A western-oriented entry in the field of morale-boosting all-star musicals set around a servicemen’s canteen, this 1944 Columbia outing has a ranch owner (Charles Starrett) who joins the Army and is assigned to a camp near his home, while a canteen is set up for the soldiers with performing talent and staffing from the area, …
Read the full post →“<em>Cowboy Canteen</em> (Columbia, 1944)”
American agents (Tom Keene and Warren Hymer) tackle arms smuggling in the Far East. Reasonable amounts of action and good leads (including Wera Engels as the heroine) make for a fairly entertaining low-budget effort. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great. Movie 233 for 2021.
In a change of pace for the Boston Blackie series, this time around Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) expressly recruits Blackie (Chester Morris) to help recover the missing Blue Star of the Nile gemstone, which crooks have lifted despite police protection. The usual fun ensues, with the crime-fighting mixed with comedy. Janis Carter has a good …
Read the full post →“<em>One Mysterious Night</em> (Columbia, 1944)”
When crooks murder a man who has discovered a gold mine, rancher Tom Rigby (Tom Mix) steps in to ensure that the man’s young daughter will inherit. The arrival of the girl’s aunt (Lois Wilson) gives the crooks an opportunity to make their play, leading to a desert trek that strands the party — Tom, …
Read the full post →“<em>The Rider of Death Valley</em> (Universal, 1932)”
This rather slow-moving sword and sorcery movie, originally titled Sangraal, la spada di fuoco, suffers in part because of its storyline, which involves the destruction of not one, but two different tribes. Though the repetition makes sense, it drags things down, and the subsequent developments seem a bit far-fetched even in the context of the …
Read the full post →“<em>The Sword of the Barbarians</em> (1982)”
A jealous husband (Lionel Atwill) who captures wild animals for a zoo makes use of the creatures to punish his wife’s lover and others…can he be stopped? Atmospheric thriller with a creepy opening and a suitably menacing villain, with Charlie Ruggles on hand to provide comic relief as the zoo’s new public relations man. Recommended. …
Read the full post →“<em>Murders in the Zoo</em> (Paramount, 1933)”
Santo squares off against a group of witches to protect a friend and his fiancée, with plenty of action that will appeal to fans of the wrestler and his films. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great. Movie 228 for 2021.
Merry mix-ups as a daughter (Joan Barclay) tries to keep crooks from stealing a diamond pledged by her father for a loan. She is hampered and aided by an artist (Herman Brix, better known as Bruce Bennett) who thinks that she is a crook herself. There’s not a lot here, but the leads are personable …
Read the full post →“<em>Amateur Crook</em> (Victory, 1937)”
