Ah Wilderness. 1935

 

Starring: Wallace Beery

Problems of a small-town family at the turn of the century.

A disappointing way to end the year, nothing of interest at all in this one despite yet another performance by the prolific Mickey Rooney.    2/10

Mr Soft Touch 1949

 

Starring: Glenn Ford

A gangster is reformed at Christmas by a social worker.

Alternative, low key gangster movie that takes a while to take off. Interesting alternative Christmas though.     4/10

Three Sailors And A Girl. 1953

 

Starring: Jane Powell

A ship's funds are unofficially invested in a musical show.

Surprising how few movies Gordon Macrae made, a routine musical with nothing overly original or toe-tapping.      5/10

Family Honeymoon. 1948

 Starring: Claudette Colbert

A college professor marries a widow whose three children join them on their Grand Canyon honeymoon.

This is just good, family friendly fun. Nothing much more to add, it's a movie that puts a smile ob your face with Phyllis the maid pretty much stealing the show.        6/10

Tammy And The Bachelor. 1957

 

Starring: Debbie Reynolds

A backwards tomboy falls for a stranded flier.

What a delight! I had a constant smile on my face throughout. Stunning locations, especially the houseboat, Debbie Reynolds is perfect as the young, charming Louisiana girl who is thrust into a different World. Loved it.    9/10

Big Trouble. 1984

 

Starring: Peter Falk

Two incompetent con men try to swindle an insurance company.

Movies like this are so frustrating. Cracking cast including the lovely Beverly D'Angelo who was a real favourite of mine from this era. The start was terrific with the scene well sent and it then descended into a muddled silliness. Such a disappointment.     4/10

A stranger In My Arms. 1959

 

Starring: June Allyson

A test pilot falls in love with his dead friend's widow and helps her face up to her in-laws.

Jeff Chandler id grounded, similarly this movie takes a while to take off. Stick with it, the melodrama builds to a great climax with Mary Astor terrific. Interesting to see Sandra Dee, famous from the Grease song and yet rarely seen.        6/10

A Good Man In Africa. 1993

 

Starring: Colin Friels

In a West African nation, the womanizing British 1st Secretary of the High Commissioner deals with different issues.

Watched this as a tribute to the great Sean Connery who passed away this week. A silly, light-hearted romp with no historical accuracy but it did put a smile on my face. Hell of a cast with Lithgow, Whalley-Kilmer, Riggings & Gossett Jr. also on show. Connery is stately and head and shoulders is the best thing in this movie. RIP Sean and thank you.    7/10

The Serpent And The Rainbow. 1987

 

Starring: Bill Pullman

A scientist travels to Haiti to investigate zombies.

Zombie movies these days are ten a penny and mostly rubbish. This movie is different, it has believable people, is well acted with good effects and is vaguely terrifying. Bill Pullman with his gentle drawl is a terrific actor when he's given good material and I thought he was great in this. A real Halloweeen surprise.      7/10

Jupiter's Darling 1954

 

Starring: Esther Williams

Advancing on Rome, Hannibal falls in love with the dictator's fiancee.

A little thin on plot, this seemed like an excuse for Esther Williams to be spend a lot of time underwater and Howard Keel to belt out songs. Harmless enough and I thoroughly enjoyed the dance number with the elephants.     6/10

Cry -Baby. 1990

 

Starring: Johnny Depp

A delinquent rock 'n' roll singer falls in love with an upper-class girl.

A poor man's Grease but without the charm or charisma. Like so many of Depp's movies, it's just a little odd. Still, the music is great and it's worth watching for that.     5/10

The Lone Wolf Spy Hunt. 1939

 

Starring: Warren Williams

A group of "spies" is after the plans for an anti-aircraft gun, and the leader uses the opportunity to embroil the Lone Wolf in the plot. Trying to settle an old score, this shady character implicates his old nemesis by forcing him to crack the safe where the plans are stored.

About a dozen short films were made with this character and this is the first that I've seen. Light hearted and kind of fun without having any great weight behind it.     4/10

Return To Macon County 1975

 

Starring: Nick Nolte

In the fifties, two wandering youths pick up a waitress and have serious trouble with a manic Policeman in America's unfriendliest area.

