Athene SeylerFilmography

Avengers: Build A Better Mousetrap

Synopsis: Producer-writer Brian Clemens was in top form with this episode, which originally aired on February 15, 1964. Cathy Gale adds to her already impressive leather wardrobe when she joins a motorcycle gang. No, she hasn't "gone punk," she's merely trying to help Steed find the location of an insidious Read More

Nurse on Wheels

Actors: Juliet Mills, Ronald Lewis, Joan Sims, Noel Purcell, Esma Cannon

Synopsis: In this British comedy, a new nurse comes to replace her predecessor, the town pump, in an English country town. Soon, she herself becomes grist for the nasty town rumor mill. Fortunately, she becomes friends with the town doctor, his son, and shop owner. As the nurse is a dreadful driver, she Read More

Satan Never Sleeps

Actors: William Holden, Clifton Webb, France Nuyen, Athene Seyler, Martin Benson

Synopsis: Director Leo McCarey returned to the religious themes of his classics Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) for this action drama, his final film. William Holden stars as Father O'Banion, a Catholic priest assigned to relieve the retiring Father Bovard (Clifton Webb) at a mission Read More

The Girl on the Boat

Synopsis: Norman Wisdom does to P.G. Wodehouse in Girl on the Boat what Jerry Lewis did to Gore Vidal in Visit to a Small Planet. The zany Wisdom, put in charge of his aunt's cottage during an English summer in the roaring twenties, decides to invite several of his friends to his posh new digs. Among the Read More

A Change of Heart

Actors: George Chakiris, Janette Scott, Alfred Lynch, Jackie Lane, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: In this romantic comedy, a free-wheeling member of the U.S. Air Force goes AWOL. While traveling, the man and his girlfriend encounter another young couple. Both men are dressed exactly alike and are driving the same kind of bike. When the women climb aboard the wrong bikes, romantic mayhem Read More

I Thank a Fool

Actors: Susan Hayward, Peter Finch, Diane Cilento, Cyril Cusack, Kieron Moore

Synopsis: Dr. Susan Hayward makes a tragic mistake when she leaves her Canadian practice to follow her ailing, married lover to England. Dying slowly and in great pain, her love begs her to help him die quickly. With great compassion, she does so with a large morphine injection. Unfortunately, her mercy Read More

Passport to China

Synopsis: In this drama, an ex-WW II pilot leads a quiet life in Hong Kong when suddenly the US government asks him to do some spying. Reluctantly he accepts the request and begins helping a Chinese woman find her missing son, also a pilot. The American, assisted by a Russian pal, finds the boy, but then Read More

Francis of Assisi

Actors: Bradford Dillman, Dolores Hart, Stuart Whitman, Pedro Armendáriz, Cecil Kellaway

Synopsis: This penultimate film by director Michael Curtiz, perhaps best known for his 1942 Casablanca, is a verbose, routine religious drama on the life of St. Francis of Assisi. After quickly passing over St. Francis' early life as the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, the story notes his talents Read More

Make Mine Mink

Actors: Terry-Thomas, Athene Seyler, Hattie Jacques, Billie Whitelaw, Elspeth Duxbury

Synopsis: Terry-Thomas plays the military-officer head of an amiable gang of amateur British thieves. He is recruited for this task by wealthy dowager Athene Seyler, who merely wants to retrieve stolen minks from genuine crooks. Any profits accrued by this undertaking are to be turned over to charity. Once Read More

A French Mistress

Actors: Cecil Parker, Ian Bannen, Agnes Laurent, Raymond Huntley

Synopsis: Flush on the heels of their success with the comedy I'm All Right Jack, the twin Boulting brothers (Roy, director and John producer) released this standard comedic fare with a dash of spice. Set in the traditional British boys' school, the farce deals with the reactions of the young lads and their Read More

Happy Is the Bride

Actors: Ian Carmichael, Janette Scott, Cecil Parker, Joyce Grenfell

Synopsis: This soft-pedalled British comedy was adapted from Quiet Wedding, a play by Esther McCracken that had previous been filmed in 1940. On the eve of their nuptials, David (Ian Carmichael) and Janet (Janette Scott) have a serious falling out. It isn't really the couple's fault, however; as usual Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

