83% (2) Born Free 95 min, PG, [Adventure, Drama, Family] [James Hill, Tom McGowan] [22 Jun 1966]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 73%, Rotten Tomatoes: 94%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations.
Actors: Bill Travers, Geoffrey Keen, Peter Lukoye, Virginia McKenna
Writer: Joy Adamson (book), Lester Cole (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK, USA
Plot: Married couple George Adamson and Joy Adamson have long lived in northern Kenya for George's work as the senior game warden of the region. One of George's primary responsibilities is to deal with dangerous animals that may be chronically threatening to humans, livestock and/or crops. It is in this vein that George and his staff end up killing a man eating lion and its lioness, resulting in their three young female cubs being orphaned. Although difficult to begin, George and Joy are able to wean and take care of the three cubs, who they adopt as pets. But soon, they know they have to provide a more suitable environment for the cubs, namely sending them to Rotterdam Zoo... that is except for the smallest, who they have named Elsa and to who Joy in particular has become attached as the emotional fighter among the three. As Elsa grows into lioness maturity, George and Joy provide her with greater freedom away from their property, which may get her into trouble as a largely tame animal. Ultimately, John Kendall, George's boss, directs them to send Elsa to a zoo like they did with her sisters, especially as with anyone in George's job he is soon being reassigned. Joy cannot bear the thought of Elsa being locked up for the rest of her life, believing that they can reintegrate her back into the wild instead, something that had never been done with a tame lion. John gives them three months to accomplish this task, which most specifically involves getting Elsa to be able to kill for food, other creatures which up to this point she has seen only as fellow playthings, and to be accepted by other lions, most specifically mate with and provide food for a male partner while standing up successfully to female competitors.
Rotten Tomatoes: Born Free is the heartwarming true story of a British couple who teach their pet lioness how to survive in the wilds of the African jungles. Joy and George Adamson (portrayed by real-life married couple Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers) involuntarily domesticate several lions while living in Kenya. They keep one, named Elsa, until she is fully grown, and rather than turn her over to a zoo, they decide to train her to live like a wild animal so that they can release her into her natural habitat. Geoffrey Keen is a sympathetic government official who convinces the Adamsons that they should set Elsa free to avoid being ordered to place her in captivity. The film, based on Joy Adamson's book, is poignant and emotional without ever becoming banal or overly sentimental. The title song and film score both won Academy Awards.
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82% (2) Bhowani Junction 110 min, Approved, [Adventure, Drama, History, Romance] [George Cukor] [01 May 1956]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 64%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Awards: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination.
Actors: Abraham Sofaer, Ava Gardner, Bill Travers, Stewart Granger
Writer: Sonya Levien (screenplay), Ivan Moffat (screenplay), John Masters (novel)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA, UK
Plot: 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. She even accompanies him to the Gurudwara in order to change her faith. Then circumstances make her change her mind in favor of Rodney Savage. What Rodney does not know is that Victoria harbors a deep dark secret - a murder of a white British Officer named Graham McDaniels, on one hand, and of her knowledge of a terrorist named Ghanshyam - the one who was responsible for stealing explosives from a stranded train - and who may use these to bring the railways to a halt by planting them on the tracks, his motive to disrupt the railways, and to kill the passengers of a train. And amongst the passengers is none other than Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - more popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi.
Rotten Tomatoes: Ava Gardner was never more alluring than as the half-caste heroine of Bhowani Junction. Set during India's battle for independence from Britain, the film begins with Gardner returning to her native land after spending several years in England. Her true loyalties, and her own sense of who she really is, are put to the test by the two men in her life: Stewart Granger, whose job it is to prevent saboteurs from destroying the trains at Bhowani Junction, and Bill Travers, another half-caste. When she kills a potential rapist in self-defense, Gardner is given comfort by Communist insurrectionist Peter Illing, further dividing her fidelities. A climactic attempt on the life of Mahatma Gandhi provides a rousing finish to this romantic melodrama. Bhowani Junction was adapted from the novel by John Masters. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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77% (2) Ring of Bright Water 107 min, G, [Comedy, Drama] [Jack Couffer] [14 May 1970]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 72%, Rotten Tomatoes: 83%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win.
Actors: Bill Travers, Jameson Clark, Peter Jeffrey, Virginia McKenna
Writer: Jack Couffer (screenplay), Bill Travers (screenplay), Gavin Maxwell (book)
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Scottish Gaelic Country: UK, USA
Plot: Whoever said dog is man's best friend never met Mij! Mij is a cute, cuddly pet shop otter who captures the heart of Graham Merill (Bill Travers). It doesn't take Graham long to realize that London is no place to raise a slippery otter. So he takes Mij to live in a ramshackle cottage on the coast of Scotland. Together they set out to explore the curious and magnificent natural wonders that surround their seaside home--from orphaned geese to tooth-less sharks. While Mij spends his days frolicking in the icy cold sea, Graham finds himself falling in love with the beautiful town doctor, Mary (Virginia McKenna). Before long, the three become inseparable friends.
