The King Murder (1932)

An enjoyable and complicated whodunnit. Dorothy Revier is Miriam King, who is... shall we say, popular with rich men. She has a number of lovers from whom she often extracts cash by charm or blackmail if that doesn't work. But the blackmailer is also being pushed for cash herself.

Meanwhile Elizabeth Hawthorn (Natalie Moorhead) is concerned that her fiance is one of Miriam's friends and warns the police that something might happen. Funnily enough not long after the police, in the form of Detective Henry Barton (Conway Tearle), are called to her apartment where she has been found dead. Now she was originally found dead by one of her ex-s Jose Moreno (Don Alvarado) who was burgularing her apartment at the time! Plus there is Miriam's ex-friend Pearl Hope (Marceline Day) who is Jose's current squeeze...

So nicely complex, a murder investigation with many potential suspects. The case was in fact based on a real-life murder of NY showgirl Dorothy King in 1923. The investigation led by Barton is a fairly straightforward police procedural. A bit of a plodder but the conclusion (and revealed method of murder) is fascinating.

Sky Liner (1949)

Sky Liner is a cheap and cheerful early Cold War spy drama. On a transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles are a motley crew including a criminal on the run, an annoying wannabe child actress, a Communist agent working as a secretary in the State Department, another Communist pretending to be her boss (after he killed the real one) and an FBI Agent.

Rochelle Hudson is the secretary and is already under suspicion from agent Steve (Richard Travis). More complications arise when another suspicious foreigner (Steven Geray) joins the flight. Meanwhile the child wannabee actress terrorises the passengers by singing to them to their "delight". The flight attendant Carol (Pamela Blake) is confused, especially when someone is found dead on board, i think everyone is pretty confused by now to be honest.

It isn't a great film but fascinating as a period piece, back when air travel was glamorous. A little too much weird lightness is included in the film which jars a bit though the final action scenes are exciting and finish the film off well. The real star of the film is the Lockheed Constellation they are flying on though.

From SDASM archive

Heroes in Blue (1939)

A standard low-budget crime drama, nothing you haven't seen in scores of other B-movies but done competently enough.

Two brothers on opposite sides of the line, Terry a righteous policeman (Dick Purcell) and Joe (Charles Quigley) mixed up with the mob. When Joe loses the money of his boss Frank Moran (Edward Keane) and kills a fellow gangster in a fight he is on the run from both the mob and the police.

Terry and Joe's father (Frank Sheridan) gets dragged into the mob's dealings to save his son... but Terry won't let family sentiment get in the way of justice.

A decent film but not without flaws. One being the character of Joe, he is barely believable as a gangster, if he is one he is the wimpiest ever.

The Boss of Big Town (1942)

In times of war with food being scarce the position of City Market Official Michael Flynn (John Litel) is vital. The city marketers are being put under pressure by a slick gangster Miljan (Kenneth Craige) - though the real Mr Big is as yet unknown. Flynn is also being leaned on but resists the overtures of the gang. City attorney Moore (H.B. Warner) is also putting the pressure on Flynn to sort it all out.

After failing to stop the attacks on market traders Flynn is fired but decides to go undercover and pretends to fall in with Miljan so he can find out who Mr Big is...

Not the most exciting film ever, the story is a bit unoriginal and it is overall a bit dull though the final reveal and showdown work. The wartime propaganda isn't laid on very thick which is a blessing. It is watchable though the best thing about the film is the title.

Shadows of the Orient (1935)

A rather insipid tale of people smuggling and organised crime. The gangs are smuggling in Chinese people over the border in biplanes - though if challenged by the air force then the pilot just drops the poor people to their deaths!

After that horror we then switch to Chinatown where the Judge's daughter Viola (Esther Ralston) gets caught up in a raid on a gambling den linked to the smugglers. Viola is seduced by the gang boss King Moss (Sidney Blackmer) and ends up getting drawn into the whole sordid plot. The police led by Inspector Baxter (Regis Toomey) and his older sidekick J. Farrell MacDonald are on the case though...

Not the best of films and rather dated in various ways especially with some of the jarring stereotypes, but it is not without some charms, the interplay between Toomey and MacDonald is quite amusing. While some of the story is rather grim the main cast do make the most of it. The police investigation scenes are fast moving and slick, though the film is weighed down a bit by a fair bit of padding. There are some pretty nifty aerial scenes to raise the film above the mundane.

Enter the Dragon (1973)

For this blog's two hundredth review another of our all-time favourite films...

Enter the Dragon was Bruce Lee at his zenith, his breakthrough into international pop culture and cinema. Alas he died not long after completing the film so was never able to capitalise on the buzz it created - as indeed it did. The kung-fu craze in the 70s and beyond was largely due to this film.

Enter the Dragon took martial arts films out of their traditional Chinese mindset (though it is still set largely in Hong Kong) and added Western action elements. The result is fantastic, and also pretty epic in it's 70s-ness.

Bruce Lee is hired by British intelligence official Braithwaite (Geoffrey Weeks) to join a martial arts tournament by Han (Shih Ken) to gain intelligence on Han's suspected drug smuggling and other criminal activities. Joining Lee in this tournament are gambler Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly) who both have different reasons for being there but get drawn into the game between Lee and Han. Of course it all ends in an epic fight.

The storyline isn't much to get excited about (though if you like i did once review the novelisation) but the action is intense, mixed with cool early 70s funky style. It also has a final showdown in a hall of mirrors.

Murder by Television (1935)

A rather run-of-the-mill murder mystery though enlivened by the novel appearance of early television as a setting. Professor Houghland (Charles Hill Mailes) has invented a new method of television broadcast which can be broadcast pictures instantly from anywhere in the world (exactly how this miracle is accomplished isn't really explained). Everyone is after his technology but Houghland is an idealist who won't sell to anyone.

Houghland is murdered in the middle of a demonstration of his television broadcast. The police led by Henry Mowbray have to find out who dunnit. That is easier said than done as it is a baffling film (for much of the film the cast look bemused, and for good reason). Bela Lugosi plays identical twins, one an assistant of Houghland (and really an agent) and the other in the pay of a corporation or foreign power after the technology.

It is a bit dull with some ill-considered attempts at light relief to pad the film out, though Lugosi plays a good role as usual. It is all a bit of a shame as the film could have been a whole lot better considering the rather exotic nature of the main plot device. Interestingly the film seems to recycle a bit of footage from The Phantom Broadcast with the same newspaper seller.