Friday 15 May 2020

120

The Valiant (1929 - b/w) - Shonky Fox sound film.

Condemned (1929 - b/w) - Rote Devil's Island hokum.

The Cockeyed World (1929 - b/w) - Victor McLaglen militaria.

She's My Weakness (1930 - b/w) - Bland RKO comedy with the infuriating Arthur Lake.

Up the River (1930 - b/w) - Routine prison escape comedy with Spencer Tracy, by John Ford.

Min and Bill (1930 - b/w) - Routine Wallace Beery vehicle.

The Divorcee (1930 - b/w) - Routine melodrama with Norma Shearer, Chester Morris and Robert Montgomery.

Daddy Long Legs (1931 - b/w) - Routine Janet Gaynor vehicle.

Young America (1932 - b/w) - Rote proto-juvenile delinquency with Spencer Tracy.

Westward Passage (1932 - b/w) - Routine period drama with Olivier.

What Price, Hollywood (1932 - b/w) - The wonky prototype for A Star is Born.

Emma (1932 - b/w) - Routine melodrama with Marie Dressler.

Too Many Cooks (1933 - b/w) - Odious Bert Wheeler vehicle.

Faithless (1932 - b/w) - Ropey Tallulah Bankhead melodrama.

Eskimo (1933 - b/w) - Faux-docudrama.

The World Changes (1933 - b/w) - Almost a western.

When Ladies Meet (1933 - b/w) - Routine fare with Myrna Loy.

The Silver Cord (1933 - b/w) - Rote 30s romance.
See also Our Mothers (1933 - b/w) and The Little Minister (1934 - b/w) with Katharine Hepburn.

Night Flight (1933 - b/w) - Rote aviation drama.

The Richest Girl in the World (1934 - b/w) - Dreary Miriam Hopkins vehicle.

The Meanest Gal in Town (1934 - b/w) - Zasu Pitts does her schtick.

Dangerous Ground (1934 - b/w) - Routine 30s British mystery, with Jack Raine.

Hollywood Party (1934 - b/w) - Allstar mess, with Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, Jimmy Durante and Mickey Mouse, leased out to MGM.

Finishing School (1934 - b/w) - Ginger Rogers melodrama. Not to be confused with Lana Turner Stage Door knockoff Dramatic School (1938 - b/w).

The Show-Off (1934 - b/w) - Rote 30s Spencer Tracy comedy-drama.

The World Moves On (1934 - b/w) -  John Ford rich white slave-owners' melodrama.

Checkmate (1935 - b/w) - Felix Aylmer, Maurice Evans and Donald Wolfit in a forgettable mystery.

Once In A New Moon (1935 - b/w) - Amateurish but strange lunar-themed British fantasy predating Under the Dome.

Farmer takes A Wife (1935 - b/w) - Janet Gaynor western comedy with Henry Fonda and Janet Gaynor. See also Way Down East (1935 - b/w).

Inside the Room (1935 - b/w) - Ropey Poirot knockoff made by Universal's British arm, starring actual Poirot Austin Trevor.

West Point of the Air (1935 - b/w) - How many times did Wallace Beery make this movie? See also Way for A Soldier (1930 - b/w).

The Devil is a Sissy (1936 - b/w) - Mickey Rooney/Jackie Cooper/Freddie Bartholemew tedium.

The Dream Doctor (1936 - b/w) - Forgettable fantasy with Leo Genn.

Double Wedding (1937 - b/w) - Rote Powell/Loy vehicle.

Ever Since Eve (1937 - b/w) - Rote romcom with Marion Davies and Robert Montgomery.

Madame X (1937 - B/W) -Routine weepie. See also Madame X (1929 - b/w).

There Goes The Groom (1937 - b/w) - Ann Sothern and Burgess Meredith argue.

The First Lady (1937 - b/w) - Rote Kay Francis vehicle.

Espionage (1937 - b/w) - Rote Edmund Lowe vehicle.

Navy Blue and Gold (1937 - b/w) - Silly over-age military college-com with Tom Brown (whose career was seemingly just these type of films), Robert Young and James Stewart, both pushing thirty.

Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937 - b/w) - Rote Garland/Rooney vehicle.

Saratoga (1937 - B/W) - Routine Gable/Harlow vehicle.

Quality Street (1937 - b/w) - Forgettable Faux-British farce with Katharine Hepburn and a young-ish Estelle Winwood.

