Fallguy (1962)

A rather inept drama though not without some highlights.

Sonny (Ed Dugan) is a cocky young man driving his convertible who happens upon an attempted road side murder of a gangster (G.J. Mitchell). Sonny ends up the prisoner of the man, but then dragged into a conspiracy involving a crooked doctor (Don Alderette) and police chief (Louis Gartner). Sonny is framed for the murder of the gangster and the powerful figures up against him means he needs some evidence. Can the doctor's daughter June (Madeline Frances) provide any of that?

The film is a bit shoddy around the edges with mysterious direction at times and patchy acting and plot, plus has the budget of a cheese burger. It does have a noir edge to it though, especially in the last act. Sonny and June do become characters you care about and you'll stick around to see if they survive. For a short film though it can be a bit of a drag.

God Told Me To (1976)

Somewhat confusing maybe, and switches between more genres than you can count, but somehow its brilliant.

A number of horrific random crimes are being committed in NY, the perpetrators all saying that "God" told them to commit the crimes before they usually die themselves. Detective Nicholas (Tony Lo Blanco) thinks there is something more than meets the eye to this and begins to track down the mysterious Bernard Philips (Richard Lynch) who has been seen speaking to the perpetrators and indeed may even be directing matters.

Nicholas' investigation goes into really strange territory when it includes alien impregnation! Nicholas also begins to discover some shocking details about his own life too...

So, the film starts off like it is going to be a gritty 1970s crime story, then becomes a horror with elements of the supernatural, then sci-fi. Then the film switches back to crime with a blaxploitation-esque sub-plot about a pimp (George Patterson) who kills a cop on the take. 

Oh, there is also a sub-plot about Nicholas and the two ladies (Deborah Raffin and Sandy Dennis) in his love triangle! The story is confusing, but fast moving and multi-layered. Its great!

Sign of the Wolf (1941)

A surprisingly enjoyable film about some very clever dogs and rather unscrupulous humans.

Judy (Grace Bradley) has two performing Alsatian dogs (Smokey and [Grey] Shadow). When the two dogs fight at a dog show, causing her to miss out on a prize she decides to sell Shadow much to the dismay of Ben (Mantan Moreland). He smuggles Shadow aboard the flight back to Canada. The plane crashes in bad weather. Shadow manages to bring help to Judy and Ben in the shape of Rod (Michael Whalen). 

However, where has Smoky gone? Unfortunately, Smoky has been grabbed by two thieves who want to use the dog to steal fox fur pelts...

This is a fun little film with some good heroic dog action and a growing romance in the snow bound Canadian woods. Low budget doesn't have to mean low quality (or vice versa) after all.

The Handmaid's Tale (1990)

A dark dystrophia, that in the thirty odd years since release doesn't seem quite so far fetched any more.

We are in the near future and it's dark times. America has fallen, replaced by the religious fundamentalist Gilead (though a civil war seems to be raging so not everywhere is under Gilead's control it seems). Pollution has wiped out much of human fertility, those women who can still give birth are now a valuable commodity, not that they see any of that value themselves of course. Women like Kate (Natasha Richardson) are trained to become obedient "handmaids", basically given to rich families to bear their children for them. 

Kate is given to the Commander (Robert Duvall) and his wife Serena (Faye Dunaway). Rough unpleasant sex with religious ceremonial overtones follows. Kate also strikes up a friendship with the Commander's driver Nick (Aiden Quinn). There is more to Nick than it at first seems, indeed more to Gilead's supposedly strict religious society than it at first seems too...

The world of Gilead is monstrous, especially because of so much that goes unexplained as much as what we see. Hypocrisy and violence is of course at the centre of the society which is well portrayed here. An excellent film.

In Old Santa Fe (1934)

Singing cowboys shenanigans in a contemporary Western (as in 1930s of course).

Kentucky (Ken Maynard) is a singing cowboy who gets involved in a horse race with his performing horse Tarzan. Unfortunately, the crooked gangster Chandler (Kenneth Thomson) and his friend Tracy (Wheeler Oakman) are also in town and Kentucky ends up being framed for murder and involvement in the robbery of a stagecoach. Kentucky needs the help of his sidekick Cactus (George Hayes)...

Not a bad western at all with some good good riding, decent humour (much in the form of sharp dialogue and wisecracks) and good tunes. Interestingly, Gene Autry sang the songs and this was his screen test.

