Judi Dench

Judi Dench

Birth : 1934-12-09, York, North Yorkshire, England

History

Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA (born 9 December 1934) is an English film, stage and television actress. Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. She branched into film work, and won a BAFTA Award as Most Promising Newcomer; however, most of her work during this period was in theatre. Not generally known as a singer, she drew strong reviews for her leading role in the musical Cabaret in 1968. During the next two decades, she established herself as one of the most significant British theatre performers, working for the National Theatre Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In television, she achieved success during this period, in the series A Fine Romance from 1981 until 1984 and in 1992 began a continuing role in the television romantic comedy series As Time Goes By. Her film appearances were infrequent until she was cast as M in GoldenEye (1995), a role she played in each James Bond film until Skyfall (2012). She received several notable film awards for her role as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown (1997), and has since been acclaimed for her work in such films as Shakespeare in Love (1998), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) and Notes on a Scandal (2006), and the television production The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2001). Regarded by critics as one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, and frequently named as the leading British actress in polls, Dench has received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include ten BAFTAs, seven Laurence Olivier Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. She was married to actor Michael Williams from 1971 until his death in 2001. They are the parents of actress Finty Williams.

Profile

Judi Dench
Judi Dench

Movies

The Coronation Concert
Self (archive footage)
Take That, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, Andrea Bocelli, Sir Bryn Terfel, Freya Ridings and many more perform live from Windsor Castle in celebration of Their Majesties' coronation.
Allelujah
Mary Moss
Set in a geriatric ward within a small hospital, when news of its closure begins to reach the community, the hospital invites a local news crew to document their planning of a concert in honor of the hospital's most celebrated nurse. But there might be something more threatening to the hospital itself, more deadly than the politicians ready to shut down the place at a moment's notice.
Spirited
Dame Judi Dench
Each Christmas Eve, the Ghost of Christmas Present selects one dark soul to be reformed by a visit from three spirits. But this season, he picked the wrong Scrooge. Clint Briggs turns the tables on his ghostly host until Present finds himself reexamining his own past, present and future.
Quintessentially British
Self
This unique and cheeky documentary explores Britain and what makes our country great from our traditions to our self-deprecating sense of humour.
Born to be The King
Narrator
As Prince Charles, the longest serving heir apparent, ascends the throne as King, those who know him well, who have worked for and with him, discuss what he has achieved as Prince of Wales and what he will bring to the role as the new Monarch.
Judi Dench: Our National Treasure
Self (archive footage)
A profile of the actress from a strict Quaker upbringing in Yorkshire, through her staunch determination to make it as a thespian. There's also a look at her work in TV favourites such as A Fine Romance and As Time Goes By, where Judi's performances won her four BAFTA awards, and her tenure in the James Bond franchise.
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
Self
On 3 May 2022, Cameron Mackintosh invited many of Stephen Sondheim’s old friends to join him in London’s West End for a thrilling, joyously staged production. He had specially devised it to celebrate Sondheim’s extraordinary talents as a composer and lyricist. Featuring an all-star cast including Michael Ball, Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Petula Clark, Anna-Jane Casey, Rosalie Craig, Janie Dee, Judi Dench, Daniel Evans, Maria Friedman, Haydn Gwynne, Bonnie Langford, Damian Lewis and Julia McKenzie.
Belfast
Granny
Buddy is a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, whose life is filled with familial love, childhood hijinks, and a blossoming romance. Yet, with his beloved hometown caught up in increasing turmoil, his family faces a momentous choice: hope the conflict will pass or leave everything they know behind for a new life.
Being James Bond
M (archive footage)
Daniel Craig candidly reflects on his 15 year adventure as James Bond. Including never-before-seen archival footage from Casino Royale to the upcoming 25th film No Time To Die, Craig shares his personal memories in conversation with 007 producers, Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.
Off the Rails
Diana
Now in their 50’s, three friends recreate an inter-rail journey across Europe, but this time 18-year-old Maddie is taking her mother’s place, fulfilling her dying wish. With lost passports, train strikes and romantic entanglements thrown in their way, they must put old feuds aside to complete the journey within five days and remind themselves that they are still at their peak.
