Wilfrid Lawson

Acting

Wilfrid Lawson

Born — Died

1900-01-13 — 1966-10-10

Place of birth

Bradford, Yorkshire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

59 titles

Known for

Theatre 625 poster
7.2

Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line format, which only BBC2 used at the time.

Theatre 625

1964

Sunday Night Theatre poster
3.5

Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, partly because of technical limitations in this era, and the theatrical basis of early television drama. Some of the earliest collaborations between Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Neale were produced for this series, including Arrow to the Heart and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Sunday night drama slot was subsequently renamed The Sunday-Night Play which ran for four seasons between 1960 and 1963. ITV transmitted its own unrelated run of Sunday Night Theatre between 1971 and 1974.

Sunday Night Theatre

1950

ITV Play of the Week poster
4.0

A UK anthology series of single plays from major playwrights old and new. It ran from 1955 to 1974, producing about five hundred ninety-minute episodes from Granada Television. Season 1 also incorporates the Plays from the 'H.M. Tennant Globe Theatre' series, some of which were incorporated and labelled in listings as official Play of the Week episodes and some of which were played in place of Play of the Week episodes in alternative ITV regions. All 8 plays have been incorporated into this entry for convenience.

ITV Play of the Week

1955

War and Peace poster
6.6

The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.

War and Peace

1956

Green Grass poster
NR

It's no secret that Declan is the university class coaster, which is why his friends refuse to partner with him on their next assignment. Out of options, Declan is forced to pair up with Claire, the new Deaf student who is everything Declan isn't; academic, driven and fiercely proud of her identity. Set against the backdrop of coastal university life on the south coast of England, Green Grass dips into the murky waters of strained friendships, sustainability, and D/deaf identity in this coming-of-age drama.

Green Grass

2026

Room at the Top poster
6.9

An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman.

Room at the Top

1958

Film credits

2020s · 2 titles

1960s · 11 titles

Becket poster
7.2

Thomas Becket, Henry II's longtime advisor, finds his friendship with the debauched king corroding when he is unwillingly appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in an attempt to gain absolute loyalty from the Church.

Becket

1964

Tom Jones poster
5.9

Tom loves Sophie and Sophie loves Tom. But Tom and Sophie are of differering classes. Can they find a way through the mayhem to be true to love?

Tom Jones

1963

The Naked Edge poster
6.3

Five years after George Radcliffe was the chief witness in a high profile murder case, his wife receives a blackmailing letter accusing him of the crime.

The Naked Edge

1961

Postman's Knock poster
4.9

Likeable country postman Harold Petts gets transferred from his village to London, where on his arrival he unwittingly foils a mail train robbery. Innocent in the ways of the big city, he is thought to be a member of another gang by both the train robbers and the police, who all suspect him of trying to rob the post office where he works.

Postman's Knock

1962

The Viking Queen poster
4.8

Set in ancient Britain, at a time when much of Europe was ruled with harsh tyranny by Rome, a tribe of Britons led by Selina, set out to defy the invaders and discard their yoke of bondage. The Roman commander, Justinian, is sent to quell the uprising, punishing the dissenters with brute force but when he becomes emotionally attached to Selina, he is torn between his duty to Rome and his love for the Viking Queen.

The Viking Queen

1967

Alice in Wonderland poster
6.0

Alice in Wonderland (1966) is a BBC television play based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It was directed by Jonathan Miller, then most widely known for his appearance in the long-running satirical revue Beyond the Fringe.

Alice in Wonderland

1966

The Wrong Box poster
6.4

In Victorian England, a fortune now depends on which of two brothers outlives the other—or can be made to have seemed to do so.

The Wrong Box

1966

Nothing Barred poster
7.0

Penniless Lord Whitebait's plan to save his sinking fortunes is to open stately Whitebait Manor to the public. But the public ignores his gesture, and his fortunes fade even further, with a stream of debts threatening to run into a deluge when his daughter's fiancé demands a plush and costly wedding. Where is the cash to come from? Whitebait and his servant Spankforth's answer is a scam involving the theft of a valuable painting from the Manor. How could such a cunningly original ruse fail?

Nothing Barred

1961

Go to Blazes poster
6.3

A gang of aspiring bank robbers involve themselves with arsonists and purchase their very own fire truck in an attempt to create the ultimate diversion. But posing as firemen leads them to disaster.

Go to Blazes

1962

The Siege of Manchester poster
9.0

A German mercenary is hired to defend the small township of Manchester during the English Civil War.

The Siege of Manchester

1965

Over the Odds poster
10.0

A bookmaker struggles to cope with his two mothers-in-law.

