John Le Mesurier

The misadventures of a ragtag group of elderly Home Guard local defense volunteers at the onset of WW2. When World War Two breaks out, the small seaside town of Walmington-on-Sea finds itself less than ably defended by the elderly and inept members of Captain Mainwaring's home guard unit. Put on manoeuvres by a visiting Major-General, Mainwaring's men manage to bungle one task after another. However, when a group of Germans from a scout plane take the Mayor hostage at the church hall, the clueless soldiers might still have a chance of saving the day! —Anonymous

A spectacular robbery of gold bullion in Turin is masterminded by an older gentleman from a British prison where he is lord of all he surveys.

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

As a child, Princess Dala receives a gift from her father, the Shah of Lugash--"the Pink Panther," the largest diamond in the world. This huge pink gem has an unusual flaw: looking deeply into the stone, one perceives a tiny discoloration resembling a leaping panther. Twenty years later, Dala has been forced into exile following her father's death and the subsequent military takeover of her country. The new government declares her precious diamond the property of the people and petitions the World Court to determine ownership. However, Dala refuses to relinquish it. Noted jewel thief Phantom has struck again in Rome and escaped with half a million dollars in jewels. In Paris, police inspector Jacques Clouseau is assigned to apprehend the Phantom. Clouseau knows that Phantom is working with a woman, who manages to escape when the police intercept her meeting with The Phantom. Clouseau does not know that the woman is his wife, Simone. Simone (Capucine) is the paramour of Charles and helper in the Phantom's crimes and she has become rich by acting as a fence for the Phantom under the nose of her amorous but oblivious husband. Clouseau wonders how Simone can afford expensive items such as a luxurious mink coat on a police officer's salary. Several years later, Dala (Claudia Cardinale) relaxes on holiday at an exclusive ski resort in Cortina D'Ampezzo. Also staying is a noted English playboy, Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) who leads a secret life as a jewel thief called "The Phantom" and has his eyes on the Pink Panther. The famed diamond is insured for $0.5 million. His unwitting American playboy nephew George (Robert Wagner) follows his uncle to the resort, also hoping to steal the jewel and blame it on the Phantom. George poses as a recent college graduate about to enter the Peace Corps so his uncle continues to support his lavish lifestyle. In reality, George left the US as he was $40,000 in debt. Charles orchestrates the kidnapping of Dala's dog and then appears at the right time to be the savior and become a hero. As such, he gains a dinner invitation from Dala and starts to get close to her. He manages to get Dala to come to his hotel room and seduces her. Charles tempts Dala by calling her the virgin queen, as that is the image that she has cultivated for herself in the media. Charles intrigues Dala enough to get her to agree to drinking Champagne, against her religious principles. When Dala is slightly drunk, Charles kisses her. The same night Charles realizes that George has also come over from the US and staying in his room. On the Phantom's trail is French police inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) of the Sûreté. Clouseau arrives at the resort with Simone. Simone and Charles have booked their rooms next to each other. Simone goes to Charles' room at night but ends up kissing George in the dark. To cover her real purpose, Simone pretends that she had come in to meet George. Charles believes George is naive and studious. He asks Simone to keep George out of trouble and away from Dala, lest he ruins their careful plans. Meanwhile George takes his turn at seducing Dala. Clouseau is so clueless and clumsy that while several theft attempts are made at a fancy-dress party, he looks everywhere but the right place. Meanwhile, Simone dodges her husband (who is always trying to have sex with her) by giving him random chores to perform, while trying to avoid George who has grown enamored of her and aid Charles, who has grown enamored