Princess of the Nile 1954

Starring: Debra Paget

An Egyptian princess of the middle ages leads her country against the invasion of a bedouin prince.

Egyptian Queens, middle eastern noblemen, harems and sword fights. As colourful and easy on the eye as this was, the plot came over as frankly ridiculous but a light-handed delivery kept the movie as vaguely enjoyable.   4/10

Hindle wakes 1952

Starring: Lisa Daniely

A Lancashire millgirl spends a week at Blackpool with the master's son but causes a scandal when she refuses to marry him.

Very dated and British in its values. Basically, a holiday romance ends in tragedy causing a girl to be 'found out' about spending a week with a man. We then get a moralistic and class related debate about whether she should marry him. Probably more cutting edge and relevant when it was released, this was still quite an enjoyable watch.                                                6/10

Home to danger 1951

Starring: Rona Anderson

An heiress returns after her father's death and finds herself purued by a murderer.

Small British thriller. This is how movies should be! Fast-paced, easy plot to follow and not too long. Quicksand, a man with a claw, gun fights and a slightly dumb youg man. All good fun    7/10

Born to win 1971

Starring: George Segal

A Times square junkie with delusions of grandeur runs out of luck.

I found a couple of scenes in the first 10 minutes watchable, after this I was born rigid. Not sure if it was supposed to be a drama, a comedy or what. Segal was utterly unconvincing. The psychedelic music and lights were probably in at the time but are now just an irritation. A very poor movie despite a few very big names being in the cast.         1/10 

Spirit of the people 1940

Starring: Raymond Massey

Episodes in the political and domestic life of Abraham Lincoln

As a person from across the pond, I found this utterly fascinating. Not sure if it was all completely true, but good to start the day with a history lesson. Massey gave a real charm and likeability to the role and although it was easier to watch in the first half of the film, the second have was enthralling and thought provoking.     7/10

The Killing of sister george 1969

Starring: Beryl Reid

An ageing lesbian actress is fired from a TV serial and her life collapses around her.

A saw a stage version of this last year and wanted to see the movie. What I hadn't realised was what a brilliant performance I was about to see from Beryl Reid, one of the most complete acting  demonstrations you are ever likely to see. Sussanah York grows as the film progresses and is equally as good. Quite frankly, I was absolutely enthralled from beginning to end.     10/10

Ellery Queen: The Spanish cape mystery 1935

Starring: Donald Cook

The first in this series of B-movies that I've seen. Started okay and had a likeable quality but soon got too confused. The lead character is a little too smart for me and his deductions verge on the ridiculous. Having said that, I've seen worse.      3/10

Arizona Bushwhackers 1968

Starring: Howard Keel

A confedorate prisoner is given a chance as a western sheriff.

Howard Keel is always a likeable actor to watch. The whole spy plot thing is a little thin but the one handed fist fight was fun and the whole ending quite good although the townfolk have to be the worst shots I've seeen in a western for quite some time.       6/10

Undercover man 1949

Starring: Glenn Ford

US treasury agents indict a gang leader for tax evasion.

I usually really enjoy Glenn Ford movies, This, I found really dull with a slow moving plot, delivery of lines all played on one level and a premise that just never grabbed my interest.  2/10

Adventure in Manhatten 1936

Starring: Jean Arthur

An actress helps an ace reporter to foil a bank robbery by a master criminal.

An extremely watchable crime caper with both Jean Arthur & Joel McCrea, putting in delightful performances. Have to say, the stage set for the WW1 drama that covers the attempted robbery was brilliant.     6/10

The King and four Queens 1956

Starring: Clark Gable

A cowboy braves the wrath of a lady sharpshooter to gain gold and the hand of one of her four daughters.

Western's were so plentiful in their day, that you needed an original story for a movie to retain your interest. This certainly is original. Gable has never been my favourite actor and once again, he lacked personality and just seemed to drift throught the film. The old lady was marvelous and the four women a delight. It was fun seeing which one Gable would eventually end up with.    6/10

Mr Motto in Danger island 1939

Starring: Peter Lorre

One of the more enjoyable movies in the Motto series, I do feel if they made the plots a little simpler, the whole series would have risen above B level status. Motto's gorilla, wrestler companion was an amusing distraction.     5/10

The Big wheel 1949

Starring: Mickey Rooney

The son of a racing driver is determined to follow in father's footsteps.

Rooney was at his best in my opinion when he was this sort of age. A likeable character given able support by his mum, boss and girlfriend. Some of the racing early on was less than interesting but the final Indeanapolis race was gripping stuff.      6/10

Working girl 1988

Starring: Melanie Griffith

A secretary outsmarts her female boss in business and love

Well known Hollywoo movie with the engaging Melanie Griffith in lhe lead. The plot is fairly implausible, but it has an easy-watching charm about it but, wow do the women have big hair!!   6/10

Ma and Pa Kettle go to town 1950

The second movie that I've seen from this series and again it was terrific. The charm of the couple cannot be underestimated and as daft as the plot was, it made me laugh out loud on several occassions. The scene where they catch robbers by Pa calling a square dance was brilliantly original.   7/10

A Stranger in town 1943

Starring: Frank Morgan

A supreme court judge on vacation finds himself sorting out crooked local politicians.

A light, law related drama. There was always a light-hearted edge to this movie and the whole thinng was all the more watchable due to the likeable performances from the three leads. I could even forgive the stirring patriotic speach at the end.    5/10

The story of GI Joe 1945

Starring: Burgess Meredeth

Journalist Ernie Pyle follows fighting men into the Italian campaign.

Standard guns and bomb war film that touches on the human element. Probably held a lot stronger weight when it was made. It's very dated now and hasn't stood up too well in time. A few interesting scenes, otherwise, seen it all before.      3/10

Serious charge 1959

Starring: Anthony Quayle

A small-town troublemaker, accused by his priest of being responsible for the death of a young girl, amuses himself by accusing the priest of making homosexual advances.

Cliff Richard's first movie although he wasn't in in too much. Anthony Quayle is absolutely excellent as the almost too good to be true boxing, 1st division footballing, youth-club running priest. Although the movie is dated, the subject matter is almost more relevant today than it was at the time.     7/10

Five branded women 1960

Starring: Silvana Mangano

Five Yugoslav girls have their heads shaved for associating with German soldiers, and after various adventures joing the partisans.

What could have been sentimental, romantic slush is actually a gritty, compelling drama full of tension. The bleakness and hoplessness of these lives are brilliantly portrayed. An unexpected gem.   8/10

The Primrose path 1940

Starring: Ginger Rogers

The youngest of a family of shanty-town prostitutes falls in love with an honest hamburger stand proprietor.

Gingers Rogers and Joel McCrea have a good chemistry and Rogers family are suitably disfunctional. The picture gets a little cluttered at times both with the characters and dialogue but generally is an easy-view where you end up rooting for the family to fall upon better times despite one of the most precocious young girls I've seen on film for a very long time.            6/10