Hurd Hatfield stars as a murder-happy thief who works with an antiques dealer (Jacqueline deWit), stealing objets d’art that she then sells to unsuspecting buyers. When a customer recognizes that she has purchased a statuette resembling one reported stolen, putting the police on the dealer’s trail. Another killing follows, and soon the thief is hiding …
Read the full post →“<em>Chinatown at Midnight</em> (Columbia, 1949)”
Parolee Steve Carter (Stephen Dunne), who had been convicted of arson, gets out of prison determined to track down the person who really set the fire at the record company where he worked: Was it someone else who worked there, such as suspicious-seeming Carl Anson (George Meeker) or the owner’s goofy brother (Whit Bissell), who …
Read the full post →“<em>The Crime Doctor’s Diary</em> (Columbia, 1949)”
Treasury agent Steve Waring (Charles Starrett) is looking to recover $100,000 hidden by deceased outlaw Lucky Thorpe (Al Bridge). Thorpe’s daughter (Virginia Hunter) is likewise hoping to find the money and return it, while Thorpe’s second wife, conniving Clara Brent (Mary Newton), seeks to recover the loot for herself. Fortunately, Steve’s alter ego, the Durango …
Read the full post →“<em>Last Days of Boot Hill</em> (Columbia, 1947)”
Mr. Moto (Peter Lorre) is present, albeit in disguise, at the discovery of the crown of the Queen of Sheba, and he later exerts himself to thwart the many crooks — including the master criminal called Metaxa, whose identity is unknown — who wish to steal the crown from the museum where it has been …
Read the full post →“<em>Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation</em> (Twentieth Century Fox, 1939)”
Bad guys use attacks, purportedly by headhunters, to get their ally, whom the ringleader has rescued from a murder conviction, into power over a native tribe so that he can sign away the tribe’s mineral rights and the villains can exploit the oil that is there. Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) works with a young military …
Read the full post →“<em>Valley of Head Hunters</em> (Columbia, 1955)”
Famed outlaw Dusty Morton has apparently resurfaced after a decade, and crooks in the area are eager to find where Morton hid his loot. Morton’s son, now 13, does not believe his father was such a bad man, though he has little support for such a positive view, save for the opinion of the town …
Read the full post →“<em>Riders of the Lone Star</em> (Columbia, 1947)”
In a change of pace for the Boston Blackie series, this time around Inspector Farraday (Richard Lane) expressly recruits Blackie (Chester Morris) to help recover the missing Blue Star of the Nile gemstone, which crooks have lifted despite police protection. The usual fun ensues, with the crime-fighting mixed with comedy. Janis Carter has a good …
Read the full post →“<em>One Mysterious Night</em> (Columbia, 1944)”
The Durango Kid (Charles Starrett) tangles with a band of rustlers in this one, a relatively unmemorable entry in the series. There’s a plus in the form of a supposedly haunted ranch, and Smiley Burnette provides his usual comic support. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great. Movie 202 for …
Read the full post →“<em>The Stranger from Ponca City</em> (Columbia, 1947)”
The Cold War looms large in 1953’s Savage Mutiny, as Jungle Jim (Johnny Weissmuller) undertakes to persuade a tribe to move to permit atomic testing, while enemy agents aim to trick the tribe into staying put and suffering the adverse effects of the radiation from the tests. The machinations of the foreign spies and the …
Read the full post →“<em>Savage Mutiny</em> (Columbia, 1953)”
Enjoyable entry in the Warren William Lone Wolf series from Columbia has Michael Lanyard (William) in Havana to acquire a stamp for his collection and ending up involved with a young woman whose fiancé is in jail for a murder he did not commit. Of course, the Lone Wolf lends a hand, but then himself …
Read the full post →“<em>The Lone Wolf Keeps a Date</em> (Columbia, 1940)”
