The year 1953 in film involved some significant events.
Roberta is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The playful romantic comedy is based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller. It features the songs "Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let's Begin", "You're Devastating", "Something Had To Happen", "The Touch of Your Hand" and "I'll Be Hard to Handle".
Harry H. Corbett was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC television sitcom Steptoe and Son. His success on television led to appearances in comedy films including The Bargee (1964), Carry On Screaming! (1966) and Jabberwocky (1977).
Charles Ainslie Crichton was an English film director and editor.
Nicky Katt is an American actor. Katt often plays unsympathetic characters, such as a murderous cop on the take in Monk, an irascible motorhead in Dazed and Confused, an ill-fated white supremacist child rapist in A Time to Kill, and an embittered business rival in Boiler Room.
Shake Hands with the Devil is a 1959 British-Irish film produced and directed by Michael Anderson and starring James Cagney, Don Murray, Dana Wynter, Glynis Johns and Michael Redgrave. The film was based on the 1933 novel of the same title by Rearden Conner, the son of a Royal Irish Constabulary policeman.
Lady Godiva Rides Again is a 1951 British comedy film starring Pauline Stroud, George Cole and Bernadette O'Farrell, with British stars in supporting roles or making cameo appearances. It concerns a small-town English girl who wins a local beauty contest by appearing as Lady Godiva, then decides to pursue a higher profile in a national beauty pageant and as an actress.
11 Harrowhouse is a 1974 British heist comedy thriller film directed by Aram Avakian and starring Charles Grodin, Candice Bergen, James Mason, Trevor Howard, and John Gielgud in Panavision. It was adapted by Grodin based upon the novel by Gerald A. Browne, with the screenplay by Jeffrey Bloom. It was made at Pinewood Studios with extensive location shooting in London, Ragley Hall in Warwickshire and at Quainton Road railway station. The film's sets were designed by the art director Peter Mullins. The hand of Assistant Art Director John Siddall was used to paint the cockroaches.
A Night to Remember is a 1958 British historical disaster docudrama film based on the eponymous 1955 book by Walter Lord, and depicts the final night of RMS Titanic, which sank on her maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in 1912. Adapted by Eric Ambler and directed by Roy Ward Baker, the film stars Kenneth More as the ship's Second Officer Charles Lightoller and features Michael Goodliffe, Laurence Naismith, Kenneth Griffith, David McCallum and Tucker McGuire. It was filmed in the United Kingdom and tells the story of the sinking, portraying incidents and people in a documentary-style fashion with considerable attention to detail. The production team, supervised by producer William MacQuitty used blueprints of the ship to create authentic sets, while Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall and ex-Cunard Commodore Harry Grattidge worked as technical advisors on the film. Its estimated budget of up to £600,000 was exceptional and made it the most expensive film ever made in Britain up to that time. The film's score was written by William Alwyn.
The Great John L. is a 1945 American biographical drama film directed by Frank Tuttle and written by James Edward Grant. The film stars Linda Darnell, Barbara Britton, Greg McClure, Otto Kruger, Wallace Ford and George Mathews. The film was released on May 25, 1945, by United Artists.
Gideon's Day is a 1958 police procedural crime film starring Jack Hawkins, Dianne Foster and Cyril Cusack. The film, which was directed by John Ford, was adapted from John Creasey's 1955 novel of the same title.
Tam-Lin, also known as The Ballad of Tam-Lin, The Devil's Widow and The Devil's Woman, is a 1970 British folk horror film directed by Roddy McDowall and starring Ava Gardner and Ian McShane.
Rockets Galore! is a 1957 British comedy film directed by Michael Relph and starring Jeannie Carson, Donald Sinden and Roland Culver. The sequel to Whisky Galore!, it was much less successful than its predecessor.
Anne Heywood was a British film actress, who is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1967 film version of D.H. Lawrence's The Fox.
A Terrible Beauty is a 1960 drama film directed by Tay Garnett and starring Robert Mitchum, Anne Heywood, Dan O'Herlihy and Richard Harris. It was adapted from a 1958 novel of the same name written by Arthur Roth. The film was an international co-production between Mitchum's production company, D.R.M., and that of producer Raymond Stross.
Nowhere to Go is a 1958 British crime film directed by Seth Holt in his directorial debut. It stars George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee, Harry H. Corbett and Bessie Love. A criminal escapes from jail and attempts to recover his stashed loot but is shunned by the criminal community and hunted by the police.
Violent Playground is a black and white 1958 British film directed by Basil Dearden and starring Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing, and David McCallum. The film, which deals with the genre of juvenile delinquent, has an explicit social agenda. It owes much to U.S. films of a similar genre.
Lovespell is a 1981 fantasy romantic tragedy film featuring Richard Burton as King Mark of Cornwall. It was directed by Tom Donovan. It is based on the classic saga of Tristan and Isolde.
She Didn't Say No! is a 1958 British comedy film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Eileen Herlie, Perlita Neilson and Niall MacGinnis. Based on the 1955 novel We Are Seven by Una Troy, an attractive young Irishwoman has six children from five different fathers.
