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Sunday, August 10, 2025

From Hell To Texas 1958

 

Starring: Don Murray

After accidentally killing a man, a cowboy is vengefully pursued by the victim's father.

Started slowly but grew on me. I enjoyed the characters the cowboy met along the wayThe father and family of the girl he falls for were excellent, as was the villain. Neat little ending too.   5/10

Sunday, August 03, 2025

Appointment With Venus 1951

Starring: David Niven

During World War 11, a pedigree cow is rescued from the German-occupied Channel Islands.

Every now and again, you really connect with a movie. I absolutely loved this. Bizarre in its subject matter gave it a charm. Niven and Glynnis Johns oozed class and all the supporting cast were perfect. Great stuff, an absolute gem.   10/10
 

Sunday, July 27, 2025

Grand National Night 1953

 

Starring: Nigel Patrick

A stable owner accidentally kills his drunken wife, but fate and a complex series of events clear him.

Do not be put off by the title, only a brief horse racing clip. A decent crime mystery, a shame the wife dies as she was excellent. Good to see Nigel Patrick and Michael Hordern in his prime. Never seen so many drinks poured in a movie, great use of lighting throughout. Unexpected and excellent ending.  7/10

Sunday, July 20, 2025

The Fool Killer 1965

Starring: Anthony Perkins

An orphan suspects his friend is an axe murderer.

Very unusual and odd. Has interest although a little slow. Perkins plays an unhinged character as ever, the soundtrack is the true start of this movie.   5/10
 

Sunday, July 13, 2025

Diplomatic Courier 1952

 

Starring: Tyrone Power

American and Russian agents clash on a train between Salzburg and Trieste; an unexpected master spy is revealed after several chases.

Decent spy thriller where everybody seems to know everybody else, despite never having been in the city before. Slightly confusing at times but great spotting a few well known actors and the locations were great.  6/10

Sunday, July 06, 2025

Goodbye Charlie 1964

 

Starring: Debbie Reynolds

A philandering gangster, shot dead by an irate husband, is reincarnated in his friend's house as a dishy blonde.

A decent idea for a movie, typically 60's, Debbie Reynolds is excellent. The movie however, plays on the same gag for most of the movie, is too long and the charm wears off. I've never been a fan of Tony Curtis which didn't help.      4/10

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Slave Ship 1937

 

Starring: Wallace Beery

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

Sunday, June 22, 2025

The Best Of Men 2012

 

Starring: Eddie Marsan

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

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Good Day For A Hanging 1959


 Starring: Fred MacMurray

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

Sunday, June 08, 2025

Trog 1970

 

Starring: Joan Crawford

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

Sunday, June 01, 2025

Candleshoe 1977

 

Starring: David Niven

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

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Paris After Dark 1943

 

Starring: George Sanders

In wartime Paris a doctor leads the resistance forces.

Made during the war, this turned out to be a bit of an emotional roller coaster. Shows the pointlessness and tragedy of war but was well put together, didn't glamourise and was really quite sad in places, the way that families accepted these tragedies almost as a matter of course, even sadder.    7/10

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Never Wave At A WAC 1952


 Starring: Rosalind Russell

A Washington hostess joins the WACs and finds she can't get beyond the rank of private.

All a bit of fluff really, a nice idea and some decent characterisations, it's just lacking a bit in the plot front.   4/10

Sunday, May 04, 2025

Drums In The Deep South 195 1


 Starring: James Craig

A confederate officer finds himself fighting a lonely battle with his best friend from West Point.

A slow burner, little interest early on, there turned out to be some good action and the scenes and tactics in trying to get the soldiers from the mountain were excellent.      6/10

Sunday, April 27, 2025

Open Season 1974

 

Starring: Peter Fonda

Three young criminals hunt human prey, but one of their victims takes his own revenge.

Deeply unpleasant, who wakes up and decides it would be a good idea to write such a movie? Very dated for only 50 years old and had nothing enjoyable about it apart from some of the scenery.  2/10

Sunday, April 13, 2025

A Private's Affair 1959

 

Starring: Sal Mineo

Three army recruits form a close harmony trio and get into various scrapes.

Well, it never made me laugh or even smile, plot was vaguely ridiculous, yet this was perfectly harmless. Would have liked more singing as what was there, was rather enjoyable.   5/10

Sunday, April 06, 2025

Mister 880 1950

 

Starring: Edmund Gwenn

An elderly counterfeiter perplexes the US Secret Service.

Absolutely charming. Incredible attention to details with locations and particularly set dressing. Burt Lancaster and Dorothy McGuire have good chemistry but Edmund Gwenn gives a performance that bring a lump to the throat. I was totally glued to this.      9/10

Sunday, March 30, 2025

The Black Widow 1951


 Starring: Christine Norden

A man succeeds in killing his would-be-murderer; His wife schemes to bury the body as her real husband so that she can marry again.

B movie melodrama, all the better for being so short. Nicely hammed up.  6/10

Sunday, March 23, 2025

The Last Escape 1970

 

Starring: Stuart Whitman

An American officer in Munich tries to rescue a German scientist from the Nazis

Forget the plot, just a load of shooting, action and explosions. German's all speak in German with no subtitles, although authentic, you obviously don't have a clue what they are saying which is odd. Watchable movie.    6/10

Sunday, March 16, 2025

The Atomic City 1952



Starring: Gene Barry

The Young Son of a leading atomic scientist is kidnapped but his father and the FBI rescue him.

Decent thriller, backed up by tense music and good action. I nice ending too on a cliff face, a very easy watch.   6/10