Rotten Tomatoes: When a man buys an otter for a pet, he gets more than he bargained for as he tries to keep the animal in his bathtub. He and his pet soon find life in London is not the place for such and animal, so the two head for the coast. The man enlists the help of a local female doctor to help in the care and feeding of his beloved otter in this family feature from the writers of Born Free. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi
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79% (1) Two Living, One Dead 105 min, [Drama] [Anthony Asquith] [01 Jan 1961]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 79%, External Reviews
Actors: Alf Kjellin, Bill Travers, Patrick McGoohan, Virginia McKenna
Writer: Anthony Asquith, Sigurd Christiansen (novel), Lindsay Galloway
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK, Sweden
Plot: Three Post Office employees are at work when the facility is held up. The robber kills the supervisor and knocks out another employee. The third one offers no resistance and survives unscathed. Afterwards he begins to wonder if his refusal to resist was a prudent move to preserve his family, or an act of cowardice, as many in the town believe. The resulting conflict begins to tear apart his family.
Rotten Tomatoes: Two Living, One Dead examines the pitfalls of hero worship, and the culpability of the media in fostering misguided adulation. A robbery and murder is committed in a British pub, during which Bill Travers, a friend of the dead man, apparently acts with rare courage. His companion Patrick McGoohan, also apparently, did not lift a finger to help during the holdup. Travers is lauded publicly as a hero, while McGoohan is condemned as a coward. When the truth comes out, Travers is exposed not only for his feet of clay but for his intimate involvement in the fatal incident. Two Living, One Dead is an undeservedly obscure work from a major British director. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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70% (1) Footsteps in the Fog 90 min, Approved, [Drama, Thriller] [Arthur Lubin] [01 Aug 1955]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 win.
Actors: Belinda Lee, Bill Travers, Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger
Writer: Dorothy Davenport (screenplay), Lenore J. Coffee (screenplay), Arthur Pierson (adaptation), W.W. Jacobs (original short story "The Interruption")
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: UK
Plot: To his Victorian London friends, Stephen Lowry is a heartbroken widower. Only his housemaid Lily knows that far from dying of gastroenteritis his wife was slowly poisoned by her husband - information she is happy to use to improve her position in the household and to make sure she stays close to Stephen. As his own prospects improve with a business partnership and a romance more of his own class, Stephen decides that Lily must go. Unfortunately for him, his first attempt gives her even more of a hold over him.
Rotten Tomatoes: Footsteps in the Fog is a cat-and-mouse Victorian melodrama in the grand tradition. Jean Simmons plays scheming servant girl Lily Watkins, who was hired by sinister nobleman Stephen Lowry (Stewart Granger) and his ailing wife. The wife dies of "natural causes," but Lily knows better, and uses this knowledge to her advantage. In exchange for her silence, she forces Lowry to cater to her every whim. He is forced to go along lest he face the gallows, but in a switch reminiscent of the "lost" ending of 1987's Fatal Attraction, he sees to it that Lily herself is carted away by the constabulary. Filmed in appropriately dank Technicolor, Footsteps in the Fog is an unusual foray into Gaslight territory for director Arthur Lubin, normally a comedy specialist.
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65% (1) The Barretts of Wimpole Street 105 min, Approved, [Biography, Drama, History, Romance] [Sidney Franklin] [16 Jan 1957]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 65%, External Reviews
Actors: Bill Travers, Jennifer Jones, John Gielgud, Virginia McKenna
Writer: Rudolph Besier (play), John Dighton (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA, UK
Plot: Elizabeth Barrett's tyrannical father has forbidden any of his family to marry. Nevertheless, Elizabeth falls in love with the poet Robert Browning.
Rotten Tomatoes: First filmed in 1934 with Norma Shearer, Fredric March and Charles Laughton, Rudolf Bessier's stage hit The Barretts of Wimpole Street was lavishly remade in CinemaScope and Metrocolor in 1957. This time around, Jennifer Jones stars as the beautiful invalid Elizabeth Barrett, who lives under the despotic rule of her Victorian-era father Edward Moulton Barrett (John Gielgud). Literally swept off her feet by dashing, romantic poet Robert Browning (Bill Travers), Elizabeth's hopes for happiness are dashed by her autocratic, implicitly incestuous father until Browning takes decisive action. Virginia McKenna, wife of star Bill Travers, plays Elizabeth's rebellious sister Henrietta. The Barretts of Wimpole Street was the final directorial effort of Sidney Franklin, who also helmed the 1934 version.
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56% (1) Gorgo 78 min, Unrated, [Action, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi] [Eugène Lourié] [29 Mar 1961]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 56%, External Reviews
Actors: Bill Travers, Christopher Rhodes, Vincent Winter, William Sylvester
Writer: Robert L. Richards (screen story), Daniel James (screen story), Robert L. Richards (screenplay), Daniel James (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, Irish Country: UK
Plot: A salvage vessle is nearly sunk off the Irish coast by an undersea earthquake. A few nights later, a walking sea monster tangles with the fishing boats and enters the town. The salvage vessel captures Gorgo and takes it to London for display. Gorgo's mother, who is upset and significantly larger follows his trail to London leaving a wake of destruction in her path.
Rotten Tomatoes: When Gorgo, a huge prehistoric sea creature, is captured and exhibited in London by money-hungry businessmen, his enormous mother comes looking for him, leaving death and destruction in her wake.
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