Fit for a King (1937 - b/w) - More Joe E. Brown tripe.

White Banners (1938 - b/w) -

Three Comrades (1938 - b/w) - Rote 30s faux-European melodrama with Robert Taylor and Robert Young.

Test Pilot (1938 - b/w) - Forgettable Tracy/Loy/Gable aviation.

Second Best Bed (1938 - b/w) - Routine Aldwych farce. 

Who Goes Next (1938 - b/w) - Rote British war drama.

Mrs. Pym of Scotland Yard (1938 - b/w) -  Ropey British B.

I Met A Murderer (1938 - b/w) - Early James Mason proto-noir.

Wings of the Navy (1939 - b/w) - Routine propaganda.

The Day the Bookies Wept (1939 - b/w) - Idiotic Joe Penner horse-racing vehicle.

Everything's On Ice (1939 - b/w) - Forgettable icecapades.

Daughters Courageous (1939 - b/w) - Typical 40s family drama. See also Four Daughters (1938 - b/w) and Yes, My Darling Daughter (1938 - b/w), also with various Lane sisters.

You Will Remember (1941 - b/w) - Attempt at doing a prestige quickie with Robert Morley as composer Leslie Stuart.

He Found A Star (1941 - b/w) - Rote musical drama with Vic Oliver and his real-life wife Sarah Churchill. Yes, they were the son-in-law and daughter of that Churchill.

The Common Touch (1941 - b/w) - Rote working-class drama, featuring Bernard Miles and Bill Fraser.

Bob's Your Uncle (1942 - b/w) - Tiresome Home Guard/schoolboy impersonation comedy with Albert "the Lancashire Lad" Modley and Wally Patch. Features an issue of Comic Cuts.

The Butler's Dilemma (1943 - b/w)/Something in the City (1950 - b/w)/The Madame Gambles (1951 - b/w)/Time of His Life (1955 - b/w)/Tons of Trouble (1956 - b/w) - Uneven films starring Richard Hearne as Mr. Pastry.

That Brennan Girl (1942 - b/w) - Forgettable Republic romcom.

When Strangers Marry (1944 - b/w) - Stolid, passable poverty row noir with Kim Hunter and Robert Mitchum.

The Agitator (1945 - b/w) - Rabble-rousing drama with Billy Hartnell.

Mysterious Mr. Nicholson (1947 - b/w) - Unmemorable cheapie with one-time Paul Temple Anthony Hulme.

Stop Press Girl (1949 - b/w) - Sally Ann Howes and Gordon Jackson plus Wayne and Radford as not-Charters and Caldicott (plus other characters) in a typical 40s comedy about a telekinetic teenager.

Soho Conspiracy (1950 - b/w) - A vehicle for Radio Luxembourg announcer John Witty, padded out by BBC radio theatre scenes of Tito Gobbi.

The 20 Questions Murder Mystery (1950 - b/w) - Routine novelty mystery set  at the BBC.

EyeWitness (1950 - b/w) -Rote British mystery with Robert Montgomery.

The Promise (1952 - b/w) - Rote spiritual drama with Harry Fowler and Edward Underdown. Forgettable British B-filler.

Hammer the Toff/Salute the Toff (1952 - b/w) - Sub-Saint failed series with John Bentley. Featuring early jobs for Shelagh Fraser, Arthur Hill and Tony Britton.
See also Send for Paul Temple (1946 - b/w), Paul Temple's Triumph (1950 - b/w), Paul Temple Returns (1952 - b/w)

Here Comes The Girls (1953) - Routine Bob Hope musical with a Jack the Ripper knockoff subplot. 

Forces' Sweetheart (1955 - b/w) - Hy Hazell, Michael Bentine and Harry Secombe in wartime filler fluff.

Police Dog (1955 - b/w) - As dreary as the title would suggest, with Christopher Lee as a copper.

Shadow of A Man (1955 - b/w) - EJ Fancey produced mystery nonsense written by Paul "Doctor Who and the Ark" Erickson.

Fools Rush In (1955 - b/w) - An American production, but made by EJ Fancey, a typical poverty row though AFAIK EastCoast production with Frank Silvera and Betsy Palmer.

Bond of Fear (1956 - b/w) - Eros films cheapie with John Colicos like an Aldi James Mason as he terrorises Dermot Walsh's caravan holiday. Also set at the BBC, partly. Well, a stock shot of Broadcasting House is used.

