In cold blood 1967

Starring: Robert Blake

An account of a real life crime in which an entire family was brutally murdered by wandering gunmen.

Harrowing story which was very effective in black and white. For the majority of the story, you never saw the crime committed, you just heard a scream. I thought this was brilliant, sadly in the last 20 mins we were  shown a depiction of the gratuitous violence. Somehow, you couldn't take your eyes off this movie.       7/10

The Kettles on Old Macdonald's farm 1957

The third of the Kettles series that I've seen. They're just good old-fashioned, harmless viewing. This didn't make me laugh quite as much as the others but I still found lots of it amusing. Just lots of slapstick joined together with a fairly loose plot really.         6/10

He walked by night 1948

Starring: Richard Basehart

A burglar becomes a cop-killer and is hunted down by the police.

A little like Criminal minds from the 1940's. Some of the police profiling was interesting, the movie zipped along at a good pace with a convincing villain. Also interesting to see the climax down the LA storm drain tunnels. Quite a good little thriller.             8/10

 

Son of Kong 1933

Starring: Robert Armstrong

After Kong has wrecked New York, producer Carl Denham flies from his creditors and finds more monsters on the old island.

The inevitable sequel. Not up to the original, but it is short and quite a laugh with the monster not bad for its day.                    4/10

Night of the juggler 1980

Starring: James Brolin

A new Yorker relentlessly pursues the kidnapper of his daughter.

Certainly never boring, the pace and action never ease and James Brolin's character must have the stamina of a marathon runner. Not a great advert for New York, apart from a couple of exceptions, I wouldn't want to spend more than 10 seconds in the company of any of the characters major or minor from this movie.                                     7/10

Bird of paradise 1932

Starring: Joel McCrea

An adventurer on a South sea island marries a native girl and causes trouble.

Apart from the beginning and end, Joem McCrea is the only one speaking English. So you here a lot of quite possible made up foreign language and suitable south-sea, occasionally dramatic music. Having said that it was amusing enough, a sort of Tarzan who speaks the perfect Queen's English.      6/10

Prisoner of war 1954

Starring: Ronald Reagan

Life in a communist prison camp in Korea

Not sure how factual this was or whether it was propaganda. What it was, even after 6o years, was hard-hitting. Some of the torture methods used were simply barbaric and whatever the circumstances, no human being should ever treat another like this. Interesting, thought-provoking and just made me a little angry.         6/10

The Odd couple 1968

Starring: Jack Lemmon

A fussy divorse-shocked newswriter moves in with his sloppy sportscaster friend, and they get on each other's nerves.

I'm not the greatest fan of Lemmon or Matthau or to that matter Neil Simon. So I wasn't expecting much from this movie. But being contrary, I found myself loving it. Some of the throwaway lines were hilarious and the two leads complemented each other perfectly. The four poker friends were great and you really felt they were all comfortable in each others company and had known each other for years. Finally, the Pigeon sisters were wonderful and utterly hilarious. This will teach me to pre-judge a movie!   8/10

I'd climb the highest mountain 1951

Starring: Susan Hayward

A Methodist preacher and his wife face the problems of life in a remote part of North Georgia

Pleasant enough viewing with likeable characters. The problem was, they were all likeable, there wasn't really any light and shade and I felt the movie could have been a little more hard-hitting in places. It copped out rather as an ending and you never felt that you'd got a full-rounded story. Having said that, it was easy viewing.     5/10

Odette 1950

Starring: Anna Neagle

A Frenchwoman with an English husband spies for the French resistance, is caught and tortured.

Well acted by Anna Neagle with an endearing performance also by Peter Ustinov. Occasionally, this movie hit the mark but I found the pace too slow and it lacked a required despiration and build up of tension.       4/10

Golden earrings 1947

Starring: Ray Milland

A British intelligence officer is helped by a gypsy to sneak a poison gas formula out of Nazi Germany

A mixture of drama and comedy. Ray Milland is dashing and Marlene Dietrich  makes the most of her every moment on screen, she also has the most gorgeous pair of eyes I ever remember seeing. This is just a little bit different and forgetting the fact that the plot is slightly daft, I loved it!
My one criticism, starting the movie in the future removes the element of suspense as you know that Milland's character will come out alive.            8/10

Go for broke 1951

Starring: Van Johnson

World war 2 exploits of Japanese-American soldiers.

Has a semi-documentary element to it as well as being a routine action war movie. The uniqueness of this outfit gives the movie interest and it is presented with a certain lightness that made it likeable.     5/10

 

The Stars look down 1939

Starring: Michael Redgrave

The son of a coal miner struggles to become an MP.

