South Of St Louis 1948

Starring: Joel McCrea

Before the civil war starts, southern farmers are plagued by Union guerillas.

Standard civil war movie but with some good fights and action scenes. All fairly hum-drum.  6/10

Beautiful Creatures 2000

Starring: Rachel Weisz

Two girls thrown together by their boyfriends’ violence accidentally kill one of them.

I'm not a huge fan of back comedy. But this onee is not bad and did make me laugh out loud on a couple of occasions. Rachel Weisz looking gorgeous throughout did not harm at all.      6/10

Uncertain Glory 1944

Starring: Errol Flynn

During World War 11, a French playboy sacrifices himself for his country.

I love Errol Flynn, but this is not his greatest work. Very downbeat with strings of long narrative. It's just not very interesting. It sounded like he was called Jean Picard, the Star Ship Enterprise would have livened things up a little.     4/10

career 1959

Starring: Anthony Franciosa

An actor from the midwest finally gets his chance in New York.

A very downbeat type of movie. I'm a fan of Dean Martin and yet he seemed rather subdued. I greatly admire Shirley Maclaine and yet she was way too over the top. Not their finest hours.      5/10

 

The Fighting Seabees 1944

Starring: John Wayne

During World War 11 in the Pacific, construction workers atatck the Japanese.

Considering how prolific he was, I don't see a lot of John Wayne movies. All a little propaganda driven, Wayne is just a little one dimensional, his jitterbug scene was particularly uncomfortable to watch. Some good action scenes at the end.      5/10 

Heart Of Midnight 1988

Starring: Jennifer Jason Leigh

An emotionally disturbed woman uncovers the dark secrets of a nightclub left to her by her uncle.

I loved the first ten minutes of this movie, it seemed to have real potential and Jennifer Jason Leigh seemed interestingly quirky. Sadly, in no time at all, it descended into macabre, disjointed, silly nonsense that was not very well executed and was just plain unpleasant. Such a shame, score was good though.      4/10

City Girl 1930

Starring: Charles Farrell

A city girl finds rural life has its own dramas

In all my years of doing this, I can't remember ever having a silent movie before. I actully really enjoyed it. Nicely filmed, a cracking backing score that really helped move the movie along and plenty of drama. Old fashioned in so many ways and probably all the better for it.         6/10

The Dark Man 1950

Starring: Maxwell Reed

A mysterious murderer haunts a seaside resort.

Came across as a B-Movie, probably more suited to showing on TV. Typical policeman falls in lov with a lady involved in the case and this is followed by a manhunt. Not bad but never really came across as watching a motion picture.        6/10

Highpoint 1984

Starring: Richard Harris

An industrialist is on the run from both the Mafia and the CIA.

What on Earth? Not sure what Richard Harris and Christopher Plummer were thinking of. Terrible script full of pointless car chases, bad gags and misplaced humour. We even hd a speeded up scene straight out of a Benny Hill. Not good!           5/10


 

Doctor Blood's Coffin 1960

Starring:  Kieron Moore

A disbarred doctor sets up in a Cornish tin mine and begins to emulate Dr Frankenstein.

Nothing original about the plot, but this had a couple of things going for it. The characters in the main, were so natural that you believed in them and the Cornish scenery was simply stunning.    6/10

The Commandos strike at Dawn 1942

Starring: Paul Muni

Norwegian commandos outwit the Nazis with the help of the British navy.

Unusual to see a war film set in Norway and I actually thought this was rather good, don't know how historically accurate it was. Just made me shake my head once again at how utterly pointless war and fighting is.        7/10

I Married A Witch 1942

Starring: Frederic March

A Salem witch and her sorcerer father come back to haunt the descendant of the Puritan who had them burned.

Basically, like watching Bewitched. Loads of special effects, doors shutting by themselves, flying brooms etc. Quirky comedy too. Forget the plot, just good fun to watch.       6/10

Double Harness 1933

Starring: Ann Harding

A girl sets out to trick a rich man into marriage.

I'm having a bad run! Unintersting and unfunny. Thankfully, it was not too long.       2/10

The Woman On Pier 13 1949

Starring: Laraine Day

A shipping executive is blackmailed by communists, who know of a youthful crime, into helping them spy.

