Colonel Effingham's Raid 1946

Starring: Charles Coburn

A retired Southern colonel tries to straighten out a corrupt Georgia town.

This just never grabbed my interest. Nothing more really to say.    2/10

Crosroads 1986

Starring: Ralph Macchio

Urged by a young musician, an old blues singer travels the south in search of his legendary companion's lost music.

Road movie. Great look and great lighting. I worried a little that Ralph Macchio would be cheesy but he held his own, Joe Seneca stole the show though. Great music throughout and the guitar battle at the end is a scene well worth seeing.     6/10

Ride Out For Revenge 1957

Starring: Rory Calhoun

Gold is discovered on land to which the army is moving Indians, and this causes second thoughts.

Standard Western with white man in love with Indian girl, unusual to see a young boy shot in cold blood early in the movie that gave this a bit of an edge. Not too bad.   6/10

Pitfall 1948

Starring: Dick Powell

An insurance investigator proves easy prey for a grasping woman.

I really rather enjoyed this. A love triangle story, well, love square kind of it was well scripted with the conflicts between family life and  an affair through work neatly handled. A bit on one level with its pace, but otherwise a sharp little movie.         7/10

Made Men 1999

Starring: James Belushi

While working for the mob, Bill "The Mouth" Mannuci, stole $12 million dollars from them and turned over information to the FBI about the man he stole the money from, the mysterious "Skipper"

If you like people shouting at each other for 90 mins, swearing and shooting guns then this is the movie for you. I was bored within 90 seconds and it never improved. Most tedious movie I've seen for a very, very long time.         1/10

Marine Raiders 1944

Starring: Pat O'Brien

The marines do battle in Guadalcanal.

Ra-Ra war movie some documentary shots within. Had its purpose at the time, now it was very difficult to get excited about. Full of cliches and an unnecessary love interest. I fear this will be instantly forgettable.      3/10

Slipstream 1989

Starring: Mark Hamill

In a post-holocaust future, an android learns human feelings while being hunted by a policeman and woman.

I quite enjoyed the performances by Mark Hamill and Bill Paxton, but the movie as a whole was very poor. Badly scripted with some of the more ridiculous lines you are ever likely to hear and some very poor acting. Hell of a cast put together, somebody forgot about the plot and script.        4/10

Caribbean 1952

Starring: Jon Payne

An 18th-century pirate captures the nephew of his old enemy.

Flawed but enjoyable pirate romp, the movie is saved not by its star but by both guys who play the two captains. Colourful and with not only swash but also buckle. Can't beat a good pirate movie.   7/10

More dead than alive 1968

Starring:  Clint Walker

Revenge erupts some years after a violent jail break.

Hold the front page! Vincent Price in something other than a horror movie and was actually really good. Excellent story line of an ex-killer trying to go straight. Several twists at the end that completely took me by surprise. Excellent Western.       9/10

Blonde crazy 1931

Starring: James Cagney

A bellhop and a chambermaid set out to fleece all-comers.

All about Cagney, he has to go down as one of my least favourite actors. In every scene, he seems to hit someone, threaten someone or just in some way be decidely unpleasant. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where I've warmed to him and this is no exception. Some nice scenes, but I don't think he was in any of them.      3/10

No Minor Vices 1948

Starring:  Dana Andrews

A doctor brings home an artist friend who proceeds to wreck his household.

I was okay with the first five or ten minutes, after that I was bored rigid. Two characters who were unlikable just constantly trying to outdo the other one. I found it tedious in the extreme I'm afraid.  2/10

Enigma 1982

Starring: Martin Sheen

An East German refugee is recruited by the CIA to return to East Berlin.

Not a bad spy movie with plenty of action. My issue, is I just never bought Martin Sheen as an East German Refugee. When both sides speak with broad American accents, it just takes away a bit of the authenticity. 6/10

Song of surrender 1949

Starring: Wanda Hendrix

In turn-of-the-century New England, a sophisticated visitor from New York falls for the wife of a museum curator.

Love triangle melodrama, very bible-bashing old school. It did keep my interest but could have been so much better. The performances were stilted and all played on one level and why was so much of this movie shot in shadow? Seemed much older than 1949.    4/10

Letter from an unknown woman 1948

Starring: Joan Fontaine

A woman wastes her life in unrequited love for a rakish pianist.

Oh, the drama! Don't watch this if you want to cheer yourself up. Not the first time I've seen a movie where a young woman falls in love with a mystery musician. Joan Fontaine was 31 when she played this role and yet carries off the shy teenager with ease. An amazing transformation both in looks and movement to her adult self. I found the whole pice is a little dark on the lighting front, but thoroughly enjoyed a few of the scenes, particularly in the static train carriage with different countries going by.
The pianist needed a bit more personality for me and almost seemed to be too besotted by Fontaine's character for the plotline to be believable.
Enjoyable though and a definite classic.                        6/10
 

Reach For Glory 1952

Starring: Kay Walsh

During World War 11, evacuee boys play war games and a German refugee is accidentally killed.

anyone who thinks that adult action and media do not affect children, should watch this. Really quite disturbing with elements of Lord Of The Flies. Bullying, abuse, hatred, you could understand why boys would want to join the army to escape it. Hints of homosexuality which were slightly glossed over. Very interesting movie and a bit of an eye opener.        7/10

The Lady Says No 1951

Starring: Joan Caulfield

A magazine photographer tames a female chauvinist author.

This started off as quite a nice little movie. However, the author seemed to run out of ideas and it descended into silliness with one particularly bizarre dream, fantasy scene. David Niven, not my favourite actor, played this nicely, Joan Caulfield went for the screwball comedy but was no Doris Day, James Robertson Justice for once didn't shout but did massacre an Irish accent.      4/10

Our Daily Bread 1934

Starring: Karen Morley

A young couple in the depression inherit a broken-down farm and make it work.

Certainly different as a movie and that made it enjoyable. I never really bought the whole "We're in poverty thing", everyone looked to healthy. But the teamwork was admirible and the last five minutes left a smile on my face.       5/10

Davy 1957

Starring: Harry Secombe

A member of a family music hall act auditions at Covent Garden.

Families, you can't live with them, you can't live without them. Despite Secombe's family being profoundly annoying, this was a movie that grew on me enormously. Secombe has such charm and was hugely impressive when singing his audition piece. The young lad bought an innocence to the whole thing and there is a moralistic message that brought a lump to the throat.      7/10

Ladies Man 1947

Starring: Eddie Bracken

A poor farmer strikes oil, becomes a millionaire, and finds himself a prize for the ladies.

Bracken had a very easy charm about him and was very watchable. A really likeable movie to start with, it got a bit bogged down with chaos and shouting with a couple of music numbers ending in mild hysterics that were particularly annoying. Had some nice moments though.      5/10

Nativity 2009

Starring: Martin Freeman

An improvised comedy based around a school nativity play.

For the first time, I ventured past 1989 for my Sunday morning movie. Just absolutely loved this. With Christmas just a week away, it had feelgood factor, was genuinely funny and all the kids were brilliant. Martin Freeman pitches it just right and all the supporting cast a delight.    10/10