The Show Must Go On! - Live at the Palace Theatre
Self - Preshow Announcement (voice)
Presented by Theatre Support Fund+, The Shows Must Go On! and National Theatre Live, the world’s most iconic musicals return to the West End stage with a stunning concert performance live from the Palace Theatre. With a multi award winning creative team, a cast of over 50 West End stars and an orchestra made up of the best musicians the West End has to offer, enjoy the biggest celebration of musicals this summer.
Blithe Spirit
Madame Arcati
A spiritualist medium holds a seance for a writer suffering from writers block but accidentally summons the spirit of his deceased first wife which leads to an increasingly complex love triangle with his current wife of five years.
Six Minutes to Midnight
Miss Rocholl
Summer 1939. Influential families in Nazi Germany have sent their daughters to a finishing school in an English seaside town to learn the language and be ambassadors for a future looking National Socialist. A teacher there sees what is coming and is trying to raise the alarm. But the authorities believe he is the problem.
Artemis Fowl
Commander Root
Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old genius and descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds. He soon finds himself in an epic battle against a race of powerful underground fairies who may be behind his father's disappearance.
Cats
Old Deuteronomy
A tribe of cats called the Jellicles must decide yearly which one will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new Jellicle life.
All Is True
Anne Shakespeare
London, June 29th, 1613. The Globe Theater, ran by the famous playwright William Shakespeare, accidentally burns to ashes. Seriously affected, he stops writing and returns to his hometown, where his wife Anne and daughters Judith and Susanna get surprised to hear he intends to stay there definitively, after two decades working in the capital, neglecting his sincere affections for them.
Red Joan
Joan Elizabeth Stanley
London, England, May 2000. The peaceful life of elderly Joan Stanley is suddenly disrupted when she is arrested by the British Intelligence Service and accused of providing information to communist Russia during the forties.
Palo Santo
Mother of Palo Santo
Palo Santo, a city on a distant planet, on which human beings are a rare commodity, worshipped and idolized by an android society. Olly, along with the final humans, is recruited to perform in a series of bizarre erotic cabarets, for an artificial master known only as The Showman.
Nothing Like a Dame
Herself
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Elieen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.
Judi Dench: My Passion for Trees
Herself
A fungi expert also shows Judi the incredible action going on beneath her feet, revealing an astonishing underground fungal network that looks up to the tips of tree roots, connecting many trees in a forest together. It's an incredible system known as the 'wood wide web'. It is confirmation for Judi that trees aren't just trees, they are a real community that help each other, humans and the planet.
Murder on the Orient Express
Natalia Dragomiroff
Genius Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an American tycoon aboard the Orient Express train.
Victoria & Abdul
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
Tulip Fever
The Abbess of St. Ursula
An artist falls for a married young woman while he's commissioned to paint her portrait. The two invest in the risky tulip market in hopes to build a future together.
Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage
Self
This documentary celebrates one of Britain’s greatest actors, Dame Judi Dench, and looks back over her remarkable 60-year career.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Miss Avocet
A teenager finds himself transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers from creatures intent on destroying them.
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
From the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, David Tennant, Catherine Tate and guests mark the life of William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death.
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
Paulina
A jealous king jeopardizes his family, friendships and succession.
Spectre
M (uncredited)
A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.
The Vote
Christine Metcalfe
On 7 May, churches, school halls, and back rooms of community centres will be turned into polling stations, staffed by council workers and volunteers. A church polling station is the backdrop for a real-time play for theatre and TV, called The Vote, staged at the exact moment in which the action is set - the last 90 minutes before polls close.
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Evelyn Greenslade
As the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has only a single remaining vacancy - posing a rooming predicament for two fresh arrivals - Sonny pursues his expansionist dream of opening a second hotel.
Roald Dahl's Esio Trot
Mrs. Silver
Mr. Hoppy is a shy old man who lives alone in an apartment building. For many years, he has been secretly in love with Mrs. Silver, a woman who lives below him. Mr. Hoppy frequently leans over his balcony and exchanges polite conversation with Mrs. Silver, but he is too shy to disclose how he feels. Mr. Hoppy longs to express his feelings to Mrs. Silver, but he can never bring his lips to form the words. Mrs. Silver has a small pet tortoise, Alfie, whom she loves very much. One morning, Mrs. Silver mentions to Mr. Hoppy that even though she has had Alfie for many years, her pet has only grown a tiny bit and has gained only 3 ounces in weight. She confesses that she wishes she knew of some way to make her little Alfie grown into a larger, more dignified tortoise. Mr. Hoppy suddenly thinks of a way to give Mrs. Silver her wish and win her affection.
