The Warriors (1979)

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

The Warriors is a bonafide cult classic. A fairly simple tale of a bunch of kids trying to get home with all manner of obstacles thrown up in their path. It is simple but so so cool.

Cyrus (Roger Hill), the head of the biggest gang in NY the Gramercy Riffs, wants to bring all the gangs together to take over the streets. He brings representatives of all the top gangs in the city to a big meeting in the Bronx but in his moment of triumph he is gunned down by the deranged leader of the Rogues, Luther (David Patrick Kelly). In the ensuing chaos the Warriors from Coney Island get the blame. Now Cyrus' gang put the call out, the Warriors are to be found - alive if possible if not... wasted.

The Warriors are a mixed bunch led by Swan (Michael Beck) and with the violence and sex crazed Ajax (James Remar) always in competition. As the Warriors make their way home, dodging various gangs (which include gangs of roller skaters, lesbians and ghost like baseball players), Swan hooks up with Mercy (Deborah Van Valkenburg) who wants something more, she wants something now...

The Warriors finally make their way back to Coney Island, stalked by the Rogues and the Gramercy Riffs. What happens when there is a final showdown?

So it is indeed a very strange film in many ways. The gangs all have their identities and colours, the Warriors themselves wearing rather cute pleather vests, some of the other gangs are completely ridiculous looking. However that adds to the appeal, it is strange and unrealistic.

Backed by an excellent sound track of late 1970s rock and soul this is one of the best films ever made. It is not for the acting which ranges from vague to poor or the story which is pretty much by the numbers but it is the period of time and the style, the sheer craziness of the film and the characters. Some of the Warriors are a little undefined but the main characters certainly are well drawn and you do care about them. The film has a magic that maybe is a little undefinable but is there. Dig it.

Cafe Hostess (1939)

A nicely sleazy noir about hostesses and various crimes in a club. Jo (Ann Dvorak) is a "B girl" (aka a prostitute) in seedy Club 46 which is owned by Eddie Morgan (Douglas Fowley). Jo is a welcoming hostess to guys out of town, keeping them entertained and then picking their pockets. Detective Steve Mason (Arthur Loft) is after Morgan but can't get the evidence he needs...

Sailor Dan Walters (Preston Foster) arrives at the club and falls for Jo (of course). He wants to take her away but Jo knows that escaping her past won't be easy. Dan seems to find out all about Morgan's criminal activities in one night which indicates that Detective Mason is rather poor at his job.

Cafe Hostess is not very original and isn't a bad movie though is a little pedestrian at times. It also falls into melodrama but it does end in an entertaining huge brawl. The most interesting part of the film though was how it fell foul of the censors as it violated the moral codes of the late 1930s.

Dark Alibi (1946)

A bank is robbed and a guard killed, the fingerprints of ex-con Thomas Harley (Edward Earle) are found on the scene and he is arrested and later convicted.

With his execution just days away his desperate daughter June (Teala Loring) calls on Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) for help. He finds that Harley was living in a boarding house full of potential suspects. Everyone seems rather suspicious and somehow involved. When Chan is shot at he knows he has made the real perpetrator worried.

But surely the fingerprints make it an open and shut case? It seems perfect but Charlie Chan thinks its too perfect...

Charlie Chan is on great form in this film, which is sprinkled with humour especially with his lazy son (Benson Fong) and his chauffeur (Mantan Morland) who make a great double act. There are also many pseudo-Chinese proverbs and philosophy throughout.

White Zombie (1932)

Probably the first full-length zombie film, White Zombie is maybe low on budget but high on weirdness and atmosphere. Neil Parker (John Harron) and Madeleine Short (Madge Bellamy) are an engaged couple due to get married at the home of plantation owner Charles Beaumont (Robert W Frazier) in Haiti. On the way to Beaumont's home they encounter strange men which they are told are zombies...

Beaumont wants Madeleine for himself and resorts to dark magic from Murder the voodoo master (Bela Lugosi) to gain control of her. Yet he finds that Murder's price for the dark arts is very high indeed...

A wonderfully creepy film, the zombie scene in Murder's sugar cane mill is just one of a number of standout scenes. As the zombie slaves carry sugar cane one topples into the mill to be grinded up too, of course the zombies don't even blink! The film was rather cheaply made though with most of the actors being fading silent movie stars, the acting is therefore rather over the top at times however it really adds to the drama in the final act. Lugosi is amazing of course.

Concorde Affair (1979)

Clearly a cheap rip-off of Airport 79: The Concorde, again a shadowy elite want to stop the Concorde being a success. Obviously in real life they succeeded...

After a Concorde crashes in mysterious circumstances in the Caribbean hot shot reporter Moses Brody (James Franciscus) is called in by his wife (Fianna Maglione) who lives in the area. By the time he gets there though she is dead and he almost joins her but for an intervention by her friend George (Francisco Charles). As they begin to investigate the strange goings on they discover the crashed Concorde on the sea bed... and a flight attendant survivor (Mimsy Farmer) who is a prisoner of some desperate looking men...

Well it is all rather low budget, Concorde in the film is a mixture of stock footage and rather laughable models. However it isn't a bad film, it is a reasonable action film that would probably have been better if it hadn't been such a blatant cash-in.

Telephone Operator (1937)

An unusual but interesting drama of a small town telephone company when the local dam fails and threatens the town. Red (Grant Withers) and Shorty (Warren Hymer) are new telephone linesmen in town to help extend the network. They are cocky and fresh and soon get into a fight at a dance... unfortunately it's with their boss Tom Summers (Pat Flaherty) and he isn't too pleased to get a shiner from them.

Helen Molly (Judith Allen) is a telephone operator whom Red has the hots for, he think she's a swell gal though unfortunately for him she considers him a bit annoying... but you know how it'll end up! Helen is up fired when she leaves her post to save Tom from finding out about his cheating wife.

So far the film is OK, a bit slow and meandering and a bit complicated. Then the dam breaks and the film shifts from second gear to about seventh in a snap. The final act of the film is frenetic as Helen mans the switchboard and Red and Shorty perform emergency repairs to the telephone lines as flood waters engulf the valley. They save the day but quite where everyone else is (especially Tom) is a mystery that's never explained.

Shadows on the Stairs (1941)

A sometimes-strange sometimes-sweet murder mystery set in a London boarding house. The house run by Stella Armitage (Frieda Inescort) is full of interesting characters including spiv Joseph Reynolds (Paul Cavanagh), Indian student/rebel Ram Singh (Turhan Bey), playwright Hugh Bromilow (Bruce Lester) and the sullen maid Lucy (Phyllis Barry).

Stella is having an affair with Joseph behind the back of her husband Tom (Miles Mander). Though Joseph is also knocking off Lucy. If that's not enough he is also involved in mysterious schemes with Ram Singh (who also gets attacked by another Indian in his room and stabs him). Then Joseph is found dead, the Inspector (Lumsden Hare) begins his investigation, though other bodies then turn up. There are plenty of suspects but the actual culprit is a surprise. But the real ending is an even bigger surprise.

So it's sometimes-sweet, (though if I explained why i wrote that if would spoil the ending). It is a fairly light mystery but rocks along at a good rate of knots. It is pretty strange, but in a good way.