Dick Turpin (1925)

Dick Turpin (Tom Mix), of course, was a brutal criminal in reality though this film portrays him as a movie hero. Turpin is a dashing hero alongside his friend Tom King (Alan Hale) and this is standard swashbuckling fare with plenty of splendid horsemanship (with the famous screen horse Tony as Black Bess) and fighting (sword, guns and fists).

Dick Turpin has a girl (Kathleen Myers), but she is due to wed in a terrible marriage. Dick Turpin manages to get the girl after a series of adventures including a rather good boxing match. This is a typical silent movie epic with splendid costumes, sets and a huge cast of extras.

Tom Mix (with Tony the Horse) was the top on-screen cowboy of the silent movie era so it is interesting to see him in a different era, even if much of the action is similar.

200 Motels (1971)

As crazy as you imagine a Frank Zappa long-feature would be. This isn't really a film as such, more like a very long music video of Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention interspersed with various strange vignettes including Keith Moon as a hot Nun, Donald Duck on drugs and Ringo Starr playing... Frank Zappa!

Nothing makes sense of course, it is a freeform kaleidoscope of music and art. The music can be very good, everything else can sometimes be a bit more miss than hit but certainly worth seeing (maybe just the once). Frank Zappa said he wanted to show how touring could make you crazy. He certainly succeeded. 

The film is a little too self-indulgent if we are to be honest. A film of it's time, which can be a good and a bad thing.

The 13th Man (1937)

An enjoyable crime drama, even if the identity of the murderer is a bit obvious. DA Sutherland (William Gould) is about to announce his next target for investigation when he keels over, later it is discovered that he died due to a poison dart. Radio announcer Swifty Taylor (Weldon Heyburn) begins an investigation into who bumped off the DA, with the help of his friend Jimmy (Milburn Stone). The police are also investigating but of course Lt. O'Hara (Robert Homans) takes a back seat to Swifty!

When Jimmy is also killed, on his wedding day, Swifty knows that he is also in deadly danger. His secretary (and girl) Julie (Inez Courtney) is also acutely aware that Swifty may soon share Jimmy's fate. But who is behind the murders? The DA listed a whole host of potential suspects, Swifty brings them all to his radio studio to make the grand reveal...

A tight and fast moving drama. The film keeps you guessing as most of the investigation carried out by Jimmy and Swifty is purposely kept vague, however watchers of these kinds of murder mysteries will soon get a good feeling as to who the murderer probably is! Hardly very original, but a very acceptable little film.

Emergency Call (1952)

Although a bit plodding at times, this is a very interesting and engaging film. A young girl is dying in hospital, her only chance is a complete blood transfusion but she has the rarest blood group of all only shared by a handful of people in the country. Scotland Yard in the shape of Inspector Lane (Jack Warner) helps Doctor Carter (Anthony Steel) track down the blood donors required...

And they are a varied lot with a number of stories to tell, including the boxer Mahoney (real boxer Freddie Mills) who is having to take a dive on the advice of his spiv manager (Sid James). They also include the sailor (Earl Cameron) who refuses to help but won't give his reason. Then there is Jackson (Geoffrey Hibbert) who is wanted for murder. Lane tracks him down in a dramatic showdown in a dark warehouse...

A medical and crime drama with a difference. A very realistic film with good and natural acting. Maybe not the most thrilling of films but certainly compelling enough with emotion and tension aplenty especially from the child's mother (Joy Shelton). 

21 Days Together (1940)

Despite the star power in this film it fails to shine that brightly. Larry (Laurence Olivier) is a wasteful young man with a highly successful lawyer (Leslie Banks) brother on the verge of being a judge. Larry is in love with Wanda (Vivian Leigh), though they both have a surprise when they arrive at Wanda's home and find her husband (Esme Percy) there! 

The husband is happy to leave his reluctant wife's life again in return for money. Larry flies into a rage and the husband dies by accident. Larry leaves the body in the alleyway and is persuaded by his brother not to admit his crime. Larry's resolve fails when he discovers an innocent former priest and now beggar (Hay Petrie) has been accused of the crime... Larry decides he will confess to save the beggar, but first he will enjoy 21 days of happiness with Wanda...

A decent film but little more. Leigh and Olivier give a rather soppy performance, though Banks is superb as the lawyer who has everything in his grasp but his wasteful brother could ruin it all for him. A little melodramatic though the scenes in Southend-on-Sea are excellent fun.

The Son of Tarzan (Serial) (1920)

Tarzan (P. Dempsey Tabler) and Jane (Karla Schramm) are now in London, though their son Jack (Gordon Griffith) dreams of being in the jungle like his father. He is discovered by Paulovich (Eugene Burr), his father's old enemy, and kidnapped. Jack is taken to Africa but there he escapes with the help of an ape, one of his father's old friends. Jack is given the jungle name Korak.

Korak grows into a man (Kamuela C Searle) in the jungle along with Meriem (Manilla Martan), whom he had rescued from Arab slave traders. Paulovich is still up to his devilish schemes and he lures Tarzan and Jane to Africa. The stage is set for a final showdown between Korak and Paulovich...

An interesting serial, Tarzan stays in the background for most of it leaving his son to drive the story which is just as well as the actor isn't the best Tarzan ever. Korak and Meriem do well throughout the many cliffhangers and plot twists. Unfortunately the serial can become a bit repetitive at times and could have done with a little more originality. A decent enough Tarzan portrayal though.

Duel (1971)

A simple and highly compelling film, one of Steven Spielberg's earliest full features. David (Dennis Weaver) is travelling across California when he overtakes an oil tanker, something snaps in the tanker driver's mind and he becomes obsessed with getting revenge on David and killing him in the ultimate road rage.

Nothing deters the tanker driver, he will even destroy a gas station in order to kill David. David knows that no one is going to help him in the isolated desert. He has to kill or be killed...

This is a simple film, built around the duel between David and the unseen (apart from his arm) tanker driver. Quite why the tanker driver loses it is never explored and the story is both simple and ridiculous but the film really works. 

One main reason is the abstract, and indeed pointless, nature of the menace makes it all the more sinister and dangerous.