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND THE OSCAR GOES TO... traces the history of the Academy itself, which began in 1927 when Louis B. Mayer, then head of MGM, led other prominent members of the industry in forming this professional honorary organization. Two years later the Academy began bestowing awards, which were nicknamed "Oscar," and quickly came to represent the pinnacle of cinematic achievement.
Six by Sondheim
Self (archive footage)
This intimate documentary explores the life and career of the stage legend Stephen Sondheim through six of his best-known songs.
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Cleopatra/Desiree Armfeldt
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the National Theatre of Great Britain presents National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage, bringing together the best British actors for a unique evening of unforgettable performances, broadcast live from London to cinemas around the world.
Philomena
Philomena
A woman searches for her adult son, who was taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
Muse of Fire
Self
Funny, passionate, exciting, and smart: ‘Muse Of Fire’ will change the way you feel about Shakespeare forever. This unique feature documentary follows two actors, Giles Terera and Dan Poole, as they travel the world to find out everything they can about tackling the greatest writer of them all. Together they have directed and produced an inspiring film that aims to demystify and illuminate Shakespeare’s work for everyone: from actors, directors and students of all disciplines, right through to the? man on the street? Denmark with Jude Law, Baz Luhrmann in Hollywood, Prison in Berlin, and on the street with Mark Rylance. Think Shakespeare is boring? Think again!
Top Gear: 50 Years of Bond Cars
Self
Richard Hammond celebrates 50 years of Bond's amazing history with cars revealing the entertaining behind-the-scenes stories of the most iconic cars.
Skyfall
M
When Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong, agents around the world are exposed and MI6 headquarters is attacked. While M faces challenges to her authority and position from Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, it's up to Bond, aided only by field agent Eve, to locate the mastermind behind the attack.
Everything or Nothing
Self
The story of three men with a shared dream: James Bond franchise producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and Bond creator and author Ian Fleming. It’s the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history, which began in 1962.
Stars In Shorts
Mary
Seven short films, all of which feature name actors, including Judi Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Colin Firth, Lily Tomlin, Keira Knightley, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and more.
Run For Your Wife
Bag Lady
John Smith has been happily involved in a bigamous marriage for five years. He lives with Stephanie in Finsbury and Michelle in Stockwell. Fortunately, for John, he's a taxi driver which involves varying shift work! Simple? Well, when John unwittingly becomes a have-a-go hero and the Finsbury and Stockwell police forces discover something suspicious in their paperwork, John's happy bubble is about to be burst. The action of the movie takes place during the next hectic 24 hours as John, with the assistance of his gullible neighbor Gary, rush between North and South London attempting to thwart the police and prevent the two loving wives coming face to face!
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Evelyn Greenslade
British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than its advertisements, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways as the residents find new purpose in their old age.
My Week with Marilyn
Dame Sybil Thorndike
London, 1956. Genius actor and film director Laurence Olivier is about to begin the shooting of his upcoming movie, premiered in 1957 as The Prince and the Showgirl, starring Marilyn Monroe. Young Colin Clark, who dreams on having a career in movie business, manages to get a job on the set as third assistant director.
J. Edgar
Anna Marie Hoover
As the face of law enforcement in the United States for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career, and his life.
On Stranger Tides: Johnny and Judi
Self
Behind the scene segment of Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides.
Friend Request Pending
Mary
FRIEND REQUEST PENDING is a short comedy drama about the mature generation dating in our modern social networking world. It's a tale of love but more importantly life long friendship. The twelve-minute tale tells the story of Mary (Judi Dench) and Linda (Penny Ryder) who spend an afternoon discussing the pleasures, pitfalls and problems with using social networking to try and woo the local choirmaster Trevor (Philip Jackson).
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Society Lady
Captain Jack Sparrow crosses paths with a woman from his past, and he's not sure if it's love -- or if she's a ruthless con artist who's using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. When she forces him aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard, Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn't know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past.
