Tarzan the Tiger (Serial) (1929)

Action packed serial with the usual cliff hangers and unlikely escapes. Tarzan (Frank Merrill) faces the menace of the Arab army of Queen La of Opar (Lillian Worth). Jane (Natalie Kingston) is kidnapped and Tarzan suffers an amnesia in the usual movie way, a blow to the head!

After several chapters as a rather vague simpleton Tarzan is finally back, cured of his amnesia also in the usual movie way (another blow to the head natch). Can Tarzan rescue Jane, resist Queen La and get his hand on the wealth of Opar?

The first sound Tarzan in a way, not a full talkie rather a transitional silent film with added sound effects including Tarzan's yells! Merrill brings some impressive physicality to the role though not much in the way of acting. However for the role he is perfect.

Spiker (1985)

Although this follows the usual cliched pattern of a sports movie the fact it is about volleyball makes it slightly novel. It follows a number of young hopefuls, including Sonny (Stephen Burns) and Catch (Patrick Houser), who want to make the US Olympic volleyball team under tough Coach Doames (Michael Parks).

Not everyone makes the cut and along the way there are a lot of toil and sweat and mysterious looking training exercises. Sonny and Catch fall foul of Coach due to their love of parties and / or the opposite sex. Team veteran Newt (Christopher Allport) meanwhile has trouble of his own as his wife Marcia (Jo McDonnell) is becoming bored of being a volleyball widow...

The film has little you haven't seen before but is a decent watch even though it is painfully low budget and rather shoddy at times. The acting is slightly awkward but has a natural feel to it. The AOR soundtrack is great and adds to the heavy dose of 80s cheese. We don't get to see if the team actually did go and win gold, though in a heavily stylised way it is implied. The real team did win gold in 1988 incidentally.

The tough and often precarious life of an Olympic athlete is well portrayed. As the Coach said, do you really want it? 

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.