Colin BlakelyFilmography

The Beiderbecke Affair

Actors: James Bolam, Barbara Flynn, Terence Rigby, Dominic Jephcott, Danny Schiller

King Lear

Actors: Diana Rigg, Dorothy Tutin, Laurence Olivier, Anna Calder-Marshall

Synopsis: Shakespeare's tragedy, made for British television, is given a full-blooded rendition here with the great Laurence Olivier in the title role and a stellar cast to support him, in the tale of a king torn apart by the ambition and treachery within his family and by his own pride. ~ Mark Hockley, All Read More

Red Monarch

Actors: Colin Blakely, David Suchet, Carroll Baker, Ian Hogg, Nigel Stock

Synopsis: Presented in a series of ostensibly farcical or irreverent episodes without any particular connection to each other, and based on short stories written by Yuri Krotkov's own personal knowledge of Stalin, the Red Monarch sketches the infamous Russian dictator as something of a buffoon suffering Read More

The Trail of the Pink Panther

Actors: Peter Sellers, David Niven, Herbert Lom, Richard Mulligan, Joanna Lumley

Synopsis: Two years after the death of Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards tried to exhume his corpse in this pastiche of clips and out-takes from the old Pink Panther films. The plot concerns the legendary "Pink Panther" diamond which is once more stolen. Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) is again enlisted to Read More

Evil Under the Sun

Actors: Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, Colin Blakely, Nicholas Clay, James Mason

Synopsis: Peter Ustinov makes his second appearance as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in this adaptation of the popular Agatha Christie mystery. When noted stage star Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg) is found murdered while visiting a posh island resort, Poirot is called upon to find the culprit, but given Read More

Loophole

Actors: Albert Finney, Martin Sheen, Susannah York, Colin Blakely, Jonathan Pryce

Synopsis: This caper film stars Martin Sheen as Stephen Booker, an unemployed American architect in London who needs to jump-start his finances. Enter criminal mastermind Mike Daniels (Albert Finney), who gathers a group of thieves together to rob an impregnable London bank of millions by coming in through Read More

The Dogs of War

Actors: Christopher Walken, Tom Berenger, Colin Blakely, Hugh Millais, Paul Freeman

Synopsis: Christopher Walken stars in John Irvin's graphic adaptation of Frederick Forsythe's novel about a mercenary sent to overthrow the government of an African country. Walken is Shannon, an American soldier of fortune who has staged incidents in Central America and Africa that helped topple Read More

Antony and Cleopatra

Actors: Timothy Dalton, Jane Lapotaire, Lynn Redgrave

Synopsis: Perhaps inspired by the success of PBS' Shakespeare Plays series, Bard Productions Ltd. Came out with this diverting if not very cinematic adaptation of the Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. Timothy Dalton plays Marc Antony, while Lynn Redgrave is uncharacteristically alluring as Queen Read More

Nijinsky

Actors: Alan Bates, George de la Pena, Leslie Browne, Alan Badel, Carla Fracci, Janet Suzman

Synopsis: The deeper, broader issues behind the rise and fall of one of the world's greatest ballet dancers and choreographers, Vaslav Nijinksy (1888-1950), is not at the fulcrum of this two-hour British biographical drama. Director Herbert Ross and screenwriter Hugh Wheeler base the film on Nijinsky's Read More

The Day Christ Died

Actors: Chris Sarandon

Synopsis: Jim Bishop's minute-by-minute account of the events leading up to the Crucifixion was the basis for the three-hour TV movie The Day Christ Died. Chris Sarandon plays the Hebrew "blasphemer" known as Jesus, who is brought before the beleaguered governor Pontius Pilate (Keith Mitchell). To avoid an Read More

Little Lord Fauntleroy

Actors: Alec Guinness

Synopsis: Alec Guinness stars as an elderly Brit who takes in his poor New Yorker grandson (Ricky Schroeder) in this made-for-TV modern-day retelling of Frances Hodgson Burnett's novel. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Meetings with Remarkable Men

Actors: Dragan Maksimovic, Terence Stamp, Athol Fugard, Gerry Sundquist, Donald Sumpter

Synopsis: Peter Brook, one of the pioneers of the experimental theatre movement of the 1950s and 1960s, was the director of Meetings with Remarkable Men. Brook tells the story of Asian mystic G. I. Gurdijeff, here played by Dragan Maksimovic. Gurdijeff devotes his entire existence, from youth to old age, in Read More

The Big Sleep

Actors: Robert Mitchum, Sarah Miles, Richard Boone, Candy Clark, Joan Collins

Synopsis: Robert Mitchum reprises his role as Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe from Farewell, My Lovely, in this misconceived remake of Howard Hawks's classic 1946 film -- transferring the setting from 1940s California to 1970s London. Marlowe is hired by a rich and dying General Sternwood (James Stewart) Read More

Equus

Actors: Richard Burton, Peter Firth, Colin Blakely, Joan Plowright, Harry Andrews