Into the Woods
The Giant (voice)
Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods weaves together many famous fairy tales in an allegorical story of family, love, growing up and the hazy areas between right and wrong. This production was captured by Digital Theatre live at London’s Regent’s Park Open Air theatre and was directed by Timothy Sheader. Into the Woods takes the stories of the Brothers Grimm and gives them a dark and humorous twist. The popular tales of Red Ridinghood, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), Cinderella and Rapunzel are interwoven with that of the Baker and his Wife and their quest to have a child. However this re-telling goes beyond "happily ever after" as the familiar characters find themselves in unfamiliar circumstances and hopes and dreams are questioned and revisited.
Jane Eyre
Mrs. Fairfax
After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meet the dark, cold, and abrupt master of the house, Mr. Rochester. Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Happiness seems to have found Jane at last, but could Mr. Rochester's terrible secret be about to destroy it forever?
James Bond Supports International Women's Day
M (voice)
This short film is made by 'We Are Equals' to celebrate International Women's Day. James Bond video for international women's day shows 007's feminine side. Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench team up for two-minute film highlighting the need for gender equality. 007 star Daniel Craig undergo a dramatic makeover as he puts himself, quite literally, in a woman's shoes.
Nine
Lilli
Arrogant, self-centered movie director Guido Contini finds himself struggling to find meaning, purpose, and a script for his latest film endeavor. With only a week left before shooting begins, he desperately searches for answers and inspiration from his wife, his mistress, his muse, and his mother.
Rage
Mona Carvell
A schoolboy uses his cellphone camera to shoot intimate interviews with people working at a New York fashion house and secretly posts them on the internet. Result: a bitterly funny expose of an industry in crisis, during a week in which an accident on the runway becomes a murder investigation, and denial leads to devastation.
Quantum of Solace
M
Quantum of Solace continues the adventures of James Bond after Casino Royale. Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M interrogate Mr. White, who reveals that the organization that blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.
Killers Kill, Dead Men Die
The Maiden Aunt
The most ambitious portfolio in the 13-year history of Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue, this year's homage to noir had its own dramatic imperatives.
Notes on a Scandal
Barbara Covett
A veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond platonic friendship.
Casino Royale
M
Le Chiffre, a banker to the world's terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where he intends to use his winnings to establish his financial grip on the terrorist market. M sends Bond—on his maiden mission as a 00 Agent—to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. With the help of Vesper Lynd and Felix Leiter, Bond enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career.
Directing Bond: The Martin Chronicles
Martin Campbell directs Goldeneye.
Doogal
Narrator (voice)
This is the story of Doogal, an adorable candy-loving mutt who goes on a mission to save the world.
Pride & Prejudice
Catherine de Bourgh
A story of love and life among the landed English gentry during the Georgian era. Mr. Bennet is a gentleman living in Hertfordshire with his overbearing wife and five daughters, but if he dies their house will be inherited by a distant cousin whom they have never met, so the family's future happiness and security is dependent on the daughters making good marriages.
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Mrs. Laura Henderson
Eccentric 70-year-old widow purchases the Windmill Theatre in London as a post-widowhood hobby. After starting an innovative continuous variety review, which is copied by other theaters, they begin to lose money. Mrs. Henderson suggests they add female nudity similar to the Moulin Rouge in Paris.
We Become Silent - The Last Days of Health Freedom
Narrator
International award-winning filmmaker Kevin P. Miller of Well TV announced the release of a new documentary about the threat to medical freedom of choice. We Become Silent: The Last Days of Health Freedom details the ongoing attempts by multinational pharmaceutical interests and giant food companies — in concert with the WTO, the WHO and others – to limit the public’s access to herbs, vitamins and other therapies.
Ladies in Lavender
Ursula
Andrea, a gifted young Polish violinist from Krakow, is bound for America when he is swept overboard by a storm. When the Widdington sisters discover the handsome stranger on the beach below their house, they nurse him back to health. However, the presence of the musically talented young man disrupts the peaceful lives of Ursula and Janet and the community in which they live.
A Dairy Tale
Mrs. Calloway (voice)
Mrs. Caloway attempts to tell the tale of Three Little Pigs to the four piglets, but Maggie, Buck, and others keep interrupting her and adding story elements they want to hear.
The Chronicles of Riddick
Aereon
After years of outrunning ruthless bounty hunters, escaped convict Riddick suddenly finds himself caught between opposing forces in a fight for the future of the human race. Now, waging incredible battles on fantastic and deadly worlds, this lone, reluctant hero will emerge as humanity's champion - and the last hope for a universe on the edge of annihilation.
