Robert Ayres

Acting

Robert Ayres

Born — Died

1914-12-11 — 1968-11-05

Place of birth

Michigan, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

53 titles

Known for

The Saint poster
7.4

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Saint

1962

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

The Wednesday Play

1964

Thirty-Minute Theatre poster
4.2

An anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.

Thirty-Minute Theatre

1965

No Hiding Place poster
4.8

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.

No Hiding Place

1959

One Step Beyond poster
5.7

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond is an American anthology series that dramatized purportedly real-life supernatural and paranormal experiences. The series was hosted by John Newland and ran for three seasons on ABC from January 1959 to July 1961.

One Step Beyond

1959

Film credits

1960s · 9 titles

The Heroes of Telemark poster
6.9

Set in German-occupied Norway, resistance fighter Knut Straud enlists the reluctant physicist Rolf Pedersen in an effort to destroy the German heavy water production plant in rural Telemark.

The Heroes of Telemark

1965

The 25th Hour poster
7.6

A Romanian peasant fights to get back to his family after he's imprisoned by the Nazis.The picture is based on real events. It includes Hungary's government in collaboration with the Nazis, the encroachment of Romania by Stalin's troopers, and other happenings.

The 25th Hour

1967

The Road to Hong Kong poster
5.8

When Chester accidentally memorises and destroys the only copy of a secret Russian formula for a new and improved rocket fuel, he and Harry are thrust into international intrigue, trying to stay alive while keeping the formula out of enemy hands.

The Road to Hong Kong

1962

Isadora poster
6.2

A biography of the dancer Isadora Duncan, the 1920s dancer who forever changed people's ideas of ballet. Her nude, semi-nude, and pro-Soviet dance projects as well as her attitudes on free love, debt, dress, and lifestyle shocked the public of her time.

Isadora

1968

Battle Beneath the Earth poster
4.8

Government officials discover a horrible plot: the Chinese are tunneling their way to the United States.

Battle Beneath the Earth

1967

Lee Oswald: Assassin poster
NR

The life of Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who shot President John F. Kennedy, as reported to the Warren Commission enquiry into the circumstances of the assassination.

Lee Oswald: Assassin

1966

Two and Two Make Six poster
7.5

An American airman stationed in the United Kingdom strikes down his commanding officer. Believing he's killed him, the airman goes on the run with a woman. They encounter a lookalike couple and hijinks ensue.

Two and Two Make Six

1962

No artwork available
8.0

Concerns an American reporter who, while carrying out a special assignment in England, helps to solve a murder mystery.

Date at Midnight

1960

The Sicilians poster
6.5

An aide at the American Embassy in London finds himself involved with both Scotland Yard and the French police over the kidnapping of the son of a Mafia boss who has spilled the beans back in the States.

The Sicilians

1963

1950s · 27 titles

A Night to Remember poster
7.7

The sinking of the Titanic is presented in a highly realistic fashion in this tense British drama. The disaster is portrayed largely from the perspective of the ocean liner's second officer, Charles Lightoller. Despite numerous warnings about ice, the ship sails on, with Capt. Edward John Smith keeping it going at a steady clip. When the doomed vessel finally hits an iceberg, the crew and passengers discover that they lack enough lifeboats, and tragedy follows.

A Night to Remember

1958

John Paul Jones poster
6.0

The career of Revolutionary War naval hero John Paul Jones, from his youth in Scotland through his service to Catherine the Great of Russia.

John Paul Jones

1959

State Secret poster
6.9

While working in England, an American surgeon Dr. John Marlowe is invited to Vosnia (a fictitious East-European country) to receive an award and demonstrate his life-saving surgery. Unwittingly caught in the middle of a dangerous and corrupt series of political events, Marlowe then becomes the object of a shoot-to-kill, vicious pursuit. Fleeing, he seeks help from an English-speaking actress, Lisa Robinson, and the two attempt to escape across the treacherous mountains of Vosnia.

State Secret

1950

They Were Not Divided poster
6.4

The film begins in a WW II training depot of a British Guards armoured regiment where recruits from many walks of life learn to survive the strict discipline and training together before going into battle in tanks. There is a cameo appearance by the real Sgt. Major Brittain who was famous in the British guards regiments.

They Were Not Divided

1950

The Baby and the Battleship poster
6.4

After a quayside mix-up with the Italian family of his fiancée, Able Seaman Knocker White finds himself literally left holding the baby. Unable to return it before his ship sails he enlists the help of best mate Puncher Roberts to smuggle the child aboard. But babies are surprisingly demanding and gradually the whole crew is drawn into helping keep it fed and washed - and undiscovered. Even so, the officers above deck start to puzzle over the increasingly strange happenings on board.