of Dala and is ambivalent about carrying out the theft. The night before their departure, George accidentally learns of his uncle's criminal activities. Jack finds out that the accomplice who kidnapped Dala's dog works for Charles and is convinced that Charles and Phantom are one and the same. Dala tells Jack that there is a fancy-dress party the same night and is sure that Charles will attend the party in disguise and try to steal the diamond. During a costume party, Sir Charles and his nephew attempt to steal the diamond, only to find the jewel already missing from the safe. In spite of himself, the buffoonish inspector discovers the two in the act. They escape during the confusion of the evening's climactic fireworks display, resulting in a car chase throughout the town streets. Despite all odds, Sir Charles and his accomplice George are captured when all the vehicles collide with one another. Later, Simone informs Dala that Charles wished to call off the theft and asks her to help in his defense. Dala then reveals that it was she herself who stole the diamond to avoid deportation back to Lugash. However, the Princess is also smitten with Sir Charles and has a plan to save him from prison. At the trial, Charles' and George's convictions seem inevitable when the defense calls as their lone witness a surprised Clouseau. The barrister asks a series of questions that suggest Clouseau himself could be the Phantom. An unnerved Clouseau pulls out his handkerchief-from which drops the jewel, promptly rendering him unconscious from shock. As Clouseau is driven away to prison, he is mobbed by a throng of enamored women. Watching from a distance, a regretful Simone expresses fears he will rot in prison. Sir Charles reassures her that when the Phantom strikes again, Clouseau will be exonerated. Sir Charles, Simone, and George drive away to continue their life of crime as Dala leaves to return to her country. Meanwhile, in the police car, the officers express their envy that Clouseau is now the object of affection of young women everywhere. As they ask him with obvious admiration how he committed so many robberies, Clouseau's mood gradually changes: "Well, you know . . . it wasn't easy." Pink Panther as a traffic warden is run over by the car carrying Clouseau and attempting to chase after it. He pulls himself together.

Title and Credits are shown over a painting of Baskerville Hall on a hill top during a storm. A narrator tells us, "Know then the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Sir Hugo a wild, profane and godless man; An evil man, in truth for there was with him a certain ugly and cruel humor that made his name a byword in the county." A drunken party is underway and a servant is tortured by Sir Hugo (David Oxley). The servant's daughter is the prize, but she has left the house. Furious, Sir Hugo sets the hounds on her trail, "The hounds: Let loose the pack!" The servant girl escapes on the estate, Sir Hugo gives chase and both hear the loud baying of a hound. The girl takes refuge in the old abbey ruins, but Sir Hugo finds her. In a fit of rage, he stabs her with a dagger. He hears the hound. It attacks and kills him. "And so, the curse of Sir Hugo came upon the Baskervilles in the shape of a hound from Hell, forever to bring misfortune to the Baskerville family. Therefore, take heed and beware the moor in those dark hours when evil is exalted else you will surely meet the hound of Hell, the hound of the Baskervilles." Dr. Mortimer (Francis De Wolff) reads this last passage to Sherlock Holmes (Peter Cushing) at his Baker street residence. Holmes is unimpressed and Dr. Mortimer is perturbed. Holmes asks the real reason for his visit. "The body of Sir Charles Baskerville discovered on Dartmoor early today," Dr. Mortimer reads from a local newspaper. Sir Charles was found by a servant, Barrymore, near the abbey ruins up on a hill not far from Baskerville Hall. The coroner's inquest ruled it heart failure. Dr. Mortimer's desire is to have Holmes investigate the matter because he thinks Sir Henry is in danger. Holmes agrees to see Sir Henry at his hotel the next day. Dr. Watson (Andre Morell) sees Dr. Mortimer out. Sir Henry Baskerville (Christopher Lee) is dressing in his hotel room. Holmes and Watson arrive, but Sir Henry mistakes