Two friends who live by their wits and are fond of playing tricks on one another are given the secret to a gold deposit and must contend against starvation, the elements, and greedy crooks to secure their reward. Somewhat entertaining comic western, originally titled Amico mio… frega tu che frego io, but nothing more than …
Vinegar Tank Car
Among the more unusual freight cars traveling the mid-century rails were vinegar tank cars, with their wooden tanks, operating well into the era of all-steel cars but seeming much older, because of the need to handle the corrosive liquid. Yeast-maker Fleischmann had a large fleet of such cars, originally owned via a subsidiary and carrying …
Navy Spy (Grand National, 1937)
Another unmemorable entry in a four-movie series starring Conrad Nagel and Eleanor Hunt as federal agents, here trying to rescue a kidnapped inventor (who happens to be a naval officer) to prevent other powers from getting his newly developed formula for a concentrated aviation fuel. The banter between the leads is a little heavy (a …
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West of Dodge City (Columbia, 1947)
The Durango Kid comes to the aid of the heirs of a rancher who had hired Steve Ramsey (the Durango Kid’s alter ego) as a surveyor to check on the suitability of the area for a dam that is being promoted by Henry Hardison and who was murdered for his opposition to selling his ranch. …
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Santo contra los zombies (1962)
Rather slow but nonetheless entertaining movie that apparently was masked wrestler Santo’s first starring vehicle, Santo contra los zombies has our hero, as so often, battling a mad scientist and his minions — in this case zombies energized and controlled by electronic belts. There’s plenty of battles both in the ring and out, a rather …
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The Chance of a Lifetime (Columbia, 1943)
Boston Blackie is back, this time arguing for a sort of work-release program for prisoners so they can help with war production efforts. Of course, things go wrong from the very start, as one of the convicts uses permission to visit his wife and child as an opportunity to retrieve the loot from his crime …
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Just One More Story
Galloping Romeo (Monogram, 1933)
Bob Rivers (Bob Steele) and his pal Grizzly (George ‘Gabby’ Hayes) are pals who wander the West, getting mixed up in all kinds of scrapes and ending up wanted in various localities, despite never acting against the law. Their latest travels take them to California, where they are unknown (and not yet wanted by the …
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The Mystery of Chess Boxing (1979)
In The Mystery of Chess Boxing (original title: Shuang ma lian huan), a young man out to avenge his father’s murder at the hands of the infamous Ghost Face Killer first seeks training at a martial arts school where he is bullied by one of the advanced students but does get some learning from the …
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Cipher Bureau (Grand National, 1938)
The head of the U.S. Government’s Cipher Bureau (Leon Ames) and his skilled crew of assistants battle foreign agents. But matters get complicated when spies use a femme fatale (Joan Woodbury) to target his brother Paul (Don Dillaway). Will the official be able to foil a plot aimed at stealing important papers, a plot that …
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