Why Must I Die? (1960)

A tense and enthralling Noir crime drama.

Lois (Terry Moore) tries to break out of her life of involvement in crime and becomes a singer in a club owned by Kenny (Phil Harvey) whom she falls in love with. However, her previous life catches up with her when old criminal accomplice Eddie (Lionel Ames) and his new moll Dottie (Debra Paget) catch up with Lois and want her help in robbing the club. The crime goes wrong and Kenny ends up gunned down. Lois gets the blame and ends up on death row. Her only hope is that Dottie admits that she committed the murder herself...

This is an excellent film, well structured and continually rising to an explosive crescendo. The film is a battle between two strong female wills and serves as a cautionary tale against capital punishment. Stylish but sleazy at the same time.

The Black Raven (1943)

A dark house mystery with a difference.

The Black Raven (George Zucco) - not his real name but the name he is known by due to his criminal activities - owns a hotel on the Canadian border. A number of people wanting to cross the border for various illegal reasons get trapped by a storm and a broken bridge and end up in the hotel. The people include an escaped convict (I Stanford Jolly), a man who robbed a bank (Horace Weatherby), a crime boss on the run and an eloped couple. The latter are rumbled when the girl's father, an important man, turns up.

When the father (Robert Middlemass) is found murdered, suspicion falls on the future son-in-law (Robert Livingstone) though the Black Raven turns out to be a criminal with a heart of gold and wants to prove the young man's innocence. When the stolen bank loot goes missing and the crime boss (Noel Madison) also ends up dead then the Sheriff (Charles Middleton) has a real mystery on his hands...

A fun if sometimes confusing film. The setting up takes ages with probably a few too many characters and the action takes place largely in the dark with various bumps and scrapes. Despite the heavy number of characters they all have time to establish themselves and the elaborate story makes sense in the end. It is what you would call a romp.

Fallout (1999)

What a great idea for a film, though the execution leaves a lot to be desired.

We are in the future (well for this film anyway, 2015 is the past now). Russia have invaded a former Soviet country (oh that sounds familiar). However, despite being from the country being invaded Federov (Frank Zagarino) is still going to command a space shuttle mission on the behalf of the Russians to the international space station (or a more advanced version which conveniently has artificial gravity). Also going on the mission is Amanda (Teri Ann Lynn) who is going to fix the space station's computer.

However, on the station things soon go wrong. Federov seizes control of the station and also a Russian nuclear attack satellite constellation. He tells Russia that they must withdraw from his homeland or he will start firing these nuclear satellites at US cities! The US responds by sending maverick pilot Hendricks (Daniel Baldwin) aboard an experimental new space ship, which has yet to make a successful flight...

The story is great though the budget and execution is unfortunately not up to the job. The acting is nearly as flimsy as some of the sets do, one of which makes Mission Control look like it's been relocated to a caravan. The action mostly consists of firing assault rifles on a space station. This does not seem the wisest thing to do to me...

Fear City (1984)

A sleazy tale of vice and murder in the big city that doesn't quite get out of third gear.

Strippers in NY are being attacked and soon murdered by a mysterious attacker (Neil Clifford) whose motivations and background are never really explained apart from that he knows martial arts. The strippers are managed by Nicky (Jack Scalia) and Matt (Tom Berenger) who is an ex-boxer whose career was ended by his mental trauma after killing an opponent in the ring. Nicky and Matt think their rivals are behind the attacks but when their rivals' strippers are also attacked they know something more is up. 

The police in the form of Wheeler (Billy Dee Williams) are keen to bust everyone's ass though don't seem to be doing much to find the attacker, but then again neither does Matt until the very end of the film and the inevitable final showdown...

Despite being a rather gory film about a serial attacker the film lacks a lot of tension, you do get a lot of near naked women gyrating in seedy glubs though. Much of the film deals with Matt's demons and his eventual redemption. As for the attacker, well he doesn't say a word. Not a bad film but could have been so much more.

Kelly of the Secret Service (1936)

A rather crude mystery that has everything but the kitchen sink thrown at it. Somehow it ultimately satisfies.

Dr Marston (Forrest Taylor) has developed some kind of death ray apparatus that can destroy military threats at a distance. Unfortunately, in the best movie tradition, the plans for the top secret weapon are kept lying on a desk with no security. A mysterious figure in a gas mask steals the plans!

