hwg1957-102-265704

This is the second 'Boston Blackie' movie with Chester Morris (a solid performance) and it is as fast moving and fun as the first one, with our hero getting involved in murder and art theft, helping a damsel in distress, avoiding a previous inamorata and being one step ahead of the police who want to arrest him. It is routine but is directed with a light touch that entertains. The good supporting cast includes George E. Stone in his first of many appearances as The Runt, Harriet Hilliard as the wronged Diane Parrish (didn't Mrs Nelson have a lovely voice?), Lloyd Corrigan as the bumbling Arthur (the running handcuff gag was good) and Joan Woodbury as the scheming Mona. The latter's scene when she wrecked the apartment must have been fun to shoot . It's a low budget film but put together competently. Despite the movie's title there were no confessions from Boston Blackie, not even what he and Mona got up to!

One of the great Japanese films of all time. It repays viewing again and again and is a million miles from a modern day hyperactive movie. The narrative unfolds at a stately pace but it grips you from the start and doesn't let go. You get to care for the characters as they go through some tough times in a country at war with itself. What impressed me the most were the three main female characters. Mitsuko Mito as Ohama, deserted by her husband who is in search of military glory, and ending up in a brothel. Kinuyo Tanaka as the potter's wife Miyagi struggling to keep her family together. And most of all Machiko Kyo as Lady Makasa, the gentle ghost who craves an impossible dream. All three actresses are riveting. A film full of deep emotion and not to be missed.

One could sort of see see what the director Claude Chabrol was getting at in the film but I found it all rather boring. Partly it was the bleak colour palette of the cinematography and partly the stilted manner in which it was acted. Standing out in the cast though was Alan Bates as Dr. Marsfeldt (who was vaguely based on Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse character) and he at least holds one's interest though the purpose of his scheme was unfathomable. His speech at the end where he tries to justify his actions is gibberish, as he says he drove people to suicide because in their hearts they only desired death when of course it was evident that none of them did. The musical score of over dramatic borrowed classical melodies or grating industrial noises did not suit the movie. Overall dreary and dull.

The love making scene intercut with war and disaster stock footage was so juvenile I actually laughed out loud. A strange choice for such a veteran director.

Crowbarring a Raymond Chandler story into the Falcon's milieu doesn't quite work but there is a lot to like in this fast-moving and entertaining story. It has of course George Sanders as The Falcon (a man everyone seems to know!) and he is watchable as always. Lynn Bari as the eager newspaper reporter Ann Riordan is sweet and sassy. James Gleason is good as the grouchy Inspector O'Hara. Ward Bond is quite chilling as Moose Malloy. (In fact when he first appeared I thought it was Mike Mazurki who played the role in a later film. It was the way he spoke.) Unfortunately I found Allen Jenkins as comic sidekick Goldy rather wearisome but other reviewers are more positive about him. The complex plot is crammed into the sixty-five minute running time so some of it doesn't make sense. A longer film would have been better but as it is, it is still good.

My last thought was sympathy for The Falcon's unseen fiancee still waiting at the airport never to be picked up!

Early on in the film a character exclaims "What the deuce is that?" and that probably describes the unfathomable plot of the film. It ranges from aliens in woolen balaclavas abducting people to conspiracies to shadowy government machinations and then out of the blue at the conclusion a psychic woman is consulted. The abrupt ending doesn't help clarify matters. It is narratively set in England but is the most un-England version of the country ever committed to film. It looks decent enough though the POV shots are achingly slow so you get a lengthy entry into a room forwards and a sedate withdrawal from the room, backwards! Marcello Giombini provides the music score but one hardly notices it. The acting is OK with Robert Hoffman solid as the main lead. The great Martin Balsam plays a detective but isn't in it much. He is unfortunately dubbed with an ill-fitting voice.

Some reviewers cite the similarity of this movie to the later television series 'The X Files'. I agree. I couldn't understand that one either.

The mighty Hercules goes to Babylon to rescue Esperia Queen of the Hellenes and finds her before killing the King of Assyria and pulling down the city. He does the latter by using a big screw in an underground cavern attached to many metal chains which when rotated affect the foundations of the city. Babylon crumbles somehow. It sounds silly and it is but the mechanism itself looks great. The whole film looks good in 'Eastmancolor' and the sets and costumes are quite acceptable. Peter Lupus (aka Rock Stevens) looks the part of Hercules and is in fine fighting form. The film also benefits from the dazzling Helga Liné as Taneal, one of the treacherous rulers of Babylon. Not the best of peplums but entertaining nevertheless.

