48

 

Over the Moon (1939) - Color Merle Oberon vehicle. 

Zaza (1939)  - Claudette Colbert semi-musical. 

The Day will Dawn (1942) - rote war film. 

Way to the stars (1945 - b/w) - Generic Brtiish warfare.

The Affairs of Susan (-1945 - b/w) - Joan Fontaine comedy.

Margie (1946 ) - Rote teen semi-musical. 

wicked city (1947) - Rote vehicles for Jean Pierre aumont and Maria Montez.

john Loves Mary (1949)/The Hasty Heart (1949) - Imagine if Ronald married Patricia Neal instead of Roald. 

Adventures of Captain Fabian (1951) - Errol Flynn slumps to Republic, with badly-done Creole maids, vincent Price and Howard Vernon.

Lorna Doone  (-1951) - England with American accents ahoy.  Already mislogged as Lorna Dorne. 

The Brothers Rico (1957) - Dreary gangsterism. 

Rhapsody (1954) - Routine Elizabeth Taylor quasi-musical weepie. 

Francis of Assisi (1961) - Routine religious biopic.

Ten Little Indians (1965)  - Well-paced little adap. 

Room at the Top (1959) - Dreary. The sequel, Life at the top (1965) at least has Jean Simmons, Honor Blackman, Michael Craig, a returning Donald Wolfit all given starring billing, but Robert Morley isn't. The bits with Wolfit feel very mad science-y. "like fish and chips wrapped in a  News of the World"

The Fox (1967)  - Striking but overlong Canadian DH Lawrence adap. 

Finian's Rainbow (1968) - What a strange film. Leprechaun Tommy Steele solves racism by turning Keenan Wynn "black". 

king Solomon's Treasure (1977) - Bizarre South African-Canadian adap from Harry Alan Towers.

house of 1000 dolls (1967) - The worst AIP Price vehicle.

See also 99 Women (1969)

Rewatched the Glory Brigade (1953), Five Came Back (1939 - b/w), Flying Tigers (1942), Five Finger Exercise (1962), Time of Indifference (1963 - b/w), the Affairs of Susan (1945), Charlie Chan in Egypt (1934), A Hatful of rain (1957), Little Big Shot (1935 - b/w),  Endangered Species (1982), Darling (1965 - hey it's about UK Tv), Modern Problems (1981), Kotch (1971), A Breath of Scandal (1961), Caddyshack (1980),Ladies' man (1931) and Boots  Malone (1952) - which I thought was about a cowboy but it's William Holden training a delinquent jockey.

Also caught up on two Gary Cooper flicks - Now and Forever (1934) and One Sunday Afternoon (1933), the former with Shirley Temple, so I watched Temple's version of Little Miss Marker (1934), and then Thanks for the Memory (1938) and my Favourite Blonde (1942) with Bob Hope.

Von Richthofen and Brown (1971) - Might be one of Corman's best. Something close to Samuel Fuller. Hell, even the Irish actors seem convincing. 

Blackjack (1979) - Not the (1979) blaxploiter but a dreary Leon Garfield adap from noted kids adventure specialist Ken Loach. 

Red Sonja (1985) - Even at the time, the effects looked dated.

The Dead (1987) - God Sean McClory is good. The idea of an Irishman writing for the Daily Express is derided. Maybe he wrote Rupert. One of the great Irish films, and it was all shot in California.  young Maria McDermotrroe shocked me, being used to her in  Killinaskully. She had Kate Mulgrew vibes.

The Sect (1991) - Herbert Lom classes this bloody Italian thing up.

123

 Midnight (1934 - b/w) - Rote family drama, featuring Humphrey Bogart. 

Page Miss glory (1935 - b/w) - Forgotten Pat o'brien/Marion Davies musical. 

Where's That Fire (1940 - b/w) - Routine Will Hay.

First of the Few (1942 - b/w) - passable wartime biopic with Leslie Howard as Reginald "Spitfire" Mitchell. 

The Man in Grey (1943 - b/w) - The ultimate in Gainsborough.

see also Ealing's Saraband for dead lovers (1947)

Eve of Saint Mark (1944 - b/w) - samey Fox war fare.

Mystery of the 13th Guest (1943) - Forgettable Monogrammer.

See also The Way Ahead (1944), which with it shares David Niven. But it has the greatest cast of character actors - Niven, Stanley Holloway, James Donald, John Laurie, Leslie Dwyer, Hugh Burden, "Jimmie" Hanley, Billy Hartnell, Reginald Tate (ooh - first Doctor and first Quatermass), Leo Genn, Renee Ascherson, Tessie O'Shea, AE Matthews, Jack Watling, Peter ustinov "and Raymond Huntley", plus Esma Cannon

The Strange Mr. Gregory (1945 - b/w) - Rote Monogram mystery. 

They Were Not Divided (1950 - b/w) - Terence Young war pic starring Edward Underdown. 

Room to let (1950 - b/w) - One of two Lodger variants starring doomed Limerick-born Constance Smith, one of seemingly dozens of Rank charm school grads abandoned and then left to die young, 

Four in a Jeep (1951 - b/w) - Rote war Europud.

Something to live for (1952 - b/w) - Rote weepie. See also Ray Milland in Three Brave Men (1956).

Tom Brown's Schooldays (1951 - b/w)  - John Howard Davies does the old chestnut. With Robert Newton, James Hayter, Michael Hordern, Max Bygraves, Glyn Dearman (the other JH Davies - known for playing a Dickensian character, and then became a BBC radio producer)

Scared Stiff (1953) - Like the Karloff vehicle The Man with Nine Lives (1940), I swore I had seen this. Maybe just felt like it. See also Spooks Run Wild (1940), Doomed to Die (1936), The Miracle Man (1932 - b/w)

Julius Caesar (1953 - b/w) - It feels so small. 