Synopsis: Richard Burton plays a psychiatrist who attempts to discover why young Peter Firth has taken to mutilating live horses. In probing Firth's psyche, Burton discovers that the source of the boy's obsession is his mother, Joan Plowright, who has raised Firth with a convoluted set of values. Even as he Read More

It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet

Actors: John Alderson, Colin Blakely, Lisa Harrow, Bill Maynard, Paul Shelley

Synopsis: James Herriot wrote several well-loved books about his experiences as a small-town veterinarian in the Yorkshire countryside of Britain in the 1930s. One of them gave its title to the film All Creatures Great and Small. That family movie was so successful that this movie It Shouldn't Happen to a Read More

The Pink Panther Strikes Again

Actors: Peter Sellers, Herbert Lom, Colin Blakely, Leonard Rossiter, Lesley-Anne Down

Synopsis: Most Inspector Clouseau fans regard The Pink Panther Strikes Again as the best of the clumsy Parisian detective's "comeback" films of the 1970s. Driven insane by the stupidities of Clouseau (Peter Sellers), ex-inspector Dreyfuss (Herbert Lom) transforms into a master criminal. Kidnapping the Read More

Galileo

Actors: Topol, Colin Blakely, Georgia Brown, Clive Revill

Synopsis: Filmed in England, Galileo is based on Charles Laughton's 1947 adaptation of the play by Bertolt Brecht, which, like this 1975 film, was directed by Joseph Losey. Israeli film-star Topol plays the 17th century Italian astronomer, whose theories run contrary to the edicts of the Catholic Church. Read More

Love Among the Ruins

Actors: Katharine Hepburn

Synopsis: Made for television, Love Among the Ruins was a precious one-time-only collaboration between stars Katharine Hepburn and Laurence Oliver, and director George Cukor. The scene is Victorian London, where wealthy widow Hepburn is being sued for breach of promise by her much-younger ex-fiance. Olivier Read More

Murder on the Orient Express

Actors: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, Vanessa Redgrave, Martin Balsam

Synopsis: Like many of Agatha Christie's mysteries, Murder on the Orient Express is predicated on an actual event, in this case the Lindbergh kidnapping. In the movie, everyone on board the Orient Express seems to have concluded that hateful financier Ratchett (Richard Widmark) was behind the abduction and Read More

The National Health, or Nurse Norton's Affair

Actors: Neville Aurelius, George Browne

Synopsis: National Health, or Nurse Norton's Affair is an antic filmization of Peter Nichols' play, originally staged by Britain's National Theatre. A scattershot satire of the red tape and inconsistencies of England's National Health program, the film is set in the men's ward of an old, crumbling hospital. Read More

On the High Road

Shattered

Actors: Peter Finch, Linda Hayden

Synopsis: Also released under the title Something to Hide, this film follows the slow disintegration of a man's (Peter Finch) life due to the problems brought on by his troubled marriage, his drinking, and the appearance of a strange hitchhiker (Linda Hayden). ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide Read More

Young Winston

Actors: Michael Audreson, Robert Lankesheer, Simon Ward, Robert Shaw, Anne Bancroft, John Mills, Jack Hawkins, Ian Holm

Synopsis: This historical drama is an account of the early life of Winston Churchill (Simon Ward), including his childhood years, his time as a war correspondent in Africa, and culminating with his first election to Parliament. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide Read More

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Actors: Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely, Irene Handl, Geneviève Page, Stanley Holloway, Christopher Lee, Tamara Toumanova

Synopsis: In Billy Wilder's cinematic homage to the spirit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, British stage luminary Robert Stephens plays Holmes, while Colin Blakely is his friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. This self-described "hitherto suppressed and thoroughly fascinating" tale concerns Holmes' search for Read More

Alfred the Great

Actors: David Hemmings, Michael York, Prunella Ransome, Colin Blakely, Julian Glover

Synopsis: While Olde England is being ransacked by roving Danes in the 9th century, Alfred (David Hemmings) is commencing to join the priesthood. But observing the rape of his motherland, he puts aside his religious vows to take up arms against the invaders, leading the English Christians to fight for their Read More

The Vengeance of She

Actors: John Richardson, Olinka Berova, Edward Judd, Colin Blakely, Jill Melford

Synopsis: Killikrates (John Richardson) is the ruler of the city of Kuma, an idyllic civilization seemingly frozen in another time. In a religious ceremony, he waits for his Queen Ayesha (Olinka Berova) to return and be immortalized by a fiery ritual. The High Priest has other ideas and plants a look-alike Read More

Decline and Fall... of a Bird Watcher

Actors: Robin Phillips, Geneviève Page, Donald Wolfit, Colin Blakely, Patience Collier

Synopsis: In this feather-weight version of Evelyn Waugh's novel Decline and Fall, Paul Pennyfeather (Robin Phillips) is an Oxford divinity student who finds himself expelled after a gang of drunken freshmen remove his pants and he is accused of exposing himself to a girl. Looking for work, he retains the Read More

