Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940)

Although the character had appeared in a couple of earlier films, this was the first of a new series of Ellery Queen films in the 1940s.

The owner of a fitness company John Braun (Fred Niblo) falls ill suddenly and writes a new will cutting out his daughter. Nikki Porter (Margaret Lindsay) meanwhile wants to see Braun, to try and help improve relations between Braun and his estranged daughter (Marsha Hunt). While she is waiting for Braun, she finds herself locked in a room. When she gets out she finds Braun has been stabbed, but the murder weapon is missing. Amateur detective Ellery Queen (Ralph Bellamy) knows Nikki will be the number one suspect and helps hide her from the law while trying to find the murderer himself...

An enjoyable film, bright and breezy with some good charismatic lead performances and a fast moving plot. 

The Bees' Buzz (1929)

A surreal and highly strange (and amusing) comedy that has to be seen to be believed!

Andy (Andy Clyde) is announcing the engagement of his daughter Peggy (Barbara Leonard) to the rich oil man Homer (Harry Gribbon). However, Peggy is in love with Tyler (Tyler Brooke) instead and she elopes with him. Andy and Homer head off in pursuit which sparks a series of bizarre antics including car chases, people in cow suits and angry bees stinging everyone on the bum!

This is a rather strange little film which wouldn't seem out of place a few decades later in a psychedelic pop video. Highlights include a justice of the peace running around a golf course still in his sauna box and a man trying to get out of a barrel of water which falls apart drenching everyone. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever and can't be considered high art but it is very funny and does the job.

The Secret of the Purple Reef (1960)

A reasonable enough little adventure, though can't really be called more than almost competent.

After the loss of their brother's ship, brothers Mark (Jeff Richards) and Dean (Richard Chamberlain) decide to investigate what went wrong. They find the loss of the ship is linked to another ship, a freighter, which sank off St Kitts in the West Indies. The freighter was owned by Weber (Peter Falk) who seems rather dodgy and is keen for them to not investigate too closely...

This isn't that bad a film, though you'd struggle to call it good but it is at least watchable. The story is basic, though well structured. The execution is rather poor with some stilted dialogue. The sound track is also completely random (sounding like it comes from a compilation album of Caribbean music) and doesn't match what is shown on the screen at all! 

Peter Falk saves the film with his menacing presence, he often did play a very good villain.

Nancy Steele is Missing! (1937)

A somewhat unusual crime drama.

Dannie (Victor McLaglen) is both a crook and a pacifist, so much so on the latter that he kidnaps the daughter of military industrialist Steele (Walter Connelly) during the First World War. Leaving the daughter with some friends to bring up, Dannie then ends up in prison for seventeen years! The girl Nancy (June Lang) has grown up into a young woman by the time Dannie gets out of prison, and thinks Dannie is her father.

Dannie decides to return Nancy to her real father (in return for money of course) but due to Nancy's feelings for him he cannot go through with the kidnap plot. Unfortunately, Dannie's old cell mate Sturm (Peter Lorre) is on hand to mess things up...

An unusual film for the period in that an actual criminal is treated fairly sympathetically. This film has a rather far fetched and convoluted plot but is saved by some good performances (especially Lorre) and the atmospheric feel.

Santa Claus vs The Devil (1959)

Some truly bizarre Christmas fare.

Santa Claus (José Elias Moreno) is preparing for Christmas, and bringing joy to all the good little girls and boys. These include poor Lupita who is a very good girl who only wants a doll. However, the Devil sends his minion Pitch (José Luis Aguirre), who tries to corrupt Lupita into stealing that doll. Luckily Lupita remains good (a real little angel to be honest). Pitch recruits three bad boys to help him try and stop Santa in a number of traps and ruin Christmas...

Very strange stuff and often very surreal, Santa's robot surveillance system and flying castle base are amazing if somewhat odd. In mortal peril from the evil of the Devil, Santa is helped by Merlin (Armando Arriola) - well of course! The film has some real mind bending charm and is fun, though may cause some nightmares. Well Merry Christmas anyway!

What Waits Below (1984)

A surprisingly good adventure deep underground.

