Leave It to the Irish (1944)

A bright and breezy private investigation crime case.

Terry Moran (James Dunn) is a private investigator, who is dating Nora (Wanda McKay) the daughter of police chief Tim O'Brien (Arthur Loft), is engaged by Mrs Hamilton (Barbara Wooddell) to find out who killed her husband who owned a fur importer. 

Moran and Nora, after a number of mis-steps and hijinks, unravel a case of stolen goods, gang land involvement (Jack La Rue) and, of course, murder.

This is fairly generic crime B-movie with the usual tropes and pacing with the plot relies a little too much on coincidences, but is all very competently done and an enjoyable watch. 

Demon of Paradise (1987)

A cheap and rather cheesy monster movie, maybe a couple of decades too late.

Fisherman off the coast of Hawaii illegally use dynamite to assist them, this of course awakens an ancient sea monster who now is running amok and killing people, especially young women in bikinis of course. 

Sheriff Keefer (William Steis) and Annie (Kathryn Witt) team up to stop the monster, though local resort owner Angela (Laura Banks) thinks it is an excellent tourist draw!

A low budget horror, the monster is the usual man in a rubber suit (though doesn't look too bad). The story is a bit slow moving and meanders too much. The film would probably work better if it was made a couple of decades earlier and had a surf rock and roll soundtrack!

Dressed to Kill (1941)

It is time for Michael Shayne to get married but as usual the private detective finds a crime to keep him distracted and away from the altar.

Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) is just about to take Joanne (Mary Beth Hughes) to get married when he hears a scream in a nearby hotel room. He discovers that two people have been murdered while having dinner, the two people being old theatre folk and the crime scene itself is rather theatrical. 

Shayne begins to unravel this baffling crime which as usual has many possible suspects. Can Shayne solve the crime before Inspector Pierson (William Demerest), and more importantly Joanne, lose patience with him?

A fine crime B-movie, with the usual complicated but fast moving plot, red herrings aplenty and some snappy dialogue. Nolan's Michael Shayne was an excellent character, this being the third movie in a series of seven.

Assignment K (1968)

A rather low wattage spy drama that unfortunately falls between two stools.

Philip Scott (Stephen Boyd) runs a secretive spy agency which manages to get results behind the Iron Curtain where the main Western agencies fail. 

However, while on a mission he meets Toni (Camilla Sparv) and falls in love. Back in England, an Eastern Bloc group of spies led by Smith (Leo McKern) use this connection to put pressure on Scott to betray his spy network...

This is a fine enough late 60s spy film but tries to be in the Bond and LeCarre styles simultaneously. Unfortunately, it fails at both and becomes bogged down in the middle act where not a great deal happens. The 1960s feel, and the Cold War espionage setting, are still enjoyable. The twists are also very good.

Uneasy Terms (1948)

A US style private detective tale but coming from Britain, and it just about works.

Slim Callaghan (Michael Rennie) is called to the country home of Colonel Stenhurst (Roy Russell) but he is murdered just before he can tell Slim why he wants him. There are a number of suspects including the Colonel's three daughters (including Moira Lester). The case involves inheritances, secret marriages and blackmail...

This is a decent enough crime drama though tries a little too hard to copy US hard boiled detective stories which sometimes fails to come across properly in a British setting. The story is complicated with plenty of sub-plots though the film can be a little static at times. The final fight scene is well worth sticking around, Slim knowing a bit of judo!

One Week (1920)

An early example of Buster Keaton's work, a taste of the greatness to come.

Buster and Sybil Seely have just got married. One of their wedding gifts is a prefabricated house which they have to build themselves. What could go wrong?! A love rival is out to sabotage things though, and switches the part numbers around so the resulting house, after many mishaps, is a bit odd...

Its a bit frenetic, maybe a little too much slap stick is squeezed in at times but this is a fun watch with a lot of sight gags.

The Phantom Light (1935)

Mysterious goings on at a lighthouse off the Welsh coast.

Sam (Gordon Harker) turns up for his new job at an important lighthouse on the coast of Wales. He learns that one of his predecessors has been murdered, and another one has one mad after seeing a phantom light. With a growing number of people turning up at the lighthouse including Alice (Binnie Hale) and Jim (Ian Hunter) all of whom are not quite what they seem. A plot is uncovered to disable the lighthouse and cause a ship to be driven onto the rocks by a phantom light, for insurance purposes.

A fine film which has a number of layers and, despite a short runtime, the story is given time to build. The lighthouse setting gives the mystery a claustrophobic edge.