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Richard Wattis
Richard Cameron Wattis (25 February 1912 – 1 February 1975) was an English actor.
After leaving the family business, Wattis became an actor. His debut was with Croydon Repertory Theatre, and he made many stage appearances in the West End in London. His first appearance in a film was A Yank at Oxford (1938), but war service interrupted his career as an actor. He served as a second lieutenant in the Small Arms Section of Special Operations Executive at Station VI during World War II (James Bond author, Ian Fleming worked in the same section). He is best known for his appearances, wearing his thick-rimmed round spectacles, in British comedies of the 1950s and 1960s, often as a "Man from the Ministry" or similar character. He was also involved as the secretary to Lord Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Such appearances included the St Trinian's films (The Belles of St Trinian's, Blue Murder at St Trinian's, and The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery) as Manton Bassett, a civil servant who was the Deputy Director of Schools in the Ministry of Education, where he was often seen frowning and expressing indignation at the outrageous behaviour of other characters. To American audiences, Wattis is probably best known for his performance as the British civil servant Northbrook in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957). He broke from this typecasting in his later films, such as his starring role in Games That Lovers Play.
Wattis's other films included Hobson's Choice, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Carry On Spying, The Colditz Story, Dentist on the Job, Very Important Person, The Happiest Days of Your Life, and The Longest Day. He also appeared on television, including a long-running role in Sykes, and appearances in Danger Man, The Prisoner, The Goodies, Hancock's Half Hour, and Father, Dear Father. From 1957 to 1958, he appeared as Peter Jamison in three episodes of the American sitcom Dick and the Duchess.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 2.154 |
Birthday | 1912-02-25 |
Place of Birth | Wednesbury, Staffordshire, England, UK |
Also Known As | Ричард Уоттис, Richard Cameron Wattis, |
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1956
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The Man Who Knew Too Much
7.5/1411
A couple vacationing in Morocco with their young son accidentally stumble upon an assassination plot. When the child is kidnapped to ensure their sile...
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The Man Who Knew Too Much
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1961
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Nearly a Nasty Accident
7/2
The RAF Group Captain has a hard job to restrain the aircraft-man from tinkering with everything he can get his hands on
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Nearly a Nasty Accident
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1952
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The Importance of Being Earnest
7.181/108
Algernon Moncrieff is surprised to discover that his affluent friend -- whom he knows as "Ernest" -- is actually named Jack Worthing. Jack fabricated...
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The Importance of Being Earnest
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1957
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The Prince and the Showgirl
6.335/179
An American showgirl becomes entangled in political intrigue when the Prince Regent of a foreign country attempts to seduce her.
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The Prince and the Showgirl
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1959
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Ten Seconds to Hell
6.2/28
Two rivals from a German bomb squad are left to deactivate duds in postwar Berlin.
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Ten Seconds to Hell
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1964
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Carry On Spying
6.4/55
Carry On favourite Barbara Windsor makes her debut in this outrageous send-up of the James Bond movies. Fearless agent Desmond Simpkins and Charlie Bi...
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Carry On Spying
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1974
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Confessions of a Window Cleaner
4.8/25
Young Timmy starts as a window cleaner in the little company of his brother. Soon he learns that some female customers expect additional service. Youn...
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Confessions of a Window Cleaner
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1953
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Colonel March Investigates
6/2
This is a feature-length compilation of three short episodes taken from a TV series called 'Colonel March of Scotland Yard' (1954-56, 26 episodes) sta...
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Colonel March Investigates
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1966
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The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery
5.9/25
The all-girl school foil an attempt by train robbers to recover two and a half million pounds hidden in their school.
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The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery
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1965
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Operation Crossbow
6.7/106
Allied agents infiltrate the Nazi rocket complex at Peenemunde in order to obtain their secrets and sabotage the plant. The film alternates between Ge...
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Operation Crossbow
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1963
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The V.I.P.s
6.2/55
Wealthy passengers fogged in at London's Heathrow Airport fight to survive a variety of personal trials.
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The V.I.P.s
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1957
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The Abominable Snowman
6.2/104
A kindly English botanist and a gruff American promoter lead an expedition to the Himalayas in search of the legendary Yeti.
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The Abominable Snowman
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1956
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The Iron Petticoat
5.8/20
Captain Vinka Kovalenko defects from Russia, but not for political reasons. She defects because she feels discriminated against as a woman. Captain Ch...
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The Iron Petticoat
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1950
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The Clouded Yellow
6.105/19
After leaving the British Secret Service, David Somers (played by Trevor Howard) finds work cataloging butterflies at the country house of Nicholas an...
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The Clouded Yellow
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1957
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Barnacle Bill
6.405/21
A seasick sea captain commands an amusement pier despite local opposition. Released in the U.S. as 'All at Sea'
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Barnacle Bill

