The Crime Doctor's Gamble (1947)

The Crime Doctor heads to gay Paris!

Dr Ordman (Warner Baxter) has gone to Paris to lecture, and definitely not get involved in investigating a crime. Of course, very soon he is helping his detective friend (Marcel Journel) out with a murder as the main suspect could be insane. 

The Crime Doctor investigates the case which involves art forgery, an old family dispute and a knife thrower act!

The ninth entry in the Crime Doctor series, and pretty enjoyable too. Although set in Paris, the crime procedural is fairly standard for a B-movie of the period, but the setting adds a little bit of freshness and novelty.

The Brighton Strangler (1945)

A rather dark, if somewhat implausible, tale of murder in the dark streets during the Blitz.

Reginald Parker (John Loder) is a successful stage actor though he is starting to tire of his role as a murderer, the Brighton Strangler. 

When he is hit on the head during a bombing raid on London he has amnesia but a chance enounter unlocks a memory in his brain and he now believes that he is really the Brighton Strangler! He heads to Brighton and begins to kill for real...

A dark tale and the medical details are somewhat ridiculous, but the film is pretty atmospheric and well directed though the short film can drag a bit at times. The ending is particularly memorable.

Dance Hall Racket (1953)

An appalling piece of exploitative sleaze.

A criminal is killed at a dodgy night club owned by Tim Farrell (Umberto Scalli) with Vincent (Lenny Bruce) as his murderous henchman (who is very handy with a knife). 

A Federal agent is sent in to investigate and he discovers the club is a front for a diamond smuggling racket. Vincent meanwhile has plans to replace his boss permanently...

This is pretty grim stuff, badly acted and plotted. The cheese factor is high but when a dog (which doesn't do much other than lie around) outacts most of the humans then you know things are bad...

The sheer ridiculousness can be compelling at times but "so bad it's good" can only take you so far.

The Take (1974)

A cool tale of a crooked cop who still wants to take the hoodlums down.

Detective Sneed (Billy Dee Williams) arrives in New Mexico to help out the local police who are struggling with the mob led by Manso (Vic Morrow). 

Unfortunately, Sneed is already on the take and has the help of Oscar (Sorrell Brooke - aka Boss Hogg!) to handle the ill gotten gains. Other cops are also on the criminal payroll and Sneed plays a dangerous game taking the gangster cash while also giving the appearance he is doing his job - or is he really doing it?

This is a great film, even if the plot is a bit basic and doesn't make complete sense at times. It is very stylish, likely taking inspiration from blaxploitation films, and has plenty of action as well as plenty of heart. Williams plays a good role.

Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It (1941)

The third and (unfortunately) final Inspector Hornleigh film.

Britain is at war and Inspector Hornleigh (Gordon Harker) wants to join the hunt for fifth columnists but instead he and Bingham (Alastair Sim) are sent undercover into the army to find out who is stealing army jam! 

However, soon Hornleigh is on the trail of suspected nazi spies, the trail leading to a suspicious dentist then an even more suspicious school and then a thrilling finale on a Royal Mail train...

It is a shame they never made any more Hornleigh films as Harker and Sim had great chemistry together and the film has a perfect mix of serious police work and humour. 

Star Reporter (1939)

A fast moving crime/reporter B-movie, so fast moving that there is scarcely time to breathe.

Randolph (Warren Hull) is a young idealistic newspaper owner (and reporter) who is dedicated to the public good and fighting crime. To that aim he has supported the election of the new DA Burnette (Wallace Clarke), though he also wants to marry Burnette's daughter (Marsha Hunt). 

However, when the DA fails to prosecute the gangsters then Randolph turns against Burnette. The reason though is because the DA knows a terrible secret about Randolph's father...

This is a great film that packs in an incredible amount of story and drama into a pretty short running time. The film is exposition heavy to drive things along, though maybe a little too fast. To be honest i do prefer shorter films but this is one which could have probably done with an extra fifteen to twenty minutes! 

It is still highly enjoyable, indeed one of the better B-movies of the late 1930s.

The Speckled Band (1931)

An early Sherlock Holmes talkie.

Sherlock Holmes (Raymond Massey) helps a young heiress (Angela Badderley) after the death of her sister and growing menace from her brutal step-father Dr Rylott (Lyn Harding). One mystery is that the sister's last words were "speckled band"...

A good Sherlock Holmes adaptation which is only marred by the poor quality of production at times, especially the sound. Holmes and Watson (Athole Stewart) are very well portrayed here but also pretty different to the popular series of Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone which would come in a few years time.

Devil's Cargo (1948)

One of the latter three Falcon movies, with a magical air.

The Falcon (Michael Calvert) is having a bath (!) when he is approached by Delgado (Paul Marion). Delgado tells the Falcon he has killed a man to defend his wife's honour, he wants the Falcon to hold a key for him and then give it to his lawyer. Delgado is arrested but later found dead in jail. Hoodlums seize the key off the Falcon, but when they try to open the locker the key is for, the locker blows up! The Falcon investigates the plot involving Delgado's wife Margo (Rochelle Hudson) and the lawyer Mallon (Theodore von Eltz), with the help of his clever dog (Brain Trust)!

This is a very different Falcon to the ones played by different actors earlier in the series, though closer to the original character envisaged by it's creator in the 1930s. Calvert was a real magician which is probably why he performs magic tricks at various stages of the film (for no actual plot reason), there is a funny meta moment when someone says a photo of the actual Michael Cavert looks like the Falcon! The performing dog is wonderful, the film itself is fun and quite tongue in cheek at times, and also pretty nonsensical. It shouldn't really work but somehow does.

The Spiral Staircase (1946)

A dark tale of a serial killer, and terror in a dark house.

A serial killer has been terrorising a community, killing "defective" women (in other words the disabled). In a house owned by the grumpy and ailing Mrs Warren (Ethel Barrymore) and Professor Warren (George Brent), the mute Helen (Dorothy McGuire) who works there, is now considered a potential next target. 

Dr Parry (Kent Smith) wants to get Helen out of the house and get her treatment to recover her voice. Is the killer somewhere close at hand?

A superb and updated take on the dark house mystery, an atmospheric tale with excellent performances. The film is enhanced by little touches of humour and character. A very good film.

The Ninth Guest (1934)

A confusing though fast paced mystery.

Eight guests are invited to dinner at a mysterious house by an unnamed host. The guests all have reason to hate one of the other members so things are a bit fractious. Then a voice from the radio tells them they will be murdered one by one unless they manage to outwit their host, the ninth guest. To underscore the threat they can't leave as he has had the gates connected to the mains, plus various other traps...

Naturally the other guests do not take to this well and start accusing each other of being this ninth guest. The story moves on from there as the guests die off in various ways. It does sound a bit Agatha Christie, though this film (and the original story) predates And Then There Were None / Ten Little Indians (1945) (1965) (1972) by a number of years...

Donald Cook and Genevieve Tobin star as two of the guests, who manage to work out their mutual antagonism as they help solve the mystery of who is the ninth guest. The story is a little complicated with a lot of red herrings (maybe a few too many) but an enjoyable watch.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.