The Mandarin Mystery (1936)

Eddie Quillan stars as Ellery Queen in this light-hearted and fast paced crime drama. The rarest stamp in the world (the Chinese Mandarin) has been bought to New York by Ms Temple (Charlotte Henry) but it is stolen before she can sell it to Dr Kirk (George Irving), a murder also takes place. Inspector Queen (Wade Boetler) and his cheeky amateur detective son Ellery are on the case...

Being a Golden Age type detective story it is fairly nonsense of course. Don't expect much reality in the police investigation which mostly involves rushing around a suite of hotel rooms and of course the amateur detective Ellery is allowed to control the investigation. However do expect some nice twists in the case and a few unexpected turns. The relationship between father and son Queen makes the film though. A total joy.

Curse of the Swamp Creature (1966)

Never mind what is the best film of all time, what is the worst film of all time? In Curse of the Swamp Creature we have a real contender. Its an utterly awful horror film involving a mad scientist (of course) played by John Agar who is conducting depraved experiments on the locals and feeding his failures to the alligators.

Meanwhile a team of oil prospectors have arrived in the area and get mixed up in his crazy experiments which culminates in creating a bizarre fish-man...

The film could be a cheesy delight of course but unfortunately it is executed very poorly. The acting is terrible, the budget is below low-budget (way below). The dialogue and sound effects seem to have been added post-production, unfortunately a lot of the sound effects are late or even missing. The monster is quite cool though, but looks more gormless than terrifying.

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome is a fun comic book adaptation. Gruesome (Boris Karloff) has just got out of prison and of course is looking for his next blag. He happens upon a crooked scientist (Edward Ashley) who has stolen a secret gas which can render people like stone for a short period. Such an amazing invention could benefit mankind in so many ways but of course it's used to rob a bank.

Enter our hero Dick Tracy (Ralph Byrd) to investigate whats going on and solve the crime amid a rather worrying amount of corpses. This is a fun film with plenty of corny comic book humour (names like Dr A.Tomic and a taxidermist called Y.Stuffem for example) and fast paced action. Not a huge amount of depth and a bit one-dimensional perhaps but highly enjoyable all the same. Boris Karloff is great in this film as a brutal and sinister criminal.

Hook, Line & Sinker (1930)

Hook, Line & Sinker is a hilarious comedy starring the Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey comedy duo. Wheeler and Woolsey are dodgy insurance salesmen who bump into Mary (Dorothy Lee) who has just inherited a run-down hotel and they invite themselves to help her out.

Not only is the hotel in need of some renovation but two rival gangs of criminals (one gang including Natalie Moorhead as a fake duchess) are trying to break into the hotel safe. Wheeler and Woolsey also fall in love with Mary and her mother (Jobyna Howland).

What follows is a complicated farce packed full of corny (but funny) wisecracks. Hotel situations have often been a rich source for humour and this film is no exception.

The Sin of Nora Moran (1933)

The Sin of Nora Moran is an extraordinary movie, a Noir drama told in non-linear manner with numerous flashbacks, the film is said to have been an influence on Orson Welles for Citizen Kane.

Nora Moran (Zita Johann) is a tragic young lady, her life hard and often brutal until she meets rising political star Dick Crawford (Paul Cavanagh) and finally she lives a happy life as his mistress. But then the darkness of her earlier life returns in the shape of her abusive ex Paulino (John Miljan). Later Paulino is found dead. Nora accepts the blame and goes to the electric chair. She didn't do it, but she has kept silent to protect the man she loved...

The film is truly avant garde, the story told through flashbacks, hallucinations, narrations. Of it's time it was truly ground breaking cinema. All the more impressive considering this was a low-budget B-movie.