Three young children live on a remote farm in the North of England; their mother is dead and their father is too busy to look after them. Kathy (Hayley Mills) is the eldest Nan (Diane Holgate) is the quiet child of the family while six year old Charles (Alan Barnes) is the most outspoken. The children wage constant guerrilla warfare against farmhand Eddie and the traps he sets for wild animals. They rescue three kittens that Eddie believes he has drowned. Charles tries to give
Directed by John Mills and starring his daughter Hayley Sky West and Crooked tells the story of an isolated traumatised yet free-spirited young girl who fi nds solace in a rather unusual pastime. Tension mounts in the West Country village in which Brydie White (Hayley Mills) has lived all her life. As a child she witnessed the death of her friend Julian who was accidentally killed whilst playing with his father's shotgun. Brydie wounded and left mentally damaged by the accident has no memory of the event. But while the villagers have suspicions Julian's father Edwin (Laurence Naismith) holds her squarely responsible for the death. Ostracised and misunderstood Brydie retreats from the adult world and finds companionship among a group of younger children with whom she pursues a new pastime - solemnly burying deceased animals in a sequestered corner of the churchyard. As the children's activities cause consternation in the village Edwin Dacres' anger reaches boiling point. But there is yet more for the innocent Brydie to contend with: Roibin (Ian McShane) a handsome young gypsy has fallen in love with her... Hayley Mills' emotionally compelling performance is at the heart of this touching poignant and often humorous film. Sky West and Crooked was both written and adapted by Hayley Mills' mother Mary Hayley Bell and stars Annette Crosbie as Brydie's alcoholic mother and Geoffrey Bayldon as the beleaguered but sympathetic Reverend Moss; the film also boasts beautiful cinematography by Arthur Ibbetson and a haunting score by Oscar-winning composer Malcolm Arnold.
Spearhead from Space" launched Doctor Who into the 1970s with not only a new Doctor, Jon Pertwee, but a new assistant, the scientist Liz Shaw (Caroline John) and a regular place in the show for UNIT and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney). It also marked the debut of the programme in colour and saw the Doctor stranded on Earth after Patrick Troughton's last adventure, "The War Games" (1969). Not only that, but it proved the only serial in the show's history to be entirely shot both on film and location, giving it a uniquely cinematic feel. Regenerating in a country hospital, the Doctor finds himself helping the Brigadier investigate an unusual meteorite and its links with a sinister doll factory. The Autons are cybernetic killers--anticipating The Terminator by some 15 years--and the sequence in which they break through high-street shop windows to slaughter pedestrians remains a chilling highpoint of Doctor Who's entire history. Things do turn silly with a subplot involving a waxworks museum, while the ultimate battle with the Nestine consciousness is more likely to induce laughter than fear, but as vintage television nostalgia this is fast-moving splendidly characterised entertainment. --Gary S. DalkinOn the DVD: The remastered picture and sound are exceptional for a 1970 TV show. Obviously in 4:3 and mono, this DVD offers technical quality easily as good as many feature films. There is a very friendly, if not especially informative, commentary from Nicholas Courtney and Caroline John, and subtitles that offer background facts and figures. With an amusing five-minute recruiting film for UNIT, repeat trailers and a gallery including previously unpublished photos, this excellent DVD is a Doctor Who fan's dream come true. --Gary S. Dalkin
3 Classic Mills FilmsTIGER BAYPolish actor Korchinsky (Horst Buchholz - The Magnificent Seven) is furious to discover his lover has left him for another man and shoots her. The crime is witnessed by 10-year-old Gillie (BAFTA-nominated Mills) who steals the gun. Investigating officer Graham (John Mills) is in pursuit when Korchinsky abducts Gillie.WHISTLE DOWN THE WINDHayley Mills (Bell's daughter and a recipient of one of the film's four BAFTA nominations) Diane Holgate and Alan Barnes live on their widowed father's farm in the north of England.Their lives are disrupted when they discover a wanted man (Alan Bates) hiding out in their father's barn. After a confrontation and misunderstanding they come to the conclusion he is Jesus Christ.SIR JOHN MILLS' LOVING MEMORIESDiscovered years later in an attic clear out and seen here for the first time this extraordinary footage which spans 25 years has a cast list which reads like a who's who of British cinema. Never before has there been such an intimate behind the scenes look at the life of an actor who without doubt is considered to be a legend in his own lifetime.
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