Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946)

Another entry in the long-running Crime Doctor series.

Dr Ordway (Warren Baxter) is consulted by a young woman Irene (Ellen Drew) who tells him that her fiancé is suffering from bouts of amnesia after his war service. 

Before very long Ordway discovers the man has been murdered by two thugs (and very nearly shares the same fate). Ordway becomes involved in a plot involving a strange house and Irene's domineering sister Natalie who went missing a few years before...

Although the plot has a few holes, this is a fine B-movie crime drama and one of the best entries in the Crime Doctor series. The action and antics of the Crime Doctor are varied and there are some good twists.

Morning Departure (1950)

A gripping but ultimately bleak tale of a submarine in distress.

A Royal Navy submarine commanded by Armstrong (John Mills) heads off on a routine training mission. However, things go wrong when the submarine encounters a mine which explodes. The badly damaged submarine is trapped on the sea bed. Although the submarine is found by rescuers and some of the surviving crew escape, Armstrong and the last few including Stoker Snipe (Richard Attenborough) are trapped with no means of escape...

A tense drama, though a submarine will always give you that. Hope is dashed several times as the last survivors slowly realise that there will be not be a happy ending. A superb film.

Baffled! (1973)

A failed TV pilot becomes a pretty decent movie.

Tom Kovack (Leonard Nimoy) is a racing driver who begins to have intense visions during a crash. Occult investigator Michelle Brent (Susan Hampshire) thinks he is having a premonition of an American woman in danger in an English county house. 

Tom and Michelle track down the house (and thus the woman) and begin to uncover a Satanic plot to possess the woman's, Andrea's (Vera Miles), young daughter Jennifer (Jewel Blanch) for evil means... or just get Andrea's money.

This is a good film, though at times the story is a little disjointed which is probably why it never succeeded as a TV pilot. Remade as a film though the story is solid if a little too light to score as a horror. As a detective drama with a supernatural element it works a lot better. Nimoy and Hampshire had great chemistry together.

The Woman in the Window (1944)

A superb Noir, a man is dragged deeper into a dark spiral after being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Reserved academic Professor Richard Wanley (Edward G Robinson) becomes interested in the portrait of a young woman he sees in a window, and then he meets the model Alice (Joan Bennett)! They become friendly and he goes back to Alice's apartment to see other artwork, there when Alice's boyfriend (Arthur Loft) storms in and attacks Richard. Richard kills the man in self-defence.

But the nightmare has only just begun. Richard discovers that the man is a successful industrialist. He hides the body but when it looks like they might have got away with it, the man's bodyguard (Dan Duryea) turns up to blackmail them...

A well structured film full of tension and pretty dark. It soon becomes clear that Richard is pretty doomed and his quiet comfortable life has been changed forever. However, the surprise ending might be a step too far.

Seven Keys to Baldpate (1935)

An enjoyable dark house crime romp, just expect many clichés.

Writer William Magee (Gene Raymond) is looking for a quiet place to work on his book and heads to a remote hotel which should be empty. Unfortunately, it is anything but! 

There are a number of other people lurking around the hotel including Mary (Margaret Callahan) but also others who seem to have dark intents and some missing money.

This is a fun film and played pretty light and fast moving, Magee seems pretty unruffled throughout despite tangling with various thugs and potential dangers. It is full of dark house clichés including hidden rooms and random events. 

Black Cobra (1987)

Violent nonsense as the loner cop fights a violent motorbike gang in a 1980s post-industrial wasteland. So, pretty original then.

A brutal gang led by Bruno Bilotta is killing and raping people at random. They next attack photographer Elys (Eva Grimaldi) whom the gang think has taken photographs of them. The police call upon maverick cop Malone (Fred Williamson) to protect Elys from the thugs who are out to kill her no matter the cost...

This is a pretty generic late 1980s low budget violent film, the sort of film that used to fill video rental shop shelves by the dozens. It isn't that bad a film really, but you will have seen it all before and usually a lot better. 

