Safari Drums (Allied Artists, 1953)

Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) becomes involved with a safari out to capture footage of wild animals and must stay with them, despite his condemnation of some of their behavior, because an unknown member of the safari had murdered a geologist and had stolen both diamonds and a map to a diamond mine. The contriving necessary to …

Outlaws of Stampede Pass (Monogram, 1943)

Federal marshal Nevada Jack Mackenzie (Johnny Mack Brown), working undercover, comes to the aid of the nephew of old friend Sandy Hopkins, who is now retired, when the nephew is cheated of his money and later ambushed after his herd of cattle is rustled. After Sandy is summoned, he arrives in the guise of a …

A Case for P.C. 49 (Hammer, 1951)

A police constable (Brian Reece) who dreams of being a plainclothes detective but is rather dim gets involved with a femme fatale, who plans to use him as the witness to the killing of a purported attacker. The story winds through several twists and developments, as the constable’s girlfriend (Joy Shelton) takes a hand in …

Radar Secret Service (Lippert, 1950)

Federal agents use the marvelous Radar to thwart crooks plotting to steal a uranium shipment and deliver it to a foreign power. There are multiple layers of crooks, with varying degrees of competence and all evincing a willingness to sacrifice others to increase their take. Fortunately for the Feds, they have their technological wonder device …

Santo y el águila real (1973)

Masked wrestler Santo comes to the aid of the daughter of a deceased old friend, and along the way he finds romance. There’s far too little of the weirdness I associate with the Santo movies, although the trained eagle does add a certain element of interest, but overall the movie is just plain dull. Not …

The Invisible Killer (PDC, 1939)

Fairly ordinary mystery, with a reporter (Grace Bradley) and a homicide detective (Roland Drew) sparring, while enamored of each other, in the course of investigating killings connected with a gambling racket. The writing is OK, including not only the bantering leads but also a DA whose amour is somehow embroiled with the gambling ring, but …

Boot Hill Bandits (Monogram, 1942)

The Range Busters come to the aid of a sheriff (Steve Clark) facing a rash of payroll robberies, but matters get really serious when Crash is caught in an explosion set by the gang. A fairly well-crafted script has the obvious leader of the crooks taking orders in turn from an unknown someone else, and …

Out of Sight (Universal, 1966)

Credit a post at the blog Fists and .45s! for turning me on to the espionage comedy with music Out of Sight. Released in 1966 and starring John Daly as a butler impersonating his secret agent boss, the movie owes a good deal to American International’s beach movies, I’d say, extending even to including musical …