Planet Outlaws (1953)

If this seems similar to the 1939 serial Buck Rogers it is because it is a condensed version! Buck Rogers (Buster Crabbe) is a 20th century pilot who, along with Buddy (Jackie Moran), is put into suspended animation after an airship crash. When he is awaken in the future he finds the world to be much more advanced, and much more dangerous. He helps the good guys out against the evil plans of Killer Kane (Anthony Warde)...

Naturally as the nearly four hour original serial was edited down to a single film that's just over an hour long it is all rather breakneck. In fact it is maybe a little too frenetic as we move from action scene to action scene with hardly any time to breathe. The action is great though and includes rocket ships with sparks flying out of them, ray guns and an army of mindless robots - slaves controlled by fiendish helmets and worked until they die. 

Little to no subtlety maybe but it is all tremendous fun.

The Statue (1971)

A rather funny farce about a huge phallus. Noted linguist Alex (David Niven) is to be honoured by a statue commissioned by US ambassador Ray (Robert Vaughn) and created by Alex's artist wife Rhonda (Virna Lisi). When Alex has a sneak peek of the statue he is shocked, Rhonda has created a naked statue of himself... though with another man's very large gentleman's sausage.

Rhonda refuses to change the statue, Alex's only legal recourse is to find out who was the model for the... thing thinking Rhonda must have slept with him. Alex starts to make his way through a list of Rhonda's male acquaintances, finding ways to see their genitals...

It does sound a very strange film and it indeed is very odd, and very of it's time. The film is smutty and ridiculous, not everything works but frequently it really does hit the spot. A good cast, which also includes John Cleese and Ann Bell, make the most of it. 

The Black Pirate (1926)

The sort of swash buckling silent movie epic Douglas Fairbanks Senior was born for and set the screen action hero template for. With some scenes of quite stark brutality, including the dumping of corpses in a heap and lots of murder, we are hurled into the savage world of the pirates led by Anders Randolf and Sam De Grasse. The Duke of Arnoldo (Fairbanks) is seeking revenge on the pirates for murdering his father, he thus infiltrates their band as the Black Pirate...

The Black Pirate soon proves himself as he helps capture a ship and he rises up the ranks, but his plans for revenge are complicated by the lovely Isobel (Billie Dove) whom he must protect from the evil clutches of his fellow pirates...

Although a lot of the more extreme violence is implied off-screen, the film can be very bloody, and in it's Technicolor print (one of the earliest) would have been very red! As a silent movie action epic this can't be faulted, Fairbanks was at his wash buckling action hero peak. The story may be pretty obvious but that is not the important thing here, it's spectacular.

The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916)

An early epic though, while undeniably impressive, is a bit long winded. With Naples enduring the cruel regime of Spain, the playboy son of the Viceroy (Douglas Gerrard) spies and takes a fancy to Fenella (Anna Pavlova), a mute peasant girl. 

He seduces and ravishes her, then the Viceroy (Wadsworth Harris) tries to get rid of her and the scandal by having her thrown in prison and whipped! Fenella's mistreatment sparks the populace in a revolt led by fisherman Masaniello (Robert Julian) which eventually brings down the Viceroy and his regime who do not have a happy ending...

While not a brilliant film it does have plenty of grand designs and grander staging. Pavlova (yes the dessert was named after her) was a famous ballerina and this was her only appearance in a feature film. Her appearances have the lightness and grace you would expect though the camerawork unfortunately often did not make the most of it. The film could have done with some heavy editing. But it is an interesting film and was quite an accomplishment.

The Phantom Express (1932)

An engaging early talkie. While in charge of a train, Smokey (J Farrell MacDonald) is forced to make an emergency brake when he thinks there is another train oncoming. The action results in his own train crashing. After an enquiry where it seems there was no other train involved Smokey is left in disgrace. Meanwhile the railway company owner's son Bruce (William Collier Jr) decides to stop his playboy activities and investigate the crash himself, mostly because he has a crush on Smokey's daughter Carolyn (Sally Blane).

Bruce, working undercover, discovers a nefarious scheme using an aeroplane with a light and loud speakers to trick train drivers into thinking another train is on the tracks. The plan is to force the railway owner Harrington (Hobart Bosworth) into selling the company to them...

A fast moving film with some decent (for their day) special effects. The dialogue might be a bit inaudible at times but the film flows very well and has plenty of thrills and spills. The bad guy's plot does stretch credibility a bit but that is a minor criticism.