Adventure in Iraq (1943)

An unintentionally hilarious adventure film set in Iraq during the Second World War. Doug Everett (Warren Douglas) is flying George Torrence (John Loder) and Tess Torrence (Ruth Ford) across Iraq when engine trouble forces them down in the middle of nowhere. To add some spark George and Tess are married but getting divorced and Doug has the hots for Tess...

They end up in a remote kingdom ruled by the smooth talking Sheik (Paul Cavanagh). The Sheik appears kind and refined, living in an Arabian Nights-esque palace but with a population of devil worshippers. Soon they begin to suspect the Sheik's is not as nice as he appears (which to be honest is pretty obvious)...

An enjoyable romp and the movie studio was no doubt able to reuse plenty of existing sets and costumes. Don't expect a very accurate portrayal of 1940s Iraq though. Paul Cavanagh is wonderful as the Sheik with plenty of good if corny lines, he also wears a monocle.

Below the Deadline (1936)

Molly Fitzgerald (Cecilia Parker) works for a diamond merchant, she is chatted up by a man (Theodore von Eltz) but he is after more than her pretty face, he is planning to rob the merchant. Not only does he carry off the crime he manages to frame Molly's policeman fiance Terry (Russell Hopton) for both robbery and murder.

Terry goes on the run but is badly injured in a train crash. He takes the identity of a dead man (and thus is assumed killed in the crash) and is given plastic surgery in hospital. Now with a new identity and a new face (not that he looks much different) he sets out to find out who set him up...

Although the plot is a bit ridiculous, Terry is framed on the most flimsy of evidence for example. Also despite seemingly being a respected policeman the Force dump on him in an instant. The film is well made and entertaining with a few twists.

Doomed to Die (1940)

Mr Wong (Boris Karloff) is bought in to help investigate a murder which at first appears to be an open and shut case. Shipping owner Cyrus Wentworth (Melvin Lang) is already reeling from the loss of one of his liners when the son of his bitter rival Dick Fleming (William Stelling) turns up to try and get his blessing for the marriage to Wentworth's daughter Cynthia (Catherine Craig). There is an argument and a shot is fired. Wentworth is found dead.

Captain Street (Grant Withers) arrests Dick for the murder but keen reporter Roberta (Marjorie Reynolds) calls in Mr Wong who isn't so sure the case is that open and shut. He begins to investigate the people killed on the liner, an illegal shipment of Chinese bonds and tong activity...

Another enjoyable Mr Wong mystery. Plenty of red herrings and a complicated case but the calm and suave Mr Wong/Karloff makes the film as usual.

Amateur Crook (1937)

Mary Layton/Betsy Cummings (Joan Barclay) steals a diamond from two loan sharks (oh wait the diamond was her father's which the loan sharks were intending to steal). On the run from the sharks and the police she gets mixed up with a rather minor artist called Jimmy (Herman Brix - later known as Bruce Bennett).

Then the diamond goes missing inside a mannequin and it's a terrible palaver.

It's a rather silly film, and with some rather poor acting especially dialogue delivery. You get the impression there wasn't much time if at all to rehearse. Vivian Oakland plays a good role as a landlady. The film has some charm and that gets you through it. It is played light and should be treated as a bit of fun.

The Hangman Waits (1947)

This is a strange little film about a murder hunt but in a docu-drama style centred around the News of the World newsroom (well this was a long time ago!)

The film is very low budget but also at times quite artistic and innovative. A cinema usherette (Beatrice Campbell) is murdered and we follow the case from the point of view of the police (who investigate the case rather ineptly) and the newspaper men trying to find out what is going on...

Well it sounds like it could be a decent film... but is executed rather poorly overall. Much of the acting is rather wooden, you wonder if they used actors or just dragged people off the streets and handed them the script. One actor definitely in the film is John Le Mesurier, apparently his first role. Much better was to come.