Actors: Dirk Bogarde, Dorothy Tutin, Cecil Parker, Marie Versini, Stephen Murray, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: Screenwriter T.E.B. Clarke, the writer of such fifties British comedies as The Lavender Hill Mob and Passport to Pimlico, dips his pen into a more stately inkwell in this stilted adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel A Tale of Two Cities. Dirk Bogarde takes the lead role of worn-down Read More

Curse of the Demon

Actors: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Athene Seyler, Maurice Denham

Synopsis: In this film, American Professor Dana Andrews investigates a devil-worshipping cult active in England. The cult has apparently been responsible for more than one death in recent months. When Andrews comes too close to the cult for comfort, the devil-worshipping leader slips a cursed parchment into Read More

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

Actors: Ingrid Bergman, Curd Jürgens, Robert Donat, Ronald Squire, Noel Hood, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: Alan Burgess' novel The Small Woman was the source for the British/American co-production Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Set in the China of the 1930s, the film stars Ingrid Bergman as real-life missionary Gladys Aylward. Against the advice of practically everyone, Gladys heads into the war-ravaged Read More

Doctor at Large

Actors: Dirk Bogarde, Dandy Nichols, Muriel Pavlow, Donald Sinden, Brigitte Bardot, James Robertson Justice, Shirley Eaton

Synopsis: The third of the droll British "Doctor" series, Doctor at Large once more stars Dirk Bogarde as young Dr. Simon Sparrow. Back in his old stamping grounds at St. Swithin's Teaching Hospital, Sparrow misses his chance at becoming chief surgeon when he crosses swords with the formidable Sir Lancelot Read More

Night of the Demon

Actors: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall MacGinnis, Athene Seyler, Maurice Denham

Synopsis: Based on Montague R. James' classic shiver tale Casting the Runes, Curse of the Demon (aka Night of the Demon) is an exercise in psychological terror. American Professor Dana Andrews investigates a devil-worshipping cult active in England. The cult has apparently been responsible for more than one Read More

Campbell's Kingdom

Actors: Dirk Bogarde, Stanley Baker, Michael Craig, Barbara Murray, James Robertson Justice

Synopsis: Based on a novel by Hammond Innes, the British Campbell's Kingdom is set in the Canadian Rockies. Dirk Bogarde plays Bruce Campbell, a British aristocrat who has been given only six months to live. Inheriting a financially troubled Canadian valley, Campbell finds a new lease on life as he Read More

How to Murder a Rich Uncle

Actors: Nigel Patrick, Charles Coburn, Wendy Hiller, Katie Johnson, Anthony Newley

Synopsis: This satire takes a sharp poke at the intrinsic laziness of British aristocracy who would rather die of starvation than perform an honest day's work. The tale begins when a destitute nobleman conspires to murder his rich Canadian uncle for the inheritance. Unfortunately he continually fails in his Read More

Yield to the Night

Actors: Diana Dors, Yvonne Mitchell, Michael Craig, Marie Ney, Geoffrey Keen

Synopsis: Mary Hilton (Diana Dors) is a young salesgirl in the cosmetics department of a major London store, who chances to meet -- and fall hopelessly in love with -- Jim Lancaster (Michael Craig), a young would-be professional musician. She is attracted to him sufficiently to leave her own, neglectful Read More

As Long As They're Happy

Actors: Jack Buchanan, Janette Scott, Jean Carson, Brenda de Banzie, Diana Dors, Susan Stephen

Synopsis: Not quite a full-fledged musical, As Long as They're Happy can be described as a romantic comedy with song-and-dance interludes. Adapted from the London stage hit of the same name, the film stars Jack Buchanan as stockbroker John Bentley, whose household is thrown into a tizzy when popular singing Read More

Young Wives' Tale

Actors: Joan Greenwood, Nigel Patrick, Audrey Hepburn, Derek Farr

Synopsis: The young wife with a tale to tell is Joan Greenwood, who with husband Nigel Patrick shares a tiny house with several other people. One couple, Derek Farr and Helen Cherry, are as annoyingly "perfect" as the rest of the boarders are not. Much of the comedy hinges on the kookiness of young boarder Audrey Hepburn Read More

