Jack Hawkins

  • Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger – The Small Back Room (1949)

    Michael Powell1941-1950DramaEmeric PressburgerThrillerUnited Kingdom
    The Small Back Room (1949)
    The Small Back Room (1949)

    Synopsis
    After the lavish Technicolor spectacle of The Red Shoes, British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger retreated into the inward, shadowy recesses of this moody, crackling character study. Based on the acclaimed novel by Nigel Balchin, The Small Back Room details the professional and personal travails of troubled, alcoholic research scientist and military bomb-disposal expert Sammy Rice (David Farrar), who, while struggling with a complex relationship with secretary girlfriend Susan (Kathleen Byron), is hired by the government to advise on a dangerous new German weapon. Deftly mixing suspense and romance, The Small Back Room is an atmospheric, post–World War II gem.Read More »

  • David Lean – The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

    Drama1951-1960David LeanUSAWar

    Synopsis :
    After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men’s construction of a railway bridge for their captors – while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it. (imdb)Read More »

  • Howard Hawks – Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

    1951-1960ClassicsEpicHoward HawksUSA

    Quote:
    What happens when we die? Probably nothing, and we damn sure can’t take anything with us. But just try telling that to Pharaoh Khufu (Jack Hawkins), who has amassed an ungodly amount of wealth in Howard Hawks’ soapy historical drama Land of the Pharaohs and wants nothing more than to buried with it. Enlisting the help of aging architect/slave Vashtar (James Robertson Justice) to design an intricate robber-proof tomb, Pharaoh Khufu spares no expense — and by that I mean “works thousands of slaves to death and raises taxes” — to ensure that it’s built exactly to spec and will preserve his body and treasures for all eternity. But when his second wife Princess Nellifer (Joan Collins) secretly plots to separate the two of them, a chain of lies and deceit as big as the Great Pyramid itself is set in motion.Read More »

  • William Wyler – Ben-Hur (1959)

    1951-1960DramaQueer Cinema(s)USAWilliam Wyler

    After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.Read More »

  • John Ford – Gideon’s Day AKA Gideon of Scotland Yard (1958)

    Drama1951-1960CrimeJohn FordUnited Kingdom

    Synopsis:
    Bribery, robbery and an escaped homicidal patient. Just one day in the life of Chief Inspector Gideon of Scotland Yard.Read More »

  • Charles Frend – The Cruel Sea (1953)

    1951-1960Charles FrendDramaUnited KingdomWar

    At the start of World War II, Cmdr. Ericson is assigned to convoy escort HMS Compass Rose with inexperienced officers and men just out of training. The winter seas make life miserable enough, but the men must also harden themselves to rescuing survivors of U-Boat attacks, while seldom able to strike back. Traumatic events afloat and ashore create a warm bond between the skipper and his first officerRead More »

  • Etienne Périer – When Eight Bells Toll (1971)

    1971-1980ActionAdventureEtienne PérierUnited Kingdom

    Alistair MacLean’s two-fisted, no-holds-barred adventure yarns are a natural for the screen. When Eight Bells Toll brings in more slugging, quick action twists, sharp dialog, amusing acting than many pix twice its length.
    Anthony Hopkins has a role that creates a character full of resource, courage, cheek and personality. A kind of James Bond, without the latter’s trademarks. Character is a naval secret service agent assigned to find out how millions of pounds in gold bullion are being pirated. He starts his explorations in the bleakness of the Western Highlands of Scotland. Hopkins and his pal (Corin Redgrave) posing as marine biologists find mystery and hostility among the natives and the obvious suspect is a suave, rich Greek tycoon (Jack Hawkins) whose luxury yacht guests some odd characters.Read More »

  • David MacDonald – The Adventurers AKA Fortune in Diamonds (1951)

    1951-1960AdventureDavid MacDonaldUnited Kingdom

    Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson
    The Adventurers is set in South Africa at the end of the Boer war. Commando Pieter Brandt (Jack Hawkins) comes across the dead body of a diamond courier. Brandt buries both the courier and his valuable cache of diamonds then heads back to his regiment. After the cessation of hostilities, Brandt raises money for an expedition back into the mountainous regions where the diamonds are hidden. There’s no love lost among Brandt and his three treasure-hunting companions; particularly prickly is the relationship between Brandt and Clive Hunter (Dennis Price), whose wife is Brandt’s former fiancé. Sort of an African variation of Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Adventurers is buoyed by an unusually vicious performance by Jack Hawkins.Read More »

  • Cy Endfield – Zulu (1964)

    1961-1970ClassicsCy EndfieldUnited KingdomWar

    Synopsis:
    In 1879, the Zulu nation hands colonial British forces a resounding defeat in battle. A nearby regiment of the British Army takes over a station run by a missionary (Jack Hawkins) and his daughter (Ulla Jacobsson) as a supply depot and hospital under the command of Lieutenant John Chard (Stanley Baker) and his subordinate Gonville Bromhead (Michael Caine). Unable to abandon their wounded soldiers even in dire circumstances, the regiment defend their station against the Zulu warriors.Read More »

Back to top button