Home on the Range
Mrs. Caloway (voice)
When a greedy outlaw schemes to take possession of the "Patch Of Heaven" dairy farm, three determined cows, a karate-kicking stallion and a colorful corral of critters join forces to save their home. The stakes are sky-high as this unlikely animal alliance risk their hides and match wits with a mysterious band of bad guys.
Bugs!
Narrator (voice)
Explore the extraordinary hidden world of insects, where a leaf weighs more than a car, rain drops feel like exploding hand grenades and a blade of grass soars like a skyscraper. Shot on location in the Borneo rainforest, Bugs! brings the beautiful and dangerous universe of its tiny stars up close and personal with cutting-edge technology that magnifies them up to 250,000 times their normal size.
Billy Connolly: A BAFTA Tribute
Herself
A BAFTA tribute celebrating the career of Billy Connolly.
Judi Dench Talks to Richard Eyre
Self
Richard Eyre talks to Judi Dench about her art, her career and views on acting.
Angelina Ballerina: The Show Must Go On
Miss Lilly (voice)
It's Christmas, and Angelina Mouseling (Finty Williams) is auditioning for the lead role in the musical extravaganza, Cinderella Mouse and the Ugly Whiskers. She is devastated when Penelope Pinkpaws (Jonell Elliott) is chosen to play Cinderella and she is cast as the Wicked Stepmouse. Taking Miss Lilly's (Dame Judi Dench's) advice to "think horrid" much too literally, Angelina storms off in a fit of a temper. Then a toboggan race goes wrong and it seems that the production will have to be cancelled. Realizing how selfish she has been, Angelina determines to sort things out, because as every aspiring star knows, "The Show Must Go On".
Best Ever Bond
Self
Roger Moore presents the ten best sequences ever to have appeared in the James Bond series, and cast members recall their favourite moments.
Die Another Day: From Script to Screen
Self
A documentary about Die Another Day.
Die Another Day
M
James Bond is sent to investigate the connection between a North Korean terrorist and a diamond mogul, who is funding the development of an international space weapon.
Bond Girls Are Forever
Herself
Through vintage film clips of past Bond movie epics, and with the participation of several former "Bond Girls" as interviewees (among them Dr. No's Ursula Andress and Diamonds Are Forever's Jill St. John), the documentary traced the evolution of the typical James Bond heroine from decorative damsel in distress to gutsy (but still decorative) participant in the action.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Lady Bracknell
Two young gentlemen living in 1890s England use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") on the sly, which is fine until they both fall in love with women using that name, which leads to a comedy of mistaken identities...
Shaken and Stirred on Ice
Self
A documentary about Die Another Day.
The Life of Shakespeare
self
Dramatically presented and narrated by the late internationally renowned actor of stage and screen Ian Richardson, with exquisite Shakespeare readings by Britain’s most successful and award winning actress, Dame Judi Dench, Life Trustee of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Richard Rodgers: Some Enchanted Evening
Performer: "Sixteen Going on Seventeen"
This star-studded gala celebrates the centenary of the birth of legendary Broadway composer Richard Rodgers. Rodgers' contribution to musical theatre was extraordinary, including 900 published songs, 40 Broadway musicals and several film scores. Rodgers, together with lyricists Lorenz Hart and later Oscar Hammerstein II, wrote many of the best known musicals of the 20th Century, including Babes In Arms, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. This performance at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, directed for the stage by Simon Callow, includes songs, dance, staged numbers and anecdotes featuring leading stars from both Broadway and London's West End. The cast comprises luminaries drawn from Oklahoma!, Kiss Me Kate, Chicago, The King and I and other recent productions as well as from television. This musical extravaganza features many of Rodgers' best-loved classics.
The Shipping News
Agnis Hamm
An emotionally-beaten man with his young daughter moves to his ancestral home in Newfoundland to reclaim his life.
Iris
Iris Murdoch
True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.
Chocolat
Armande Voizin
A mother and daughter move to a small French town where they open a chocolate shop. The town, religious and morally strict, is against them, as they represent free-thinking and indulgence. When a group of Boat Gypsies float down the river, the prejudice of the Mayor leads to a crisis.
Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport
Narrator (voice)
In the nine months prior to World War II, 10.000 innocent children left behind their families, their homes, their childhood, and took the journey... to Britain to escape the Nazi Holocaust.