There is an 'I'm Spartacus' scene which actually works well. I was moved.

Roger Moore may have considered himself miscast as Rufus Excalibur ffolkes but he's good fun in his role as the gruff, cat loving expert in counter terrorism at sea called in by Lloyds insurers and the British government to foil a plot to ransom some North Sea oil rigs by a gang of villains led by Kramer and Schulman. It's an old fashioned adventure movie and I was thoroughly entertained. Apart from Sir Roger I liked James Mason as grumpy Admiral Brindsen, Jack Watson as the captain Olafsen of the hijacked boat and Lea Brodie as the crew member Sanna. The main villains Kramer and Schulman played by Anthony Perkins and Michael Parks were also excellent, and Perkins was intense and Parks was mild but they were both scary. They seemed to be more than friends. The cinematography by Tony Imi and the music score by Michael J. Lewis added to the appeal of the film. Definitely worth a watch.

A pretty good superhero serial with Batman and Robin in conflict with hooded arch-villain called The Wizard. The plot might not be that original (and sometimes rather baffling) and the identity of The Wizard is rather ridiculous (a twin brother!) but there are plenty of car chases and fisticuffs to keep up the excitement. Robert Lowery as Batman and Johnny Duncan as Robin are fine and the supporting cast good enough with the usual group of behatted henchmen battling the dynamic duo though Jane Adams as Vicki Vale doesn't get much of a look in. The batmobile is an ordinary car but the batcave set is seen a lot, furnished with its own hovering bats! Some of the cliffhangers are obvious but that doesn't spoil this watchable 15 part serial.

The film is based on a play by A. A. Milne and it does show, the main action including the murder being confined to one large room. It is also quite talky like a stage play. The murder occurs after half an hour and we see who are the culprits, the remainder of the movie being how their guilt is established. The film is too long, its 98 minute run time could have been done in 80 minutes. The solving of the mystery is interesting and the last scene between the murdered man's niece and one of the murderers is quite tense but entertaining. The acting varies and some of it betrays the age of the movie but I enjoyed gruff C. Aubrey Smith as Uncle Arthur and charming Dorothy Boyd as his nice niece Mollie who investigates the crime.

An uncredited Jack Hawkins in his first film appears as a servant. A small start to a splendid film career.

A person is murdering artists' models in 19th Century Paris and floating their bodies down the Seine. Can the killer be the reserved and artistic puppeteer Gaston Morel? As he is played by John Carradine of course it is. Mr. Carradine is the best thing about the film, his sweet voice and gentle demeanour hiding something more tortured. His confession to the character Lucille at the close of the movie is quite moving. Ably supporting him is Jean Parker as the lovely Lucille and Ludwig Stössel as the dubious art dealer Jean Lamarte. Not to mention Ethelreda Leopold as 'Laughing Courtroom Spectator'. The print I viewed was not good but you could still appreciate the cinematography and the atmospheric sets. The plot of the movie wanders a bit but the melancholy tone works well.

I liked the film. Apart from the music which was too jolly and added nothing to the downbeat story.

Scientists and the military try to control 'dark matter' but things start to go awry, mainly because a loose metal bolt in space penetrates a space satellite. Or something like that. The film has a hazy plot where things are not really explained. Our hero Daniel Gray is zapped by 'dark matter' and then displays powers that don't make sense but are just convenient to the plot. Gray is played by a Baldwin brother and seems barely conscious throughout the movie. The rest of the cast are not much better. It is a low budget film but I did like the special effects, whether it was the machine hardware or the recurrent destruction or the 'dark matter' itself. So low on plot and drama but visually appealing. As was in the latter case Camille Sullivan as Ellie.