Wolf (Robert Powell) is recruited by the US Army to help them establish a special radio transmitter deep underground in a system of caves. However, the transmitter mysteriously vanishes and Wolf leads a team of soldiers and scientists (including Anne Heywood and Timothy Bottoms) to find out what is going on. 

Deep underground things start to go pear shaped fast. They encounter a mysterious race of Lemurians deep in the cave system. The Lemurians have lived underground for millennia and have a special reason to want the transmitter...

This is a good mysterious world and underground adventure. There maybe arn't that many thrills but the creepy atmosphere and odd happenings deep below certainly give plenty of chills.

In Tandem (1974)

The feature length pilot of the TV series Movin' On about two truck drivers. Expect big rigs and lots of country music!

Will (Frank Converse) is a young-ish truck driver, of a more intellectual bent, who has grown tired of driving death traps and quits. He meets up with veteran independent trucker Sonny (Claude Akins) and agrees to drive for him, though he doesn't expect that the life of a "gypsy" trucker like Sonny can often be a bit fraught with danger! Things come to a head when the two truckers get involved with a group of citrus farmers who are being menaced by the local hard men...

This is a standard 1970s trucking film, a simple enough plot overlaid with footage of lots of trucks driving through the countryside all with a country soundtrack (by Merle Haggard as well which is cool). The film is a bit rough around the edges but pretty entertaining.

The Lone Wolf Strikes (1940)

The reformed jewel thief is called upon to dust off his old skills.

After a valuable string of pearls is stolen from a rich banker, who later dies in a mysterious accident, his daughter Delia (Joan Perry) employs the reformed jewel thief Lanyard (Warren William) aka the Lone Wolf to recover them and find out what happened to her father. 

A complicated romp ensues as the Lone Wolf impersonates a fence to infiltrate the criminal gang and switch the real pearls with fakes. However, an unexpected accomplice close to Delia threatens to derail the whole case...

This is a fine film, a typical B-movie with masses of plot squeezed into a short running time. There is some peril but everything is kept light and fast moving.

Timecop (1994)

A fun science-fiction film, a martial arts time travel romp.

Time travel has been invented and the US government forms an agency to regulate the technology and protect against bad people trying to change the time line. Walker (Jean Claude Van Damme) is one of these "time cops", we see him travel back to the 1920s to stop a rogue ex-colleague manipulating the future stock market. He warns Walker that a powerful man is forcing him (and others) to work for him, using the threat of literally wiping out their families from time...

Walker soon discovers that US presidential hopeful McComb (Ron Silver) is the man behind these crimes, stealing money in the past in order to fund his campaign. McComb is trying to destroy the time cop agency, and was also behind the death of Walker's wife (Mia Sara) some years before...

A good science fiction action film, it doesn't get too hung up on how unrealistic the science is but uses the effects budget well when required. There is also plenty of action, a good evil bad guy and plenty of humour. Entertaining indeed.

The Live Wire (1935)

A reasonable South Seas treasure hunting adventure, though you'll have probably seen the basic story better executed elsewhere.

After they find a vase in an antique shop, two professors (James Aubrey and Henry Roquemore) think they have found evidence of a long lost civilisation in the South Seas. They track down the sailor who found the vase, Dick Nelson (Richard Talmadge), who is a good seaman but is never far from a fight, and hire him. The ship owned by King (Charles K French) is also hired so Nelson can lead the profs to where he found the vase. King's daughter Madge (Alberta Vaughn) stows away but thats not the main problem for the mission, Nelson's bitter rival Bull (George Walsh) is the First Mate and aims to seize the ship and end Nelson once and for all...

A basic and unoriginal story which is executed mostly adequately. The character of Bull is ridiculous though, he ends up blowing up the ship and marooning himself and his minions on an island but for some reason the minions still listen to him! 

Afghanistan - The Last War Bus (1989)

Plenty of action but not a lot of coherent plot.

Hondo (Mark Gregory) is a mercenary who is sent on a top secret mission into Afghanistan to locate a lost American officer and a bus (yes!) 

However, this is a very special bus as there are top secret plans hidden aboard. Hondo is a one man army, making his way across the country wiping out half of the Russian Army. But to escape, Hondo and some other Americans he frees must fix up the bus...

