Directing
Bryan Forbes
Born July 22, 1926 · Stratford, London, England, UK
Died May 8, 2013 · aged 86
Bryan Forbes (22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist.
Known For
The Million Pound Note · 1954The Million Pound Note
★ 7.01954
MovieComedy
An impoverished American sailor is fortunate enough to be passing the house of two rich gentlemen who have conceived the crazy idea of distributing a note worth one million pounds. The sailor finds that whenever he tries to use the note to buy something, people treat him like a king and let him have whatever he likes for free. Ultimately, the money proves to be more troublesome than it is worth when it almost costs him his dignity and the woman he loves.
Chaplin · 1992Chaplin
★ 7.41992
MovieDrama
An aged Charlie Chaplin narrates his life to his autobiography's editor, including his rise to wealth and comedic fame from poverty, his turbulent personal life and his run-ins with the FBI.
The Guns of Navarone · 1961The Guns of Navarone
★ 7.31961
MovieActionAdventure
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
A Shot in the Dark · 1964A Shot in the Dark
★ 7.21964
MovieComedyMystery
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a straightforward murder investigation into a comedic series of mishaps, testing the patience of his irritable boss Charles Dreyfus as casualties mount.
Sea Devils · 1953Sea Devils
★ 5.91953
MovieActionAdventure
Gilliatt, a fisherman-turned-smuggler on the isle of Guernsey, agrees to transport a beautiful woman to the French coast in the year 1800. She tells him she hopes to rescue her brother from the guillotine. Gilliatt finds himself falling in love and so feels betrayed when he later learns this woman is a countess helping Napoleon plan an invasion of England. In reality, however, the "countess" is an English agent working to thwart this invasion. When Gilliatt finds this out, he returns to France to rescue the woman who's true purpose has been discovered by the French.
The Stepford Wives · 1975The Stepford Wives
★ 6.71975
MovieThrillerScience Fiction
Joanna Eberhart comes to the town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.
Eyewitness · 1970Eyewitness
★ 6.41970
MovieThriller
A boy who cries wolf witnesses a political assassination on the island of Malta. But will anyone other than his granddad believe him?
King Rat · 1965King Rat
★ 7.11965
MovieDramaWar
When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, the Allied POWs, mostly British but including a few Americans, were incarcerated in Changi prison. Among the American prisoners is Cpl. King, a wheeler-dealer who has managed to establish a pretty good life for himself in the camp. King soon forms a friendship with an upper-class British officer who is fascinated with King's enthusiastic approach to life.
Movies
The Million Pound Note · 1954The Million Pound Note
★ 7.01954
MovieComedy
An impoverished American sailor is fortunate enough to be passing the house of two rich gentlemen who have conceived the crazy idea of distributing a note worth one million pounds. The sailor finds that whenever he tries to use the note to buy something, people treat him like a king and let him have whatever he likes for free. Ultimately, the money proves to be more troublesome than it is worth when it almost costs him his dignity and the woman he loves.
Chaplin · 1992Chaplin
★ 7.41992
MovieDrama
An aged Charlie Chaplin narrates his life to his autobiography's editor, including his rise to wealth and comedic fame from poverty, his turbulent personal life and his run-ins with the FBI.
The Guns of Navarone · 1961The Guns of Navarone
★ 7.31961
MovieActionAdventure
A team of allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
A Shot in the Dark · 1964A Shot in the Dark
★ 7.21964
MovieComedyMystery
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a straightforward murder investigation into a comedic series of mishaps, testing the patience of his irritable boss Charles Dreyfus as casualties mount.
Sea Devils · 1953Sea Devils
★ 5.91953
MovieActionAdventure
Gilliatt, a fisherman-turned-smuggler on the isle of Guernsey, agrees to transport a beautiful woman to the French coast in the year 1800. She tells him she hopes to rescue her brother from the guillotine. Gilliatt finds himself falling in love and so feels betrayed when he later learns this woman is a countess helping Napoleon plan an invasion of England. In reality, however, the "countess" is an English agent working to thwart this invasion. When Gilliatt finds this out, he returns to France to rescue the woman who's true purpose has been discovered by the French.
The Stepford Wives · 1975The Stepford Wives
★ 6.71975
MovieThrillerScience Fiction
Joanna Eberhart comes to the town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.
Eyewitness · 1970Eyewitness
★ 6.41970
MovieThriller
A boy who cries wolf witnesses a political assassination on the island of Malta. But will anyone other than his granddad believe him?
King Rat · 1965King Rat
★ 7.11965
MovieDramaWar
When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, the Allied POWs, mostly British but including a few Americans, were incarcerated in Changi prison. Among the American prisoners is Cpl. King, a wheeler-dealer who has managed to establish a pretty good life for himself in the camp. King soon forms a friendship with an upper-class British officer who is fascinated with King's enthusiastic approach to life.
The Naked Face · 1984The Naked Face
★ 5.41984
MovieThrillerAction
Chicago psychiatrist Judd Stevens is suspected of murdering one of his patients when the man turns up stabbed to death in the middle of the city. After repeated attempts to convince the cops of his innocence, Dr. Stevens is forced to go after the real villains himself.
The Colditz Story · 1955The Colditz Story
★ 6.81955
MovieWarDrama
The Germans believed that no man could escape from Colditz Castle, set as it was in the heart of the Reich, 400 miles from any neutral frontier. This film, based on Pat Reid's epic novel, tells the story of how the British, French, Dutch and Polish prisoners of war who were incarcerated in Colditz set out to prove their captors wrong.
The Wrong Box · 1966The Wrong Box
★ 6.51966
MovieComedy
In Victorian England, a fortune now depends on which of two brothers outlives the other—or can be made to have seemed to do so.
Quatermass 2 · 1957Quatermass 2
★ 6.41957
MovieScience FictionHorror
In England, a group of space scientists led by Bernard Quatermass, who have developed plans for the first Moon colony, learn that a secret, ostensibly government-run, complex of identical design has been built in a remote part of England and is the focus of periodic falls of small, hollow "meteorites" originating in outer space. Quatermass determines to investigate and uncovers a terrifying extraterrestrial life form which has already begun action to take over the Earth.
Man in the Moon · 1960Man in the Moon
★ 6.71960
MovieComedyRomance
William is an unsuccessful guinea pig for a medical group interested in researching the common cold. He is soon fired and offered a job by the nearby National Atomic Research Center where they figure anyone who could fail at being a guinea pig is just what they need. They con William into thinking he will continue his guinea pig career by testing out some equipment for them before they send a group of astronauts to the moon.
The Key · 1958The Key
★ 6.11958
MovieDramaRomance
In wartime England, circa 1941, poorly-armed tugs are sent into "U-Boat Alley" to rescue damaged Allied ships. An American named David Ross arrives to captain one of these tugs. He's given a key by a fellow tugboat-man -- a key to an apartment and its pretty female resident. Should something happen to the friend, Ross can use the key.
The L-Shaped Room · 1962The L-Shaped Room
★ 6.81962
MovieDramaRomance
Jane is young, French, pregnant and unmarried. Bucking convention, she is uninterested in settling with her baby's father or getting an abortion. After renting a room in a dingy London boarding house, Jane befriends the odd group of inhabitants and starts an affair with one boarder, Toby. As Jane's pregnancy threatens her new relationship, and the reality of single motherhood approaches, she is forced to decide what to do about both her baby and her budding romance.
The Small Back Room · 1949The Small Back Room
★ 6.81949
MovieDramaWar
As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on 1943 Britain, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.
The Slipper and the Rose · 1976The Slipper and the Rose
★ 6.91976
MovieFantasyRomance
Prince Edward wants to marry for love, but the King and court of the Kingdom of Euphrania are anxious for the Prince to wed no matter what. When the Prince meets Cinderella at a ball, he's sure she's the one, and when she loses her slipper upon exiting the dance, the Prince is determined to find and marry her.
