Sabotage (1936)

An excellent tale of intrigue and suspense from Alfred Hitchcock. Cinema owner Karl Verloc (Oskar Homolka) has plunged London into a blackout but he has much more in store for the capital...

Verloc is to plant a bomb, however the police in the form of undercover detective Ted (John Loder) - who makes a rather unconvincing grocer - is already watching the cinema and onto existence of a plot (not that they know what it is). Verloc's wife (Sylvia Sidney) and her young brother Stevie (Desmond Tester) are unaware that kindly Mr Verloc is really a terrorist though when Ted's cover is blown it is too late for the tragedy which engulfs both of them...

Tense and atmospheric, this film delivers and also is a wonderful look at 1930s London: tubes, trams and pavements of street vendors selling nonsense. Look out for a young Charles Hawtrey in a cameo talking about turtles!

Miami Connection (1987)

A film about a martial arts rock group fighting ninjas on motorbikes, yes you read that right.

Miami Connection (which actually takes place in Orlando not Miami) is the work of YK Kim who starred, produced and wrote this film. His acting and script writing may be rather suspect though his taekwando, as showcased in the film, is undeniably excellent.

A gang of motorbike riding ninjas are moving in on the drugs trade in Florida. However their attention is soon drawn to a rock group (and we get a number of quite acceptable if cheesy 80s soft rock tunes in this film) who incorporate martial arts into their act. The film consists of a number of decent action set pieces held together by a flimsy and often contradictory script...

The film is awful but also brilliant. The film takes some of the best and cheesiest aspects of 80s culture and mixes them in a blender. Somehow it all works and it is easy to see why the film has become a cult classic. It makes little sense but once you accept that you can appreciate it for the unintentional genius it really is.

The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)

They seek him here... they seek him there...

During the Terror of the French Revolution Madame le Guillotine is giving the fast dwindling French aristocracy the closest of shaves. But an elusive hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel, is snatching them from Robespierre's (Ernest Milton) clutches...

Meanwhile in London Lady Blakeney (Merle Oberon), a Frenchwoman, despairs of her foppish husband Sir Percy (Leslie Howard). Unbeknown to her though Sir Percy is the Scarlet Pimpernel. After her brother is arrested in France she is put under pressure by the brutal Chavelin (Raymond Massey) to find out who the Pimpernel is...

An excellent film, from the horrors of the Revolution to the grandeur of the English Court the film keeps you transfixed. All the principals play good roles but Leslie Howard steals the show, how he switches from seemingly useless dandy to daring hero in an instant is fabulous.

The Pay Off (1942)

Lee Tracy plays a wise cracking (charismatic though after a while slightly annoying) reporter called Brad McKay. When the District Attorney is gunned down the gambler Moroni (John Maxwell) is the chief suspect though Brad knows he is innocent... as he was beating him at poker at the time.

Or is Moroni as innocent as Brad thinks? He tells Brad that the DA was on the take and that his assistant killed him. But how is club owner John Angus (Jack La Rue) involved, who is the real Mr Big and who is the young woman (Tina Thayer) who is desperate to contact Brad and has access to a locker of money?

Well Brad soon finds that the case is not as straight forward as it seemed. The film is bright and breezy (not unlike a comic strip in feel) though a bit light in tone despite regular killings. Evelyn Brent plays a good small role as a moll involved marginally in the case though seemingly really just around for Bead to kiss!

Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

Ten years after Dracula was killed by Van Helsing his castle lies empty, except for the mysterious and frankly rather sinister servant Klove (Peter Latham). Two English couples (played by Barbara Shelley, Francis Matthews, Susan Farmer and Charles Tingwell) on holiday come across the castle and despite warnings from Father Sandor (Andrew Keir) stay the night in the castle. They don't really have much choice in the matter to be honest...

Very soon they find themselves menaced by the resurrected (in a rather creepy scene) dark lord Dracula (Christopher Lee)...

Once the film gets going it is wonderfully dramatic and intense with plenty of snarling vampire action. Dracula doesn't utter a word in the film (apart from a cruel shriek) but is an irresistibly evil presence.

Reaching for the Moon (1930)

Douglas Fairbanks was best known for his swashbuckling silent movie roles but in this early talkie he plays a New York financier in pursuit of love in a bright and breezy swashbuckling style.

Larry (Fairbanks) is a big success on the stock market where he meets Vi (Bebe Daniels) a friend of one of his employees Jimmy (Jack Mulhall) at a party. Vi bets Jimmy she can get Larry's attention before she sets sail to England in the morning. She manages it and also sets him up. Larry is so stung by her laughter he joins the ocean liner...

On the boat (which includes a musical number by Bing Crosby - his first appearance on film) the relationship between Larry and Vi goes back and forth, as do his fortunes on the stock market. By the time he arrives in (foggy of course) old England he is broke (thanks to the stock market crash) but how is he doing for love?

The film doesn't have a great deal of plot but is energetic and fun. I've always thought a romantic film works better if there is humour as it makes it much more realistic. The real stars of the film are the sets though. The film is a masterpiece of Art Deco.

Who Done It? (1956)

A hilarious farce which helped launch Benny Hill's career. He plays Hugo a bumbling private detective who gets involved with sinister (in a ridiculously over the top way) foreign agents who want to steal the plans for a new weather control machine (and no doubt dominate the world)...

Assisted by Frankie (Belinda Lee) - who does most of the actual dangerous stuff, somehow she possesses the strength of about ten men - he manages to foil the nefarious agents in a huge action set-piece taking part at an exhibition (complete with robot tank which Hugo uses to deal with his police nemesis Gerry Marsh) and a final chase in a stock car race.

It is silly, crude but very funny.