Every now and then I bump into one of these gritty, British, working class dramas. The movie drifted along somewhat with some drama at the beginning and an excellent last 25 minutes. If anything, it needed to be longer, as storylines and relationships were worked on but not built up sufficiently to give the movie additional impact.     5/10

The Man who haunted himself 1970

Starring: Roger Moore

After recovering from a road accident, a staid businessman finds that he has an evil doppelganger who steals his wife and job.

Despite the daft premise, a truely awful performance by Pelham's lover, a bizarre performance by his doctor and a tune that ran through the film that I'll be humming for days, I actually rather enjoyed this. Moore in his prime playing a different kind of role.           9/10

Africa screams 1949

Starring: Abbott & Costello

Two dumbells go on safari with a treasure map

I've always been a bit of a fan of Abbott & Costello. This was one of their better movies for me, a tight plot and although this made me smile, rather than laugh out loud and occasionally the gags went on just a little too long, this was an enjoyable start to Sunday mornings in 2014.      7/10

The Beautiful blonde from Bashful Bend 1949

Starring: Betty Grable

A temperamental saloon entertainer accidentally shoots the sheriff and takes refuge as a schoolmistress.

The opening scene with a 3 year old learning to shoot was disturbing as could be. Once over that, the movie bombed along at a good pace but just tried way too hard to be funny. Most of the humour missed the mark although it was always watchable thanks to the delightful Betty Grable. The twin brothers gave a master class in over-acting that went way, way too far.      5/10 

Paradise Hawaiian style 1965

Starring: Elvis Presley

An amorous airline pilot returns to Hawaii and sets up a helicopter service.

I'm a fan of Elvis films. This is not one of his best with a plot barely worth mentioning and all the songs lacking a little energy, but it's still easy viewing, pleasing on the eye and leaves you with a smile on your face.           5/10

The Cheaters 1945

Starring: Joseph Schildkraut

A selfish and ostentatious family is reformed by the ministrations of a down-and-out actor

In the Christmas selection of an online movie site, it could be done under the trade descriptions act. Other than a lit Christmas tree, some carol singers and vague references to Scrooge, this didn't feel Christmassy at all. Very, very dull.           1/10

Rose of Washington Square 1939

Starring: Alice Faye

Tribulations of a Broadway singer in love with a worthless husband.

The story is instantly forgettable to be the honest,  but the songs aren't bad and there's lots of them. The song and dance routine to the title number 'Rose of Washington square' is spectacular and the movie was worth seeing for this alone.       4/10

Black angel 1946

Starring: Dan Duryea

A drunk sets out to find the murderer of his wife, and finds it was himself.

Thriller with strong lead performances that was made all the more memorable due to a neat twist in the last 15 minutes. Peter Lorre is his usual sinister self despite a woman he was threatening, towering over him.     7/10

Peck's bad boy 1934

Starring: Jackie Cooper

Adventures of a well-intentioned but accident-prone boy in a midwestern town.

Quite a moving little drama of a boy who lives with his widowed father and finds out that he's an orphan when his Aunt and cousin come to stay. Very dated and the bad behaviour in this day and age isn't given a second thought. But Jackie Cooper carries this movie and gives a strong and thought-provoking performance.         7/10

Johnny Angel 1945

Starring: George Raft

A seaman solves the mystery of his father's ship, found empty and adrift in the Gulf of Mexico.

Standard little thriller. It had its moments but never really caught fire. The actors lacked attack and it seemed extremely single-paced for a lot of the movie. Elderly secretary Miss Drumm was the only character of real interest - A nice performance.     3/10

Falling in love again 1980

Starring: Elliott Gould

A middle-aged New Yorker remembers his young romances and his dreams of success.

This starts of in a dreamy kind of way and struggles to get out of first gear. It does have a certain charm though and I did find myself completely wrapped up in the story. Elliott Gould was great and nice to see Michelle Pfeiffer in a very early role. The moral for me in this, despite the happy ending, is that you should never go back.      6/10

Eyes in the night 1942

Starring: Edward Arnold

A blind detective sets out to discover whether a mysterious man engaged to an heiress is really a Nazi spy.

A standrad crime plot is made  a lot more interesting with the lead character being blind. The broken Mother - step-daughter relationship adds another twist. Edward Arnold is really rather good in the lead role & this is a more than watchable little thriller.              7/10

Nocturne 1946

Starring: George Raft

A police detective investigates the death of a c composer.

