There's a girl in my soup 1970

Starring: Peter Sellers

A randy TV personality finds himself outplotted by a waif he picks up

A sex comedy of sorts. Sellers character is horribly slimy but he is as convincing as ever. Goldie Hawn looks great but actually looks too good when Sellers first meets her, she needed much more of a rough edge. The whole thing was just not very believable and only made me laugh once.       5/10

That Forsyte woman 1949

 Starring: Errol Flynn

The wife of an Edwardian man of property falls in love with her niece's fiancé.

Period drama focussing on love, marriage & betrayal. Nice to see Flynn playing against type, he never once came close to a smile. A slow moving piece but the whole thing worked with all actors remaining true to their characters.       7/10

Tomahawk 1951

Starring:  Van Heflin

An Indian scout helps the Sioux to get their territory rights.

A run of the mill Western with the Sioux basically shown in a far better light than the cavalry. An Indian sympathiser is advising the soldiers, but which side will he fight on should war erupt?

The usual rotten apples basically causing the conflict.

Not great acting & a bit preachy. As with most Westerns, the locations were fantastic and in the movie, the horses looked fabulously turned out!        5/10

Predator 2 1990

Starring: Danny Glover

A heavily armed alien killer visits Earth.

I gave this one point for some clever use of CGI. Other than that, this is tiresome & predictable. Constant use of machine guns from the first frame, mass drug related murder, swearing, shouting and mostly bad acting. The whole thing lacks originality and intelligence. It's not big and it's not clever!      1/10

Kiss of the spider woman 1985

Starring: William Hurt

Fantasies of two prisoners in a South American jail.

A real slow burner of a movie. About half way through, following a conversation between Hurt & the prison governor, you suddenly twig what's going on and what the first hour has all been about. It then becomes utterly absorbing. Darkness & silence are cleverly used to build the tension. I was a little disappointed with the ending but two superb acting performances were well worth seeing.       6/10

Moonrise 1948

Starring: Dane Clark

A murderer's son is driven into violence by memories and fears of his childhood.

Melodrama where a man fights the inner demons he's had to live with since his father was hung when he was a young boy. Memorable mainly for the imaginative use of lighting and some strong supporting, acting performances. A bit single paced, but certainly caught my imagination and kept my interest.     6/10

Stranger on the third floor 1940

Starring: Margaret Tallichet

A reporter finds that he was wrong in the well-intentioned testimony which helps convict an innocent man for murder.

At only an hour long, this is a bit like watching an episode of your favourite TV show. The lead characters are personable & Peter Lorre (Never a favourite of mine) is only briefly in the movie. A decent plotline although I found too much time was spent listening & seeing the reporters thoughts and dreams. Overall, a short film which was very easy on the eye. 6/10

Arsenic and old lace 1942

Starring: Cary Grant

Two dear, well-meaning old ladies invite lonely old men to their Brooklyn home, poison them with Elderberry wine, and have their mad brother, who believes the corpses are yellow fever victims, bury them in the cellar. A homicidal nephew then turns up with bodies of his own.

A story that to my mind sits better on the stage. I'd like to have seen some of the victims being poisoned, it would have made the piece darker. Some great characters, namely both the aunts and their relative who thinks he's Roosevelt. Cary Grant, usually so dependable, shouts his way through the film and is actually quite annoying. A classic story but not my favourite adaptation. 5/10

The Courage of Lassie 1946

Starring: Elizabeth Taylor

For the first 20 minutes, all you see is a dog messing about with a bear & some birds. All very cute & scenic but could have been 15 minutes shorter. Lassie is called Bill in this film, why wasn't he just called Lassie? He gets brought up by a young girl, gets run down by a truck & is then enscripted in the army where he saves lives. After suffering a stress disorder he almost gets put down but is saved by a rousing, morale boosting speech. Not bad, once it got going. 5/10

Superfly 1972

Starring: Ron O'Neal

The New York adventures of black cocaine pedlars.

Blaxplotation, drugs movie set against a 1970's elevator music soundtrack.

