The Lone Defender (Serial) (1930)

An enjoyable Western serial, the fabulous Rin Tin Tin stealing the show.

The mysterious Cactus Kid (Lee Shumway) and his gang kill a prospector but do not discover the location of his gold mine. The prospector's dog Rinty (Rin Tin Tin) recognises the killers - though of course he can't tell anyone! 

The Cactus Kid thinks the dog can lead him to the mine so tries to get his hands on the dog. Rinty meanwhile helps agent Ramon (Walter Miller) track down the identity of the Cactus Kid...

A decent enough serial with plenty of exciting cliff hangers. However, the story is maybe stretched a little too far in the serial format. The story probably would work better as a stand alone film, and indeed it was edited and reworked into such in 1934!

Thunderbolt (1929)

A good early talkie with some tasty gangster nonsense.

Notorious gangster Thunderbolt (George Bancroft) is wanted by the police, they put the squeeze on his moll Ritzie (Fay Wray) but she won't give him up. In fact, she doesn't really care about him anymore, she is more interested in her her new, and law abiding, lover Bob (Richard Arlen). 

Eventually, Thunderbolt is captured by the police and faces the death penalty but Bob is also put in gaol after being framed, now Thunderbolt seeks to kill Bob while he has the chance...

Early talkies can often be a bit of a chore due to the awkwardness of the actors trying to adapt to the new style, there is a little bit of that here but overall the cast do a good job, Wray especially is excellent. There is a superb scene in a night club too with some decent singing and a bit of fighting. We also get a rather adorable performing dog. An enjoyable film.

Hi-Jacked (1950)

An inoffensive decent little crime drama.

A gang are hi-jacking trucks and stealing the loads, one of these trucks is being driven by Joe (Jim Davis) when he falls for the old broken down car trick.

Unfortunately, Joe has a record so he is suspected by the police of being involved. These suspicions are fuelled when Joe is framed into driving a load of contraband. He sets out to catch the real criminals, and save his marriage to Jean (Marcia Mae Jones)...

This is a reasonable if unexceptional B-movie. The story is not very original and the performances a bit flat. It passes the time but not much more.

The Notorious Lone Wolf (1946)

The Lone Wolf continues, with a new face.

The Lone Wolf, Michael Lanyard (now played by Gerald Mohr) has returned from the war and immediately gets drawn into a plot to steal a valuable diamond. Inspector Crane (William B Davidson) naturally thinks Lanyard and Jameson (Eric Blore) stole the gem - Crane is quite an unimaginative detective to be honest as he always thinks Lanyard is behind all gem thefts, maybe he thinks he will get it right finally. The gem was stolen from a dancer who was wearing it, the dancer being murdered. Lanyard must track down the gem and the murderer...

The Lone Wolf series was just starting to run out of steam by now. Post-war, these kinds of bright and breezy B-movies were starting to look a bit dated in the coming age of the Noir, however Mohr slightly refreshes the role. The rest of the Lone Wolf formula is there and this is a good, if unexceptional, entry in the series.

The Black Cobra 3: Manila Connection (1990)

Lots of running around in the Filipino jungle ultimately wins out.

After a shipment of US weapons are stolen in the Philippines, and a US agent is killed by insurgents, Malone (Fred Williamson) is called in from the streets of Chicago to help investigate the case along with Interpol agent Duncan (Forry Smith). 

As their investigation continually runs into trouble they begin to suspect there is a traitor in their midst, could it be fellow agent Ward (Debra Ward)?

A low budget action romp with the flimsy story largely there to punctuate the various action set pieces. These arn't bad, though are frequently a bit ridiculous and overly relys on the tired trope of the bad guys being hopeless shots. An enjoyable film if approached in the right way.

Alibi for Murder (1936)

A 1930s B-movie about a private detective and reporter who is (yes you guessed it) sassy and wise-cracking!

Perry (William Gargan) is trying to interview a reclusive scientist, while he is at the scientist's home trying to get to see him a shot is heard and the scientist is found dead. The murdered man's secretary Lois (Marguerite Churchill) helps Perry try and unravel a complicated case involving business rivals, military secrets and anti-war sentiment...

This is a typically fast moving crime drama with plenty of suspects and red herrings before we get to the final act and a fairly ingenious murder method. The plot is a bit hard to follow at times though but it doesn't really spoil the enjoyment that much. 

One interesting part of the film is early on when we see the scientist Stava (Egon Brecher) arrive back in the USA from Europe on the Hindenburg zeppelin!

Million Dollar Weekend (1948)

A neat little crime drama with some good twists.

Nick (Gene Raymond) has run off with a million dollars worth of bonds, he is joined on his flight by Cynthia (Osa Massen) who is on the run after killing her husband (accidentally but the slimy Alan (Francis Lederer) is blackmailing her). Once they get to Honolulu, Nick is forced to join up with Cynthia after Alan discovers Nick's secret and decides those bonds are a more lucrative prize and heads off back to the mainland with them. Now Nick and Cynthia desperately try and hunt Alan down in San Francisco...

An enjoyable film that has a bit of a Noir touch but only just enough to give the film a little extra bite. The story is involving and the leads give some good performances. A modest film maybe but certainly more than the sum of it's parts. A film that is well worth checking out.