John Gilling

Originally produced in 1997 on the threshold of the Third Millennium of the Christian Era, and in celebration of the Jubilee of the Year of Our Lord 2000, The Vatican Museums was the culmination of three years of research and filming, the collaboration of thirty-two scholars and historians from around the world, a crew of forty directors of photography, operators, and lighting technicians, state-of-the-art digital cinematography, lighting, animation, and computerized editing, and the work of a famous composer with original performances by master musicians. Now available on DVD for the first time, this historic three-disc collection features seven hours of magnificent documentary film that illuminates and chronicles the great journey of the human spirit. Here then is the world's most spectacular and sacred repository of art, history, and faith.

A chance photograph may reveal a murderer's identity - and someone's after the photographer!

The former wife of a criminal moves to a coastal town and takes over the running of a bar known as The Quiet Woman. She becomes outraged when she discovers the previous owner had allowed local smugglers to use it as a base. She soon has become romantically involved with one of the smugglers, which causes enormous problems when a customs officer turns up, followed closely by her former husband.

A famous mystery writer uses his own plot tricks to murder a blackmailer in this British thriller.

In the early 20th century a village experienced a series of inexplicable murders. All the victims were young men who had been turned to stone. The perpetrator of these deaths was a being so repulsive that she transformed the onlooker using the power of her deadly stare. Much of the time the creature took the form of a beautiful and seductive woman, but during periods of the full moon she becomes a living horror, vicious and deadly. A professor has come to investigate the deaths, bringing with him his beautiful assistant whose knowledge of the Gorgon is more intimate than anyone would ever realise.

Based on the true story of a British secret agent, shot down over Malaya near to a Allied POW forced labour camp. There she is hidden, disguised as a youthful prisoner, until her escape can be effected. The costs of keeping her identity secret fall on all the POW's as the Japanese embark on a policy of ruthless terror to extract her and the focus shifts to the conflicts of the group' s collective concerns against the necessities of personal survival.

Tabitha, once the placid, gentle and devoted pet, adopts all the characteristics of a ferocious, wild animal following the murder of her mistress. The three guilty people are all trapped by the cat's power and each will come to untimely deaths of horrific proportions without anyone being able to solve the mystery that surrounds their brutal death.

Harry and Valerie Spalding arrive in the remote Cornish village to an unwelcoming and suspicious population. Harry's brother dies suddenly, bitten by a lethal reptilian bite. They befriend a young woman Anna whose tyrannical father controls her life and, as they discover that others in the village have suffered a similar fate, their investigations lead to Anna. What they uncover is a victim of the most terrifying legacy... a destiny of mutilation and murder.

Sir James Forbes arrives in a remote Cornish village to identify a mysterious plague afflicting the population. He discovers that one of the squires is a disciple of Haitian witchcraft and using dark magic to resurrect the dead. As the plan to create undead servants unravels, the squire unleashes his zombie army on the unsuspecting village.

In this crime melodrama, a Swiss woman finds herself unwittingly involved in a plot to steal from her employer, a London diamond merchant. Her boyfriend is behind the scheme. First he sends two accomplices disguised as German jewelers to see the boss. He is not fooled by their ruse and is killed while the woman is knocked unconscious. She awakens with amnesia and begins aimlessly wandering the London streets. Thinking that his girl has squealed to the police, her boy friend begins scouring the town to find her. Meanwhile, she is taken in by a boxer who returns to the ring to win the money needed to get her out of the country. Trouble ensues when her lover finally finds her after the match and begins beating on the exhausted fighter.

In this crime melodrama, a Swiss woman finds herself unwittingly involved in a plot to steal from her employer, a London diamond merchant. Her boyfriend is behind the scheme. First he sends two accomplices disguised as German jewelers to see the boss. He is not fooled by their ruse and is killed while the woman is knocked unconscious. She awakens with amnesia and begins aimlessly wandering the London streets. Thinking that his girl has squealed to the police, her boy friend begins scouring the town to find her. Meanwhile, she is taken in by a boxer who returns to the ring to win the money needed to get her out of the country. Trouble ensues when her lover finally finds her after the match and begins beating on the exhausted fighter.

Jailed for his role in a gang heist and ditched by its female leader (Jayne Mansfield), a widower (Anthony Quayle) decides to keep the loot.

Jailed for his role in a gang heist and ditched by its female leader (Jayne Mansfield), a widower (Anthony Quayle) decides to keep the loot.

