Deborah Kerr

Casino Royale (1967) Sir James Bond (David Niven) retired at the height of his powers when forced to betray his lover Mata Hari, and now lives in an English country house, surrounded by lions, devoting himself to Debussy and cultivating black roses, attended by his butler (Erik Chitty). However, alarmed by the mounting losses of their spies, he is visited by the heads of the British ('M' or McTarry; John Huston), French (LeGrand; Charles Boyer), American (Ransome; William Holden) and Russian (Smernov; Kurt Kasznar) Secret Services (collectively driven by M's chauffer John LeMesurier), who petition him to return. He refuses, considering himself to belong to a nobler tradition, and them all gadget-ridden "jokeshop" spies, and deploring the handing on of his legend, name and number to a "sexual acrobat". Even a letter from the Queen does not sway him, and as a final desperate trick M signals for Sir James' home to be blown up by the Army: the attack also kills M (but not, apparently, the others). Smersh Authority (the villains) learns that "Sir James Bond is back, with his morals, his vows and his celibate image. We must destroy that image". Sir James, thus forced out of retirement, travels to Scotland, taking M's toupee (the only surviving relic or heirloom) to M's widow, Lady Fiona, who has been substituted by Smersh agent Mimi (Deborah Kerr). She explains the rituals surrounding the death of The McTarry, which include a banquet (with fresh goat haggis and lots of whisky), dancing, and a memorial grouse shoot ("Whenever a McTarry dies, the grouse come into season"). The castle is filled with beautiful girls, agents of Smersh, pretending to be M's eleven 16-19-year-old daughters ("some of us are adopted") including Heather (Tracey Crisp) and Meg (Alexandra Bastedo), who undress Sir James for his bath ("be careful, that's my loose kneecap"), Buttercup ("Daddy's little thermometer", Angela Scoular) whom Sir James discovers actually in his bath, as well as Eliza (Gabriella Licudi), Peg (Elaine Taylor), and Michele (Frances Cosslett). Sir James drinks all the others under the table at the banquet, but when later approached by Mimi in his bedroom claiming he "comfort her" as her "widow's due", upon rejecting her, she calls him a "ninnogaywillycouf" and summons the pipers for a 'worzle', a contest which involves picking up and attempting to throw large stone cannonballs. This he wins, largely as the five pipers (Robin, Jock, Sandy: Bob Godfrey, Percy Herbert) injure themselves in trying to pick up the balls, whereas he manages to pick one up, throw it and catch it. Mimi is so impressed the other girls decide she is a risk and lock her in her room. At the grouse shoot, one of Sir James' cape buttons has been substituted with a homing beacon, and the girls send rocket-launched explosive-laden dummy grouse towards him. Assisted by Mimi, who has escaped down the rather unsafe drainpipe from her room, Sir James uses his braces to fire the button back into the rocket launcher, blowing it up. Mimi, injured, wins a farewell kiss from Sir James ("Madam, are you quite sure you're dying?") before entering a convent, and tells him that their orders came from "Authority: International Mothers' Help, East Berlin" (1). Driving back from Scotland, Sir James is trailed by a remote-controlled booby-trapped milk float (control girl Penny Riley), but manages to escape so that it kills yet another Smersh agent (). In London, he takes over as head of the British Secret Service, whose only surviving members are his secretary Miss Moneypenny (or rather her daughter; Barbara Bouchet), and his assistant Hadley (or rather his son; Derek Nimmo), who explain that all the secret agents apart from Sir James' replacement (now doing television) have been killed in sexually suggestive situations ("stabbed to death in a ladies sauna bath", "burnt in a blazing bordello", "garrotted in a geisha house", etc.) with the possible exception of Sir James' nephew, Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen), last seen in the Caribbean escaping a firing squad ("I have a very low threshold of death") with an exploding cigarette, only to end up in front of another firing squad. Sir James decides to call up all the auxiliary staff, and to create the ultimate 'Anti-Female Spy Device' - a man whom all women desire, but who is indifferent to them. Miss Moneypenny is tasked with finding one such ("your mother did some of her best work at night"), and she finds Cooper ('Coop': Terence Cooper: "Sounds like something for keeping birds." "That's me"). Coop, a holder of the 'Kama Sutra Black Belt', is then sent for his anti-female training, against a gym-full of a variety of exotic, exotically dressed Bond girls (Yvonne Marsh, Veronica Gardnier - there are over 200 beautiful girls in the film), overcoming them all but eventually meeting new secret weapon The Detainer (Daliah Lavi), who also becomes 007 ("I don't do anything, but, unless you're one of them, you do"), Sir James having decided that to create confusion all agents, both male and female, will become 'James Bond, 007'. Sir James personally recruits two new 007 spies. The first is wealthy Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress: assistant Valentine Dyall), who Sir James persuades using a £5m tax arrears demand (2). Vesper is given the task of approaching and recruiting Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers: "Isn't Evelyn a girl's name? No, its mine"), an expert in baccarat at the Buckingham Club, whom Sir