Arabian Adventure (1979)

A fun adventure romp. Evil magician Alquazar (Christopher Lee) is seeking the rose which will grant him ultimate power. Handsome young hero Prince Hasan (Oliver Tobias), after escaping Alquazar's dungeon, is tasked with finding the rose in return for hand of the lovely daughter Zuleira (Emma Samms). Hasan gains the help of the rather dodgy Khasim (Milo O'Shea), the boy thief Majeed (Puneet Sira) and a flying carpet!

Their adventure features all the usual Arabian fairy tale tropes including faces in mirrors and genies in bottles. But also fire breathing metal dragons! Hasan has been set up to fail, part of the evil plans of Alquazar. And who is the trapped soul in the mirror?

It is light and fun, the special effects are maybe a bit dated these days though add to the nostalgic feel of a classic children's adventure. The cast is good with some notable cameos from the likes of Peter Cushing and Mickey Rooney. Plenty of magic and plenty of swash buckling.

The Upturned Glass (1947)

A superb noir-ish crime drama. James Mason is a neurosurgeon who relates a story of murder and revenge to students... of course he is speaking about himself. Dr Joyce (Mason) meets Emma (Rosamund John) when he is treating her daughter Ann (Ann Wright). A romance begins between Joyce and Emma though they decide to end it for the sake of the husband. Then later Joyce hears Emma has thrown herself from a window...

Joyce can't believe she committed suicide and begins to look for the truth. His suspicion falls on Ann's sister-in-law Kate (Pamela Mason). Kate is a rather unpleasant selfish and money-grabbing young woman. Joyce begins a relationship with Kate with the aim of killing her the same way she caused Emma's death...

Not everything goes to plan of course. The film ends with a number of twists, it maybe ruins in some way the noir film film by becoming a bit of a melodrama. The performances are superb especially by Mason portraying a man who assumes he is sane and dispensing justice and not a crazed criminal but is he really any different? At the end we know the answer.

Rumpole's Return (1980)

Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) indeed returned from attempted retirement in this TV movie. Having finally left the Old Bailey he tried to enjoy the delights of Miami with She Who Must Be Obeyed (Peggy Thorpe-Bates) but was soon back in London attracted by the case of a stabbing at Kentish Town tube station.

However Rumpole has difficulty getting back in chambers as the likes of Erskine-Brown (Julian Curry) and Featherstone (Peter Bowles) were rather hoping he would have stayed retired. He manages to get a pornography case though loses it, he is finally given the tube stabbing case in the hope one more failure could finish his career off once and for all...

Luckily for Rumpole a vital link to the crime is a religious cult based back in Miami so Rumpole gets his son Nick (Ian Gelder) to investigate...

Rumpole is on good form though the TV episode-nature of the usual Rumpole story is stretched to it's limit. There is a bit of padding but not enough to ruin matters. The on-location scenes in Miami add a bit of variety also seem to ultimately go nowhere.

Ten Little Indians (1974)

A lush Agatha Christie adaptation. A group of strangers are mysteriously assembled to a remote hotel in the Iranian desert by U.N. Owen (Orson Welles), the strangers who include Charles Aznavour (who of course gives us a song), Richard Attenborough, Herbert Lom, Adolfo Celi and Oliver Reed - all discover they have been bought together under false pretenses by U.N. Owen (or Unknown).

Then a tape is played where Owen's voice rings out, he tells them all they have gotten away with murder. Then the guests begin dying one by one. Who is the murderer? Is it one of the guests? Will any of them survive?

Although not the best version of this story, a bit slow at times, the sheer amount of star power and the surroundings especially the Persian architecture makes this film highly watchable and enjoyable. It is dark and suspenseful as such a situation should be.

Music Hall (1934)

Wonderful nostalgia. An old music hall managed by Bill (George Carney) has hit the skids and must close down. However in a last gasp to save the old place from being demolished and turned into shops and apartments the old founder of the hall Mr Davis (Wilson Coleman) returns to relaunch a refreshed music hall with new acts...

So basically the film has a bit of story just as a set-up before a list of acts. Including comedians, singers like G.H. Elliot, Dutchmen with accordions, footballers on bicycles, dancers (including the The Sherman Fisher Girls), performing animals and acrobats! If we are to be honest some of the acts were pretty ropey (bear in mind these were supposed to be fresher and better than the usual ones!)

You can't beat the nostalgia though. A glimpse of a now lost Britain from the interwar period, some things we now miss (xylophones) and others things we don't miss so much (blackface).

Future Zone (1990)

Apparently we needed a sequel to Future Force? In the future (which looks uncannily like 1990) law enforcement is now in the hands of bounty hunters, with Tucker (David Carradine) the top gun. When he tangles with a drug gang he needs help (though doesn't realise it), help does come in form of young hot shot Billy (Ted Prior) who has a secret... he is Tucker's son from the future... (Though as this is already supposed to be set in the future he is from the future's future!)

Billy can't tell Tucker this though and instead tries to win his confidence during a series of badly choreographed action scenes, culminating in a brawl in an alley way. The gangster boss Hoffman (Patrick Culliton) wants his cocaine back and Tucker dead, he kidnaps Tucker's wife Marion (Gail Jensen) leading to a final show down in yet another junkyard...

This sequel probably holds together slightly better than the original but is still a fairly low budget and low energy action film with little to justify the "future" tag and little in the way of coherence. Now there is Tucker's robot laser firing glove but as with the previous film he seems to forget all about it until he has almost been defeated!

Sing and Swing (1963)

Before the Beatles... there indeed was a British pop music scene which was thriving though somewhat overshadowed these days. Young hopeful Dave (David Hemmings) wants to hit the big time with his band of young post boys. Despite a few near misses though including Dave having an accident in a studio and meeting Kenny Ball success eludes them especially when he loses the demo tape. His relationship with Jill (Jennifer Moss) also becomes a bit rocky at times...

Well the story is very familiar, the basic template used so many times in films like this. A bit of light drama interspersed by plenty of pop tunes. Guest appearances by real pop stars including Gene Vincent, Patsy Ann Noble and those who would one day become pretty famous indeed including Richie Blackmore and Chas Hodges. A fascinating if not explosive period piece. Swinging!