A wealthy young man (Douglas Fairbanks) who is mad about the “Wild West” gets a chance to experience it when a delegation from a western town approach his father, a noted financier, in hopes of a loan, and he in turn sends his son out to inspect conditions. Of course, the days of the frontier …
Read the full post →“<em>Wild and Woolly</em> (Artcraft, 1917)”
This Western has some of the appeal of an Egyptological adventure, as the Three Mesquiteers — Stony (Robert Livingston), Tucson (Ray Corrigan), and Lullaby (Max Terhune) — become involved with solving the murder of a scientist who had escaped from a cult that had captured him and a colleague while they were looking for a …
Read the full post →“<em>Riders of the Whistling Skull</em> (Republic, 1937)”
Four men and their families face the vengeance of a voodoo priest and his “doll people” after the men steal an idol. A nice touch is that the ranks of the killers are recruited from the previous victims, now in doll form. Worth a look. Original title: Muñecos infernales. Recommended. Otto finds this one pleasing …
Read the full post →“<em>The Curse of the Doll People</em> (1961)”
Supernatural tale of love and betrayal, vengeance and conflict, with some interesting sequences, though the movie, also known as The Phantom Madame Peach Blossom, suffered in the print I watched from poor lighting and difficult-to-read subtitles. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great. Movie 495 for 2021.
The Dudu series draws to a close with this movie, originally titled Zwei tolle Käfer räumen auf, and a disappointing close it is, with the fun little Beetle destroyed at the beginning of the movie and the rest of the film devoted to El Guancho (Rudolph Zehetgruber) contending against assorted bad guys for a hidden …
Enjoyable Johnny Mack Brown movie has him teaming up with an ex-Army officer (James Ellison) cashiered because a gold shipment he was escorting was stolen. It’s up to the two of them to expose the inside man providing information to the bandits and put an end to the depredations, A ghost town hotel and some …
The guys from The Haunted Cop Shop are back in this movie, also known as The Haunted Cop Shop II. This time around, the misfit policemen are assigned to a special unit tasked with battling supernatural entities plaguing the city. The laughs are rather fewer, and the movie seems rather choppy, too. It’s really only …
Nearly everyone from his radio show gets a chance to contribute in this Jack Benny movie — Phil Harris is key to setting Jack up to go west (though surprisingly he doesn’t lead his band), Andy Devine has a ranch Jack pretends to own, Dennis Day gets to sing, Mary Livingston contributes her voice, announcer …
Read the full post →“<em>Buck Benny Rides Again</em> (Paramount, 1940)”
Not really a horror film, though the title suggests that it might be, Die Augen der Mumie Ma (aka The Eyes of the Mummy) is really more of a melodrama, in which an artist (Harry Liedtke) rescues a young woman (Pola Negri) from servitude to a strange man (Emil Jannings) inside an Egyptian tomb, brings …
Read the full post →“<em>Die Augen der Mumie Ma</em> (1918)”
A cowboy comes to the big city to turn his cash into more wealth, and he becomes the target of unscrupulous Broadway producers. Fortunately, he has their secretary looking out for him, but will the two be able to make for a successful show … particularly when the other partners want out and a gang …