James wants to use to defeat Smersh's treasurer, Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), currently gambling with Smersh's money at Casino Royale. She does this, seducing Tremble at her Mayfair flat (to which she has lately had Nelson's Column removed) and also encouraging him to dress up in a number of costumes (including Napoleon - complete with 'Sunny Elba' pamphlet - Hitler and Toulouse-Lautrec: "Come on, you have more to do". "More?!"). Tremble, now also James Bond, 007, goes to Q (Geoffrey Bayldon) and his fey assistant Fordyce (John Wells) in their cellars full of inept inventions (where he is also shadowed by a dwarf dressed as a garden gnome "He's our security man") for his fitting with a gadget-filled suit ("a little bit tight about the..." "Poison capsule compartment?"). Sir James then recruits his own daughter by Mata Hari, Mata Bond (Joanna Pettet), currently working as a living Eastern goddess ("Celestial Virgin of the Sacred Altar" "Figuratively speaking, of course": temple guard Milton Reid, monk John Hollis): there is a superb temple dance sequence. Mata Bond is sent to West Berlin by London taxicab (taxicab driver Bernard Cribbins) to infiltrate International Mothers' Help, known to be a Smersh cover for the Mata Hari School of Dancing, a spy training school, with rather complex neo-Cubist décor, presided over by the formidable Frau Hoffner (Anna Quale) and the diminutive Polo (Ronnie Corbett). Revealing her identity as Mata Hari's daughter, she is shown by Polo to her mother's old room ("What an enormous bed!" "The German army was very large in those days"), where she discovers a secret passageway activated by the cistern, which leads to a projection suite: she also discovers 'little Otto' one of her mother's lovers ("Is he dead?" "Hard to tell. He always looked like that"). She learns that Le Chiffre is, via his agent (Vladek Sheybal) auctioning his art collection of blackmail photographs to raise money: the auction in the auditorium is attended by officers from the British (Jack Gwilliam, Richard Wattis), Chinese (Burt Kwouk), American (Hal Galili) and Russian armies. Warned by the taxi-driver (revealed as Carlton-Towers of the Foreign Office) to prevent Le Chiffre raising the money, as the bidding for the first lot escalates ("Seventy million tons of rice!" "Sixty tons of caviar!"), Mata returns to the projection room, seizes the case of projector slides and flushes them away: she then escapes Polo by unplugging his external heart battery, Frau Hoffner is shot by Otto, and Mata, using a foam fire-extinguisher on the assorted military, makes good her escape with Carlton-Towers (first trying a drain, but on hearing 'What's New, Pussycat', by taxi back to London). Le Chiffre's agent, telephoning him to report his failure, and that Smersh's leader Dr. Noah now knows what Le Chiffre has been up to, is blown up in his telephone box (the explosion also destroys part of the Berlin Wall). Tremble now travels to Casino Royale, where after meeting Matthis, a French inspector of police (with an improbable Scots accent; Duncan Macrae (3)) , and having a car-wash with many eavesdroppers (yet more beautiful girls), in his room meets Miss Goodthighs (Jacqueline Bisset) "the management of the Hotel Tropical present their compliments" who attempts to drug him with doped champagne. Vesper arrives, 'takes care of' Miss Goodthighs, and rouses Tremble. Vesper and Tremble go the Casino: they deposit £100,000 (cashier Graham Stark) and then meet the casino director Slimmington-Jones (Colin Gordon) in his office. Tremble spots that Le Chiffre is using infra-red spectacles to cheat: Vesper steals these: Le Chiffre shows off with some magic (assistants Jennifer Baker, Susan Baker), and then Tremble and Le Chiffre play a very-high-stakes baccarat game (50 million francs: ~£3.6m or $10m at the time), which Tremble ultimately wins. Tremble takes his winnings as a cheque drawn on a Swiss bank. On the way out of the Casino, Vesper is kidnapped: Tremble, advised of this by the doorman (John Bluthal) follows in a racing car (the racing car driver Sterling Moss, as himself, having run off) but is also captured by Le Chiffre, who wants the cheque. Placed in a very elaborate but broken chair in Le Chiffre's dungeon, he suffers torture - not physical, but mental - eventually becoming a Scot in full Highland costume attacked by four Scots marching bands (including Peter O'Toole), he is rescued by Vesper using a machine gun disguised as bagpipes, who then, however, betrays and kills him (and presumably takes the cheque: "Never trust a rich spy'). Le Chiffre is then killed by Smersh agents sent by Dr. Noah. Back in London, Sir James goes to see the Prime Minister, leaving Mata to sight-see ("Mummy would have taken me in" "Mummy took everyone in"): she is captured by a Household Cavalry officer () on horseback and taken by flying saucer, which lands on the now-vacated site of Nelson's Column, to Casino Royale, where, it is now revealed, the secret headquarters of Smersh's leader Dr. Noah are located (announcer Valentine Dyall). Advised of this by former agent Mimi, now a nun collecting donations ("This department has always been very helpful to needy girls") Sir James and Moneypenny follow to Casino Royale: attacked in the casino director's room (which is a lift connecting to Dr. Noah's HQ, activated by pushing the eye of a stuffed tiger) they eventually win through to an audience hall with chairs made of gold ingots to see Dr. Noah himself - who turns out to be Sir