Peck's bad boy 1934

Starring: Jackie Cooper

Adventures of a well-intentioned but accident-prone boy in a midwestern town.

Quite a moving little drama of a boy who lives with his widowed father and finds out that he's an orphan when his Aunt and cousin come to stay. Very dated and the bad behaviour in this day and age isn't given a second thought. But Jackie Cooper carries this movie and gives a strong and thought-provoking performance.         7/10

Johnny Angel 1945

Starring: George Raft

A seaman solves the mystery of his father's ship, found empty and adrift in the Gulf of Mexico.

Standard little thriller. It had its moments but never really caught fire. The actors lacked attack and it seemed extremely single-paced for a lot of the movie. Elderly secretary Miss Drumm was the only character of real interest - A nice performance.     3/10

Falling in love again 1980

Starring: Elliott Gould

A middle-aged New Yorker remembers his young romances and his dreams of success.

This starts of in a dreamy kind of way and struggles to get out of first gear. It does have a certain charm though and I did find myself completely wrapped up in the story. Elliott Gould was great and nice to see Michelle Pfeiffer in a very early role. The moral for me in this, despite the happy ending, is that you should never go back.      6/10

Eyes in the night 1942

Starring: Edward Arnold

A blind detective sets out to discover whether a mysterious man engaged to an heiress is really a Nazi spy.

A standrad crime plot is made  a lot more interesting with the lead character being blind. The broken Mother - step-daughter relationship adds another twist. Edward Arnold is really rather good in the lead role & this is a more than watchable little thriller.              7/10

Nocturne 1946

Starring: George Raft

A police detective investigates the death of a c composer.

Standard, was it murder or suicide movie. Some of the plot was acceptable as were a few of the characters. the main problem was that George Raft played the central character with a total lack of charisma and it just resulted in the whole thing being a little dull.          4/10

Triple echo 1972

Starring: Glenda Jackson

In 1942, a soldier's wife welcomes another soldier to her farm for tea; He desertsand poses as her sister.

Highly unusual movie, one of Glenda Jackson's more watchable roles, Oliver Reed as menacing and powerful, he may have had his issues but he really was a brilliant actor.     8/10

Separate tables 1958

Starring: Burt Lancaster

Emotional tensions among the boarders at a British seaside guest house.

Adaptation of the play by Terence Rattigan. John & Ann were Americonized for reasons that I couldn't understand. The whole thing was fascinating, mainly due to the strong performances by all the cast. David Niven gave as strong and vulnerable performance as I have ever seen from him.      7/10

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