Murder is News (1937)

An entertaining if unsurprising murder mystery. Industrialist Edgar Drake (William McIntyre) is going through a divorce with his wife Pauline (Doris Lloyd) as revealed by reporter Jerry Tracy (John Gallaudet). When Edgar Drake calls Tracy to his home Jerry arrives to find Drake dead on the floor. Then Jerry is knocked out cold by an unknown assailant, when he awakes the police (Colin Kenny) are around but there is no sign of Drake...

In conjunction with the police Jerry, with his assistant Brains (not the one out of Thunderbirds) McGillicuddy (George McKay) tries to find out exactly what is going on. Was Edgar Drake killed and if so where is his body, and who committed the crime? Is it the man Pauline plans to marry (John Hamilton)? Or her son Tony (Frank C. Wilson)? Or someone else entirely like night club owner Frank Hammer (John Graham Spacey)?

Its fast paced and breezy, nothing too innovative and the plot is rather contrived but it's well done all the same. The film follows the well-worn 1930s trope of a newspaper reporter leading a crime case as if he was on the police force. Iris Meredith plays the heroine.

Midnight Limited (1940)

On an overnight sleeper train a ruthless robber (I. Stanford Jolly) steals diamonds and other valuables from passengers including Joan Marshall (Marjorie Reynolds) who has lost papers vital for her future. Railroad detective Val Lennon (John King) is on the case and Joan demands she be allowed to join him in the hunt for the thief (and the papers).

The investigation begins, just how does the thief get away and who is this professor (George Cleveland) who always seems to be around when the robberies take place?

It is a fair enough crime drama though can be a bit slow at times. Despite being a short film it is a bit ponderous and wordy, though does include a short musical number! However the crime itself is interesting, organised by a crooked hotel clerk (Warren Jackson) who tips off the robbers about train passengers with a lot of cash. Val and Joan make a good team.

Smokescreen (1964)

Smokescreen is a fun little thriller set on the Sussex coast in the early 1960s. When businessman Mr Dexter's car crashes over the cliff in flames, insurance assessor Roper (Peter Vaughan) is sent to find out just what has happened and if the big insurance policy taken out just before the apparent death is valid...

Roper is naturally suspicious and with the insurance broker John Carson (Trevor Bayliss), plus the vaguely interested police (Glynn Edwards), quickly discovers that the death may have been faked and it was certainly no accident. Dexter could be alive but if so who is helping him? As he proceeds he considers that maybe Dexter has been murdered. Is the wife Janet Dexter (Yvonne Remain) involved to get a share of the insurance money? Or was it Dexter's business partner Turner (Gerald Flood)?

The budget is very low but the interest is pretty high with a well thought out story that keeps you guessing. The story is a bit Golden Age in feel, with the keen amateur detective taking charge. Roper is a bit of a strange character though, a bit slimy and always penny pinching though we do find out why and thankfully it isn't just because he is a bit mean!

The Honor of the Press (1932)

Young reporter Daniel (Edward Nugent) starts work at a newspaper while the town is rocking from a series of bank robberies. The newspaper is of course the usual 1930s cliche, full of tough talking and chain smoking newspaper men including the city editor Dan Perkins (Russell Simpson) and publisher Mr Sampson (Franklyn Farnum). Rita La Roy plays Daisy a rather over the top glamourous reporter on the paper.

Star reporter Larry Grayson (Reginald Simpson) seems to have the inside story on the robberies but shuts the door on Daniel when he tries to help out. The paper blames the police for failing in their job in catching the crooks but the police chief Drake (John Ince) seems suspicious about how the paper seems to find out about the robberies so quickly...

Daniel discovers that someone on the newspaper seems to be closer to the crime than seems normal. Well its a decent enough crime and reporting film. Nothing too out of the ordinary. There is a romantic sub-plot with Daniel and his squeeze June (Dorothy Gulliver) which pads out the somewhat flimsy plot a bit.

Heart into Hearts (1990)

Heart Into Hearts was the second in the popular "Hearts" series of HK films following on from 1988's "Heart to Heart" and like the first film starred George Lam as some sort of vague creative type (which seems one of the most common jobs in HK according to movies).

George is due to marry Dodo Cheng (who has a daughter played by Vivian Chow) but then he meets an advert director played by Maggie Cheung. Maggie he first hates as an emotionless professional but then they have to go to Paris together and begin to flirt...

It's a light hearted HK comedy with unfortunately two cute kids in it (which is two too many). The film is enjoyable enough with quite a few funny moments but it lacks some bite. You can probably guess most of the jokes before they actually arrive and the film is a little formulaic. It is maybe worth watching for the massive brick mobile phones alone though...

One problem with the film is that Dodo comes across as very annoying in the film without the chemistry with George of the first film. Thus when George is flirting with Maggie you can't really see why he should stay with Dodo. George is his usual jolly and jovial (and often hilarious) self though.

Fury Below (1936)

A troubled coal mine is taken over by Jim Cole (Russell Gleason), all fresh faced and just out of college. Yet another mining accident and a hospital full of casualties spurs Cole into action to find out just what is wrong with the mine. This puts general manager Fred Johnson's (LeRoy Mason) nose out of joint as he is behind a plot to wreck the mine so he can buy Cole out...

Fred is a deliciously evil character by the way, he basically whores out his sister Claire (Sheila Terry) to try and keep Cole out of the way...

Cole, assisted by his secretary Mary (Maxine Doyle) and her brother Joe (Rex Lease) the superintendent work to try and save the mine from low production, accidents and worker unrest led by Johnson's agent Dorsky (Matthew Betz). The film isn't very exciting until the final plot below ground but is interesting enough as a drama especially with respect to labour relations and health and safety pre-war. 

The Good Die Young (1954)

A superb British Noir about four men and the women who support them. The men are all without previous criminal records, but become desperate enough to rob a post office with deadly consequences...

Told in flashback we find out how the four men got into the situation seen at the start of the film where they prepare to commit crime. Mike (Stanley Baker) is an ageing boxer who leaves the ring but after losing a hand finds it impossible to get a new job. Joe (Richard Basehart) is a former US serviceman who is desperate to take his wife (Joan Collins) over to the US to escape her manipulative mother.

Eddie (John Ireland) is a US airman married to an actress (Gloria Grahame) who is openly unfaithful to him. Finally we have Miles (Laurence Harvey) who is a bit of a cad, he sponges off his rich wife (Margaret Leighton) but unfortunately it isn't enough to pay off his gambling debts. He forms a friendship with the others and concocts a scheme to use crime to solve all of their problems. However when the guns start going off then things really do start going wrong...

The clever use of overlapping flashbacks elevates this film above the normal heist film. Maybe a bit melodramatic but the intense final act makes up for any shortcomings earlier on.