Bush Pilot (1947)

Red North (Austin Willis) is making a reasonable living hauling cargo in his floatplane up in the Canadian Great White North, and also keen on Hilary (Rochelle Hudson). However the arrival of Red's arrogant brother Paul (Jack La Rue) shakes everything up. Paul is keen to move in on Red's territory, and his dame...

The death of Red's mechanic Chuck (Frank Perry) hauling nitroglycerine hurls Red's life into chaos and turns Hilary against him. Can Red win back Hilary and sort out his brother?

A neat little film, rather melodramatic at times but a decent story if without any surprises. It is also interesting to see Jack La Rue in a role where he isn't a two-bit gangster.

This was one of the first Canadian movies to be made in English.

Non-Stop New York (1937)

A wonderfully energetic, but at sometimes quite odd, crime drama. Jennie (Anna Lee) is a showgirl down on her luck in New York, she chances upon a lawyer who works with the mob but who wants to get out. When the lawyer is bumped off a tramp Able (Arthur Goullet) is blamed but Jennie (now back in Blighty) knows he is innocent...

She needs to get back across the Atlantic to tell the police what happened and stop Able being executed. The gangster Brant (Francis Sullivan) must stop Jennie getting back to New York. She is travelling on a futuristic flying boat along with Brant and police detective Jim Grant (John Loder) who thinks something is up but isn't sure quite what...

Although quite far fetched this is a highly enjoyable crime drama / adventure set aboard a flying boat. A great collection of characters including prototype-geek Arnold (Desmond Tester) and plenty of good sharp dialogue.

Future Force (1989)

In the near future ever rising crime has led to the police being replaced by Civilian Operated Police Service (C.O.P.S.) who are brutal bounty hunters. Tucker (David Carradine) is the toughest man in the precinct but soon finds himself under attack by his former colleagues...

This is because reporter Marion (Anna Rapagna) has uncovered corruption at the very heart of the C.O.P.S. organisation involving imitation hard case Adams (William Zipp). Marion is wanted dead or alive... actually scratch that just kill her, but Tucker is going to bring her in alive for the lulz. Adams is therefore a bit miffed...

So its total nonsense and is a fairly slow moving mess of bad action scenes in the "future" which looks like 1989 if we are going to be honest... the only bit that is vaguely futuristic is Tucker's robot arm which he occasionally brings out of the trunk of his car when he feels the need to shoot some lasers. The battle between Tucker and similarly overweight thug Becker (Robert Tessler) is hilariously bad.

The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1973)

A strange film but one with heart. One of the most 70s films you'll ever see too.

Reg Varney is Sherry, an entertainer at a dingy holiday camp. Sherry has delusions of once being a big name, even meeting the Queen. Though his wife Mary (Diana Coupland) knows the truth and that he is grinding out a living at the end of his career. She has had enough of him and his delusions and is getting ready to shack up with Charlie (Lee Montague).

Sherry's life begins to fall apart as he embarrasses himself and his son (Michael Hadley) in front of his future in-laws. When he finds out Mary is leaving him he has a meltdown and the end is in sight...

Perhaps against expectations the film is wonderful, capturing the shambles and grim sadness of Britain in the 1970s more than most films. Appearances by young Johnny Briggs, Jane Seymour and George Sweeney who would one day be very well known also entertain.

The Return of Chandu (Serial) (1934)

Princess Nadji of Egypt (Maria Alba) is in danger. A strange cult from the lost (or so people thought) island of Lemuria want the blood sacrifice of an Egyptian princess to help bring their goddess back to life and Nadji fits the bill perfectly. Nadji has some help though in the shape of Chandu (Bela Lugosi) master of the mystic arts of the Orient...

So begins this serial, which is highly entertaining yarn of Oriental mysticism (very popular in the 1930s) though maybe a bit slow compared to some serials. Nadji becomes possessed by the cult led by Vindhyan (Lucien Prival) and spirited away to Lemuria. 

The action switches to the Pacific where Chandu, his sister Dorothy (Clara Kimball Young), nephew Bob (Dean Benton) and niece Betty (Phyllis Ludwig) search for Nadji with the help of the the white Yogi (Josef Swickard) but are pitted against the Lemurian's slave army of natives. Can Nadji be saved and the dark cult defeated? Stay tuned next episode to find out...

A fun serial full of campy nonsense, as usual many of the sets and costumes are recycled from other productions. Including the doors from King Kong. A notable thing about the serial is that Bela Lugosi plays the hero for a change. The serial is vaguely a sequel to the 1932 film Chandu the Magician though Lugosi played the villain in that one!

The 20 Questions Murder Mystery (1950)

An interesting premise for a murder mystery. The BBC radio show Twenty Questions is receiving anonymous clues the panel has to guess. Afterwards strange murders take place...

When the show, which includes the real stars of the show at the time including Richard Dimbleby playing themselves, starts receiving these mysterious clues Bob (Robert Beatty), a reporter, thinks from the start there is something suspicious going on. He thinks they are linked to some motiveless murders. His newspaper is sceptical though as are the police (Edward Lexy). However rival journalist Mary (Rona Anderson) also thinks something is up and soon faces danger herself...

Sometimes the film is a bit slow and the tone is curiously light at times but a very reasonable crime drama with a nice twist at the end.

Bulldog Drummond's Peril (1938)

Bulldog Drummond (John Howard) is in Geneva about to marry Phyllis (Louise Campbell) at last but a plot involving fake diamonds delays the marriage yet again...

Scientist Professor Goodman (Halliwell Hobbes) has found out a way to create perfect artificial diamonds and intends to give his invention away. Industrialist Sir Raymond Blantyree (Matthew Bolton) has made a lot of money from rocks and thus isn't too keen on diamonds suddenly being made worthless and so aims to stop the scientist...

To make matters more confusing a rival scientist Dr Botulian (Porter Hall) also wants to stop the competition and claim the artificial diamonds for himself. So begins capers across Europe back to London and various (and sometimes a bit confusing) disguises and cases of mistaken identity. Drummond is assisted by Algy (Reginald Denny) and Tenny (E.E. Clive) of course to various degrees...

Maybe not quite as fun as some other Bulldog Drummond films but a pleasing adventure romp complete with evil schemes, (mad) scientists with labs full of sparkling electricity and plenty of action including a final whip vs sword fight!

Light in tone the film has it's fair share of whimsy and nonsense including a penguin in a top hat. Long suffering police chief Colonel Nielson (John Barrymore) is on hand to continue squeezing life out the joke about his title.