Drums of the Desert (1940)

An enjoyable war film, including Mantan Moreland in a serious role for a change.

Paul Dumont (Ralph Byrd) is an officer in the French Foreign Legion heading out to his new appointment in north Africa. He meets Helene (Lorna Gray) on the boat and falls in love, however when they reach port she disappears. But when he reaches his new posting he discovers Helene is already there and is engaged to marry his commanding officer Captain Brideaux (George Lynn)!

Meanwhile, Abdullah (Willy Castello) plans revenge on the Legion after his brother is killed. Dumont and Helene soon find themselves caught up in a deadly crossfire...

Although the romantic part of the film can be a bit overly dramatic at times, the film is given depth by the military scenes. Mantan Moreland plays a Legion NCO and does really well in a non-comedic role.

The Undead (1957)

An interesting film despite the premise which at first glance looks like run-of-the-mill witchcraft horror but there is a lot more to it.

Unscrupulous scientist Ratcliff (Val Dufour) has devised a way to send someone back to relive a past life. He pays for prostitute Diana (Pamela Duncan) to lie on his couch, though not for the usual reason. Diana is sent back in time and discovers she is a witch who is due to be beheaded! Diana escapes and links up with a coven including Livia (Allison Hayes) and even Satan (Richard Devon) himself!

The problem for Diana is, if she avoids death in the past, then her future lives may not exist. Ratcliff heads back himself into her past life to help her make the right decision...

Witchcraft films of the period tended to be rather campy and a bit like a pantomime. However, this film is saved by the dilemma and internal battle Diana faces, plus a rather dark twist. Surprisingly good.

Mission of Justice (1992)

This film is basically one long martial arts fight punctuated by little bits of plot. As the fighting is of pretty decent quality (and very violent) then this isn't that bad a thing.

Kurt (Jeff Wincott) is a disillusioned police officer who quits due to the odds stacked against the force. Mayoral candidate Dr Larkin (Brigitte Nielsen) also seems to agree with him, as she has recruited her own vigilante force to help the police. Kurt joins this force though because he is suspicious of Larkin and her actions and thinks she is behind the death of his friend and mentor Williams (Tony Burton).

Kurt discovers that behind Dr Larkin's public image is a dark world of ultra violence, torture and corruption. Dr Larkin will stop at nothing to achieve her aims, especially murder.

This is a great fun film with some amazing action set pieces. The plot is so-so but good enough to serve a film of this type. 

The Wrestler (1974)

A nostalgic view of professional wrestling in the 1970s but not much of a film.

Frank (Edward Asner) is a wrestling promoter who is involved with other promoters around the country trying to come up with a unified national show (so foretold the rise of Wrestlemania in the 1980s somewhat). However, the mob want to fix some matches to make some bread which goes against everything Frank believes in (this film is strictly kayfabe). 

Meanwhile, the champion and Frank's friend Mike (Verne Gagne) refuses to put his title on the line against the up-and-coming and dangerous challenger Billy Robinson. Frank puts his friendship with Mike on the line to book the match...

This really isn't that great a film from a dramatic piece of work standpoint. The plot is plodding and sometimes confusing, the acting from most of the wrestlers is pretty poor. However, for a nostalgic look at wrestling in it's time this is great. Some real legends of the ring are on show here (the film is heavily AWA based) including Verne Gagne, Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch even a very young (and brown haired) Ric Flair in one scene!

The Lost Missile (1958)

New York is threatened by a mysterious missile from outer space, no amount of incorrect stock footage can stop it!

A missile of extraterrestrial origin is hit by a Soviet missile, now it is out of control and making it's way across Canada, scorching everything in it's path. New York is due to be hit in about half an hour, which gives the US plenty of time to evacuate the city. They wouldn't be that efficient these days, it's take them a few hours to choose the font for the evacuation notices.

Top nuclear scientist Dr Loring (Robert Loggia) and his assistant/lover Ellen (Joan Wood) are due to get married when the alert goes up. Instead they work on Loring's plan to fire an experimental nuclear missile at the incoming menace. This involves carrying deadly plutonium across the city to the launch site with only the most minimal of security...

So, this film doesn't make sense on many levels but it is a genuinely exciting, tense and fast moving film. It is somewhat marred by incorrect stock footage. This isn't exactly uncommon with films (of any era to be honest) but it does feel like the makers threw every scrap they could at this film to pad it out. Despite the flaws this is a great watch.

The Gold Racket (1937)

Straight forward but decent crime capers.

A gang is illegally importing gold from Mexico into the US and is willing to kill any Federal agents which get in the way. Alan (Conrad Nagel) is sent down to Mexico to find the location of the gang so the authorities can move in. His reporter girlfriend Bobbie (Eleanor Hunt) is left behind... for now.

The smuggled gold is traced to a mine, at a cantina nearby pilot Steve (Frank Milan) is able to buy his drinks with gold nuggets but Alan realises on a woman can get into Steve's confidence so he calls Bobbie down to sing in the cantina! Soon both of them are in deadly danger...

An enjoyable film, part of a short series featuring the characters Alan and Bobbie. Although the film is short it does drag at times as there is a bit of padding to the basic story. The plot won't tax you but the film is a fine watch, with some humour too especially from the cantina owner Fuzzy Knight.

Catalina Caper (1967)

Swinging teens foil a gang of crooks, not as bad as you might fear but not far off...

A criminal couple (Del Moore and Sue Casey) steal a valuable painting and take it to Catalina island where they plan to swindle a dodgy Greek art collector by showing him the real one then selling him a fake. The collector Lakapolous (Lee Deane) however, has his own scheme to steal the painting off the gang. The couple's son Tad (Peter Duryea) finds out what his folks are up to and plans to steal the painting himself and return it. Other kids including Don (Tommy Kirk) also get involved.

If thats not enough there is a mysterious guy who is watching them but keeps falling into the water, oh and Catalina island is full of teens in their swimwear dancing about in that swinging 1960s pop manner soon to be made obsolete by psychedelia.

This is light fare really, and quite ridiculous too. Basically a 1960s beach movie with a bit of crime added. The frequent musical interludes take any momentum away from any other part of the story, one of these interludes does include a cameo from Little Richard though so thats quite cool and probably the movie's best bit.