Paradise Canyon (1935)

Lone Star Pictures
Directed by Carl Pierson
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Roan Group)

This early John Wayne B western is a lot of fun and one of my favorites. He joins a traveling medicine show to catch counterfeiters. "The Two Texans", Mike and Mike, sing funny ballads. The Duke does trick shots with a mirror. Doc Carter sells "Indian remedy" to the locals with impassioned pleas. Wayne has some choice quotes, such as an exchange with the pretty Marion Burns that goes something like this: "I'm just a drifting cowboy", "after steers I suppose", "WILD steers"...accompanied by knowing glances and long pauses. Hilarious!

West of the Divide (1934)

Lone Star Pictures
Directed by Robert N. Bradbury
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Roan Group)

John Wayne and Gabby Hayes together again in a carbon-copy western. I could barely distinguish this film from any of the other Wayne-Hayes outings. The Duke takes on the identity of his lookalike bad brother to infiltrate a gang of rustlers. Along the way he discovers a little brother he never knew he had and proposes to a girl. Low on action and stunts.

Road to Rio (1947)

Paramount
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(HD-DVD, BCI-Eclipse)

Nearly plotless Bing and Bob road flick that sees the friendly duo traveling to Brazil. It takes awhile to get there, with lengthy detours in New Orleans and on board a cruise ship. It's hardly worth the wait, since things don't really pick up in Rio. It relies heavily on a hypnotism plot device and goes on for at least 20 minutes too long. Even the usual array of variety acts fail to liven it up.

Blue Steel (1934)

Lone Star Pictures
Directed by Robert Bradbury
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Roan Group)

John Wayne and Gabby Hayes team up once again, this time to root out a gang holding an entire town hostage. It turns out one of their own is trying to scare them into selling out so he can take control of a vast gold field. Some good serial-inspired stunts on a wagon train against the picturesque Lone Pine backdrop. The Duke finds just enough time to make another patented proposal-on-first-sight to Eleanor Hunt.

Mystery on Monster Island (1981)

Directed by Juan Piquer Simon
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Juvenile adventure yarn supposedly with a Jules Verne connection. A young man and a "professor" of etiquette are marooned on an island. The professor could be one of the most irritating characters in cinema history, with his exaggerated mannerisms and just plain stupidity. Most of the screen time is spent building Swiss Family Robinson style huts and tools. Eventually some monsters show up, looking like rejects from the Krofft Supershow. Throw in anthropomorphic monkey antics, a banana machine gun, a French castaway girl living in tropical luxury and a ludicrous explanation for it all, and well you've got one bad, bad movie.

Gorilla at Large (1954)

Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by Harmon Jones
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Raymond Burr is the owner of a carnival that features a gorilla act. Anne Bancroft is the sexy trapeze artist that swings over the gorilla's cage. When bodies start turning up, the gorilla is the prime suspect. Lee J. Cobb is a cigar chomping police detective. Carnival setting (actually "The Pike" amusement park in Long Beach, CA, featuring the Cyclone Racer rollercoaster) and eye-popping Technicolor elevate this above the usual man-in-a-gorilla-suit flick. Originally shown in 3D.

Hell Town (1937)

Favorite Films
Directed by Charles Barton
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Roan Group)

John Wayne and Johnny Mack Brown are drifters in Montana. They get a job herding cattle. Wayne takes responsibility for a wad of cash on the day of the sale. He blows it in a crooked card game. They get it back in a big chase and shoot-out. That's about the extent of the plot.

Rhubarb (1951)

Paramount
Directed by Arthur Lubin
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Legend Films)

What could be more American than cats and baseball? How about a frivolous lawsuit? Gambling on sports? Catnapping? Rhubarb has it all. Ray Milland becomes the guardian of a cat after its millionaire owner dies. Rhubarb inherits a baseball team, who becomes the good luck mascot. Bookies catnap him and the team starts losing. It's up to Milland and his new bride Jan Sterling to save the day. Innocuous fluff with a completely predictable plot, but fun if you are in the mood. I named one of my own cats Rhubarb.

Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)

MGM
Directed by Roger Vadim
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Air-headed sex comedy set at a California high school circa 1970. Rock Hudson is the football coach and guidance counselor. He takes every opportunity to seduce young girls in his office. He befriends Ponce and proceeds to help him bag pretty substitute teacher Angie Dickinson. Meanwhile, bodies begin to stack up at the school and Telly Savalas tries to find the killer. The identity is revealed towards the end and it's not very surprising. In fact, other than the last ten minutes or so, this is basically an excuse to show teenage girls in various states of undress. There is no black comedy, there is no plot to speak of and Rock seems bewildered at his luck in landing such a role.

