Please Murder Me! (1956)

A superbly tense and dark tale of murder and betrayal.

Lawyer Craig Carlson (Raymond Burr) tells his friend Joe (Dick Foran) that Joe's wife Myra (Angela Lansbury) wants to leave him and shack up with Craig instead! Joe gets enraged and apparently goes him to kill Myra but she kills him in self-defence. Despite a lack of evidence supporting her side of the story, Craig helps her escape the murder rap. 

However, Craig discovers that Myra was faking her love for him, really she is in love with a struggling artist (Lamont Johnson). She had set the whole thing up to murder Joe and get Craig to help her...

The story is told in flashback by Craig while he waits for his death, everything he has wanted in his life has gone, all he has left is to bring Myra to justice. You can probably guess who he is waiting for but it is still a tense conclusion. A well constructed crime film with Noir touches. 

Mystery House (1938)

Yet another 1930s Dark House murder mystery but this one is rather good.

A banker is found dead at his country house, apparently due to suicide but the daughter Gwen (Anne Nagel) thinks it was murder. The maid Sarah (Ann Sheriden) suggests her boyfriend private detective Lance (Dick Purcell) to investigate. Gwen recalls all of the guests who were present when her father died. Lance begins to investigate the guests and the family and various motives. Other deaths also begin to occur...

So, this is just one of scores of similar films from the 1930s but has a good energy about it and good performances by the leads. Plenty of red herrings and surprises all add up to a pretty good - if not that original - film.

The Echo Murders (1945)

A rip roaring Sexton Blake adventure, don't expect half measures!

An explosion at a mine causes the owner (Julien Mitchell) to sack the manager (Dennis Price), his daughter's (Pamela Stirling) beau. The owner is being blackmailed by his secretary. The owner is murdered, suspicion falls on the ex-manager but Sexton Blake (David Farrar) is called in to investigate. He begins to unravel a complicated plot which eventually leads to Nazi fifth columnists in their underground lair.

This isn't a subtle film but Sexton Blake adventures were very much Boy's Own adventures which were all about daring do and death defying action rather than careful investigation. There is probably a little too much adventure packed into this film, at times it is hard to follow what is going on though it all leads up to the expected final battle. It is nonsense of course but i loved it, Sexton Blake adventures were my great-grandfather's favourite so i guess it's in the blood!

Hot Money (1986)

A rather strange comedy drama, the strangeness isn't quite enough to keep interest when things drag.

Tom (Michael Murphy) is released from prison, though he doesn't go straight. He becomes a deputy in a small town and ends up stealing a million bucks from an old lady! While the latin quoting sheriff (Orson Welles) has little idea what is going on, a couple of walking stereotype IRS men (the WWF wrestler IRS made for a more realistic tax man) turn up to investigate why an old lady had so much cash.

Tom makes plans with his girlfriend Jeanette (Ann Lange) to spend the loot in a suitably tropical location but he starts to have second thoughts about throwing the small town into so much turmoil...

This isn't a bad film with plenty of humour, much of it surreal. At times the film is a bit static and maybe a bit too laid back. You also will probably end up feeling sorry for what Welles was reduced to in his final years.

Beginning of the End (1957)

Monster sized radiation mutated insect horror!

Intrepid reporter Audrey (Peggie Castle) is on the case when the population of a small town mysteriously vanish overnight and just a pile of rubble is left. The US military are stone walling her, though don't know anything anyway. Audrey heads to an experimental agriculture facility where Dr Wainwright (Peter Graves) is supersizing fruit and veg using radiation. They discover that locusts have also been supersized and are now wrecking havoc!

So, a standard monster / big bug film with the usual tropes. The large insect scenes are quite laughable though the most is made of a tiny budget. It isn't that bad of a film though pretty generic.

The most interesting thing in the film really is Audrey using a car phone! In fact the service, which used VHF radio and needed an operator, had existed for a number of years when this film was made.