Manhunt in Space (1954)

A clunky but entertaining 1950s science-fiction romp, all rocket ships, clicky switches and very dodgy outfits.

Vena Ray (Sally Mansfield) is en route to Casa 7 to see her brother when her ship becomes the latest cargo ship to mysteriously vanish. Space ranger Rocky Jones (Richard Crane) is sent to investigate assisted by his partner Winky (Scotty Beckett) and for some reason a little kid. A group of space pirates led by Rinkman (Henry Brandon) is behind the ship disappearances but is there also an inside man...

This is a movie version of three episodes of Rocky Jones Space Ranger. A satisfying space opera, if only getting in outer space for real could be quite so simple.

A Face in the Fog (1936)

A mysterious hunched masked character known as The Fiend is killing theatre people using that well known Golden Age method of frozen bullets. Reporter Jean Monroe (June Collyer) is on the Fiend's hitlist after she lies she knows what he looks like and narrowly avoids death. Now with her friend/colleague Frank Gordon (Lloyd Hughes) she looks to find out just who this Fiend is...

The police are investigating too of course but bring in stage writer / part-time amateur detective Peter Fortune (Lawrence Gray) to assist. He suggests an associate who is an expert in devising fiendish ways to kill people. Soon an actor called Reardon (Jack Mulhall) is arrested as the Fiend but is he the guilty man? Well no as he ends up dead too...

So this looks like a pretty standard Golden Age type mystery. Indeed there is nothing that novel about the film, the mystery takes second place to much running around but it's an entertaining romp. The real identity of The Fiend is pretty obvious to be honest but it's fun following the case.

Young & Dangerous : The Prequel (1998)

The Young & Dangerous movie series is about a bunch of Triad members and their adventures in the dark and squalid world of HK organised crime, this prequel details how the guys as teenagers first entered this world. Despite the ever present danger that prequels usually bring to a movie series this actually isn't a bad film at all.

The first portion of the movie is a bit of a slog though as the boys get kicked out of school for rock and roll and smoking a lot (in fact an entire tobacco harvest seems to have gone into the making of this film). The action soon picks up once they join the triads (which seems a bit easy, the boss of a local branch just asks them and they say OK... and that's it). Being a triad movie there is a lot of action and violence of course, and it's pretty bloody.

Of course the film throws in a number of pop stars such as Nicholas Tse, some of whom do not really seem to have a role in the film apart from adding to the star power but the leads especially Tse are solid and the story while standard (betrayals, endless fights, respect your daigoh et cetera) is also solid and all in all a worthwhile addition to the series.

One Frightened Night (1935)

Millionaire Jasper Whyte (Charley Grapewin) decides to divide his fortune between his relations, friends and staff - who he has touchy relationships with to various degrees - before a new inheritance tax comes into force. He'd rather give the money to his granddaughter Doris but he can't locate her. But then, just after he has shared out his millions, two women (Mary Carlisle and Evalyn Knapp) turn up that stormy night who both claim to be her...

Obviously this throws the night into confusion and those suddenly disinherited rather put out. One of the Dorises then turns up dead.

This is a fun film (which plays up to the stereotypes of the genre nicely) with some good performances - especially by the rather ropey magician Luvalle (Wallace Ford). Set on a stormy night in a creepy old house to give it the required atmosphere the film has plenty of red herrings, murders, mysterious ways to commit them and suspects which results in a true Golden Age type romp.

Frankenstein (1910)

The first movie adaptation of the famous Frankenstein story, with Augustus Phillips as Dr Frankenstein, Charles Ogle as the monster and Mary Fuller as Elizabeth, the doctor's fiance and the object of the monster's love.

This early Edison movie is a fairly loose take on the story though features plenty of running around by the monster. The monster though is not the one familiar in later movies, looking more like a ballet dancer that has hit hard times. Being one of the earliest movies the camera work is completely static, sometimes the actors accidentally wandered off screen when doing their parts.

It is rather intriguing though and pretty macabre.

Lucky Terror (1936)

Lucky Terror is an unchallenging but enjoyable enough western starring Hoot Gibson as a Lucky Carson who gets dragged into a chase. The man being chased Jim Thornton (George Chesebro) forces Lucky to swap horses with him but unfortunately Lucky's horse gets spooked and drags the man over the cliff to his death. Lucky finds gold in the man's saddle and later learns he was a miner being chased by thieves led by Bat Moulton (Jack Rockwell).

Lucky joins a travelling show which includes the miner's niece Ann (Lona Andre). Lucky gets accused of killing Jim Thornton by Bat (really it was his horse) but is acquitted rather amusingly...

Although not too dramatic a film and lacking in much action (though the action that it does have is decent), Lucky Terror has enough unusual touches to elevate it above the usual film of this genre.

Ellery Queen’s Penthouse Mystery (1942)

Ventriloquist Gordon Cobb (Noel Madison) is hired by the Chinese to secretly bring jewels to the US to raise funds to feed the hungry, yes that's right a ventriloquist. However on arrival in New York he vanishes and is later found dead in a chest. The vent's daughter Sheila (Ann Doran) brings Ellery Queen (Ralph Bellamy) and Nikki (Margaret Lindsay) in to help out.

There are many suspects in this complicated case including Cobb's manager (Russell Hicks), Cobb's Chinese contact (Anna May Wong) and the mysterious Count Brett (Edward Ciannelli)...

It is a bright and breezy crime film with a dose of dodgy racial stereotypes. Unexceptional but enjoyable. Ellery and Nikki spend half the film arguing but as fans of Ellery Queen movies will know, that's quite normal.