The Ghost Walks (1934)

It's a dark stormy night and theatrical producer Herman Wood (Richard Carle) is stuck with playwright Prescott Ames (John Miljan) in a lonely house. At dinner mysterious ghostly goings on scare Wood half to death and he wants to leave...

However it turns out Ames was testing out his play and it was all an act, all the other house guests being actors. But then Beatrice (Eve Southern) is found dead for real, there is a real mystery in the house...

So it starts off a rather standard, though well done, "dark house mystery" - the cast is a good ensemble with some good one liners but then quickly morphs into something a lot more. The twists and turns in the plot help elevate it to something pretty good indeed though don't expect a gruesome horror mystery, this is more a farce. Johnny Arthur plays a good comic role as Wood's secretary.

Remember Me This Way (1974)

A Gary Glitter documentary, but long before any of that came to light. This was made in the early 1970s when he was at the height of his stardom and playing to audiences full of screaming girls...

The documentary, which is more a series of random and sometimes boring vignettes interspersed with Glitter singing, follows preparations for a big show. Footage of which ends the film. It also shows the recording of I love you love me love and even the seven inch singles being pressed, while his management team discuss how they are going to make money out of his records in a rather tedious segment.

Away from the concert and record making we see Glitter chilling out, at parties and doing some promotional work. In some ways its a fascinating look at early 70s pop music but it is a genuinely terrible film (and not because of hindsight) it was just so badly made. Despite all that this was a box office hit which just shows how big a star he was back then!

Unfaithful (1931)

A society drama in early 1930s England: it's all posh accents, dinner jackets and feather boas apparently. Fay Houston (Ruth Chatterton) is an American heiress who has come over to jolly old England to marry rich toff Ronnie (Paul Kavanagh). Unfortunately Fay soon finds out that Ronnie has a mistress whom he is unwilling to ditch.

To make matters more complicated the mistress (Juliette Compton) is the wife of Fay's unstable brother Terry (Donald Cook). Fay thus becomes a notorious party girl to keep the attention from Terry, and then in Paris she meets Carl (Paul Lukas) a struggling artist...

This early talkie is a bit cliche to be honest but looks sumptuous. Overall the plot doesn't make a great deal of sense, Fay's solution to protect her brother is to show plenty of flesh, pretend to be an adulteress and sing some songs. Its nuts but so elegant.

Dangerous Money (1946)

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is on a liner crossing the Pacific when he is approached by US Treasury Agent Scott Pearson (Tristram Coffin) who tells him he is investigating counterfeit money flooding the islands and is in fear of his life. While the ship's passengers watch a knife throwing act someone else joins in the action and throws a knife into Pearson's back. Chan begins the investigation...

There are plenty of potential suspects and a motley crew of different characters including a loud mouth (Dick Elliot), a woman with forged papers (Gloria Warren) and a professional knife thrower. There are also plenty of alibis and vouching which Chan needs to unpick with the help (in theory anyway) of his wayward son (Victor Sen Young) and his chauffeur (Willie Best).

It's standard Charlie Chan fare, a complicated investigation with a few red herrings, a bit of tomfoolery with Chan's son and any number of proverbs.

The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt (1939)

The Lone Wolf (Warren William) is recruited to steal weapon plans by a mysterious gang led by Gregory (Ralph Moran) but when he refuses he is framed anyway. With the help of his girlfriend Val (Ida Lupino) he manages to evade the police though lured by Karen (Rita Hayworth) he is dragged into the plot deeper and deeper.

A cat and mouse game rages as the Lone Wolf Michael Lanyard tries to keep the plans out of the gang's hands and stop the police arresting him - luckily the police as is usual in these films are rather inept!

A fast moving romp with plenty of late 1930s nonsense including a masquerade party where men wear bird's nests and prams on their heads.