The Lucky Texan (1934)

Lone Star Pictures
Directed by Robert N. Bradbury
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Roan Group)

The Duke teams up with Gabby Hayes in an early B western. They accidentally stumble upon a creek full of gold. In town, the assayers plot to steal their stake at the first opportunity. First Gabby then Wayne are framed for murder. They save each other at the last minute, Gabby by showing up in court in drag. It features some interesting stunts inspired by serials of the time, including a wild ride down a sluice chute.

Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise (1940)

Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by Eugene Forde
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

It starts out a little talky, but when the action moves to the cruise ship things get better. Chan is asked by Scotland Yard to help catch "The Strangler", who has been murdering people on a worldwide cruise. When the British inspector turns up dead, Chan takes it as a personal challenge to uncover the killer. He follows up numerous clues on board, the most important being a torn coat pocket. It almost has two endings, with an unexpected identity switch and unmasking! Number Two Son Jimmy provides the usual comic relief.

Side Street (1950)

MGM
Directed by Anthony Mann
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Farley Granger is a part time mailman with a pregnant wife at home. He spots some loose cash while on route in NYC and can't resist the temptation. It turns out to be tens of thousands in blackmail money, and they want it back. Granger at first attempts to return it, but it turns up missing. He then must track it down through the seedy nightclubs of the city. Generally good atmosphere and excellent locations, but introduces too many crucial characters late in the game and I lost track of the motivations. A chase through deserted city streets in broad daylight seemed like a stretch in the heavily populated city.

They Live by Night (1949)

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by Nicholas Ray
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

A trio of escaped convicts go on the lam and hideout at a remote house with friends. Young Farley Granger is indebted to them for his escape and reluctantly participates in their new plans by robbing a bank. He falls in love with Cathy O'Donnell, the young daughter at their house. Loaded with money, he convinces her to leave with him to start a new life. They impulsively get married then shack up in a cabin for the long haul. His past eventually catches up with them in a bittersweet ending.

Swinging Wives (1971)

Directed by Ernst Hofbauer
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(DVD, Mars Pictures)

Dated German sex comedy about lonely housewives and their activities while the husband is away. It's a series of vignettes connected by documentary-style interviews with people on the street. The eroticism relies completely on nudity, not altogether different from British sex comedies of the era. I suppose this was fun back in 1971 at the drive-in, but it will severely test your patience today. The Mars Pictures "Burbank Drive-In" release on DVD is a misframed "widescreen" presentation. Composition is compromised throughout: heads are chopped off and other anatomy parts are missing at the top or bottom of the screen, even the director's name is missing in the titles. If they had left off the mattes it would have been just fine.

Charlie Chan in Panama (1940)

Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by Norman Foster
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Briskly paced, well-written entry in the long-running series. Chan is undercover in Panama looking for spies near the Panama Canal. When the bodies start turning up, Chan must rush to uncover the killer who is also plotting to blow up the fleet. Just enough clues are dropped to give the viewer a decent chance at guessing the mystery. Enhanced by atmospheric sets, including a seedy nightclub, vivid city streets and an eerie cemetery. One of the best Toler entries.

Junior Bonner (1972)

MGM
Directed by Sam Peckinpah
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Steve McQueen is an aging rodeo star who returns to his home town for the big Frontier Days show. His dad is in the hospital, busted up after drinking and driving, and his brother is selling his soul for real estate development, threatening to take mom along with him. The family melodrama takes place against the backdrop of the real Prescott, Arizona. There is a lengthy and poorly staged bar fight, some dancing to bad country music and lots and lots of slow motion shots of cowboys at the rodeo. Despite the occasional Peckinpah flourish, this is practically a documentary. What it really lacks, though, is a compelling story.

Tension (1949)

MGM
Directed by John Berry
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Richard Basehart is a mild-mannered pharmacist with wildcat Audrey Totter for a wife. She walks out of his drug store with other men right in front of him. One day she leaves him for a rich beach hunk. He adopts another personality and plans the perfect crime. He chickens out at the last minute, but when the man ends up murdered anyway he becomes the prime suspect. The police are nonchalant, one of them even starts up an affair with his wife as well, but perceptive with plenty of tricks up their sleeve. Totter plays her role to the hilt and she's almost too campy at times. There are plenty of plot twists to keep it interesting.

Hit Man (1972)

MGM
Directed by George Armitage
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

The search for his brother's killer leads Bernie Casey into the world of pornography in early 70s L.A. He frequently stops to sample the merchandise, such as Pam Grier. He eventually uncovers the name of the killer which unleashes a series of brutal revenge killings. Production gloss can't hide the fact that this is a film that prefers to wallow in it's own filth and violence. The "hero", driven by revenge, is no better than the people he hates so much, the only difference is that he gets away with it. Includes unnecessarily graphic dog fighting footage.