Routine road, buddy movie but win Nolte & Don Johnson, two serious A list  actors and worth watching for that. Lots to enjoy or you could just sit back and admire the scenery.        7/10

Laxdale Hall 1952

 

Starring:  Raymond Huntley

MPs are sent to investigate a tiny Hebridean island which refuses to pay road tax.

Charming, amusing, delightful scenery and a gentle accent you could listen to all day. Nothing changes, MPs hopelessly out of touch!     7/10

Peg Of Old Drury. 1935

 

Starring: Anna Neagle

The romance of 18th-century actress Peg Woffington with David Garrick

Cobwebs hanging off of this movie it seemed so old. Kind of charming though and Cedric Hardwicke was terrific as Garrick.   5/10

Go West Young Lady. 1940

 

Starring: Glenn Ford

A lawless Western town expects a sheriff who turns out to be a girl.

What an amusing little movie with some great songs and dance numbers, feel good stuff with Penny Singleton terrific.         8/10

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins 1971

 

Starring: Bruce Forsyth

Compendium of comedy sketches, a variable ragbag of old jokes.

Well, it's not a movie. Interesting to see a catalogue of well known and much loved comedians, sadly pretty much every sketch misses the mark. The segment with Harry H Corbett was rather sweet and sad too and was the only section that at one point made me laugh.       5/10

Ice Castles. 1978

 

Starring: Robby Benson

Nick and Lexie meet and fall in love at the ice rink. He goes into professional hockey; she becomes an Olympic champion but an accident leaves her blind.

How stupid a sport when you can be the best dancer but get a low mark as you're an unknot. That's not sport, it's an exclusive club. The blind thing is a bit 'Little House On The Prairie' but is still kind of moving.        6/10

Lady Godiva Rides Again. 1951

 

Starring: Pauline Stroud

A waitress wins a beauty contest and becomes a charm school starlet and later a stripteaser.

An enjoyable movie for star spotting with a host of well known actors in a variety of roles. Easy on the eye with some nice touches of humour, kind of ironic that all these young ladies were desperate to appear in a beauty pageant, exactly the same group that then went out of their way to outlaw them.   6/10

When The Bough Breaks. 1947

Starring: Patricia Roc

The bewildered wife of a bigamist allows her child to be adopted and then regrets it.

Well observed movie, must have been so hard to have been a single parent back in the day. Thought provoking and nicely acted.    7/10

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour. 1943

Starring: Jimmy Lydon


Henry Aldrich becomes the most sought after guy in town when he wins a date with a movie star.

Easy going movie with a genuine charm. Part of a series of about 10 movies and intended for second feature release, this had an innocence and gentle humour that puts a smile on your face.  
                   6/10

The Apple Dumpling Gang. 1974

Starring: Bill Bixby

Three orphan children strike gold in 1878 California

This is how I remember movies when I was young. Hapless villains, a funny sheriff and jaunty banjo music. All great fun with Harry Morgan absolutely stealing the show for me.      7/10

Reaching For The Moon. 1931

Starring: Douglas Fairbanks

On a transatlantic liner, a new cocktail has a sensational effect on a mild-mannered hero.

Considering its age, this is impressive but it has not stood the test of time and is just plain irritating apart from Fairbanks impressive acrobatics.        3/10

The Baroness And The Butler. 1938

Starring: William Powell

The Hungarian prime minister's butler is loved by a princess.

The prime minister's butler runs for parliament for the opposition, gets elected and yet still serves the prime minister. Original plot that allowed some nice, light hearted moments. An enjoyable movie, my only issue is why cast William Powell who looks American, sounds American and indeed, is American as a Hungarian and yet the princess was played with an accent.         7/10

The Seventh Sign. 1988

Starring: Jurgen Prochnow

A pregnant mother fears that the birth of her baby will signal the end of the World.

Nice to see Demi Moore, it's not that this is a bad movie, it's very well made and acted, it's just not a very pleasant subject matter. If you watched this with the lights off, late at night on a cold January evening, it could be terrifying.          6/10

Prudence And The Pill. 1968

Starring: David Niven

A girl borrows her mother's contraceptive pills and replaces them with aspirin, causing no end of complications.