them for hotel employees that have come to investigate a missing boot. Dr. Mortimer arrives amid the confusion and makes introductions. Sir Henry makes it clear he intends to occupy Baskerville Hall. Dr. Mortimer reluctantly tells Holmes the estate is worth about one million pounds. The will details bequests, including one thousand pounds for the Barrymores, and Dr. Mortimer is to receive forty thousand pounds. Holmes tells Sir Henry that, "I must impress upon you that I believe your life to be in considerable danger." Holmes also tells him that he is unable to leave London at the moment, but he will be sending Dr. Watson along to Dartmoor. Before anyone leaves, the first attempt on Sir Henry happens. A poisonous tarantula is hidden in a boot and crawls up near Sir Henry's head, but Holmes dispatches it. Sir Henry, Watson and Dr. Mortimer arrive in Dartmoor. Dr. Mortimer exits the cart for a short walk home. Before he walks away Perkins, the cart driver (Sam Kydd) suggests that Dr. Mortimer not walk alone. He tells him there has been a prison escape and a man named Selden, sentenced to life imprisonment is out on the moors. Sir Henry and Watson proceed to Baskerville Hall while Dr. Mortimer walks home. They are met at the Hall by Barrymore (John Le Mesurier). He gives the new master a tour of the house, and shows him a portrait of Sir Hugo. He tells him of the legend. Sir Henry notices a missing portrait, another of Sir Hugo. He is told it disappeared a few months ago. Watson is at the table finishing his meal. Sir Henry offers a toast, but Mrs. Barrymore (Helen Goss), visibly upset drops her glass then excuses herself. Dr. Watson asks Barrymore about the death of Sir Charles, as he found the body. Dr. Watson asks Barrymore if he believes in the legend of the hound. Barrymore tells Dr. Watson that he has heard the terrible howl. Dr. Watson is awakened in the night to the sound of a woman moaning. He investigates but finds nothing. The next morning the local Vicar, Bishop Frankland (Miles Malleson) stops to ask Sir Henry for a donation to the church. He is invited in for a glass of sherry. Sir Henry asks Mrs. Barrymore to donate an old suit to the jumble sale. Dr. Watson stops at the Grimpen Post Office to get a telegram from Holmes. It reminds Watson, "Under no circumstances allow Sir Henry to venture on the moor alone at night." Dr. Watson walks back to Baskerville Hall through the moor. He encounters Stapleton (Ewen Solon) who warns the doctor he was about to step into a trap. Stapleton also warns Watson to stick to the trail, lest he fall into the Grimpen Mire. Along the walk he encounters Cecile Stapleton (Maria Landi). Watson asks her if he is on the right path to Baskerville Hall. She bolts without answering, and Watson follows her but he falls into the mire. Stapleton rescues him, Cecile returns and helps. The Stapletons, father and daughter, return Dr. Watson to Baskerville Hall. Watson and Stapleton go into the house, and Cecile remains in the cart outside. They don't know Sir Henry is out riding his horse. Sir Henry arrives and talks to Cecile. She is very rude to Sir Henry. She runs away and when confronted, she kisses Sir Henry. That evening after everyone else has gone to bed, Sir Henry is joined by Dr. Watson. They see a light under the door of an unoccupied room. A candle burns near a window. Sir Henry notices a light out on the moor--a signal. Dr. Watson and Sir Henry investigate outside and find the source of the light. They find Selden (Michael Mulcaster), the escaped convict. They give chase and hear the hound. Sir Henry suffers a mild heart attack. Dr. Watson helps him back to the hall. Dr. Mortimer examines Sir Henry and orders bed rest. Dr. Watson wants Mortimer to stay and watch Sir Henry while he returns to the moor. Watson goes to the abbey ruins and encounters Holmes asking, "Why have you left Sir Henry alone?" Holmes tells Watson he has been in Devon for the whole time gathering information from Selden. "Selden told me all he had seen since hes been hiding." They hear the hound in the distance and run to investigate. Holmes notices Dr. Mortimer left Baskerville Hall. They hear a man scream and rush to investigate. They spot a man they believe to be Sir Henry dead. Holmes and Watson return to Baskerville Hall to get help to move the body. They see a light under the door of the signal room. Inside the room is Sir Henry reading a book. Sir Henry asks, "Who was it Holmes? Who was the poor devil that died instead of me?" Holmes deduces it was Selden, "Selden had on the suit you were wearing when we met in London." The next morning, Holmes and Watson return to the site of the death of Selden. They go to the abbey ruins and there they find blood on a stone and a dagger. Barrymore finds Selden's body, which had been moved from the night before. His body has been mutilated. "Some revolting sacrificial rite has been performed," Holmes notes. At the Hall, Holmes confronts Mrs. Barrymore and extracts the confession she was aiding her brother, Selden. She gave him food and Sir Henry's clothes and used the candle as a signal. Holmes pays a visit on the Bishop to inquire about a missing spider. Holmes knows the Bishop is regarded as the highest living authority on the study of rare spiders. He asks about the genus Theraphosa--tarantula. Bishop Frankland finally admits he is missing a tarantula and volunteers his visitor list, which included Dr. Mortimer and the Stapletons. Sir Henry stops at the Stapleton cottage. He lets himself in when no one answers his knock. Cecile appears and asks, "Why did you come here?" Stapleton is out and Cecile tells Sir Henry he is invited for dinner. She tells Sir Henry she is Spanish and her mother is dead. Her father returned to farm, but the property is no good. Sir Henry is in love with Cecile. Stapleton walks in and sees his daughter and Sir Henry being intimate. They sit and have a drink. Holmes and Watson meet with and confront Dr. Mortimer. They suspect he may have had a hand in the strange circumstances surrounding the death of Sir Charles and the attempts on Sir Henry. They ask about an old tin mine on the property. Mortimer tells Holmes that Stapleton may be more help as it is under his land. Holmes insists in seeing the mine, and insists that Dr. Mortimer accompany him. Holmes shows Mortimer the dagger that was used on Selden and the same as Sir Hugo used to kill the servant girl centuries earlier. Stapleton, Dr. Mortimer, and Holmes explore the old tin mine. Watson stays above. It is dank and water seeps through from the mire above. Holmes is looking for bones. While Stapleton and Mortimer chock the wheels of an old mining cart, Holmes explores deeper. He tells the two men, "We won't need to go any further, I've found what I came down for." They hear the hound howling. The cart runs down the rails, hits a support beam and causes a cave in, trapping Holmes. They dig for a while, but after two hours they stop. As it turns out, Holmes is waiting in the cart. He hurt his leg. Back at Baskerville Hall, Sir Henry invites Holmes and Watson to join him for dinner at the Stapletons. Holmes is very rude to Sir Henry. This is his plan--he wants Sir Henry to leave without them. The dagger is missing and Holmes has learned that Sir Hugo's hands were webbed, like Stapleton's hands. It turns out Stapleton is next in line for the Baskerville fortune. Holmes and Watson head for the abbey ruins where Sir Henry and Cecile have gone. She is leading Sir Henry to her father, the hound, and certain death. Fortunately Holmes and Watson hear Cecile's plan as she tells Sir Henry he will die. The hound appears and leaps on Sir Henry. It begins to maul him. Stapleton attacks Watson as he tries to shoot the hound. They scuffle briefly but Watson manages to shoot Stapleton. Holmes shoots the hound which turns on Stapleton. Cecile retrieves the dagger and tries to finish Sir Henry off, but Holmes intervenes. Cecile escapes. Holmes and Watson help Sir Henry to his feet and show him the dead dog. The dog was kept in the mine, starved for weeks, given the scent and turned loose. His missing boot was the scent. Cecile still running slips into the mire and is pulled under. Back in London Holmes and Watson admire a gift sent by Sir Henry. It is the missing portrait of Sir Hugo, showing his deformed hand, as a souvenir Holmes can add to his collection. Sir Henry also included a check for a very generous amount. Watson asks Holmes about what clue was the key. Holmes quips that, "the missing boot put me on the scent." We close with Holmes and Watson having tea.

