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The Hostage Tower
''The Hostage Tower'' is a 1980 American spy and thriller television film starring Peter Fonda and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and directed by Claudio Guzmán, well known for his work in sitcoms. It is based on a story by Alistair MacLean. A book based on MacLean's story by John Denis was the first in the series of UNACO books. Plot Criminal mastermind Mr. Smith (Keir Dullea) is being pursued by Malcolm Philpott ( Douglas Fairbanks Jr.), the head of an international peace organization. Smith draws together a team for a heist including weapons expert Mike Graham (ex-CIA) and thieves Sabrina and Clarence. Sabrina and Clarence secretly work for Philpott. When Mr. Smith captures the Eiffel Tower and kidnaps the mother of the President of the United States ( Celia Johnson), Philpott must enlist the help of spies to take him down. Mr. Smith demands a ransom of $30 million without which he will blow up the tower and the President's mother. He has protected the tower from infiltration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claudio Guzmán
Claudio Guzmán (August 2, 1927 – July 12, 2008) was a Chilean-American television director, producer, art director, and production designer. Biography Guzmán was born in Rancagua, Chile in 1927. As a young man, Guzmán enrolled at the University of Chile to study architecture, following in the footsteps of his architect father. In 1947, Guzmán had been appointed set designer for the Chilean National Ballet, the youngest ever up to that date. Sources conflict as to when Guzmán immigrated to the United States, but by 1952 he had begun to establish himself as a set designer in Southern California. Guzmán had also enrolled at the University of Southern California in order to continue his architectural studies. His lack of fluency in English deterred him from continuing, choosing instead to work at an assembly line in Anaheim. Guzmán later quit that job in order to study design, eventually being hired by Paramount Studios, where he became an art director. It was there ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Celia Johnson
Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson, (18 December 1908 – 26 April 1982) was an English actress, whose career included stage, television and film. She is especially known for her roles in the films ''In Which We Serve'' (1942), ''This Happy Breed'' (1944), ''Brief Encounter'' (1945) and '' The Captain's Paradise'' (1953). For ''Brief Encounter'', she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. A six-time BAFTA Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969). Johnson began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End and Broadway productions. She continued performing in theatre for the rest of her life and much of her later work was in television, including winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC ''Play for Today'', ''Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont'' (1973). She suffered a stroke and died soon after at the age of 73. Early life and education Born ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow Never Dies'', ''The World Is Not Enough'' and ''Die Another Day'') and in multiple video games. After leaving school at age 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration and went on to attend the Drama Centre in London for three years. Following a stage acting career, he rose to popularity in the television series ''Remington Steele'' (1982–1987). After the conclusion of the series, Brosnan appeared in films such as the Cold War spy film '' The Fourth Protocol'' (1987) and the comedy ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993). After achieving worldwide fame for his role as James Bond, Brosnan took the lead in other major films including the epic disaster adventure film ''Dante's Peak'' (1997) and the remake of the heist film '' The Thomas Crown ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Man With The Golden Gun (film)
''The Man with the Golden Gun'' is a 1974 spy film and the ninth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. A loose adaptation of Ian Fleming's posthumously published 1965 novel of the same name, the film has Bond sent after the Solex Agitator, a breakthrough technological solution to contemporary energy shortages, while facing the assassin Francisco Scaramanga, the "Man with the Golden Gun". The action culminates in a duel between them that settles the fate of the Solex. ''The Man with the Golden Gun'' was the fourth and final film in the series directed by Guy Hamilton. The script was written by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz. The film was set in the face of the 1973 energy crisis, a dominant theme in the script; Britain had still not yet fully overcome the crisis when the film was released in December 1974. The film also reflects the then-popular martial arts film craze, with se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Bond (character)
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have written authorised Bond novels or novelisations: Kingsley Amis, Christopher Wood (writer), Christopher Wood, John Gardner (British writer), John Gardner, Raymond Benson, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffery Deaver, William Boyd (writer), William Boyd, and Anthony Horowitz. The latest novel is ''With a Mind to Kill'' by Anthony Horowitz, published in May 2022. Additionally Charlie Higson wrote a series on Young Bond, a young James Bond, and Samantha Weinberg, Kate Westbrook wrote three novels based on the The Moneypenny Diaries, diaries of a recurring series character, Miss Moneypenny, Moneypenny. The character—also known by the code number 007 (pronounced "double-oh-seven")—has also been adapted for television, radio, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athabasca (novel)
