Spies of the Air (1940)

Charles Houghton (Roger Livesey) is designing top secret aviation technology when he finds his files have been disturbed in his safe. His wife Dorothy (Joan Marion) has the safe combination and is having an affair with test pilot Peter Thurloe (Barry K. Barnes)...

Spymaster Colonel Cairns (Felix Aylmer) already knows something dodgy is going on as photographs of the plans have already been found on captured/killed foreign agents...

So who is the spy? There are a number of suspects and suspicious activities going on but also a few red herrings. The film is a bit slow at times though the suspense keeps you interested and it builds and builds as the film progresses. A satisfactory ending if not a happy landing.

Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939)

A young woman (Lotus Long) turns up at Mr Wong's (Boris Karloff) home asking to see the famous detective urgently. However before she can see him she is bumped off by a poison dart. Wong and Inspector Street (Grant Withers) begin the investigation with only a vague clue to start with, perky reporter Roberta Logan (Marjorie Reynolds) to help/hinder...

The murdered woman, Princess Lin Hwa, was on a secret mission to buy warplanes for the Chinese government. The investigation soon turns up a masked man who was keen to stop her and won't stop at one murder... and Mr Wong himself is soon in the firing line.

The film is a bit slow, it's not the best in the Mr Wong series though Karloff was always good value as Wong.

Manhunt in Space (1954)

A clunky but entertaining 1950s science-fiction romp, all rocket ships, clicky switches and very dodgy outfits.

Vena Ray (Sally Mansfield) is en route to Casa 7 to see her brother when her ship becomes the latest cargo ship to mysteriously vanish. Space ranger Rocky Jones (Richard Crane) is sent to investigate assisted by his partner Winky (Scotty Beckett) and for some reason a little kid. A group of space pirates led by Rinkman (Henry Brandon) is behind the ship disappearances but is there also an inside man...

This is a movie version of three episodes of Rocky Jones Space Ranger. A satisfying space opera, if only getting in outer space for real could be quite so simple.

A Face in the Fog (1936)

A mysterious hunched masked character known as The Fiend is killing theatre people using that well known Golden Age method of frozen bullets. Reporter Jean Monroe (June Collyer) is on the Fiend's hitlist after she lies she knows what he looks like and narrowly avoids death. Now with her friend/colleague Frank Gordon (Lloyd Hughes) she looks to find out just who this Fiend is...

The police are investigating too of course but bring in stage writer / part-time amateur detective Peter Fortune (Lawrence Gray) to assist. He suggests an associate who is an expert in devising fiendish ways to kill people. Soon an actor called Reardon (Jack Mulhall) is arrested as the Fiend but is he the guilty man? Well no as he ends up dead too...

So this looks like a pretty standard Golden Age type mystery. Indeed there is nothing that novel about the film, the mystery takes second place to much running around but it's an entertaining romp. The real identity of The Fiend is pretty obvious to be honest but it's fun following the case.

Young & Dangerous : The Prequel (1998)

The Young & Dangerous movie series is about a bunch of Triad members and their adventures in the dark and squalid world of HK organised crime, this prequel details how the guys as teenagers first entered this world. Despite the ever present danger that prequels usually bring to a movie series this actually isn't a bad film at all.

The first portion of the movie is a bit of a slog though as the boys get kicked out of school for rock and roll and smoking a lot (in fact an entire tobacco harvest seems to have gone into the making of this film). The action soon picks up once they join the triads (which seems a bit easy, the boss of a local branch just asks them and they say OK... and that's it). Being a triad movie there is a lot of action and violence of course, and it's pretty bloody.

Of course the film throws in a number of pop stars such as Nicholas Tse, some of whom do not really seem to have a role in the film apart from adding to the star power but the leads especially Tse are solid and the story while standard (betrayals, endless fights, respect your daigoh et cetera) is also solid and all in all a worthwhile addition to the series.