The Amazing Mr. X (1948)

An entertaining film full of twists, the film takes you in one direction then completely spins everything around... more than once. Christine (Lynn Bari) is a rich widow about to get engaged to Martin (Richard Carlson) when she encounters the mysterious Alexis (Turhan Bey) on a beach walk. Alexis is a spiritualist, complete with pet crow, who helps Christine contact her husband Paul (Donald Curtis) who died in an accident a few years before...

But Alexis is a phoney, using a maid to find information about Christine so he can relieve her of the burden of having a lot of cash. Rationalist Martin scoffs at the silly woman superstition of course but then he is shocked when Paul seems to return for real. In fact Paul was never dead after all and now wants Alexis' help to get Christine's money...

Somewhat melodramatic but full of interest. The mechanics of how Alexis tricks people is genuinely fascinating. Turhan Bey puts on a great performance as the suave and slightly sinister Alexis.

On the Wrong Track (1983)

Middling early 1980s HK youth drama. Paul (Andy Lau) and Ah De (Chau Wah Yim) are brothers in high school who are always getting into scrapes. Nothing unusual there but these scrapes include baseball bat fights, wrecking a Ferrari and wearing women's underwear in class. A further complication in their lives is that their Dad (Yueh Hua) is a cop...

Despite regular beatings by their Dad and the police they don't seem to want to learn their lesson. Things come to a head with the vandalising of a supermarket, De gets killed by violent police man King Kong (Lau Kwok Shing) and of course Paul wants revenge...

The film is very much of it's time, the usual HK movie mix of humour, melodrama and ultra violence and looks great (it will certainly make you nostalgic for 1980s HK). Although the film isn't too exceptional it is notable for being Andy Lau's first lead role.

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.