Mr. Washington Goes to Town (1941)

A silly but very watchable comedy, billed as the first ever feature length comedy with an all-black cast.

Jones (Mantan Moreland) and Wallingford (F.E. Miller) are in gaol. Wallingford discovers from the newspaper that Jones may have inherited a hotel from his uncle. Jones begins to dream... and the hotel in his dream is rather odd. The guests include a man who keeps turning invisible, a magician, a man with a detachable head and a gorilla! 

Meanwhile, the mortgage owner of the hotel wants to get rid of Jones and Wallingford so he can search for the uncle's fortune which is hidden in the building somewhere...

This is a film packed full of gags, many don't work or fall fairly flat but it doesn't matter because another joke will be around in a few seconds! It is frantic and energetic and great fun.

Look Out Mr Moto (1938)

Mr Moto investigates rebels planning an insurgency in the Cambodian jungle.

After aviatrix Victoria Mason (Rochelle Hudson) is forced to abandon her plane over the Cambodian jungle she is found by the men of the Rajah (J Edward Bromberg). She is also seen by some American filmmakers (Robert Kent and Chick Chandler) and Mr Moto (Peter Lorre) who is an archaeologist (well we know he isn't really but it is interesting how he is undercover using his real name!)

After Victoria becomes a virtual captive by the Rajah who wants her for his wife, plus the Americans are condemned to death by the unscrupulous priest Bokor (George Regas) who has plans of his own to take power. Mr Moto poses as a holy man to save their lives but can he uncover the separate plots by both Bokor and the Rajah to rise in rebellion against the government?

So, this is a decent jungle adventure, though has little not seen before. It has the usual characters in films like this, including some needless comic relief and the "jungle" is padded out with some stock footage of wild animals. There are some surprises though including the real purpose of one of the main characters. A fine entry in the Mr Moto series.

Fallguy (1962)

A rather inept drama though not without some highlights.

Sonny (Ed Dugan) is a cocky young man driving his convertible who happens upon an attempted road side murder of a gangster (G.J. Mitchell). Sonny ends up the prisoner of the man, but then dragged into a conspiracy involving a crooked doctor (Don Alderette) and police chief (Louis Gartner). Sonny is framed for the murder of the gangster and the powerful figures up against him means he needs some evidence. Can the doctor's daughter June (Madeline Frances) provide any of that?

The film is a bit shoddy around the edges with mysterious direction at times and patchy acting and plot, plus has the budget of a cheese burger. It does have a noir edge to it though, especially in the last act. Sonny and June do become characters you care about and you'll stick around to see if they survive. For a short film though it can be a bit of a drag.

God Told Me To (1976)

Somewhat confusing maybe, and switches between more genres than you can count, but somehow its brilliant.

A number of horrific random crimes are being committed in NY, the perpetrators all saying that "God" told them to commit the crimes before they usually die themselves. Detective Nicholas (Tony Lo Blanco) thinks there is something more than meets the eye to this and begins to track down the mysterious Bernard Philips (Richard Lynch) who has been seen speaking to the perpetrators and indeed may even be directing matters.

Nicholas' investigation goes into really strange territory when it includes alien impregnation! Nicholas also begins to discover some shocking details about his own life too...

So, the film starts off like it is going to be a gritty 1970s crime story, then becomes a horror with elements of the supernatural, then sci-fi. Then the film switches back to crime with a blaxploitation-esque sub-plot about a pimp (George Patterson) who kills a cop on the take. 

Oh, there is also a sub-plot about Nicholas and the two ladies (Deborah Raffin and Sandy Dennis) in his love triangle! The story is confusing, but fast moving and multi-layered. Its great!

Sign of the Wolf (1941)

A surprisingly enjoyable film about some very clever dogs and rather unscrupulous humans.

Judy (Grace Bradley) has two performing Alsatian dogs (Smokey and [Grey] Shadow). When the two dogs fight at a dog show, causing her to miss out on a prize she decides to sell Shadow much to the dismay of Ben (Mantan Moreland). He smuggles Shadow aboard the flight back to Canada. The plane crashes in bad weather. Shadow manages to bring help to Judy and Ben in the shape of Rod (Michael Whalen). 

However, where has Smoky gone? Unfortunately, Smoky has been grabbed by two thieves who want to use the dog to steal fox fur pelts...

This is a fun little film with some good heroic dog action and a growing romance in the snow bound Canadian woods. Low budget doesn't have to mean low quality (or vice versa) after all.