The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
Elizabeth
After Elizabeth's husband dies, she begins to play her tenor saxophone again, and remembers when she was 15 and a member of the Blonde Bombshells, an all-girl (with one exception) swing band. Accompanied by the exception and urged on by her grand-daughter, Elizabeth hunts up all the old members of the band and urges them to perform, and in doing so, learns more than she knew about the band, its members, the roses on the drum set, and herself--the last of the Blonde Bombshells.
The World Is Not Enough
M
Greed, revenge, world dominance and high-tech terrorism – it's all in a day's work for Bond, who's on a mission to protect a beautiful oil heiress from a notorious terrorist. In a race against time that culminates in a dramatic submarine showdown, Bond works to defuse the international power struggle that has the world's oil supply hanging in the balance.
Tea with Mussolini
Arabella
Semi-autobiographical film directed by Franco Zeffirelli, telling the story of young Italian boy Luca's upbringing by a circle of English and American women, before and during World War II.
Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years
The very best of Billy Connolly's stand up comedy, from 30 years of performances around the world!
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
Desiree Armfeldt (segment "Send In The Clowns")
'Hey, Mr Producer!' features selected scenes from the productions of the world's most successful musical producer, Cameron Mackintosh - classic songs from classic musicals performed by the ultimate cast.
Shakespeare in Love
Queen Elizabeth
Young Shakespeare is forced to stage his latest comedy, "Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter," before it's even written. When a lovely noblewoman auditions for a role, they fall into forbidden love -- and his play finds a new life (and title). As their relationship progresses, Shakespeare's comedy soon transforms into tragedy.
Highly Classified: The World of 007
His world is full of glamour, mystery and intrigue and now you get to be a part of it! Let gadget wizard Q (Desmond Llewelyn) be your guide to the ubiquitous lifestyle and thrilling adventures of the world's most notorious secret agent. The undercover team will take you behind-the-scenes as they infiltrate the highly classified worlds of the man everyone knows as Bond -- James Bond. Hosted by Desmond Llewelyn who plays Secret Service gadget master Q. Boasts rare behind-the-scenes footage of spectacular stunts and explosive action sequences. Reveals the special effects magic behind the remotely-driven BMW, the rooftop motorcycle chase and death-defying skysrcaper jump. Interviews with Tomorrow Never Dies' director Roger Spottiswoode and stars Pierce Brosnan, Jonathan Pryce, Michelle Yeoh, Teri Hatcher and Judi Dench.
Tomorrow Never Dies
M
A deranged media mogul is staging international incidents to pit the world's superpowers against each other. Now James Bond must take on this evil mastermind in an adrenaline-charged battle to end his reign of terror and prevent global pandemonium.
Mrs Brown
Queen Victoria
When Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown. But their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil to the monarchy.
Hamlet
Hecuba
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother now marrying the murderer... his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Goldeneye: The Secret Files
Made for TV documentary including interview and behind the scenes footage from the James Bond movie GoldenEye (1995).
GoldenEye
M
When a powerful satellite system falls into the hands of Alec Trevelyan, AKA Agent 006, a former ally-turned-enemy, only James Bond can save the world from a dangerous space weapon that -- in one short pulse -- could destroy the earth! As Bond squares off against his former compatriot, he also battles Xenia Onatopp, an assassin who uses pleasure as her ultimate weapon
Jack & Sarah
Margaret
Jack always lands on his feet. He lands on his feet when he marries the beautiful Sarah. He lands on his feet when he buys a luxurious new home. However, when Sarah goes into labour, he takes a tumble down the stairs and lands on his head. When he comes around he discovers he is the proud father of a baby girl, but deficient in the spouse department to the tune of 1.
GoldenEye: The Secret Files - The Cast
A short documentary about the cast of GoldenEye.
J.R.R.T. : A Study of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, 1892-1973
Narrator
J.R.R.T.: A Study of J.R.R. Tolkien is a 1992 documentary, narrated by Judi Dench, produced to celebrate the centenary of J.R.R. Tolkien's birth. It is sometimes called "J.R.R. Tolkien: A Portrait" and "J.R.R. Tolkien - An Authorized Film Portrait". It features archive footage and audio recordings of J.R.R. Tolkien, and interviews with three of his children Priscilla, John, and Christopher. It also includes interviews with Baillie Tolkien, Robert Murray, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, Rayner Unwin, Tom Shippey, and Verlyn Flieger.
