Dangerous Curves (1929)

An early talkie. Truthfully, its not that great but one of the few sound films the queen of the silent movie, Clara Bow, so is of course well worth a watch.

Circus performer and trapeze artist Larry (Richard Arden) is involved with the vampish fellow performer Zara (Kay Francis) but he is also falling for stunt horse rider Pat (Clara Bow). Zara is cheating on Larry and dumps him when he has an accident. Pat tries to persuade the circus owner to take the injured Larry back, but she needs to think up a new act for them...

Clara shines, unlike many silent movie stars she took to talkies pretty well (this being her second, so with still an occasional hitch) but was let down by indifferent material. The film is OK, interesting without being exceptional. Both of the female leads steal the show but with entirely different styles.

The Third Visitor (1951)

A nice little, if sometimes a bit static, murder mystery.

After Richard Carling (Karel Stepanek) is found dead in his fancy house, Inspector Mallory (Guy Middleton) begins his investigation. There are a number of suspects as Carling was visited by a few people that night, but who was the last person to see him alive. And what is the dark secret behind who Carling really is?

The film can be a bit confusing at times, and also can get bogged down now and then. The story is good though and rewards the viewer's patience at some of the meandering early on as the dark secrets are gradually revealed. Everything comes together in the final act.

Some good performances, especially from Sonia Dresdel, add to the richness of the film. Not perfect but worth watching.

Do or Die (1991)

A fine entry in the Andy Sidaris universe, as our heroines and heroes have to run a gauntlet of assassins.

Japanese crime boss Kaneshiro (Pat Morita) challenges federal agents Donna (Dona Speir) and Nicole (Roberta Vasquez) to survive a series of various teams of assassins. 

Luckily, the various assassin teams turn out to be fairly useless, though they do employ a variety of methods and weapons to make their attacks, though all share a lack of being able to aim...

This has a rather simple storyline even for a Sidaris film but is tremendous fun and a hugely enjoyable romp. It has plenty of cheese (including some wonderfully retro computer graphics), sexy nonsense and action. 

The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960)

A great example of the bank robbery film, maybe the ultimate attempted heist!

It is 1901 and the IRA needs money, so they decide the best way is to steal the British gold reserves held in the vault of the Bank of England! They employ Irish-American Norgate (Aldo Ray) to plan and carry out this audacious plan. 

Norgate befriends the captain of the guard at the bank Fitch (Peter O'Toole) to gain access (luckily Fitch is rather naive) to the bank and begins to formulate a plan to access disused drain tunnels under London and then break into the vault from underneath!

Although not an overly thrilling film, without that much action apart from the final act, it is very interesting film to watch. The gathering of information and forming the plan is very well portrayed and thought out.

Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)

An exciting spy romp with this version of Sherlock Holmes transplanted into the Second World War.

An agent carrying secret plans across the US goes missing, feared captured by Nazi agents. Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr Watson (Nigel Bruce) are sent across to the US capital to investigate. Holmes thinks the plans were hidden by the agent, but their whereabouts is unknown. Can Holmes find the Nazi agents, led by George Zucco, before it is too late?

An excellent entry in the Basil Rathbone Holmes series, Holmes using his deduction skills to find the agents despite the apparent absence of a trail (though to be honest he was lucky with the clue he did get). There is a bit of a wartime propaganda feel, but it does not interfere with a strong story.