Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Eyes in the Night (1942)

An interesting tale of a blind detective and his very clever dog.

Duncan Maclain (Edward Arnold), a blind detective, is employed by his old friend Norma (Ann Harding). One of Norma's ex-lovers is now courting Norma's teenage step-daughter Barbara (Donna Reed) and wants to Duncan to find a way to get rid of him. However, when he is found murdered Norma is considered a suspect. Duncan visits Norma's house with his sight-dog Friday and begins to unravel a Nazi plot to steal military secrets...

A fairly straight forward crime drama, the plot is methodical and functional if not overly exciting though Hansen the butler (Stanley Ridges) made for an excellent villain. How Maclain uses his disability to disarm and fool his adversaries, before unleashing his judo skills, is excellent.

It was hoped to create a long running series out of Duncan Maclain but in the end only one more film was made. The film and character maybe lacked that final bit of sparkle. Friday is of course a Good Dog. Mantan Moreland appears working for Norma, taking time out from working for Charlie Chan!

Monday, October 24, 2022

Atom Age Vampire (1960)

A rather squalid and awful little film.

Jeanette (Susanne Lorette) is an exotic dancer who is facially disfigured after a car accident. She is approached by Professor Levin (Alberto Lupo) and his assistant Monique (Franca Parisi) who have developed a ground breaking method to heal skin in their dingy little lab full of rabbits in cages and radiation. The method works but Jeanette, whom Levin has become obsessed with, requires regular treatments. Those treatments need the glands from murdered women. Levin commits these murders after he, for some reason, transforms into a weird looking beast...

A film that makes no sense, scenes end abruptly even mid dialogue and everything about the film is rather shoddy. The film is quite entertaining but mostly because of it's awfulness. 

Don't really expect any vampires, the confusing title is referred to in the English dubbed dialogue. The Italian title translates to Seddok the heir of Satan, which makes slightly more sense.

Friday, October 21, 2022

The Chinese Cat (1944)

Another instalment in the Charlie Chan series, this time Charlie ends up in some genuine peril.

Manning (Sam Flint) is a businessman who was shot in his home. The police were unable to solve the crime. Manning's daughter Leah (Joan Woodbury) asks Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) if he will take a look. Charlie is assisted by his number three son (Benson Fong) and a reluctant Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland).

The case is a mystery indeed but is linked to a mysterious "fun house" and Chinese cat statues hidden in bread which contain diamonds. Charlie soon raises the ire of a dangerous gang and gets firmly put into harm's way...

This isn't the best in the series but is a perfectly passable Charlie Chan film with a neat if not too complicated plot. Chan had a real downer on his son in this film and roasts him mercilessly throughout!

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Battle Taxi (1955)

A decent film about the Korean War.

Stacy (Arthur Franz) is a helicopter pilot in the US air-sea rescue force, saving injured men and downed pilots from the brutal Communists. However, Stacy was an ex-fighter pilot jock and feels frustrated he isn't blasting around at the speed of sound. His daredevil attitude brings him into conflict with his commanding officer Edwards (Sterling Hayden).

Things come to a head when Stacy is injured himself while rescuing a pilot. With the Communists closing in, Stacy has to rely on Edwards to save him...

Not a bad film at all, though padded out with a lot of USAF stock footage (not a bad thing if you like your Sabres and Shooting Stars). The focus on the air-sea rescue force is an interesting one and gives the film a bit of novelty. 

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Live and Let Die (1973)

Roger Moore makes his debut as Bond in this bonkers epic of voodoo, the occult and flares.

Bond has gone to New York to investigate why various agents have been bumped off and by whom. He heads to Harlem and stands out like a sore thumb but knows drug lord Mr Big has some connection, as well as a link to Dr Karenga (Yaphet Kotto), the head of a tiny corrupt Caribbean country. Karenga's island is a centre for the voodoo cult led by Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder), Karenga though gets his advice from the tarot card reader Solitaire (Jane Seymour) - though naturally her powers are diminished after Bond has had his way with her...

This is Bond goes blaxploitation and its terrific. The suave bow ties and tuxedoes of the 1960s have been replaced by flares and pimpmobiles. It is all complete nonsense of course but has some of the most stand-out stunts and action scenes in Bond history. It has an excellent henchman for Karenga in the shape of Tee Hee (Julius W Harris) with his metal arm...

The film also has a soundtrack by Wings, what is not to like about this film? One of the best in the series.