Thunderbird 6 (1968)

The follow-up to the first, slightly disappointing, Thunderbirds film. Will this one be more FAB?

Thanks to the design genius of Brains, a new luxury airship lifted by anti-gravity and controlled by computer is ready for it's maiden flight. Lady Penelope, Parker, Alan and Tintin are the passengers for this maiden flight but things are already going wrong. The real crew has been replaced by imposters who plan to use Lady Penelope to lure International Rescue into an ambush so they can steal the secrets of the Thunderbirds.

Meanwhile, Brains is struggling with Jeff Tracy's demand for a sixth Thunderbird...

This is a better film than the first though again we don't see a huge amount of actual rescuing. The build-up to the criminal's plot is excellent and the plot works as a feature length film not an over long TV episode. Highly enjoyable though it is a shame that this was the end of the line of the classic Thunderbirds series.

Dr. Kildare's Strange Case (1940)

It like Gray's Anatomy, only set in the 1940s and without an incredible amount of sex.

Junior surgeon Dr Kildare (Lew Ayres) helps out his fellow doctor Dr Lane (Shepperd Strudwick) who has performed brain surgery on a troubled man without his consent which appears to have left him insane. 

Dr Kildare resolves to try and cure the man using a dangerous technique and also try and discover what left him troubled in the first place. Grouchy Dr Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) is on hand to keep an eye on his young doctors... and nurses.

This is an enjoyable film but the medical ethics are somewhat questionable. Although the story can be patchy at times, the cast ensemble do a very good job and make the film a fine watch.

Common Law Wife (1961)

A cheap, sleazy and exploitative film which is surprisingly good.

A rather unpleasant rich man called Shug (George Edgley) has told his live-in lover Linda (Annabelle Weenick) he is kicking her out. Instead, Shug has invited his young niece back instead to take her place (yes you read that right!) 

Baby Doll (Lacey Kelly), the niece, arrives in town and immediately causes a stir. Baby Doll is after Shug's money but has a plan to get it a bit quicker than Shug would like...

This film really shouldn't work at all, it is trashy and shoddily made and has some rather dubious themes. It also shamelessly exploits Kelly's body in various dancing and semi-nude scenes. Somehow the film is rather compelling, and not because its so bad it's good. It is bad but doesn't try to be something it isn't. 

The Devil's Mask (1946)

A complicated but decent crime tale involving shrunken heads, poison darts and wild animals.

Recovered cargo from a plane crash causes a stir, as it is a shrunken head in a box! It is later thought the head belongs to a missing explorer who went missing in the South American jungle. His daughter Janet (Anita Louise) hires a pair of private investigators Jack and Doc (Jim Bannon and Barton Yarborough) as she fears that her step-mother Louise (Mona Barrie) is trying to kill her.

This is a strange tale, and rather complicated too. Is the explorer actually dead? Is Louise really trying to kill Janet? Who's head has been shrunken? What does the code mean? Why does a man keep a live big cat in a room full of stuffed animals? 

Unfortunately, trying to answer these questions takes a little time and isn't always that clear. This is a competent if not exhilarating crime drama, the weird and novel situations and plot helps things along. Part of the I Love A Mystery series.

Pilot X (1936)

A somewhat strange and poor murder mystery but makes up for it with some excellent aerial scenes.

A fighter with an X painted on it shoots down an airliner. A number of suspect pilots are bought together into a room, which has been covered in 1930s state of the art surveillance technology so the suspects can be listened in on. 

However, this doesn't really lead to anything and the suspects are whittled down one by one until the final showdown between Blackwood (John Carroll) and Pilot X while his gal Helen (Lona Andre) watches on...

This is a rather dry crime drama, it doesn't have the snappy dialogue, gloomy atmosphere or fast moving action which usually makes these kinds of films from the period entertaining. However, the aerial dogfight scenes are excellent and make up for the lackings elsewhere. Not brilliant but worthwhile.