The Endless Game · 1989The Endless Game
★ 6.31989
MovieThrillerTV Movie
A British agent comes back from retirement after several of his former colleagues, including his former lover, are murdered. He must examine events from his own past to determine who killed them and why.
The Black Knight · 1954The Black Knight
★ 6.41954
MovieActionAdventure
John, a blacksmith and swordsmith, is tutored at Camelot. As a commoner, he can't hope to win the hand of Lady Linet, daughter of the Earl of Yeoniland, so he creates a secret alternate identity as the Black Knight. In this new role, he is now able to help King Arthur when Saracens and Cornish men—disguised as Vikings -- plot to take over the country.
An Inspector Calls · 1954An Inspector Calls
★ 7.21954
MovieCrimeDrama
An upper-crust family dinner is interrupted by a police inspector who brings news that a girl known to everyone present has died in suspicious circumstances. It seems that any or all of them could have had a hand in her death. But who is the mysterious Inspector and what can he want of them?
The League of Gentlemen · 1960The League of Gentlemen
★ 7.01960
MovieComedyCrime
Involuntarily-retired Colonel Hyde recruits seven other dissatisfied ex-servicemen for a special project. Each of the men has a skeleton in the cupboard, is short of money, and is a service-trained expert in his field. The job is a bank robbery, and military discipline and planning are imposed by Hyde and second-in-command Race on the team, although civilian irritations do start getting in the way.
Yesterday's Enemy · 1959Yesterday's Enemy
★ 7.21959
MovieWarDrama
Set during the Burma Campaign of World War 2, this is the story of courage and endurance of the soldiers struggling at close quarters against the enemy. The film examines the moral dilemmas ordinary men face during war, when the definitions of acceptable military action and insupportable brutality become blurred and distorted.
Station Six-Sahara · 1963Station Six-Sahara
★ 5.91963
MovieDrama
A beautiful blonde joins a small group of men running an oil station in the Sahara Desert and starts the emotions soaring.
The Cockleshell Heroes · 1955The Cockleshell Heroes
★ 5.91955
MovieWar
During WW2, German ships are "safely" docked upriver at Bordeaux, but the British send a team of kayakers to attack them.
TV Shows
Play for Today · 1970Play for Today
★ 6.61970
SeriesDrama
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.
Omnibus · 1967Omnibus
★ 7.21967
SeriesDocumentary
Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.
World in Action · 1963World in Action
★ 7.01963
SeriesDocumentary
World in Action was Granada Television’s flagship ITV current affairs series, running from 7 Jan 1963 to 7 Dec 1998, and built a reputation for film-led investigative reporting and a forceful editorial stance. Its journalism produced major public and political repercussions—including investigations associated with miscarriages of justice such as the Birmingham Six—and it also served as a platform for landmark documentary projects, including the first broadcast of “Seven Up!” as part of the strand in 1964.
An Audience with... · 1978An Audience with...
★ 5.31978
Series
An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by London Weekend Television, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.
Philip Marlowe, Private Eye · 1983Philip Marlowe, Private Eye
★ 6.91983
SeriesMystery
Philip Marlowe, Private Eye is a British mystery series that aired on ITV in the United Kingdom under the shorter title 'Marlowe, Private Eye' and on HBO in the United States from April 16, 1983 through June 3, 1986. The series features Powers Boothe as Raymond Chandler's titular character, and was the first drama produced for HBO.
The Endless Game · 1989The Endless Game
1989
SeriesDramaMystery
A British agent comes back from retirement after several of his former colleagues, including his former lover, are murdered. He must examine events from his own past to determine who killed them and why.
British Film Forever · 2007British Film Forever
★ 5.52007
SeriesDocumentary
Running for seven weeks from July 2007, each week focused on a different genre, examining British film by genre. Presented by Jessica Stevenson the series featured over 200 exclusive interviews with leading actors and directors including Sir Michael Caine, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet.
Elstree: Britain's Hollywood · 1989Elstree: Britain's Hollywood
1989
SeriesDocumentary
Two-part documentary celebrating the 75th anniversary of what was once the biggest film production centre outside Hollywood: Elstree.