Absolute Hell
Christine Foskett
Black comedy set in Soho, London, right after World War II. Half of the fun is seeing a slew of very familiar faces kick up their heels as gay men, lesbians, party-girls, drunks, and drag queens. Originally aired as part of the anthology series "Performance."
Can You Hear Me Thinking?
Real life husband and wife Judi Dench and Michael Williams star in this Screen One film as the parents of teenage boy diagnosed with schizophrenia
Henry V
Mistress Quickly
Gritty adaption of William Shakespeare's play about the English King's bloody conquest of France.
Look Back in Anger
Director
Look Back in Anger is a love triangle involving the brilliant-but-disaffected young Jimmy Porter (Branagh), his upper-middle-class, impassive wife Alison Porter (Thompson), and her aristocratic best friend Helena Charles (Redmond). Cliff (Horan), an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace.
One More Audience with Dame Edna Everage
Self (uncredited)
The gloriously glamorous Dame Edna entertains a celebrity audience in this 1988 special.
An Audience With Victoria Wood
Herself
British comedy legend Victoria Wood entertains a star-studded audience including Julie Walters, Judi Dench and Dawn French in this 1988 special. Watch her crack jokes, play the piano and answer light-hearted questions.
A Handful of Dust
Mrs. Beaver
English aristocrat Tony Last welcomes tragedy into his life when he invites John Beaver to visit his vast estate. There Beaver makes the acquaintance of Tony's wife, Brenda. Together, they continue their relationship in a series of bedroom assignations in London. Trusting to a fault, Tony is unaware that anything is amiss until his wife suddenly asks for a divorce. With his life in turmoil, Tony goes on a haphazard journey to South America.
Ghosts
The publication of Ghosts in 1881 caused an uproar and almost ruined Ibsen. It was banned across Europe and sales of his plays plummeted. Its themes of moral degredation - out-of-wedlock children, venereal disease, incest, infidelity, and euthanasia - proved too shocking. The play remains shocking even for modern-day audiences. Captain Alving was a respected man in his community, and on the tenth anniversary of his death, Mrs Alving is preparing for the opening of an orphanage in his honor. This effort however, is really an attempt by Mrs Alving to mask her hidden disgust with Captain Alving who in reality was a cheating, immoral philanderer who bequethed a deadly legacy to his son Oswald.
84 Charing Cross Road
Nora Doel
When a humorous script-reader in her New York apartment sees an ad in the Saturday Review of Literature for a bookstore in London that does mail order, she begins a very special correspondence and friendship with Frank Doel, the bookseller who works at Marks & Co., 84 Charing Cross Road.
Make and Break
Mrs. Rogers
Lots of pent up business people struggle to balance business with pleasure.
The Browning Version
Millie Crocker-Harris
Adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play produced for the BBC in 1985.
Mr. and Mrs. Edgehill
Dorrie Edgehill
Eustace and Dorrie Edgehill have decided to leave Samola, a British protectorate in the Pacific. After the failure of his latest harebrained scheme, no one is likely to give Eustace a job now. Or are they?
A Room with a View
Eleanor Lavish
When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperon Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans?
Wetherby
Marcia Pilborough
The mysterious death of an enigmatic young man newly arrived in the suburb of Wetherby releases the long-repressed, dark passions of some of its residents.
The Angelic Conversation
(voice)
The Angelic Conversation is a lyrical, haunting film about a young man’s search for love, in a dreamlike landscape. Offscreen, Dame Judi Dench recites a sequence of Shakespeare sonnets, that counterpoint the action. Jarman called it, “My most austere work, but also the closest to my heart.”
Saigon: Year Of The Cat
Barbara Dean
The year is 1974, and Barbara Dean (Judi Dench), a British assistant manager in a foreign bank in Saigon, begins a relationship with American Bob Chesneau (Frederic Forrest). She quickly realises that he works for the CIA and he knows that the fall of South Vietnam is very near.
The Cherry Orchard
Madame Ranevsky and her daughter Anya return home from Paris to find that their beloved family estate and cherry orchard are to be auctioned off to pay debts. Lopahin, a former serf on the estate who is now a walthy landowner, proposes razing the home and cherrt orchard and dividing the estate into plats that could be leased at great profit. The family, however, continues to hold out hope that their beloved home can somehow be saved from destruction.
