1984 (1984)

A superb adaptation of the George Orwell classic tale.

It is 1984 and the world is now a dark dystopia of authoritarian rule by Big Brother, who uses disinformation and lies to control the population (with brutal security forces as well if all else fails). Winston Smith (John Hurt) is a low-level party operative whose job is to literally rewrite history to present the reality Big Brother wants, and to be happily consumed by the brain washed population. Smith however, is not a true believer and writes subversive thoughts in his diary.

He meets and falls in love with Julia (Suzanna Hamilton), another party operative who also wants something more than Big Brother will allow. They begin a secret (and illegal) love affair. Winston is contacted by a higher up party official (Richard Burton) who appears to be part of an underground movement. However, once again all is not what it seems and the secret double life of Smith and Julia soon comes crashing down...

The world building here is top notch, the world of Big Brother is dark and terrifying (especially the torture scenes) and also a warning to us all. A very good film. This was Richard Burton's final film before his death.

Boston Blackie's Rendezvous (1945)

Boston Blackie films are usually played fairly light though this one, with it's bodycount, has a bit of a darker tone.

Blackie (Chester Morris) is enlisted to help a friend whose nephew Jimmy (Steve Cochrane) has escaped from the asylum. Soon Blackie is face to face with Jimmy and discovers that Jimmy is obsessed with a young woman, and is also homicidally dangerous! 

Jimmy kills a friend of the woman he is obsessed with, naturally Blackie's nemesis Farraday (Richard Lane) thinks Blackie has killed the woman. Blackie must try and save Sally (Nina Foch) who is now a prisoner of Jimmy and keep out of Farraday's clutches...

With two women killed and another in deadly peril, the usual Blackie and Runt (George E Stone) antics can sometimes jar a bit, especially when they go blackface! This is an enjoyable, if complicated, crime romp. The character of Jimmy brings plenty of menace.

Sky Heist (1975)

A classic TV movie about an audacious crime, and the hunt for gold and criminals by the LAPD air department.

An LAPD helicopter piloted by Trumbell (Don Meredith) is hijacked, the pair of hijackers wanting $100K in cash. Unbeknownst to police captain Ballard (Joseph Campanella) this is all a diversion. The criminal gang have really hijacked a plane carrying gold bullion and now have $10 million in gold bars on a disguised bus! Ballard, Trumbell and company have to try and unpick the complicated (though flawed - see below) plan by Hardings (Frank Gorshin) before it's too late...

This film just screams pilot for a planned TV series, which unfortunately was never made, which is a shame as it probably would have been pretty good. The story is straight forward, characterisation laid on hard and fast (though the characters are largely well-worn stereotypes) and the action exciting with many helicopter shots if pretty bloodless. 

Harding's heist plan is mostly well worked out and even quite ingenious though you will wonder why they didn't switch the gold from the bus to another vehicle. Though as a police detective once said, if criminals never did anything stupid then the police would hardly ever catch anyone!

The Bubble (1966)

Given the time period for the sci-fi genre, and the fact the film was originally shown in 3-D, you might think this film could be awful cheese... but actually it is a surprisingly good film.

Mark (Michael Cole) and Catherine (Deborah Walley) are trying to get to a hospital before Catherine gives birth. Their private plane is caught up in a strange storm and lands in a mysterious small town. Everyone in the town seems to act like zombies, repeating the same lines and the same actions over and over again and living in a trance. 

Together with their pilot Tony (Johnny Desmond) they try to escape the town but find it is surrounded by a clear impenetrable barrier. Every seven days a mysterious light in the sky plucks someone to an uncertain but likely to be unpleasant fate up into the heavens above...

The film builds a creepy and mysterious world slowly. We don't really see the aliens (apart from perhaps in one scene) but their presence is everywhere. The leads do well in portraying a growing sense of eerie unease and paranoia. Much remains unanswered but thats no bad thing with a film like this.

The Woman Condemned (1934)

A decent if confusing crime drama that ends with an enjoyable twist.

Radio star Jane (Lola Lane) goes missing after some menacing phone calls, private investigator Barbara (Claudia Dell) is arrested after breaking into her apartment looking for clues. At court reporter Jerry (Richard Hemingway) gets interested in the case, or rather interested in Barbara, and ends up getting married to her there and then! Next however Barbara is arrested for Jane's murder, she does not seem to want to help herself or get Jerry's help on anything.

Jerry finds a phone number which leads to a private hospital where the mysterious Dr Wagner (Mischa Auer) is a plastic surgeon, and Jane is alive and well as Dr Wagner was removing a birth mark from her face. So, who is the dead woman, and what exactly is going on?

It is rather confusing though the plot has some interesting aspects, the conclusion is satisfying even if getting there is a rather choppy ride.