The Weak and the Wicked

Actors: Glynis Johns, John Gregson, Diana Dors, Jane Hylton, Sidney James

Synopsis: Had the women-behind-bars drama The Weak and the Wicked been made in Hollywood, the cast would probably have included the likes of Ida Lupino, Marie Windsor, Peggie Castle and Hope Emerson. Instead, the film was lensed in Britain, with Glynis Johns and Diana Dors heading the cast. Framed on a Read More

For Better for Worse

Actors: Dirk Bogarde, Susan Stephen, Cecil Parker, Eileen Herlie, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: Arthur Watkyn's droll theatrical piece For Better, For Worse was expertly adapted for the big screen in 1954. Popular young star Dirk Bogarde and strangely forgotten newcomer Susan Stephen star as a young married couple who struggle to make things run smoothly in their first year together. The Read More

The Beggar's Opera

Actors: Laurence Olivier, Stanley Holloway, George Devine, Hugh Griffith, Daphne Anderson, Mary Clare, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: Laurence Olivier makes his singing debut in this lively adaptation of John Gay's 18th century theatrical piece The Beggar's Opera. Olivier stars as Captain MacHeath, the leader of all bandits and cutthroats in England. MacHeath is in love with Polly Peachum (Dorothy Tutin), the daughter of beggar Read More

The Pickwick Papers

Actors: James Hayter, James Donald, Alexander Gauge, Nigel Patrick, Lionel Murton, Kathleen Harrison, Joyce Grenfell

Synopsis: John Hayter is Samuel Pickwick is this delightful filmization of Dickens' seriocomic novel. Mr. Pickwick is chairman of the Pickwick club, a scholarly league operating in mid-19th century London. The club's avowed purpose is to scrupulously study everyday life in England-not to improve or Read More

Secret People

Actors: Valentina Cortese, Serge Reggiani, Charles Goldner, Audrey Hepburn, Megs Jenkins, Angela Fouldes

Synopsis: Set in 1930s London, Secret People stars Valentina Cortesa and Audrey Hepburn as Maria and Nora, two sisters whose father has been murdered for political reasons. Adopted by a kindly Italian restaurateur (Charles Goldner), Maria and Nora gradually overcome the loss of their father and get on with Read More

Treasure Hunt

Synopsis: This comedy is set in an Irish mansion and centers on its enigmatic owner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Made in Heaven

Actors: David Tomlinson, Petula Clark, Sonja Ziemann, A.E. Matthews, Charles Victor

Synopsis: Made in Heaven is predicated on one of Britain's most curious annual traditions. During the yearly Dunmow Flitch, a side of bacon is awarded to any married couple who can prove at a public trial that their union has been happy and argument-free for a full year. Among the contestants depicted Read More

The Franchise Affair

Actors: Dulcie Gray, Anthony Nicholls, Marjorie Fielding, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: Set in a quiet British village, Franchise Affair details the ramifications of a malicious lie. Schoolgirl Ketty Kane (Ann Stephens) hopes to cover up her own misbehavior by claiming that two local women, Marion Sharpe (Dulcie Gray) and Marion's mother (Marjorie Fielding), have kidnapped and abused Read More

The Queen of Spades

Actors: Anton Walbrook, Edith Evans, Yvonne Mitchell, Ronald Howard, Mary Jerrold

Synopsis: A supernatural tale based on a short story by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, this is the portrayal of a poor Captain in the Russian army in the nineteenth Century. His comrades in arms play cards nightly, but he cannot afford to join them until one night he dreams that he has gained from a Read More

The First Gentleman

Actors: Jean-Pierre Aumont, Joan Hopkins, Cecil Parker, Ronald Squire, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: Jean-Pierre Aumont heads the largely British cast of Affairs of a Rogue. Set in the years just following the Napoleonic wars, the film casts Aumont as Leopold, a poverty-stricken German prince. Leopold casts his romantic spell upon Charlotte (Joan Hopkins), the daughter of England's Prince Regent (Cecil Parker Read More

Nicholas Nickleby

Actors: Jill Balcon, Derek Bond, Cedric Hardwicke, Sally Ann Howes, Fay Compton, Alfred Drayton, Sybil Thorndike, Cyril Fletcher, Mary Merrall

Synopsis: Though it pales in comparison to the Royal Shakespeare Company's epic staging of the original novel in the early 1980s, this compact adaptation of Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby is most entertaining on its own terms. Derek Bond plays the title character, a resourceful young Britisher forced to protect Read More

The Randolph Family

Actors: Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding, Sr., Celia Johnson, Helen Haye, Roland Culver

Synopsis: Released in the US as The Randolph Family, Dear Octopus was based on the internationally popular play by Dodie Smith. The story is motivated by the Golden Wedding anniversary of Charles and Dora Randolph (Frederick Leister, Helen Haye). As the relatives gather, each reveals his or her personal Read More

Quiet Wedding

Actors: Margaret Lockwood, Derek Farr, Marjorie Fielding, A.E. Matthews, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: The old reliable plot device known as premarital hanky-panky was the basis of the Esther McCracken stage play Quiet Wedding. The film version, scripted by Terence Rattigan and Anton de Grunewald, tones down some of the more censorable elements of the play, though not enough to completely Read More

Tilly of Bloomsbury

Synopsis: In this British drawing room comedy, a wealthy socialite falls in love with the a young woman from the lower class. Her mother owns a boarding house and at first, the socialite turns up his blue-blooded nose at them. But then he begins learning more about their lives and gradually changes his Read More

Castle of Crimes

Actors: Kenneth Kent, Diana Churchill, Belle Chrystal, Clifford Evans

Synopsis: As part of a reciprocal deal, teeny-tiny PRC Pictures released several Associated British-Pathe films to American theaters. One of these was Castle of Crimes, featuring Kenneth Kent as A.E.W. Mason's famed professional sleuth Inspector Hanaud. The story concerns a wealthy recluse (Louise Hampton) Read More

Young Man's Fancy

Actors: Griffith Jones, Anna Lee, Seymour Hicks, Martita Hunt, Edward Rigby

Synopsis: In this gentle comedy, an aristocratic English fellow is not happy to be betrothed to a brewery heiress. One day he goes to a circus and ends up with a lively human cannonball in his life. He immediately falls for the daring young performer and they end up eloping and going to Paris to live out Read More

The Saint in London

Actors: George Sanders, Sally Gray, David Burns, Athene Seyler, Gordon McLeod, Henry Oscar

Synopsis: In an unusual move for a mere program picture, RKO Radio filmed A Saint in London on location in England, using a largely British cast and crew. George Sanders makes his second appearance as suave soldier of fortune Simon Templer, aka The Saint. This time, Templar gets mixed up with a gang of Read More

Jane Steps Out

Actors: Diana Churchill, Jean Muir, Peter Murray Hill, Athene Seyler, Fred Emney

Synopsis: Wallflower Jane Wilton (Diana Churchill) has always lived in the shadow of her beautiful and popular sister Beatrice (Jean Muir). Making things worse, Beatrice is spiteful and cruel, directing all manner of nastiness towards the supplicative and uncomplaining Jane. But when Beatrice sets her cap Read More

The Ware Case

Actors: Clive Brook, Jane Baxter, Barry Barnes, C.V. France, Francis L. Sullivan

Synopsis: In this taut drama, a wealthy financier is tried for the murder of his brother-in-law after the damning corpse is found floating in his garden pond. He is eventually acquitted. Upon his return home, he is angered to find his lawyer has become romantically involved with his wife. An argument Read More

The Citadel

Actors: Robert Donat, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Richardson, Rex Harrison, Emlyn Williams

Synopsis: Robert Donat stars as Dr. Andrew Manson in this adaptation of A.J. Cronin's best-selling novel. Manson devotes himself to treating the residents of a poverty-stricken Welsh mining community. Tuberculosis runs rampant in the village, and Manson is determined to help stem its tide and bring good Read More

