No Sex Please - We're British (1973)

A very British 1970s film with the usual kind of saucy innuendo and farce humour. The quiet and regimented life at a bank in Windsor is thrown into chaos when a consignment of pornographic photographs (and later other blue material) is accidentally sent there to the assistant manager David Hunter (Ian Ogilvy). Unfortunately the manager Mr Bromley (Arthur Lowe) is on a crusade to stamp out porn...

David, his wife Penny (Susan Penhaligon) and the chief cashier Brian Runnicles (Ronnie Corbett) don't know what to do with the porn as they fear they'll end up in prison. David's mother (Beryl Reid) is also around adding to the chaos...

Although the cast is a who's who of British comedians the result is a bit less than the sum of the parts though still not bad at all. The film isn't without its funny moments though is a little too much like a stage farce (indeed was an adaptation of one) with a little too much running around in scenes, sometimes it drowns out the funny lines. As a period piece it is wonderful. As a comedy film it is decent... despite being about indecency!

West of Hot Dog (1924)

On his way to the small town of Hot Dog Stan Laurel is held up by rascally outlaws. Stan is on his way to to the town to hear the reading of his Uncle's will, as are the outlaws we later discover. Stan is left everything including the saloon... but if he dies then Bad Mike (Lee Meehan) will get the saloon. Stan obviously decides to flee town but falls right into Bad Mike's lap...

A nice little comedy western, Stan plays his usual goofy character and there are plenty of visual gags and slapstick. The film is a little light but has plenty of charm, one of Stan Laurel's better solo comedies.

War-Gods of the Deep (1965)

A wonderfully fantastical tale. American adventurer Ben (Tad Hunter) is in a Cornish village along with lovely Jill (Susan Hart) and eccentric chicken loving artist Harold (David Tomlinson). Strange goings on one night, including the sight of a strange gill-man perplex our heroes and then Jill goes missing. Ben and Harold go looking for her and stumble upon a mysterious city under the sea...

The Captain (Vincent Price) rules the city, having been trapped there a hundred years ago with his crew of smugglers. For some reason they do not age in this lost Atlantis with mysterious pumping technology and Babylonian artwork. However the end is nigh as a volcano may erupt any moment and destroy everything...

Although the film can be a bit slow at times the film covers all the best "lost world" film tropes perfectly with some impressive set design which includes reproductions of Sumerian art. Vincent Price steals the show with his wonderfully dark and ruthless Captain. As for the rest of the acting it is passable though John Le Mesurier is good as a priest trapped in the lost world.

The Psychotronic Man (1979)

Rocky (Peter Spelson) stops his car on a country lane after a long day of cutting hair at his barber shop but while he dozes he seems to be caught up into some strange phenomenon where his car ends up levitating. Afterwards he has headaches at random moments and is then possessed by some sort of demonic force and can kill with the power of his mind.

His first victim is a local bum whom he kills over a plate of beans. Then he kills his doctor who is beginning to suspect something is going on. The police begin the slowest investigation in history but finally Lt. O'Brien (Chris Carbis) thinks Rocky is killing people with psychotronic power...

An entertaining though pretty low-quality film, where little happens for long periods. When there is action, such as the police car chase, it is pretty shoddy though this adds to the 1970s cheese and unintentional hilarity. It is very late 1970s in look and that has an appeal of it's own of course.

The Black Camel (1931)

One of the earliest Charlie Chan films. Movie star Shelia Fane (Dorothy Revier) is shooting a film in Honolulu. Before she marries Alan Jaynes (William Post Jr) she consults the fakir Tanaverro (Bela Lugosi) but he confronts her about the unsolved murder of actor Denny Mayo several years ago. Later Fayne is found dead and Charlie Chan (Warner Oland) begins his investigation...

And it is a complicated investigation with a number of suspects. All Chan knows is that Tanaverro has an alibi even though he is so suspicious the viewer can guess he is involved somehow. The case, as in all Golden Age mysteries, hinges on the tiniest of clues: scratches made by a pin embedded in the murderer's heel...

A highly enjoyable murder mystery only jarred by some of the sound issues and hesitant dialogue which often plagued early talkies. The identity of the murderer might seem a bit left field as the character did not appear nearly as much as other suspects. At this early stage in the Chan canon his assistant is the bumbling Kashimo (Otto Yamaoka) not one of his sons, though we do get a delightful scene where Chan has breakfast with all of his huge family!