Castle in the Desert (1942)

Unstable historian Paul Manderley (Douglas Dumbrille) lives in a castle deep in the desert cut off from the outside world. A visitor dies of poison one night and the death is covered up by Manderley due to Mrs Manderley (Lenita Lane) being a Borgia and having a past linked to poison. Then Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is mysteriously invited to the castle...

For an isolated country house... er... castle there certainly seems to be a motley collection of guests including a doctor, a sculptor and a private detective. Number 2 son (Victor Sen Yung) is also there to help with an eccentric mystic (Ethel Griffies) tagging along to "help".

It is all a glorious muddle and a shameless romp reusing every "Middles Ages" prop the studio had in it's store including two suits of armour! A great, if unoriginal, example of a dark house mystery.

Thunder in the Desert (1938)

An average B-movie western though improved by some decent comedy lines. Bob Radford (Bob Steele) arrives in town via a box car train with roaming bum Rusty (Don Barclay) tagging along. The plot is fairly familiar: Bob seeks to avenge his uncle who has been killed by a gang of outlaws. Bob pretends to be on the wrong side of the law himself so he can infiltrate the gang...

The Sheriff (Horace Murphy) is hot on Bob's trail, though not assisted a great deal by his deputy (Budd Buster) who isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. Bob meanwhile is looking for the mastermind behind the gang (Charles King). Louis Stanley provides the love interest.

This is a case of a film that's more than the sum of it's (meagre) parts. Although not a brilliant film by any means it passes the time enjoyably enough. The action is understated, and good when needed, and some comedic touches by Barclay and Buster elevate proceedings.

Up the Junction (1968)

Bored rich girl Polly (Suzy Kendall) heads into the poorer areas of London to look for some rough trade. Grim reality and great rock and roll from Manfred Mann ensue.

Really this is a way of exploring social issues prevalent in late 1960s Britain. The real story grittier stories behind Swinging London. That included industrial unrest, domestic violence, politicial protests and back street abortions. Suzy tries to recreate the working class realism she craves with Dennis Waterman though it's only a facade she can build. A fake working class life. She can leave it if things get too tough, something her new friends cannot do...

It is a wonderful period piece. At times it can be quite a dreary film but that's because it doesn't try and sanitise the 1960s as some films have tried.

Trail of the Silver Spurs (1941)

The Range Busters (Ray Corrigan, John King and Max Terhune - with Elmer the dummy of course) are on a secret mission for the US government on the trail of gold robbers. They arrive at a ghost town which isn't quite as empty as it at first seems. Gold mine owner Dan Nordick (Milburn Morante) and his daughter Nancy (Dorothy Short) are still living there despite being menaced by "ghosts" trying to scare them off...

It isn't a ghost though but the more substantial menace of notorious killer The Jingler (I. Stanford Jolley) who is hiding out in the hotel and wants to get the Nordicks out of there. Things hot up with Max and Elmer concoct a plan to fake a gold rush...

Rather confusing but decent enough "wild west" fun - though when the film is supposed to be set is a mystery considering at one stage they refer to the Civil War then suddenly the film features automobiles! The Range Busters are in "disguise" which means they have switched their normal horses for nags but the rest of their fancy outfits are unchanged!

Alias Mary Smith (1932)

Although made on the budget of three bucks this is a very decent crime drama. "Mary Smith" (Blanche Mehaffey) has her purse snatched and this brings her to the attention of both the police and playboy Buddy (John Darrow) who takes a liking to her.

For some reason Mary is a bit reluctant to give her details. All is revealed when a lawyer is found dead and Mary was the last person to see him alive.

Suspicion falls on her when her real name is revealed to be Joan, the dead lawyer having prosecuted her brother who ended up in the chair...

The actors, on the whole, made the most of the non-existent budget, some of the dialogue is snappy. The leads make for a reasonable but unexciting couple. A neat bit of early forensic science (CSI 1932) helped prove the real murderer.