Avengers: Murdersville

Actors: Patrick Macnee, Diana Rigg, Colin Blakely, John Ronane, Ronald Hines

Synopsis: A motor excursion with a childhood friend turns deadly for Emma when she arrives at the remote community of Little Storping in the Swuff. It soon turns out that every one of the local residents is a professional assassin. Assuming that Emma has been brought to the village as a potential victim Read More

Charlie Bubbles

Actors: Albert Finney, Colin Blakely, Billie Whitelaw, Liza Minnelli, Timothy Garland

Synopsis: Albert Finney both directs and stars in the "alienation" comedy-drama Charlie Bubbles. The eponymous Bubbles (Finney) is a trendy and fabulously wealthy novelist. Indulged at every turn, and able to indulge in his wildest fancies, Charlie is bored by his privileged existence. He staves off ennui Read More

The Day the Fish Came Out

Actors: Tom Courtenay, Colin Blakely, Candice Bergen, Ian Ogilvy

Synopsis: Life on a remote Greek resort island is forever changed when two atomic bombs are accidentally dropped there when a NATO plane flies overhead. This comedy chronicles those changes. When the pilots realize they've lost their load, they bail out of their plane and head for the island to get help. Read More

The Counterfeit Constable

Synopsis: In this French comedy, one little white lie leads to a series of whoppers as a Frenchman visiting London soon discovers. The French fellow has gone to London with his friends to catch a soccer match. He then must go to the dentist where, just for fun, he puts on a British policeman's uniform. Read More

A Man for All Seasons

Actors: Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Scofield, Wendy Hiller, Leo McKern, Robert Shaw, Orson Welles, Susannah York

Synopsis: Adapted by Robert Bolt and Constance Willis from Bolt's hit stage play, A Man for All Seasons stars Paul Scofield, triumphantly repeating his stage role as Sir Thomas More. The crux of the film is the staunchly Catholic More's refusal to acknowledge King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw)'s break from the Read More

The Spy with a Cold Nose

Actors: Laurence Harvey, Daliah Lavi, Lionel Jeffries, Eric Sykes, Eric Portman

Synopsis: When the Soviet Prime Minister accepts a beautiful English bulldog as a gift from the British government, he has no idea that the dog has a highly sensitive bug in its stomach. This lively British espionage farce follows what happens after the dog becomes sick. It's a sticky situation, for if a Read More

Underworld Informers

Actors: Nigel Patrick, Frank Finlay, Derren Nesbitt, Colin Blakely, Katherine Woodville, Margaret Whiting

Synopsis: The Informers of the title are a loose grouping of underworld types, upon whom Scotland Yard inspector Nigel Patrick depends for crucial information. Patrick gets in trouble with his superiors when he refuses to reveal the identity of his informants. He gets into even more trouble, when, while Read More

Never Put It in Writing

Actors: Pat Boone, Milo O'Shea, Fidelma Murphy, Reginald Beckwith, Harry Brogan

Synopsis: Pat Boone plays Stephen Cole, a young Irish man who believes himself to be worthy of a promotion from his employer. Believing that his boss instead is practicing nepotism, giving the promotion to his own nephew, Stephen writes--and mails--the company a caustic letter. Before long, however, Stephen Read More

This Sporting Life

Actors: Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel, William Hartnell, Colin Blakely

Synopsis: Adapted by David Storey from his own novel, This Sporting Life stars Richard Harris as Frank, an athletic coal miner who aspires to the greener pastures of professional rugby. Soon establishing himself as one of the most brutal and arrogant players in the business, Frank begins to amass a fortune. Read More

The Long Ships

Actors: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, Russ Tamblyn, Rosanna Schiaffino, Beba Loncar, Oscar Homolka

Synopsis: In this elaborately mounted seafaring adventure, Rolfe (Richard Widmark) is a Viking leader with the cunning and devious mind of a pirate. Rolfe tells others sailors of "The Mother of Voices," a mammoth bell made of gold and as tall as three men, but he adds enough incorrect details to throw them Read More

The Password Is Courage

Actors: Dirk Bogarde, Maria Perschy, Alfred Lynch, Nigel Stock, Reginald Beckwith

Synopsis: Based on the true story of Sergeant-Major Charlie Coward (played by Dirk Bogarde) during World War II, this conventional wartime drama does not convincingly put across Coward's heroism, or his seemingly impossible exploits. A German POW and leader in Stalag 8B, Coward finds ways to humiliate his Read More

The Hellions

Actors: Richard Todd, Anne Aubrey, Jamie Uys, Marty Wilde, Lionel Jeffries

Synopsis: In this western-style film, set in South Africa, circa the late 1900s, a local police sergeant finds himself pursued by the "The Hellions"--a man and his four sons. Unfortunately for the sergeant, the townspeople will not help to save him and his wife. He ignores his wife's plea that he quit his Read More

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Actors: Albert Finney, Shirley Ann Field, Rachel Roberts, Hylda Baker, Norman Rossington

Synopsis: "All I want is a good time. The rest is propaganda." That's the philosophy of archetypal British "angry young man" Arthur Seaton (Albert Finney). A middle-class working stiff in a dead-end job, Arthur's principal goal in life is to survive the work week, then spend the weekend raising as much hell Read More