Dora Bryan

Acting

Dora Bryan

Born February 7, 1923 · Parbold, Lancashire, England, UK

Died July 23, 2014 · aged 91

Dora May Bryan OBE was an English actress of stage, film and television. Born Dora May Broadbent, her career began in pantomime as a child actor. In World War II she joined the ENSA in Italy to entertain British troops.  After having established herself as a versatile stage actress, covering everything from drama and comedy to musicals, she started to appear in film in the late 1940s, and in 1968…

Known For

The Fallen IdolThe Fallen Idol · 1948
The Fallen Idol
★ 7.21948
MovieDramaThriller
Phillipe, the son of an ambassador in London, hero-worships his father's butler Baines. His perception of the man changes when he accidentally discovers the secret that Baines keeps and witnesses the consequences that adults' lies can cause.
Odd Man OutOdd Man Out · 1947
Odd Man Out
★ 7.31947
MovieCrimeDrama
Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.
Scarlet ThreadScarlet Thread · 1951
Scarlet Thread
★ 5.21951
MovieDrama
Tale of Cambridge college exploits of two smash-and-grab thieves on the run.
As Long As They're HappyAs Long As They're Happy · 1955
As Long As They're Happy
★ 7.51955
MovieMusicComedy
The suburban peace of the Bentley household is shattered when John Bentley is informed by his wife Stella that their two married daughters, Pat and Corrine, are in trouble and need funds to come home and bring their husbands, Peter, a penniless Parisian artist, and Barnaby, a Texas cowboy, with them. And the youngest daughter, Gwen, has tricked an American singer, Bobby Denver, into visiting them on the pretext that it is the home of a noted British film magnate. When all the women in the household – including the maid – fall for the singer's charms, Bentley consults a crackpot psychiatrist, Dr. Schneider, who almost succeeds in ousting not the singer but Bentley's wife, with his advice to Bentley to make her jealous by living it up with Pearl, a showgirl recruited for the purpose.
The Cockleshell HeroesThe Cockleshell Heroes · 1955
The 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.
Whispering Smith vs. Scotland YardWhispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard · 1952
Whispering Smith vs. Scotland Yard
★ 6.21952
MovieCrimeMystery
In this contemporary update of Frank H. Spearman's Western hero, Whispering Smith is now a sleuth who arrives in London on holiday, but is soon called in to solve the case of a suicide which the father of the deceased woman thinks was murder.
A Taste of HoneyA Taste of Honey · 1961
A Taste of Honey
★ 7.11961
MovieDrama
While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old Jo has a brief affair that leaves her pregnant and abandoned. When her mother remarries, Jo's only support becomes her friend Geoffrey, a homosexual.
The Perfect WomanThe Perfect Woman · 1949
The Perfect Woman
★ 6.41949
MovieComedyScience Fiction
In need of cash, Roger Cavendish and his valet take a job escorting the perfect woman for a night on the town. She is in fact the robotic creation of Professor Belman, but it turns out rather to be the Professor's niece Penelope doing a pretty good imitation of the perfect Olga who winds up with them in the bridal suite at the Hotel Splendide.

Filmography

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As Long As They're HappyAs Long As They're Happy · 1955
As Long As They're Happy
★ 7.51955
MovieMusicComedy
The suburban peace of the Bentley household is shattered when John Bentley is informed by his wife Stella that their two married daughters, Pat and Corrine, are in trouble and need funds to come home and bring their husbands, Peter, a penniless Parisian artist, and Barnaby, a Texas cowboy, with them. And the youngest daughter, Gwen, has tricked an American singer, Bobby Denver, into visiting them on the pretext that it is the home of a noted British film magnate. When all the women in the household – including the maid – fall for the singer's charms, Bentley consults a crackpot psychiatrist, Dr. Schneider, who almost succeeds in ousting not the singer but Bentley's wife, with his advice to Bentley to make her jealous by living it up with Pearl, a showgirl recruited for the purpose.

May

Two a PennyTwo a Penny · 1967
Two a Penny
★ 3.51967
MovieFamilyMusic
Set in London's Swinging Sixties, Cliff Richard plays Jamie Hopkins, an art student whose desperate need for money leads him to dabble in the underworld of drug dealing. Cliff has stated that Two A Penny, his most dramatically challenging movie role ever, is the film he is proudest of. He has stated, "if I did want to send a fiolm as a CV, I would send that one". It is certainly his most demanding and controversial role; cynical, self centered and highly manipulative, Jamie Hopkins lies, steals and double-crosses his mother (Dora Bryan), forces himself on his girlfriend (Ann Holloway) and gets involved in fist fights with criminals. Through the influence of his girlfriend, a born again Christian, is the possibility that he may reform, yet in the mystery of the film's by-line "He promised to love her forever….today" lies the possibility that he may well not.

Ruby Hopkins