grande
1950, Western/War, 105 mins
Starring: John Wayne, Victor McLaglen
Maltin Says 3 stars: The last of director Ford's Cavalry trilogy and the most underrated: a vivid look at the
gentlemanly spirit of the Cavalry during post-Civil War days

Road To Bali
1952, Musical/Comedy, 90 mins
Starring: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Jane Russell
Maltin Says 3 stars: Only color ROAD film has lush trappings, many guest stars and good laughs, as Bob
and Bing save Dorothy from evil princess and jungle perils

Romeo and Juliet

1968, Romance/Historical, 138 mins
Starring: Zeffirelli, Franco (director) / Hussey, Olivia
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: One of the best cinematic versions of Shakespeare's immortal tale of two young
lovers kept apart by their families

Rope
1948, Thriller, 80 mins
Starring: James Stewart, Farley Granger
Maltin Says 3 stars: Two young men kill prep-school pal, just for the thrill of it, and challenge themselves
by inviting friends and family to their apartment afterward—with the body hidden on the premises.

Separate Tables
1958, Drama, 99 mins
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Rita Hayworth, Wendy Hiller, Deborah Kerr, David Niven
Maltin Says 4 stars: Terence Rattigan's pair of romantic playlets set at English seaside resort are
reworked here into superb drama
Shadow of a Doubt
1943, Thriller, 108 mins
Starring: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotton, MacDonald Carey
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Perceptive Americana intertwined with story of young girl who slowly comes to
realize her beloved Uncle Charley is really the Merry Widow murderer;

Shot in the Dark, A

1964, Mystery/Comedy, 101 mins
Starring: Peter Sellers
Maltin Says 4 stars: Second Inspector Clouseau comedy is far and away the funniest

Spellbound
1945, Thriller, 111 mins
Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Leo G Carroll
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Absorbing tale of psychiatrist Bergman trying to uncover Peck's hangups

Spy Who Came In From The Cold, The

1965, Spy, 112 mins
Starring: Richard Burton, Claire Bloom
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: John LeCarre's potent account of a Cold War spy's existence—minus glamorous
trappings of movie cliché. Burton is excellent as embittered agent at the end of his career

Spy Who Loved Me, The

1977, Spy, 125 mins
Starring: Roger Moore
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Rousing, lavishly produced James Bond adventure with wily 007 joining forces with
a seductive Russian agent to quash arch-villain Stromberg's plans for world destruction.

Star is Born, A
1954, Musical, 154 mins
Starring: James Mason, Judy Garland
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Powerful semi-musical with Garland and Mason at their peaks as doomed
Hollywood star couple, she on the way up, he down.

Strangers on a Train
1951, Thriller, 101 mins
Starring: Farley Granger, Robert Walker
Maltin Says 4 stars: Walker gives his finest performance as psychopath involved with tennis star Granger
in exchange murders. First-class Hitchcock

Streetcar Named Desire, A

1951, Drama, 122 mins
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando
Maltin Says 4 stars: Stunning production of Williams' play, with Brando as the animalistic Stanley
Kowalski and Leigh as his wistful, neurotic sister-in-law, Blanche Dubois, pressed together in a grim New
Orleans tenement

Superman
1978, Science Fiction, 143 mins
Starring: Christopher Reeve, Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Dynamic, grandly entertaining saga of the Man of Steel, tracing his life from
Krypton to Smallville to Metropolis, mixing equal parts sincerity, special effects and send-up. Great fun.

Taming of the Shrew, The

1967, Comedy, 126 mins
Starring: Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Colorful version of Shakespeare's romp is well served by Richard and Elizabeth,
good supporting cast, lovely photography,
Third Man, The
1949, Thriller, 104 mins
Starring: Orson Wells, Joseph Cotton, Trevor Howard
Maltin Says 4 stars: Graham Greene's account of mysterious Harry Lime in post-WWII Vienna is a bona
fide classic

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines

1965, Comedy, 132 mins
Starring: Stuart Whitman, Sarah Miles
Maltin Says 3 stars: Long but enjoyable film of great airplane race involving international conflicts,
cheating, and romance.

Topper
1937, Comedy, 97 mins
Starring: Cary Grant, Constance Bennete, Roland Young
Maltin Says stars: Delightful gimmick comedy with ghosts Grant and Bennett dominating life of meek
Young; sparkling cast

Trouble With Harry, The

1955, Comedy, 99 mins
Starring: Shirley MacLaine, John Forsythe, Jerry Mathers
Maltin Says 3 stars: Offbeat, often hilarious black comedy courtesy Mr. Hitchcock and scripter John
Michael Hayes about bothersome corpse causing all sorts of problems for peaceful neighbors in New
England community.

Vertigo
1958, Thriller, 128 mins
Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak
Maltin Says 4 stars: One of Hitchcock's most discussed films. Retired police detective Stewart, who has a
fear of heights, is hired by old school chum in San Francisco to keep an eye on his wife (Novak),
eventually falls in love with his quarry … and that's just the beginning

Walk, Don't Run

1966, Sports/Comedy, 114 mins
Starring: Grant, Cary / Eggars, Samantha
Maltin Says stars:

Where Eagles Dare

1969, War, 158 mins
Starring: Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Modern-day version of Republic serial, with slam-bang cliff-hanger action that never
lets up.

Witness for the Prosecution

1957, Mystery, 114 mins
Starring: Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, Elsa Lanchester, Charles Laughton
Maltin Says 4 stars: Fantastically effective London courtroom suspenser from Agatha Christie play.
Dietrich is peerless as wife of alleged killer. Laughton at his best as defense attorney, and Lanchester
delightful as his long-suffering nurse.

Wrong Man, The

1957, Crime, 105 mins
Starring: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles
Maltin Says 3 stars: Unusual Hitchcock film done as semidocumentary, using true story of NYC musician
falsely accused of robbery

Young Frankenstein
1974, Comedy/Horror, 105 mins
Starring: Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman
Maltin Says 3.5 stars: Finely tuned parody of old FRANKENSTEIN pictures, scripted by Wilder and
Brooks, with appropriate music, sets, laboratory equipment and black and white camerawork