A diamond smuggler works with one tribe to war against another tribe and thereby gain unfettered access to the diamond mine whose owners he has killed. It’s up to Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller), working with Inspector Bernard (Richard Stapley), and with the dubious assistance of the chimp Tamba, to put an end to the scheme …
Read the full post →“<em>Jungle Man-Eaters</em> (Columbia, 1954)”
Rival tongs are settling their differences through a marriage, but crooks target the gift, a jade necklace, that was given to settle the feud. Reporters covering the wedding get involved in the less-than-compelling action. The best performer in the cast is probably Tarzan, the Police Dog, but even he is no great shakes. Not recommended. …
Jimmy Bondi(Rudolf Zehetgruber) and his car Dudu are on their way to Europe when they find themselves mixed up with a shady marquess (Karl-Otto Alberty) and his gang and their opponents, a former prisoner with a secret (Joachim Fuchsberger) and a gal who is accompanying him (Heidi Hansen). There are plenty of funny fights, as …
Read the full post →“<em>The Superbug Rides Again</em> (1972)”
U.S. Marshal Cheyenne Davis (Lash La Rue) arrives to help local lawman Fuzzy Jones (Al “Fuzzy” St. John) investigate the disappearance of a government surveyor. This disappearance is connected with a criminal plot to murder landowners and obtain their property via forged deeds, but the crooks’ plans may be thwarted when unbeknownst to them their …
Read the full post →“<em>Ghost Town Renegades</em> (PRC, 1947)”
Wild movie from the Philippines, originally titled Lumaban ka, Satanas, features a man who is chosen by his dead uncle to battle the powers of evil, in the form, first, of “the Prince of Magic,” but eventually Old Nick himself. Fans of film oddities may enjoy it, but it isn’t very good. Not recommended. Otto …
A photographer investigates when his date, a stewardess, is kidnapped. Bad guys are after gold that her father had smuggled during the war, and among those interested are killer women who wear black tights and use an assortment of odd weapons, including records as throwing stars and measuring tapes as swords. Lots of fun, with …
Read the full post →“<em>Ore ni sawaru to abunaize</em> (1966)”
Lackluster tale of the smuggling of illegal aliens into the United States by air has Regis Toomey as the main investigator, the reliable J. Farrell MacDonald as another lawman, Esther Ralston as a bored young rich woman caught up with the gang behind the crimes, and Sidney Blackmer as a slick crook fascinated by the …
The success of Disney’s The Love Bug appears to have inspired writer-director Rudolf Zehetgruber in the creation of a German competitor (fittingly, given the Beetle’s origin), and through the 1970s he directed five films starring Dudu, the extraordinary Beetle (or Käfer) and himself as the car’s owner/customizer/builder, with his wife (Kathrin Oginski) appearing in a …
Someone is setting homesteaders and ranchers against each other to start a range war. Marshal Steve Collins, aka the Durango Kid (Charles Starrett), investigates and finds clues pointing to more than one suspect. Some evidence implicates the local attorney, though his daughter blames the banker instead. Steve is also aided by Smiley (Smiley Burnette), who …
Read the full post →“<em>Phantom Valley</em> (Columbia, 1948)”
A blind masseur who happens to be a marvelously skilled swordsman is hired by a crooked official for a battle against a rival gang. Zatôichi monogatari, the first of more than two dozen movies about the character, is a character-driven drama in which the viewer comes to know not only the title character, who is …