An American war correspondent falls in love with a BBC reporter, but their relationship seems doomed from the start. In London, 1945, BBC radio correspondent Mark Trevor broadcasts to his listeners the details surrounding the disarmament of an unexploded German V-2 rocket. He is soon joined in the field by Sara Scott, a foreign correspondent for The New York Standard . The two journalists have been lovers for three weeks, and although Sara declares her undying love for him, Mark is hesitant to state his true affections for her. Later, in her hotel room, Mark tells Sara how he grew up in the small English village of St. Giles and joined the BBC prior to the outbreak of World War II, but Sara points out that eleven years are missing from his life story. After Mark finally professes his love, Sara confesses that she is engaged to her boss, American newspaper publisher Carter Reynolds. Before she can break her engagement, however, Mark admits that he is married. Carter then arrives in London on his way to Paris, and quickly recognizes the sudden alienation of Sara's affections. He offers to take her with him to Paris or back to New York, but the heartbroken Sara insists on staying in London until she can settle her personal life. Following the German army's surrender in Italy, Mark is transferred to Paris, but before he leaves, he and Sara have one final meeting at which they proclaim their eternal love to each other. The next morning, Carter rushes to be with Sara before the BBC announces Mark's death, as he was just killed in an airplane crash. Sara then suffers a nervous breakdown and is institutionalized in a nursing home for six weeks. With the war now over, Carter offers to send Sara home on an ocean cruise following her convalescence, but she decides takes a train to St. Giles before setting sail for America. Arriving in the seaside town, Sara is unable to find any accommodations, as the post-war surge in tourism has filled all the local inns, but she meets Mark's young son Brian by chance and is soon invited to dinner by her dead lover's unsuspecting widow Kay. Though Kay offers her lodgings for the night, the grief-stricken Sara cannot stand being surrounded by Mark's things and bolts from the home. The next morning, Sara is found on the docks unconscious and is carried back to Kay's house, where she is ordered to rest by the local physician. Kay then convinces Sara to stay on in St. Giles and write a book about Mark, still unaware that Sara was her husband's mistress. Later, Sara is shocked to see Alan Thompson, Mark's childhood friend and co-worker, who somehow survived the plane crash that took her lover's life. Though he promises to keep her secret, Alan asks Sara to leave St. Giles before Kay learns the truth about her relationship with Mark. Meanwhile, back in New York, Carter is informed by Dr. Aldridge, Sara's physician at the nursing home, of her current whereabouts, and he rushes to St. Giles in hopes of bringing Sara home. Upon their first meeting, Carter and Alan quickly realize that they are in similar positions, as they both love women who are in love with the same dead man. Following an evening at the cinema, Kay questions Alan about her husband's final weeks, and she soon surmises that Mark was having an affair. Learning this, Sara confesses all to Kay, but tells the widow that Mark had ended their affair and was planning to return to his wife and child. The next morning, Kay, relieved, rushes to the train station to say goodbye to a thankful Sara, who then promises to send Brian a photograph from the top of the Empire State building.

Dr John Pierre [Vincent Ball] has been convicted of malpractice leading to murder (he attempted to transfuse blood in the 1880s) and has been sentenced to a penal institution for life. Pierre is immediately transferred to a prison for the criminally insane by request of the prison governor, Dr Callistratus [Donald Wolfit]. It's all a setup. Callistratus is doing blood research. Six years earlier, he was called a vampire and sentenced to die and to be impaled in his grave. During his research, however, he isolated a culture which allowed life to remain dormant in his body. After his death, his assistant Carl [Victor Maddern] was able to get Callistratus resurrected. Unfortunately, the culture created an infection in which Callistratus' blood cells are breaking down into a new blood group that is incompatible with any other blood group. He is currently looking for a blood group that will not be antagonistic to these new blood cells. To do so, he is draining prisoners of their blood and performing other hideous procedures in a secret lab, and he wants Dr Pierre's help. Meanwhile, Madeleine Duval [Barbara Shelley], Pierre's girlfriend, has petitioned the Prison Commission to review Pierre's case on grounds that a letter from Professor Bernhardt Meinster [Henry Vodon] was a forgery. When Callistratus informs the Prison Commission that Pierre was killed trying to escape, Madeleine goes undercover and takes a job as a housekeeper at the prison. To cut to the quick...Callistratus finds out that Madeleine and Pierre know each other. Callistratus decides to use Madeleine's blood in his latest experiment. Carl, a one-eyed hunchback, has fallen for Madeleine and attempts to save her. Pierre breaks free from his chains. Pierre and Madeleine escape. Carl gets shot. The prison dogs kill Callistratus. --Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.