The Baby and the Battleship

1956

First Man into Space poster
5.1

The first pilot to leave Earth's atmosphere lands, then vanishes; but something with a craving for blood prowls the countryside...

First Man into Space

1959

Time Lock poster
6.5

A boy is accidentally locked in a bank vault. With less than 10 hours of oxygen left in the vault, it becomes a race to save the boy.

Time Lock

1957

A Prize of Gold poster
5.7

A U.S. sergeant, a British sergeant and a British pilot hijack gold for a German refugee's war orphans.

A Prize of Gold

1955

It's Never Too Late poster
7.3

To Laura Hammond's large family, she is simply the mother who makes all their lives run more smoothly. But although they don’t know it, she is a very successful novelist and when her screenplay comes to the attention of a Hollywood producer, Laura is suddenly plunged into the big time.

It's Never Too Late

1956

Contraband Spain poster
6.2

An FBI agent goes to the French-Spanish border to round up some smugglers and counterfeiters after his brother is murdered.

Contraband Spain

1955

Dollars for Sale poster
3.0

Account of how Anglo-American police co-operation succeeds in tracking down forgers of $100 bills.

Dollars for Sale

1953

No artwork available
6.5

Betty, a young and pretty widow, is seriously concerned about her young son Jimmy who, since his father's death, has become very difficult for her to control. He has been associating with a gang of very rough youths, the ring-leader of whom is a young tough called Tommy. One day Betty discovers some money hidden under her dustbin...

A Woman's Temptation

1959

To Have and to Hold poster
4.8

A man is permanently crippled in a horseback riding accident and then learns that he will soon die. He spends his last few days taking care of his family and trying to get his wife to find another man.

To Have and to Hold

1951

Cat Girl poster
4.9

A psychiatrist treats a woman who is convinced that she turns into a killer leopard because of a family curse.

Cat Girl

1957

Black Widow poster
5.7

Mark Sherwin is driving down a country lane when he comes across someone laying in the middle of the road. Thinking it is someone who has been hit by a car he stops to see if he can help. What he gets for his efforts is a vicious belt to the head from a lead cosh. He is then relieved of his wallet and his car. Several minutes later having somewhat recovered, he staggers to a nearby farmhouse and collapses.

Black Widow

1951

No artwork available
10.0

Senior officials in the British, American and Russian governments all receive the same cryptic and unsigned message - "I Can Destroy The Sun". What can it mean?

I Can Destroy the Sun

1958

River Beat poster
6.3

British diamond smugglers use the radiowoman (Phyllis Kirk) from a freighter docked on the Thames to unwittingly "mule" their swag, hidden in cigarettes, past customs, not knowing that she has befriended an Inspector for the Thames River Patrol.

River Beat

1954

The Wedding of Lilli Marlene poster
7.0

The story leading up to the wedding of Lilli Marlene.

The Wedding of Lilli Marlene

1953

Cosh Boy poster
5.5

Roy Walsh is a brash and enterprising thug who bullies his friends into subservience. He and his gang assault and rob people on the street, but things get increasingly dangerous when their behavior escalates to larger crimes.

Cosh Boy

1953

24 Hours of a Woman's Life poster
5.8

A compulsive gambler stumbles towards losing everything when Merle Oberon decides to save him from himself.

24 Hours of a Woman's Life

1952

Operation Murder poster
9.0

No synopsis available yet.

Operation Murder

1957

Night Without Stars poster
7.2

A partially blind Englishman retires to the French Riviera. He meets and falls for the Widow of a French Resistance fighter but is horrified when he discovers she is involved with smugglers and murderers.

Night Without Stars

1951

13 East Street poster
6.0

When police inspector Gerald Blake wants to infiltrate a London stolen-goods gang, he does a thorough job of it. First, he robs a jewelry store, gets caught and is sentenced to prison. Then he teams up with gang-member Joey to make their escape. Once in the gang, Blake identifies the boss, Larry, and most of the other thieves, but not the "inside man." As a big fur job looms closer, the detective's task is complicated by the playful but seductive advances of Judy, a dazzling blonde who happens also to be the jealous Larry's girl friend.