James' missing nephew, Jimmy Bond. Jimmy is however speechless in his uncle's presence: "I never should have let Nellie send him to progressive school... I'm beginning to think you're a trifle neurotic". Dr. Noah/Jimmy reveals part of his plans (using a taped message); to release a bacillus which will leave all women beautiful and all men shorter than himself; and then hits a gong to summon his staff and have Sir James and Moneypenny incarcerated. Dr. Noah then reveals to The Detainer, whom he has also captured, stripped and strapped down to a couch ("I learnt that in the Boy Scouts"), his desire to outshine his uncle, and the rest of his plans: to substitute robot doubles for all world leaders (some of which he has already done). He also shows her a pill he has invented, which "looks like an aspirin, it tastes like an aspirin, but it is not an aspirin" - it is in fact an atomic bomb, which goes off after 400 chain reactions. Feigning interest in him, she is released, steals the pill, and manages to slip it into his champagne, and he starts his hiccup-visualized countdown. Sir James, Mata, Moneypenny and Coop (captured earlier) now manage to escape the psychedelically-decorated room in which they have been imprisoned (using exploding 'vaporized lysergic acid' (4)), and making their way back to the audience hall ("Super place for a coming-out party") and meeting up with The Detainer, find their way back to the Casino (with the aid of Frankenstein's monster: David Prowse). Whilst The Detainer escapes, Sir James tries to call London for aid, but is stopped by Vesper; "Dear Vesper. The things you do for money": who has, however, apparently fallen in love with him, and everything that has happened has been a plan to lure him to her at Casino Royale. He overpowers her, and then he and the remaining James Bonds initiate an attack on the Smersh agents in the Casino, aided by the French (Jean-Paul Belmondo: translates 'Merde!' as 'Ouch') and the Americans, both horse-riding Cowboys and tomahawk-wielding Red Indians (air-dropped with tepees as parachutes: Ransome reappears also): George Raft (as himself) shots himself during the affray, and the Keystone Cops have a cameo. Dr. Noah appears with the final chain-reaction countdown hiccups, and the Casino is explosively completely destroyed, killing all five remaining James Bonds (Sir James, Coop, Vesper, Mata, Moneypenny), as well as Dr. Noah/Jimmy Bond. The closing song explains that six James Bonds (including Tremble) go to "a heavenly spot", Jimmy to "a place where it's terribly hot"). Notes: (1) For younger readers: During the Cold War, the city of Berlin was divided by the Berlin Wall (1961-1989) into West Berlin (under Allied control: the Wall surrounded this) and East Berlin (under Soviet control). One of the motifs of the film is that the International Mothers' Help building straddles the border, this being reflected in the interior décor and lighting, and a symbolic rope bisecting the auditorium. (2) In 1967, £5m was half of art auctioneers Christie's annual turnover. Nowadays (2009) it buys 10% of a Titian. (3) There is also a brief pre-credits scene where Tremble (as James Bond) and the Inspector meet in a pissoir (4) Lysergic acid is a precursor for lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD - very Sixties). As its melting point is 240oC, and its (theoretical) vaporization point considerably higher (it degrades), a certain technical liberty is taken by considering it to be an explosive vapour collectable in a seat-cushion-cover in the film (Original version retained below - fades a bit to the end) Any movie directed by 5 different people is bound to be confusing. This is, off course, no exception. The movie starts off with James Bond (Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers)) meeting Lieutenant Mathis (Duncan Macrae) of the Special Police in a pissouir in Paris. After Bond checks Mathis' credentials, he follows him out. The credits roll. 4 cars come in from different directions - a Citroen, a Cadilac, a Bently, and what appears to be something Russian. The 4 chaufers wait by their cars as the 4 passengers get into a Rolls Royce, driven by a fifth chaufer. Through conversations between M (McTarry (John Huston)), Ransome (William Holden), Le Grand (Charles Boyer), and Smernov (Kurt Kasznar), we learn that this is the home of the original James Bond. He is pure of mind and body. They property is protected by many lions. James is exercising as the gentlemen arrive. He has a stutter. He complains that the agent that replaced him as James Bond 007 is leaving a trail of dead women behind; that the new gadgets have taken the honour from the profession. He takes them outside to show them his black rose. Each spy head complains that they are losing agents at an alarming rate. They want James to come out of retirement to fix their shared problems. James interrupts them to play some Debussy. We learn that Bond retired because he had to lure his lover, Mata Hari, to her death. He returns from playing. M shows him a letter from the Queen. Still, he refuses the request to return to duty. M lights a cigar as a signal, and British troops bomb the property. His mansion is destroyed and M's toupee is blown off. Cut to a Smersh control room. We hear the head of Smersh (Authority) tell them that James Bond is back, with his morals, vows, and celebate image in tact. He tells them to initiate Plan B to attempt to destroy that image. We see James driving his Morgan (?) through the British countryside into