Melodrama, just not very interesting. Lots of dramatic music but the plot never gets anywhere close to a crescendo.   4/10

Whiplash 1948

Starring:  Dane Clark

A painter becomes a prizefighter

Reasonable melodrama. Nothing more sinister than a villain in a wheelchair. There are too many boxing movies out there and it just thought that this cried out for a little more originality. Nice performances though.        4/10

Eight Iron Men 1952

Starring:  Bonar Colleano

In the ruins of an Italian village, eight American infantrymen wait for relief.

Bleak, with an excellent set. Not a fan of flashbacks and daydreaming, but the frustration, despair and dire conditions were nicely portrayed.      5/10

The Divorce of Lady X 1938

Starring: Laurence Olivier

A nobleman's daughter wins a barrister by posing as a divorce client

Screwball comedy, dated but fun in places. Is this the first screening of "To me, to you, to me, to you..."?  Fun in places         5/10

Palookaville 1995

Starring: Adam Trese

Jerry and his two pals, Russ and Syd, are just looking for some easy money to help them break out of their nowhere lives in their nowhere town. Despite a bungled jewelry store heist which exposes their incompetence as criminals, a fateful event (and an old black-and-white film) convinces them that they can pull off an armored-truck robbery. While they are busy plotting their caper, their dysfunctional families spin out of control all around them.

Definitely quirky, but there was something likeable about this movie. The whole idea of trying to tunnel into a jewellery shop but actually reaching a bakery next door, amused me from the start and the characters had an easy charm.      6/10

The Honkers 1971

Starring: James Coburn

An ageing rodeo rider has trouble with his wife.

I like rodeo riding, who doesn't? But there's only so much you cn watch, the rest of the movie has to be interesting. For me , this just didn't cut it. Too much talk and not enough interest. Shame as it had potential.       4/10

Born Losers 1967

Starring: Tom Laughlin

California teeny-boppers claim to have been gang-raped by wandering motorcyclists.

Difficult to watch at times with a truly repulsive motor cycle clan. The fashions in this movie are jaw-dropping, the young female lead when first seen on her bike is a sight enough to make you walk headfirst into a lamppost.    6/10

Bad Compnay 1972

Starring: Jeff Bridges

During the civil war, two youths on the run team up and become outlaws.

Jeff Bridges movies never quite seem to come off for me. A sort of Western road movie, this meandered along without too much ever making you really sit up and take notice. The occasional shocking scene and kept my attention, I just felt it could have delivered so much more.    6/10

Warlock 1959

Starring:  Henry Fonda

The cowardly citizens of a small western town hire a gunman as their unofficial marshal.

Hell of a cast, with Deforrest Kelley from the original Star Treks my favourite. Some good scenes, wll acted and a great little town created. Was just overlong.     6/10

Street Scene 1931

Starring: Sylvia Sidney

In a New York slum street on a hot summer night, an adulterous woman is shot by her husband.

Over acting, very poor lighting and a collection of voices all talking over each other. Understandable for the time, but I lost patience with it quite early on.      3/10

Conrack 1974

Starring: Jon Voight

A young white teacher is assigned to an all-black school in South Carolina, and after some difficulty makes friends with children and parents.

Seen many films of teachers turning around a difficult school. This movie fills you with sadness, hope, laughter and ends with you shaking your head in despair. Jon Voight is energetic, charismatic and just downright inspirational. A movie that hooked me from the first frame, I loved every second.                                                                                                                                           10/10

Appointment with danger 1949

Starring: Alan Ladd

A nun becomes the government's chief witness in identifying the murderers of a US postal inspector.

Nuns, gangsters and inspectors don't really mix. All a little heavy handed and weighed down with monotone dialogue. Expected shoot-out at the end didn't bring anything knew to the table.   4/10

Never a Dull Moment 1967

Starring: Dick Van Dyke

An unsuccessful actor is mistaken for a notorious gangster.

What an odd pairing Dick Van Dyke & Edward G Robinson were. All in all, I rather enjoyed it. Certainly not a classic and full of usual Disney slapstick humour, some missed and some hit. But it left a smile on my face and although over-egged, was not a bad movie.     7/10

Wagonmaster 1950

Starring: Ben Johnson

Adventures of a Mormon wagon train journeying towrds Utah in 1879.

John Ford movies are always good value. I particularly enjoyed the natural behaviour of the horses that seemed to be ever so slightly out of control throughout the whole film. Reasonable plot with a few exciting moments. Not gripping, but interesting and not bad.     5/10

Street of chance 1942

Starring Burgess Meredith

An amnesia case discovers that he is wanted for murder.

