A Few Moments with Eddie Cantor (1923)

While the Jazz Singer in 1927 became the first full-length feature film to have lip-synched sound and music, there were earlier films released experimenting with sound and this is one of the earliest.

The Phonofilm method of recording sound onto film was developed in the early 1920s and used to make a number of short demonstration films. Ultimately however, Hollywood chose other methods for recording sound (Vitaphone being used for the Jazz Singer) and Phonofilm faded into obscurity. Two hundred films were made and like this one are now of considerable historical value and interest.

This film was recorded in early 1923 and includes vaudeville performer Eddie Cantor who would go on to having a long career on the stage, radio and appear in quite a few films (even some TV at the end). In this film he tells some jokes and sings a couple of songs. There isn't much to it, he just stands there and performs but its a fine and fascinating short film.

Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977)

The last of the Confessions series, either completely hilarious or utterly dated drivel depending on your point of view.

Timmy (Robin Askwith) and his brother-in-law Sidney (Anthony Booth) are still at it, "it" being sleeping with as many young women as possible. They are now working at a grim holiday camp, obviously this gives them plenty of opportunities. 

But then the camp is taking over by Whitemonk (John Junkin), a former prison governor, who thinks a holiday camp should be run using iron discipline. Naturally he disapproves of Timmy and Sidney. However, Sidney has the great idea of holiday a beauty contest...

This film is crude, sexist and vulgar. The humour is dated, obvious and repetitive. I loved it. This is one of the funniest films around. It is one of the final glorious examples of British saucy comedy and working class culture that was soon to be swept away by the uncertainty of the 1980s, enjoy (a bit of) it while you can.

Mystery Broadcast (1943)

An enjoyable amateur detective romp.

Jan (Ruth Terry) has a radio show where she dramatises unsolved crimes, unfortunately the ratings are on the downward trend so she decided to try and solve one of these unsolved crimes! The crime she sets out to solve is a murder, this seems to rattle some feathers including people working on her radio show. When these people start winding up dead she knows she is onto something for sure!

She is helped by rival radio presenter Michael (Frank Albertson) and her long suffering effects producer Smitty (Mary Treen). Along the way they encounter a number of suspicious characters and dangerous situations...

This is a great little crime drama though not that original. It is a perky little adventure that flows smoothly from situation to situation driven by the great performances of Terry and Treen. The resolution is a little sudden and relies on the old trick of the culprit unmasking himself. The workings of live radio are well portrayed and always interesting.

Deluge (1933)

One of the earliest examples of the disaster movie genre, and the norm with these films often having impressive visuals but a disappointing story seems to have been there from the start.

A combination of a massive earthquake and huge storm strikes the USA at the same time, destroying basically everything. We see the skyscrapers of New York collapse with the population fleeing in terror. As usual the massive disaster is personalised through the lives and struggles of a few ordinary people. Those being Martin Webster (Sidney Blackmer) and his wife (Lois Webster) and children. Martin is separated from them after the main disaster strikes. 

Martin spends time alone, not knowing if anyone else survived. Then he discovers Claire (Peggy Shannon) who has escaped from a rough gang led by Jepson (Fred Kohler)...

This isn't that great a film, the acting is rather stilted and the film takes a long time to get going. The effects are good though especially for their day. The film also includes an interesting surprise for Martin and a rather awkward situation. An interesting watch but not much more.

Soldier's Fortune (1991)

Somehow a violent tale of mercenaries and kidnap ends up being a bit dull.

After the daughter Jennifer (Cindy Guyer) of rich businesswoman Susan (Barbara Bingham) is kidnapped by armed men, Susan calls on her ex-husband (and Jennifer's father) for help... Robert Jones (Gil Gerard) happens to be a mercenary! Jones recruits some of his former buddies who are of course a motley crew of military stereotypes!

Jones' efforts to deal with the kidnappers do not go smoothly, due to an inside woman feeding them information but the stage is set for a showdown at the docks...

Apart from a few decent action set pieces, a lot of this film is pretty pedestrian where not a huge amount is going on. The film also does not do much with the main baddie (Charles Napier) until the end, an old enemy of Jones though this isn't really mentioned much in the earlier part of the film.