1954
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Hobson's Choice
7.4/133
Henry Hobson owns and tyrannically runs a successful Victorian boot maker’s shop in Salford, England. A stingy widower with a weakness for overindulgi...
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Hobson's Choice
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1968
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Wonderwall
5.2/21
The eccentric professor Collins lives completely secluded in his chaotic apartment. When the model Penny moves in next to him, he becomes fascinated b...
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Wonderwall

1963
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Come Fly with Me
4.4/10
Three airline hostesses combine their work crossing the Atlantic with searching for a rich handsome man to marry.
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Come Fly with Me

1950
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The Happiest Days of Your Life
6.371/35
Nutbourne College, an old established, all-boys, boarding school is told that another school is to be billeted with due to wartime restrictions. The s...
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The Happiest Days of Your Life
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1981
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Eric Sykes: One of the Great Troupers
0/0
With film clips and photos, Eric Sykes gives a tongue-in-cheek account of his follies and fortunes as an actor, gag writer, and comedian in a long and...
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Eric Sykes: One of the Great Troupers
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1962
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I Thank a Fool
5.5/6
After mercifully killing her terminally ill lover, Dr. Christine Allison loses her medical license and spends two years in prison. Once she has comple...
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I Thank a Fool
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1938
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A Yank at Oxford
6.7/10
A brash young American aristocrat attending Oxford University gets a chance to prove himself and win the heart of his antagonist's sister.
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A Yank at Oxford
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1952
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Made in Heaven
4/2
Residents of the small English village of Dunmow react in comical ways when the Topham family hires a beautiful and young Hungarian maid.
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Made in Heaven

1971
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Too Close for Comfort
0/0
An extended humorous public information film (lasting around fifteen minutes) narrated by Richard Wattis.
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Too Close for Comfort
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1965
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The Bargain
0/0
A BAFTA award nominated animation.
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The Bargain
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1970
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The Ballad of Tam Lin
5.385/13
Based upon the Celtic legend Tam Lin, a young man is bewitched by a beautiful, heartless, aging sorceress to become her lover. When his attention wand...
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The Ballad of Tam Lin

1954
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The Belles of St. Trinian's
6.283/53
The unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian's are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey. But greater trouble than ever beckons when th...
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The Belles of St. Trinian's
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1952
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Top Secret
6/1
A British Sanitary Engineer, goes on holiday with a set of plans for a new secret weapon which he has mistaken for his new plumbing invention. Everyon...
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Top Secret
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1973
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Take Me High
4.9/9
Tim (Cliff Richard) is a successful ambitious young financier working for a London Merchant bank, but even his happy-go-lucky attitude is severely jol...
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Take Me High

1955
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An Alligator Named Daisy
6.2/6
Returning from a cricket match in Ireland, Peter Weston gains a pet alligator from another passenger who abandons it with him. He is horrified and wh...
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An Alligator Named Daisy