Kelly (Lloyd Hughes) from the Secret Service is called in to investigate. He is suspicious of Marston's assistant Lesserman (Jack Mulhall) and secretary Sally Flint (Sheila Bromley). However, when a test warship is destroyed despite Marston's apparatus having been destroyed it is clear there is someone else involved and with a copy of the apparatus, the hunt now is on for Marston's former assistant Walsh (John Elliot) but how is he involved with Sally Flint?

Although the film is rather shoddily made with plenty of awkward pauses and wobby sets, plus the inclusion of Fuzzy Knight and Syd Saynor to provide some dubious comedy, the film is pretty good overall. As it includes death rays, military secrets, red herrings, hidden doors and secret panels it is like a greatest hits of 1930s mystery dramas!

Lady Mobster (1988)

An enjoyable TV movie showing how a young woman rises through the mobster ranks on a mission of revenge.

After mobster Victor Castle (Joseph Wiseman) announces plans to go straight, his accountant and his wife are killed by an assassin (Anthony James). The daughter Laurel (Susan Lucci) manages to escape and is bought up by the Castle family. 

A number of years later she is a promising young lawyer but returns to the Castle family as Victor is ailing and his plan to finally become legitimate is in trouble. Despite Victor's misgivings, Laurel becomes involved with the family business with the help of Nick (Michael Nader) but discovers the assassin who killed her parents is still at large...

A good mobster film though perhaps contains nothing you haven't seen elsewhere. This is done very well though and has a suitably dark conclusion after a number of twists.

The Rage of Wind (1973)

Crazy wild kung fu action, not a huge lot of story though!

The Japanese (evil of course) have invaded China (this is set in the late 1930s). Taka (Yasuaki Kurata) has put the Chinese fishermen under harsh new fish taxes and his henchmen are beating up anyone who protests. Meanwhile, top Chinese boxer Chan (Sing Chen) and his American wife Lin (Irene Ryder) have returned from the US. After killing a man in the ring he has vowed to never use his fists for violence again...

That immediately becomes a problem as Chan is immediately hurled into the fight between the Chinese and Japanese. Eventually he is forced to fight and everything is set up for the inevitable showdown with Taka on the beach to the death...

So, a basic kung fu tale. Any vague story is just a handy framework for a series of fights. These are pretty good fights too, especially the final showdown. A good example of the genre.

You're Out of Luck (1941)

The Darro-Moreland double act is back in this tale of gambling and elevators.

Frankie Darro and Jeff (Mantan Moreland) are working at an apartment block as elevator operator and janitor respectively. When they witness a murder in the car park they get involved thanks to Frankie's older brother Tom (Richard Bond) being the detective on the case. However, when the investigation falls into chaos poor Tom ends up back in uniform. Frankie (with Jeff dragged along rather unwillingly) decides to try and solve the case himself, which involves putting themselves into danger in the city's seedy gambling scene...

An enjoyable film with the usual good banter and chemistry from Darro and Moreland. The humour isn't as overt as in some of their films but the mystery is well written. The low budget doesn't detract too much. Kay Sutton plays the agreeable heroine.

High School Caesar (1960)

A hilariously bad example of the high school drama genre (though are any of them any good?)

Matt (John Ashley) is the school's bad boy with his gang of followers but feared and hated by everyone else. The school mafia boss beats up weaker kids for their lunch money and gets copies of tests which he can sell to other kids. He also wants to be the school president but is up for election against Kelly (Lowell Brown) who wants none of that nonsense! Soon, much of the rest of the school also decide to stop the tyrannical rule of Matt...

Lets cut straight to the chase, this is a pretty awful film with a lack of action and endless wooden and stilted dialogue. It does have a few bright moments though including the character of Matt who isn't quite the one dimensional baddie you might think at first. In fact the more you know about his background (rich but neglected) the more you understand and he plays the role well. Much of the rest of the film though can be binned.

Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)

Mr Moto is on form on this adventure ranging from a French prison to the foggy streets of old London town.

In order to infiltrate a gang of assassins, Mr Moto (Peter Lorre) has himself incarcerated on Devil's Island. There he helps Paul (Leon Ames) to escape. 

Now in his confidence, Mr Moto travels with Paul to London to be his Japanese valet. Moto discovers a plot to kill the industrialist Anton Darvak (Henry Wilcoxon), however he doesn't know who the leader of the gang is and begins an investigation in the seedy side of London and also fine art...

