A murder takes place in Soho, a reporter Bill Scott (Richard Murdoch) and his new found friend from the country Susan (Patricia Raine) investigate the cosmopolitan streets of London in what at times is a rather strange but undeniably charming travelogue of Soho in the early post-war period.
Nowadays it comes across as rather quaint though in 1948 it probably seemed exotic with it's racial mixing, illegal dancing and cool coffee shop society to the average Briton still recovering from the war.
Inspector Carp (Henry Oscar) is investigating the murder, his sardonic manner is quite entertaining. When mutual friend Julie (Eunice Gayson) is the next murder victim the film takes a much darker turn. A very low budget film, most of the film takes place in just a couple of locations including the cafe but an enjoyable little film.
Discarded Lovers is an enjoyable little murder mystery involving the murder of a Hollywood star. Actress Irma Gladden (Natalie Moorehead) is what used to be known as a "loose woman", with various men on the go. She is found dead after finishing a film and suspicion falls on... well quite a few people.
Apart from a rather annoying and silly policeman (Fred Kelsey) the story is solid if rather cliched and has some decent performances including Irma's secretary Valerie (Barbara Weeks) and Jason Robards as Rex, one of Irma's lovers.
Naturally being a Golden Age period murder mystery the police are happy for a civilian, in this case a reporter (Russell Hopton), to be involved in the case. As a police investigation it isn't exactly text book but the sheer glamour of the occasion and the exuberance of some of the acting makes up for everything.
A very confusing crime drama involving missing corpses at a morgue, a murder, mistaken identities and amnesia. It is a complete mess of a film which doesn't make a great deal of sense and has all manner of weirdness going on.
Despite all of that the film is quite entertaining even if some of the attempts at humour seem to fall pretty flat. The fight scenes are so poor they are hilarious.
Eugene Pallette plays the detective given the hapless task of trying to work out what is going on, he gives a good phlegmatic performance. Zasu Pitts is given star billing though doesn't do a great deal in the film.
What does any of it mean? Well helpfully it is all explained at the end, though is still as clear as mud.
A silly and sometimes painful murder mystery, the Wayne Murder Case does have some interesting ideas though, but they arn't executed particularly well.
Silas Wayne is a cantankerous dying old rich man (William Mong). He gathers his relatives together (who hate him as much as he hates them) to reveal their inheritances.
However he suspects someone is already ripping him off and calls in the police. While a couple of police officers are on hand he is murdered right in front of everyone.
In comes the detective (Regis Toomey), helped/hindered by an annoying reporter (June Clyde) whom he fancies and so is willing to break police procedure to have around. While the investigation takes place a strange hooded figure starts bumping off the relatives.
It sounds like it could be a decent set-up but it is executed rather poorly. Scenes drag terribly with some indifferent/bizarre acting. The murders are pretty gruesome but the hooded figure is a bit too ridiculous to take seriously. The twist at the end is good though and makes up for a lot of what happened before.
Gangster Tony Gilin (Ricardo Cortez) takes advantage of rubber rationing and the subsequent spike in demand for tyres to steal new tyres. He has them hacked to look used and sell them in car lots.
Unfortunately some of his early tyres were death traps. One of the tyres kills the brother of Mary (Barbara Read), her boyfriend Bill (William Henry) is determined to find out who is behind the scam.
Gilin decides Bill needs to be silenced permanently but doesn't count on his girlfriend Nikki (Rochelle Hudson) despairing of Gilin's evil ways and warning Bill...
It is all rather clunky, low-budget and the propaganda is laid on somewhat thickly. In fact a bit too thickly as some of the dialogue is ridiculous. Vigilante justice also seems to figure highly in this curious little film. What I did like is the slang spoken by some of the villains. The film quite frankly is as flat as a dodgy tyre but is entertaining enough.
Being someone who devoured, as a teenager, the books of Sven Hassel and Leo Kessler on bands of misfit German soldiers in World War 2 then Cross of Iron is easily right up my street as it covers much the same ground. It stars James Coburn as a tough battle-hardened yet cynical German NCO leading his men on the Hellish Eastern front.
While dodging Russian bullets and Nazi spies he also has to deal with his new commander Captain Stransky (Maximillian Schell), a mad Prussian obsessed with winning the Iron Cross no matter the cost (though preferably without having to do any actual fighting).
It is a tough film, uncompromising and filled with brutality and violence with some very good and realistic battle scenes. The film is all about the darker side of humanity, there is lightness though at times but usually showing the absurdity of life such as when Stransky is trying to show he can earn his Iron Cross but cannot even load his machine pistol. A great supporting cast including James Mason and David Warner make this a pretty special film.
For the one hundredth review on this blog one of my all time favourite films...
Buckaroo Banzai is a very strange film. It is a science-fiction comedy involving a team called the Hong Kong Cavaliers (who are a mixture of advanced technology engineers, special forces and rock stars of course) led by Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller).
Banzai is our hero and what an incredible hero he is too. He is a test pilot, rock star and brain surgeon. He is such an icon they even make comic books about him. How on Earth does he find the time?
Red Lectroids from the Eighth Dimension, rather unpleasant aliens led by John Lithgow, became marooned on our world in the 1930s. Now they plan to steal Banzai's technology to return to their own dimension. The only problem with that is, their enemies the Black Lectroids don't want them back and threaten Earth with nuclear war if Banzai doesn't stop them!
The result is an amazing meander from strange sci-fi situation to situation, drenched in 1980s weirdness and sarcasm. The film is chaotic, various plot threads appear out of nowhere and then don't develop. Sometimes you wonder if you are watching a film or a very long 1980s pop video. The film is chock full of weirdness and randomness. The likes of Jeff Goldblum dress as a cowboy for no apparent reason. You have aliens who sound like rastas. There is also plenty of lampooning of the US state. So what does it all mean? I couldn't really tell you. I've seen this film dozens of times, each time I discover something else I missed but it often still doesn't make much sense.
But that's why I love this film and have no hesitation in proclaiming this one of the best movies ever made. Now that is a controversial statement to make of course but this is my review and I can make it!
