The Green Hornet (Serial) (1940)

Classic comic book style thrills in this serial as playboy newspaper owner Britt Reid (Gordon Jones) decides to become a modern day Robin Hood and investigate a sinister syndicate behind a number of deadly industrial accidents...

With the help of his loyal servant, and technical wizard, Kato (Keye Luke) Britt creates a masked persona called the Green Hornet. With the help of his souped up car (which can apparently do 200mp/h) and his gas gun the Green Hornet begins his battle against the syndicate in a series of death defying stunts and cliffhangers...

So it is usual movie serial fare but done so well. Everything is performed at breakneck speed and energy, there isn't time to notice some of the flaky plot points such as the lack of any real explanation as to why a rich man would want to start wearing a mask and tangle with brutal crooks. However this isn't the time and place for lengthy exploration of Reid's disposition, there is a cliff hanger to set up in a few minutes!

The Green Hornet is played more as a vigilante than later super heroes who lacked the same cool air of ambiguity. This was an adaptation of a radio serial, interestingly while masked as the Green Hornet Jones' lines were dubbed by the radio actor of the radio serial Al Hodge.

Way of the Black Dragon (1979)

Allison (Cecilia Wong) is a young Thai girl who is kidnapped by gangsters and trafficked to HK. She is just one of a number of poor girls sent to HK as drug mules and then sold to a grim life of prostitution or as wives to unsuspecting locals. Allison's fate is the latter and she is to become the wife of local worker and kung fu expert Chen (Carter Wong). When Chen finds out the real reason Allison was in HK he wants to help her get back home to Thailand (and marry her for real) but she'll also need the help of US agent Bill (Ron Van Clief)...

Along with Allison's brother Hsiao Ho (who just so happens to be a handy fighter too) our heroes work to bring down the evil syndicate led a rather laughable gwailo villain. There are a lot of fights, many of them rather random (the film makes little sense of course). The film starts off rather slow though improves a lot when Van Clief finally makes an appearance about half way through the film. The action then comes pretty thick and fast.

Sometimes sleazy, often violent, none of the film really makes a lot of sense but for a chopsocky 70s martial arts action film it does the job. The quality of the film making is rather suspect but the terrible dubbing makes the nonsense entertaining.

Youth on Parole (1937)

Philip (Gordon Oliver) and Bonnie (Marian Marsh) just happen to be standing outside of a jewellers which is robbed by The Sparkler's gang. The crooks plant loot on the naive youngsters who end up getting arrested in the confusion and go to gaol!

Now released Philip and Bonnie find it hard to make a new start but love sparks between the two. Finally they find out how they were framed by The Sparkler (Miles Mander) and begin a plan to bring him to justice and clear their names...

A fairly straight forward little crime drama with a heavy dose of melodrama. The leading couple of quite appealing together and the film has good production values despite the B movie budget. The story doesn't tear up any trees but does a good job.

The Locked Door (1929)

An enjoyable early talkie crime melodrama. Eighteen months before slimy businessman Frank (Rod la Rocque) is taking his slightly naive secretary Ann (Barbara Stanwyck) on a rum boat. He plies her with booze and tries to have his wicked way with her, but her honour is saved by a police raid...

Now Ann is happily married to Lawrence (William Stage Boyd) and living with him and his young sister Helen (Betty Bronson). To Ann's shock Helen has a new boyfriend... Frank! Lawrence finds out Frank has broken up his friend's marriage with his womanising ways and goes to have it out with the cad. A struggle ensues and Frank lies dead. Lawrence flees and locks the room... a complication being Ann was already hiding in the apartment having arrived earlier to have it out with Frank herself...

A simple enough plot but enjoyably done. The final act with the police investigation by the DA (Harry Mestayer) is quite exciting with a couple of plot twists. An early talkie which avoids some of the flaws of the period though is fairly static, you wouldn't be surprised to find out this was adapted from a stage play. Literally a locked door murder mystery and fine for that.

The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)

A fun and sexy re-telling of the Frankenstein story. Young Victor Frankenstein (Ralph Bates) is a man of passions and plenty of sneers. Obsessed with his dark medical research, he arranges for his father's death simply because he is in the way. Now with his father's castle and money behind him he is ready to push the boundaries of science and make... man...

All this happens while his friend Wilhelm (Graham James) increasingly becomes disgusted of Victor's experiments and buxom maid Alys (Kate O'Mara) looks on with bewilderment (when she isn't in Victor's bed). Victor arranges for human body parts to be stolen from graves by the wonderfully sinister Dennis Price and begins to create his monster (David Prowse)...

Although the story covers no new ground as far as the story is concerned Bates is great as a cocky bonking and utterly amoral young Frankenstein. The only really flaw in the film is the monster itself which hasn't got the best Frankenstein's monster make-up ever. Prowse certainly looked better in his Vader suit.

The Play House (1921)

A music hall comedy farce where Buster Keaton plays twenty different characters! It seems at the play house Keaton is the big shot... Indeed only show in town as he is everything in the theatre from stagehand down to orchestra to stage performer... but then he wakes up from his dream to his reality as just a humble stage hand.

Mayhem soon follows Keaton around, mayhem which involves a performing ape, minstrels and ends in the play house being turned into a swimming pool...

An incredibly inventive comedy that packs more into a few minutes than most films can pack into hours.

They Came From Beyond Space (1967)

A formation of meteorites lands in Cornwall, a group of scientists led by Lee Mason (Jennifer Jayne) investigate but are soon taken over by invisible aliens (when you are making a low budget sci-fi movie invisible aliens are always handy). Meanwhile Dr Curtis Temple (Robert Hutton) wonders what has happened to his girlfriend Lee and why the scientists need so much equipment...

Dr Temple investigates the site and finds a major operation taking place, even rockets being launched towards the Moon. The personnel at the site are hostile but find they cannot take over Dr Temple as he has a silver plate in his head after a recent road accident...

With the help of his friend Farge (Zia Mohyeddin) Dr Temple develops a detector for the aliens, steals a few ray guns and then ends up on the Moon to face the Master (Michael Gough)...

It is all rather cheesy and very of it's time, it is also very British as the aliens are very polite. Despite the flaws this is a quite reasonable sci-fi film.