''Athabasca'' is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean, first published in 1980. As with the novel '' Night Without End'', it depicts adventure, sabotage and murder in the unforgiving Arctic environment. It is laid in the oilfields and oil sands fields of Alaska and Canada and includes a considerable amount of technical detail on the operations. Plot introduction When the operations manager of an oil company operating in Prudhoe Bay in Alaska receives a mysterious anonymous threat of sabotage, his superiors call in ''Jim Brady Enterprises'', a firm of oilfield specialists. Dermott and Mackenzie, tough ex-field managers and now anti-sabotage specialists, arrive, but initial investigations get them nowhere. Then the operations manager is murdered and one of the pump stations in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline is damaged, with further loss of life. Jim Brady himself arrives to direct operations but to no avail. Then the company's operations at the Athabasca Oil Sands in Canada ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fear Is The Key (film)
''Fear Is the Key'' is a 1972 British action thriller film directed by Michael Tuchner and based on the 1961 novel of the same title by Alistair MacLean. It stars Barry Newman and Suzy Kendall, with supporting roles by John Vernon, Dolph Sweet, and Ben Kingsley in his feature film debut. The film features a soundtrack by Roy Budd. Plot John Talbot is talking on radio to a woman and a man who is flying a plane. He hears them being machine gunned to death by another plane. Some time later, Talbot appears in a small town in Louisiana, where he starts a fight with some local police. He is arrested and faces trial, where it is revealed he is wanted for killing a policeman and robbing a bank. Talbot escapes from the courtroom, shooting another policeman and kidnapping a woman, Sarah Ruthven. A car chase ensues. Talbot and Sarah meet up with a mysterious man, Jablonsky, who reveals that Sarah is the daughter of an oil millionaire. Jablonsky turns Talbot and Sarah over to Sarah's fat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Puppet On A Chain (film)
''Puppet on a Chain'' is a 1970 British thriller film directed by Geoffrey Reeve and starring Sven-Bertil Taube, Barbara Parkins and Alexander Knox. It is based on the 1969 novel ''Puppet on a Chain'' by Alistair MacLean. The story was Maclean's 14th and the seventh film adaption of a Maclean novel. The film's signature boat chase (8 minutes of screen time) along the canals of Amsterdam reportedly inspired the boat chase in the James Bond movie '' Live and Let Die'' two years later and in the 1988 thriller ''Amsterdamned'', which would also feature a long canal boat chase. The boat chase was directed by an uncredited Don Sharp, who also did various reshoots for the film. Plot After three hippie drug-dealers are murdered by "the assassin" in a house in Los Angeles, the U.S. government sends special agent Paul Sherman to track down the Dutch source of heroin that is causing the drug war. On arriving at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Sherman witnesses an agent, Jimmy Duclos, who was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
When Eight Bells Toll (film)
''When Eight Bells Toll'' is a 1971 action film directed by Étienne Périer and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jack Hawkins, Robert Morley, and Nathalie Delon. Set in Scotland, it is based upon Scottish author Alistair MacLean's 1965 novel of the same name. Producer Elliott Kastner planned to produce a string of realistic gritty espionage thrillers to rival the James Bond series, but the film's poor box office receipts ended his plans. Plot British Treasury secret agent Phillip Calvert (Anthony Hopkins) is sent to investigate the hijacking of five cargo ships in the Irish Sea, tracking the latest hijacked ship—the ''Nantesville'', carrying £8 million in gold bullion—to the Scottish Highlands and the sleepy port town of "Torbay" on the "Isle of Torbay" (actually filmed in Tobermory, on the Isle of Mull). Posing as marine biologists, Calvert and his partner Hunslett (Corin Redgrave) find the local inhabitants suspicious and hostile. They suspect that Cypriot tycoon and shippi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rachel Roberts (actress)
Rachel Roberts (20 September 192726 November 1980) was a Welsh actress. She is best remembered for her screen performances as the older mistress of the central male character in ''Saturday Night and Sunday Morning'' (1960) and ''This Sporting Life'' (1963). For both films, she won the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress. She was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for ''This Sporting Life''. Her other notable film appearances included ''Murder on the Orient Express'' (1974), '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975) and ''Yanks'' (1979). Roberts' theatre credits included the original production of the musical ''Maggie May'' in 1964. She was nominated for the 1974 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the plays, ''Chemin de Fer'' and '' The Visit'', and won a Drama Desk Award in 1976 for ''Habeas Corpus''. Early life and career Roberts was born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. After a Baptist upbringing (against which she rebelled), followed by study at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Britt Ekland
Britt Ekland (; born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress, model and singer. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in '' The Double Man'' (1967), ''The Night They Raided Minsky's'' (1968), ''Machine Gun McCain'' (1969), '' Stiletto'' (1969) and the British crime film ''Get Carter'' (1971), which established her as a sex symbol. She also starred in several horror films including the British horror film ''The Wicker Man'' (1973), and appeared as a Bond girl in '' The Man with the Golden Gun'' (1974). Ekland continued to act throughout the remainder of the 1970s, having roles in films such as '' The Ultimate Thrill'' (1974), ''Royal Flash'' (1975), '' High Velocity'' (1976) and ''King Solomon's Treasure'' (1979), and into the 1980s starring in the likes of ''Fraternity Vacation'' (1985), ''Moon in Scorpio'' (1987) and ''Scandal'' (1989) although since the early 1990s her acting work has mainly consisted of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