Sailing Along

Actors: Jessie Matthews, Barry Mackay, Jack Whiting, Roland Young, Noel Madison

Synopsis: The irrepressible Jessie Matthews heads the cast of the buoyant musical Sailing Along. Matthews plays Kay Martin, a popular British music-hall performer. At the height of her stardom, Kay gives it all up for the love of handsome Steve Barnes (Barry McKay). But before she makes this momentous Read More

April Blossoms

Actors: Richard Tauber, Jane Baxter, Carl Esmond, Paul Graetz

Synopsis: April Blossoms is based loosely on incidents in the life of composer Franz Schubert, here portrayed by legendary tenor Richard Tauber. The story concentrates on Schubert's ill-fated romance with Vicki (Jane Baxter), the daughter of a prominent Austria ballet master. Upon realizing that Vicki is Read More

The Mill on the Floss

Actors: Geraldine Fitzgerald, Frank Lawton, Victoria Hopper, Fay Compton, James Mason

Synopsis: It's a tossup as to which George Eliot novel has most often been adapted to the screen, though it appears that Mill on the Floss has nosed out Silas Marner. Set in early 19th century England, the story focuses on the long-standing rivalry between two Lincolnshire families. The animosity stems from Read More

High Treason

Synopsis: In this drama, an officer is perjured by another and is sentenced to Devil's island. Meanwhile, the perjurer is flirting with a beautiful woman who turns out to be a spy. She gets enough evidence to prove that he lied and he is convicted. The officer is then free to rescue the spy from a dubious Read More

Non-Stop New York

Actors: Anna Lee, John Loder, Frank Cellier, Desmond Tester, William Dewhurst

Synopsis: While W.C. Fields poked fun at the asinine notion of a high-speed airplane with an open observation deck in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941), the producers of the futuristic British melodrama Non-Stop New York (1937) take this notion quite seriously. The film's setpiece is a streamlined Read More

The Sky's the Limit

Actors: Jack Buchanan, David Hutcheson, H.F. Maltby

Synopsis: Star Jack Buchanan shared directorial credit with cinematographer Lee Garmes for the breezy British musical comedy The Sky's the Limit. Buchanan and opera star Mara Loseff star as bankrupt couturier Dave Harber and his equally cash-less partner Mme. Isobella. With the spring season approaching Read More

The Lilac Domino

Actors: Michael Bartlett, June Knight, S.Z. Sakall, Athene Seyler, Richard Dolman

Synopsis: In this musical, an enigmatic masked woman catches the roving eye of a wily playboy gambler at a masquerade ball. If he knew that she was using her wiles as bait and was planning to reform him of his gambling womanizing ways after catching him, he may have head for different waters. Fortunately Read More

I Stand Condemned

Actors: Harry Baur, Laurence Olivier, Penelope Dudley-Ward, Athene Seyler, Hay Petrie, Kate Cutler, Morton Selten, Robert Cochran

Synopsis: Anthony Asquith evokes a vivid impression of Russia in 1916 in I Stand Condemned. The story follows handsome Russian officer Captain Ignatoff (Laurence Olivier), who is carried into a hospital in a delirious condition from severe war wounds. When he comes to his senses, he sees the beautiful Red Read More

It's Love Again

Actors: Jessie Matthews, Robert Young, Sonnie Hale, Ernest Milton, Robb Wilton

Synopsis: Robert Young decides to create a "scoop" by fabricating the impending arrival of a female big-game hunter named Mrs. Smythe-Smythe. Jessie Matthews decides to pose as the fictitious woman, the better to embarrass Young. The comic complications are obliged to share screen time with Matthews' Read More

Southern Roses

Actors: George Robey, Neil Hamilton, Gina Malo, Vera Pearce

Synopsis: In this musical comedy, a wandering troupe of English actors wend their way toward Spain. En route they toy with the father of one actor to prevent him from finding out that his boy has gone ahead and married the woman his father told him not to. To keep the daddy in the dark, the woman pretends Read More

