Dean Martin essays the role of espionage agent Matt Helm with tongue firmly planted in cheek, in the first of series of movies loosely based on Donald Hamilton’s ruthless character reworked into distinctly lighter fare. Here, Helm partners with a former flame (Daliah Lavi) and then with an innocent mixed up in the whole affair …
Read the full post →“<em>The Silencers</em> (Columbia, 1966)”
A battle over a land lease is at the center of this Durango Kid outing, as a conniving crook plots to use a forged lease to keep young Bronc Masters (Robert Scott, aka Mark Roberts), the rightful lessee, from rounding up horses for use by the Army. Luckily Steve Bolton, the agent of the Department …
Read the full post →“<em>Prairie Raiders</em> (Columbia, 1947)”
Fast-paced entry in the Lone Wolf series has Michael Lanyard (Warren William) suspected of murder and dodging the cops as he rushes to solve the crime, foil a kidnapping, and save the life of a young inventor. It’s all rather far-fetched but breezy fun. Recommended. Otto finds this one pleasing enough to relax. Movie 148 …
Read the full post →“<em>The Lone Wolf Takes a Chance</em> (Columbia, 1941)”
While bringing in supplies to start a new store, dude Steve Langtry (Charles Starrett) is set upon and has his wagons hijacked. Upon arrival in town, Steve, slightly injured in the fracas, goes to see the town doctor (Fred F. Sears), who offers his services as a go-between to take a ransom to the bandits …
Read the full post →“<em>Law of the Canyon</em> (Columbia, 1947)”
When movie star Mona Harrison (Adele Jergens) opens a packing crate from the studio, she finds more than just the fabrics she was expecting: She finds the body of the designer with whom she was fighting just the day before. Rather than calling the police, she summons enamored newspaperman Joe Medford (George Brent), who is …
Read the full post →“<em>The Corpse Came C.O.D.</em> (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. …
Read the full post →“<em>West of Dodge City</em> (Columbia, 1947)”
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 …
Read the full post →“<em>The Chance of a Lifetime</em> (Columbia, 1943)”
A shell-shocked nurse (Nina Foch) recovering from her trauma has a vivid dream in which she sees a young man being attacked on a foggy bridge while she stands nearby. When she later meets the young man (William Wright at the hotel where she and he are both convalescing, her vision sets the stage for …
Read the full post →“<em>Escape in the Fog</em> (Columbia, 1945)”
Experience clashes with youth and learns a thing or two in 1943’s Destroyer. Edward G. Robinson stars as a retired sailor turned shipyard worker who returns to active duty to serve aboard the new John Paul Jones, built as a replacement for a heroic vessel on which he had sailed in the past. His “Old …
While visiting Paris for a convention and a vacation, Dr. Robert Ordway (Warner Baxter) is drawn into the case of a mentally unstable young man who may have killed his father in an argument over the young man’s marriage. Among the oddities of the situation is the fact that the family lawyer, though no criminal …
Read the full post →“<em>The Crime Doctor’s Gamble</em> (Columbia, 1947)”
