The Trap (1946)

A show troupe of jolly girls arrives at a Malibu villa, trouble flares the first night when Marcia (Anne Nagel) gets Lois (Jan Bryant) to look for letters which she can use in her rivalry with Adelaide (Tanis Chandler). Lois is later found dead, apparently strangled with a cord, and Marcia missing.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is called in to investigate. He deduces that Lois knew her killer. Marcia is found dead on the beach, also strangled...

This was Toler's twenty-second and final Charlie Chan film. He was seriously ill when making the film and it does show a bit but he was still able to bring his magic to the Chan role. It isn't a vintage Chan film though, the ensemble of showgirls is frequently very annoying.

Blake of Scotland Yard (1937)

An edited film version of a film serial.

Sir James Blake (Herbert Rawlinson) has retired from Scotland Yard to help his niece Hope (Joan Barclay) and her friend Jerry (Ralph Byrd) develop a death ray machine that can render armies and navies obsolete and bring about world peace. Unfortunately the criminal mastermind The Scorpion has stolen it...

The film plot, such that there is, is simple enough. Blake and his friend begin to hunt down the gang, retrieve the invention and unmask the mysterious Scorpion.

It is enjoyable enough but like all converted serials it suffers from being rather disjointed and also a bit low budget. Supposedly it is set in England but apart from the occasional bit of stock footage (Big Ben et cetera) it could be set anywhere, plus everyone has an American accent even the RAF for some reason. There is plenty of action throughout though most of the time you are wondering what exactly is going on.

Bruce Lee Against Supermen (1975)

James Ho starred in a number of cash-ins (sometimes known as "Bruceploitations") on Bruce Lee's name and the worldwide phenomenon of kung fu movies in the 1970s, billed as Bruce Li. In this film he even appears as Kato, the character Bruce Lee appeared as in the Green Hornet!

Dr Ting has developed a formula which could revolutionise food production. Naturally the Mob want that formula for themselves so try to kidnap Dr Ting and his daughter Alice (who is Kato's girlfriend). To fight the Mob (who have "Superman" (Lung Fei) in their ranks and a group of mimes) and Kato enlists his friends who are apparently superheroes... or wear masks and capes anyway.

The film has plenty of decent (but not exceptional) martial arts fighting but the plot leaves a lot to be desired. In fact the film makes no sense whatsoever. Now of course coherent and multi-layered plotting is not the point of films like this but it could have done with a little more direction to be honest. Dr Ting gets kidnapped then rescued then kidnapped again he must not know if he is coming or going by the end. The soundtrack includes prog rock and Kraftwerk, but that's not the weirdest thing about this movie.

The President's Mystery (1936)

This film was apparently inspired by an idea of President Roosevelt about whether a rich man could disappear and start a new life. James Blake (Henry Wilcoxon) is that man, a millionaire attorney who has helped his big corporation crush a bill which would helped the little man and instead maintain their cartel. On vacation he finds a small town crushed by depression and a closed factory owned by Charlotte Brown (Betty Furness) and has a bit of an epiphany.

James leaves his old life and his cold unloving wife Ilka (Evelyn Brent) to help Charlotte restart her factory. This puts him into conflict with the cartel and big business. One complication is that his old colleague George Sartos (Sidney Blackmer), when James left his old life, accidentally had Ilka killed and James ends up accused of her murder...

The link to the President is rather loose (though the film makes the most of it) but the story would definitely have struck a chord during the Great Depression with the little man resisting big business and fighting to survive. It is all a bit corny but is different.

O.K. Connery (1967)

Don't mention 007 but this is an Italian spoof that flies very close to copyright violation. As James Bond is busy saving the world elsewhere his brother is recruited to stop an evil crime syndicate from seizing all of the world's gold. The brother is played by Neil Connery... yes the real brother of Sean!

It also stars Bond stars Bernard Lee and Lois Maxwell in roles incredibly similar to their roles in 007... Another Bond star Adolfo Celi is the bad guy. There are a few other Bond actors too.

So a very thinly veiled spoof and complete nonsense. It includes Bond-esque action set pieces, Bond-like music, Bond-like gadgets, plenty of 60s Bond-esque girls and glamour too.

Unfortunately it rips off Bond so much there isn't much space for a plot which is basic and largely something to hang a series of Bond-esque set pieces on. It does involve a mad plot to take over the world with secret rays (of course). Quite frankly it is a bizarre film and terrible in so many ways but so strange it is genuinely compelling and undeniably entertaining.