It is what it is, plenty of violence and late 1980s post-industrial grime.

A Close Call for Ellery Queen (1942)

Ellery Queen is called in to help with a mysterious case of two men blackmailing a wealthy man, who is also searching for two lost daughters.

Ellery Queen (William Gargen) is called upon by the secretary (Edward Norris) of Alan Rogers (Ralph Morgan) to help out. Rogers is being blackmailed by two rough seamen. He has also put out a public appeal for two long-long daughters to return to him. One daughter has already turned up, but Nikki Porter (Margaret Lindsey) poses as the other one (having already met the real one!) After Rogers pays off the two blackmailers, they are found dead. Did Rogers kill them or is someone else really behind the scheme to get their hands on Roger's wealth?

A great edition in the Ellery Queen series, one where Nikki takes the lead in the investigation (for better or worse). A good plot with some enjoyable twists and red herrings.

Fatherland (1994)

It is the 1960s, but in this timeline Hitler has won, but is the Third Reich quite as secure as it seems?

Having won the Second World War, Nazi Germany is now looking to improve relations with the USA. US reporter Charlie (Miranda Richardson) is over to cover the impending visit of the US President to Berlin, Hitler hoping this will help the Nazis in their endless war of attrition with the Soviets. Charlie is given a lead on a massive secret the Nazis are trying to hide. 

Meanwhile, SS officer March (Rutger Hauer) is investigating the death of a senior Nazi official but his investigation is suspiciously cut off by the Gestapo. Is his investigation linked to the secret Charlie is uncovering? The darkest secret of all, the secret of what happened to the Jews...

An enjoyable TV movie, although an alternate history setting this is more about the investigation of crimes and cover-ups and works very well as a suspensful thriller. It would be nice to see the alternate world explored more though that would have probably needed a full TV series.

I Take This Oath (1940)

A simple but highly enjoyable crime drama.

Hanagan (Robert Homans) is a police inspector close to tracking down the hidden identity of the gang boss who is running crime in the city. However, just before he reveals the identity of the boss, Hanagan is killed by a bomb. Hanagan's son Steve (Gordon Jones) joins the police so he can try and discover who killed his father. 

However, his fledgling police career is put at risk by his dogged investigation, as well as his relationship with his girl Betty (Joyce Compton)...

A highly competent film, the story is maybe fairly simple but everyone performs well. There is some heart and soul in this film which helps elevate it to the next level.

Death Rage (1976)

A middling Mafia romp.

After a mafia hit in Italy, semi-retired hitman Peter (Yul Brynner) comes over from New York to finally avenge his brother. He gets help from wannabe gangster Angelo (Massimo Ranieri) and his girl (but soon Peter's girl) Anny (Barbara Bouchet)...

This is a fairly unoriginal gangster film, but a decent job has been made of it. The clichés and action scenes come thick and fast, it isn't great though Yul Brynner is superb in all his scenes, one notable fight being in an underground railway station. 

This was Yul Brynner's final film before he gave up on the movies, so hopefully this film wasn't the cause of that decision! 

Seven Sinners (1936)

A fast moving romp across Europe, including multiple train crashes!

Harwood (Edmund Lowe) is an American private detective in Europe, he discovers a dead body in his hotel room but by the time the authorities turn up the body is gone! 

Insurance agent Caryl Fenton (Constance Cummings) joins Harwood for a new job in Scotland but Harwood is more interested in finding out what happened to the corpse! Not long after Caryl and Harwood are involved in their first train crash, but not before Harwood is reunited with the corpse, on the train!

A highly entertaining, witty and fast moving film, the two leads trading quips nearly as fast as the plot. The plot though may have a few holes here and there but it doesn't linger on any one scene long enough for it to really matter. The twist at the end is good too when the mastermind behind the mayhem is finally revealed.

Shadows in the Night (1944)

A creepy instalment in the Crime Doctor series with some horror overtones.