Albert,  RN (1953 - b/w) - Routine British war fare, but with a dummy. Not to be confused with Carrington, VC (1954). 

 

Shark River (1953 - b/w) - Generic southern. 

The Black Tent (1956) - Dreary desert adventure.

The Naked Truth (1957) - The usual 50s comedy. Peter Sellers' turn as a Scottish TV personality in the McKeller/Stewart mould is terrifying. See also Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1959 - with Nicholas Parsons!), The Battle of the Sexes (1959) and Wrong Arm of the Law (1962), Only Two Can play (1962), Trial and Error (1962), Where Does it Hurt (1972), and the bizarre Yellowbeard-for-kids Ghost in the Noonday Sun (1973)

Tom Thumb (1958) - Charming. Peter Sellers looks like Tim Healy.

Daddy O (1958) - Miserable AIP rockery.  See also Rock all Night (1957), Runaway Daughters (1956),  High School Hellcats (1958)...

Carve Her Name with Pride (1959 - b/w) - Typical WW2 film. 

Machine Gun Kelly (1958 - b/w) - Rote gangstery from Corman, an early lead for Charles Bronson. 

Operation Dames (1959) - AIP fluff with pervy soldiers and singing nurses. See also Tank Commandos (1958) and Paratroop Command (1959). 

El Cid (1961) - Typical epic. 

See also 55 Days at Peking (1963). 

The Last Judgment (1961 - b/w) - All-star DeLaurentiis fantasy comedy partly set in Liverpool. 

Sodom and Gomorrah (1962) - An Italian biblical epic, cinematic junk food on a large scale.

The Young Racers (1963) - Dreary Corman racing pic. 

See Also Pit Stop (1969)

I Maniaci (1964) - all-star Fulci comedy.

The Born Losers (1967) - Routine biker trash that launched Billy Jack. 

Mission Phantom (1967) - Fun visuals in this Euroheister with Fernando Sancho.

The Bride wore Black (1968)  Like the Paul muni Europic Stranger on the Prowl (1952), long thought I had seen this. 

Black Angels (1970) - The worst Hell's Angels picture?

A Man Called Horse (1970)/The Return of the Man Called Horse (1976)/Triumphs of a Man Called Horse (1983) - the last one is pure stale spaghetti, but these are intriguing films. Despite the heavy amounts of brownface and bag pigtail wigs. Harris is an ideal presence. 

Tragic Ceremony (1972)  - ?

Dillinger (1973) - so generic I swear I had seen this. But its a decent gangster fick. 

Five on the Black Hand Side (1973) - Pleasantly confrontational black family drama.

The Voyage (1974)  - Typical turgid vehicle for La Loren. By De Sica?!?!

Caged Heat (1974) - Rote women in prisoner.

Arabian Nights (19740 - Pasolini doing his usual. 

Adolf Hitler - My Part in his Downfall (1974) - Dullish biopic of young Spike Milligan, even though Jim Dale is way too old, the resemblance just gets uncannier year by year. 

Death Weekend (1976) - No matter how tough this rape-revenge flick gets, I can't take it seriously because Brenda Vaccaro I can only associate with Andrea Martin in SCTV no matter how many things I've seen her in, and as this is a Canadian production (SCTV associate Ivan Reitman producing) , it doesn't help. 

The Missouri Breaks (1976) - A western, yes, but Brando is so convincing as an Irishman. Really. Not just the voice, the body language. 

Robin and Marian (1976) - Is it supposed to be ludicrous? The ending is a tear-jerker, and the soundtrack is one of Barry's best.

A Bridge Too Far (1977) - A film no matter how much its epicness and scale and the fact I visited Arnhem age 12, I associate with being that film "Cos worked on", Cos being a family friend. 

See also Yanks (1979) and Cross of Iron (1977).

Hound of the Baskervilles (1978) - A Waste. Yet I'd lie if I said I wasn't partly amused. Cook and Williams should have switched parts, though. Kenneth Williams would have been a genuinely brilliant serious Sherlock. 

Force 10 from Navarone (1978) - It begins with a Patrick allen narration/montage, and because of Reeves and Mortimer, I can't take this seriously. 

The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh (1979)/Roller Boogie (1979) - Flip Wilson does two awful novelty disco movies for UA???

Don't Go in the House (1979) - I wish I didn't. 

see also The Slumber Party Massacre (1982), Final Exam (1981), Graduation Day (1981) and He Knows You're Alone (1980)

Night School (1981) - Feels like a slightly-above giallo because of the presence of the American but previously Rome-based Leonard Mann. The twist makes no sense. Is Rachel Ward the killer?

Encounters of the Spooky kind (1980)  - Some interesting gore. But quite indebted to Iron Fisted Monk (1981). 

City of Women (1980) - huh?

See also Il Bidone (1953) and Variety Lights (1950). Finishing up on Fellini. 

Charlie Chan and the Curse of The Dragon Queen (1981) - Why was this made? If it was a Tv pilot, it'd explain a lot. But it ain't. 

Comin at Ya (1981) - Whata beautifully strange western.

Knightriders (1981) - Flawed because of how strange it is - a creative anachronist knight of the realm finds himself living his delusion of being King Arthur, but Romero's ace up his sleeve is the casting of storyteller Brother Blue as Merlin.

Excalibur (1981) - It's bacially just nutters roaming about Wicklow. Even Clive Swift suggests my childhood. 

Enter the Fat Dragon (1981)   - Sammo at his best.

A STranger is Watching (1982) - TV movie-ish Kate Mulgrew thriller. 

See also Visiting Hours (1982), which features UBS, the titular Network of the 1976 film and American Nightmare (1983, equally generic, down to the Canadian setting). 