Scotland. Various spys report his progress. We learn that he is heading for M's (McTarry's) castle. Plan B is in operation with Agent Mimi taking the place of M's widow (Lady Fiona) because she has the best Scot's accent. Sir James presents the remains of M to Lady Fiona (Deborah Kerr). They explain that they'd heard of the death from the Grey Piper. The room is full of women, mourning. They prepare a traditional hagis feast for midnight, where they will dance the traditional Scotish Fling and drink Ouskabar. It is explained (there's a lot of explaining going on, but it really doesn't help) that they drink until they drop in their tracks, then after an hour's rest, the piper awakes them for the morning grouse shoot. James is shown to his room, where Meg and Heather help him undress for his bath. The room is full of paintings of nude women. Meg and Heather tell him that they are 2 of M's 11 daughters - all between the ages of 16 and 19. As they walk down the hall to the bath, they walk past a series of bedrooms, each with a gorgeous girl peering out. James goes into the bath room and starts to undress, when he notices that 17 year old Buttercup is in the tub - testing the water temperature ("Daddy's little thermometer"). She invites him in to scrub his back. James has to turn on the cold water to avoid certain embarassment. Cut to James' room, where we see Meg and Heather swapping a button on his coat - but they are speaking French! We learn that the button is to be used only as a last resort - that Mimi's never failed before. At the hagis feast, everyone is drinking scotch. Two girls have their legs entwined with James at the table, as he listens to Mimi pass on some of the McTarry folklore. Everyone eventually passes out except James, who takes his cup and the scotch decanter up to his room. He's enjoying a nightcap as Mimi comes in and declares "her Widow's Due", insisting that James "doodle her". He refuses, so she insists that he "pay the piper". She blows a silly trumpet solo on a hunting horn, and calls the huge Scottish pipers in. They are going to "wassle" - play catch with heavy stone cannon balls. The first 5 do themselves in trying to lift and throw the balls. The sixth manages a throw that James catches and throws back. The piper catches the ball, but the weight forces him back, into an armour display, which falls on him and knocks him out. James then picks up the last wassle ball and karate chops it in 2. Mimi is stricken. She praises him in French, blowing her cover. The other girls realize, and lock Mimi in her room. The next morning, James is out for the grouse shoot. Mimi's locked in her room, and realizes that James is in trouble. The truck that brought the beaters is actually a launcher of exploding grouse. Mimi escapes by sliding down a drainpipe outside her window, and come to warn James that the button on his coat is actually a homing device. He shoots the grouse before they can get too close, and tells Mimi to take off his braces. They use them like a slingshot to fire the button back towards the beaters. The beaters use a garter belt to fling the homing button back. James grabs the return shot, and Mimi is able to fire it into the grouse launcher. Mimi is injured, and commits herself to a nunnery. She tells James that they are run by International Mother's Help in Berlin. James leaves the McTarry estate, but is followed by a woman driving an E-Type Jaguar. The women in the Smersh control room activate a rigged milk truck. Through some tricky driving, James gets in front of the Jag, and the milk truck loses its visual feed to Control. Control has to set the truck to automatic. James drives into his gated estate and gets the gate closed as the Jag spins into them. The milk truck plows into the Jag, and they both explode. James shows up at MI5, sees Moneypenny, and gives her a big kiss. Moneypenny enjoys it, but explains that she is actually Moneypenny's daughter. James is on a mission, and has lost his stammer. He meets Hadley, who is also the son of the original Hadley. Hadley goes over the state of MI5's agents. Most have been lured to their death by enemy women agents. The replacement James Bond has quit to "do television". James' nephew, Jimmy Bond was working as a spy in the Caribbean, but hasn't been heard from in a while. In a flashback, we see Jimmy (Woody Allen) about to face a firing squad. He escapes using an exploding cigarette. James assigns Moneypenny to find a replacement 007 agent that is desireable to women, but can be trained to resist them. She selects agent Cooper, and spends the night confirming that he is good with women. The next day, she is having trouble staying awake, but James likes Coopers credentials (6" 2 1/2', 184 lbs, Kama Sutra Black Belt). James announces that all remaining agents and trainees will be known as "James Bond 007" to confuse the enemy. Cooper goes through his anti-female training, flipping off a girl dressed identically to Ursula Andres in Dr. No. The third girl appears later as Dr. Noah's prisoner. James shows up at the headquarters of Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress). We learn that she is the world's richest spy. She negotiates a trade of the Eiffel Tower for nuclear warheads, and purchases the Lord Nelson's statue. James requests her help in exchange for reducing a large writ for tax arears. Vesper approaches Evelyn Tremble (Peter Sellers) at the Buckingham Club. They come close to kissing, as Vesper suggestively tells him that she would like to go over some of the