I Shot Billy the Kid (1950)

Lippert Pictures
Directed by William Berke
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Entertainment)

Supposedly based on true facts, it presents the last days of Billy the Kid as told by Pat Garrett, the sheriff and friend who killed him. Don Barry, nearly 40, is much too old to play the 20 year old Billy. He looks kind of silly on his horse with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. Billy is offered amnesty by the governor of New Mexico but turns him down. Pat leads the posse that eventually finds him. Supporting roles by Wally Vernon as his comedic sidekick and the lovely and unknown Wendie Lee as his girlfriend liven things up.

Chubasco (1967)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Allen H. Miner
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Beach bum and rebel Christopher Jones is given the option of jail or tuna clipper when he is arrested. It turns out he has a real talent for spotting tuna at sea, although the task seemed pretty simple on film. He can also herd porpoises with no training at all. Meanwhile back on shore his girl Susan Strasberg waits to get married. They finally take the plunge one day in Peru. Her father sternly objects, and as luck would have it he gets hired on dad's ship. Miraculously they save each other's lives one day at sea and it all works out. Too much romance and contrived plot devices, not enough sailing and fishing.

The Dalton Gang (1949)

Lippert Pictures
Directed by Ford Beebe
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Entertainment)

Don Barry is a US Marshall assigned to investigate a clash between Indians and some locals in a dusty town. Instead he finds himself framed for murder by the Dalton Gang. The Indians help him break out of jail. He hunts down the real killer and romances a pretty newspaper editor. Soapy entry complete with organ score.

The Tormentors (1971)

Directed by David L. Hewitt
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(VHS, TWE)

Amateur nonsense about a gang of neo-Nazis in California. They rob a bank then rape and kill a hostage. Her fiance goes undercover to get revenge. The Nazis send him to kill the "Messiah", a local Jesus freak, to win the sympathies of his hippie followers. In their spare time they have orgies and fight with the police. Poor German accents and lame psychedelic music push this into possible "so bad it's good" territory.

Where Danger Lives (1950)

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by John Farrow
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Robert Mitchum is a young doctor who treats an attempted suicide one night in the ER. He falls in love with her, but eventually finds out that she is married to a rich older man. He confronts the husband, apparently killing him in a drunken rage. He goes on the lam with the girl and they head for the Mexican border. He starts feeling the effects of a concussion sustained in the fight with the husband which eventually incapacitates him. Their final attempt to cross the border ends in tragedy. Melodramatic, perhaps, but never boring.

The Return of Jesse James (1950)

Lippert Pictures
Directed by Arthur Hilton
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Entertainment)

Tepid western with John Ireland an outlaw in Missouri who assumes the name and identity of the recently murdered Jesse James. Ireland gets his own gang together and proceeds to rob the same banks, in the same order, as his more famous inspiration. Frank James, Jesse's brother, quickly figures this out and alerts the sheriff of the next town to be hit. It's hard to sympathize with the new Jesse James, his motivation nothing more than personal glory and an attempt to capitalize on the notoriety of a real outlaw, and he is a poor imitation. John Ireland's laid back demeanor doesn't help, and the result is curiously uninvolving.

Gunfire (1950)

Lippert Pictures
Directed by William Berke
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Communications)

Frank James, Jesse's brother, has "found religion" and retired from the outlaw business. However, the old gang wants to get back together. When he refuses to join, they exploit the fact that one of them looks exactly like Frank. This allows them to rob and kill incognito, while the posse chases the real Frank James. Well, Frank won't take this laying down and sets out to clear his name. The dual role is an overused plot device in B westerns. The rest of the film is strictly routine, particularly a middle that drags to a crawl. However, Wally Vernon does stand out in a supporting role as a drunk deputy.

Charlie Chan in City in Darkness (1939)

Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by Herbert Leeds
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Chan is in Paris near the start of WWII. Arms smugglers commit murder and he teams up with the local police to solve it. The main problem is the French Police Inspector, played by Harold Huber, gets more dialogue and screen time than Charlie Chan! He is the dumbest police detective this side of Inspector Clouseau, but not nearly as funny. In fact, he is downright irritating and ruins the movie. The last line is by Charlie Chan, an omniscient warning about the dangers of "peace conferences".

Flap (1970)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Carol Reed
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Disappointing Carol Reed comedy-drama about the plight of modern day Indians in America. Unfortunately, the film perpetuates the very stereotypes it is trying to fight. Quinn and company are constantly drunk and performing petty criminal acts. They justify their actions by appealing to out-dated treaties and the fact that the white man "owes it to them". