Carnival of souls 1962

Starring: Candace Hilligoss

After an accident, a lady ghost emerges to become the new church organist.

Dated little chiller movie which is a must for anyone who likes creepy organ music. Plenty of screaming & running in high heels. The Zombie sequence near the end was particularly amusing. Not particularly original and no surprise at the ending, I've seen worse though. 4/10

A handful of dust 1988

Starring: James Wilby

An aristocratic wife, frustrated by the old-fashioned habits of her stately home-owning husband, begins an affair with a young man-about town.

More stiff upper lips than I care to mention. A lovely pace to a beautifully crafted and acted piece. Autumn colours, delightful location settings and costumes, this eases class. The story of infidelity , tragedy of a dying son and being held prisoner in Brazil almost come across as matter-of-fact as the whole thing is just so delightful. 8/10

All that Heaven allows 1955

Starring: Jane Wyman

A sad widow falls in love with the gardener at her winter home, and marries him despite local prejudice.

This starts off as a gentle, romantic tale and heads off into fall blown melodrama with the pianist having to work overtime with thumping chords. Jane Wyman is a delight and the chemistry between her & Rock Hudson enables this to work Wyman's geeky daughter and pompus son are played just right and the meddling friends and nighbours are also well placed. A simple story but I found it to be quite delightful. 7/10

The Black knight 1954

Starring: Alan Ladd

A humble swordmaker reveals a traitor to King Arthur

A swashbuckling tale with a disgraced swordmaker turning court and unearthing a plot & traitor n King Arthur's court. Technicolour is used to its full potential with burning flames around every corner. The acting is pretty awful and the plot so historically flawed that you wouldn't recognise it. But the action is good and the Knight got his girl. What more could you want? 6/10

The Last wagon 1956

Starring: Richard Widmark

A half breed wanted for murder joins an 1875 wagon train.

Formula Western. you felt like you'd seen it all before but it was still well made and quite well acted. Not memorable but perfectly watchable. 6/10

Cheers for Miss Bishop 1941

Starring: Martha Scott

The life of a schoolmistress in a small midwestern town.

Some movies are way too long, at only 90 minutes this seemed too short as it covered a 50 year period in the life of Miss Bishop. Martha Scott in the central role was aged well and played the part delightfully. Sweeping music and speeches said with such intensity attempted to give a hard impct but somehow often missed the mark. 5/10

The Wrong man 1957

Starring: Henry Fonda

A New York musician is mistaken by police for an armed bandit, and both witnesses and circumstances prevent the truth from emerging.

How one man's selfishness and lawlessness can destroy an innocent person's life and family. Hitchcock has the whole movie proceeding at a slow pace and yet manages to keep you engrossed throughout. One small quibble is I didn't think his introduction before the movie was necessary. Fonda and Vera Miles are both terrific conveying such emotion and yet constantly retaining their humility. Brilliant! 9/10

Hell's house 1932

Starring: Bette Davis

A boy is wrongly sentenced to a corrupt reform school.

A blessed relief for all of us that Jimmy's mother died at the beginning of the movie, terrible performance! Bette Davis is top billed but is hardly in it. Jimmy has a naive, charisma to him and is engaging due to his honesty and kind heart. The reform school is supposed to be corrupt but comes across as way, way to soft and didn't actually look that bad a place to stay in.

Dated but enjoyable none the less. 8/10

El Cid 1961

Starring: Charlton Heston

A legendary 11th-century hero drives the Moors from Spain.

An epic in every way. Charlton Heston gets in right in this hugely demanding role. The pace is pedestrian to say the least but sometimes you have to just sit back and admire the scale and vision of someone who puts such a movie together. 5/10

The Stranger 1946

Starring: Edward G Robinson

An escaped Nazi criminal marries an American woman and settles in a Conneticut village.

Atmospheric thriller with high emphasis put on moody lighting, shadowing and a melodramatic score. To my mind, you discovered exactly what was going on & who the criminal was way too early and after that, you were waiting for the inevitable comeuppance. The conclusion was well done though with a highly original climaz up a clock tower. Edward G Robinson got some good gigs as an actor which is surprising as his speech and movement all go at a single pace. Quite an original thriller. 7/10

Corvette Summer 1979

Starring: Mark Hamill

A Los Angeles student spends the summer looking for his stolen customised car, and has various adventures around Las Vegas.

