Raiders of Ghost City (Serial) (1944)

An enjoyable American Civil War era Western serial, though with a war propaganda edge.

A gang of Confederate agents are stealing gold shipments bound for Washington. Government agent Steve Clark (Dennis Moore) is sent across to California to investigate, helped by Wells Fargo agent Idaho Jones (Joe Sawyer). 

In fact, the real mastermind behind the theft is Morel (Lionel Atwill) who isn't operating for the Confederacy after all but rather a group of Prussian spies...

A great serial with a good variety of cliff hangers including runaway train cars and burning sheds! The inclusion of Prussian spies was likely to give the serial a bit of a wartime propaganda edge but works well, Atwill and his accomplice Virginia Christine make an excellent pair of villains which gives the serial the bite the slightly bland heroes cannot.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Disaster at Silo 7 (1988)

An accident at a nuclear missile silo poses a real risk of the missile exploding, with a rather large nuclear warhead on top.

The accident occurs during refuelling of a Titan II missile causing a fuel spill. Team leader Sergeant Fitzgerald (Michael O'Keefe) is called in and immediately realises the risk of the fuel igniting and blowing the while thing up. He tells his wife (Patricia Charbonneau) to get out of town fast with his family, then heads back into the silo...

This is an enjoyable TV movie, it does fall back on TV movie tropes a bit but the action is solid, if stretches the budget a bit thinly at times. The film is based on a real incident that occurred in 1980, and it pretty accurate too so don't read up on the Damascus Titan explosion before you have seen this movie unless you don't mind spoilers!

Biggles (1986)

The iconic World War 1 flying ace Biggles stories would seem to be perfect for a translation to the big screen, unfortunately this wasn't it.

New York advertising executive Jim (Alex Hyde-Wright) is working on a dreary advertising campaign when he is suddenly zapped through time and witnesses a plane crash, an old biplane. Later, he is visited by the mysterious Air Commodore Raymond (Peter Cushing) who tells Jim that he is linked to an aviator from the First World War, James Bigglesworth aka Biggles (Neil Dickson)!

Soon, Jim and Biggles are zapping to and fro each other's times. Biggles encounters the oddness of 1980s London, and Jim the trenches and aerial combat (so it seems Biggles got the better deal). Soon, they must work together to defeat a powerful German secret weapon which could win the war and change history...

If you have read a Biggles story you will wonder why they had to do the story this way, and turn it into a fairly generic time travel story. It isn't that bad a film, indeed the action sequences are often pretty good, but you can't help but feel a bit disappointed.

Tempest (1928)

A classic late 1920s silent movie.

This film follows the story of Ivan Markov (John Barrymore), a soldier in the final days of Tsarist Russia. Despite heavy opposition, low born Markov rises through the ranks to the officer corps. 

He falls in love with the Princess Tamara (Camilla Horn) though she spurns his advances, however when he is found drunk in her quarters Markov's enemies have their chance to dispose of him. He is kicked out of the army and send to prison. 

However, the old regime soon falls and Markov has a new important role with the Communists who release him, will Markov seek revenge on the now non-aristocratic Tamara?

A fine film with plenty of drama and emotion and some great camera work, though some performances are a bit wooden and spoil things a bit. Barrymore is great though, the perfect silent movie hero. 

The Secret Code (Serial) (1942)

Fast moving movie serial nonsense with the usual unbelievable cliffhangers.

A group of Nazi agents are attacking the US through various nefarious plots to sabotage the war effort. Policeman Dan Barton (Paul Kelly) goes undercover to infiltrate the gang by pretending to have gone rogue. 

Barton learns that the Nazis are aiming to capture a secret formula. Barton begins to battle the gang wearing a fire-proof disguise as the Black Commando...

A fun action serial with lots of death defying stunts and peril. The episodes have little fat on them, the plot flying through at high speed. The Nazis have some wonderfully over the top secret bases. Naturally, it is best enjoyed if you suspend a huge amount of disbelief.

Invasion, U.S.A. (1952)

America is under attack, for real this times, by an avalanche of stock footage.