I've seen a few amnesia movies over the years. This started well but got bogged down in a bit too much detail. Did like the blinking old woman though, an old trick but quite nicely done.   5/10

High Barbaree 1947

Starring: Van Johnson

A pilot crashlands in the Pacific and finds himself drifting towards a Utopian island fancifully described by his favourite uncle.

Good start but then when go into flashbacks, I am not a fan of flashbacks. The story finally engaged me after about 45 minutes and the plot did all come together. Some good points and some nice scenes, a few negatives too.   6/10

Ordeal by innocence 1985

Starring: Donald Sutherland

An explorer returning from an Antarctic trip discovers that an acquaintance has been two years in prison for murder, and he might have saved him.

I'm a big Agatha Christie fan but don't think her novels transfer too well to the screen. This could have been worse, some scenes and the style, I didn't particularly like and yet the mood and music fitted quite nicely. The cast seemed to be going through the motions somewhat, but the story was strong enough to hold my interest. Donald Sutherland, so often madly quirky played this as straight as I've ever seen him play anything.       7/10

The Bank Dick 1940

Staring: W C Fields

In Lompoc, California, a ne-er do well accidentally stops a hold-up, is made a bank detective, acquires deeds to a worthless mine and interferes in the production of a film.

Oh, how comedy has changed in 70 years. A star vehicle, there was continual slapstick and knockabout comedy, all of which in this day and age, did not for the most part, even raise a smile.    2/10

Escape Route 1952

Starring: George Raft

Man on the run turns out to be FBI agent on the spy trail.

Post-war spy thriller. Nice pace to the movie and a reasonably well crafted plot. Sally Gray was delightful and thankfully added some colour to the movie as George Raft delivered all his lines in exactly the same way and lacked any kind of charisma.     6/10

Lloyds of London 1936

Starring: Tyrone Power

A young messenger boy in the 18th century grows up to found a great insurance company.

Interesting epic of a film, fun to see a young Horatio Nelson floundering in the water early on. The story really came together late on, I would have like to have seen the movie maybe equally featuring the stories of Blake and Nelson. Well acted though and interesting from a historical point of view.    6/10

The Pagemaster 1994

Starring: Macaulay Culkin

A cowardly boy, who buries himself in accident statistics, enters a library to escape a storm, only to be transformed into an animated illustration by the Pagemaster. He has to work through obstacles from classic books to return to real-life. 

I'm not the greaest fan of live/animation movies, Bedknobs & Broomsticks excepted. I enjoyed the live action stuff at the beginning and end, the animation scenes, although well done, weren't really for me.      5/10

Oliver Twist 1948

Starring: Alec Guinness

A foundling falls among thieves but is rescued by a benevolent old gentleman.

A classic that I've seen so many clips from and yet had never seen in its entirety. A brilliant lesson in characterisation throughout. So dark and must have been a horrendous time to live in. Dickens movies can be so clunky at times, but this is an absolute masterpiece.    8/10

In the Meantime Darling 1944

Starring: Jeanne Crain

A wealthy bride lives in an overcrowded boarding house to be near her husband's army camp.

Very confused movie with everyone talking over each other. Went at 100mph and never gave anyone enough time to enjoy any humour put in. I got bored with it very early and it never managed to get me back.  2/10

The Man Who Could Cheat Death 1959

Starring: Anton Diffring

A surgeon looks 35 but is really 104, having had a series of gland operations performed on himself.

Hammer horror movie that I found on Netflix. Was Christopher Lee in every horror film ever made? Ludicrous plot and over the top acting. The thing about these Hammer horror movies is that they really aren't even in the remotest bit scary. Special effects right at the end were hilarious and I enjoyed the movie through a nostalgic grin.     5/10

The Revengers 1972

Starring: William Holden

A rancher gathers a posse to hunt down the Indians who have allegedly murdered his wife and family.

A bit like the Magnificent Seven. William Holden was a strong, believable lead and the movie was heightened by stunning scenery and the always enjoyable to watch Ernest Borgnine. I found the ending a little unsatisfactory but on the whole, an enjoyable watch.           7/10

Call Of The Wild 1972

Starring: Charlton Heston

During the Klondike gold rush, a stolen dog becomes a miner's best friend before joining the wolf-pack.

