Biography
British director Michael Tuchner's first two films,
Villain (1971) and
Fear is the Key (1972), dealt (none too successfully) with the evil side of life; he changed direction (and quality of production) with Mr. Quilp (1975), a musical version of The Old Curiosity Shop (Dickens' most sentimental novel) and the TV movie
Summer of My German Soldier (1979), about a Jewish girl in love with a Nazi P.O.W. in the American South, complete with a sympathetic black housekeeper. Among Tuchner's other credits include the film of Brooke Hayward's memoir of her family (
Haywire [1980]), and a respectable version of
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1981), featuring
Anthony Hopkins as Quasimodo. ~ All Movie Guide