Handgun (1984) - Tough but well-made kitchen sink vigilante rape flick from Tony Garnett. Has a weird cod-reggae theme from Harry Nilsson. 

The Company of Wolves (1984) - The effects are so trashy, but the film is so "classy", but the performance from Rea and the tone projected by Mr. Neil Jordan of Bray  is pure Wanderly Wagon. Hey, product placement for DC Thomson. What a waste. Never noticed that Graham Crowden and Brian Glover were double-billed first, though we have introducing credits and "and David Warner". In the end credits, Crowden and Glover and 3rd and 4th billed, but still, Neil, you had a great cast. We could have monster hunter Angela Lansbury. 

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) - Yawen. 

The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)- ZZZ.

Yes, Madam (1985) - Typical Hong Kong coppers. But you can see that despite all the posturing from Cynthia Rothrock, that it would be Michelle Yeoh who'd be the major Anglophone star. 

The Doctor and the Devils (1985) - Weird to see Lewis Fiander billed over Beryl Reid, TP McKenna and Patrick Stewart. The performances from Stephen Rea going full stage Dub, Jonathan Pryce and Phil Davis don't help. 

Lethal Obsession (1987) - Erotic German thriller with Elliott Gould. 

Shanghai shanghai (1990) - Ropey Sammo Hung vehicle, too glossy for its own good. 

Rewatched The Elephant Man (1980 - which I finally understand and see is a great film), Scanners (1981), Somewhere in Time (1980), the bollocks Hellraiser (1987), Don't look now (1973), Ashanti (1979), Zulu (1964), Zulu Dawn (1979), The Tamarind Seed (1974), a Hard day's Night (1964), Thunderbirds are GO/Thunderbird 6 (1967)/(1968)), The Bridge at Remagen (1969), Yellow Submarine (1968), Chitty chitty, bang Bang (1968)...

 Convicts Four (1962) - Rote prison film, Allied artists spending the money on an incredible cast.

Dirty Weekend (1973) - Peculiar Italian buddy comedy with Oliver Reed and Mastrello Mastroianni.

Wolf Lake (1980) - Dreary revenge film with Rod Steiger and the soon-to-be-murdered David Huffman. Set in Canada, shot in Mexico. 

Circle of Two (1982) - Canadian march-january romance with Richard Burton and Hammer fan Tatum O'Neal. 

Pit and the Pendulum (1991) - Typical Band ambition doesn't meet success.

70

Absolute Quiet (1936 - b/w) - Forgettable comedy with Lionel Atwill. 

See also Big City Blues (19320, featuring early Bogart.

This Happy Breed (1944) - Attractive encapsulation of pre-war Britain by Lean. features IPC's the Sunday Pictorial. 

Face to Face (1952 - b/w) - rotund maritime with James Mason + westerning with Robert Preston.

Les Espions (1957) - Dreary Ustinov spy caper from Clouzot. 

Carnival rock (1957) - Rote B-rate rocker from Corman, with the Platters.

Date with Disaster (1957) - Rote British B with Tom Drake, William Hartnell and Shirley Eaton.  Features ads for Oxo.

High Tide at Noon (1957)  Despite being set and partly shot in Nova Scotia, begins with "a British film" in big words to tell us that it is a Pinewood production, despite the presence of William Sylvester, Michael Craig, Patrick Allen (the middle two actually partly raised in Canada) and Flora Robson. Typical Rank romance starring Betta St John.

Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961) - Hard to believe I hadn't seen this Corman piece. But I suppose I already had. 

rag Doll (1961) - One of the last films by an ironically by-that-point-London-based Mancunian Film Corporation, but distributed by Butcher's, and Manson distributing, this dreary sex drama's only notable factor - the much-hated-by-Kenny Everett Jess Conrad theme, "why am I Living?" haunts this film. Conrad costars opposite Christina Gregg. With Pat Magee and Hermione Baddeley

Taste of Violence (1961) - Robert Hossein and Mario Adorf in the first modern Euro-western...

Reach for Glory (1962) - Offputting Lord of the Flies variant in wartime England. 

She'll Have To Go (1962) -  Rote black comedy starring Bob Monkhouse, Hattie Jacques, Alfred Marks and Anna Karina. That's right. a nice gothy ending where Monkhouse tries to kill Karina in a Heath Robinson organ-powered trap, only for he and Marks to fall in. 

Donovan's Reef (1963) - John Wayne "comedy". 

Strike Me Deadly (1963 - b/w) - Striking if mostly uneventful drama with some nice camerawork, from Ted V. Mikels, who as unique his cinematic vision was, was a better cinematographer.

Baraka X-77 (1966) - Forgettable Eurospy. 

Die Nibelungen (1966) - Luxuriant epic, the most expensive German film of its era, and a rare pre-80s sword and sorcery flick. Sweeping locations and a great mechanical dragon. And Herbert Lom! Plus a-pre-Terence Hill Mario Girotti. 

Mother Goose  a Go-Go (1966) - Ludicrous psychedelic erotica with Tommy Kirk.

Dutchman (1967 - b/w) - Under an hour, but a memorably angry, powerful turn from Al Freeman Jr. 

Maharlika (1970) - Pro-Marcos propaganda with Paul Burke and Broderick Crawford. Marcos' white American actress mistress Dovie Beams plays  a Filipina girl. 

Cold Sweat (1970) - Rewatched this rote Bronson Eurothriller.

Corbari (1970) - Stirring but rather dry biopic of a WW2-era partisan with thirtysomething Giuliano Gemma as someone who died age 21. 

