Limp entry in the caper genre has a gang of inept criminals working with a retired (and poor) mobster as he plans one last big score to recover his self-esteem and make it possible to live it up in retirement. The laughs are fewer than they should be, and though there are reasonable contributions from …
Read the full post →“<em>The Biggest Bundle of Them All</em> (MGM, 1968)”
Apparently friendly aliens arrive, seeking a small area of land for their use; at the same time, cities on Earth are suffering from giant robot attacks. Are the two connected? And how will Earth’s nations respond as they learn more about the mysterious visitors and their true goals? Well-crafted science fiction, originally titled Chikyû Bôeigun. …
The long-running Thin Man series draws to a close with this solid entry. Nick and Nora (William Powell and Myrna Loy) are among the attendees at a dance where a band leader is murdered, and a young couple turn to them for help because the new groom is suspected of the crime. Dean Stockwell as …
Read the full post →“<em>Song of the Thin Man</em> (MGM, 1947)”
In the second of two movies featuring Baynard Kendrick’s detective Duncan Maclain (Edward Arnold), a young friend (Frances Rafferty) turns to the blind sleuth for help when her fiancé (Paul Langton) is suspected of murdering her uncle and her father, in part because the killings seem to have ties to Sumatra, where the fiancé’s father …
H. Rider Haggard’s grand fantasy-adventure novel She has been interpreted for film multiple times, with varying degrees of faithfulness, and in the mid-1960s Hammer Films produced this appealing version, released in the U.S. by MGM. Screen siren Ursula Andress plays the title character, and she is a fine choice for the beautiful Ayesha, “She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed.” John …
In order to go on vacation, a reporter (George Murphy) with a dog tries to solve the mystery of the “Umbrella Man,” suspected in some murders in London. His investigation soon leads him to cross paths with a young woman (Rita Johnson) with a short-tempered father (Montagu Love). Virginia Field has a good role as …
Mousetrap salesman Stan and Ollie are duped out of their money and end up having to work off a big debt at a hotel where a famed composer is working on his new opera … and being spied upon by his wife, who is working at the hotel incognito. Plenty of laughs, particularly when the …
Read the full post →“<em>Swiss Miss</em> (Hal Roach / MGM, 1938)”
Laurel and Hardy are in the Wild West, trying to deliver a valuable deed to the daughter of a dead prospector, but they must overcome the scheming of the daughter’s employer and his conniving wife to do so. There are plenty of laughs, and the boys perform a nice, amusing little musical number (“The Trail …
In this Austrian-Italian co-production, first released under the title Lycanthropus, a new teacher comes to a reform school for girls, and soon a young woman engaged in an affair with one of the teachers is murdered, apparently struck down by some sort of beast. More killings follow, and suspicion soon falls on the arrival, who …
Read the full post →“<em>Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory</em> (1961; MGM, 1963)”
Two unsuccessful businessmen try to contribute to the war effort. After being turned down by all the uniformed services, the well-meaning bumblers hope to make good in their town’s civil defense organization, but even here their talent for accidental destruction makes them misfits. Will they get a chance to serve their country and redeem themselves …