Over the Odds

1961

1950s · 12 titles

War and Peace poster
6.6

The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.

War and Peace

1956

Room at the Top poster
6.9

An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman.

Room at the Top

1958

Hell Drivers poster
6.7

An ex-con trying to go clean ends up working for a crooked trucking company owner who encourages competion amongst his drivers.

Hell Drivers

1957

Tread Softly Stranger poster
7.4

Unable to pay his bookie, a man returns to his hometown where his embezzler brother and girlfriend plot a robbery that ends in tragedy.

Tread Softly Stranger

1958

Expresso Bongo poster
5.3

A seedy London promoter turns a naive, working-class teenager into a pop singing sensation.

Expresso Bongo

1959

An Alligator Named Daisy poster
6.4

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 while his first instinct is to get rid of it he develops a relationship with a young Irishwoman who appears to be entwined with the reptile. He soon discovers that Daisy is tame and seems to be the way to Moira's heart.

An Alligator Named Daisy

1955

The Naked Truth poster
6.8

Nigel Dennis publishes a scandal magazine. But for each story he writes, he first approaches the person whose scandalous behavior is described (or rather implied, to avoid any libel suit) and says he will suppress the story in return for money. Several of his victims first decide individually to kill him instead of paying, but fail in amusing ways. Then they find that to protect their various secrets they must now join forces for a rather different purpose...

The Naked Truth

1957

Make Me an Offer! poster
7.4

A struggling antiques dealer (Peter Finch) thinks he has found the answer to his problems when he stumbles across a precious vase amid a range of other less desirable items. The trouble is, the owners of the vase are pretty shrewd themselves and are not keen on letting it go for a song - meaning that our hapless chap has to pull out every trick in the book in order to win his prize.

Make Me an Offer!

1954

Doctor at Large poster
5.7

Losing out to Dr. Bingham (Michael Medwin) in a competition for house surgeon when he offends a member of the board, young Dr. Simon Sparrow (Dirk Bogarde) finds himself going from post to post, filling in for other physicians. At one distant country post, he is taken aback when he works with a patient whose husband died after Simon treated the man years before. In another hospital, Simon examines a surprisingly mature teen and also tries courting devoted nurse Nan McPherson (Shirley Eaton).

Doctor at Large

1957

The Prisoner poster
7.2

A cardinal is arrested for treason against the state. He is a popular hero of his people, for his resistance against the Nazis during the war and his resistance when his country again fell to a totalitarian conqueror. In prison, his interrogator is determined to extract a confession of guilt, and thus destroy his power over his people.

The Prisoner

1955

Now and Forever poster
7.0

A rich young society girl falls in love with a car mechanic. Her family is appalled and stops her seeing him. The girl attempts to commit suicide and then decides to elope.

Now and Forever

1956

Miracle in Soho poster
5.6

In London's colourful but seedy Soho, Michael Morgan is working mending the road. He is unhappy, with little hope of finding happiness. Then he meets Julia Gozzi, a barmaid, and "The Miracle" happens.

Miracle in Soho

1957

1940s · 15 titles

The Long Voyage Home poster
6.6

The crew of the merchant ship Glencairn hope to survive a transatlantic crossing during World War II. Adapted from four Eugene O'Neill one-act plays.

The Long Voyage Home

1940

Fanny by Gaslight poster
5.5

Returning to 1870s London after finishing at boarding school, Fanny winesses the death of her father in a fight with Lord Manderstoke. She then finds that her family has for many years been running a bordello next door to their home. When her mother dies shortly after, she next discovers that her real father is in fact a well-respected politician. Meeting him and then falling in love with his young advisor Harry Somerford leads to a life of ups and downs and conflict between the classes. Periodically the scoundrel of a Lord crosses her path, always to tragic effect.

Fanny by Gaslight

1944

The Night Has Eyes poster
6.7

Two teachers, man-hungry Doris and restrained Marian, visit the Yorkshire moors a year after friend Evelyn disappeared there. On a stormy night, they take refuge in the isolated cottage of Stephen, one-time pianist shell-shocked in the Spanish Civil War. Doris flees as soon as the flood subsides; but Marian's suspicions about Evelyn's fate, in conflict with her growing love for Stephen, prompt her to stay on among the misty bogs.

The Night Has Eyes

1942

Tower of Terror poster
5.8

Wartime Germany: Marie, a concentration camp escapee on the run from the Nazis, narrowly escapes drowing when she is rescued by Wolfe Kristan a half-mad lighthouse keeper. Brought aboard the lighthouse itself, she begins to fall in love with the assistant keeper who, unknown to her, is a British spy. As the couple become more intimate, Kristan's jealously finally pushes him over the brink and into full-blown madness...