Tarzan and the Golden Grotto (1970)/Tarzan and the Brown Prince (1973) - Though unofficial, these Spanish Italian knockoffs do feel expensive. With the likes of Peter Lee Lawrence and Fernando Sancho supporting the unremarkable but physically passable Steve Hawkes (whose Tarzan cry is alarmingly off), and some nice Eastmancolor cinematography, they do have  slight overtones of Italian cannibal movie sleaze and danger about them. The secondis a Filipino coproduction, with future British based Hollywood CGI whiz Robin Aristorenas as the titular young lad. 

May Morning (1970) - Depressing italian fare set in Oxford, soundtracked by the Tremeloes.

Kill (1971) - Romain Gary/Salkind insanity beginning with a fake-TV documentary on child drug addicts. Then, becomes a Euro-adventure with Stephen Boyd, James Mason and Jean Seberg. Mason I think is dubbed by someone doing a bad James Mason impression in some scenes, but not others. There's exposition scenes in front of  Arabs jumping on invisible pogo sticks. 

 The Incredible Two Headed Transplant (1971) - Ropey AIP twaddle.

Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me (1971) - Samey 50s-set nostalgic drama.

Slaughter Hotel (1971) - Attractive but garishly exploitative Klaus Kinski-Rosalba neri Eurosleaze.

Fox Style (1973) - Ropey Tex-blaxploitation with Juanita Moore.

The Harder They Come (1972) - A perfect capsule of 70s Jamaica.

Return of the Evil Dead (1972)/The Ghost Galleon (1974)/night of the Sea Gulls (1975) - Blind dead cobblers. 

Red Psalm (1972) - Typical Jancso. 

The Magnificent Daredevil (1973) - A fictional British TV reporter interviews racing driver Giuliano Gemma in a pub. Faux-British mix of action and sub-Alfie larks. Has a fight in  front of an ad for Yellow Pages. Cameo from Jackie Stewart.

The Trial of Billy Jack (1974) - Bonkers. How did this make 89 million dollars? Delores Taylor looks disconcertingly like crusading journalist/Irish patriot Gemma O'Doherty. She also reminds me of a late aunt. The end is just a load of crying, like a bloody televised funeral. This never got a release in the UK and Ireland. Thank God.

125 Rooms of Comfort (1974) - Amiable Canadian drama.

Zardoz (1974) - An accurate picture of Wicklow.

Deranged (1974) - Pervy Canadian Geinsploiter.

Eliza's Horoscope (1975) - Peculiar canadian odyssey with "Tom Lee Jones" in his film debut. Feels quite similar to Paul Bartel's Private Parts, down to lead Elizabeth Moorman having a similar aura to Ayn Ruymen. With Lila Kedrova  and a strange RP-voiced Australian-Chinese astrologer, one Rose Quong.

Train Ride To Hollywood (1975) - A baffling musical comedy vehicle for the r&b group Bloodstone set in a train that's also 30s Hollywood with Guy "Loving you Has Made Me Bananas" Marks as Bogie, Jay Robinson as Dracula,  lookalikes of Gable and Leigh (Phyllis Davis as Scarlett O'Hara), Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy in Rose Marie surrounded by snow that only rains on them, WC fields, Roberta Collins as Jean Harlow. Bloodstone are basically a black 70s Ritz Brothers. 

Kidnap syndicate (1975) - Italian cop yarn, again surprisingly solid, with Luc Merenda and James Mason as a crime boss. Features placement for TicTacs and J&B.

Linda Lovelace for President (1975) - It feels so ugly and voyeuristic.

The Iron Super Man (1975) - Oddly steampunky Mazinger Z knockoff with Godfrey Ho.

The Masters (1975) - Dry Mafia drama with Jennifer O'Neill, Franco Nero and James Mason.

Nick the Sting (1976) - Amiable, slightly jokey Sting in Eurocrime drag from di Leo with Luc Merenda as Nick Hezard, Lee J. Cobb, Luciana Paluzzi, Valentina Cortese and Gabriele Ferzetti. 

la polizia interviene ordine di uccidere (1975) - rote Eurocrime with Leonard Mann, Janet Agren, James Mason and Stephen Boyd. 

Viva Knievel (1977) - Evel can't act, so he just looks as baffled as the audience, as weirdness abounds. 

Blood and Diamonds (1978) - Routine Fernando di Leo Eurocrime. 

Cyclone (1978) - Despite sharks, cannibalism and dog-death, this is a rather dreary Mexican exploiter.

Magnum Cop (1978) - Decent Maurizio Merli cop show, in Austria, with Joan Collins in her The Stud era. 

See also Convoy Busters (1978) - not a trucker flick, but a rather downbeat but decent actioner involving Italian music shows and murdered girls. 

The New godfathers (1979) - Dreary Italian-Turkish-Iranian Godfather knockoff.

Running Scared (1980) - Unusual, confused 60s war/regional action hybrid with Ken Wahl, Judge Reinhold, John Saxon, Annie McEnroe, Bradford Dillman and Pat Hingle. A late imitation of Macon County Line.

The Club (1980) - Graham Kennedy and Jack Thompson sporting a magnificent tache in a film that somehow makes Aussie rules football exciting. Kennedy was an underappreciated character actor, despite being his country's most beloved broadcaster, their Wogan (and not just cos he did Blankety Blanks). Wonder can someone make the great GAA movie?

Bruce Beresford also did the same for teenage girls with the similarly truthful but trashily grim Puberty Blues (1981), based on the Kathy Lette book.

Bad Blood (1981) - Might be Mike Newell's best film, forgotten and buried at its release by being a product of the instantly stillborn film arm of Southern Television, it's a true crime story based on a real-life New Zealand crime case, with Jack Thompson as a farmer gone mad. Transformed into a 50s-set Kiwi western, it is savage, brutal and held together by performances from Thompson, Prisoner Cell Block H's Franky Doyle - Carol Burns, and Denis Lill, in a rare screen lead, for once playing his own nationality, as the local constable. 

