Lady Mobster (1988)

An enjoyable TV movie showing how a young woman rises through the mobster ranks on a mission of revenge.

After mobster Victor Castle (Joseph Wiseman) announces plans to go straight, his accountant and his wife are killed by an assassin (Anthony James). The daughter Laurel (Susan Lucci) manages to escape and is bought up by the Castle family. 

A number of years later she is a promising young lawyer but returns to the Castle family as Victor is ailing and his plan to finally become legitimate is in trouble. Despite Victor's misgivings, Laurel becomes involved with the family business with the help of Nick (Michael Nader) but discovers the assassin who killed her parents is still at large...

A good mobster film though perhaps contains nothing you haven't seen elsewhere. This is done very well though and has a suitably dark conclusion after a number of twists.

The Rage of Wind (1973)

Crazy wild kung fu action, not a huge lot of story though!

The Japanese (evil of course) have invaded China (this is set in the late 1930s). Taka (Yasuaki Kurata) has put the Chinese fishermen under harsh new fish taxes and his henchmen are beating up anyone who protests. Meanwhile, top Chinese boxer Chan (Sing Chen) and his American wife Lin (Irene Ryder) have returned from the US. After killing a man in the ring he has vowed to never use his fists for violence again...

That immediately becomes a problem as Chan is immediately hurled into the fight between the Chinese and Japanese. Eventually he is forced to fight and everything is set up for the inevitable showdown with Taka on the beach to the death...

So, a basic kung fu tale. Any vague story is just a handy framework for a series of fights. These are pretty good fights too, especially the final showdown. A good example of the genre.

You're Out of Luck (1941)

The Darro-Moreland double act is back in this tale of gambling and elevators.

Frankie Darro and Jeff (Mantan Moreland) are working at an apartment block as elevator operator and janitor respectively. When they witness a murder in the car park they get involved thanks to Frankie's older brother Tom (Richard Bond) being the detective on the case. However, when the investigation falls into chaos poor Tom ends up back in uniform. Frankie (with Jeff dragged along rather unwillingly) decides to try and solve the case himself, which involves putting themselves into danger in the city's seedy gambling scene...

An enjoyable film with the usual good banter and chemistry from Darro and Moreland. The humour isn't as overt as in some of their films but the mystery is well written. The low budget doesn't detract too much. Kay Sutton plays the agreeable heroine.

High School Caesar (1960)

A hilariously bad example of the high school drama genre (though are any of them any good?)

Matt (John Ashley) is the school's bad boy with his gang of followers but feared and hated by everyone else. The school mafia boss beats up weaker kids for their lunch money and gets copies of tests which he can sell to other kids. He also wants to be the school president but is up for election against Kelly (Lowell Brown) who wants none of that nonsense! Soon, much of the rest of the school also decide to stop the tyrannical rule of Matt...

Lets cut straight to the chase, this is a pretty awful film with a lack of action and endless wooden and stilted dialogue. It does have a few bright moments though including the character of Matt who isn't quite the one dimensional baddie you might think at first. In fact the more you know about his background (rich but neglected) the more you understand and he plays the role well. Much of the rest of the film though can be binned.

Mysterious Mr. Moto (1938)

Mr Moto is on form on this adventure ranging from a French prison to the foggy streets of old London town.

In order to infiltrate a gang of assassins, Mr Moto (Peter Lorre) has himself incarcerated on Devil's Island. There he helps Paul (Leon Ames) to escape. 

Now in his confidence, Mr Moto travels with Paul to London to be his Japanese valet. Moto discovers a plot to kill the industrialist Anton Darvak (Henry Wilcoxon), however he doesn't know who the leader of the gang is and begins an investigation in the seedy side of London and also fine art...

This is an excellent instalment in the Mr Moto series with the Japanese detective having to employ his skills in disguise as well as fighting. The "English" accents are hilariously bad. The reveal of the evil mastermind is good, though probably predictable.