Special Agent (1949)

A cheap crime film but an example of how low budget doesn't have to mean a lack of thrills. William Eythe plays Johnny Douglas, a railroad agent in a sleepy Californian backwater. Nothing really happens on his patch... until it does. A train is held up and a fortune in cash is stolen. Johnny begins his investigation.

Although at times played like a Western the film also has some good solid police procedural investigation scenes and even a bit of CSI. Soon it is clear the Devereaux brothers (Paul Valentine and George Reeves) have committed the crime but tracking down the hoodlums isn't easy...

It is fast paced and exciting. Sometimes it is a bit unclear what is happening though, especially in the dark. It also suffers from a slightly over the top narrator but never mind that these are only minor criticisms, this film is very good indeed.

The Outer Gate (1937)

Bob Terry (Ben Alexander) is a young rising star in Ralph Morgan's construction firm and in love with his daughter (Kay Linaker).

However everything is ruined when he is framed for embezzlement and sent to prison. Five years later the real thief makes a death bed confession and Bob is freed. However Bob isn't grateful to be freed he is bitter and wants revenge on Ralph.

With the help of his ex-jail buddy Todd (Eddie Acuff) he plots to Ralph's safe emptied of bonds and put in the same predicament as Bob all those years ago.

A fast paced film with a noir edge. The ending is rather muddled though with a last minute reprieve (of course) but the film is solid enough.

Stacey! (1973)

Stacey (ex-Playboy Playmate of the month Anne Randall) is a hot action babe who fights crime and has lots of sex. She also drives fast cars and is very handy with a gun...

Truthfully this early film by Andy Sidaris, although ridiculous sexploitation tosh (much like his later films), has a compelling air about the nonsense. Its fun and entertaining which puts it above a lot of other films to be honest...

Stacey is hired to investigate the heirs of a rich old lady and quickly uncovers a nest of sex, blackmail, violence, sex, nudity, murder and more sex...

Suffice to say its not high art and not exactly world class cinema but on the whole its well worth seeing.

Bad Boy (1939)

Johnny Fraser (Johnny Downs) is a naive young man with a doting Mum (Helen MacKellar) who heads off to the big city to become an architect. Naturally he gets dragged into the world of big city vice by his gambling colleague Steve (Archie Robbins) and singer Madelon (Rosalind Keith).

Johnny becomes besotted with her but the love doesn't come cheap. As Madelon sucks him dry of cash he turns to gambling to boost his salary. Of course it doesn't end well and Johnny is forced to steal from the firm. He ends up fired and in jail.

This is not the end of his troubles... the film is also known as Perilous Journey in the UK which is an apt title. Johnny's descent is somewhat swift and he slips into the under world of organised crime a bit too easily to be that believable though he remains good to his Mum to the end.

Well it's a fairly basic story and not a very original film. The film moves at a good pace and has reasonable acting. It has with a laughably bad fight scene that would be more realistic in a primary school playground than between two gangsters. Overall a decent watch.

Robot Pilot (1941)

War is coming and US armaments companies are gearing up with big government contracts. Doc Williams (Emmett Vogan) has invented a way to pilot planes by remote control, but when he demonstrates it with the help of Jerry (Forrest Tucker) is ends up in a big crash.

Meanwhile enemy agents steal a brand new bomber but of course the Doc's remote control device saves the day. This isn't a bad little comedy spy war drama. There is also a bit of a romantic sub-plot with Betty (Carol Hughes).

The film is mainly done for laughs though some of the comedy especially with the ridiculously Mexican stereotype Pedro (Joaquin Edwards) is a bit painful. The planes in the film are great. The real stars.

Tiger On The Beat 2 (1990)

Tiger On The Beat was an excellent HK action movie starring Chow Yun Fat and this sequel is... well not really a sequel at all. In fact as far as I can tell it has nothing at all to do with the original.

The only connection to the first movie is that it also stars Conan Lee (though not playing the same character) and is a crime/action film set in HK. It's not a bad film by any means though it is a bit disjointed.

There is a plot (of sorts) involving an error prone HK cop (Danny Lee) and his lazy American born nephew (Conan) who is visiting him, plus a prostitute (Ellan Chan) and a stolen ring. Don't let the plot worry you too much though, it is often fairly incidental in these kinds of films.

The first half of the film has that strange though enjoyable HK movie mixture of comedy and ultraviolence and the usual goofy characters.

In the second half though the action ups a gear and the final action showpiece is pretty spectacular (martial arts on a bus, i loved that obviously). Tiger on the Beat 2 is enjoyable if uneven film and not that original, it probably would have been better to have given it a stand alone title but lets not worry too much about that.

Postal Inspector (1936)

A light hearted musical crime film where Ricardo Cortez plays Bill Davis, who has made the rather dull bureaucratic job of being a post inspector into some kind of butch all-American hero. Bill crosses paths with singer Connie (Patricia Ellis) who sings in a club owned by the short of cash Benez (Bela Lugosi).

She lets slip that there is a shipment of $3 million worth of retired bank notes set to be sent back to Washington. Benez schemes to steal the cash during a flood disaster which engulfs the city...

It is a confusing film, it seems a bit unsure at times what kind of film it is. is it a crime film, a comedy, a disaster film, a musical? It is obviously sponsored by the US Postal Service and the propaganda is laid on a little thick. The flood scenes are well done and Connie's singing is pretty decent too. It ends with a pretty exciting speedboat chase! Despite it's shortcomings this is an enjoyable film.