A police constable (Brian Reece) who dreams of being a plainclothes detective but is rather dim gets involved with a femme fatale, who plans to use him as the witness to the killing of a purported attacker. The story winds through several twists and developments, as the constable’s girlfriend (Joy Shelton) takes a hand in …
Read the full post →“<em>A Case for P.C. 49</em> (Hammer, 1951)”
Federal agents use the marvelous Radar to thwart crooks plotting to steal a uranium shipment and deliver it to a foreign power. There are multiple layers of crooks, with varying degrees of competence and all evincing a willingness to sacrifice others to increase their take. Fortunately for the Feds, they have their technological wonder device …
Read the full post →“<em>Radar Secret Service</em> (Lippert, 1950)”
Masked wrestler Santo comes to the aid of the daughter of a deceased old friend, and along the way he finds romance. There’s far too little of the weirdness I associate with the Santo movies, although the trained eagle does add a certain element of interest, but overall the movie is just plain dull. Not …
Read the full post →“<em>Santo y el águila real</em> (1973)”
Fairly ordinary mystery, with a reporter (Grace Bradley) and a homicide detective (Roland Drew) sparring, while enamored of each other, in the course of investigating killings connected with a gambling racket. The writing is OK, including not only the bantering leads but also a DA whose amour is somehow embroiled with the gambling ring, but …
Read the full post →“<em>The Invisible Killer</em> (PDC, 1939)”
The Range Busters come to the aid of a sheriff (Steve Clark) facing a rash of payroll robberies, but matters get really serious when Crash is caught in an explosion set by the gang. A fairly well-crafted script has the obvious leader of the crooks taking orders in turn from an unknown someone else, and …
Read the full post →“<em>Boot Hill Bandits</em> (Monogram, 1942)”
Credit a post at the blog Fists and .45s! for turning me on to the espionage comedy with music Out of Sight. Released in 1966 and starring John Daly as a butler impersonating his secret agent boss, the movie owes a good deal to American International’s beach movies, I’d say, extending even to including musical …
Read the full post →“<em>Out of Sight</em> (Universal, 1966)”
Back in 2021, role-playing games publisher Goodman Games launched a new magazine focusing on sword and sorcery, a well-made and well-illustrated journal whose production values were very high, and whose contents were a good match for that quality. I recently received the latest issue, No. 5, and promptly read it this past week. I’m pleased …
Read the full post →“<em>Tales from the Magician’s Skull</em>, No. 5”
While visiting old client Sir Henry Baskerville, Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Wontner), aided by Dr. Watson (Ian Fleming), solves two killings and the disappearance of a horse. Professor Moriarty (Lyn Harding) and helper Colonel Moran are involved in the plot in this thriller, acting on behalf of a bookie who wants the favored horse to lose …