Now, I like a dog film as much as the next man, in fact I preferred Rebel to Champion The Wonder Horse, but this was not good. Yet another disappointing Charlton Heston performance. I found this on Youtube nd the colour of the movie seemed very washed out. The constant dog yapping was an annoyance and there were wooden performances wherever you looked. A few bright moments however saved it from being a complete right-off.             4/10 

Journey into Fear 1942

Starring: Joseph Cotton

A munitions expert finds himself in danger from assassins in Istanbul, and has to be smuggled home.

Typical spy, melodrama. Not bad and had a good climax with a cheesy exit line. My main issue was with a few of the supporting characters. They were so caricature that they came across as completely unbelievable. Always interesting though to see these old Hollywood classics.   5/10

The Disappearance 1977

Starring: Donald Sutherland

An international hit man finds that his wife has disappeared.

Donald Sutherland's movies are often quite odd. Any excellent movie needs light and shade. This started dour and remained so throughout. It wasn't that it wasn't occasionally interesting, it was just all very much on a level and just a little strange.     5/10

Dreamscape 1984

Starring: Dennis Quaid

Experiments prove that it is possible for a dreamer to enter the dreams of others, and a subjext finds himself being used for a plot against the president of the US.

Quite a nice idea for a plot and early on, I thought it was working. Then it got a bit confused for me, some of the fantasies just seemed a little pointless and the apocalyptic style ending was unlike the rest of the movie and just seemed totally out of place. Ended up missing the mark for me.     4/10 

The Black Parachute 1944

Starring: Larry Parks

An American Soldier parachutes into a mythical European kingdom to free its king from the Nazis.

Standard war, spy thriller. Not badly done. Plenty of pace and action. Nothing overly memorable and clearly propganda inspired, not bad though.    5/10
 

Excuse my dust 1951

Starring: Red Skelton

The inventor of a horseless carriage loves the daughter of a livery stable owner.

 This was really rather jaunty. Made me laugh out loud more than once and was a mixture of musical and quirky comedy. The race at the end was amusing, when you think back to when vehicles were first being invented, how far we have come!       6/10

Every day's a holiday 1937

Starring: Mae West

A confidence girl in the old Bowery sells Brooklyn Bridge to suckers.

Considering she is such a 20th century sex icon, I was amazed at how few movies Mae West made. She totally carried this and gave an enthusiastic, energetic performance. You know the comedy is going to miss the mark when the soda water in the face gag is dragged out. Had it's moments but all about Mae West.      4/10

Cairo Road 11950

Starring: Eric Portman

An Egyptian police chief lays traps for drug smugglers.

Not a bad movie but I felt like it was trying to achieve too much. The plot became a little muddled, although there were lots of good action scenes, they seemed to zip along and you were on to the next scene before you knew it. I'm a fan of Eric Portman, but he was a little pedestrian in this.      5/10

The Unguarded Moment 1956

Starring: Esther Williams

A schoolmistress who receives annonymous love notes from a psychotic pupil is discredited by his even more unbalanced father.

At times, quite a tense little thriller. All 'Who's behind the flashlight' type moments. Plenty of suspects to consider and the whole thing moved along at a reasonable pace.    7/10

The Hostage 1956

Starring: Ron Randell

A South American President condemns a revolutionary to death; In London, sympathizers kidnap the president's daughter.

A fairly original plot. Although some of the villains are a little unbelievable with their posh accents and some of the stints are a little crude, this was a reasonably put together little drama.   6/10

Istanbul 1956

Starring: Errol Flynn

Various adventurers and an amnesiac girl seek stolen diamonds in Istanbul.

The plot is a little forced and besides Errol, the acting isn't up to much. But forget all that, this is worth seeing just for the moment where Nat King Cole sings 'When I fall in love' to Errol Flynn and his partner in a bar. Iconic movie moment!       6/10

Haywire 2011

Starring: Gina Carano

A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission. 

A comic book type lead character. A ridiculously strong cast, this looks great but has no meat on the bones. Terrible script, dull storyline and only a few well choreographed fights to save it from being a complete dud.    3/10

The Crowded Day 1954

Starring: Joan Rice

Problems of five assistants in a department store during the Christmas rush.

The problem with making a movie like this is that you have to introduce all the characters, keep all the stories interesting and reach a satisfactory conclusion for each one, all i 80 minutes. By and large, they did a good effort. There was humour, romance and a little drama. The story with Richard attis and the mannequin dummy was very amusing. Not bad at all.     7/10