Superlative actor George Arliss bid farewell to film with this adventure thriller based on Russell Thorndyke’s excellent novel. Here Arliss plays village divine Dr. Syn, shepherd of the folk of Dymchurch, at least some of whom engage in, and all of whom profit in some way by, smuggling. When a clever officer of the King …
Read the full post →“<em>Doctor Syn</em> (Gaumont British, 1937)”
Two ex-bootleggers (Reginald Denny and Vince Barnett) hiding out in Paris from their erstwhile (and violent) associates take refuge in the French Foreign Legion, but are these two odd fellows really fit to serve? There’s a fair amount of misfits in uniform humor, particularly as the two compete (with their sergeant) for the affections of …
Read the full post →“<em>We’re in the Legion Now</em> (Grand National, 1936)”
The February 13, 1926 issue of Argosy All-Story Weekly featured four serials, including the start of Charles Francis Coe’s The Ranch Beyond, one novelette, four short stories, five poems, and a special insert that is a tribute to Frank A. Munsey, the founder of the magazine, who had passed away on December 22 of the …
Read the full post →“<em>Argosy All-Story Weekly</em>, February 13, 1926”
This excellent historical adventure stars Ronald Colman as the vagabond poet François Villon, made Marshal of France on a whim of King Louis XI (Basil Rathbone) while Paris is under siege and likely to fall to the Burgundians. As ever, Colman does well with the costumed part, giving appeal to the character — a character …
Read the full post →“<em>If I Were King</em> (Paramount, 1938)”
The February 6, 1926 issue of Argosy All-Story Weekly featured four serials, including the start of The Seal of Satan, one novelette, five short stories, and five poems. I skipped the serials, as per my usual practice when I lack all the parts, but I read the remaining content. I found it another good issue, …
Read the full post →“<em>Argosy All-Story Weekly</em>, February 6, 1926”
An inventor of a new submarine (Harry Houdini) helps a woman whose uncle wishes to ignore her captive father’s pleas for help and instead steal a map to an island near a treasure-filled wreck. There are perils aplenty for both hero and heroine, and costar Lila Lee shows herself a game sport. Although unfortunately the …
Read the full post →“<em>Terror Island</em> (Paramount, 1920)”
While a researcher investigates reports of a tribe worshipping a tiger (trying learn whether this is true, and if so why, as tigers are not native to Africa), a government agent looks for a Nazi war criminal who holds the secret to some stolen art. Add in some crooks also after the art and a …
Read the full post →“<em>Voodoo Tiger</em> (Columbia, 1952)”
A soft-spoken yet sinister man (Peter Lorre) rules as a tyrant over an island where he brings parolees and puts them to work, keeping them as slave labor until they die. He likewise keeps his wife (Rochelle Hudson) a prisoner there, too. Will a federal agent (Robert Wilcox) be able to put an end to …
Read the full post →“<em>Island of Doomed Men</em> (Columbia, 1940)”
Lon Chaney stars in this melodrama, based on a novel by James Oliver Curwood, set in northern Canada. He plays an earnest young man set up for prosecution for killing a man in a fight (he acted in self-defense) by the dishonest son of the local factor for the Hudson Bay Company; that son desires …
Read the full post →“<em>Nomads of the North</em> (First National, 1920)”
Intrigue and adventure in French Indochina, with Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) working as an archaeologist when the arrival of an American flyer (Rochelle Hudson) and two documentary makers (Robert Kent and Chick Chandler) sets the stage for a confrontation with those plotting armed rebellion. This movie has Moto once again adopting a disguise — and …
Read the full post →“<em>Mr. Moto Takes a Chance</em> (Twentieth Century Fox, 1938)”
