Zorro's Black Whip (Serial) (1944)

There is no Zorro in this serial despite the title, but there is the Black Whip who does a similar job. Idaho is a largely lawless territory which wants to change that with statehood. Local hoodlum Dan Hammond (Francis McDonald) doesn't want any pesky things like law and order getting in the way of his activities though and is determined to block any attempts. Newspaper owner Randolph Meredith (Jay Kirby) is one of the major proponents of statehood which makes him a target for Hammond, luckily Randolph is secretly the Black Whip.

Randolph / the Black Whip dies after a fight with Hammond's goons but his sister Barbara (Linda Stirling) dons the Black Whip costume and continues the fight against Hammond with the help of agent Vic Gordon (George J Lewis)... 

What follows are a standard series of fights, speeded up horse riding and revolvers which contain an amazingly large number of bullets plus lots of cliffhangers of course. This is a decent if not exceptional serial but what makes it stand out is the female lead which was highly unusual for it's day.

Submarine Command (1951)

A very good war film though has a fairly standard plot. White (William Holden) is a new executive officer on the US Navy submarine USS Tiger Shark in the last days of WW2. White has not yet seen any combat but when he does finally see some on the very last day of the war it does not end well, as his captain is killed. White blames himself, as do some of his crew like Boyer (William Bendix).

White stays in the Navy and settles down to shore life with Carol (Nancy Olsen) but he is still haunted by his actions in the war and this starts to affect his personal relationships, especially with Carol. Then there is a new war, in Korea, and USS Tiger Shark is reactivated and sent across the Pacific with White back in command. Can he finally find redemption during a highly dangerous mission?

So, not a highly original plot line but the film is very well executed and has a number of excellent action set-pieces. The film was one of the first war films to explore post-traumatic stress disorder and it's effects on soldiers long after the guns have gone silent.

Episodes in the Life of a Gin Bottle (1925)

A rather odd little film made to support alcohol prohibition in the USA (which was ongoing at the time, with mixed results). A gin bottle is personified with a little spirit (Rex Lease). Then, as the bottle changes hands each now possessor of the bottle is encouraged by the spirit to take a swig of gin and resulting various misfortunes will befall them. 

The most magical thing about the whole affair though is the fact the gin bottle seems to magically refill itself, now that would be very welcome. A strange film with little to recommend it. However, it does feature some interesting (and early) uses of double-exposure effects.

Power Play (1978)

A dark tale of authoritarian regimes and military coups. Quite where this film takes place is not clear, the state has the feel of a 1970s Latin American country though it looks more like somewhere in Central Europe and the nationalities and names of the population are all over the place. In any case, a group of officers led by Rousseau (Barry Morse) has grown tired with the regime, which has Blair's (Donald Pleasance) brutal secret police at it's dark heart.

Rousseau and Narriman (David Hemmings) assembles a group of officers to begin to make plans to overthrow the regime. With Blair closing in on their plot and time running out, the officers make the fateful decision to recruit the unpredictable Zeller (Peter O'Toole) and his tanks. The coup runs smoothly (though not bloodlessly) and Zeller has seized the palace, is it now all over?

Not quite, the film has a delicious twist. The film is also very violent with many killings and torture scenes. Life is cheap in this country, wherever it is. The great cast though is priceless.

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon (1989)

The second sequel to the peerless A Better Tomorrow; however, this one - a prequel - feels a bit of a disappointment. There aren't any massive gunfights fought by men in sharp black suits, instead a tale set in Saigon soon after the Vietnam War and shows how Mark (Chow Yun Fat) became the man he was in HK in the earlier films.

Cheung (Tony Leung) arrives in Saigon to bring his uncle and cousin (Mark) to HK. However, things are chaotic in the city. Cheung needs the help of Chow (Anita Mui) to carry out his aims, unfortunately things get more complicated when a love triangle develops between Chow and the two cousins. Things get even more complicated when they fall foul of a local general...

It isn't a bad film, the character of Mark is revisited and some important background is retro-conned but the film doesn't quite work. It's too different to the first two films and lacks the same quality of action. It probably would have been better as a stand-alone tale in Vietnam and not struggling to carry the baggage of the iconic films it followed.