The House by the Cemetery (1981) - Haunted house/franken-zombie nonsense from Fulci.See also City of the Living Dead (1980)

Station for Two (1982) - Two Soups - the Soviet Romance.

Bloodbeat (1983) - Bizarre French slasher shot in Wisconsin, with a  Darth Vader-esque samurai killer.

Monkey Shines (1988) - Dreary 80s romero despite for Romero, a great cast - Joyce van Patten, Stephen Root ("Lenore!"), Stanley Tucci!!!

The Carrier (1988) - What the hell is this? Begins in the present as a kind of slasher, then tunrs into an insane sub-Crazies post-apocalyptica?

Terror in Beverly Hills (1988)  - What begins as a promising sub-sub-Cannon actioner by Israelis the Bibiyans becomes increasingly boring. with Frank Stallone, William Smith and Cameron Mitchell.

Meet the Hollowheads  (1989) - A cult film without a cult.

Transylvania Twist (1989) - Ambitious Corman/Wynorski ZAZ-type parody. Not great but ambitious and with a few fun jokes. Robert Vaughn, Angus Scrimm, Jay Robinson, howard Morris as Prof.  Lilloman from High Anxiety...

Escape from the Liberty Cinema (1990) - A polish Jerry Lewis lookalike censor deals with a Purple Rose of Cairo-type film. Shot like an episode of Boon. Being Polish, a number of the cast were  in Soupy Norman. 

The Public Eye (1992) - Visually gorgeous neo-noir with Joe Pesci that suffers as it was marketed as a pulpy comedy. With Barbara Hershey and baby Jared Harris as a bull-headed Culchie doorman. 

Carnosaur (1993) - Despite its ambition, this Jurassic Park cash-in can't go beyond the dull visual dowdiness of most Corman films post-1985.

60

The Four Feathers (1939) - Rote colonial bull loved by grandads. 

Let The people Sing (1942) - Routine British comedy with Fred Emney and Alastair Sim.

I Know Where I'm Going!, (1945) - I thought I did. 

The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) - Rote Scotland Yarder with Oskar Homolka. 

Lady Godiva Rides Again (1951) - An all-star cast  (Dennis price,  Stanley Holloway, Kay Kendall, George Cole, Diana Dors, Eddie Byrne, Renee Houston, Richard Wattis, Sid James, Michael Ripper plus uncredited appearances from alastair Sim and Trevor Howard in cameo, and the likes of Dana Wynter, Anne Heywood, joan Collins, Jean Marsh and Ruth Ellis as the beauty pageant contestants) in this comedy that captures the world of Workers' Playtime and one-channel British television. 

The Quiet Man (1952) - The albatross hung around Ireland's neck. Best watched in a restored print, or else it'll like look like Trucolor, even though for once Republic did the full Technicolor on a film. An ad for Lyon's Tea and Wills' Gold Flake helps establish some authenticity. Yes, I know Wills is British, but still, at least it's not an American brand. if only it had been Wills' notorious Strand range, but that wasn't established until 1959. 

The Ladykillers (1955) - Darker than one expects. 

The Court Jester (1956) - Danny Kaye at his fantastical best.

Les Violents (1957) - Rote Paul Meurisse rougher. 

Dead Lucky (1960) - Rote british quickie with John le Mesurier. 

Two Way Stretch (1960) - Sellers, Cribbins, Denham and Jeffries do Porridge. Typical charming if not exactly rib-tickling 60s comedy. 

Les Petits Matins (1962) - Arletty, Blier, Brialy, Ventura, Becaud, Gravey, Gelin, Hossein, Noel-Noel, Aznavour  in what feels likea  French beach party lick 

Blague dans le coin (1963) Fernandel vehicle. Like any other.

Avec la peau des autres (1966) - Rote Lino Ventura trenchcoater with Coca Cola product placement  See also Sursis Pour Un Vivant (1959)

The Virgin Soldiers (1968)  - Typical 60s army comedy, but with a marvellous cast. Hywel Bennett, Lynn Redgrave, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Patrick, Rachel Kempson, Christopher Timothy, Lord Melbury, Christopher Timothy, "and james Cosmo", a discomfortingly attractive Geoffrey Hughes, Wayne Sleep, and an uncredited turn fro a young actor named David Jones. Bowie's appearance in a bar behind Shelley and Onslow, a literal blink-and-miss is like a hidden message from the future. 

igorota (1968) - Bizarre Filipino tropical erotica.

Stoney (1968) - Ropey but surprisingly nice looking Filipino actioner with Barbara Bouchet, Mike  Preston, Michael Rennie and Richard Jaeckel. 

Daddy's Gone a Hunting (1969) - Overlong studio-glossy but empty melodrama told over a number of years, with Carol White (playing a character called Cathy - so technically this can be seen as a sequel to Cathy Come Home - what happens when she abandoned Ray Brooks and her kids) arriving in the US with a Union Jack bag, falling in love with Scott Hylands, getting an abortion, driving him into a mad killer. There's a soap opera-y, Transatlantic tripe feel. Cathy marries Paul Burke, has a child and  now outraged Scott Hylands is determined to kill mother and child in revenge for the death of his own child. 

And God Said to Cain (1970) - Memorable at times horror western with klaus Kinski. Unusually solid looking village sets. 

Brain of Blood (1971) - Being Al Adamson, a special kind of terrible. Set in a supposed south Asian country with white actors without any makeup using their own accents, but dressed in karakuls and a postcard representing a palace exterior. Angelo Rossitto in a tam o'shanter is the sinister sidekick. Features Khalid Television and an ending that makes no sense. 

Get Carter (1971) - It is in many ways a perfect film. Even if it can be too grim, there's just the details that rivet. 

