Robert Stephens Filmography

The Secret Rapture

Actors: Juliet Stevenson, Joanne Whalley, Penelope Wilton, Neil Pearson, Alan Howard

Synopsis: David Hare adapted his play about the tensions simmering within a British family, which erupt with the death of their patriarch. ~ Nicole Gagne, All Movie Guide Read More

Searching for Bobby Fischer

Actors: Joe Mantegna, Max Pomeranc, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley, Laurence Fishburne

Synopsis: Searching for Bobby Fischer was inspired by the life of chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, as written by his father Fred Waitzkin. Josh (Max Pomeranc) is a "regular kid" who begins evincing signs of being a genius at chess. His father (Joe Mantegna) encourages this, hoping that it won't fundamentally Read More

Century

Actors: Charles Dance, Miranda Richardson, Clive Owen, Robert Stephens, Lena Headey, Joan Hickson

Synopsis: Set near the end of 1899, as a new century is due to arrive and many people struggle to keep up with an era in flux, this drama follows the goings-on at a medical clinic operated by Professor Mandry (Charles Dance). Mandry appears somewhat progressive to his top student and right-hand man, Paul Read More

Chaplin

Actors: Robert Downey, Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Geraldine Chaplin, Kevin Dunn, Anthony Hopkins

Synopsis: Partly based on Charlie Chaplin's My Autobiography, this humorous and dramatic biopic features an all-star cast including Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr., Dan Aykroyd, Anthony Hopkins, Kevin Kline, Diane Lane, and Chaplin's real-life daughter, Geraldine Chaplin, who portrays his mentally ill Read More

Afraid of the Dark

Actors: Ben Keyworth, James Fox, Paul McGann, Fanny Ardant, Clare Holman, Robert Stephens

Synopsis: A young boy comes to fear that his blind mother may become the next victim of a serial killer in this complex psychological thriller. Unfolding at first as a traditional suspense tale, the film follows the terrified boy's attempts to determine the killer's identity, a task his policeman father has Read More

Ferdydurke

Actors: Iain Glen, Robert Stephens, Judith Godrëche, Fabienne Babe

The Vampyr

Adam Bede

Actors: Patsy Kensit, James Wilby, Iain Glen, Susannah Harker

Synopsis: Written by George Eliot (of Silas Marner fame), the 1859 novel Adam Bede trenchantly addresses the issues of ingrained social prejudices. Played in this British TV adaptation by Iain Glen, the titular Adam Bede is a humble carpenter, enamored of the beautiful but shallow Hetty Sorel (Patsy Read More

The Pope Must Diet

Actors: Robbie Coltrane, Beverly D'Angelo, Herbert Lom, Paul Bartel, Salvatore Cascio

Synopsis: A priest discovers that being the leader of the Catholic Church can be hazardous to your health in this satiric comedy. Cardinal Rocco (Alex Rocco) and Monsignor Vitchie (Paul Bartel) are two high-ranking Vatican officials who have been using the church's business dealings to launder funds for Read More

The Children

Actors: Ben Kingsley, Kim Novak, Siri Neal, Geraldine Chaplin, Joe Don Baker

Synopsis: Ben Kingsley stars in this solid adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel (filmed previously in 1929 as The Marriage Playground). Kingsley plays Martin Boyne, an engineer in 1920s Europe who, after five years of correspondence, is planning to travel overseas to marry the recently widowed Rose Sellars Read More

The Bonfire of the Vanities

Actors: Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Cattrall, Saul Rubinek, Morgan Freeman

Synopsis: Brian De Palma's Hollywood sanitization of Tom Wolfe's scabrous satire stars Tom Hanks as Sherman McCoy, the "master of the universe," a shallow Wall Street investor who makes millions while enjoying the good life and the sexual favors of Maria Ruskin (Melanie Griffith), a Southern belle Read More

Lorna Doone

Actors: Sean Bean, Rachel Kempson, Polly Walker, Billie Whitelaw

Synopsis: This British version of Lorna Doone is one of the more rewarding film adaptations of the venerable R. D. Blackmore novel. The plot remains as ever: Lorna (Polly Walker), a feisty 17th century Scots lass, falls in love with a much-despised landowner (Sean Bean). Lorna's father, a notorious brigand Read More

Henry V

Actors: Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, Ian Holm, Paul Scofield, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane

Synopsis: Kenneth Branagh makes his feature film directorial debut with this adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V. After the Chorus (Derek Jacobi) introduces the play, young king of England Henry V (Kenneth Branagh) begins an angry dialogue with King Charles of France (Paul Scofield). The king's son Read More