A ninja protected (?) Arab terrorist and a disaffected British police officer try to hold the USA for ransom by threatening them with the use of a nuclear weapon. The USA send in some SEALS who are captured, then American ninja Sean Davidson with his friend Brackstone who are captured and then finally send in schoolteacher Joe Armstrong who is the original American ninja. Battles and explosions and fights ensue through the film but it isn't that exciting, merely routine. Top billed Michael Dudikoff only appears halfway through the movie but doesn't add any zing to proceedings. Most of the cast don't either particularly David Bradley as Davidson who has the charisma of a lettuce. I did enjoy though James Booth as the Mulgrew, overplaying his villainy with great relish. The film sorely missed Steve James from the previous three entries in the series.

An entertaining start to the 'Boston Blackie' series with Chester Morris playing the titular character and he does it well with a winning mixture of charm, determination and humour. In this one Blackie returns from abroad and gets involved in foiling a foreign spy conspiracy, helped by his aide The Runt while being harassed by Inspector Faraday of the New York police. He also has the help of Cecilia Bradley (played by the delightful Rochelle Hudson) whom he 'meets cute' by basically stealing her car! All the actors are suitable for their roles and the movie zips along not wasting any moment in its sixty minute runtime. It looks good and the scenes in the amusement park are particularly well staged.

The great Byron Foulger has a brief appearance as a blind man who isn't really, always a welcome face in any film.

A sort of sequel to the first 'Tiger Claws' film from 1991. Some of the characters return but the story mostly ignores the previous film and swerves from a police procedural to a martial arts tournament to mystical time travelling. In the first film Bolo Yeung was a serial killer called Chong but it was never explained why and it's not explained in this film either. Chong here becomes a nice chap! Unfortunately Bolo and Cynthia Rothrock (looking lovely and when allowed to fight is awesome) are not in the movie that much leaving the lion's share of the plot being carried by producer Jalal Merhi who is a dull actor. Some thespian life is brought into the movie by Evan Lurie as Victor and Paul Rapovski as Patch but not enough to make 'Tiger Claws II' that thrilling.

Mention should be made though of the music score by Varouje which provides the only excitement in the film.

The plot is quite good and the twist at the end works well. It was mostly filmed on location which added to the setting of what is basically a chase movie. Director Rex Bailey keeps the story moving along nicely. Top billed George Brent is George Brent. I liked better ubiquitous character actor Morris Ankrum as the exiled and weary Tip Morgan and Alberto Morin as the faithful Pablo whose demise is rather poignant. Also liked Marvin Press as the unfortunate Cookie, viciously bumped off by his fellow gangsters when he sustains a wound. Unfortunately Hillary Brooke is wasted in her role, only appearing after half the movie is over. The film could have done with more of her charming villainy.

A martial artist called Chong goes around the city killing other martial artists for a reason that is never explained in this movie. It's a routine film but it does have some virtues. One is Cynthia Rothrock as policewoman Linda Masterson, looking rather dishy most of the time and of course excellent in the fighting scenes. Another is the great Bolo Yeung as Chong. His English might not be good but he has a sinister laugh and smile that is quite creepy. Sadly he only appears half an hour into the film. Another is the beaty music score by Varouje. The film is let down by a dull performance from Jalal Merhi as the other main lead Tarek. They should have just had Cynthia versus Bolo. This movie generated two sequels. Am not sure why.

With character names like Trash, The Ogre, Hot Dog, Ice and Witch this must be a post-apocalyptic film and indeed it is, The story is a bit bonkers but I quite enjoyed it. Filmed in widescreen and 'Telecolor' the film looks very good, particularly the distressed outdoor locations where you can imagine a world in decay. There is lots of action to keep the movie moving. Walter Rizzati's music score bolsters the excitement. Unfortunately our main hero Trash is played by an actor more wooden than a plank but the film does have the always cool Fred Williamson as The Ogre, George Eastman as Golan (though not in it enough) and Vic Morrow as Hammer. The latter giving a solid performance as the corrupt mercenary. Enzo G. Castellari may have not been a great director but he knew how to make an entertaining film and this is definitely one of them,

Not the most original of movies. An evil mastermind Lars Rynark holds the USA to ransom by planting a biological weapon in an oceanic trench. Our hero James Decker, a navy S. E. A. L., with another guy called Phillips assault rapidly the disused undersea research facility in search of the virus and Rynark who hides there. Cue lots of running around, shooting and submarine drama. It's not awful but it's not great. There are a few thrills. Decker is played by Tim Abell and he is the best thing in it, being heroic but wryly amusing too which he does very well. The rest of the cast are plain and not fancy, though I did like Ricky Worth as Talia. Apparently it is her only film role which surprised me.