1965
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The Battle of the Villa Fiorita
4.8/4
Two British children travel to Italy in an attempt to break up their runaway mother's affair with an Italian concert pianist.
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The Battle of the Villa Fiorita
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1952
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Song of Paris
5.5/1
An archetypal Englishman returns from a jaunt abroad to face a dastardly foreign count in a screwball duel for the hand of a beautiful mademoiselle.
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Song of Paris

1961
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Dentist on the Job
6.2/15
Colonel Proudfoot of Proudfoot Industries tries to entice a couple of newly qualified dentists to advertise "Dreem", a revolutionary type of toothpast...
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Dentist on the Job

1968
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
6.787/665
A hapless inventor finally finds success with a flying car, which a dictator from a foreign government sets out to take for himself.
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

1962
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Play It Cool
5.9/7
A struggling singer and his band befriend an heiress who, against the wishes of her father, is searching for the lover who she has been forbidden to s...
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Play It Cool

1956
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A Touch of the Sun
5.6/5
A hotel porter is left a fortune but after living it up for a while he returns to his old place of work which is in financial difficulties.
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A Touch of the Sun

1972

That's Your Funeral
1.5/2
Two funeral parlours fight one another for business, one of whom is more shady than the other.
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That's Your Funeral

1965
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You Must Be Joking
5.625/8
A motley group of soldiers are set loose on swinging England in an initiative test to collect a selection of esoteric items
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You Must Be Joking

1959

The Captain's Table
5.8/5
A captain is promoted by his company from tramp steamers to their flagship passenger liner. Although he is a thoroughly competent sailor ready to take...
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The Captain's Table

1958
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The Inn of the Sixth Happiness
6.7/75
All her life, Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was the place where she belonged. Not qualified to be sent there as a missionary, Gladys wor...
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The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

1959
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Left Right and Centre
6/13
At the Earndale by-election natural history expert and TV personality Bob Wilcot for the Conservatives finds himself up against Billingsgate girl Stel...
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Left Right and Centre
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1955
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The Time of His Life
6.5/4
Mr Pastry's social climbing daughter, president of a society for the rehabilitation for ex-convicts, hides the fact that her father is himself a priso...
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The Time of His Life
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1949
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The Chiltern Hundreds
5/4
Young Viscount Tony Pym wangles National Service leave on the pretext of standing as a Tory candidate for a local seat held by his family for generati...
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The Chiltern Hundreds
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1955
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As Long as They're Happy
7.7/3
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 Co...
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As Long as They're Happy

1962
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Venus fra Vestø
5.6/6
Vestø island's isolated community's prize cow is in danger of being abducted by German WWII occupation forces.
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Venus fra Vestø

1960
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Your Money or Your Wife
4/5
Newly wed couple Gay and Pel Butterworth are forced to take in some strange paying guests when their inheritance proves troublesome, but all is not as...
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Your Money or Your Wife

1973
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Diamonds on Wheels
8/1
Three kids get mixed up with jewel thieves and stolen diamonds in a 24-hour road rally.
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Diamonds on Wheels

1971
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Games That Lovers Play
4.2/5
Joanna Lumley and Penny Brahms star as notorious prostitutes Fanny Hill and Lady Chatterley faced with the challenge of seducing the seemingly impossi...
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Games That Lovers Play
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1965
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Bunny Lake Is Missing
7.2/187
A woman reports that her young daughter is missing, but there seems to be no evidence that she ever existed.
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Bunny Lake Is Missing
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1965
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Up Jumped a Swagman
4/1
A dreamy Australian singer comes to London to seek his fortune and falls for a down-to-earth lass and a high-strung debutante at the same time.
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Up Jumped a Swagman
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1957
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High Flight
5.8/4
The Commanding Officer of an RAF Training School must deal with a difficult cadet, but the cadet reminds the C.O. of himself when young.
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High Flight

1957
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Second Fiddle
5.6/5
Deborah and Charles, young executives at the thriving Pontifex Advertising Agency, are very much in love. Deborah is recognised by her employers as th...
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Second Fiddle

1954
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Lease of Life
7.4/7
The parson of a small rural community knows he is dying and this makes him reconsider his life so far and what he can still do to help the community.
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Lease of Life