Dr Ordway (Warner Baxter) is employed by Lois (Nina Foch) for help with her sleep walking nightmares. Ordway comes to her home, a big house by the cliffs, and discovers a dead man who everyone thinks died while sleep walking of natural causes, though Ordway doesn't think so. Something quite odd is happening here, and the chemist Frank Swift (George Zucco) plays a very believable mad scientist, up to something in his lab with various gases.

One of the stranger entries in the Crime Doctor series with it's mysterious and, at times, horror feel. The usual red herrings, slight plot holes and twists, and fast moving / changing plot add to a very satisfying watch.

X-15 (1961)

A somewhat dry early Space Race drama but greatly enlivened by some incredible aerial footage.

The race into space is on, in the US NASA and the US Air Force are racing against time to get into the edge of space with their North American X-15 rocketplane though the progress is often marred by accidents, some deadly...

The film starts off in semi-documentary style (narrated by James Stewart no less!) However, it quickly switches into a fairly pedestrian drama but only skin deep, we don't really get to find much out about the men behind the machines apart from some fairly cardboard characterisation. 

The aerial footage is superb though, and properly supplied by the relevant authorities so not a jarring mix of barely relevant stock footage but X-15s, B-52s and other hot jets. It stars David Lean and Charles Bronson in one of his early film roles.

The Masked Marvel (Serial) (1943)

It is war time and Japanese agents are out to wreck the US war effort, but the Masked Marvel is here to save the day!

After a spate of explosions of strategic industries, the mysterious Masked Marvel (William Forrest) investigates a gang of saboteurs led by the wonderfully over the top evil Sakima (Johnny Arthur). The Marvel assembles a group of agents, one of whom is himself, only Alice (Louise Currie) knows which one is the Masked Marvel. 

The Masked Marvel gets into a number of cliff hanging perils before his final showdown with Sakima...

A wartime adventure romp, and a pretty standard adventure serial. This is highly enjoyable nonsense with the usual ridiculous stunts. The acting is a bit patchy but this is a show for the stunts and adventure, and these are both top notch.

Los Angeles Streetfighter (1985)

If you like low budget and trashy martial arts film which make little sense, you are in for a good time.

Tony (Phillip Rhee) is a new boy at school (even though he looks about 30). He falls foul of the local thug Chan (James Lew), and also begins dating Chan's sister (Rosanna King) which doesn't go down very well. Tony befriends a rival gang leader Young (Jun Chong). Soon, Tony needs to help Young out when he gets into trouble witha drug dealer.

This is a rather shoddy film, so shoddy indeed that the film's title is spelt incorrectly in the opening credits! Much of the action takes place at night in the dark and it is hard to see what is going on. However, what is going on is mostly fighting! The fight scenes arn't that bad, though can be a bit monotonous after a while. Not great, but certainly fun.

The Crusader (1932)

A slightly dull and awkward early talkie.

Philip Brandon (H.B. Warner) is a crusading District Attorney which naturally has gained him a number of enemies as he goes against the big criminals. One person he doesn't go after is law abiding bar owner Jimmie (Lew Cody). Unknown to Brandon though, is that his wife Tess (Evelyn Brent) was Jimmie's ex back when Jimmie was less law abiding.

Meanwhile, Brandon's sister Marcia (Marceline Day) is also involved with a less law-abiding associate of Jimmie, Joe (Walter Byron). When Marcia kills Joe in self-defence, who is going to take the rap...

The story is fine but the execution is flawed, hindered by some poor sound quality. Ned Sparks plays a typically cheeky chappie news reporter (as they always were in 1930s cinema) but it is often hard to hear his dialogue which ruins the effect somewhat. Not a bad pre-code film but it could have been a lot more.

Time to Kill (1942)

The last Michael Shayne film starring Lloyd Nolan in the title role, though the film series would continue with a different actor. 