passeges in his book on winning at Baccarat. She has been reading it in her bed. She will send her car to bring him to her place. Evelyn arrives as Vesper is disposing of a body. In one of the best looking shots in the movie, they walk behind a huge aquarium - in slow motion - to "The Look of Love" song. Vesper is waiting for Evelyn on (in?) her sunken couch. Evelyn admires Lord Nelson's statue from her window. After some suggestive banter, we see Evelyn exercising in his pyjamas and Vesper wearing a nightgown. She films Evelyn dressing up as Hitler, Napolion (complete with a "Sunny Elba" brochure) and Toulouse-Lautrec. She requests his help in breaking La Chiffre, who likes to play high stakes Baccarat. Evelyn accepts, and agrees to become James Bond for the assignment. Evelyn shows up at the MI5 training facility, where we see frog-men firing bows and arrows and a drill sergent leading his men into an elevator. Evelyn is fitted with a wrist-TV, and body armour vest. Cut to James Bond's office, and James has learned that International Mother's Help (IMH) is a Smersh front. He decides that Mata Bond should try to infiltrate. She is his iligitmate daughter with Mata Hari. She gets to IMH and destroys the slides, forcing Le Chiffre to play baccarat. Tremble to France / Carwash / Miss Goodthighs Vesper & Tremble to Casino Le Chiffre's Magic, swap glasses Tremble plays one hand, and loses. Le Chiffre Stirling Moss Big disconnect - Bond is Le Chiffre's prisoner - mind torture Vesper kills Tremble, Dr. Noah's men kill Le Chiffre Mata kidnapped - Mimi gives a hint Ambushed in casino office Escape, but end up in front of Dr. Noah Dr. Noah is Jimmy Bond (Woody Allen) Bacillius The Detainer Looks like an Asperin, tastes like an asperin. 400 tiny little time pills. Vaporized Lysergic Acid - Agent Cooper returns Frankenstein to office Vesper pulls gun on Evelyn American Aid Monkey wearing toupee Indians Police - Keystone Cops Explosion

Workers employed at a French vineyard quietly follow old pagan rituals that call for the life of the marquis owner to save his crops during dry seasons. Vineyard owner Marquis Philippe de Montfaucon (David Niven) is called back to his castle Bellenac because of another dry season. He asks his wife and children to remain in Paris, but they still come after him--and his wife Catherine de Montfaucon (Deborah Kerr) soon discovers that her husband is acting mysteriously and that his employees are following old pagan rituals that call for the life of the Marquis to save the crops. —Mattias Thuresson The family of Marquis Philippe de Montfaucon (David Niven) has long been the major landowner in Bellenac, a wine-growing region in France. Philippe heads back to the family vineyard from his home in Paris when he learns that problems in the fields are threatening the crops. Against Philippe's wishes, his wife, Marquise Catherine de Montfaucon (Deborah Kerr), decides to follow Philippe back to Bellenac, bringing their two adolescent children, Jacques (Robert Duncan) and Antoinette (Suky Appleby). Once they arrive, Catherine sees what she believes is disturbing behavior. Young-adult siblings Christian (David Hemmings) and Odile de Caray (Sharon Tate), whose family has also lived in the region for generations, have been hanging around the estate. Catherine witnesses Christian killing a dove with the bow and arrow he seems to be brandishing at all times, and Odile seems to have a hypnotic power over anyone in her sights. Worse, Philippe seems to be in a transfixed state while in Bellenac. Although the lives of Catherine and the children are threatened by Christian and Odile's actions, Catherine decides to stay just to figure out what is happening and to save Philippe, who also seems to be under some threat. By the time she eventually learns what is going on and why Philippe didn't want the family to come to Bellenac, it might be too late to save Philippe--and perhaps Jacques--from their evil destiny, as was the fate of many men of the de Montfaucon family in Bellenac over the generations. —Huggo

Victor and Hilary have guided tours in their English mansion. A US oil tycoon "bumps" into Hilary during a tour and charms his way into her heart. Meanwhile, Hattie pursues Victor. Victor and Hilary are so down on their luck that they allow tourists to take guided tours of their castle. But when millionaire oil tycoon Charles Delacro visits, he takes a liking to more than the house. Then Hattie Durant gets involved and they have a good old-fashioned love triangle. —Tim Kearns <tskearns@aol.com> Married for twelve years with two adolescent children, the Earl and Countess Rhyall - Victor and Hilary - live in a small section of the country manor that has been in Victor's family for generations, the rest of the manor having been turned over to the National Trust for public tours, the only way they, cash strapped, can keep the property as a legacy for the children. In addition to Hilary's side business of growing and selling mushrooms for her own pocket money, they don't live a typical royal life in not utilizing their servants to their fullest, with especially their butler, Sellers, who only sought out the job for experience to write his "great British novel", telling Victor either to fire him or reduce his wages in feeling he having nothing to do. Victor counters that especially Sellers provides the important function of the façade to the public, who pay for the tours, of true royal country manor life. Their life is turned upside down when American oil baron Charles Delacro takes the tour, and meets and falls immediately in love with Hilary. While she initially rebuffs his advances, she eventually does return his affections. In meeting Charles, Victor knows that there are feelings between Charles and Hilary, and that Hilary's extended trip to London, in which she will be staying with their socialite friend Hattie Durant, is just a guise to have an affair with Charles. With Hattie being his confidante despite their outward animosity in being former lovers themselves and with Sellers doing his butlering duties, Victor goes on a mission for Hilary to return emotionally in love with him. —Huggo