The Fruit Machine

Actors: Emile Charles, Tony Forsyth, Robert Stephens, Clare Higgins, Bruce Payne

Synopsis: The bluntly titled The Fruit Machine stars Emile Charles and Tony Forsyth as a pair of homosexual Liverpool teenagers. Though their sexual orientation may be the same, Charles and Forsyth hold diametrically opposed outlooks on life. Gradually, a romance develops between the two -- but before Read More

High Season

Actors: Jacqueline Bisset, James Fox, Irene Papas, Sebastian Shaw, Kenneth Branagh

Synopsis: Katherine (Jacqueline Bisset) is a photographer who lives in the exotic Greek islands with her sculptor husband Patrick (James Fox) in this comedy. The film lampoons tourists, contains beautiful scenery, and focuses on the relationship and eventual reconciliation of Katherine and Patrick. Side Read More

American Roulette

Actors: Andy Garcia, Kitty Aldridge, Robert Stephens, Al Matthews

Synopsis: American Roulette a routine, but exciting action feature directed by Maurice Hatton, involves a death plot against an exiled South American President. The President, hiding in London, finds that he is the target not only of death squads from his own country, but also the CIA and the KGB. The good Read More

Fortunes of War

Synopsis: Originally produced for the BBC, the seven-part Fortunes of War was adapted from Olivia Manning's "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy". Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson, who in 1987 were husband and wife, star as Guy and Harriet Pringle, a British couple who move to Rumania in 1939. As Read More

Empire of the Sun

Actors: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Joe Pantoliano

Synopsis: Based on J.G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, Empire of the Sun stars Christian Bale as a spoiled young British boy, living with his wealthy family in pre-World War II Shanghai. During the Japanese invasion, Bale is separated from his parents. With the help of soldier-of-fortune John Malkovich Read More

Testimony

Actors: Ben Kingsley, Sherry Baines, Magdalen Asquith, Mark Asquith, Terence Rigby

Synopsis: Ben Kingsley stars as celebrated Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich in this lengthy historical biography. Along with Prokofiev, Shostakovich is considered among the elite of the 20th-century composers to emerge from his country. Striving to be true to his art form, the composer was caught in the Read More

Comrades

Actors: Robin Soans, William Gaminara, Stephen Bateman, Philip Davis, Jeremy Flynn

Synopsis: Set in the 1830s, this historical drama stars Robin Soans as George Loveless, a Methodist minister whose flock is a group of working families in Tolpuddle, a small town in the British Southwest. Most of the workers in the community are under the thumb of Frampton (Robert Stephens), a ruthless land Read More

The Box of Delights

Actors: Devin Stanfield, Patrick Troughton, Robert Stephens, Geoffrey Larder, Jonathan Stevens

Synopsis: The Box of Delights, based on the children's book by English poet laureate John Masefield, was produced by the BBC, from a screenplay by Alan Seymour under director Renny Rye in mid-1984. Set in 1934, the six-part miniseries tells the story of young Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield), who, while on his Read More

Puccini

Actors: Robert Stephens, Virginia McKenna, Judith Howarth

Synopsis: The acclaimed Tony Palmer helmed this 1984 biopic on 19th and early 20th century Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, here portrayed by Robert Stephens. Palmer opts to focus not on the whole gestalt of Puccini's life, but on a devastating scandal that transpired in 1909, when Giacomo's wife, Elvira Read More

The Box of Delights

Actors: Patrick Troughton, Devin Stanfield, Robert Stephens, Geoffrey Larder, Jonathan Stephens

Synopsis: The British made-for-TV production The Box of Delights begins during the Christmas season, when young Devin Stanfield returns home from boarding school. No sooner has he arrived than Stanfield has made the acquaintance of elderly eccentric Patrick Troughton, who entrusts the boy with a mysterious Read More

Birth of a Nation

Actors: Jim Broadbent, Robert Stephens, Tim Roth, Graham Crowden

The Year of the French

Actors: Robert Stephens, Niall O'Brian, Anne-Louise Lambert, Keith Buckley

Synopsis: Adapted from the 1979 novel by Thomas Flanagan, the Anglo-French co-production The Year of the French was set in the Ireland of 1798. Long dreaming of independence from the British, a hardy band of Irish freedom fighters from County Mayo rose up against their English Oppressors, with the help of a Read More

The Winter's Tale

The Executioner

Synopsis: The trial of a Jew accused of killing a Nazi is held many years after the event. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

