The Pay Off (1942)

Lee Tracy plays a wise cracking (charismatic though after a while slightly annoying) reporter called Brad McKay. When the District Attorney is gunned down the gambler Moroni (John Maxwell) is the chief suspect though Brad knows he is innocent... as he was beating him at poker at the time.

Or is Moroni as innocent as Brad thinks? He tells Brad that the DA was on the take and that his assistant killed him. But how is club owner John Angus (Jack La Rue) involved, who is the real Mr Big and who is the young woman (Tina Thayer) who is desperate to contact Brad and has access to a locker of money?

Well Brad soon finds that the case is not as straight forward as it seemed. The film is bright and breezy (not unlike a comic strip in feel) though a bit light in tone despite regular killings. Evelyn Brent plays a good small role as a moll involved marginally in the case though seemingly really just around for Bead to kiss!

Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

Ten years after Dracula was killed by Van Helsing his castle lies empty, except for the mysterious and frankly rather sinister servant Klove (Peter Latham). Two English couples (played by Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Susan Farmer and Charles Tingwell) on holiday come across the castle and despite warnings from Father Sandor (Andrew Keir) stay the night in the castle. They don't really have much choice in the matter to be honest...

Very soon they find themselves menaced by the resurrected (in a rather creepy scene) dark lord Dracula (Christopher Lee)...

Once the film gets going it is wonderfully dramatic and intense with plenty of snarling vampire action. Dracula doesn't utter a word in the film (apart from a cruel shriek) but is an irresistibly evil presence.

Reaching for the Moon (1930)

Douglas Fairbanks was best known for his swashbuckling silent movie roles but in this early talkie he plays a New York financier in pursuit of love in a bright and breezy swashbuckling style.

Larry (Fairbanks) is a big success on the stock market where he meets Vi (Bebe Daniels) a friend of one of his employees Jimmy (Jack Mulhall) at a party. Vi bets Jimmy she can get Larry's attention before she sets sail to England in the morning. She manages it and also sets him up. Larry is so stung by her laughter he joins the ocean liner...

On the boat (which includes a musical number by Bing Crosby - his first appearance on film) the relationship between Larry and Vi goes back and forth, as do his fortunes on the stock market. By the time he arrives in (foggy of course) old England he is broke (thanks to the stock market crash) but how is he doing for love?

The film doesn't have a great deal of plot but is energetic and fun. I've always thought a romantic film works better if there is humour as it makes it much more realistic. The real stars of the film are the sets though. The film is a masterpiece of Art Deco.

Who Done It? (1956)

A hilarious farce which helped launch Benny Hill's career. He plays Hugo a bumbling private detective who gets involved with sinister (in a ridiculously over the top way) foreign agents who want to steal the plans for a new weather control machine (and no doubt dominate the world)...

Assisted by Frankie (Belinda Lee) - who does most of the actual dangerous stuff, somehow she possesses the strength of about ten men - he manages to foil the nefarious agents in a huge action set-piece taking part at an exhibition (complete with robot tank which Hugo uses to deal with his police nemesis Gerry Marsh) and a final chase in a stock car race.

It is silly, crude but very funny.

Danger Flight (1939)

Tailspin Tommy (John Trent) is a comic book aviator hero and he is bought to life pretty well in this movie.

Tommy is an amazing pilot and a totally fearless hero (of course) who thinks nothing of taking off his plane in a storm to take supplies to trapped workers. When he can't land he (naturally) sacrifices his only parachute to drop the supplies...

Tommy is also targeted by criminals who try and trap him when he is taking a payroll cargo. In between various flying adventures he also befriends a troubled youth (Tommy Baker) and manages to make him a model citizen.

It is a bit obvious and lacks much in the way of shade but is a good fun adventure film.