His First Flame (1927)

Harry (Harry Langdon) is determined to marry Ethel (Natalie Kingston) with whom he is head over heels in love. His uncle the Fire Chief (Vernon Dent) tries his best to stop Harry from marrying but to no avail. However, it turns out that Ethel is just after Harry's money (her sister Ruth Hiatt is the one really with the hots for Harry) and his heart is broken. He spends the night at the fire station in despair then a building catches fire and Harry has the chance to be a hero and find love after all...

A simple and fairly charming little comedy. There is some good humour, some of it quite dark at times too. The final set-piece in the burning building gives ample opportunity for crazy stunts and visual gags.

City That Never Sleeps (1953)

An unforgettable Noir crime drama. Johnny (Gig Young) is a reluctant job who hates his job and his life. In fact he plans to start anew. 

After a final night shift he is going to quit the force, work for crooked lawyer Biddel (Edward Arnold) and shack up with a stripper called Angel Face (Mala Powers)! Well it is good to have a plan, unfortunately nothing really goes to plan that night for Johnny.

The events slowly unfold that night in Chicago as Biddel's scheme for Johnny (arrest the upstart Hayes Stewart (William Talman) and dump him over state lines) falls apart and Johnny suffers a terrible loss. All the while he is being shadowed by a rather strange Sergeant (Chill Wills). 

This is a rich Noir full of suspense though played with a light touch and a touch of the mystical, sharp dialogue and quirky oddities. It includes a man who's job is to pretend to be a robot in a club window!

Undercover Agent (1939)

A reasonable little film. Postal inspector Bill (Russell Gleason) is suspended from his job - in a rather odd manner (he foils a crime but uses his official gun). He finds out about a gang and their scam selling fake lottery tickets. He decides to go undercover and investigate the scam, and break it up (and thus get his old job back...)

One complication is his girlfriend Betty (Shirley Deane) or rather her alcoholic father Tom (J.M. Kerrigan) who always seems to get in the way. He is a rather annoying character, we first see him trying to pawn Betty's confirmation locket in order to buy booze!

The sometimes novel characterisations elevate this film above the mundane. The plot is basic and everything is all right in the end. And they all went home happily for tea (though Tom would rather something stronger!) 

Hangar 18 (1980)

An excellent science-fiction / conspiracy theory film if a bit crazy. A space shuttle mission goes wrong when a satellite the astronauts launch hits... something. That something being a UFO which lands in Arizona and is taken to a secret installation called Hanger 18. The President's man Gordon Cain (Robert Vaughn) doesn't want news of the discovery coming out so close to the election so everything is kept top secret, and for some reason the astronauts Steve (Gary Collins) and Lew (James Hampton) are blamed for the lost satellite and death of their colleague.

To be honest this seems a rather strange way to go about it, and as Steve and Lou understandably want to find out what is really going on they are soon leaving a trail of carnage and dead Feds across the US. Meanwhile at Hangar 18, the scientists are making some incredibly discoveries including about the origin of mankind...

A good fun film though somewhat marred by the bizarre actions of the US government and very inept way they go about it (though some might cynically say this makes the film authentic!) The investigation of the alien ship is excellent. The politics less so.

Lust for a Vampire (1971)

Proving there was more to British vampire films than Christopher Lee in a cloak, the heirs of the Karnstein use the blood of a maiden (of course) to return to life the beautiful and evil Carmilla Karnstein. The locals warn of dark deeds taking place in the Karnstein castle...

However, when novelist Richard Lestrange (Michael Johnson) turns up at the castle he finds a rather strange finishing school run by Giles (Ralph Bates). The latest pupil is the rather gorgeous Mircalla (Yutte Stensgaard), with whom Richard falls in love and he manages to get a job at the school as a teacher...

Then the deaths start to occur, at the school and the village. Could it be Mircalla is actually the evil Carmilla?

An exotic and fun romp of a film though with a rather incoherent plot. You might not be too bothered about that though due to the amount of cleavage on show.

Drugs Are Like That (1969)

A bizarre little film warning children about the dangers of drugs. The film shows children indulging in normal childhood antics like building lego and stealing from the cookie jar and then the narrator Anita Bryant warns the viewer that "drugs are like that!". 

Basically anything you might do also be dangerous, we cut to a child swinging on a rope over water which snaps, and the child ends up drowning. Drugs are like that apparently!

So it is rather strange and rather weird. Whether it would stop anyone trying drugs is doubtful. You might feel you have dropped some acid after watching it.

Ninja Condors (1987)

A remarkably over the top ninja film (even by the standards of the genre!) As a boy Brian (Alexander Lo Rei) witnessed his father torn apart by motorbikes, but was saved by a cop. Now he is a man and part of a brutal ninja crime syndicate led by Lucifer (George Nicholas). However Brian's heart isn't really in all the killings involved and he is kicked out of the gang. Though next Lucifer orders him to be killed (which makes the decision to let him go in the first place a bit strange, but plot coherence isn't the film's strongest point).

Brian meets a guy called Eddie (Eugene Thomas) and they start a strange friendship. They also become targets for Lucifer's gang. Many many fights follow, including involving Lucifer's girlfriend (Mary Johnson). Eddie turns out to be a cop and using Brian to get the low-down on Lucifer's gang...

The action in this film is completely over the top with many ninja wire-fu stunts. The sheer insanity of the action really makes the film. There isn't a great deal of story, but there are quite a few decapitations and lots of throwing stars.