Beast of Berlin (1939)

Anti-Nazi films were rare even by 1939, this film was banned and censored in parts of the US even as armies prepared for war in Europe. So this is a significant film though not that good a one.

It follows a group of anti-Nazis including Alan Ladd, Roland Drew, Greta Granstedt and Steffi Duna. They are printing pamphlets and spreading dissent, all the while scared of betrayal and being caught by the brutal SS. A complication is that one of their number, Hans von Twardoski, is a member of the SS but wants out before liquor consumed in a Nazi booze-up loosens his tongue...

The propaganda is laid on heavy, as heavy as a Tiger tank. For some reason the actors speak English with a vague German accent interspersed with a few actual German words like Ja and Auf wiedersehen. At times it is a bit Allo Allo, though darker. At times very dark indeed.

I Killed That Man (1941)

A murder mystery with a fascinating set-up, a condemned prisoner Nick Ross (Ralf Harolde) begins to spill the beans on who was the mastermind behind the murder he committed when he is killed by a poison dart in front of an assembled audience including the DA Roger Phillips (Ricardo Cortez).

The investigation begins, one of the audience is the murderer... and the mastermind. The DA early on arrests a friend of Ross, Lanning (Harry Holman) though he really thinks it is someone else but has no idea who. Meanwhile sparky young reporter (and Roger's squeeze of course) Geri (Joan Woodbury) is also looking into the case.

The film is fast moving with some noirish touches and has some sharp witty dialogue. The plot is fairly familiar but the execution chamber setting for the crime adds some variety. Unfortunately it is pretty obvious who is the killer as he is so over the top suspicious.

Chicken a la Queen (1990)

A film about prostitution in the usual subtle and tasteful HK style. The film stars a couple of former teen idols, Loretta Lee and Sarah Lee, playing less wholesome roles than fans may be accustomed to. They play young prostitutes on the mean streets of HK, selling their bodies (though we hardly actually see this) and getting battered by their pimps (which we see a lot of). The two girls have a friendship akin to sisterhood yet they have different pimps. One of them is a vile thug who delights in beating his women. The other is kinder... and an undercover cop played by Roy Cheung. 

The film is really about an undercover police operation to smash a Triad gang but mostly the film is a string of violent episodes between the pimps and their girls. Girls get dragged along by cars, thrown through tables, whipped, kicked and beaten. Yet somehow seem still more or less unscathed and ready to "work" a short time later. To be honest after the first hour of violence against women it does get a bit samey...

The two pimps have a rather unrealistic relationship, at one stage one is trying to burn the other alive yet a short time later (after a stern telling off by their boss) they are sitting next to each other with hardly a nasty look. As already said its a film about prostitution without any prostitution, well except one pretty much unnecessary scene where one of the girls bawks at selling herself to a black guy. Loretta Lee also looks a little too cute to be a brutalised whore.

But overall it's a well made film but definitely not a bundle of laughs.

Thank You, Mr. Moto (1937)

Mr Moto (Peter Lorre) is on the trail of ancient Chinese scrolls which when bought together will reveal the location of Genghis Khan's secret tomb and the vast treasures held within. He isn't the only person after the scrolls but the holder of most of them Madame Chung (Pauline Frederick) isn't interested in selling them because of the great dishonour in descretating honoured ancestor tomb...

Mr Moto continues his search for the scrolls, his search intertwining with young American couple Joyce (Jayne Regan) and Tom (Thomas Beck) who are also interested in ancient Oriental artifacts seemingly like every Westerner in Beijing. However also after the scrolls and with less honourable intentions in mind is the brutal Herr Koerger (Sidney Blackmer) and soon Moto, Joyce and Tom are in fear for their lives...

An excellent crime caper and adventure romp, the Orientalism is laid on thick throughout and is frequently so over the top to be hilarious.

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917)

Mary Pickford plays Rebecca, a young girl who is sent off to the countryside to live with her strict but well-off aunts (Josephine Crowell and Mayme Kelso) as her family have financial problems.

She goes from selling tat on the streets to a much more genteel and educated life but does it all with the same energy and charm even though her aunts seldom approved. She at first turns most peoples' noses up though in the end wins them over. She also has a crush on an older man (Adam Ladd).

Truthfully the film is more a series of comedy set-pieces linked together (though is based on a novel). The film has it's comedy moments, one of the best being Rebecca's struggles to stop herself stealing some pie, but scores best for nostalgia. The rural setting allows for a glimpse of the recently lost late nineteenth-century rural America, a land of home made pies and buggy whips.