Les Jeux de la Comtesse Dolingen de Gratz

Actors: Michel Lonsdale, Carol Kane, Marilu Marini

Synopsis: In this eerie, atmospheric tale, a young woman is on a train when she sees some people she thinks she knows from her childhood. On arriving home, her husband tells her that a certain countess has died. At that point, the film cuts to a scene of the countess singing in a mausoleum while the visual Read More

Holocaust

Actors: Fritz Weaver, Rosemary Harris, Joseph Bottoms, James Woods, Sam Wanamaker, Michael Moriarty, Tovah Feldshuh, Meryl Streep

Synopsis: The now-legendary miniseries Holocaust first aired as a presentation in NBC's Big Event series. Written by Gerald Green, the story begins in the Germany of 1935. We are introduced to the family of Jewish doctor Joseph Weiss (Fritz Weaver) his wife Berta (Rosemary Harris), his brother Moses (Sam Wanamaker Read More

The Shout

Actors: Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt, Robert Stephens, Tim Curry

Synopsis: An asylum director begins telling a visitor to a cricket game the story of one of his "better" patients, Crossley (Alan Bates) who is able to compete. Some time previously, Crossley accosted Anthony (John Hurt), a composer, just after church and was for some reason invited to dinner. Once at the Read More

Kean

The Duellists

Actors: Keith Carradine, Harvey Keitel, Cristina Raines, Edward Fox, Robert Stephens

Synopsis: The Duellists is based on a story by Joseph Conrad, variously titled The Duel and The Point of Honour. Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel play officers in Napoleon's army -- D'Hubert and Feraud, respectively -- who spend their off-hours challenging each other to bloody duels. This goes on for Read More

La Nuit Tous les Chats Sont Gris

Actors: Gérard Depardieu, Robert Stephens, Laura Betti, Charlotte Crow, Ann Zacharias

Synopsis: The stories that Charles (Robert Stephens) tells his adoring niece are vivid and full of life, as they should be, for he is a professional writer. They all concern a charming ladies man and his adventures. When the tales mysteriously take on a life of their own in the real world, and Philibert (Gerard Depardieu Read More

Massacre at Central High

Synopsis: Dutch cult director Rene Daalder's fascinating debut was this unfairly neglected and richly idea-laden political allegory set in an American high school. Derrel Maury stars as David, a new student at Central High School who is shocked at the degree of control wielded by three preppie thugs who run Read More

Luther

Actors: Stacy Keach

Synopsis: Adapted for the screen by Edward Anhalt from the play by John Osborne, Luther stars Stacy Keach as religious leader and "heretic" Martin Luther. In minimalist fashion, the film traces Luther's disillusionment with the Catholic Church, and his eventual spearheading of the Reformation movement. Read More

QB VII

Actors: Leslie Caron, Ben Gazzara, John Gielgud, Juliet Mills, Lee Remick, Anthony Hopkins

Synopsis: This made-for-TV adaptation of the Leon Uris epic stars Anthony Hopkins as a Polish doctor accused by an American writer (Ben Gazarra) of assisting the Nazis with medical experiments. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Vienna 1900 [TV Series]

Actors: Dorothy Tutin, Christopher Guard, Robert Stephens, Lynn Redgrave, Jacqueline Pearce

Synopsis: This British drama anthology was set in Vienna at the turn of the century, amongst the privileged (and slightly debauched) aristocracy. The six 50-minute episodes were adapted from three famous short stories by master ironist Arthur Schnitzler (whose works were still being adapted for films as Read More

Travels with My Aunt

Actors: Olive Behrendt, Nora Norman, Maggie Smith, Alec McCowen, Louis Gossett, Jr., Robert Stephens, Cindy Williams

Synopsis: In the lively comedy/adventure Travels with My Aunt, adapted from Graham Green's book, Henry (Alec McCowan), a timid, bookish accountant whose life seems to have died stillborn, discovers how to live with gusto thanks to the rough ministrations of his thoroughly eccentric aunt Augusta (Maggie Smith Read More

The Asphyx

Actors: Robert Stephens

Synopsis: A well-mounted period horror tale, The Asphyx (known also as Spirit of the Dead) focuses on the scientific endeavors of Robert Stephens, whose revolutionary work in the burgeoning field of photography leads him to the remarkable discovery of the title creature -- a soul-stealing demon known to Read More

A Midsummer Night's Dream

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

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Actors: Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Pamela Franklin, Gordon Jackson, Celia Johnson