In a New York bar, a number of people watch the TV (and drink of course) but the news is bad. There are rumours of Soviet threats to America. One owns a tractor factory but doesn't want to change it to make tanks, the others are fairly blasé about the fight against godless Communism. But then the nightmare does happen after all, the Soviets attack Alaska and soon the nukes are flying. By now the bar patrons are in various parts of the country caught up in the Third World War...

This isn't a good film by any means, it uses a mountain of stock footage (much of it from WW2 though as the film was in the early 1950s it isn't too out of date), any live footage of fighting often usefully includes Soviet soldiers disguised as American troops (easier to get the uniforms). It's propaganda is laid on thick though, don't be denying the military industrial complex proper funding as otherwise you'll have Soviet paratroopers landing in the local park!

The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988)

The last of a series of Dirty Dozen sequels, by now everything was wearing a bit too thin.

It is 1943 and secretly the Nazis believe the war can't be won, thus twelve young Nazi hot shots are going to be sent to the Middle East to lay the foundations for the Fourth Reich. Major Wright (Telly Savalas) recruits another bunch of condemned and hopeless convicts for another suicide mission to go deep into Nazi held eastern Europe and kill the Nazis before they can reach Istanbul.

To make things more complicated, one of the Major's Dirty Dozen is a Nazi spy and is intent on sabotaging the mission. The Major thus changes his plan on the fly though this could mean his men become targets of the RAF!

A rather by-the-numbers TV movie, it has the usual tired tropes of crack SS stormtroopers not being able to shoot straight plus the premise doesn't really make a lot of sense. It is fine enough to watch if you just want some wartime action and not worry too much about quite why!

Rocket Attack U.S.A. (1960)

The Soviets have launched Sputnik into space and now the Cold War paranoia is dialled up to 11.

With the Soviets now orbiting the Earth, the US are afraid the Soviets are gathering data before they can launch a deadly nuclear attack. Secret agent John (John McKay) is sent across the border into the Soviet Union - which seems rather easy to be honest - and links up with female agent Tanya (Monica Davis) who is getting pillow talk from the Soviet Defence Minister...

Apparently the Soviets discover they can defeat the US with just one nuclear missile and one is prepared. If only the US had a anti-ballistic missile defence system in place but no doubt a bigger defence budget will help. 

This is a pretty basic Cold War film, heavy on the use of stock footage and propaganda. It is all pretty poor stuff with a minute budget though does include the helpful advice that covering yourself with wet newspaper can help with nuclear blasts!

The Bunker (1981)

The last days of Hitler holed up in his bunker, an interesting way of portraying the events now incredibly well known due to the excellent 2004 movie Downfall.

The war is going badly, Hitler's (Anthony Hopkins) health is also not doing so well. With the Allied armies closing in on Berlin, the Nazi leadership retreats underground into the grim Fuhrerbunker. There, Hitler and his staff including Speer (Richard Jordan) and Goebbels (Cliff Gorman) await the inevitable as the explosions above gradually change from being caused by aerial bombers to artillery and tanks.

This is an excellent film, atmospheric and dark and based on the memoirs of the staff who survived. The most interesting stories are from some of the lesser known staff members in the bunker including the radio officer Misch (Michael Kitchen) and the engineer Hentschel (Martin Jarvis) who interestingly were both still alive when this film was made. 

The film might not have generated a million memes like Downfall (the Steiner rant is quite different here) but it very worth a watch.

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.

Soldier's Fortune (1991)

Somehow a violent tale of mercenaries and kidnap ends up being a bit dull.

After the daughter Jennifer (Cindy Guyer) of rich businesswoman Susan (Barbara Bingham) is kidnapped by armed men, Susan calls on her ex-husband (and Jennifer's father) for help... Robert Jones (Gil Gerard) happens to be a mercenary! Jones recruits some of his former buddies who are of course a motley crew of military stereotypes!

Jones' efforts to deal with the kidnappers do not go smoothly, due to an inside woman feeding them information but the stage is set for a showdown at the docks...

Apart from a few decent action set pieces, a lot of this film is pretty pedestrian where not a huge amount is going on. The film also does not do much with the main baddie (Charles Napier) until the end, an old enemy of Jones though this isn't really mentioned much in the earlier part of the film.

P.O.W.: the Escape (1986)

David Carradine and his buddies kill the enemy so easily you wonder just how the US lost the Vietnam War?

