An American slave captain decides to become respectable but finds a mutiny on his hands.
Part of our history but the idea of slave ships is deeply troubling. This is quite well done, plenty of action and the scenes with the slaves, albeit brief, are the most effective. Mickey Rooney steals the show with a high energy role as a cabin boy. Some of the scenes were a little dark, but more than anything else, this was a thought-provoking movie. 5/10
In 1943, a refugee doctor from Nazi Germany uses new methods to rehabilitate those with spinal injuries in Great Britain. Based on actual events
Remarkable story, beautifully acted, it tears at the heartstrings and yet you have to admire the dogged, determination of Dr Ludwig Guttmann. You almost wanted this to be a series of hourly episodes, this surely only scratched the surface. Released in the year of the UK 2012 Olympics, the final couple of minutes unashamedly brought a lump to my throat. 8/10
A young outlaw is arrested and seems destined to be lynched; the marshal tries to see fair play.
Fred MacMurray seems to come up in my movies at least a couple of times a year, this is an excellent Western. Makes you think and understand the pressure and dilemma the marshal is under. Decent, well played out finale. 9/10
A man-ape is discovered in a pothole and trained by a lady scientist.
Watching Joan Crawford step from the golden Hollywood age to the 1970's is slightly distressing at first, yet she is brilliant, actually really believable and it was a pleasure to watch her last big screen role. The script is not great, a lot of the acting questionable and yet this has a real heart, sends so many thought-provoking messages and I ended up enjoying it thoroughly. A shame there were a few Hammer Horror type moments which let it down slightly. 7/10
An attempt to pass off a fake heiress to an English stately home is prevented by the resourceful butler.
Jodie Foster is perfect as the sassy, American Tom-Boy and Niven in my opinion, was best in this sort of role. Lots of high-jinks and slapstick humour, the last 15 minutes was surely the inspiration for Home Alone? 7/10
