Freedom to Die (1961)

A satisfying little and noirish British crime film. Craig (Paul Maxwell) is a slimy con who breaks out of prison and wants his cut of the loot he helped liberate from it's rightful owner some time ago. Wrestling show promoter Felix (Bruce Seton) is the guy holding onto it and he isn't that keen on Craig showing up...

Mike (T.P. McKenna) is hired to bump Craig off, though it is a bit inconvenient as he was also the one who broke Craig out of gaol. Though as he says himself, he is on an each way bet. Craig meanwhile is telling Felix's daughter Linda (Felicity Young) the truth about her old man, and also appears to have dishonoured her...

A limited film but highlighted by some high drama, genuine darkness and decent performances. The twist at the end is well worth it.

The Black Dragon's Revenge (1975)

There was much money to be made from Bruce Lee's death* for sure. In this film Ron Van Clief goes to HK to discover the truth about Bruce's death with the help of his friend Charles Bonet. However his method of investigation leaves a lot to be desired, some basic questioning and lots and lots of random fighting.

Meanwhile another group are also trying to find out the truth, and they also get into lots of fights. The bad guys want to stop the truth getting out of course. What is the truth about Bruce Lee's death? Well that is never made clear though every conspiracy theory under the sun is given an airing, amid the endless fights.

Well the story is nonsense but the martial arts is decent. It is also great to see so much of HK in the 1970s.

* Though of course we all know his death was faked and really he was recalled to the Shaolin Temple.

The Last Journey (1936)

An interesting little film which is half action-drama half advert for the Great Western Railway. It is also like a British railway ancestor of the Airport films: a collection of passengers with different back stories and skeletons in the cupboards all bought together on one trip and collective adventure...

Train driver Bob (Julien Mitchell) is on his last journey before he retires but he suspects his fireman (Michael Hogan) is having an affair with his wife (Olga Lindo). He decides to go out in style... by not stopping and crashing the train killing himself, the fireman and everyone else!

Meanwhile the train load of newly weds (Hugh Williams and Judy Gunn), small time crooks (Eliot Makeham and Eve Gray), a doctor (Godfrey Tearle) in a race against time to save a life, neurotics (Viola Compton) and police (Frank Pettingell) get up to various antics... And just who is the guy in the sports car (later aeroplane) chasing after the train?

Fast moving (literally), the acting is also rather fast and frenetic and often a bit overdone. However there isn't time to get bored. The 1930s railway footage alone makes this film well worth watching.

Fire Maidens from Outer Space (1956)

It seems in the 1950s everyone thought outer space would be fairly easy to get to and once they got there they would find it inhabited by either attractive young women or monsters...

The UK/US launch a mission on a nuclear powered V2 rocket to Jupiter's 13th moon which seems Earth like. The joint team of chain smoking astronauts including Blair (Anthony Dexter) and Larson (Paul Carpentier) make it to the moon...

There they discover young women in revealing outfits led by Hestia (Susan Shaw) and an old man Prasus (Owen Berry). He claims they are the last descendants of Atlantis. Oh there is also a rather strange mutant lurking in the forest in an unconvincing bodysuit...

It is very low budget, most of the film seems to be made in the local park. It is also very silly but has a lot of innocent charm. The main problem with the film is that there wasn't a huge amount of story so there is a little too much meandering filler. Happily there is just enough cheese to make it worthwhile.

Danger on Dartmoor (1980)

A Children's Film Foundation adventure with the usual mix mild peril and wholesome antics. Robin (Marcus Evans) and Justin (Simon Henderson) live on Dartmoor at their parents' farm. Their holidays though are about to be "ruined" by their cousin Louise (Debby Salter) who is visiting from the big city (and has a pocket calculator)...

However they arn't the only people on the moors. An escaped convict (Barry Foster) is also on the moors. His mum (Patricia Hayes) has left some supplies for him in the cattle shed on the farm leading the kids to head off on the moors to find out whats going on. They soon get lost in the mists, encountering a wild dog (who is soon tamed by a bit of chocolate), marshes and of course the convict...

A fun little film with a straightforward characters and story. Louise uses her pocket calculator at various parts of the film to make calculations and it ends up becoming a vital plot point of course.