You can tell a 70's movie the moment it starts with the dodgy fonts and tinny music. This is a road movie about a young guy looking for a car that he restored. The plot is simple but Hamill & Annie Potts have an easy going charm. The comedy mostly falls flat but there is a watchable, sentiment about the movie that keeps your attention. A nice car chase to round it all off. 7/10

The Desert song 1953

Starring: Gordon Macrae

Well staged straight version of the musical, with full score.

Harmless enough but couldn't really decide whether it was a drama, comedy or musical. Lavish production though and wow, does Gordon Macrae sing fabulously! Easy going but forgetable. 4/10

Love affair 1939

Starring: Charles Boyer

On a transatlantic crossing, a European man of the World meets a New York girl, but their romance is flawed by a misunderstanding and physical accident.

Dated and tedious. A found the characters to be objectionable in their first few scenes and because of that I just never warmed to them. no rise and fall whatsoever, it was all too monotone and vaguely soporific. Got slightly more interesting following Irene Dunne's accident but generally for me, never got out of first gear. 2/10

The Great Sioux massacre

Starring: Joseph Cotten

Two officers are court-martialled after Custer's last stand.

Yet another telling of Custer's demise. Having never studied this historically, I'm unsure how true the events leading up to the final stand are. But Custer & all the cavalry don't come out of this at all well & you end up having a large sympathy towards the Sioux. Quite well made & choreographed film, shame it's a subject matter scene dozens of times before. 6/10

Behind green lines 1945

Starring: Carole Landis

A murderer is spotted during one night in the press room of a police station.

A rather rushed 'B' style movie that seemed to flick from scene to scene without a great deal of care. Two many unnecessary characters and scenes breezed through the movie as an attempt was made to demonstrate a busy police station. The main story was okay but the whole movie was just a little clumsy. 4/10

The Graduate 1967

Starring: Dustin Hoffman

A rich Californian ex-student is led into an affair with the wife of his father's friend, then falls in love with her daughter.

An iconic movie that if it was re-made with unknown actors today, would sink without trace. It is relevant to its period, the performances by Hoffman, Bancroft & Ross are all spot on. The music score is just right and there is love, angst, desperation and a little humour. The scenes in the hotel were beautifully played and somehow, this movie mesmerises you. 8/10

Haunted Honeymoon 1986

Starring: Gene Wilder

A radio actor takes his fiancee to the family's gloomy country estate, where werewolves and transvestites re some of the creatures which abound.

As with most of Wilder's movies, almost a series of sketches with very little plot. It's almost like ideas keep cropping up as they're filming and these are added to what's already there. A bit like machine gun fire, some of these hit the spot whilst others are way off the mark. I loved the song and dance number that randomly appeared & also a great scene when Wilder was talking to policemen with someone else's legs. For me Dom DeLuise stole the show. 5/10

Stay hungry 1976

Starring: Jeff Bridges

The heir to an Alabama estate annoys the locality by assembling a curious bunch of friends and making unexpected use of his money.

A peculiar kind of film. At the end, I wasn't entirely sure what it had all been about & my conclusion was that the plot got bogged down somewhat in excessive dialogue. Sally Field is always a delight & it was interesting to see a very young Schwarzenegger who as a Mr Universe contestant was very good. 3/10

All the Young men 1960

Starring: Sidney Poitier

A marine patrol in Korea is commanded by a black man, and racial tensions take precedence over fighting the enemy

Set in gorgeous mountain location, this war movie was certainly unusual due to the snow angle. Sidney Poitier is excellent & smoulders throughout. I guess in the 21st century, the race angle is just a bit tired and nowadays, irrelevant. The action scenes are okay although a bit samey. Watchable if not memorable. 6/10

Captain Kidd 1945

Starring: Charles Laughton

A pirate tricks King William iii into giving him Royal orders, but enemies he believes dead return to see him hanged.

I wonder whether Jonny Depp got any of his inspiration for Captain Jack Sparrow from Laughton's performance? In many ways & particularly in voice, they are very similar. This film is all about Laughton. His slightly camp & under played amusing performance is really the only thing worth watching. The script is fairly poor, the location virtually non-existent and Randolph Scott is wooden although it was nice to see him not sat on a horse in a cowboy hat. 6/10