Calling Philo Vance (1939)

Philo Vance is called upon to deal with a case of Fifth Columnists and stolen aeroplane plans.

A plane designer is murdered, the question is: have his secret aeroplane plans also been stolen? Philo Vance (James Stephenson) is called upon to investigate. Now, the murder took place in a locked room (so this has both a Golden Age style locked room mystery and an espionage plot!) Of course there are a lot of potential suspects, and the various Axis powers are involved...

Although this is largely a remake of the earlier Philo Vance film the Kennel Murder Case, it has been nicely updated to reflect the geopolitical situation of the time. However, the film - although still perfectly good - is not quite as good as the original which was one of the best Philo Vance movies. The locked room mystery is a good one and nicely worked out.

Island of Doomed Men (1940)

A superbly dark tale which allowed Peter Lorre to run riot.

Mark Sheldon (Robert Wilcox) is tasked by the secret service to investigate the mysterious Danel (Lorre) who has his own island, and who accepts paroled men to work for him there. However, it is rumoured these men are horribly treated, treated as slaves and tortured. Sheldon is arrested after an unknown assailant kills a fellow agent, Sheldon allows himself to be arrested for murder and sentenced! Some time later he is paroled and is sent to Danel's island.

Sheldon finds a brutal regime of slave labour, with public floggings a regular occurrence. Danel is also treating his wife (Rochelle Hudson) as a prisoner. She soon has the hots for Sheldon...

An enjoyable romp. Peter Lorre plays Danel with relish, not so much chewing the scenery but having it on toast. The story itself is a little heavy in the whippings and violence but Lorre makes it very entertaining.

Miracle Landing (1990)

A rather excellent TV movie documenting an accident aboard which seems too far fetched to be real but it actually happened!

Bob (Wayne Rogers) and Mimi (Connie Sellecca) are taking their Boeing 737 on a routine domestic flight over Hawaii when part the roof of their airliner rips off! 

Somehow the plane stays in the air but is badly damaged, one of the crew has been lost but somehow everyone else is still aboard. Now the pilots and flight attendant Michelle (Ana Alicia) battle to keep everyone alive before the plane can be safely landed...

A dramatisation of Aloha Airlines Flight 243 which lost a large chunk of it's fuselage at 24,000 feet. This is an enjoyable TV movie with some pretty decent special effects and good performances by the principles. 

The Bishop Murder Case (1929)

An early talkie and one of the earliest Philo Vance films, in this film he is played by Basil Rathbone.

After a young man is found dead with an arrow in him, the police and Philo Vance are called in. Vance quickly sees that the arrow scene was staged, really the man was bludgeoned to death. The young man was found dead at the home of Professor Dillard (Alec B Francis), with a number of mysterious acting neighbours and relatives. A note by someone who calls themselves The Bishop is found alluding to the murder...

An interesting entry in the Philo Vance series, Rathbone plays the part well. Though it is amusing, in hindsight, that he gets accused of being Sherlock Holmes as he played the role many times just a few years later! The film suffers a little from being a bit static, as with many early talkies but it does not ruin the film too much. Some good character actors play the various suspects and there are the required number of red herrings and mysterious clues.

Behind Green Lights (1946)

An enjoyable detective drama which injects a dose of whimsy as well as Noir.

After a businessman involved in local politics is dumped outside the police headquarters, Lieutenant Sam Carson (William Gargan) is bought in to investigate. To make things complicated it looks like the daughter (Carole Landis) of a man heavily involved in local politics could be involved. Newspaper proprietor Calvert (Roy Roberts) who is a political rival is keen to push this angle...

This is a fine crime B-movie with plenty of potential suspects and red herrings. What helps the film stand out is some of the oddness which has been added, including a deranged character who ends up being rather key to the plot. The political shenanigans and corruption add another layer to the already good story.