Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Blake of Scotland Yard (1937)

An edited film version of a film serial.

Sir James Blake (Herbert Rawlinson) has retired from Scotland Yard to help his niece Hope (Joan Barclay) and her friend Jerry (Ralph Byrd) develop a death ray machine that can render armies and navies obsolete and bring about world peace. Unfortunately the criminal mastermind The Scorpion has stolen it...

The film plot, such that there is, is simple enough. Blake and his friend begin to hunt down the gang, retrieve the invention and unmask the mysterious Scorpion.

It is enjoyable enough but like all converted serials it suffers from being rather disjointed and also a bit low budget. Supposedly it is set in England but apart from the occasional bit of stock footage (Big Ben et cetera) it could be set anywhere, plus everyone has an American accent even the RAF for some reason. There is plenty of action throughout though most of the time you are wondering what exactly is going on.