Spoiled Cecile, 17, spends her summer at the French Riviera with her rich, widower, playboy dad and Elsa. Anne, her late mom's friend, visits and brings changes to all. Cecile's a decadent young woman who lives a luxurious life with her wealthy playboy father, a widower. When his old love interest comes to vvisit, she gets more and more comfortable, making Cecile afraid that her lifestyle will end, and sets out to make sure it isn't. —Dragan Antulov <dragan.antulov@altbbs.fido.hr> Spoiled 17-year-old Cecile's spending summer with her, widower hedonistic father. When am old love of his arrives for weekdays supposed to be a brief visit, Cecile becomes ever-more nervous that this visitor might have poems to usurp her father's love - now specifically, get luxurious life, and plans to get her out. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Parisians Raymond, a widower, and his 17-year-old daughter, who calls her father by his first name, live a life of privilege, decadence, and frivolity, with whomever else they fancy who wants to be part of that decadent lifestyle. They are currently on vacation on the French Riviera with Raymond's latest conquest, Elsa, who is as much a casual lover for Raymond as she is a playmate and fellow party-er for Cecile. Their lives change when they receive a visit from Anne, Cecile's mother's best friend. Raymond falls in love with Anne and they decide to get married. Cecile is initially happy for Raymond, seeing Anne as a stabilizing force in his life. But then she realizes that this stabilizing force also applies to her and will change the decadent life to which she's become accustomed. Enlisting help from Elsa and from her own latest beau, Philippe (of whom Anne doesn't approve), she sets out to do whatever is necessary to protect her lifestyle, not foreseeing how this plan will ultimately affect her life. —Huggo

The stories of several people are told as they stay at a seaside hotel in Bournemouth. Life at the Beauregard Hotel in Bournemouth during the off-season livens up when beautiful Ann Shankland arrives to see her alcoholic ex-husband John Malcolm, who is secretly engaged to Pat Cooper, who runs the hotel. Meanwhile, snobbish Mrs. Railton-Bell discovers that the kind if doddering Major Pollock isn't what he appears to be--particularly shocking news for her frail daughter Sibyl, who is secretly in love with him. —Shannon Patrick Sullivan <shannon@mun.ca> In Bournemouth, England, the Beauregard Hotel is located three minutes from the sea and managed by Pat Cooper. It is off-season and only the resident guests are lodged in the hotel. Timid Sibyl is a hysterical spinster totally controlled by her arrogant, snobbish mother, Mrs. Maud Railton-Bell, who doesn't want her to work. Sibyl is secretly in love with the reformed Major David Angus Pollock and enjoys listening to his stories. Lady Gladys Matheson is the only friend of Mrs. Railton-Bell. Medical student Charles wants to marry his fiancée Jean but she refuses. Miss Meacham and Mr. Fowler like to play billiards and she always wins the game. American John Malcolm is an alcoholic writer who is secretly engaged to Pat. When elegant, gorgeous Ann Shankland checks into the hotel, John is affected by her presence and Pat learns that Ann is his ex-wife and he'd tried to kill her five years ago. Meanwhile, Major Pollock unsuccessfully tries to steal the West Hampshire Weekly News from reception, but Mrs. Railton-Bell finds an inflammatory article about him and tries to expel him from the hotel. These events will affect the residents' lives. —Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Managed by the efficient Pat Cooper, the Beauregard Hotel on the English coast in Bournemouth is a stuffy, second-rate establishment. Only a handful of mostly resident guests are currently staying at the hotel. They include: retired and decorated Major Angus Pollock; elderly Maud Railton-Bell, who needs to control everything, especially her mousy spinster daughter Sibyl Railton-Bell, who has a quiet bond with and crush on the Major; Lady Gladys Matheson, who follows whatever Mrs. Railton-Bell wants purely out of camaraderie; straightforward, slightly gruff Miss Meacham; staid schoolteacher Mr. Fowler; students Charles and Jean, a young unmarried couple who are the primary focus of Mrs. Railton-Bell's ire for probably doing it out of wedlock; and writer John Malcolm, a brash American who hides his issues behind his excessive drinking and who is in a secret liaison with Pat and wants to marry her. Their relationship is threatened by the unexpected arrival of Ann Shankland, who has a turbulent, passionate history with John. Ann's arrival is not by accident; she says she wants to help John before she remarries, but she might have other, more self-motivated reasons. The focus of the entire group changes when Mrs. Railton-Bell learns of a secret the Major is hiding. As Mrs. Railton-Bell tries to control the situation with the Major to her satisfaction, which includes bending the truth to suit her own needs, the others out of their own situations, especially Sibyl, might eventually come to their own conclusions on how best to deal with the Major's issue with respect to his stay at the hotel. —Huggo During the off-season at the Beauregard Hotel, the secrets of some guests are exposed. Lovely but vulnerable Ann Shankland travels to the hotel in hopes of starting over with her ex-husband, John, but she does not know that he is already engaged to Pat Cooper, the manager of the hotel. Meanwhile, Mrs. Railton-Bell and her daughter Sibyl discover the hidden truth about war veteran Major Pollack. —Jwelch5742

