Firehead (1991)

A Russian cyborg with super powers is running amok but (plot twist!) he isn't the bad guy!

Ivan (Brett Porter) is a Russian cyborg with special powers who defects to the West, however after a couple of years he is blowing things up in the good old US of A instead. Vaughn (Christopher Plummer), the head of a secret US government lab, sends the scientist Hart (Chris Lemmon) and special agent Meila (Gretchen Becker) to stop Ivan. However, Ivan is really the good guy and it is Vaughn who is secretly head of a mysterious secret society which is using Ivan's attacks to bring about World War 3...

It is complete nonsense of course, and rather inept in execution. Hilarious for all the wrong reasons (of course). It's probably better not to wonder what exactly the relationship of super smart tweenager Smith (Lauren Levy Neustadter) is to Hart, or quite why no one can shoot straight. Why does the secret society have pictures of Mussolini on the walls of their lair? Also wonder why did Plummer and Martin Landau agreed to appear in this cheap madness. Just enjoy the fact they did and helped create an incredibly inane but enjoyable film.

Wings Over Africa (1936)

A bright and breezy quota quickie set in the jungles of ...er.. Shepperton. 

A skeleton is discovered by Tony Cooper (Ian Colin) and Dalton (James Carew) in the African bush. With the skeleton is a letter to Wilkins (James Harcourt) in London. Cooper naturally makes the very long trip to act as the postman. Wilkins, an ornithology obsessed clerk, says the letter is from his brother and that he discovered a fortune in diamonds in Africa.

Cooper and Wilkins recruit Trevor (James Craven) and Carol (Joan Gardner) to fly them to Africa. The natives are friendly though the other white men already there not quite so. Dalton is also rather annoyed at Cooper who he thinks has tricked him out of the diamonds. The diamonds are discovered but then the deaths begin. Who is killing off the party to keep the diamonds for themselves? 

A straightforward film with a basic story padded out with plenty of wild animal and native footage. More a murder mystery than a jungle adventure though you pretty much guess who it is before very long. Not a bad little film at all.

The Life Story of David Lloyd George (1918)

A bio-pic made on an epic scale of the wartime prime minister (and hero), but never shown at the time and thought lost until discovered 75 years later and finally shown to the public.

This film had the blessing of Lloyd George and his family, it starts off with photos of his birth certificate and him as a baby! We see the actual house he grew up in and various scenes from his life are dramatised by actors. Some scenes are on a massive scale with thousands of extras!

The film is quite propaganda-ish in feel at times (despite that the Liberal Party had the film suppressed for fear of harming Lloyd George before the election). Obviously being a silent movie quite a lot of the impact of various dramatic speeches he made are lost! The film is a remarkable achievement, though watchable mostly due to it's historic value and novelty more than anything else.

The Scarecrow (1920)

An enjoyable and highly inventive comedy from the legendary Buster Keaton.

Buster Keaton and Joe Roberts are poor farmhands who manage to survive in very inventive ways, including reusing the same coin over and over again in the gas meter! They are both interested in the farmer's daughter Sybil Seely. Buster disguises himself as a scarecrow to cause trouble for Joe and soon he and Sybil are engaged. But of course they get married in a madcap road scene while on a motorbike and sidecar combination!

A great comedy, inventive (the hut they live in at the start with all the hidden gadgets and tricks is brilliant) and slipstick which culminates in a frenetic and fairly spectacular final scene. 

Paul Temple's Triumph (1950)

Frenetic crime fighting antics from Paul and Steve Temple.

A scientist (Andrew Leigh) is kidnapped by the mysterious criminal Z. The scientist's daughter (Anne Hayes), a friend of Steve (Dinah Sheriden), asks for help but she is later found dead. Paul Temple (John Bentley) and Steve begin to investigate, their search taking them into the countryside but where Z's organisation seems to have agents everywhere...

A fast moving film that stretches a small budget as far as it can go, unfortunately a lot of the film takes place in hotel rooms or driving around country lanes (though Temple drives an early Aston Martin which is interesting). The film is based on a radio serial and has that feel with regular cliff hangers. Basic but effective.