Irish for Luck

Synopsis: When Ellen O' HareMargaret Lockwood leaves her poor aunt Duchess Althene Seyler in Ireland for a singing career in England, she joins street guitarist Terry O' RyanPatric Knowles and eventually returns unsuccessful to Ireland to discover that Duchess is now rich. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Sensation

Actors: John Lodge, Diana Churchill, Francis Lister, Joan Marion, Margaret Vyner

Synopsis: Future Connecticut governor John Lodge stars in the British crime drama Sensation. Lodge plays a hotshot reporter who devotion to his job is messing up his private life. Despite warnings from his girl friend that she'll walk out if he follows up one more hot scoop, Lodge tries to flush out the Read More

Scrooge

Actors: Seymour Hicks, Donald Calthrop, Robert Cochran, Mary Glynne, Garry Marsh

Synopsis: Starring Seymour Hicks as the title character, Scrooge is a faithful adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol about a heartless miser who discovers the true meaning of Christmas when three ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve. Hicks co-wrote the screenplay to this film Read More

Regal Cavalcade

Synopsis: His Hollywood career a thing of the past, director Herbert Brenon returned to his native England in 1934, where he continued making films until his retirement in 1940. Brenon's first project upon his arrival in London was the feature-length documentary Royal Cavalcade. Covering a 25-year period Read More

Drake the Pirate

Synopsis: Sir Francis Drake (Lang), first English circumnavigator of the globe, is featured in this exciting adventure with his amazing defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and a romance between the dashing sailor and a lady-in-waiting for Queen Elizabeth (Baxter). ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Drake of England

Actors: Matheson Lang, Athene Seyler, Jane Baxter, Henry Mollison

Synopsis: Drake of England was released variously to the British Empire, its commonwealths and the United States as Drake the Pirate and Elizabeth of England. In an agreeably compact fashion, the film recounts the exploits of British privateer Sir Francis Drake (played by the slightly long-in-tooth Matheson Lang Read More

The Private Life of Don Juan

Actors: Douglas Fairbanks, Merle Oberon, Binnie Barnes, Joan Gardner, Benita Hume

Synopsis: Producer and director (Alexander Korda) followed up The Private Life of Henry VIII (one of the first internationally successful British films) with this historical comedy. After years in exile, the great lover Don Juan (Douglas Fairbanks) returns to Seville, the city of his salad days. However Read More

Blossom Time

Actors: Richard Tauber, Athene Seyler, Carl Esmond, Jane Baxter

Synopsis: It's difficult to believe that Sigmund Romberg's treacly operetta Blossom Time was ever produced anywhere outside of a high school gymnasium, but in fact the play was extremely popular in its first run. While several American musicals utilized the mittel-European ambience of Blossom Time, the only Read More

Early to Bed

Synopsis: This musical tells the love story of a manicurist and a night waiter who discover that they are sharing the same apartment. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Be Mine Tonight

Actors: Jan Kiepura, Sonnie Hale, Magda Schneider, Edmund Gwenn, Athene Seyler

Synopsis: Polish opera star Jan Kiepura makes a rare film appearance in the British Be Mine Tonight. Kiepura plays an opera star who is besieged by his eager female fans. He heads to a tiny village where no one knows who he is. The peace and quiet rapidly drives him crazy, but at least he finds romance in Read More

The Perfect Lady

Synopsis: In this comedy, a jilted fiance takes a job as the maid of the woman that seduced her lover away from her in hopes that she will be able to break them up. She soon finds herself falling in love with another man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

This Freedom

Actors: Fewlass Llewellyn, Adeline Hayden Coffin, Fay Compton, Joan Maude

Synopsis: For the first three-quarters of the twentieth century, women were expected to sacrifice all their aspirations in favor of motherhood. This preachy, British-made picture (directed by American Denison Clift) did its best to hit that point home. Rosalie Aubyn (Fay Compton) grows up wanting a career. Read More

The Adventures of Mr. Pickwick

Synopsis: Fred Volpe is Charles Dickens' bumbling do-gooder come to life in The Adventures of Mr. Pickwick. While on a country outing with his London friends, Pickwick becomes involved with an amorous widow. A breach of promise suit, and a jail term, follows. But, as in the Dickens original, all is set Read More