Tower of Terror

1941

The Farmer's Wife poster
7.0

Eden Philpotts' "provincial" comic novel and play The Farmer's Wife was first filmed in the silent era by Alfred Hitchcock. The 1940 talkie version was directed by Leslie Arliss, son of stage star George Arliss. The story remained the same: A middle-aged widower attempts to select a wife from his rural district's eligible females (Basil Sydney). Three unsuccessful dalliances later, the farmer settles for his housekeeper, whom the audience has been rooting for all along. The Farmer's Wife is a prime example of the sort of fare that struck a proper chord with British filmgoers, but whose appeal would be lost to any other nationality.

The Farmer's Wife

1941

Jeannie poster
7.7

Based on Aimee Stuart's play. Little Scots girl decides to use her inheritance for a "grand tour" of the Continent.

Jeannie

1941

Pastor Hall poster
8.0

The village of Altdorf has to come to terms with Chancellor Hitler and the arrival of a platoon of Stormtroopers. The Stormtroopers go about teaching and enforcing "The New Order", but Pastor Hall, a kind and gentle man, won't be cowed. Some villagers join the Nazi party avidly, and some just go along with things, hoping for a quiet life, but Pastor Hall takes his convictions to the pulpit.

Pastor Hall

1940

No artwork available
NR

This short film features two atmospheric scenes from Shakespeare's famous tragedy: Act II Scene 2, the murder scene, and Act V Scene 1, with Lady Macbeth and that damned spot. The wonderful Wilfrid Lawson and Cathleen Nesbitt make such a fine murderous duo in the first scene that one wishes the whole play had been filmed. At least we have the sleepwalking scene as compensation, where Nesbitt is joined by Felix Aylmer and Catherine Lacey. This is one of two short films produced under the umbrella title Famous Scenes from Shakespeare

Famous Scenes from Shakespeare No. 2: Macbeth Act II, Scene 2 and Act V, Scene I

1945

Dead Man's Shoes poster
7.0

An amnesia victim is a well liked and respected member of his community--until one day someone from his past shows up with evidence that in "the old days" he had been a notorious criminal, and threatens to expose him unless he pays off.

Dead Man's Shoes

1940

The Great Mr Handel poster
6.6

This classic film reveals how the great composer Georg Friedrich Handel rose above the personal anguish and difficulties in his life to create the sublime musical composition, The Messiah.

The Great Mr Handel

1942

No artwork available
8.0

A notorious swindler who returns from abroad and decides to reform his life for the sake of his estranged family.

It Happened to One Man

1940

Danny Boy poster
6.5

A remake of Oswald Mitchell's own 1934 production, a story of Jayne Kaye (Ann Todd), a successful singer in America who returns to Britain during the Blitz to find her ex-husband and son who have fallen on hard times.

Danny Boy

1941

Thursday's Child poster
5.8

A couple's little girl becomes a movie star, but all it seems to bring is trouble.

Thursday's Child

1943

No artwork available
7.0

A London cabby finds a greyhound puppy in his cab, and gives it to his daughter. She raises it and trains it up at the race tracks; and in spite of crooked rival owners, the dog eventually wins the Greyhound Derby.

The Turners of Prospect Road

1947

No artwork available
8.0

A steelworker rises through the ranks to become manager of three steel mills, but ruthless ambition overwhelms him.

Hard Steel

1942

1930s · 12 titles

Pygmalion poster
7.0

When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle as a princess with only six months' training, Colonel George Pickering takes him up on the bet. Eliza moves into Higgins's home and begins her rigorous training after the professor comes to a financial agreement with her dustman father, Alfred. But the plucky young woman is not the only one undergoing a transformation.

Pygmalion

1938

Allegheny Uprising poster
5.9

South western Pennsylvania area of colonial America, 1760s. Colonial distaste and disapproval of the British government is starting to surface. Many local colonists have been killed by American Indians who are armed with rifles supplied by white traders.

Allegheny Uprising

1939

Yellow Sands poster
NR

Village romance and gossip collide amongst the West Country fisherfolk of Yellow Sands, as the Varwell family gathers to celebrate the birthday of their aging matriarch, Jennifer. Apart from her Communist nephew, faithful companion and sozzled brother, everyone pays their homage with one eye towards shoring up their expected inheritances - but Jennifer may have her own ideas when she finally makes out her will.

Yellow Sands

1938

Bank Holiday poster
6.2

A 1930s British summer Bank Holiday starts at midday on Saturday with a rush for the trains to the seaside. Doreen and Milly are off to a beauty contest, Geoffrey and Catherine are having an illicit weekend in the Grand Hotel and May and the kids are set for a more straightforward holiday of sea, sand, and pub. Meanwhile, the manager and performers on the pier are praying for rain.