Somebody will probably tell me that this was true to life. It's all just a little tedious & obvious. Too many scenes where the soundtrack takes over and we're left watching stills or silent conversations.Admittedly, the ending is well thought out and there's not as much bad language and blood hsed as you often see. Not the worst type movie of this genre I've ever seen, but a story line that's oh so obvious and has been seen hundreds of times before. 4/10

Two thousand women 1944

Starring: Phyllis Calvert

Two pilots try to rescue British women from a French concentration camp.

The heading above is misleading as it's the women who are trying to help the pilots escape. Set in an internment camp in an ex-hotel in occupied France, this is a light-hearted movie where even death is treated with throw away one-liners. The film builds well, has an exciting climax and unashamed patriotism at the end, absolutely suitable for when it was made. I rather enjoyed this film. 7/10

The Big sky 1952

Starring: Kirk Douglas

In 1830 two Kentucky mountain men join an exploration up the Missouri and become preoccupied with Indian trouble.

Overlong, tedious Western that I never engaged with for one minute. 1/10

The Go-Between 1970

Starring: Julie Christie

Staying at a stately home around the turn of the century, 12 year old Leo carries love letters from a farmer to his friend's sister.

Slow moving piece which focuses on illicit meetings and a 12 year old boy learning about the birds and the bees. et with a typical English summer set with croquet & cricket on the lawns, you keep expecting this film to explode into action and it never quite happens. 5/10

The Green glove 1952

Starring: Glen Ford

A paratrooper against all odds returns a jewelled relic to its proper place in a French church.

A slightly confusing thriller with too many coincidences of people bumping into folk they'd seen the day before in a major city. It does have some good moments and some unexpected light comedy scenes that help the movie along. Worth a viewing. 4/10

The Bigamist 1953

Starring: Edmond O'Brien

A travelling salesman has two wives.

Pretty much what it says on the tin. The action is too single paced in both acting, speech & direction. The lead man seemed so dull, I wasn't sure how one woman would want to marry him, let alone two. Due to the title of the film & the fact that it was spelt out within about 10 minutes that this man was a bigamist, the film lacked tension. Having said that, there was something watchable about this film. 5/10

The Millionairess 1960

Starring: Peter Sellers

The richest woman in the World falls for a poor Indian doctor.

Every now & then, there is a delightful comedy moment, mostly from Sellers and many I suspect were ad-libs. Sophia Loren has her moments but I never bought her as the richest woman in the World. Considering this movie only lasts 90 mins, it dragged considerably. A bit of a disappointment. 3/10

The Silent enemy 1958

Starring: Laurence Harvey

The World war 2 exploits of a naval frogman in the Mediterranean.

Overlong wartime drama set in Gibraltar. Some of the exchanges between Crabb & the Admiral were enjoyable as was some lighthearted banter. Overall, the crucial drama was rather underplayed meaning that the film rather drifted along to an inevitable conclusion. Difficult to take Sid James seriously, even in this straight role. 5/10

The Children's hour 1961

Staring: Audrey Hepburn

A spoilt schoolgirl spreads a rumour that her schoolmistresses are lesbians.

Was Audrey Hepburn the greatest actress ever? The scenes between herself & Shirley Maclaine positively sizzle. Magnificent chemistry in a movie which in its time, was surely controversial. Several scenes are so well played, that you can cut the tension with a knife, you can feel what every character is going through and you just cannot take your eyes off the screen. Tasteful & yet moving throughout. I was utterly gripped. 10/10

Another 48 hours

Starring: Eddie Murphy

A cop enters into a partnership with a criminal to catch a drug dealer.

Yet another sequel that's not a patch on the original. A couple of reasonable scenes, othr than that, murder, violence, swearing, shouting & unpleasentness of the crudest kind.
A movie made for all the wrong reasons. 4/10

Paint your wagon 1969

Staring: Lee Marvin

During the California gold rush, two prospectors set up a Mormon menage with the same wife.

Bigamy, gold prospecting and the construction & destruction of a town. As musicals go, this is no classic, but this is all about Lee Marvin. A magnificent, colourful, underated 'Tour de force' 5/10