An American reporter smells a story when he is stranded in an Iron Curtain country where the local dictator is using gamma rays to transform children into mutated henchmen.

An American reporter smells a story when he is stranded in an Iron Curtain country where the local dictator is using gamma rays to transform children into mutated henchmen.

The inhabitants of Ganymede need to find mates from another world or they will become extinct. They soon discover a suitable breeding stock amongst the females of planet Earth.

Spurred on by the death of his drug-addicted sister at the hands of ruthless narcotics kingpin Frank McNally, U.S. drug enforcement agent Charles Sturgis embarks on an investigation that takes him from New York to London, Lisbon, Rome, Naples and finally Athens in pursuit of McNally's shapely associate, Gina Broger.

Archaeologists discover the final resting place of a boy king, removing the remains to be exhibited in a museum. By disturbing the sarcophagus they unleash the forces of darkness. The Mummy has returned to discharge a violent retribution on the defilers as the curse that surrounds the tomb begins to come true. One by one the explorers are murdered until one of them discovers the ancient words that have the power to reduce the brutal killer to particles of dust.

A famous mystery writer uses his own plot tricks to murder a blackmailer in this British thriller.

Edinburgh surgeon Dr. Robert Knox requires cadavers for his research into the functioning of the human body; local ne'er-do-wells Burke and Hare find ways to provide him with fresh specimens...

Edinburgh surgeon Dr. Robert Knox requires cadavers for his research into the functioning of the human body; local ne'er-do-wells Burke and Hare find ways to provide him with fresh specimens...

Edinburgh surgeon Dr. Robert Knox requires cadavers for his research into the functioning of the human body; local ne'er-do-wells Burke and Hare find ways to provide him with fresh specimens...

A convicted female blackmailer is found murdered in her flat and suspicion falls on three men, all of whom the police believe may have had reason to wish her dead

A convicted female blackmailer is found murdered in her flat and suspicion falls on three men, all of whom the police believe may have had reason to wish her dead

A cruel Roundhead Colonel is on the trail of royalist sympathizers, but unaware of his daughters royalist sympathies. When she falls into a love triangle with Cavalier Edward Beverly and Roundhead officer Captain Sylvester the stage is set for double crossing and derring-do.

1880. British India. Robert Case, a half-caste lieutenant, is unjustly discharged from the British Army. He joins the rebel Bengali tribesmen offensive against the colonial enemy. They capture a foreign journalist and Case recounts his story of false accusation on trumped-up charges, instigated by the bigotry and racism of his commanding officers. Following a successful attack by the British against the rebels Case is brutally shot by Colonel Drewe, his accuser. The journalist returns home determined to report the true story of The Brigand of Kandahar.

A woman is haunted by her conscience after she murders a man and then hides the body. Based on the novel 'You're Best Alone' by Norah Lofts.

A group of ruthless pirates attack a 17th Century Huguenot settlement on the Isle of Devon in search of treasure and will stop at nothing to obtain it.

A group of ruthless pirates attack a 17th Century Huguenot settlement on the Isle of Devon in search of treasure and will stop at nothing to obtain it.

A jeweller is killed in a gang robbery leaving the daughter as the only witness. When the police can't build a case against him she decides to go undercover to infiltrate the home of the killer's brother. Slowly she is drawn into the world of the rival gangs.

A jeweller is killed in a gang robbery leaving the daughter as the only witness. When the police can't build a case against him she decides to go undercover to infiltrate the home of the killer's brother. Slowly she is drawn into the world of the rival gangs.

An escaped killer hides out by forcing a travelling family to take him with them.

A former pilot suffering from blackouts discovers that a fellow flyer is suspected of being mixed up with a web of smugglers. While searching for his missing buddy, he unwittingly becomes entangled in a morass of suspicion.

A British novelist travels to Spain to visit his sister. However, when he arrives he discovers that she has been murdered by a gang of devil-worshiping bandits called the Devil's Cross.

A British novelist travels to Spain to visit his sister. However, when he arrives he discovers that she has been murdered by a gang of devil-worshiping bandits called the Devil's Cross.

Kicked out of Oxford, a junk dealer's son joins a gang of thieves fenced by his father.

Kicked out of Oxford, a junk dealer's son joins a gang of thieves fenced by his father.

