Held for Ransom (1938)

A rather confusing and frenetic crime drama. Rich tycoon Herbert Scott (Richard Lancaster) has been kidnapped. Despite the ransom being paid by his nephew Larry Scott (Grant Withers) Herbert remains a captive. The police suspect Larry may be in on the plot himself though the feds arn't sure and assign plucky agent Betty (Blanche Mehaffey) to tail Larry and find out what is going on...

Betty heads up country and soon finds out what is going on thanks to some cunning investigative work and a bit of derring do. The last act of the film ups the pace considerably and is not unlike the multiple set pieces and cliffhangers of a serial.

An enjoyable film despite the confusing plot early on, a female action lead was rare for the 1930s of course. The ambiguity of some of the characters also elevates the film, especially Larry Scott. We arn't sure whose side he is on until the last act.

Cloak Without Dagger (1956)

A modest and inoffensive, yet enjoyable little spy drama. During the war Felix (Philip Friend) and Kyra (Mary Mackenzie) were after an enemy spy but he escaped them. Now ten years later Felix is a waiter in a hotel and Kyra a journalist... and she has seen the spy again! Now he is apparently Peppi (John Heller), a dress designer. She has also seen a dead body... which quickly disappears.

Kyra enlists the help of the hotel detective Fred (Leslie Dywer) who suspects Felix is a wrong-un... much to Kyra's shock. Has Felix become an enemy agent? Everything seems to point to a secret nuclear base...

Although somewhat limited with a basic by the numbers plot the film is a decent enough watch with a fairly exciting helicopter chase as a climax. Look out for Frank Thornton in a small role as one of the spy ring, long before the days of Captain Peacock!

The Merry Couple (1981)

The ups and downs of a couple who walk the tightrope between being cute and incredibly annoying. 

Alan Tam and Joan Lim get married, and of course the in-laws want them to have children as soon as possible, as does Alan. Unfortunately Joan knows she will be fired if she becomes pregnant (obviously this film is from a time before anti-sex discrimination laws). Joan thus insists on protection but her mum-in-law has a cunning plan and pricks all the condoms with a pin (no really). Thus... Joan is in the club and out of a job.

A daughter is born, then a son. But Joan hates the housewife life, stuck at home having babies pee on her while Alan works all day as the Worst Advertising Executive in the World. So she returns to work but then Alan is the downtrodden one...

The couple are a little extreme in their emotions to make for that enjoyable a viewing and it detracts from the film quite a bit. They both get pissed off with their partner so easy you wonder how they got past the first date never mind marriage for 5+ years but there you are.

A reasonable film, you would call it a romantic comedy drama. There are some funny scenes but also a lot of tweeness.

Detour (1945)

A satisfying little noir told in flashback. Al (Tom Neal) and Sue (Claudia Drake) are working in a two-bit bar out East. Although engaged to marry, Sue decides to head to Hollywood leaving Al behind. Al finally decides to go out and join her and begins hitch hiking across the U.S...

In Arizona his luck changes. He hitches a ride with Charles (Edmund McDonald) who can take him all the way to L.A. but Charles dies of a sudden heart attack. Fearful that the police might think Al did Charles in he decides to hide the body and take Charles' identity and head to L.A. Then he makes his biggest mistake, he picks up Vera (Ann Savage) who knows Al is not Charles and begins to blackmail him...

Although a low budget B-movie this is a top quality noir. The cheapness and dinginess of the sets adding to the feel of hopelessness and dark fate. The story may have a few slightly far fetched elements but that doesn't distract from what is a masterpiece.

Treasure of Bruce Lee (1979)

Bruceploitation films are not always bad, some indeed are pretty good even if they are shameless cash-ins on Bruce Lee's name, but Treasure of Bruce Lee is pretty mediocre. Master Chen is training four pupils including Bruce Le. With the Japanese poised to invade China, Master Chen knows the importance of his ancient skills, details of which are kept in a book... which the Japanese led by Vivian Velasco are desperate to get.

Master Chen challenges his four pupils to protect the book, though one of them Cha Ya-Fan turns out to be a traitor. So far so good (if unsurprising) but then the film makers decided to splice in footage from another Bruce Le film which throws everything into confusion...

So it could have been a reasonable martial arts film but everything just goes wrong. The scenes showing kung fu training though is interesting. Everything else is... not so much.