Standard, was it murder or suicide movie. Some of the plot was acceptable as were a few of the characters. the main problem was that George Raft played the central character with a total lack of charisma and it just resulted in the whole thing being a little dull.          4/10

Triple echo 1972

Starring: Glenda Jackson

In 1942, a soldier's wife welcomes another soldier to her farm for tea; He desertsand poses as her sister.

Highly unusual movie, one of Glenda Jackson's more watchable roles, Oliver Reed as menacing and powerful, he may have had his issues but he really was a brilliant actor.     8/10

Separate tables 1958

Starring: Burt Lancaster

Emotional tensions among the boarders at a British seaside guest house.

Adaptation of the play by Terence Rattigan. John & Ann were Americonized for reasons that I couldn't understand. The whole thing was fascinating, mainly due to the strong performances by all the cast. David Niven gave as strong and vulnerable performance as I have ever seen from him.      7/10

Princess of the Nile 1954

Starring: Debra Paget

An Egyptian princess of the middle ages leads her country against the invasion of a bedouin prince.

Egyptian Queens, middle eastern noblemen, harems and sword fights. As colourful and easy on the eye as this was, the plot came over as frankly ridiculous but a light-handed delivery kept the movie as vaguely enjoyable.   4/10

Hindle wakes 1952

Starring: Lisa Daniely

A Lancashire millgirl spends a week at Blackpool with the master's son but causes a scandal when she refuses to marry him.

Very dated and British in its values. Basically, a holiday romance ends in tragedy causing a girl to be 'found out' about spending a week with a man. We then get a moralistic and class related debate about whether she should marry him. Probably more cutting edge and relevant when it was released, this was still quite an enjoyable watch.                                                6/10

Home to danger 1951

Starring: Rona Anderson

An heiress returns after her father's death and finds herself purued by a murderer.

Small British thriller. This is how movies should be! Fast-paced, easy plot to follow and not too long. Quicksand, a man with a claw, gun fights and a slightly dumb youg man. All good fun    7/10

Born to win 1971

Starring: George Segal

A Times square junkie with delusions of grandeur runs out of luck.

I found a couple of scenes in the first 10 minutes watchable, after this I was born rigid. Not sure if it was supposed to be a drama, a comedy or what. Segal was utterly unconvincing. The psychedelic music and lights were probably in at the time but are now just an irritation. A very poor movie despite a few very big names being in the cast.         1/10 

Spirit of the people 1940

Starring: Raymond Massey

Episodes in the political and domestic life of Abraham Lincoln

As a person from across the pond, I found this utterly fascinating. Not sure if it was all completely true, but good to start the day with a history lesson. Massey gave a real charm and likeability to the role and although it was easier to watch in the first half of the film, the second have was enthralling and thought provoking.     7/10

The Killing of sister george 1969

Starring: Beryl Reid

An ageing lesbian actress is fired from a TV serial and her life collapses around her.

A saw a stage version of this last year and wanted to see the movie. What I hadn't realised was what a brilliant performance I was about to see from Beryl Reid, one of the most complete acting  demonstrations you are ever likely to see. Sussanah York grows as the film progresses and is equally as good. Quite frankly, I was absolutely enthralled from beginning to end.     10/10

Ellery Queen: The Spanish cape mystery 1935

Starring: Donald Cook

The first in this series of B-movies that I've seen. Started okay and had a likeable quality but soon got too confused. The lead character is a little too smart for me and his deductions verge on the ridiculous. Having said that, I've seen worse.      3/10

Arizona Bushwhackers 1968

Starring: Howard Keel

A confedorate prisoner is given a chance as a western sheriff.

Howard Keel is always a likeable actor to watch. The whole spy plot thing is a little thin but the one handed fist fight was fun and the whole ending quite good although the townfolk have to be the worst shots I've seeen in a western for quite some time.       6/10

Undercover man 1949

Starring: Glenn Ford

US treasury agents indict a gang leader for tax evasion.

I usually really enjoy Glenn Ford movies, This, I found really dull with a slow moving plot, delivery of lines all played on one level and a premise that just never grabbed my interest.  2/10

Adventure in Manhatten 1936

Starring: Jean Arthur

An actress helps an ace reporter to foil a bank robbery by a master criminal.

An extremely watchable crime caper with both Jean Arthur & Joel McCrea, putting in delightful performances. Have to say, the stage set for the WW1 drama that covers the attempted robbery was brilliant.     6/10

The King and four Queens 1956

Starring: Clark Gable

A cowboy braves the wrath of a lady sharpshooter to gain gold and the hand of one of her four daughters.

