Cash on Demand (1961)

A taut, tense and excellent bank robbery drama.

Bank manager Fordyce (Peter Cushing) is unpopular with his staff, he pounces on mistakes and disapproves of the preparations for Christmas. 

Then he is visited by genial and refined Colonel Gore (André Morell) who is from an insurance company he claims, however soon Fordyce discovers that Gore is really a bank robber who has had Fordyce's family taken hostage and will have them electrocuted if Fordyce does not give Gore access to the safe and let him steal nearly £100,000 in cash!

This is a very good bank robbery film that keeps everything within a handful of locations. The interplay between Cushing and Morell is superb, maybe one of Peter Cushing's best roles. Morell also excels as the crook hiding a huge amount of menace behind his genteel facade.

Shadow Ninja (1980)

Despite the title there is no ninja action here, or even much in the way of shadows. There is some dubious humour though and some pretty good kung fu.

An experienced police detective (Roy Chiao), who has a gambling addict wife, is forced to work both sides of the law. He is teamed up with an eager young policeman (Wei Tung) and after some early awkwardness they begin to work well together. Everything is set up for a showdown with a serial killing swordsman (Shi Kwan-Yen)...

The film has plenty of goofy humour, though much of it is lost in translation especially with a badly dubbed film. Suddenly however, the tone changes abruptly with the search for the swordsman and much brutal violence and death. The fights are actually pretty good and innovative though the plot is a bit obvious.

The Silent Witness (1932)

Melodramatic at times but this is a pretty solid crime and court room drama.

Naive young fool Anthony (Bramwell Fletcher) is wrapped around the finger of his manipulative lover Nora (Greta Nissen) and her scheming husband Blake (Weldon Heyburn). Finally, he snaps and he thinks he has killed Nora. His father Sir Austin (Lionel Atwill) decides to take the blame to save his son from the gallows. In the court room the case against him begins to unravel putting Anthony back in peril... but did he kill Nora after all?

Anthony is an incredibly annoying character who drags the film down at times but when he is kept away from the story then things develop nicely into a very solid crime story and some good court room scenes with some good British humour and characters. The story is very good and Greta Nissen steals the film with her sexy performance. An excellent film.

American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950)

The Japanese have conquered the Philippines, but the Americans haven't given up yet!

After Palmer's (Tyrone Power) patrol boat is sunk during the Japanese invasion, he and his crew are trying to get back to the US Navy. 

However, their attempts fail and Palmer begins to work with US personnel and Filipinos to fight back against the Japanese and prepare for the return of the US forces led by General MacArthur...

This is an enjoyable war movie with some classic tropes as well as plenty of jingoism but that is to be expected from a Second World War film made so soon after the events being recounted. 

The Doomsday Flight (1966)

One of the best TV movies ever made, an excellent tale of high drama at high altitude.

A flight takes off bound for New York, the usual collection of stereotypes is aboard including the arrogant celebrity Ducette (John Saxon). 

However, the flight captained by Anderson (Van Johnson) soon runs into trouble as a mysterious man (Edmond O'Brien) rings the airline to tell them there is a bomb aboard! The bomb is air pressure sensitive, so will explode if the plane drops below a certain altitude. With time running out, FBI Agent Thomson (Jack Lord) battles to try and catch the bomber, though the bomber is getting drunk and throwing everything into chaos...

This is a truly excellent film with a lot of tension and plot twists and turns. Great performances and a well paced and staged plot make this film very highly recommended.