In WW2 London, a writer falls in love with the wife of a British civil servant but both men suspect her of infidelity with yet another man. In war-torn London, Maurice Bendrix (Van Johnson) falls in love with neighbor Sarah Miles (Deborah Kerr). They begin an illicit romance behind Sarah's husband's back. While war does not last forever, neither does love in this existentialist tale. —Robert Bole <rjbmbv@teleport.com>

The growing ambition of Julius Caesar is a source of major concern to his close friend Brutus. Cassius persuades him to participate in his plot to assassinate Caesar but they have both sorely underestimated Mark Antony. Brutus, Cassius, and other high-ranking Romans murder Caesar, because they believe his ambition will lead to tyranny. The people of Rome are on their side until Antony, Caesar's right-hand man, makes a moving speech. The conspirators are driven from Rome, and two armies are formed: one side following the conspirators; the other, Antony. Antony has the superior force, and surrounds Brutus and Cassius, but they kill themselves to avoid capture. —John Oswalt <jao@jao.com> Brutus is convinced by a scheming band of Roman senators, led by Caius Cassius, that his dear friend Julius Caesar intends to dissolve the republic and install himself as monarch, and he joins a conspiracy to assassinate him. Brutus stirringly defends his actions, but when Mark Antony responds with a speech that plays upon the crowd's love for their fallen leader, a battle between the two factions is assured. —Jwelch5742

In 1941 Hawaii, Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) is transferred from the Bugle Corps at Fort Shafter (giving up his corporal stripes) to a rifle outfit, Company "G," at Schofield Barracks on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. When Captain Dana "Dynamite" Holmes (Philip Ober) learns of his reputation as a talented boxer, he recommends that Prewitt join the regimental boxing club that he heads, and promises that Prewitt will be promoted to corporal or even sergeant, if he helps win the boxing trophy on December 15. For reasons unknown to the regiment Prewitt adamantly refuses. Holmes retaliates by making army life as miserable as possible for Prewitt hoping he will agree to box. Unable to break Prewitt, Holmes orders First Sergeant Milton Warden (Burt Lancaster) to prepare court martial papers. Warden, however, knowing of Holmes' unfair treatment and realizing Prewitt is a thirty-year soldier (career soldier), suggests that he try to entice Prewitt to change his mind by doubling up on company punishment. The other non-commissioned officers assist in the conspiracy with brutal hazing rituals. Prewitt is supported only by his friend, Private Angelo Maggio (Frank Sinatra). Meanwhile, behind his commander's back, Warden begins an affair with Holmes' neglected wife Karen (Deborah Kerr). Sergeant Maylon Stark (George Reeves) has told Warden of Karen's many affairs with other soldiers at Fort Bliss, including his own. As their relationship develops, Warden asks Karen about her numerous affairs to test her sincerity with him. Karen relates that Holmes had been unfaithful to her most of their marriage. She lost a baby when Holmes came back from one affair drunk, and unable to assist her to the hospital. She then affirms her genuine love for Warden. Prewitt and Maggio spend their liberty time at the New Congress Club, a gentleman's club in downtown Honululu where Prewitt meets, and falls for, Lorene (Donna Reed), a local dancer and call girl. Prewitt confides to Lorene the reason he refuses to box for the company is that he blinded a close friend while sparring. Maggio encounters Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson (Ernest Borgnine), a crass and racist sergeant at the club. When Maggio complains that Judson's piano playing is interfering with his dancing, the two nearly come to blows. Maggio is told that Judson is the Sergeant of the Guard at the stockade. Later, at a tavern called "Choy's," located near the base, Judson sees Maggio holding a photograph of his family. Judson makes an inappropriate comment to Prewitt about Maggio's sister causing Maggio to smash a bar stool on Judson's head. Judson pulls a switchblade on Maggio, but Warden, sitting in a corner, intervenes to save Maggio by telling Judson that killing Maggio would "create two weeks of paperwork" for him. When the brutal Judson advances on Warden with the knife, Warden breaks a beer bottle in two and uses the jagged edge as a weapon. Judson retreats, throws down his knife and goes to the bar for a drink. However, he warns Maggio that sooner or later Maggio would end up in the stockade and he would be there waiting for him. A few days later, Karen tells Warden that if he became an officer, she could divorce