Western's were so plentiful in their day, that you needed an original story for a movie to retain your interest. This certainly is original. Gable has never been my favourite actor and once again, he lacked personality and just seemed to drift throught the film. The old lady was marvelous and the four women a delight. It was fun seeing which one Gable would eventually end up with.    6/10

Mr Motto in Danger island 1939

Starring: Peter Lorre

One of the more enjoyable movies in the Motto series, I do feel if they made the plots a little simpler, the whole series would have risen above B level status. Motto's gorilla, wrestler companion was an amusing distraction.     5/10

The Big wheel 1949

Starring: Mickey Rooney

The son of a racing driver is determined to follow in father's footsteps.

Rooney was at his best in my opinion when he was this sort of age. A likeable character given able support by his mum, boss and girlfriend. Some of the racing early on was less than interesting but the final Indeanapolis race was gripping stuff.      6/10

Working girl 1988

Starring: Melanie Griffith

A secretary outsmarts her female boss in business and love

Well known Hollywoo movie with the engaging Melanie Griffith in lhe lead. The plot is fairly implausible, but it has an easy-watching charm about it but, wow do the women have big hair!!   6/10

Ma and Pa Kettle go to town 1950

The second movie that I've seen from this series and again it was terrific. The charm of the couple cannot be underestimated and as daft as the plot was, it made me laugh out loud on several occassions. The scene where they catch robbers by Pa calling a square dance was brilliantly original.   7/10

A Stranger in town 1943

Starring: Frank Morgan

A supreme court judge on vacation finds himself sorting out crooked local politicians.

A light, law related drama. There was always a light-hearted edge to this movie and the whole thinng was all the more watchable due to the likeable performances from the three leads. I could even forgive the stirring patriotic speach at the end.    5/10

The story of GI Joe 1945

Starring: Burgess Meredeth

Journalist Ernie Pyle follows fighting men into the Italian campaign.

Standard guns and bomb war film that touches on the human element. Probably held a lot stronger weight when it was made. It's very dated now and hasn't stood up too well in time. A few interesting scenes, otherwise, seen it all before.      3/10

Serious charge 1959

Starring: Anthony Quayle

A small-town troublemaker, accused by his priest of being responsible for the death of a young girl, amuses himself by accusing the priest of making homosexual advances.

Cliff Richard's first movie although he wasn't in in too much. Anthony Quayle is absolutely excellent as the almost too good to be true boxing, 1st division footballing, youth-club running priest. Although the movie is dated, the subject matter is almost more relevant today than it was at the time.     7/10

Five branded women 1960

Starring: Silvana Mangano

Five Yugoslav girls have their heads shaved for associating with German soldiers, and after various adventures joing the partisans.

What could have been sentimental, romantic slush is actually a gritty, compelling drama full of tension. The bleakness and hoplessness of these lives are brilliantly portrayed. An unexpected gem.   8/10

The Primrose path 1940

Starring: Ginger Rogers

The youngest of a family of shanty-town prostitutes falls in love with an honest hamburger stand proprietor.

Gingers Rogers and Joel McCrea have a good chemistry and Rogers family are suitably disfunctional. The picture gets a little cluttered at times both with the characters and dialogue but generally is an easy-view where you end up rooting for the family to fall upon better times despite one of the most precocious young girls I've seen on film for a very long time.            6/10

Love on the dole 1941

Starring: Deborah Kerr

Life among unemployed cotton workers in industrial Lancashire between the wars.

Gritty but watchable drama set in North West England when unemployment was through the roof, factories were closing and nobody had any money. Getting more relevant again by the week!   7/10

Road to Bali 1952

Starring: Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour

In and around the South seas, with colour making the sets obvious and the gags only tediously funny.

Well I reather enjoyed it! At its best with the song and dance routines, this is packed with gags, some hitting the spot and others flying well wide of the mark. Nice to see the occassional cameo from other stars and a lotof the special effects/silliness actually worked quite well. I just need Zanzibar & Utopia for the set.        6/10

A Lion is in the streets 1953

Starring: James Cagney

An itinerant confidence trickster becomes a defender for the people, is nominated for governor, and becomes corrupt.

Cagney brings a tremendous energy to this role which starts out as a charming little family adventure and ends as a political thriller. It is difficult to like his character but he is certainly charismatic and is able supported by some strong perfromances.       6/10