The Dirty Dozen: The Fatal Mission (1988)

The last of a series of Dirty Dozen sequels, by now everything was wearing a bit too thin.

It is 1943 and secretly the Nazis believe the war can't be won, thus twelve young Nazi hot shots are going to be sent to the Middle East to lay the foundations for the Fourth Reich. Major Wright (Telly Savalas) recruits another bunch of condemned and hopeless convicts for another suicide mission to go deep into Nazi held eastern Europe and kill the Nazis before they can reach Istanbul.

To make things more complicated, one of the Major's Dirty Dozen is a Nazi spy and is intent on sabotaging the mission. The Major thus changes his plan on the fly though this could mean his men become targets of the RAF!

A rather by-the-numbers TV movie, it has the usual tired tropes of crack SS stormtroopers not being able to shoot straight plus the premise doesn't really make a lot of sense. It is fine enough to watch if you just want some wartime action and not worry too much about quite why!

Double Exposure (1944)

Fast moving crime with added comedy and romance.

Larry Burke (Chester Morris) is the editor of a trashy magazine always looking for good photographers. He finds one in Pat (Nancy Kelly) and he has feelings for her, but her boyfriend Ben (Philip Terry) kind of gets in Larry's way! 

Meanwhile, the latest wife of playboy Sonny Tucker (Charles Arnt) is found dead, just after Pat staged a very similar photoshoot herself for another feature. Pat gets the blame for the murder, unfortunately Ben can't provide her with an alibi as Larry tricked Ben to get on a boat on a wartime convoy which has been sunk! 

Light and fast moving fare, Chester Morris plays his usual charismatic character which makes the film. Although the film does include a murder, it is mostly a comedy with some rather zany characters and snappy dialogue.

Child Bride (1938)

Some films from the interwar period could not be made nowadays due to changes in social attitudes, even thinking about making a film like this one nowadays would probably get you put on a list! This film tackles the thorny issue of ..er.. tweenage girls marrying older men.

The concept of the age of consent has yet to reach the rural mountain communities of 1930s America. Very young girls are regularly married off to much older men, though the teacher Miss Carol (Diana Durrell) wants to get the practice outlawed. Unfortunately, one of her pupils, 12 year old Jeannie (Shirley Mills) has caught the eye of Jake Bolby (Warner Richmond) and he is willing to go to any lengths to get his hands on her including murder and blackmail...

A rather dark and mildly exploitative film to say the least, though not that sleazy (thank God!) It is a rather interesting film though ultimately pretty distasteful. Happily, Bolby doesn't get his evil way with Jeanie and instead gets punished for his misdeeds, i'm sure you won't mind these spoilers!

Hot Cars (1956)

Honest Nick Dunn (John Bromfield) is a used car salesman, naturally his honesty is a disadvantage when it comes to flogging old bangers.

Unfortunately for Nick he has a sick young son and needs a job. He takes a new job working for Markel (Ralph Clanton) who seems too good to be true... because he is. The cars Markel wants Nick to sell are stolen, but medical bills for his son means Nick has no choice but to stay. 

However, Detective Davenport (Dabbs Greer) is sniffing around and soon Nick is in a downward spiral of ever deeper trouble...

A low budget film but decent quality. The story is basic but works well enough. Entertaining without being mind-blowing. The 1950s cars are also hot in several ways.

I Live on Danger (1942)

A typically fast moving and fast talking reporter gets involved in the case of a man wrongly convicted for murder.

Jeff Morrell (Chester Morris) is a roving radio reporter who is always one quip too many away from being fired. Eddie Nelson (Edward Norris) is a young man who is accused of murder when a man is shot in his presence. 

Eddie goes on the run but is captured thanks to Jeff much to the horror of Eddie's sister Susan (Jean Parker) - and whom Jeff was becoming sweet on. Jeff now works to try and clear Eddie before it is too late...

A fast moving and breezy film. The plot is pretty basic and fairly generic, at times a bit hard to follow, but it is a great deal of fun. A film perfect for Chester Morris' character.

Planet of the Vampires (1965)

An incredibly campy science-fiction epic. 

A team of astronauts led by Markary (Barry Sullivan) land on an alien world, and immediately things start to go wrong. Crew members start to act strangely, out of control and attacking their own colleagues. 

Some crewmen die and even are bought back to life as murderous zombies on this eerie mysterious world.

Although the sets and costumes are incredibly campy (but to be fair also of the time) and the budget was pretty low, this film is actually rather good at times though let down by the dialogue. 

An atmospheric science-fiction horror. It was a big influence on Alien, which did pretty well.

The Jury's Secret (1938)

An enjoyable courtroom drama with a good twist.

After a deadly flood, the local top businessman (Samuel S Hinds) is accused of profiting on people's sorrows by his reluctant employee Walter Russell (Kent Taylor) who is threatened with being ruined if he tries to quit. Russell kills the businessman and escapes town. However, local agitator Bill Sheldon (Larry J Blake) ends up being accused of the murder and Russell returns to town. 

He meets his old flame reporter Linda Ware (Fay Wray) but then before he can elope with her he is called into jury service for Sheldon's murder trial. Wracked with guilt Russell must ensure Sheldon isn't found guilty...

A good courtroom drama, we know who the real culprit is and it is interesting to see his conflict as he tries to save Sheldon without putting himself at risk! The somewhat cynical look at small town law and justice is also entertaining.