The Jesus Trip (1971) - Grim biker/nun teamup with a emroably hautningly angelic Tippy Walker as the heroic nun. 

La Scoumoune (1972) - Belmondo and Cardinale in a routine 30s Gallic gangster vehicle with an island prison interlude. 

Sweet Sugar (1972) - the incidental music used in this faux-Filipino women in prison plantation quickie is the same that soundtracked the Dave Nice Deptford Draylons ad.

A Full Day's Work (1973) - bonkers Wacky Races-ish assassin on a motorbike comedy directed by Jean Louis Trintignant, with an uncharacteristically jolly Bruno Nicolai score. 

Don't Just Lie There Say Something (1975) - Typical Rix farce. Even Derek Griffiths MBE wasn't immune from the curse of BAME actors of being billed lower than their role dictates.

Costar Peter Bland was also in the amiable NZ comedy Came A Hot Friday (1985)

Operation Lady Marlene (1975) - Allo Allo-ish antics with Michel Serrault.

Dolemite (1975) - Interesting but baffling Rudy Ray Moore vehicle. 

Slade in Flame (1975) - Some kind of masterpiece.

Don's Party (1976) - interesting Aussie drama set amongst the changeover of government. 

The Likely Lads (1976) - Along with Porridge, being a Clement/le Frenais production, the two sitcom films that feel like proper films. I like this less than Porridge, maybe because the Likely Lads sitcom I've never really been interested in, but it's still a decent film. And proper 70s shops. Timpson's! 

The Stud (1978) - pornographic disco muzak. 

Meteor (1979) - I quite enjoy the batshit scale of it. Shaw/AIP nonsense at its best. 

Scum (1979) - Harsh but accurate title. 

Boardwalk (1979) - A peculiar film, begins as a light dramedy with Lee Strasberg and Ruth Gordon as an old Jewish couple who watch the Price is Right, but then turns into a gang-attack movie, and eventually pre-empts Death Wish III in its story of old Jews fighting against Hispanic gangs.

When You Coming Back, Red Ryder? (1979) - Bleak, unusual, confusing southern drama with Marjoe Gortner as auteur-star, and a curiously miscast Peter Firth with a black quiff, plus Candy Clark, Lee Grant, Hal Linden and Pat Hingle and the Andy Williams Show..

Kamakalawa (1981) - Epic if  overlong but likeably ambiitous Filipino fantasy from Eddie Romero.

Spaghetti House (1982) - Starring Nino Manfredi, Rudolph Walker, "special guest appearance" from Rita Tushingham "and Derek Martin", while David Burke, Renato Scarpa and John Woodvine are listed in alphabetical block. Seeing two members of the cast in EastEnders in lead roles with solo billing in an Italian actioner (albeit written by Peter Barnes and shot in England) is nice. It feels nasty in an Italian way, like a dirtier version of Juggernaut. however, the best thing about is Walker. Despite a CBE for his  services to drama and charity and his twenty year run in EastEnders, Walker is still an underrated presence. He is both terrifying and terrified. He succeeeds  in being both threatening and yet likeably  sympathetic enough so that eventually he can soften and become friends with Manfredi's character. He looks genuinely scared at times of his own actions, while Nino Manfredi and his Italians play for wacky comedy. In a just world, Walker would have had a long career in Italian pictures, or at least would have been given better roles in British films. As it was, this was never released in Britain.  Features such 80s sights as punks outside a Ladbrokes and ads for Lyon's Maid.

Two of a Kind (1983) - Travolta and Newton John let Heaven wait. 

Savage Dawn (1984) - routine biker fare.

After Hours (1985) - Scorsese can't do zany without feeling bleak. 

De Ja Vu (1985) - Boring british Cannon ballerina reincarnation drama with Jaclyn Smith, Shelley Winters, Nigel Terry and Claire Bloom, set at the Daily Mail offices. 

Codename Emerald (1985) - TV WW2 hokum that got a theatrical release.

Gtohic (1986) - Ken Russell on autopilot. Feels like it was shot in wicklow thanks to Gabriel Byrne and Benjy Riordan. Very indebted visually to Women in Love (1969)

The Pink chiquitas (1987) - SCTV-related Frank Stallone retro sf chintz.

Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987) - The girls watch Madness on telly. Tyical 80s grimy council house film on four. Find it odd to say but Kulvinder Ghir was pretty when he was a young lad. 

Masquerade (1988) - Typical bland 80s thriller. Nice if entirely generic John Barry soundtrack that fuses Frances and The Legend of the lone Ranger. 

Dans le Ventre du Dragon (1989) - Very strange Gilliam-meets-Cronenberg Quebecois mad science. 

Grim Prairie Tales (1990) - James Earl Jones and Brad Dourif in Western Tales from the Darkside. 

Assassin of the Tsar (1991) - boring Soviet mental illness drama with Malcolm McDowell. 

Warlock II - The Armageddon (1993) - Ambitious, interesting opening but goes into blanderama 90s horror territory.

Dazed and Confused (1993) - Certainly.

Brainscan (1994) - If the West Memphis Three was a Goosebumps episode. about the dangers of full-motion-video games. 

Snake Eyes (1995) - Rubbishy De Palma on autopilot. 

 Orphans (1998) - RoutineScots black comedy, with Peter  Mullan directing.

love liza (2002) - Indie dramedy with Kathy Bates and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Satan's Little Helper (2004) - Terrible load of shite. Katheryn Winnick here a dead ringer for Ivanka Trump. 

90

The sin of Nora Moran (1933)  - Average poverty row melodrama. 

East Meets West (1936 - b/w) - George Arliss up the Khyber.