With the Vietnam War drawing to the close the US are desperate to get their men held prisoner by the North Vietnamese. Colonel Cooper (Carradine) is captured on an unsuccessful raid on a prison camp and ends up a prisoner himself in a camp under the control of the brutal Vinh (Mako). However, Vinh is not a true believer, he in fact wants to flee to the US with a load of gold he has stolen. He manages to persuade Cooper to help him escape, in return for letting Cooper and the other prisoners flee.

But the escape is a difficult one, with the North Vietnamese Army pursuing them and dissent between the US soldiers themselves. This includes Sparks (Charles Grant) who wants the gold for himself and isn't afraid of killing friend or foe to get it...

So, this is gung ho nonsense of course but is terrific fun if you fancy a bit of mindless war action. It is a very butch film, the only female character being a bar girl (Irma Alegre) who spends most of her screen name naked! A high body count makes up for a meagre plot.

Lure of the Islands (1942)

Flimsy tropical adventures, a mish mash of music, comedy and wartime espionage that doesn't quite work.

Wally (Robert Lowery) and Jinx (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams) wash up on a Pacific island, they claim their boat was torpedoed by the Japanese but really they are US agents (FBI though that doesn't make any sense) looking for Japanese military activity. Wally also discovers Tana (Margie Hart) who wants to marry him in order to escape the island...

The film is a bit of a romp, plenty of musical numbers (some of which arn't very South Sea Island-ish) and some goofy humour. The main plot about Japanese plans to invade the island thanks to Nazi collaborators can sometimes become a bit lost. The film is a vehicle for Margie Hart, the less said about her acting the better though her singing is good.

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

A classic late Cold War thriller.

A new advanced Soviet submarine is about to launch, it's new electro-drive makes it virtually undetectable giving the Soviets a sizeable advantage in any nuclear war. Luckily for the US, the captain of the submarine (Red October) is Ramius (Sean Connery) who wants to defect and will bring the submarine with him! When the Soviets raise the alert, CIA analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) is the only one who suspects this is a defection and not a Soviet preparation for war.

As the Red October tries to reach the West and safety, Jack heads out to the cold waters of the North Atlantic  to contact Ramius and find out for sure what his intensions are as Soviet and US forces converge...

A great tense film set mostly aboard a submarine (therefore the perfect location for tenseness!) Seen nowadays it has an amusing coincidence in that the troublesome political officer (Peter Firth) whom Ramius has to kill early on is called Putin! Great sets and some exciting (and - because it is based on a Tom Clancy story - realistic) underwater combat scenes make this one of the best Cold War dramas.

Drums of the Desert (1940)

An enjoyable war film, including Mantan Moreland in a serious role for a change.

Paul Dumont (Ralph Byrd) is an officer in the French Foreign Legion heading out to his new appointment in north Africa. He meets Helene (Lorna Gray) on the boat and falls in love, however when they reach port she disappears. But when he reaches his new posting he discovers Helene is already there and is engaged to marry his commanding officer Captain Brideaux (George Lynn)!

Meanwhile, Abdullah (Willy Castello) plans revenge on the Legion after his brother is killed. Dumont and Helene soon find themselves caught up in a deadly crossfire...

Although the romantic part of the film can be a bit overly dramatic at times, the film is given depth by the military scenes. Mantan Moreland plays a Legion NCO and does really well in a non-comedic role.

Charlie Chan in Panama (1940)

One of the best Charlie Chan films as he uncovers an enemy plot to sabotage the Panama Canal...

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is working undercover in Panama (selling hats of course). When a group of travellers arrive in town, one of them visits Charlie (his contact) but dies soon after, poisoned by his own cigarettes. Charlie and Jimmy (Victor Sen Yung) investigate the other travellers, one of whom is thought to be a mysterious foreign agent and who plans to attack the Panama Canal while a US Navy fleet is sailing through it...

This is a great film that keeps you guessing until the end (though seasoned watchers / readers of whodunnits from this period will probably guess who the agent is!) The high stakes (the world was at war, though America was not yet involved but probably knew they would soon), intricate plot and good performances (including by Jack La Rue, who always plays a good villain) make this a highly enjoyable film.