Niven again. A fluffy sex comedy in the loosest sense of the word, an element of Upstairs Downstairs but interesting to see how much life and views have changed in fifty years. Jaunty little soundtrack that was a shade underused for me. Really rather likeable movie.       7/10

Q - The Winged Serpent. 1982

Starring:  Michael Moriarty

An ex-con on the run finds a monstrous Aztec god, a flying serpent, nesting in the spire of the Chrysler Building.

A decent enough horror movie forgetting the nonsense mythical aspect. Reasonable special effects for its time, that's still no excuse for the awful acting throughout. Been on my bucket list for a long time and nice to get it ticked off.   5/10

Never Look Back. 1952

Starring: Rosamund John

A lady barrister finds she must defend an old boy friend on a murder charge.

I do like a courtroom drama and this has its place. Interesting to see a lady barrister, such a shame that the plot focussed on her being involved in a potential sex scandal rather than on her abilities.
                                                                                                                                   6/10

The Dark Mirror. 1946

Starring: Olivia De Havilland

A police detective works out which of identical twin girls is a murderer.

Standard 'Which twin did it' thriller. Nice role for Olivia de Havilland who was very good. Few surprises other than that but a decent thriller.      6/10

Black Beauty 1971

Starring: Mark Lester

A luckless horse passes from hand to hand but is finally restored to its original young master and has a happy retirement.

A lot grittier than I expected and now how I remember the story at all. Very 1970's with lots of horse whipping and unpleasant violence along with keystone cop type humour.     6/10

The Man Who Finally Died. 1962

Starring: Stanley Baker

A German-born Englishman returns to Bavaria for news of his father, and becomes involved in a spy plot.

Slightly muddled thriller which is held together by the always reliable Baker. The main issue for me, is the clunky soundtrack which sounds like a bunch of year 5 kids were let loose in a music room and told to enjoy themselves.     5/10

Kid Blue. 1973

Starring: Dennis Hopper

In 1902 Texas a young outlaw tries to go straight.

Can't make up its mind as to whether it's a comedy, romance or Western drama. It's certainly odd and best remembered for the flying machine scene. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, but watched it mostly with a puzzled expression on my face.       6/10

Waist Deep. 2006

Starring: Tyrese Gibson

An ex-convict (Tyrese) gets tangled up with a gang after his car is hijacked with his son inside.

A plot that has been seen a hundred times before. Still a decent thriller with some great scenes and two engaging leads. Let down for me by excessive cussing and swearing which brings absolutely nothing to the table.      6/10

Dodsworth. 1936

Starring: Walter Huston

An American businessman takes his wife on a tour of Europe, and their lives are changed.

Great modernised re-print, lots of interesting location, unfortunately the constant arguing and bickering made it all rather tiresome.           3/10

Never cry Wolf. 1983

Starring: Charles Martin Smith

A scientist is dumped alone in the Arctic to collect evidence against wolves.

An odd movie in many ways and yet it hypnotises you in. Having spent a week north of the Arctic Circle last year, I'm not sure as this was nearly bleak enough. The wolves and the scenery are the true stars.      6/10

The Wizard 1989

Starring: Fred Savage

A young boy runs away with his almost-mute even younger brother in order to compete in a video game championship.

Found this on Netflix, a decent road movie with Fred Savage strong and interesting to see a young Christian Slater. Didn't buy in to the bounty hunter portrayal at all. Keep watching to the end and there is a quite moving scene that neatly makes sense of everything that's been going on.      8/10

Four Men And A Prayer. 1938

Starring: Loretta Young

Four young Englishmen set out to clear the name of their dishonoured father.

Starts strongly, then gets little convoluted and confused. Strong, harrowing firing range scene and a moralistic message about gun running. David Niven for the second Sunday in a row.      5/10

Guns Of Darkness. 1962

Starring: David Niven

A British plantation boss in Latin America escapes with his wife when rebels strike.