1959
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Libel
6.955/22
A California commercial pilot sees a telecast in London of an interview with Sir Mark Lodden at his home. The Canadian is convinced that the baronet i...
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Libel

1965
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The Liquidator
6.2/20
Spy spoof about Boysie Oakes, a British secret agent who specialises in Liquidating. In actual fact he contracts out the work and pretends it was hims...
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The Liquidator

1952
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Mother Riley Meets the Vampire
4.19/21
The legendary Bela Lugosi as "the Vampire" teams up with Britain's much-loved "Mother Riley" in this hilarious comedy adventure. The Vampire plans to...
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Mother Riley Meets the Vampire

1959
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The Ugly Duckling
5.8/5
Henry Jekyll was always the outsider, a bungling and awkward buffoon, relegated to waiting for his invitation to participate in life that never arrive...
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The Ugly Duckling
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1953
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Innocents in Paris
5.1/14
Romantic comedy about a group of Britons flying to Paris for the weekend.
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Innocents in Paris
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1954
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Doctor in the House
6.4/28
The first of the seven "Doctor" films, based on Richard Gordon's novels and released between 1954 and 1970. Simon Sparrow is a newly arrived medical...
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Doctor in the House

1953
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Small Town Story
5.2/6
Canadian ex-serviceman Bob Regan returns to Oldchester, the English town where he was posted during the war. Meeting up with his friend Mike, now mana...
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Small Town Story
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1953
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Top of the Form
5/1
A con man hides out in a boys' school, posing as a professor. When the undisciplined and lazy boys have to pass a few tests, cheating becomes the only...
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Top of the Form
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1955
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The Colditz Story
6.6/50
Allied prisoners of various nationalities pool their resources to plan numerous escapes from an "escape-proof" German P.O.W. camp housed in a Medieval...
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The Colditz Story
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1955
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Simon and Laura
5.583/12
A couple of bickering, married performers agree to star in a "Mr. and Mrs." TV show.
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Simon and Laura

1970
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Egghead's Robot
3/1
'Egghead' Wentworth adapts his father's robot paratrooper to perform his chores, but forgets to programme it to keep him out of trouble.
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Egghead's Robot

1959
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Follow a Star
6.1/13
Norman Truscott is a store worker who dreams of stardom. Vernon Carew is a singer whose star is fading. Vernon manages to get a recording of Norman si...
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Follow a Star
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1953
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Background
6/1
Two years of deterioration sees John and Barbara Lomax's marriage reduced to bitter sniping and "keeping up appearances" for the sake of the children....
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Background

1953
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Blood Orange
5.3/5
Discharged by his employer, a private eye stays on a jewel theft case after a model with information for him is murdered.
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Blood Orange

1967
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The Troublesome Double
0/0
Egghead creates a robot double of his sister.
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The Troublesome Double

1960
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Follow That Horse!
0/0
A race horse swallows a microfilm and is pursued by the major superpowers spy agencies.
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Follow That Horse!

1967
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Casino Royale
5.3/740
Sir James Bond is called back out of retirement to stop SMERSH. In order to trick SMERSH, James thinks up the ultimate plan - that every agent will be...
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Casino Royale
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1953
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Appointment in London
6.2/14
Wing-commander Tim Mason leads a squadron of Lancaster bombers on almost nightly raids from England. Having flown eighty-seven missions he will shortl...
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Appointment in London
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1949
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Kind Hearts and Coronets
7.7/553
When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be bu...
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Kind Hearts and Coronets

1955
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A Yank in Ermine
4/2
An American airman inherits an Earldom in England along with the small matter of $3 million on the proviso that he gives up his US citizenship. Unsur...
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A Yank in Ermine

1956
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The Green Man
7/34
Unknown to everyone but his shady Middle Eastern bosses, watchmaker Hawkins is actually a professional hired assassin with a predilection for killing...
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The Green Man