This is an excellent instalment in the Mr Moto series with the Japanese detective having to employ his skills in disguise as well as fighting. The "English" accents are hilariously bad. The reveal of the evil mastermind is good, though probably predictable.

Velvet Smooth (1976)

A blaxploitation epic full of hilariously bad fights.

Strange looking men in masks are muscling in on King's (Owen Watson) street hustles. Velvet Smooth (Johnnie Hill) is a female private detective who King hires to find out who is behind the attacks. The "investigation" seems to consist of random fights all over the place and hanging out in Velvet's stylish 1970s apartment. The police are also investigating in the form of Lt Ramos (Frank Ruiz), Sgt Barnes (Moses Lyllia) and a Kojak impersonator!

The story is fairly basic and easy to follow but this film is about the violence. There is a lot of it and it is nearly all bad. Endless fights in the streets and warehouses, obviously (if not very good) choreographed but also very ineptly. It helps to make the film highly entertaining, it also had plenty of late 1970s cheese.

Alien from L.A. (1988)

A cheesy 1980s sci-fi comedy, it is totally nonsense but looks amazing and is great fun.

Wanda (Kathy Ireland) is a nerd girl who never does anything exciting. She finds out her archaeologist father (Richard Haines) has gone missing in Africa and heads out to try and find him. She ends falling down a large hole her father once dug and ends up in a weird subterranean world. The inhabitants of this underground world look like extras from Mad Max but do speak English. Wanda travels with Gus (William R Moses) to the city where she soon finds herself hunted by the authorities who want to suppress knowledge of the world above...

This is a crazy film which doesn't make a lot of sense but it looks great. Aesthetically it is a mixture of Mad Max and the sort of future shock pop videos popular in the late 1980s. A feature length pop video therefore and well worth seeing.

Spy Smasher (Serial) (1942)

Spy Smasher battles a Nazi spy in this wartime action serial adaptation of a comic book character.

Alan Armstrong (Kane Richmond) has a costumed alter-ego known as Spy Smasher, he is well named indeed as his job is to battle Nazi spies who have come across to America to cause mayhem. 

The spies are led by The Mask (Hans Schumm) who uses a U-boat as his secret base and puts Spy Smasher in peril by the end of every episode, check out next week to see how he escapes!

This is one of the better action serials with some good perils and good use of stock footage.

Date Bait (1960)

Delinquent teens twisted by drugs, rock and roll and huge cars.

Brad (Dick Gering) returns home after spending some time in rehab. He tries to get in with Sue (Marlo Ryan), who he is sweet on, but she isn't keen and is with Logan (Gary Clarke) instead. Brad and Logan have a rather limp fight in the teen bar.

Brad's older brother (John Garwood) intervenes and beats up Logan for him, he orders Brad to help him out with his drug dealing. Brad finds the lure of drugs a challenge. Meanwhile, Logan and Sue's young love runs up against parental disapproval and they decide to skip to Vegas...

This is standard teen B-movie fare. The storyline is basic, the acting also pretty basic (though fairly serviceable) and the settings and direction average. It is an enjoyable little film though, Logan and Sue are fairly sympathetic characters. The rock and roll is cool, the 1950s cars are even cooler.

Mr. Moto's Gamble (1938)

Mr Moto cross overs into the Charlie Chan universe.

A boxer dies in the ring, it is later found that he was poisoned, the poison being found on the gloves of his opponent Bill Steele (Dick Baldwin), the death was to fix the fight so gangster Nick Crowder (Douglas Fowley) could make a ton of cash out of the bookies. Japanese detective Mr Moto (Peter Lorre) proves the boxer's death was murder but the search goes on to find out who was behind it.

Meanwhile Lee / Number One Son (Keye Luke) is attending a class by Mr Moto and in his bumbling way gets involved in the investigation... not that Mr Moto really needs any help.

This is a decent detective story, more sedate than Mr Moto adventures often are... more like a Charlie Chan story indeed. That is because this was supposed to be a Charlie Chan film but Warner Oland died early in the film's production and so the film was rewritten to be a Mr Moto film. But it does mean that Mr Moto and Charlie Chan did solve crimes at the same time if we want to get all modern day movie universe about it, it is just a shame of course they didn't get to meet.