John Mackenzie

Directing

John Mackenzie

Born 1932-08-16 · Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

John Mackenzie was a Scottish film director perhaps best known for the 1980 gangster film The Long Good Friday. Born in Edinburgh, Mackenzie worked in British film from the late 1960s, first as an assistant director to Ken Loach on productions such as Up the Junction and Cathy Come Home, before becoming an independent director himself, going on to work in both the UK and the US.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

The Long Good Friday poster
7.2

In the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.

The Long Good Friday

1980

Shut Down poster
NR

During Wakes Week in the Potteries, the factory is deserted except for three electricians on an emergency maintenance job.

Shut Down

1973

The Fourth Protocol poster
6.3

Led by Kim Philby, Plan Aurora is a plan that breaches the top-secret Fourth Protocol and turns the fears that shaped it into a living nightmare. A crack Soviet agent, placed under cover in a quiet English country town, begins to assemble a nuclear bomb, whilst an MI5 agent attempts to prevent its detonation.

The Fourth Protocol

1987

The Honorary Consul poster
5.8

Set in a small politically unstable Latin American country, the story follows the half English and half Latino Dr. Eduardo Plarr, who left his home to find a better life. Along the way he meets an array of people, including British Consul Charley Fortnum, a representative in Latin America who is trying to keep Revolution from occurring. He is also a remorseful alcoholic. Another person the doctor meets is Clara, whom he immediately falls in love with, but there is a problem: Clara is Charley's wife.

The Honorary Consul

1983

The Infiltrator poster
6.5

In the early 1990s, an Israeli freelance journalist travels to Germany and uncovers a dangerously pervasive underground Neo-Nazi faction intent on bringing Nazism back to the forefront in Germany.

The Infiltrator

1995

Act of Vengeance poster
5.6

In 1969, an administrator runs against the corrupt president of the United Coal Miners Union, and becomes the target of a murder plot.

Act of Vengeance

1986

The Innocent poster
6.7

A young Yorkshire boy struggles to come to grips with squabbling parents, a doctor who wants to institutionalize him because of his epilepsy, and a mother who refuses to accept that he is different in any way – and that is only the half of it. The boy, Tim, also acts as a go-between for his friend Carns, who is having an affair with a married woman. Eventually, things start to sort themselves out, and Tim sees life getting more interesting when he and his friend Win slowly get a relationship going.

The Innocent

1985

Ruby poster
5.5

Fact and fiction are combined in this story about Jack Ruby and a stripper, Candy Cane, and how they become involved in a conspiracy to kill J.F.K.

Ruby

1992

Quicksand poster
5.0

The workaholic head of the compliance section of a New York bank flies to Monaco to investigate unusual deposits from an offshore bank and meets a down-on-his-luck international film star who has become embroiled in criminal activities.

Quicksand

2003

Deadly Voyage poster
5.6

When stowaways are found on board a Russian cargo ship, some of the officers and crew decide to dispose of them at sea. The last time they had a stowaway on board, the ship was fined heavily and black marks entered into their records, when he made it off the ship into a foreign port.

Deadly Voyage

1996

The Last of the Finest poster
5.9

An elite group of vice cops are fired from the L.A.P.D. for being over-zealous in their war against drugs. It is immediately apparent that some of their superiors are involved in the drug ring. Banded together, four of the banned cops (which quickly becomes three when one is killed early) band together to fight the drug ring undercover. They gain capital for weapons by ripping off minor drug dealers. Then well-armed they go after the kingpin (Boyd).

The Last of the Finest

1990

Talkin' Blues poster
NR

John and Helen have moved into a house in Brixton, sourh London. John then gets to know a couple of his neighbours, his next door neighbour, who is black, and a white neighbour and his young leather-clad son.

Talkin' Blues

1977

Voyage poster
5.3

Morgan and Catherine Norvell have their future plans ready. In Monte Carlo, their sailboat is stocked. From there they are going to sail to Malta and live on the boat for a year. They have bought some real estate with an old ruin of a hotel on it, which they are going to rebuild. A few days before they are about to start, they meet Gil and Ronnie Freeland. They would give anything to join them for a couple of days on the sea, and no sooner said than done, all four of them are enjoying the sweet life on the boat. The Norvells soon discover that it was a big mistake to invite them on board...

Voyage

1993

Paul McCartney: The McCartney Years poster
8.0

The McCartney Years is a three-DVD set featuring music videos, live performances and other rare footage from Paul McCartney's solo career and Wings. The set spans the years 1970 to 2005 The first two discs comprise promotional films, from "Maybe I'm Amazed" (1970) to "Fine Line" (2005). Additional features include a documentary about his recent album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (Creating Chaos at Abbey Road), a film about the Band on the Run album and a feature-length audio commentary from McCartney himself. The third disc includes seven songs from the 1976 Wings concert Rockshow, four songs from McCartney's 1991 appearance on MTV Unplugged, and eleven performances from his 2004 set at Glastonbury Festival. The live footage is also complemented by an optional commentary by McCartney. Other features includes his appearance at Live Aid in 1985, the Super Bowl XXXIX Halftime Show and interviews with Melvyn Bragg and Michael Parkinson.

Paul McCartney: The McCartney Years

2007

Taking Leave poster
NR

Mike comes home on leave from Ulster. After six years in the Army he has to decide whether to sign up again or not. His parents want him to leave the army and come home, but the family flare-ups and bickerings are not conducive to helping him choose.

Taking Leave

1974

Unman, Wittering and Zigo poster
6.8

A new schoolteacher learns that the previous teacher was killed by his students, and he fears the same fate will befall him.

Unman, Wittering and Zigo

1971

When the Sky Falls poster
4.7

Fact-based story about Irish crime-investigating reporter Sinead Hamilton, who invaded the Irish underworld and attempted to expose the illegitimate activities she found. Hampered by the system, a police consort is ineffectual at aiding her despite trying to step outside of the normal bounds. Kevin McNally plays her husband, who hates her activities and the danger in which she places herself. Nonetheless, he grudgingly admires her persistence and encourages her investigation.

When the Sky Falls

2000

The Elephants' Graveyard poster
7.2

Bunny has told his wife he is working as a postman, but in fact is wandering the hills all day, wondering why he doesn't want to work. He meets Jody, an older man who has told his wife he's working in a factory, but is in fact doing the same thing. The two men spend a day of friendship together, but what does the future offer them? And tonight is supposed to be pay night...

The Elephants' Graveyard

1976

Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within poster
6.2

Fact-based story about a 90's espionage case that was chronicled as the worst case of espionage in US history

Aldrich Ames: Traitor Within

1998

No artwork available
NR

A daughter visits her father after being estranged for 3 years and schemes to destroy his relationship with another woman.

The Black Dog

1973

Mrs. Lawrence Will Look After It poster
10.0

When an elderly woman is hospitalised, the truth behind her illegal adoption of 14 children is revealed.

Mrs. Lawrence Will Look After It

1968

Double Dare poster
NR

Martin Ellis (Alan Dobie) is a blocked screenwriter who invites Helen, an actress (Kika Markham), to a hotel in central London to discuss an idea for a play he is writing with her in mind. As they discuss the play, Martin discovers that a businessman and an escort named Carol are sat at a nearby table and appear to be speaking lines from the as yet unwritten piece. Martin becomes anxious at what will eventually become of the girl, already knowing that the play will not have a happy resolution

Double Dare

1976

A Sense of Freedom poster
6.5

The true story of Jimmy Boyle, who was reputed to be Scotland's most violent man.

A Sense of Freedom

1985

No artwork available
7.0

A short film to warn children of sexual predators.

Say No to Strangers

1981