This isn't a very good film though has plenty of action. Naturally the only person who seems to know how to shoot straight is Hondo who can even shoot down helicopters with a shot gun. Despite all of the blood shed, the film is often a bit dull and slow.

The One and Only (1978)

Amiable if somewhat annoying tale of seeking wrestling stardom.

Andy (Henry Winkler) is an aspiring actor, unfortunately he finds it hard to get any parts despite being the most self-confident man in the universe. This is a concern to his wife Mary (Kim Darby) especially as she is now pregnant. 

Andy learns from another actor Milton (Hervé Villechaise) that he can make money in the ring as a wrestler. Mary is not that keen on this change in direction but Andy tends to ignore her concerns anyway (why she stays with him is the film's biggest mystery) but soon gets the bug and seeks super-stardom in the squared circle with a hot new gimmick...

This is a fun enough film, Andy's character is very annoying but Henry Winkler makes it bearable. It is a decent comedy though not without flaws. Real wrestlers who appear in the film include Roddy Piper and Chavo Guerrero Snr.

Kitten with a Whip (1964)

A rather grubby little tale involving an aspiring politician and a delinquent girl.

Patton (John Forsythe) arrives home after a hard night's political wheeling and dealing is blissfully unaware that there is a runaway young girl asleep in his daughter's bed! The next morning Patton discovers Jody (Ann-Margret) and assumes she is a plant to cause a political scandal. However, he believes her when she tells him she escaped a broken home and desperately needed somewhere to stay. He buys her some new clothes and, after much stalling, sends her on her way.

Unfortunately, Jody's story wasn't quite true. She was indeed on the run, for stabbing a matron at reform school! She brings some fellow delinquents to Patton's home to take him hostage and involve him in a highly violent and dangerous adventure...

A fine enough film, quite dark and with a sinister air at times. Patton's naivety was essential for the plot but can be a bit annoying at times but Jody's mental instability is certainly compelling.

David Harding, Counterspy (1950)

A tasty wartime counter-espionage tale.

The head of counter-espionage Harding (Howard St John) recounts to a radio commentator how a key operation went down during the war. Information is leaking out of a facility where the US Navy is developing it's torpedoes. 

Naval officer Baldwin (Willard Parker) is sent in to try and uncover the agent. Unbeknownst to Baldwin, one of the agents (Audrey Long) is very close to his heart...

This is a fine procedural, giving us a view of early counter-espionage efforts and the careful uncovering of a group of spies, but also how the spies themselves operate. 

A tough film with Noir touches but the spy game is one of the hardest games of all.

Black Angel (1946)

A dark murder mystery with some seedy characters but a big twist.

After singer Mavis Marlowe (Constance Dowling) is found dead, Kirk Bennett (John Phillips) - who was spotted at the scene - is arrested for the crime and later convicted. Kirk's wife Catherine (June Vincent) believes he is innocent and enlists the help of Marlowe's ex-husband and songwriter Martin Blair (Dan Durylea) for help. Unfortunately Blair has a drinking problem but he manages to pull things together and help. 

Night club owner (and suspected gangster) Marko (Peter Lorre) was also seen nearby while the crime took place and he is the prime suspect of Catherine and Martin. They pretend to be a singing duo and get a job in his bar so they can try and get evidence of his crime. However, things do not turn out as they hope...

A well put together film that moves at a good pace and has an interesting plot. The mains all give good performances especially Lorre's sinister Marko.

Jack-O (1995)

A rather awful slash gore horror film involving a pumpkin man.

Many years ago a wizard (John Carradine) was put to death, now he has come back to life as Jack the Pumpkin Man and seeks vengeance on the modern day towns folk and especially the Kelly family. Young Sean Kelly (Ryan Latshaw) is having a number of terrible dreams involving slash gore murder while his parents (Gary Doles and Maddison K Krown) set up a rather disturbing looking Halloween display...

A terrible film with ropey acting, awkward pacing and badly executed gore. The fact Carradine - who had been dead for years when this film was made - is probably one of the best actors in it probably says a lot. There is plenty of cheesy and unintentionally hilarious nonsense though. 

So bad it's good? Oh yeah...

Hands of Steel (1986)

Cyborg killer nonsense that somehow works.