Holmes and they could return to the States and marry. Warden is not keen on the idea because of his dislike of officers, but agrees to consider the matter. Prewitt manages a weekend pass, courtesy of Warden, and goes to meet Lorene who is too busy at the club to talk. However, she meets him later at a bar for a drink. He tells Lorene he loves the Army, and shows Lorene his prized possession, a bugle mouthpiece. He tells her, "I played taps last Armistice Day at Arlington National Cemetery. The President was there." Maggio then walks in drunk and in uniform, explaining that he was assigned to for guard duty that night, but deserted his post. Lorene encourages Prewitt to take Maggio back to the base. While Prewitt is calling for a taxi, Military Police arrive and arrest Maggio, and he is sentenced to six months in the stockade for desertion. Matters come to a head for Prewitt when Sergeant Galovitch picks a fight with Prewitt while on yard detail, and the two come to blows. At first, Galovitch repeatedly pummels Prewitt, who initially refuses to fight back, and then resorts to using only body blows. But as Galovitch and others watching continue taunting him, he begins boxing, hitting Galovitch in the face and nearly managing to knock him out before Holmes finally steps in and stops the fight. When Galovitch falsely accuses Prewitt of insubordination, Holmes is about to punish Prewitt again until the man in charge of the detail says that it was Galovitch, not Prewitt, who was spoiling for the fight. Instead of punishing Galovitch, Holmes abruptly lets him off the hook and disperses the crowd. The entire incident is witnessed by the base commander, who orders an investigation by the Inspector General. When Holmes' true intentions are revealed, the general orders a court-martial. When Holmes begs for an alternative, the commanding officer's aide suggests that Holmes resign his commission "for the good of the service" and leaves the Army, which the general accepts with dispatch. Holmes' replacement, Captain Ross, orders that Sergeant Galovitch be demoted to private and put in charge of the latrine. One evening, a few weeks later, Maggio manages to escape from the stockade and find Prewitt. He tells of the abuse he endured by Judson, then dies in Prewitt's arms. The next morning, Prewitt plays taps as tears stream down his cheeks. Seeking revenge, Prewitt tracks down Judson in town and invites him into a back alley to talk, then attacks him. The two fight with switchblades, Prewitt using the very same switchblade Judson had pulled on Maggio earlier. Prewitt kills Judson, but not before sustaining a serious stomach wound. Prewitt goes into hiding at Lorene's apartment. Despite Prewitt's AWOL status, his platoon sergeant carries him "present" for three days at Warden's direction. Lorene, whose real name is Alma, tends to Prewitt's wounds. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Enemy planes also attack nearby Wheeler Air Base as well as the barracks. Warden leads several of his men in battle by climbing to the roofs of the barracks and returns fire against strafing Japanese fighter planes, shooting down at least one of them. That evening, Prewitt, still weak from his unhealed wound, finds out about the attack over the radio, and attempts to return to camp under cover of darkness, despite protests from Lorene to wait until daylight. During the walk back to the barracks, Prewitt is spotted by several jittery sentries on the lookout for saboteurs. Instead of stopping and identifying himself to the sentries, Prewitt attempts to run and gets shot dead while running across a golf course, his body landing in a nearby sand trap. Warden arrives on the scene a few minutes later with military investigators and identifies the body. Warden laments Prewitt's stubbornness and states the irony that because of the attack, the December 15, 1941 boxing tournament has been canceled. Holmes' resignation results in Karen having to return to the States with him. When she finds out that Warden failed to apply for officer status, she realizes they will never be together. In the final scene, Lorene and Karen meet for the first (and only) time on a ship leaving for the mainland. Karen then tosses two leis into the water. She tells Lorene, "If the leis go to shore, a person will return to Hawaii. If the leis float out to sea, a person will never return." Lorene says she will never return to Hawaii, telling Karen that her fiance was an Army Air Corps pilot who was killed in a B-17 plane during the December 7th attack. Lorene quotes: "he was awarded the Silver Star, they sent it to his mother. She wrote me. She wanted me to have it. They are very fine people, Southern people. He was named after a general. Robert E. Lee Prewitt." Karen recognizes Prewitt's name from conversations with Warden and is aware that Lorene is lying about Prewitt's death, but she says nothing. The final shot shows Lorene holding Prewitt's treasured bugle mouth piece.

In a remote region of post-independence India, the love of a blind British woman pricks the conscience of an arms dealer. During India's first years of independence from Britain, Steve Gibbs lands his armaments-loaded plane in Ghandahar province, hoping to get rich. Pacifist Prime Minister Singh hopes to reach an agreement with guerilla leader Khan, the maharajah is a fool, and the British residents are living in the past. Steve's love interest is Joan Willoughby, a parson's blind daughter. —Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>