The Last Duel (1989)

Alex Man plays a fishball seller who is always in scrapes with the police, and ends up getting framed for the manslaughter of a pregnant woman by a ruthlessly ambitious cop played by Karel Wong...

After 3 more years of prison Alex returns home to find his woman gone off to Australia and replaced by Rosamund Kwan (not that bad a deal) and his former underling Dicky Cheung is shacked up with an part-time prostitute.

Then the bad cop rapes his bro's girl and revenge is (of course) sought. But the bad cop has the law on his side (and no matter how much he bends the rules that seems to remain the case) and what does Alex have... well an illegal fishball concession.

It all ends up in an extremely violent and bloody showdown. Great action and a cool bad guy. But then again bad guy cops are always cool. The film is nothing new, it is merely a competent example of HK ultraviolence. There is a little too much violence though, a little more story instead might have been a good idea.

Tarzan and the Green Goddess (1938)

Tarzan (Bruce Bennett) is in Guatemala (although still with African animals around) and is helping Major Martling (Frank Baker) and Ula Vale (Ula Holt) steal - sorry put into safety - the idol of a Mayan tribe. The idol contains the secret formula for Mayan explosives which could become the ultimate weapon...

Raglan (Ashton Dearholt) meanwhile is also trying to steal the idol and formula for more nefarious ends. Plus the natives are trying to get their idol back and we get a regular to and fro struggle. The film is an edited version of a serial which means it has plenty of cliff hangers though requires a few plot summary title cards throughout to explain the rather jumbled plot.

If you can get over the geographical nonsense, plot that is all over the place and dated stereotypes it isn't a bad adventure film. Tarzan is more "civilised" than in some other films though still looks the part and can swing from trees!

The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)

The most evil man in the world Fu Manchu (Christopher Lee) is executed in China but his eternal foe Nayland Smith (Nigel Green) is soon suspicious that Fu Manchu is still alive after all...

Indeed he is and after the ultimate poison distilled from a rare flower found in Tibet. Professor Muller (Walter Rilla) has been working on the poison and he is captured by Fu Manchu. He is forced to complete his work on the poison after his daughter Maria (Karin Dor) is also captured and threatened by Fu Manchu with an awful death...

With the help of Muller's assistant Carl Jannsen (Joachim Fuchsberger) and Petrie (Howard Marion-Crawford) - though he seems more a hindrance than a help - Nayland Smith battles to stop Fu Manchu killing everyone in London...

It is all a load of tosh obviously but glorious tosh! Christopher Lee is terrific as Fu Manchu along with his merciless daughter Lin Tang (Tsai Chin). The film has plenty of action and also plenty of pseudo oriental nonsense. If you don't take it seriously then the film is great fun.

A Man Betrayed (1936)

Frank Powell (Edward Nugent) has been selling shares in a new oil field. He finds out that his company is not really drilling for oil but instead has lost the money. His boss William Carlton (John Hamilton), overcome with remorse, commits suicide but his henchmen use their gangland connections to make it look like murder...

Frank is framed for the murder but manages to escape from the law. Assisted by his preacher brother Curtis (Lloyd Hughes) he sets out to clear his name. That's when the film really gets going and the action is thick and fast... and also sometimes confusing. Frank comes across as rather naive and wet but preacher Curtis is handy with his fists!

Not a bad little crime caper. The film, although fairly short, has plenty of strange tangents including one where Curtis has to fight in a boxing match in order to get help from some gangsters! Of course the guy Curtis is to fight is the man of the gangsters who framed Frank...

The Golden Eye (1948)

One of the last few Charlie Chan films (who by now is being played by Roland Winters). An interesting enough mystery though you get a sense of fatigue in the series by now.

Charlie is called in to help a mine owner Mr Manning (Forrest Taylor) who is in danger. The mine, supposedly all spent, is also producing a mysteriously large amount of ore. Manning is badly injured in an accident and Chan (who is posing as a curio trader) investigates the case for Manning's daughter Evelyn (Wanda McKay).

Chan is helped (in theory) by his Number Two son Tommy (Victor Sen Yung) and chauffeur Birmingham (Mantan Moreland). The police in the form of Lt. Ruark (Tim Ryan) is also on the case.

As a mystery it is fairly serviceable. Winters didn't have the same spark as the earlier actors who played the role and the film lacks the wit of earlier entries in the series. The story plods somewhat but has some surprises in store for the patient.

Darna: The Return (1994)

Darna is the Filipino version of Wonder Woman and in her skimpy outfit is definately a wonder! 

Darna (Anjanette Abayari) is a super heroine, who fights crime but can turn back into a normal person too. A natural disaster wipes out her village and during the melee she is blindsided by an unidentified assailant and the source of her power (a stone) is stolen. Darna, in her civilian guise as Narda, consequently goes a little crazy but her auntie and little brother take her to refuge in Manila.

However once there she is menaced by a smug crime boss. Meanwhile a TV evangelist is saying to her swaying crowd of believers that only her way is the way to salvation as Manila will soon be swept away by a deluge. But Narda's stone is recovered and Darna is reborn and she begins to fight the crime wave of the crime boss, including plucking his helicopter out of the air.

The evangelist turns her attention to Darna... for lo it is the daughter of her arch-nemesis Valentina and she plans to wipe out the human race, or Manila anyway. Showdown time, now did you ever think you would ever see one scantily clad woman beat another one with a TV aerial? Well you can now...

Darna saves the, rather confusing, day in a blizzard of low-budget special FX. It is cheesy but easy on the eye.

Night Work (1930)

A light hearted film which, like the main character, is a bit goofy but has a heart of gold. Willie (Eddie Quillan) works at the department store as a lowly window dresser but he is also the scapegoat for angry customers and regularly fired to appease them (before quietly being re-hired later on).

Willie's life then changed when he meets Mary (Sally Starr), a nurse at an orphanage. Thanks to her he ends up sponsoring a child though with his meagre salary it is a bit difficult to manage. So he ends up working a second job in a nightclub and more adventures follow...

It is a bit unsubstantial perhaps but a perfectly fine little film. There is an enjoyable musical interlude by Marjorie Kane half way through to look out for.