1956
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It's a Wonderful World
5.3/3
Two aspiring songwriters finally manage to sell a tune by claiming that it was composed by a reclusive musical genius. When the tune hits the top of t...
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It's a Wonderful World

1951

Lady Godiva Rides Again
5.778/9
Marjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain procession as Lady Godiva - though not in the buff. Th...
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Lady Godiva Rides Again
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1953
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The Intruder
7.2/6
When Ex Colonel Merton discovers a burglar ransacking his home, he is shocked to find out that the thief is a former soldier from his tank regiment. W...
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The Intruder
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1956
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Eyewitness
6.7/7
After a fight with her husband, Lucy runs out of the house, and into a night of terror. She heads for the local cinema, and in doing so, becomes the o...
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Eyewitness
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1953
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The Final Test
6.667/6
Legendary England cricketer Sam Palmer (Jack Warner) is due to bat in his final test match against Australia. He is desperate for his son Reggie (Ray...
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The Final Test

1955
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I Am a Camera
6/15
Just before the Nazis ascend to power in Berlin, Chris, an aspiring novelist from England, meets flamboyant cabaret entertainer Sally Bowles and an un...
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I Am a Camera

1952
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Derby Day
6.5/4
Entertaining ensemble piece dealing with several characters who are on the way to the races on Derby day. It cleverly blends dramatic, romantic and co...
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Derby Day

1956

The Silken Affair
1/1
An accountant who is creative with his firm's books uses the money to fund a romantic spree.
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The Silken Affair
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1972
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Sex and the Other Woman
5.7/6
A series of vignettes exposing how women manipulate their men into submission.
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Sex and the Other Woman
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1953
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Park Plaza 605
5.2/5
Suave private investigator Norman Conquest intercepts a secret message and meets a beautiful but foreign blonde lady in room 605 of the Park Plaza hot...
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Park Plaza 605
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1962
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Bon Voyage!
5.3/20
The Willards from Terre Haute, Indiana travels abroad for the once-in-a-lifetime vacation in Paris, France. Harry Willard believes that the greatest p...
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Bon Voyage!
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1957
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Blue Murder at St. Trinian's
6.4/26
With their headmistress under lock and key in her majesty's prison, the St Trinian's girls find themselves under the protection of the army. However,...
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Blue Murder at St. Trinian's
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1961
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Very Important Person
5.5/10
Comedy set in World War Two, starring James Robertson-Justice and Leslie Phillips. Sir Ernest Pease (Robertson-Justice) is a self-important scientist...
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Very Important Person
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1965
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The Alphabet Murders
5.8/40
The Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates a series of murders in London in which the victims are killed according to their initials.
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The Alphabet Murders
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1968
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
6.787/665
A hapless inventor finally finds success with a flying car, which a dictator from a foreign government sets out to take for himself.
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Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
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1949
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Helter Skelter
6.2/3
A detective gets involved with a wealthy socialite who can't seem to stop hiccuping.
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Helter Skelter
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1954
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The Crowded Day
5.4/8
One day in the lives and loves of the staff in a large department store.
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The Crowded Day
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1962
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The Longest Day
7.6/951
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the d...
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The Longest Day
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1956
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Jumping for Joy
6.5/2
At the racetrack, cleaner, Willy Joy is tricked into buying Lindy Lou, a useless greyhound, who's not too healthy either. While getting the dog back i...
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Jumping for Joy
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1949
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Marry Me
4.333/3
The stories of several individuals who consult a marriage bureau, including a peer of the realm, his butler, a lonely school teacher, a French girl on...
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Marry Me
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1956
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The Man Who Never Was
6.977/86
The true story of a British effort to trick the Germans into weakening Sicily's defenses before the 1943 attack. A dead soldier is dressed as a Britis...
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The Man Who Never Was
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1951
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Appointment with Venus
5.125/8
At the outbreak of WWII the British realise they can't prevent the invasion of the Channel Islands. However, someone realises that a prize cow is on t...
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