Robot Pilot (1941)

War is coming and US armaments companies are gearing up with big government contracts. Doc Williams (Emmett Vogan) has invented a way to pilot planes by remote control, but when he demonstrates it with the help of Jerry (Forrest Tucker) is ends up in a big crash.

Meanwhile enemy agents steal a brand new bomber but of course the Doc's remote control device saves the day. This isn't a bad little comedy spy war drama. There is also a bit of a romantic sub-plot with Betty (Carol Hughes).

The film is mainly done for laughs though some of the comedy especially with the ridiculously Mexican stereotype Pedro (Joaquin Edwards) is a bit painful. The planes in the film are great. The real stars.

Tiger On The Beat 2 (1990)

Tiger On The Beat was an excellent HK action movie starring Chow Yun Fat and this sequel is... well not really a sequel at all. In fact as far as I can tell it has nothing at all to do with the original.

The only connection to the first movie is that it also stars Conan Lee (though not playing the same character) and is a crime/action film set in HK. It's not a bad film by any means though it is a bit disjointed.

There is a plot (of sorts) involving an error prone HK cop (Danny Lee) and his lazy American born nephew (Conan) who is visiting him, plus a prostitute (Ellan Chan) and a stolen ring. Don't let the plot worry you too much though, it is often fairly incidental in these kinds of films.

The first half of the film has that strange though enjoyable HK movie mixture of comedy and ultraviolence and the usual goofy characters.

In the second half though the action ups a gear and the final action showpiece is pretty spectacular (martial arts on a bus, i loved that obviously). Tiger on the Beat 2 is enjoyable if uneven film and not that original, it probably would have been better to have given it a stand alone title but lets not worry too much about that.

Postal Inspector (1936)

A light hearted musical crime film where Ricardo Cortez plays Bill Davis, who has made the rather dull bureaucratic job of being a post inspector into some kind of butch all-American hero. Bill crosses paths with singer Connie (Patricia Ellis) who sings in a club owned by the short of cash Benez (Bela Lugosi).

She lets slip that there is a shipment of $3 million worth of retired bank notes set to be sent back to Washington. Benez schemes to steal the cash during a flood disaster which engulfs the city...

It is a confusing film, it seems a bit unsure at times what kind of film it is. is it a crime film, a comedy, a disaster film, a musical? It is obviously sponsored by the US Postal Service and the propaganda is laid on a little thick. The flood scenes are well done and Connie's singing is pretty decent too. It ends with a pretty exciting speedboat chase! Despite it's shortcomings this is an enjoyable film.

The Terror of the Tongs (1961)

The Terror of the Tongs is a crazy film, set in HK in 1910 and involving a secret society called the Red Dragon Tong. Historical accuracy and Chinese stereotypes are somewhat suspect.

Geoffrey Toon is Captain Sale, a steamer captain unwittingly drawn into a Tong plot when one of his passengers (played by Burt Kwok - obviously he would be in this film) is killed at port but not before he has passed a list of names to Sale's daughter Helena (Barbara Brown). However the Tong, led by Christopher Lee, want this list no matter the cost, even if the cost is Helena's life...

It is hard to really judge this film, obviously the racial stereotypes are way off and the story is often complete nonsense but despite the madness it is compelling and it is so often hilarious (unintentionally of course). Christopher Lee is superbly sinister as the Tong leader.

Hell Harbor (1930)

A rather strange film. Anita (Lupe Velez) is a lovely girl who dreams of leaving her sleepy backwater island and moving to Havana (this is Cuba way before the revolution of course).

Unfortunately her father (Gibson Gowland) is a rather unpleasant individual who wants to "sell" his daughter in marriage to a sleazy merchant (Jean Hersholt) for a fist full of pearls. Obviously Anita is rather keener on Plan A.

A handsome young American (John Holland) arrives on his yacht and makes things even more complicated. Well that's really the plot, it's a sometimes silly and sometimes annoying movie that doesn't really go anywhere (not even Havana) but is not without charm - nearly all provided by Velez.