The Citadel (1938 - b/w) - Typical MGM prestige product, based on the AJ Cronin novel, though made in Wales and England. Has ads for Wrigley's, and Crosse and Blackwell's. The 1983 adaptation from BBC/MGM is much better, and doesn't cut off the story halfway to create a happier end. 

Vendetta (1950 - b/w) - terrible Howard Hughes period vanity project for his love Faith Domergue. Almost poverty row level. 

Hindle Wakes (1952 - b/w) - routine adaptation of the play with Leslie Dwyer, Lisa Daniely, Joan Hickson and Bill Travers.

Touchez pas au grisbi (1954 - b/w) - Rote Gabin gangsterer.

One Way Ticket to Hell (1955) - Dreary narrated-but-no-dialogue juvenile drug saga. 

Faces (1968)/Shadows (1959)/A Woman Under the Influence (1974)/Opening Night (1977) - Cassavetes isn't quite the sort of cinema   I'd watch otherwise. I can see why he is revered. 

Tall Story (1960 - b/w) - rote high school comedy with Jane Fonda and Anthony Perkins.

All the young Men (1960) - Rote Korean war drama with Alan Ladd and Sidney Poitier.

Platinum High School (1960 - b/w) - astonishingly not directed by Al Zugsmith. 

This Rebel Breed (1960) - Jew Mark Damon plays an Afro-Mexican cop fighting delinquents. With Rita Moreno and Diane Cannon before she decided that she'd stick out if she spelt her name Dyan.

The Sinister Urge (1960) - Dreary Ed Wood vehicle.

The Angel Wore Red (1960 - b/w) - well, if it was either Ava or Dirk, I couldn't tell, the film was in black and white. 

Bridge to the Sun (1961) - depressing Japanese-set WW2 melo with Carroll Baker and James Shigeta.

The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond (1961) - Rote gangster drama with Ray Danton.

ON THE FIDDLE (1961) _ ROUTINE BRITCOM WITH CONNERY PRE-OO7

Black Gold (1962 - b/w) - ropey 1920s-set neo-western. 

81/2 (1963) - Get this confused with la Dolce Vita.

In The French Style (1963 - b/w) - Typical Jean Seberg studio froth, with Stanley Baker and a French fella who looks a bit like Stan.

Wall of Noise (1963) - Ty Hardin melodrama nonsense about a jockey. 

the Stripper (1963) - Joanne Woodward is Kim Novak.

Twilight of Honor (1963 - b/w) - Tiring legal drama with Richard Chamberlain, nick Adams and Claude Rains. 

Wives and Lovers (1963) - bland romcom.

Allez France (1964) - Anglo-French comedy with an all-star cast showcased And You Have been Watching - Jean Richard, Mark Lester, Ronald Fraser, Diana Dors, arthur Mullard (pronounced Mull-er), Percy Herbert, Bernard Cribbins ("Bernar Cribbins"), Colin Blakely, Godfrey Quigley, Ross Parker (the man who wrote) , Georgina Cookson, Colin Gordon, Ferdy Mayne, Reg Lye, a chicken,  but though credited, "Donal Donally" and Tim Brinton, John Comer and Billy Kearns don't get the treatment. 

Also watched Jean Richard in sentimental b/w Louis de Funes comedy Mon pote le gitan (1959). 

See also Certains l'aiment froide (1959)

the Interns (1962)/the new Interns (1964) - turgid medical soap.

Dear Heart (1964 - b/w) - rote family comedy with Glenn Ford.

In Harm's Way (1965 - b/w) - typical bloated Preminger. 

Monster A Go Go (1965 - b/w) - Did I see this boredom before?

The Slender Thread (1965 - b/w) - Heartbreaking, angry turn from Sidney Poitier as he tussles with suicidal Anne Bancroft.

Seealso A Patch of Blue (1966).

Synanon (1965) - Bleak b/w mental drama with Chuck Connors, Alex Cord, Eartha Kitt and Stella Stevens. 

Doctor Zhivago (1965) - It's what you think it is. 

Guide (1966)/Jewel Thief (1967 ) - 60s Bollywood films look better than any other era.

Camelot (1967) - Everything looks slightly wrong. And Franco Nero as an ersatz Robert Goulet, shorn of his tache and therefore not himself, poor fella. Especially as he ended up meeting the wretched Redgrave woman. 

UlysseS (1967) - What a disgraceful, rude film. But with a staggering cast of almost very actor in the country  - Milo O'Shea, Barbara Jefford, Maurice Roeves being Scottish as Dedalus, TP McKenna, Anna Manahan. Chris "father Jim of Rugged Island" Curran, Fionnuala Flanagan before she emigrated, Geoffey and Eddie Golden, Martin Dempsey. Maire Hastings, David Kelly, Des Perry, Rosaleen Linehan and Des Keogh, Maureen Potter, Maureen Toal (then Mrs. O'Shea), jim Bartley, Barry Cassin, Brendan Caldwell, Danny Cummins, May Cluskey, Tony Doyle, Eugene Lambert without judge, Thomas Macanna, Pamela Mant, Derry Power, Ann "he got his lad out" Rowan, Cecil Sheehan, Cecil Sheridan, OZ Whitehead and Biddy White Lennon, that's basically a good chunk out of the entire Irish acting population plus import tax and a box of Ritz crackers. And Pauline Melville, too, before she went alternative. 

Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) - Cuban political-artiness.

IF HE HOLLERS, LET HIM GO (1968) - REPETITIVE RACIAL ACTIONER WITH RAYMOND ST JACQUES AGAINST DANA WYNTER AND KEVIN MCCARTHY. TO THINK WYNTER ENDED UP IN RTE'S BRACKEN.

LES CHEMINS DE KATMANDU (1969) - AIP EASTERN PSYCHEDELIA BUNKUM WITH JANE BIRKIN.