It is the near future (well as far as the film was concerned, in fact it is 1997). The environment has collapsed and society isn't far behind. Moseley (Franco Fantasia) is the last hope for mankind but he is almost killed by a mysterious assailant, a hard bodied maniac called Paco (Daniel Greene) who is now on the run. It seems though that Paco is a cyborg sent by the evil Turner (John Saxon) but Paco failed to carry out his mission due to his latent humanity breaking out. Turner now sends his minions to dispose of Paco...

Paco is hiding out at a remote bar run by Linda (Janet Agren) where he spends his time defeating various trucker hoodlums at arm wrestling...

This film is rather low budget, this means a lot of dreary storyline with little happening is used to pad the film out, however when we do finally get to the final battle action set piece it is pretty spectacular and well worth waiting for. A great film overall, though doesn't make a lot of sense.

Smart Blonde (1937)

The first in the Torchy Blane series of films starring the perky young reporter.

Torchy (Glenda Farrell) is after a scoop as usual, and indeed gets one when she witnesses the shooting of an investor who has arrived from Boston to buy a popular night club from Mularky (Addison Richards). Mularky wanted out of the seedy business so he could do a bit of social climbing with Marcia (Charlotte Wynters). Mularky's old right hand man Chuck (Max Wagner) is a suspect because he will lose his job though he later becomes a victim too...

Torchy unravels a complicated plot involving plenty of swindling with the help of her beau (and detective) McBride (Baron MacLane). While in later films Torchy could often be more of a hinderance than a help to the police, in this film she really is on the case and this is a fine crime B-movie.

Big Bob Johnson and His Fantastic Speed Circus (1978)

A low budget and low stakes racing film, this time its two Rolls Royces racing across Louisiana!

Bob Johnson (Charles Napier) has a struggling car stunt act which is bottom of the bill at the county show below a performing dog. However, he gets approached by Timothy Stepwell (Rick Hurst). He and his uncle (William Daniels) are to race across the state in order to win an inheritance from an eccentric relative. He wants Bob to drive the car and to help him defeat his uncle, who has enlisted Bob's rival and nemesis Muldoon (Burton Gilliam) as his driver...

The race begins in two old white Rolls Royces, a Wacky Races style race ensues with the uncle trying all sorts of dirty tricks to win. Meanwhile, a kid (James Bond III) stows away in one of the cars, and they are also pursued by a mysterious black van...

This is all nonsense of course but highly enjoyable. Small town America and the back woods is the setting for this film (never a bad thing, its great to get away from the usual big city settings) and there is plenty of comedy to lighten the mood, plus some decent driving stunts too.

Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941)

A rare Roman statue becomes the unusual centre of an art theft and murder case.

Diane (Harriet Nelson) puts a rare Roman statue, the last heirloom of her family, up for auction. However, an unscrupulous gang create a copy of the statue. At the auction, Diane notices something is fishy with the fake statue but before she can reveal this someone tries to shoot her. Luckily Boston Blackie (Chester Morris) is at the auction and shoots the gunman first. Unfortunately in the confusion no one knows what really happened and Inspector Faraday (Richard Lane) arrests Blackie for the attempted murder of Diane!

Of course Blackie gets away from the hapless Faraday and seeks to clear his name and find out what is really going on, this leads to a showdown in the gang's rather elaborate underground lair.

A great early instalment in the Boston Blackie series. The usual fast moving mix of snappy cheeky dialogue, slightly implausible situations and plot holes.

Venetian Bird (1952)

A grimy and Noir-ish crime drama set in glamorous Venice's seedy under belly.

Private detective Mercer (Richard Todd) has come to Vice to locate a former resistance fighter on behalf of an insurance company. However, locating this man is proving difficult especially as his informant is soon found dead! Mercer thinks the man is linked to a gallery where Adriana (Eva Bartok) works and lives. Despite news that the man he is seeking died in the war, Mercer is sure he is still alive though this puts him at odds with a tough gang who have a dark plan of their own...

An enjoyable film is fairly static at times but the portrayal of the grimy life of Mercer (which the limited budget probably helped with) works really well, the final chase on the roof tops is thrilling though. Look out for Sid James giving possibly the worst impression of an Italian hardman ever!