Steve Stratton (Macdonald Carey) is a hardboiled hunter who catches and keeps wild animals in an African sanctuary in order to sell them to zoos and circuses. When he hires a new veterinarian named "P.J. Muir," he does not imagine that the "P" stands for Pamela, played by the gorgeous Rhonda Fleming!

A detective tracking a stolen gem begins to suspect there's more to the case than just theft.

Young Anthony Pendrell plays the precocious son of Scotland Yard inspector Norman Shelley. Pendrell's efforts to emulate his father usually results in nothing but irritation for his elders. But when a boarding house becomes the headquarters for a criminal gang, it is Pendrell who cracks the case.

A young woman marries and moves into her husband's family mansion. She soon discovers that neither the house, nor her husband, is exactly what it seems to be.

Escapee switches identities but finds the new one quite a handful.

Bank robber's plans for a wealthy lifestyle gradually turn to more noble aims.

Bank robber's plans for a wealthy lifestyle gradually turn to more noble aims.

British soldiers in India must contend with an outlaw bandit.

The legendary Bela Lugosi as "the Vampire" teams up with Britain's much-loved "Mother Riley" in this hilarious comedy adventure. The Vampire plans to control the world with the help of his robot, which accidentally gets shipped to Mother Riley. Through radar control, he contacts the robot and orders it to come to him, bringing along Mother Riley! But his life is turned upside down when he holds this most meddling of mothers captive.

A U.S. sailor docks in London and in three days tries to save his brother from the gallows.

Steve and Harry become involved in an art theft. Harry is framed by the crooks, and arrested by the police. Steve has to prove his brother's innocence.

In a spoof of the spy genre a secret agent chases a missing formula that can drain nuclear energy from an element named Spurium,

In a spoof of the spy genre a secret agent chases a missing formula that can drain nuclear energy from an element named Spurium,

The Commanding Officer of an RAF Training School must deal with a difficult cadet, but the cadet reminds the C.O. of himself when young.

In this psychological thriller, an avaricious man covets his stepbrother's home. The greedy fellow knows that his stepbrother has a heart condition and so sets off a fatal attack by smashing a beloved violin. However, his actions do not come without a terrible price.

It is the end of the 18th century and smuggling is considered to be a legitimate spare-time occupation for most fishermen around the British shores. But when a gang of cut-throats, led by the infamous Black John (Bernard Lee) begins to lure ships onto the rocks of Smugglers Bay, and murdering their crews for the sake of loot, the fishermen begin to fear for their livelihoods. In desperation, they appeal to the local magistrate Squire Trevenyan (Peter Cushing).

A rock'n'roll idol is drafted into the wrong regiment.

The happy marriage of Liz and Peter Rossiter is shattered after Liz is paralysed in an accident. Peter soon finds solace with Honor, his sister-in-law, but when she tells him she is expecting his child he is racked with guilt and turns to drink. When Honor is found murdered with Peter's gun next to her, the police arrest him. Unable to remember his movements he must discover the secret behind "The Rossiter Case".

Cockney Danny Cruff is the son of a man wrongly accused of murder. Danny decides to solve the mystery himself by hobnobbing with London's underworld. To do this, he poses as a juvenile delinquent.

The former wife of a criminal moves to a coastal town and takes over the running of a bar known as The Quiet Woman. She becomes outraged when she discovers the previous owner had allowed local smugglers to use it as a base. She soon has become romantically involved with one of the smugglers, which causes enormous problems when a customs officer turns up, followed closely by her former husband.

A music-hall performer and her boyfriend find themselves caught up in the machinations of a trio of not particularly bright crooks.

Hart and Moore are grave-robbers who provide cadavers to the medical students of 19th-century Edinburgh. When the supply becomes low and demand still great, the two decide to create their own supply, a plan that proves profitable when they stick to vagrants, prostitutes and drunkards. But when they poison likable Jamie, the townsfolk retaliate. NB: This film was originally written to be about Burke and Hare, but after it was completed, the British censors refused to allow its release on the grounds those names themselves were offensive; thus the entire soundtrack was recut so that new names - Hart and Moore - recorded by the film's actors, were cut into the previously recorded lines, replacing the offending "Burke" or "Hare", sentence by sentence.