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie stars Maggie Smith in the title role. Smith won an Academy Award for her delicately textured portrayal of an eccentric teacher at an exclusive Scottish girl's school. Miss Jean exhorts her "gels" to follow their hearts and never Read More

Romeo and Juliet

Actors: Olivia Hussey, Leonard Whiting, Milo O'Shea, Michael York, John McEnery

Synopsis: Director Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was touted at the time of its release (successfully, if the box-office receipts are any indication), as something of a "youth trip" movie. This is because Zeffirelli broke the long-standing tradition of casting over-aged Read More

Much Ado About Nothing

Synopsis: The victorious Don Pedro is returning to Messina after his latest successful skirmish. His troops include his wicked brother Don John, young Claudio and Benedick, a witty confirmed bachelor from Padua. They are welcomed by the governor, Leonato, as well as by his beautiful daughter Hero and Hero's Read More

Morgan!

Actors: Vanessa Redgrave, David Warner, Robert Stephens, Irene Handl, Newton Blick, Bernard Bresslaw

Synopsis: A classic 1960's cult film in the British "angry young man" tradition, the hero of this film from Czech director Karel Reisz is more lunatic than agitator. Morgan Delt (David Warner) is an artist from a working class background, married to Leonie (Vanessa Redgrave), a woman far above him in social Read More

The Small World of Sammy Lee

Actors: Anthony Newley, Julia Foster, Robert Stephens, Wilfrid Brambell, Warren Mitchell

Synopsis: Based on a BBC television program, this underworld drama set in London's Soho district created a different sort of role for star Anthony Newley, normally a performer associated with light musical comedy. Newley is the titular character, the master of ceremonies at a sleazy strip club owned by Read More

Cleopatra

Actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown, Roddy McDowall, George Cole, Martin Landau

Synopsis: In 1963, this colossal and opulent $60 million spectacular was epic in every sense of the word -- an epic investment, an epic in the annals of Hollywood gossip, and, ultimately, an epic flop that nearly dragged 20th Century Fox down the Nile along with Cleopatra's barge. Handsomely mounted by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Read More

Lunch Hour

Synopsis: When a junior executive organizes a romantic encounter with a designer everything falls about creating this comedy. ~ All Movie Guide Read More

The Inspector

Actors: Stephen Boyd, Dolores Hart, Donald Pleasence

Synopsis: This routine action drama with a dash of romance begins in Holland where a police inspector, Peter Jongman (Stephen Boyd) is tracking down an ex-Nazi now engaged in the white slave trade. The brutal man as just picked up Lisa Held (Dolores Hart) under false pretenses with every intention of Read More

A Taste of Honey

Actors: Dora Bryan, Rita Tushingham, Robert Stephens, Murray Melvin, Paul Danquah

Synopsis: Director Tony Richardson adapted the screenplay of A Taste of Honey from the "kitchen sink" stage play by Shelagh Delaney. Rita Tushingham plays a working-class British teenager, living with her drink-sodden, libertine mother Dora Bryan. Denied affection by her selfish mother, Tushingham is pushed Read More

A Circle of Deception

Actors: Suzy Parker, Bradford Dillman, Harry Andrews, Paul Rogers

Synopsis: A British officer is slated to parachute into Normandy. What he doesn't know is that he is being set up by British Intelligence to be captured by the enemy and reveal erroneous information to the Nazis. Officer Raine (Bradford Dillman) is the unknowing soldier who has intentionally been given Read More

Pirates of Tortuga

Actors: Ken Scott, Leticia Roman, Dave King, John Richardson, Rafer Johnson

Synopsis: In this high-seas adventure set in the 1600s, a British sea captain must go undercover, join a pirate band, and capture the notorious Captain Henry Morgan. But Morgan is on to the ruse and is well prepared when the sea captain makes his move. As the two engage in mortal combat, they are knocked Read More

War and Peace

Actors: Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Vittorio Gassman, Anita Ekberg

Synopsis: War and Peace is a commendable attempt to boil down Tolstoy's long, difficult novel into 208 minutes' screen time. In recreating the the social and personal upheavals attending Napoleon's 1812 invasion of Russia, $6 million was shelled out by coproducers Carlo Ponti, Dino de Laurentiis and Read More

The Queen's Guards

Actors: Daniel Massey, Raymond Massey, Robert Stephens, Jack Watson

Synopsis: Opening with elaborate preparations for the Queen of England's birthday, The Queen's Guards introduces the audience via voiceover to John Fellowes, a young captain overseeing the participation of the Grenadier Guards in the celebratory parade. A series of flashbacks follow, which fill the viewer Read More