Movie: The Thieving Headmistress

Top 7 Billed Cast

Pauline Quirke
Pauline Quirke

Colleen McCabe

Denis Lawson
Denis Lawson

Father Plunkett

Peter Cellier
Peter Cellier

Father O'Malley

Mary Roscoe
Mary Roscoe

Maureen Stapley

Richard Hope
Richard Hope

Auditor Andy Pert

David Holt
David Holt

Mr. Huckerby

Hannah Walters
Hannah Walters

Ms. Wallis

  • HomePage

  • Overview

    A Headmistress steals from her own school. As a young girl Colleen McCabe asks a priest in confessional "What is sin?" Thirty years later she is found out for practising it. An ex-nun,she leaves the convent because she becomes disillusioned with spiritual matters and goes into teaching, being appointed headmistress of the John Rigby School in London. Along with a small coterie of chosen staff members to act as her spies,she misappropriates half a million pounds from school funds which she spends on luxury goods and a trip on the Orient Express. Meanwhile the school suffers,having to use ancient text books and pupils as cleaners. She is tried,although admitted to hospital for depression on the trial day, and sentenced to five years in jail, later reduced to four. The film alternates dramatized scenes of Colleen's misbehaviour with interviews with those who knew her.

  • Release Date

    2006-06-06

  • Average

    7

  • Rating:

    3.5 starts
  • Tagline

  • Genres

  • Languages:

  • Keywords

Recommendations Movies

Doubt
72%

Doubt(en)

2008-12-12

In 1964 Bronx, two Catholic school nuns question the new priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled African-American student.

Novitiate
64%

Novitiate(en)

2017-10-27

In the early 1960s, during the Vatican II era, a young woman training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, sexuality and the changing church.

The Magdalene Sisters
74%

The Magdalene Sisters(en)

2002-08-30

Three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.

Fatima
72%

Fatima(en)

2020-08-13

In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring religious pilgrims to flock to the site in hopes of witnessing a miracle..

Won't Back Down
61%

Won't Back Down(en)

2012-09-28

Jamie Fitzpatrick and Nona Alberts are two women from opposites sides of the social and economic track, but they have one thing in common: a mission to fix their community's broken school and ensure a bright future for their children. The two women refuse to let any obstacles stand in their way as they battle a bureaucracy that's hopelessly mired in traditional thinking, and they seek to re-energize a faculty that has lost its passion for teaching.

Cracks
66%

Cracks(en)

2009-12-04

Jealousy flares after the headmistress of an elite boarding school for girls becomes obsessed with a new student.

Small Things Like These
67%

Small Things Like These(en)

2024-11-01

In 1985, while working as a coal merchant to support his family, Bill Furlong discovers disturbing secrets kept by the local convent and uncovers truths of his own; forcing him to confront his past and the complicit silence of a small Irish town controlled by the Catholic Church.

Outside In
61%

Outside In(en)

2018-03-30

An ex-con struggling to readjust to life in his small town forms an intense bond with his former high-school teacher.

Girl in the Box
67%

Girl in the Box(en)

2016-09-10

The true story of 20-year-old Colleen Stan, a hitchhiking woman abducted by a young couple and held captive for seven years, during which time she's tortured and forced to live as a slave to her captors.

Bad Sister
66%

Bad Sister(en)

2015-08-24

As a top student at St. Adeline's Catholic Boarding School, Zoe senses that something is not quite right about the school's new nun-- a sense proven to be true when it is revealed the "good' nun is an imposter with a fatal attraction to Zoe's brother.

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
73%

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds(en)

1972-12-20

Middle-aged widow Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her daughters Ruth and Matilda are struggling to survive in a society they barely understand. Beatrice dreams of opening an elegant tea room but does not have the wherewithal to achieve her lofty goal. Epileptic Ruth is a rebellious adolescent, while shy but highly intelligent and idealistic Matilda seeks solace in her pets and school projects, including one designed to show how small amounts of radium affect marigolds.

Paradise Hills
59%

Paradise Hills(en)

2019-08-29

A young woman is sent to Paradise Hills to be reformed, only to learn that the high-class facility's beautiful facade hides a sinister secret.

K-12
77%

K-12(en)

2019-09-05

Cry Baby, a strong and sensitive girl, is sent off to a disturbing sleepaway school that’s hidden underneath a grandiose façade. Luckily, she has a sweet and unapologetic best friend who sticks up for her when she gets bullied by the other students whose brains are under control by the Principal and his wicked staff. With the help of the magical friends they meet along the way, as well as an Angelic Spirit Guide, they are able to gain the strength they need to fight off the school’s belligerent patriarchal conditioning.

Black Narcissus
75%

Black Narcissus(en)

1947-05-26

A group of Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh, are sent to a mountain in the Himalayas. The climate in the region is hostile and the nuns are housed in an odd old palace. They work to establish a school and a hospital, but slowly their focus shifts. Sister Ruth falls for a government worker, Mr. Dean, and begins to question her vow of celibacy. As Sister Ruth obsesses over Mr. Dean, Sister Clodagh becomes immersed in her own memories of love.

Boys Town
68%

Boys Town(en)

1938-09-08

Devout but iron-willed Father Flanagan leads a community called Boys Town, a different sort of juvenile detention facility where, instead of being treated as underage criminals, the boys are shepherded into making themselves better people. But hard-nosed petty thief and pool shark Whitey Marsh, the impulsive and violent younger brother of an imprisoned murderer, might be too much for the good father's tough-love system.

The Girl in the Book
58%

The Girl in the Book(en)

2015-06-13

The story of a young writer's transformation when her past invades her present.