Going Gently
Sister Scarli
Play about two elderly cancer patients suffering in hospital.
On Giant's Shoulders
Hazel Wiles
The true story of Terry Wiles, born with no limbs in 1962 as a result of his mother's use of the drug thalidomide. This film tells the story of his childhood and adoption by the couple Len and Hazel Wiles who live on a remote farm, and the subsequent challenges and resistance to give Terry a 'normal' life.
A Performance of Macbeth
Lady Macbeth
Macbeth is a 1978 videotaped version of Trevor Nunn's Royal Shakespeare Company production of the play by William Shakespeare. Produced by Thames Television, it features Ian McKellen as Macbeth and Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth. The TV version was directed by Philip Casson. The original stage production was performed at The Other Place, the RSC's small studio theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. It had been performed in the round before small audiences, with a bare stage and simple costuming. The recording preserves this style: the actors perform on a circular set and with a mostly black background changes of setting are indicated only by lighting changes.
The Comedy of Errors
Adriana
The Royal Shakespeare Company act (and sing and dance!) Shakespeare's play about two sets of identical twins, separated at birth and brought together by circumstance.
Langrishe, Go Down
Imogen Langrishe
In the late 1930s, three reclusive middle-aged spinster sisters live on their run down family estate in Ireland. Otto Beck, a perpetual graduate student from Bavaria with a habit of making pompous declamations, rents the back lodge to work on his esoteric thesis. Imogen Langrishe, the least repressed of the sisters, begins an affair with Otto. Imogen takes the love affair seriously, but Otto just enjoys the cheap lodging and the comfort of Imogen.
My Homeland
Reader
Perhaps this is Robert Vas' most personal film; a portrait of his country - Hungary - as seen through the eyes of an exile. Robert Vas escaped from his homeland after the brutal crushing of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising by the Russians and he was never able to return. He portrays his country through the writings of Hungary's national poets and illustrates the film with images of the Revolution and of the society it would become in the years immediately following 1956. The film was transmitted on the 20th anniversary of the crushing of the uprising.
Dead Cert
Laura Davidson
As a surprise, two horse owners decide to ride their animals themselves in a steeplechase. But Bill Davidson's horse "Admiral" behaves weirdly, and falls hard after an obstacle. Bill dies from his injuries. His friend Alan York suspects the animal was doped by unscrupulous bookies and starts to investigate. He doesn't know how serious his opponents are, and that he's in danger to suffer the exact same fate as his friend.
Luther
Katharina
One sixteenth-century clergyman's view breaks the Catholic Church apart.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Titania
Peter Hall's film adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy, filmed in and around an English country house and starring actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Four in the Morning
Wife ("Judi")
The parallel stories of two couples in crises and their connections to a drowned woman found in a river.
He Who Rides a Tiger
Joanne
Peter Rayston, has been in and out of prison most of his life. At 30, he is released for the eighth time, after serving a sentence for housebreaking. Immediately, he goes back to his old life, providing for his expensive tastes by executing a series of daring burglaries
A Study in Terror
Sally
When Watson reads from the newspaper there have been two similar murders near Whitechapel in a few days, Sherlock Holmes' sharp deductive is immediately stimulated to start its merciless method of elimination after observation of every apparently meaningless detail. He guesses right the victims must be street whores, and doesn't need long to work his way trough a pawn shop, an aristocratic family's stately home, a hospital and of course the potential suspects and (even unknowing) witnesses who are the cast of the gradually unraveled story of the murderer and his motive.
The Third Secret
Miss Ada Humphries
A prominent London psychologist seems to have taken his own life, causing stunned disbelief amongst his colleagues and patients. His teenage daughter refuses to believe it was suicide as this would go against all of the principles her father stood for, therefore she is convinced it was murder. She enlists the help of a former patient to try to get to the truth. However, the truth turns out to be both surprising and disturbing.
The Cherry Orchard
Anya
Madame Ranevsky and her daughter Anya return home from Paris to find that their beloved family estate and cherry orchard are to be auctioned off to pay debts. Lopahin, a former serf on the estate who is now a wealthy landowner, proposes razing the home and cherry orchard and dividing the estate into plots that could be leased at great profit. The family, however, continues to hold out hope that their beloved home can somehow be saved from destruction.