Port of Escape (1956 - b/w) - Googie Withers noir fluff.

The Traitor (1957 - b/w) - A cheapie by any other name, but a prestige project for EJ Fancey, with Donald Wolfit (who seemed to be first choice for such projects, as he was knighted, but he'd still do anything for toffee), Anton Diffring, Christopher Lee in a floral dressing gown, Rupert Davies... Very much a typical military thriller cheapie, but sold as a horror.

Fighting Mad (1957 - b/w) - EJ Fancey Canadian western.
See action cheapies like Action Stations (1957 - b/w) and Hangman's Wharf (1950 - b/w).

Rock You Sinners (1957 - b/w) - Terrible C-rate British rock and roll.

A Cry form the Streets (1958 - b/w) - Max Bygraves and Barbara Murray in routine Cockney working class drama.  There's a massive telly in their living room. It's a Bush. I didn't think Bush were around then. And I watched this film on a Bush . Turns out they were part of Gaumont.

Blind Spot (1958 - b/w) - Butcher's crime cheapie with Gordon Jackson, John Le Mesurier, George Pastell, John Crawford and some young fella named Michael Caine.

Whirlpool (1959) - Serviceable color noir with Juliette Greco.

Desert Mice (1959 - b/w) - Routine military comedy with Dora  Bryan, Sid James and Alfred Marks.

The Treasure of San Teresa (1959 - b/w) - Routine Brit thrillwe with Eddie Constantine, Dawn Addams, Marius Goring and Christopher Lee.

During One Night (1960 - b/w) - Simplistic if efficient wartime romance cheapie with Susan Hampshire, by Sidney J. Furie.

Identity Unknown (1960 - b/w) - Routine Danziger's fluff with Richard Wyler and Pauline Yates, who looks not much different than she did when married to Reginald Perrin/Martin Welbourne.

A Cold Wind in August (1961 - b/w) - Sleazy UA strippers drama.

The Boys (1962 - b/w) - Average British JD film with Richard Todd vs Jess Conrad, Dudley Sutton, Tony Garnett and Ronald Lacey.

She Knows, You Know (1962 - b/w) - Hylda Baker Northern comedy.

Shadow of Fear (1963 - b/w) - Rote Butcher's spy thriller starring Paul Maxwell, featuring the somewhat unexpected presence of British Hollywood Raj-era second-lead John Sutton, in his only British film. He's not given any special billing.

The Hi-Jackers (1963 - b/w) - Forgettable Tony Booth B.

Smokescreen (1964 - b/w) - Better than average B-thriller with Peter Vaughan.

Who Killed the Cat? (1966 - b/w) - Forgettable elderly mystery with Mervyn Johns.

Straw Dogs (1971) - What a crock of anti-yokel shite.

Mr. Kingstreet's War (1972) - Tacky South African melodrama with John Saxon, Tippi Hedren and Rossano Brazzi.

Swashbuckler (1976) - A confusing mess. Was this intended to be a film version of Robert Shaw's TV series the Buccaneers? It probably looks cheaper than that ITC series. It's all shot in Mexico, in that stock TV-like style of Universal, most of the actors are Americans, the likes of Beau Bridges and Peter Boyle playing lords and Royal navy captains with not much attempt at the accents, the costumes look stock, James Earl Jones and Geoffrey Holder try their best, Genevieve Bujold moans and I was surprised that the lute solo was by Julian Bream, because surely he'd have cost money. Anjelica Huston plays a decorative bit of stuff for Boyle.



The Treasure Seekers (1979) - Ropey early Cannon adventure shot in Jamaica with Rod Taylor, Jeremy Kemp, Stuart Whitman and Elke Sommer.

Captive (1980)/Psi Factor (1980) - Dopey low-budget SF from Robert Emenegger.

Under the Rainbow (1981)- A goofy, idiotic film about the making of the Wizard of Oz with Billy Barty as a Nazi big bad that somehow cost millions.

The Fantasist (1986) - I wrote a big long review of this but it got lost. "Produced by Mike Murphy", and directed by Robin Hardy, a pedestrian idea made strange by being full of Irish soap stars and shot in 80s Dublin.

The Relic (1997) - It's so badly lit you can't even see anything. To believe that licence fee money funded this turkey.

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