Bank Holiday

1938

No artwork available
6.5

For ten years, The Terror has laughed at both police and public. And for ten years, two of his erstwhile associates, Joe Conner and 'Soapy' Marks, have plotted revenge on the mastermind whose double-crossing sent them to Dartmoor prison without their share of the bullion stolen in a daring raid.

The Terror

1938

Turn of the Tide poster
7.3

Turn of the Tide is a 1935 British film directed by Norman Walker. It was the first feature film made by J. Arthur Rank. It is set in a North Yorkshire fishing village, and relates the rivalry between two fishing families. The actors included John Garrick, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Wilfrid Lawson speak in the local accent. The work is based on the novel Three Fevers by Leo Walmsley.

Turn of the Tide

1935

The Gaunt Stranger poster
7.3

A lawyer receives a note telling him that he'll be dead in 48 hours - and Scotland Yard must work fast to uncover the serial killer known as 'The Ringer'.

The Gaunt Stranger

1938

East Lynne on the Western Front poster
9.0

During the First World War a group of British soldiers serving on the Western Front stage a comic performance of the play East Lynne to entertain their comrades.

East Lynne on the Western Front

1931

Stolen Life poster
6.8

Adapted from the best-selling novel by K. J. Benes, A Stolen Life serves as a tour de force for German actress Elizabeth Bergner, whose husband Paul Czinner directed the film. Bergner stars as identical twins Sylvina and Martina, whose mild sibling rivalry intensifies when one of the girls tricks the other's sweetheart Alan McKenzie (Michael Redgrave) into proposing to the wrong twin.

Stolen Life

1939

Strike It Rich poster
10.0

Eddie Smart (George Gee) was born clumsy and is a laughing stock at work, the Sprouto Hair Tonic Company. One day a phrenologist reads his 'bumps' and pronounces him another Napoleon. Eddie becomes a changed man and issues orders to everyone. Meantime the boss believes Eddie to be the rightful owner of the company so let's him have his way. With the boss ill, Eddie invests heavily in the nutmeg market, almost bankrupting the company. By luck the research department discover that nutmeg is the secret ingredient for the new hair-restorer. The 1933 British Lion comedy feature film "Strike It Rich" starring George Gee and Gina Malo seems to be a 'lost' film on the 35mm cinema film format. However it was released (sadly savagely cut) on the UK Pathescope 9.5mm home movie film format in December 1938. One musical number was cut from the 9.5mm feature film release, but issued separately in a 9.5mm Pathe Vox Review. This print has this extra item edited back in.

Strike It Rich

1933

White Hunter poster
10.0

Safari guide Capt. Clark Rutledge is hired by the man Michael Varek who was responsible for his father's death...

White Hunter

1936

No artwork available
9.0

“Professor Calthrop, actuated only by scientific motives, and his assistant, out for his own gain, have invented a system for the manufacture of diamonds.” - BFI.

The Man Who Made Diamonds

1937

Series credits

Theatre 625 poster
7.2

Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line format, which only BBC2 used at the time.

Theatre 625

1964

Sunday Night Theatre poster
3.5

Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, partly because of technical limitations in this era, and the theatrical basis of early television drama. Some of the earliest collaborations between Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Neale were produced for this series, including Arrow to the Heart and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Sunday night drama slot was subsequently renamed The Sunday-Night Play which ran for four seasons between 1960 and 1963. ITV transmitted its own unrelated run of Sunday Night Theatre between 1971 and 1974.

Sunday Night Theatre

1950

ITV Play of the Week poster
4.0

A UK anthology series of single plays from major playwrights old and new. It ran from 1955 to 1974, producing about five hundred ninety-minute episodes from Granada Television. Season 1 also incorporates the Plays from the 'H.M. Tennant Globe Theatre' series, some of which were incorporated and labelled in listings as official Play of the Week episodes and some of which were played in place of Play of the Week episodes in alternative ITV regions. All 8 plays have been incorporated into this entry for convenience.

ITV Play of the Week

1955

The Likely Lads poster
7.3

Terry Collier and Bob Ferris are good friends. Terry was working class and secure in his life, whereas Bob was more aspirational, determined to work his way to a better place. Both viewed the others' worldview with disdain, but they were united by events, generally revolving around the pursuit of women. Although 20 total episodes were filmed, only 10 are currently known to survive. There is one missing from the first season, three from the second, and six from the final run.

The Likely Lads

1964

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

No artwork available
9.0

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a 1966 television series and an adaptation of the novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1966