The Great White Silence (1924)

A pioneering documentary by Herbert Ponting on Scott's doomed attempt to reach the South Pole in 1910-13 (and thus filmed then though not released for a few years afterwards). While there is footage of the preparations and the early parts of the expedition the final act is not covered, the filmmaker did not join Scott in that final fatal part of the expedition.

The documentary concentrates on the stark landscape of Antarctica and the novel wildlife (maybe too much) including penguins (which have always been popular with cinema goers!) At the time most people would have never seen such things before of course and this was undoubtedly an eye opener for them. 

The footage is astonishing especially considering the dates and conditions in which it was filmed. The film does have colour tints though which to the modern eye can look a bit odd. A historic record, an interesting watch for sure but not without major flaws.

El Cid (1961)

El Cid is a proper movie epic, huge sets, massive casts of extras and at nearly two hundred minutes long an epic watch as well. Its worth it. Ibn Yusef (Herbert Lom) summons his Moor emirs from Spain and tells them it is time to conquer all of Spain in the name of Allah, he will bring his army across if the emirs stop living peacefully with the Christian kings...

Don Rodrigo (Charlton Heston) is on his way to marry Ximena (Sophia Loren) when he saves a town from a Moor attack. Don Rodrigo spares the lives of the Moor emirs who proclaim him El Cid. The Spanish accuse him of treason and Don Rodrigo ends up having to fight and kill the king's champion, who is also Ximena's father...

Although Don Rodrigo regains the king's favour he loses Ximena's. She even tries to get him killed with various intrigues as the Christians spend as much time fighting each other as the Moors. Despite being shunned and exiled Don Rodrigo, El Cid, remains fiercely loyal to the king. As Ibn Yusef's forces gather near Valencia it will soon be time for El Cid to fight in the deciding battle against the Moor invaders...

The film is an amazing spectacle. The various twists and turns in the court intrigue may sometimes be a bit confusing but the sheer majesty of the film will take you safely through it. The frequent battle scenes and fights are very bloody. It is dominating, excessive, memorable... just like an epic should be. Romantic and bold like El Cid the perfect knight.

Mooch (1974)

The sort of weird inconsequential little film that could only be made in the 1970s. Mooch is yet another young female hopeful eager to get to Hollywood and become a star. However, there are many pitfalls, dangers and obstacles a starlet needs to overcome to make it. Oh we should have mentioned, Mooch is a dog...

Mooch is guided by the helpful voice of Zsa Zsa Gabor and encounters a number of stars including Vincent Price and Jill St John. Will Mooch make it as a star? 

This is really quite odd and formless. Despite the animal actor it's not really a children's movie, the jokes are often quite adult (including Mooch's dream of being an exotic dancer!) The plot is rather thin and pedestrian but the film is enjoyable enough if just for the nostalgia and the star spotting. Mooch the dog is a very good animal actor. 

Dead of Night (1945)

An influential horror anthology. Architect Walter Craig (Mervyn Johns) turns up at a country house filled with the usual 1940s British middle class stereotypes, but he feels he has met the other guests before in his dreams. Nightmares which have a deadly ending. This helps prompt a series of short horror vignettes of varying quality and horror, though i did enjoy the hide and seek story with the ghost children.

The film really gets going when psychiatrist Dr Van Straaten (Frederick Valk) recounts an odd tale of a ventriloquist and his dummy, the ventriloquist (Michael Redgrave) having been arrested for attempted murder of a rival who he claimed was trying to steal his dummy. However, who was really the one in control?

Craig now fears his nightmares will come true and he will commit a monstrous crime. The various anthology stories all come together to an amazingly creepy crescendo. The film is a bit patchy (the golf ghost story probably could have been better left out) but is well worth perceiving with. It after all created it's own sub-genre, the British horror anthology.

Roaring Roads (1935)

A rather goofy comedy-romance-action-crime film that shouldn't be taken too seriously. David (David Sharpe) is the last remaining male heir to millions and his aunts and servants try to keep him in cotton wool much to David's disgust. David finally escapes his aunts and meets Gertrude (Gertrude Messinger). Her brother has been injured in a lucrative motor race, David decides to take his place in order to try and win Gertrude's heart...

However, some gangsters are out to try and stop him winning. David's servants are also out to try and stop him and bring him home safely. It all culminates in a fast-paced bit of slapstick action and a rather poor fight.

Not a masterpiece of cinema by any means but a very passable way to spend an hour. David Sharpe was a stuntman as well as an actor and he used those skills throughout the film including some rather good gymnastics and riding a bicycle down some stairs.