1000 CONVICTS AND A WOMAN (1970) - ROPEY AIP PRISON SAGA. 

ONE DAY IN THE LIFE OF IVAN DESINOVICH (1970) - COLD THEATRICAL ADAP. 

ROAD TO SALINA (1970) - ROPEY ARTY EXPLOITER.

Violent City (1970) - Breakneck Italian action at its best. Bronson, Savalas, Ireland and a golly doll. 

 KING LEAR (1970) - IS IT SET IN THE PRESENT? THE COSTUMES SEEM A BIT ANACHRONISTIC. STILL, NICE TO SEE SUSAN ENGEL IN A JUICY PART. 

Fantasia Among the Squares (1971) - Baffling French comedy but lovely European view of the US, with added Lino Ventura and Weetabix. 

Glen and Randa (1971) - Unlikeable hippie teen apocalyptica. 

Melody (1971) - 18 year old Jack Wild almost convincing as a  12 year old, but his voice is crackling (Flight of the Doves was shot after this, I presume). Mark Lester and Tracy Hyde as the lovers. What a strange film. James Cossins' head and the ending are pure CFF. 

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) - The angriest film ever made. Features people called Nick Ferrari and Bob Maxwell, who have nothing to do with British tabloids. 

Les Hommes (1972) - Rote Eurocrime with Henry Silva, Michel Constantin and Marcel Bozzuffi.

Horowitz in Dublin (1973) - A forgotton curio filled with time capsule footage of the Irish capital, seemingly a pilot for a Brannigan-style series starring Harvey Lembeck a world away from either Bilko or Beach Party as a New York cop in Dublin, with Sinead and Cyril Cusack plus Al lettieri and Cesare Danova, plus the likes of Liam  Redmond, Martin Dempsey and Tom Hickey.  Seeing Lembeck surronded by Jacob's biscuit products is certainly a sight. Future Fair City regular Clive Geraghty plays the heroic sidekick. Was there an Irish Sunday Express?

The Happy Hooker (1975) - How did lynn Redgrave get into this POS?

Brotherhood of Death (1976) - There is some energy in this mostly dreary blaxploitation cyborg Vietnam vet anti-Klan picture.

Mad Dog Morgan (1976) - A rotuine western with Dennis Hopper as an Irish hoodlum, but in Australia with the usual great Aussie faces. 

The Seniors (1978) - Dodgy sex comedy with Dennis Quaid.

The Crippled Masters (1979) - Seemingly an average kung fu quickie, but then the titular characters appear. Jesus. A kung fu Freaks.

Out of the Blue (1980) - Bleak Canadian teen drama with the unforgettable Linda Manz as an Elvis obsessive plus directed/starring Dennis Hopper, with Raymond Burr and Sharon Farrell. 

The Jazz Singer (1980) I'm betting the lords Grade and Delfont insisted on Neil Diamond blacking up. "The Minstrels are still big with northerners. Trust me, Mr. Fleischer."

Tales of Ordinary Madness (1981) - Arty, erotic Bukowskiploitation with Ornella Muti, Ben Gazzara and Susan Tyrrell.

Sorceress (1982) - Appealingly junky sword and sorcery. Bits of the score of Battle Beyond the Stars and Piranha are used.

Greystoke The legend of Tarzan Lord of the  Apes (1984) - Moments hit at pulp goodness and there's lovely Al whitlock mattes,, but a post-Raiders Tarzan shouldn't have been this stately. but it's an origin story. It's a prequel to a film never made. 

The Cotton Club (1984) - Typical Coppola. 

Alphabet City (1984) - Arty no wave New York gang pic.

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) - actually, it's quite grotty.

Truly Madly Deeply (1990) - a typical 90s BBC drama.

King Lear (1986) - It's like Godard served up a plate of rubbish just to make the Cannon Group look deliberately lazy. 

The Messenger (1986) - Fred Williamson tosh. Still, the man has charisma. 

Belly of an Architect (1987) - Brian Dennehy roams around Rome. Not Greenaway's best. 

Timesweep (1987) - Idioitic though intriguing-sounding horror set in a haunted film studio. With a dull, mainly middle-aged cast of amateurs. 

Moonstruck (1987) - it's nice enough. John Mahoney was a bit of a surprise. 

Nightfall (1988) - Dreary Asimov adap with Sarah Douglas, David Birney and Alexis Kanner.

The Carpenter (1988) - bleary-eyed fauxmerican Canadian thriller starring a Poundland Sigourney Weaver/susan Sarandon/Jenny Agutter hybrid, and Wings Hauser.

The Rainbow (1988) - Ken Russell erotica that somehow looks cheap as chips. It looks like a BBC Sunday serial. Bits look to be on videotape. McGann has an aldi Robert Powell vibe here. 

Deepstar Six (1989) - Another bland underwater Alien of 1989. 

Casualties Of War (1989) - typical 80s Nam drama, but why did De Palma bring back the female lead in the coda, put a flase nose and then get Amy Irving to dub her in her Far Pavilions voice? A thin John C Reilly?

The Bride with White Hair (1993) - Sumptuous wuxia ghost sotry. 

Diggstown (1993 ) - Routine boxing comdram with Lou Gossett, Bruce Dern and James Woods.

Cold Fever (1995) - Sub-Jarmusch quirkiness. 

KOLYA (1999) - THE DIRECTOR'S ODE TO HIS OWN DA.

Pups (1999) - Natural born kiddie killers.

The Hours of the Day (2003)  -sleazy Spanish serial killer.

Frozen Land (2005) - SOV Finnish noir.

Madame Edoard (2004) - Baffling french chef-in-drag comedy with Michel Blanc and Andrea Ferreol.

Why Don't You Just Die (2018) - Interesting Russian domestic western.