Level 16
67%

Level 16(en)

2018-02-20

The teenage girls of Vestalis Academy are meticulously trained in the art of being “clean girls,” practicing the virtues of perfect femininity. But what exactly are they being trained for? Vivien intends to find out.

Bad Lieutenant
70%

Bad Lieutenant(en)

1992-11-20

While investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness.

Imagine
73%

Imagine(en)

2012-04-12

A blind teacher breaks the rules to help a female student rediscover the pleasures of life.

The Nun's Story
72%

The Nun's Story(en)

1959-06-18

After leaving a wealthy Belgian family to become a nun, Sister Luke struggles with her devotion to her vows during crisis, disappointment, and World War II.

Similar Movies

A Long Time Till Dawn
60%

A Long Time Till Dawn(en)

1953-11-11

Just out of prison Joe Harris looks to restart his life. His wife Barbie has moved and the one man who can tell him where refuses to do so. Enraged, Joe beats the old man senseless and runs away to his father's home, where he also finds his wife. A police detective comes around about the beating (which will soon to become a murder) and Joe insists he's innocent. Joe tells his wife and father he's a changed man and he's only a suspect because of his prior conviction. Barbie and Fred struggle with their desire to believe Joe's plea versus their fear he'll never change.

Small Change
71%

Small Change(fr)

1976-03-17

The lives of a motherless young man, who's just starting to find interest in women, and his physically abused, poverty stricken friend, are mixed with more or less innocent childhood experiences and challenges most their age experience.

Elephant
70%

Elephant(en)

2003-09-20

Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.

The Twins
78%

The Twins(en)

2022-04-29

Twins Lake and Lucas hate each others’ guts. One day after school, their sibling rivalry gets out of hand.

Bridge to Terabithia
73%

Bridge to Terabithia(en)

2007-02-15

Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.

Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal
65%

Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal(en)

1982-02-17

A poorly-educated housewife fights companies polluting her hometown's water table in upstate New York during the 1970s.

Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story
76%

Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story(en)

2000-12-10

The true life story of famed singer Natalie Cole, daughter of Nat 'King' Cole. Gripping drama of her struggle with addiction and living in her father's shadow while still maintaining her own celebrity status.

The Somme
59%

The Somme(en)

2005-11-14

Drama-documentary recounting the events of the 1st July 1916 and the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front during the First World War. Told through the letters and journals of soldiers who were there.

Les Misérables
72%

Les Misérables(en)

1978-12-27

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Assassination Classroom the Movie: 365 Days' Time
65%

Assassination Classroom the Movie: 365 Days' Time(ja)

2016-11-19

The killer class is back in session—sort of. Relive every moment through the eyes of the top two students: Nagisa and Karma!

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
69%

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie(en)

1969-02-24

A headstrong young teacher in a private school in 1930s Edinburgh ignores the curriculum and influences her impressionable 12-year-old charges with her over-romanticized worldview.

Dear Prudence
65%

Dear Prudence(en)

2008-08-23

Prudence MacIntyre, the 'New York home tips' TV show presenter, is sent on holiday, by studio boss Jeffrey Symcox, to a secluded lodge in Tassajero, Wyoming. The lodge was built on the last remnant of Indian land preserved by the Andrews family. Her celebrity status and sassy charm help her quickly get acquainted with local notables, including French heir Jean Phillipe Andrews, his land trust lawyer Doug Craig and police detective Eddie Duncan. Pru is with lodge caretaker Ruth Vigil when she discovers her estranged son JR is missing from his home after leaving a message. Pru finds blood, and although it's not JR's, insists he must have been murdered. After her research assistant, a computer whiz with a minor criminal record, joins her, they soon get in danger snooping ahead of the incredulous authorities to discover several linked crimes.

If I Don't Come Home: Letters from D-Day
0%

If I Don't Come Home: Letters from D-Day(en)

2014-06-01

A partly dramatised account of the lives of four Allied servicemen ahead of D-Day, the programme told their story through their final letters home before the assault.

The Veteran
43%

The Veteran(en)

2006-01-01

Thirty years on from Vietnam, a government official is trying to track down soldiers who went missing in action, in the hope that it may lead her to her father. Meanwhile, a war veteran is forced to relive painful memories of how he was left for dead by his own platoon, and the heinous crimes he once committed while in the line of duty.

Desperation
55%

Desperation(en)

2006-05-23

When a sheriff arrests a writer, a family, a couple, and a hitchiker and throws them in a jail cell in the deserted town of Desperation, they must fight for their lives.

Romance on the Orient Express
54%

Romance on the Orient Express(en)

1985-03-04

Lily, an American travelling on the famous Orient Express train from Venice, Italy to Paris, France, suddenly runs into her former lover, Alex, who met and had a tender romance ten years earlier while vacationing in France, which ended abruptly when he walked out on her without saying a word. Now Alex tries to make up for lost time with Lily while she digs into his past to find out what haunting secrets that he has which led to their abrupt break-up.

Habibie & Ainun 3
74%

Habibie & Ainun 3(id)

2019-12-19

When she was in high school, Ainun was known as a smart girl and became the target of many male students, including Habibie. In college, Ainun became a popular figure. Ahmad is a man who dared to express his love for Ainun.

Soft Targets
100%

Soft Targets(en)

1982-10-19

Stephen Poliakoff's parody of the spy-thriller genre. A Russian diplomat becomes convinced that he is at the centre of a Foreign Office plot.

The Visitor
47%

The Visitor(en)

1999-10-26

Four 20-somethings are coasting through life in a fashionable part of London. A misunderstanding leads to the introduction of a stranger into their home, who starts to take control...

The Dance
80%

The Dance(en)

1999-11-02

When a widowed father meets a new dance partner, his children react badly. Are they just missing their mother, or is there another reason for their reaction?