Detective Kitty O'Day (1944)

A bright and breezy crime drama, played for laughs with some fine charismatic characters.

Kitty (Jean Parker) works for a business man who is making a sudden trip to Boston, which means she must miss her date with Johnny (Peter Cookson). However, when she goes to her boss' house she finds him dead! 

His wife Mrs Wentworth (Veda Ann Borg) is a suspect of Kitty, who is off in amateur detective mode immediately, as she prefers to spend time with her fancy man. Inspector Clancy (Tim Ryan) suspects Kitty and Johnny as they always seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus they always seem to be around when another dead body is discovered...

This is a great film, made by Jean Parker's energetic and feisty character and her battle of wits with the police. Her acid scenes with Mrs Wentworth (who is obviously not a fan) are delicious. Fast moving and a lot of fun.

Sky Riders (1976)

A perfectly fine action romp, the most novel feature being the use of hang gliders.

Terrorists kidnap the family (including Susanna York) of industrialist Jonas Bracken (Robert Culp). They are demanding a heavy price for the family's return. Meanwhile, Mrs Bracken's ex Jim McCabe (James Coburn) - the father of her son - is also alerted. 

When he sees that the police investigation led by Inspector Nikolidis (Charles Aznavour) seems to be going nowhere fast, and the police want the terrorists dead more than the hostages released alive, he decides he must go into action himself. He discovers that the terrorists are using an abandoned monastery and concocts a plan using a group of hang gliding dare devils to silently swoop in and make a rescue. The police, however, are not quite as inept as he thinks and they are also moving in...

This is a good film with a straight forward plot which leads up to an extended gun fight. The terrorists are fairly dumb though put up a good fight. The hang gliding scenes in the Greek mountains are pretty spectacular. It isn't world beating but it does the job.

Buy and Cell (1988)

Our 1,500th review!

A zany, maybe sometimes a little too weird, comedy set in the world of high finance and other crime.

Herbie (Robert Carradine) is set up to be the fall guy by his boss. Now in prison for fraud, he finds himself sharing a cell with the somewhat deranged Sly (Michael Winslow) and threatened by the various prison hard men including Cowboy (Roddy Piper). He is also abused by the Warden (Malcolm McDowell) who wants to use Herbie's skills to make himself rich...

Herbie's only way out is to use his skills in high finance and make the convicts rich. He also has a plan to bring down the Warden and his crooked former bosses...

This is a rather crazy film, the prison filled full of bizarre characters, sometimes a bit predictable. It is an enjoyable film with plenty of high points though at times it does veer over the thin line between zany into annoying. Michael Winslow reprises his sound effect gimmick from Police Academy though this treasure could have been made a lot more of.

Dr. Morelle (1949)

If you can get past the rather condescending lead then this is a good crime mystery.

The niece of Kimber (Phillip Leaver), a wheel chair bound and irritable old man who lives in a country mansion, is sole heir to a fortune. However, Cynthia (Jean Lodge) is more interested in her beau Peter (Peter Lorimer), of whom Kimber disapproves. Cynthia vanishes without a trace, leaving Kimber the beneficiary. Cynthia's school friend Miss Frayle (Julia Lang), who works for the detective Dr Morelle (Valentine Dyall), decides to go looking for Cynthia herself and takes up a job at Kimber's house. She discovers some mysterious and potentially deadly goings on and calls in Dr Morelle...

This isn't that bad a film though can drag a bit at times. Dr Morelle treats Miss Frayle rather terribly which makes it hard to warm to his character. The twists at the end are good, but getting there can take some work. Dr Morelle was a long running character in BBC radio dramas though only made it to the silver screen this one time.

The Flim-Flam Man (1967)

An amiable comedy romp about con-men on the road.

Curley (Michael Sarrazin) is an Army deserter on the run from the MPs. He meets Mordecai (George C Scott) on a railway box car and discovers he is a con-man or flim flam man. The pair team up to con various towns folk out of their cash. 

However, the Sheriff (Harry Morgan) is hot on their trail, they team up with rich girl Bonnie (Sue Lyon) - Bonnie falling in love with Curley - to keep ahead of the Sheriff...

A decent film with two charismatic leads who work well together. The story can meander at times but the settings and light feel make this a fairly enjoyable film. The confidence tricks of Mordecai and how he executes them is very interesting. Not amazing but enough to be of interest.

The Spider (1931)

An early 1930s murder mystery that takes place in the strange world of magicians and hypnosis. What tremendous fun! 

Chatrand the Great (Edmund Lowe) is a famous magician. He is assisted by Alexander (Howard Phillips), whom he said he met some time ago and is suffering from amnesia. Beverley (Lois Moran) attends the show on the off chance that Alexander is her missing brother though her uncle, the financier, John Carrington (Earle Foxe) thinks it is all a load of nonsense. At the show Carrington is shot dead in the middle of Chatrand's act! Beverley discovers that Alexander is her brother Paul but not until Alexander/Paul becomes the prime suspect in Carrington's murder!

This is a great film with a host of amusing cameos including from some members of the Our Gang group. The mysticism of Chatrand is played for laughs, as are the bumbling police. Lowe steals the show with his charismatic performance. The story itself is a bit predictable and the plot a bit thin but the film looks superb and there is a decent twist.

1984 (1984)

A superb adaptation of the George Orwell classic tale.

It is 1984 and the world is now a dark dystopia of authoritarian rule by Big Brother, who uses disinformation and lies to control the population (with brutal security forces as well if all else fails). Winston Smith (John Hurt) is a low-level party operative whose job is to literally rewrite history to present the reality Big Brother wants, and to be happily consumed by the brain washed population. Smith however, is not a true believer and writes subversive thoughts in his diary.

He meets and falls in love with Julia (Suzanna Hamilton), another party operative who also wants something more than Big Brother will allow. They begin a secret (and illegal) love affair. Winston is contacted by a higher up party official (Richard Burton) who appears to be part of an underground movement. However, once again all is not what it seems and the secret double life of Smith and Julia soon comes crashing down...

The world building here is top notch, the world of Big Brother is dark and terrifying (especially the torture scenes) and also a warning to us all. A very good film. This was Richard Burton's final film before his death.