The Witness Vanishes (1939)

An enjoyable crime drama, if a bit predictable.

Years before newspaper owner Marplay (Barlowe Borland) was put in a lunatic asylum by four men who took over his newspaper. Now he has escaped and has vowed to kill the four men. Indeed, the obituary of each man appears in the paper before the murder takes place! 

Investigating what is going on is Marplay's daughter Joan (Wendy Barrie) and the rather suspicious private detective McNab (Forrester Harvey). The last of the four men left alive, Peters (Edmund Lowe) does not seem to be that perturbed by his supposedly impending death...

An interesting film with "improbable" murders which leave the police baffled. A seasoned crime film watcher (or novel reader) will probably guess what is going on and who is really behind things but it doesn't stop the film being well worth watching.

Frankenstein's Daughter (1958)

Frankenstein's monster becomes female, not that you can really tell.

The grandson of Frankenstein, Oliver Frank (Donald Murphy) is now living in 1950s USA. Working with an unsuspecting Professor Morton (Felix Locher), he is conducting his deranged experiments at night. He kills Suzie (Sally Todd) after a date which goes sour and uses her brain to finish his new creation. Meanwhile he is also after the heart of of the Professor's daughter Trudy (Sandra Knight) though she is not that keen on this ridiculously creepy man, especially when his monster shows up. She is keener on Johnny (John Ashley) though he does take her to parties with some dodgy pop groups playing...

This is a basic retelling of the Frankenstein story set in the rock and roll era but isn't very good. It has a few thrills but most of the monster scenes are more ridiculous than anything else. 

Despite the monster was supposed to be female it didn't look very feminine. The makeup artist didn't know the monster was supposed to be female when he created the mask. So, he applied some lipstick to the mask! Job done?

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.