Hart and Moore are grave-robbers who provide cadavers to the medical students of 19th-century Edinburgh. When the supply becomes low and demand still great, the two decide to create their own supply, a plan that proves profitable when they stick to vagrants, prostitutes and drunkards. But when they poison likable Jamie, the townsfolk retaliate. NB: This film was originally written to be about Burke and Hare, but after it was completed, the British censors refused to allow its release on the grounds those names themselves were offensive; thus the entire soundtrack was recut so that new names - Hart and Moore - recorded by the film's actors, were cut into the previously recorded lines, replacing the offending "Burke" or "Hare", sentence by sentence.

Two prospectors in Africa, Tony Cooper and Dalton come across a skeleton that has nearly been picked clean by vultures. They find a letter on the body addressed to a clerk in London named Wilkins . Cooper goes to Wilkins in London and tells him that his brother, whose body they had found, has left a map and a deed to a large diamond mine. Wilkins decides to go to Africa with Cooper to find the mine and, in order to speed up and finance their venture, they give a third interest to Carol Reade and her partner John Trevor), who operate a barnstorming airplane service. In Africa, close to the mine location, they are greeted by some tough gentlemen named Collins and Quincy who have terrorized the natives and lorded over the region, who quickly discover the reason for the party's mission. They join, unasked, in the race for the diamonds. The race is interrupted by the death of Trevor who is found knifed in his bunk.

A maniac killer returns to the scene of a ten-year-old crime, only to find the ghost of a murdered servant girl waiting to exact her revenge.

A maniac killer returns to the scene of a ten-year-old crime, only to find the ghost of a murdered servant girl waiting to exact her revenge.

Old Mother Riley becomes manager of a hotel - stolen diamonds, murder and pie fights follow.

Steve Stratton (Macdonald Carey) is a hardboiled hunter who catches and keeps wild animals in an African sanctuary in order to sell them to zoos and circuses. When he hires a new veterinarian named "P.J. Muir," he does not imagine that the "P" stands for Pamela, played by the gorgeous Rhonda Fleming!

An Italian racketeer on the run in London holes up in a disused theatre with a hard-drinking journalist out to get the full story.

An Italian racketeer on the run in London holes up in a disused theatre with a hard-drinking journalist out to get the full story.

Anthropologist Dr Brockton unearths a primitive troglodyte — an Ice Age 'missing link': half-caveman, half-ape — in a local cave. Through experimentation, she manages to communicate with and domesticate him before he's released by an irate land developer and goes on a rampage, terrorising the local citizenry.

The legendary Bela Lugosi as "the Vampire" teams up with Britain's much-loved "Mother Riley" in this hilarious comedy adventure. The Vampire plans to control the world with the help of his robot, which accidentally gets shipped to Mother Riley. Through radar control, he contacts the robot and orders it to come to him, bringing along Mother Riley! But his life is turned upside down when he holds this most meddling of mothers captive.

In this contemporary update of Frank H. Spearman's Western hero, Whispering Smith is now a sleuth who arrives in London on holiday, but is soon called in to solve the case of a suicide which the father of the deceased woman thinks was murder.

A former police detective turned private investigator is approached by two elderly sisters, who say that someone is terrorising them, but it turns out that the man they believe is responsible is long since dead.

An embezzler is implicated in his girlfriend’s murder.

A U.S. sailor docks in London and in three days tries to save his brother from the gallows.

An American engineer reaches Mombasa to finish the works of an African railroad and to find his predecessor, who has mysteriously disappeared. While the work continues, will have to face several obstacles, especially violent local tribes, Arabs slave traders and wild animals.

A blind man is witness to a murder; later cured of his blindness he attempts to puzzle out the solution to the crime.

On the first night of his London assignment, newsagency reporter John Desmonmd becomes heavily involved with enigmatic Anna Ray. The affair ends when she is shot struggling for a gun she has pulled on him. This is only the start of his troubles, as Anna worked for a criminal organisation who know Desmond has now got her valuable contacts list.

Jailed for his role in a gang heist and ditched by its female leader (Jayne Mansfield), a widower (Anthony Quayle) decides to keep the loot.

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.

Archaeologists discover the final resting place of a boy king, removing the remains to be exhibited in a museum. By disturbing the sarcophagus they unleash the forces of darkness. The Mummy has returned to discharge a violent retribution on the defilers as the curse that surrounds the tomb begins to come true. One by one the explorers are murdered until one of them discovers the ancient words that have the power to reduce the brutal killer to particles of dust.

