Month: January 2021
Gunga Din (RKO, 1939)
A rollicking film, full of friendly hijinks and malevolent enemies, Gunga Din leans heavily on the appeal of the three sergeants at the center of the action — played by Victor McLaglen, Cary Grant, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. — with their good-natured pranks and mutual loyalty and love, but the whole is given depth and …
Monon double-door automobile boxcar
Six Gun Gospel (Monogram, 1943)
Gold shipments are being hijacked, and it’s up to federal marshals Sandy Jackson (Raymond Hatton) and Nevada Jack Mackenzie (Johnny Mack Brown) to get to the bottom of the crimes. To that end, Sandy comes to town dressed in somber clothing, hoping to be mistaken for an undertaker, though instead everyone leaps to the conclusion …
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Cancel My Reservation (WB, 1972)
Bob Hope’s final starring feature film is a comedy thriller very loosely based on Louis L’Amour’s contemporary western crime novel, The Broken Gun. Scarcely anything remains of the original story, however, save for aspects of the setting; the differences are so great that one wonders why Hope licensed the novel at all. Hope has a …
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Earth vs the Spider (American International, 1958)
High school students, a teacher, and the sheriff end up fighting against a monstrous arachnid after one student’s father is killed by the giant creature. Initial success proves illusory, however, and more terror awaits the teens and the town. There’s nothing particularly distinctive about this creature feature, but it fills its short running time well …
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The Old Dark House (Universal, 1932)
There are strange doings at an old dark house where travelers are stranded for the night in the midst of a storm. Melvyn Douglas is fine as the lead, and if the romance that develops between his character and that of Lilian Bond seems rather rapid, they at least do appear to belong together. The …
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Landrush (Columbia, 1946)
A gang of crooks is bent on keeping homesteaders out of the Spur area, which is being opened for settlement in a land rush, and government surveyor Steve Harmon (aka the Durango Kid, played by Charles Starrett) stands up for the prospective settlers — including Ozie Waters and His Colorado Rangers — and takes the battle …
I Think I’ve Seen This Movie
Trapped by Television (Columbia, 1936)
An inventor working on a better means of transmitting and receiving television signals faces challengers, including lack of funds and sabotage, as he tries to find a market for his development. Fortunately, he has the aid of a determined businesswoman and her pal and of a science-loving friend in this fast-moving little programmer. The scheming …
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