A very confusing film. Am not sure what it was about, what the beginning and end meant and what the majority in between meant. It was a patchwork of scenes where things happen but why and what and who all escaped me. Which is a shame as there were some creepy scenes but they didn't add up to anything. Moreover the monster looked good and Paul Flannery as the troubled psychic Marcus was plausibly effective but both were let down by an incoherent narrative. Also the less said of the music score the better. The cottage location amongst the trees was atmospheric and the cinematography is to be commended but were wasted on a poor plot. With a tighter narrative it could have been so much better.

A group of people volunteer for a government sponsored medical research programme but there is something sinister afoot. This is a routine film with no excitement mainly consisting of people running wildly around the same corridors. The cast are forgettable and the characters they play are not appealing at all. I was waiting eagerly for them all to get killed. Which does happen eventually, the only good trope in the movie. The premise of the film is that the evil government as represented by Daniel Baldwin (hardly in it) are developing a gas which when sprayed on enemy soldiers will turn them into zombies so that they will kill each other. Which is a silly premise. The unoriginal script including such a hoary plot device as escaping through air vents shows the paucity of the writers' imagination. The after effect on me after watching the film was ennui.

The second in command of a nuclear stealth submarine hijacks said boat and demands one billlion dollars from the United States government otherwise Washington will be ash and rubble. The felonious scheme is foiled by a doctor and an electrician who are still on board the sub. It sounds like an exciting movie but it is derivative and dull, being like many other peril on a submarine movies. Our heroes played by Jason Gedrick and Chris Warren are not that interesting. The only bright spark in the film is lead villain Cdr. William Krieg going off his head, played by Eric Roberts, who has livened up many a poor film. It's just a sub-standard standard sub movie.

With anthology films if you don't like one story there's always another one to come. In 'The Monster Club' there are three tales. The first one about a shadmock is the best, it being creepy (that whistle!) but also poignant. Barbara Kellerman and James Laurenson shine in this episode. The second story is a feeble comedy about a vampire in suburbia which wastes its talented cast. The third about a film director trapped in a macabre English village isn't too bad with Patrick Magee standing out as the demented leader. Framing the stories is a dialogue between John Carradine and Vincent Price and they are a hoot. Unfortunately there are terrible musical sequences in the club itself that hold the movie up annoyingly. The film is well photographed and the settings are well designed but in the end only the shadmock story was worth the telling.

As mentioned Barbara Kellerman is great. Why she never became a bigger star does baffle one.

Watched the American re-dubbed version of this Soviet Union film under the title of 'Battle Beyond The Sun' from 1962. The movie has the world divided into two conglomerates, the Nothern Hemis and the Southern Hemis. Each Hemis sends a mission to Mars but after many incidents no one reaches the red planet. In the end each Hemis decide they will try again but this time in co-operation with each other. Which is a nice ending, a negative leading to a positive. Being (not well) dubbed one can't gauge the performances of the original Russian actors but it looks very good with lots of blues and reds giving atmosphere to the sets and costumes. It would be good to see the original in a good print in the Russian language with subtitles.

'S. N. U. B.!' definitely doesn't deserve the exclamation mark as it is a sluggish film that doesn't make much sense. Throughout the film I kept thinking that is quite silly and that is positively stupid. The editing doesn't help at making things clear either. The characters behave like no normal people would which makes the movie a chore to sit through. It is a low budget film so inevitably (though not necessarily) the special effects are underwhelming. You hardly see the mutated prisoners so they never become threatening or scary. As for the cast, the best actor was the goldfish in the bowl. Unfortunately the bowl was dropped and the cat ate it. Now that was horrible.

In a post-apocalyptic world a bounty hunter Attica Gage goes after a local warlord with whom she has a personal issue. More like a gritty western than a science fiction movie it is well shot and decently acted with lots of brutal action and some quite tense scenes. Attica Gage is played by Gina Corano and she is the best thing about the film. Of course her action scenes are believable but she also has presence, which not all movie actors have. She does stillness very well which makes the times when she is fighting exciting by contrast. She has a lovely smile too. John Hannah In support as the grizzled Doc is also good.