A sinister crook is implicated in blackmail, greed for emeralds, a secret formula and murder. Thee episodes from a 1952 British television series called "Inspector Morley, Late of Scotland Yard, Investigates" were joined together and released theatrically.

A cruel Roundhead Colonel is on the trail of royalist sympathizers, but unaware of his daughters royalist sympathies. When she falls into a love triangle with Cavalier Edward Beverly and Roundhead officer Captain Sylvester the stage is set for double crossing and derring-do.

In this crime drama, three gem thieves must get out of London after they kill a man. Friction between the men increases as they hide out on a farm and then get back on the road. Trouble ensues when one of the three begins suspecting the others of treachery.

On the first night of his London assignment, newsagency reporter John Desmonmd becomes heavily involved with enigmatic Anna Ray. The affair ends when she is shot struggling for a gun she has pulled on him. This is only the start of his troubles, as Anna worked for a criminal organisation who know Desmond has now got her valuable contacts list.

In 1904 London, neighbors begin to suspect that a very strange man calling himself Dr. Fell may indeed be the famous Jack the Ripper.

The editor of a magazine falls in love with the publisher's daughter. The only trouble is that the publisher's wife quite fancies him as well. Then he's accused of embezzling funds.

An ex-GI wakes up with blood on his clothes in a strange hotel room. He can't remember the night before but he later finds out that a man he got into a fight with earlier in the night was murdered.

A chance photograph may reveal a murderer's identity - and someone's after the photographer!

A psychic goes to the home of a woman who wants him to contact her dead fiancée, even though she has already remarried. Later, she ends up murdered! Soon the psychic points the finger at her jealous husband.

A psychic goes to the home of a woman who wants him to contact her dead fiancée, even though she has already remarried. Later, she ends up murdered! Soon the psychic points the finger at her jealous husband.

An embezzler is implicated in his girlfriend’s murder.

An adventurer investigates the theft of a formula for hardened steel, assisted by his girlfriend.

British soldiers in India must contend with an outlaw bandit.

A woman conspires to steal her stepdaughter's inheritance following the mysterious death of her millionaire husband.

It is the end of the 18th century and smuggling is considered to be a legitimate spare-time occupation for most fishermen around the British shores. But when a gang of cut-throats, led by the infamous Black John (Bernard Lee) begins to lure ships onto the rocks of Smugglers Bay, and murdering their crews for the sake of loot, the fishermen begin to fear for their livelihoods. In desperation, they appeal to the local magistrate Squire Trevenyan (Peter Cushing).

It is the end of the 18th century and smuggling is considered to be a legitimate spare-time occupation for most fishermen around the British shores. But when a gang of cut-throats, led by the infamous Black John (Bernard Lee) begins to lure ships onto the rocks of Smugglers Bay, and murdering their crews for the sake of loot, the fishermen begin to fear for their livelihoods. In desperation, they appeal to the local magistrate Squire Trevenyan (Peter Cushing).

1880. British India. Robert Case, a half-caste lieutenant, is unjustly discharged from the British Army. He joins the rebel Bengali tribesmen offensive against the colonial enemy. They capture a foreign journalist and Case recounts his story of false accusation on trumped-up charges, instigated by the bigotry and racism of his commanding officers. Following a successful attack by the British against the rebels Case is brutally shot by Colonel Drewe, his accuser. The journalist returns home determined to report the true story of The Brigand of Kandahar.

1880. British India. Robert Case, a half-caste lieutenant, is unjustly discharged from the British Army. He joins the rebel Bengali tribesmen offensive against the colonial enemy. They capture a foreign journalist and Case recounts his story of false accusation on trumped-up charges, instigated by the bigotry and racism of his commanding officers. Following a successful attack by the British against the rebels Case is brutally shot by Colonel Drewe, his accuser. The journalist returns home determined to report the true story of The Brigand of Kandahar.

Fletcher Gilchrist offers £100 to anyone who will break into a house. Journalist Mike Harvey accepts the bet but he and another man are caught when the latter murders the owner of the house. Harvey escapes custody, determined to seek revenge on Gilchrist.

A shop assistant finds a case with £2000 in it, and doesn't quite know what to do with it.

In this contemporary update of Frank H. Spearman's Western hero, Whispering Smith is now a sleuth who arrives in London on holiday, but is soon called in to solve the case of a suicide which the father of the deceased woman thinks was murder.