Lost in the Stratosphere (1934)

Unlike the aviators who reach high into the sky, the story stays at fairly low altitudes. Soapy (William Cagney) and Woody (Edward Nugent) are two US airmen who are close friends, but a love triangle with Evelyn (June Collyer) - who is not an aviator and thus doesn't have a nickname - damages that friendship...

However the two airmen are drawn together to crew a helium balloon which will try and beat the altitude record. Naturally things do not go to plan and this helps bring the two friends back together... and then apart in a way which may stretch credibility a bit.

The balloon scenes and other aerial adventures are pretty interesting though the rest of the film is pretty middling. The film is mostly notable for being one of the few films James Cagney's younger brother William starred in before he moved onto other roles in the industry.

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.