13 East Street

1952

The Depraved poster
4.5

Fed up with her wealthy but abusive husband, Tom (Basil Dignam), young English homemaker Laura Wilton (Anne Heywood) conspires with her lover, American Army captain Dave Dillon (Robert Arden), to have her boozy spouse meet an "accidental" demise. But a nosy copper (Denis Shaw) suspects foul play, and soon the lovers' crafty scheme deteriorates into fear, distrust and betrayal. Paul Dickson directs this vintage noir thriller.

The Depraved

1957

No artwork available
NR

Considered to be the earliest surviving example of a British play-to-screen drama, this served as a pilot for an anthology series called ‘The Man Who Walks by Night’ where a Silver Shroud type figure tells a different tale of mystery and suspense each week. It was approved of generally, but a freeze on funding brought it to a premature end. In this entry, a wealthy man who’s made many enemies, including his soon to be ex-wife, his ex-partner in crime and the son of a business partner he drove to suicide. He invites them to dinner to tempt fate, the sheer thrill enthralling him. But will he survive?

A Dinner Date with Death

1950

The Mask poster
NR

In 1909 Cornwall, the affair between a disfigured miller's wife and his estranged cousin leads to a tragic case of mistaken identity.

The Mask

1953

Delayed Action poster
5.8

Robert Ayres plays a moody author with a suicide complex. Ayres' melancholia plays right into the hands of a gang of thieves. For a lofty fee, they convince the author to confess to their crimes and then kill himself. Yes, you're way ahead of us: Ayres has a change of heart and decides that he loves life. Delayed Action was produced by Robert Baker and Monty Berman, the men behind the popular 1960s TV adventure series The Saint.

Delayed Action

1954

Series credits

The Saint poster
7.4

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Saint

1962

The Saint poster
7.4

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Saint

1962

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

The Wednesday Play

1964

Thirty-Minute Theatre poster
4.2

An anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.

Thirty-Minute Theatre

1965

No Hiding Place poster
4.8

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.

No Hiding Place

1959

One Step Beyond poster
5.7

Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond is an American anthology series that dramatized purportedly real-life supernatural and paranormal experiences. The series was hosted by John Newland and ran for three seasons on ABC from January 1959 to July 1961.

One Step Beyond

1959

Danger Man poster
7.3

Danger Man is a British television series which was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. Danger Man was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.

Danger Man

1960

No artwork available
NR

Drama 61-67 is anthology drama series which took a different title, based on year of transmission, each year. It alternated with Armchair Theatre from ABC in the Sunday evening slot. The series was described at the time as epitomising ATV drama.

Drama 61-67

1961

The World of Hammer poster
6.8

The World of Hammer is a thirteen-part British documentary series created and written by Robert and Ashley Sidaway for Channel 4. Initially broadcast from 12 August to 4 November 1994, the series is narrated by English actor and frequent Hammer collaborator Oliver Reed.

The World of Hammer

1994

Behind Closed Doors poster
8.0

Behind Closed Doors is an American drama series set during the Cold War hosted by and occasionally starring Bruce Gordon in the role of Commander Matson. The series, which aired on NBC from October 2, 1958, to April 9, 1959, focuses, among other themes, on how the former Soviet Union stole American missile secrets and proposes steps to prevent further espionage. Behind Closed Doors is based on the files and experiences of Rear Admiral Ellis M. Zacharias, who offers comments at the end of each segment. Behind Closed Doors, a Screen Gems production, replaced Jackie Cooper's sitcom The People's Choice, followed the NBC quiz show, Twenty-One, and preceded the The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show. Its competition was The Pat Boone Chevy Show on ABC and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater western anthology series on CBS.

Behind Closed Doors

1958

Colonel March of Scotland Yard poster
7.5

Colonel March of The Department of Queer Complaints investigates unusual cases, locked-room murders, and mysteries concerning the supernatural.

Colonel March of Scotland Yard

1956

Detective poster
9.0

A BBC anthology series featuring adaptations of detective stories over 45 episodes in three seasons that ran from 1964 to 1969. As with many BBC programmes made before the early 1970s, many of its episodes no longer exist. Of the eighteen episodes from the first season only twelve are currently known to exist; likewise six of the sixteen editions from the second run are considered lost, and just one of the final ten survives in the archives.

Detective

1964

The Four Just Men poster
7.7

The Four Just Men was a 1959 Sapphire Films production for ITC Entertainment. It ran for one season of 39 half-hour monochrome episodes.

The Four Just Men

1959

The Cheaters poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Cheaters

1960

No artwork available
9.0

The series adapted for television some true tales from press correspondents from around the world.

Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!

1957

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