Shayne is hired by a wealthy widow (Ethel Gryffies) to retrieve a valuable coin which she thinks that her daughter-in-law (Doris Merrick) has stolen when she left. Shayne uncovers a trail leading to a gang of counterfeiters but there is something a lot darker uncovered too, a trail leading to blackmail and murder...

A fine way to end the Nolan series of Shayne films, though this was originally a Raymond Chandler story which was later made as the Philip Marlow story Brasher Doubloon in 1947. This version of the story is played a little lighter with plenty of wise cracks and snappy dialogue and scenes. 

High Flight (1957)

Young men want to join the RAF and fly the latest jets. However, the path to join the elite does not run that smoothly.

One of the cadets is Winchester (Ray Milland) who causes a stir by arriving at the cadet school in his girlfriend's plane. Although he is a little careless and a bit wild, the commander Rudge (Kenneth Haigh) lets him off. It turns out that during the war Winchester's father died after Rudge's own carelessness. Something Winchester junior is well aware of...

An enjoyable, if fairly predictable, film. It is enlivened by some decent performances by the leads and good cameos from Leslie Philips and John le Mesurier. There is also a bit of comedic relief provided by Anthony Newley who causes havoc with his radio controlled flying saucer! The real stars of the film though are the Vampires and Hunters, classic British jets from a bygone age.

The Hidden Room (1949)

An excellent Noir, wonderfully dark with building dread.

Psychiatrist Dr Riorden (Robert Newton) presents a calm, controlled face to the world but internally he is raging about his wife Storm (Sally Grey) and her cheating with young American Bill (Phil Brown). 

Riorden kidnaps Bill and locks him in a cellar. Every day he puts some more acid in a bath in the cellar, he tells Bill that one day he will kill him and dispose of his body parts in the acid! Storm doesn't know what has happened to Bill, neither do the police (Naunton Wayne). However, Storm's little dog proves to be an unexpected wrinkle in Riorden's plan...

So nothing that terrible has happened to Bill yet but we know what Dr Riorden's plans are. As Bill is quite a sympathetic character this does help build the horror nicely. Good performances by Brown and Newton are to be enjoyed. The real star though is Monty the dog!

The Body Stealers (1969)

RAF parachutists are going missing, is it the Russians? Or is it aliens?

The Ministry calls upon the services of Bob Megan (Patrick Allen), quite what kind of special skills he possesses for this mission are unknown, apart from the ability to pull any woman he wants! One of these women appears to be quite strange, fellow agent Jim (Neil Connery) tries to photograph her but she doesn't show up when the film is processed. 

It turns out that Lorna (Pamela Conway) is from another planet, a planet which is dying and has been kidnapping parachutists as it needs men for breeding purposes...

As the aliens are kept hidden until the very end and little in the way of SFX are needed throughout the film, the low budget does not harm this science-fiction film. It isn't flawless by any means but is an enjoyable little film.

Return of the Jedi (1983)

The third Star Wars film, a great ending to the saga but also when things started to go wrong.

The Rebel alliance was reeling after the last instalment in the saga, the Empire driving them to the outer reaches, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) frozen and given to Jabba the Hutt and Luke (Mark Hamill) discovering the horror that Darth Vader (David Prowse/David Earl Jones) was his father. 

But the Rebels are fighting back, Luke and Leia (Carrie Fisher) rescue Han and then link up with the regrouped Rebel fleet which is about to attack the second Death Star, the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) himself is on board...

This is an all-action ending to the original trilogy of the film, which ties up most of the trilogy's plot threads nicely. However, it is also where the Star Wars franchise started to go wrong. The inclusion of the Ewoks can be a bit jarring, only the fact the rest of the story is taking place at the same time can make the Ewoks story tolerable. The big reveal that Luke and Leia were twin siblings does make their snog in the previous film interesting...

It is of course brilliant (though not quite as brilliant as the previous two films), and the perfect end to the saga. It is a shame they had to change that a few decades later.