5 Movies Directed by Charles Crichton

Dead of Night

Dead of Night

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1945-10-15

Languages:

English, French

Countries:

UK

Runtime:

77 min

Rated:

APPROVED

IMDB Ratings:

7.7 (7116 Reviews)

Genres:

Horror

Cast:

Writer:

H.G. Wells (original story)

E.F. Benson (original story)

John Baines (original story)

Angus MacPhail (original story)

John Baines (screenplay)

Angus MacPhail (screenplay)

T.E.B. Clarke (additional dialogue)

Fullplot:

Architect Walter Craig, seeking the possibility of some work at a country farmhouse, soon finds himself once again stuck in his recurring nightmare. Dreading the end of the dream that he knows is coming, he must first listen to all the assembled guests' own bizarre tales.

The Lavender Hill Mob

The Lavender Hill Mob

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1951-09-10

Languages:

English, French, Portuguese

Countries:

UK

Runtime:

78 min

Rated:

APPROVED

IMDB Ratings:

7.8 (9067 Reviews)

Genres:

ComedyCrime

Cast:

Writer:

T.E.B. Clarke (original screenplay)

Fullplot:

Holland, a shy retiring man, dreams of being rich and living the good life. Faithfully, for 20 years, he has worked as a bank transfer agent for the delivery of gold bullion. One day he befriends Pendlebury, a maker of souvenirs. Holland remarks that, with Pendlebury's smelting equipment, one could forge the gold into harmless-looking toy Eiffel Towers and smuggle the gold from England into France. Soon after, the two plant a story to gain the services of professional criminals Lackery and Shorty. Together, the four plot their crime, leading to unexpected twists and turns.

The Stranger in Between

The Stranger in Between

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1952-03-17

Languages:

English

Countries:

UK

Runtime:

84 min

Rated:

APPROVED

IMDB Ratings:

7.4 (478 Reviews)

Genres:

CrimeDrama

Cast:

Writer:

Michael McCarthy (idea)

Jack Whittingham (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Violent fugitive and mistreated small boy team up to flee from authority.

Birdman of Alcatraz

Birdman of Alcatraz

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1962-07-03

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

147 min

IMDB Ratings:

7.8 (11447 Reviews)

Cast:

Writer:

Guy Trosper (screenplay)

Thomas E. Gaddis (book)

Fullplot:

In 1912, the notorious and violent prisoner Robert Franklin Stroud is transferred to the Leavenworth Prison convicted for murdering a man. When a guard cancels the visit of his mother, Elizabeth Stroud, due to a violation of the internal rules, he stabs and kills the guard and goes to trial three times. He is sentenced to be executed by the gallows, but his mother appeals to President Woodrow Wilson who commutes his sentence to life imprisonment. However, the warden, Harvey Shoemaker, decides to keep Stroud in solitary for the rest of his life. One day, Stroud finds a sparrow that has fallen from the nest in the yard and he raises the bird until it is strong enough to fly. Stroud finds a motivation for his life raising and caring for birds and becomes an expert in birds. He marries Stella Johnson and together they run a business, providing medicine developed by Stroud. But a few years after, Stroud is transferred to Alcatraz and has to leave his birds behind.

A Fish Called Wanda

A Fish Called Wanda

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1988-08-05

Languages:

English, Italian, Russian, French

Countries:

USA, UK

Runtime:

108 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.6 (102802 Reviews)

Genres:

ComedyCrime

Cast:

Writer:

John Cleese (story)

Charles Crichton (story)

John Cleese

Fullplot:

In London, George Thomason, his seductive American girlfriend Wanda Gershwitz, and their associate Ken Pile are planning their latest crime, a diamond heist that should net them è13 million. They plan on leaving the country with the goods after the heist. On Wanda's recommendation, they enlist the help of her brother, Otto, a weapons expert, for this heist. In reality, Otto is not Wanda's brother, but her latest lover, a dimwit who gets off on his own body odor, who believes he's an intellectual because he reads Nietzsche, and who does not tolerate being called stupid by anyone. Wanda has one weakness in men which is how Otto was able to get her to be his lover: speaking Italian in seduction. Wanda and Otto plan to double cross George by having him arrested for the heist, while they abscond with the jewels. Wanda further plans to triple cross Otto by eliminating him from the picture after she has the jewels. They are able to get George arrested with him not knowing who tipped the police off, in the process George being implicated by an elderly eyewitness named Eileen Coady. With George in jail, Wanda and Otto discover that he in turn has protected his investment by moving the jewels from their agreed to hiding location, he not telling anyone except Ken some hint of where they are. Ken, an animal lover with an extreme stuttering problem, is given a task by George: kill Mrs. Coady before she is able to testify against him, as she is the crown's primary witness. Meanwhile, Wanda has a plan of her own to reach her end goal: seduce George's defense lawyer, Archie Leach, in finding out any and all of George's secrets concerning the heist, including the location of the jewels. Archie may be easy prey for Wanda's seduction as Archie's wife is a self-absorbed woman who pays Archie little attention. Otto may throw a wrench into Wanda's plans if he finds out what she's doing only feeling that she being solely his lover trumps all else.

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