Decent drama with an excellent scene in a swamp halfway through the movie. Niven is very well cast and gives a great energy, James Robertson Justice didn't bark as much as usual but was still James Robertson Justice. Well worth a watch.       8/10

The Ipcress File. 1965

Starring: Michael Caine

An intelligence man traces a missing scientist and finds that one of his own superiors is a spy.

Finally got around to watching this. Some weird stuff in it but not a bad spy thriller. Caine is quite good but bettered by Gordon Jackson in a performance that surely influenced the role he later took on in The Professionals.                      7/10

Horrors Of The Black Museum. 1959

Starring: Michael Gough

A crime writer is fascinated by murder, and works out his own plots by practice beforehand.

A Hammer Horror type production which is about as scary as a walk to the local shops. Unintentionally funny with crude early style computers. Enjoyable purely because it is such nonsense.                 6/10

A Yank On The Burma Road. 1941

Starring: Barry Nelson

A tough truck driver in the Far East abandons profilings for heroism when he hears of Pearl Harbor.

A propaganda ra-ra movie, a little lost in time mow. An amusing start and action packed finish, bit in the middle wasn't great.       4/10

John And Mary. 1969

Starring: Dustin Hoffman

Two New Yorkers have a one night affair and cannot decide whether to continue.

Ah, the swinging sixties. Watchable at times and particularly early on, the movie never seemed to move on and there's only so long you can watch into peoples minds and listen to their conversations. Well cast leads.                5/10

Cry Vengeance. 1954

Starring:  Mark Stevens

An innocent man is released from jail and seeks vengeance against the man who framed him and killed his wife and child.

Standard drama with lots of pent up anger. A little slow paced and single level, it did build to a nice finish. There was an excellent bleach haired villain and the scenes with the little girl were delightfully done.         5/10

Brannigan. 1975

Starring: John Wayne

A Chicago policeman is sent to London to pick up a gangster.

This is an entertaining enough thriller. All the same old tired London cliches are dragged out including a car flying over an opening Tower Bridge, It's just that John Wayne is always exactly the same and never develops any characterisation. Even the usually reliable Richard Attenborough is caught hamming it up at times.     6/10

The List Of Adrian Messenger 1963

Starring: Kirk Douglas

An intelligence officer traps a mass murderer with a penchant for disguise.

Every now and then the movie industry loses a legend, I changed my plans and watched this as a tribute to Kirk Douglas. A decent little mystery this. The cast list at the beginning confused me but stick with this until the end. The most unexpected and excellent conclusion that I can ever remember. Great stuff.   7/10

Street Corner. 1953

Starring: Rosamund John

Days in the lives of the women police of Chelsea.

Enjoyable enough, but the whole thing was a little fragmented with not much continuity. Maybe a major plot line would have helped. The gimmick of having female police officers is kind of lost in this day and age.       6/10

Rosie. 1967

Starring: Rosalind Russell

A rich woman spends wildly and her daughters try to have her committed to safeguard their inheritance.

Rosalind Russell is terrific, a brilliantly created character, Sandra Dee as always is just lovely and a great contrast. Maybe the movie is little too over-dramatic, but well worth watching for the performances alone.                          6/10

Capetown Affair. 1967

Staring: Jamel Brolin

A pickpocket on a South African bus steals a purse containing secret microfilm.

The 70's came early with the fashions in this one. A very washed out print that I saw, acting was poor, script was not overly interesting, I hoped for some great shots of Capetown but was let down there too. Not great.       4/10

You're Never Too Young. 1955

Starring: Dean Martin

An apprentice barber on the run from a murderer poses as a 12 year-old child to travel half fare.

The plot is almost irrelevant. Martin is best when he's singing, Jerry Lewis, who has always overdone the silliness for me, is best in his dance scenes and one very funny scene when he's conducting a choir. Some good stunts and enjoyable fun.    6/10

Holy Matrimony. 1943

Starring: Monty Wooley

A famous painter comes back from exile for a knighthood; but when his valet dies of pneumonia, has him buried as himself in Westminster Abbey.

Really rather enjoyable. Monty Woolley is utterly believable and works really well with Gracie Fields. Would never happen now in these days of post mortars and DNA, but fun to watch.     7/10