Fight to Win (1987)

Martial artists fight over ancient Chinese statues.

Sensei (Hidy Ochiai) has in his possession two of three ancient and valuable Chinese statues. Rival martial arts school boss Armstrong (Richard Norton) has another and challenges Sensei (who is suffering from ill health) to pit his champion against Armstrong's, the winner gets the statue. 

Sensei chooses Ryan (George Chung), who unfortunately gets badly beaten. With the re-match upcoming, Sensei brings in one of his old pupils Lauren (Cynthia Rothrock) to teach Ryan...

Well the plot isn't anything special but this is a perfectly decent late 1980s martial arts film which doesn't take itself too seriously. Chung and Rothrock have good interplay and the fight scenes hold up very well.

Diplomatic Courier (1952)

A tense early Cold War thriller.

Diplomatic Courier Mike Kells (Tyrone Power) is sent to central Europe to retrieve a package from a colleague. After he finds his colleague dead, he is dragged into a dangerous search for the package which contains details of a Soviet plot. 

It seems that Janine (Hildegard Knef), an associate of his dead colleague, may be a Soviet agent but what about Joan (Patricia Neal) who just happens to bump into Mike in most unexpected places...

An enjoyable film and an interesting period piece, set in Trieste when it was an independent city state and on the front line of the Iron Curtain. A Noir for sure on the brutal battlefield between the superpowers and a shattered continent still recovering from one nightmare and in danger of falling into another.

Death Force (1978)

A basic tale of revenge but with some interesting twists and some blaxploitation cool.

Doug (James Inglehart) is heading back to the US from a stint in Vietnam, though with his buddies Morelli (Carmen Argenziano) and McGee (Leon Isaac Kennedy) he has a sideline in crime. There is no honour amongst thieves though as Morelli and McGee cut Doug's throat and dump him in the waters around the Philippines. Morelli and McGee return to LA and begin a reign of terror as they take over crime in the city. McGee also tries to get in with Doug's wife (Jayne Kennedy)...

Doug though isn't dead, He is found washed ashore by two Japanese soldiers (Joe Mari Avellana and Joonee Gamboa) who don't know the war is over! They teach Doug in the ways of the Samurai, he uses these skills when he finally does return to LA and begins to take revenge...

A surprisingly good film even though the plot is fairly basic and the story sometimes doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Japanese veterans and the criminal double crossing adds some novelty, the violence is frequent and brutal.

The Silent Passenger (1935)

An enjoyable crime drama with some heavy use of the London North Eastern Railway.

Blackmailer Windermere (Leslie Perrins) is murdered by one of his enemies Camberley (Donald Wolfit) and stuffed into a trunk. Also looking for Windermere is Ryder (John Loder) who wants to stop his wife Mollie (Lilian Oldland) running off with Windermere! However, when he confronts "Windermere" whom he has never met he instead tangles with Camberley. 

Later on, the trunk and the body inside is discovered and Ryder is accused of murder, Camberley having framed him. Amateur detective Lord Peter Whimsey (Peter Haddon) is on hand to try and sort things out...

The film is mostly formulaic though has decent performances, including Haddon who plays Whimsey slightly irrelevantly. The final show down at a railway depot provides just enough peril to bring the film to a satisfying end.

The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949)

The last entry in the Crime Doctor series.

Steve Carter (Stephen Dunne) has been released from prison after serving time for arson against his employer - a radio DJ service, Dr Ordway (Warner Baxter) having testified that he was not insane. Carter is out to prove his innocence and wants Dr Ordway's help. 

However, soon Steve's former boss is found murdered, Steve is a suspect and goes on the run but Ordway suspects that someone else did the crime, and indeed the culprit when finally unmasked is most unexpected...

This is a fine crime B-movie and an excellent way to end the series with plenty of fast moving action and puzzles. Lois Maxwell stars as a person who ends up very central to the case.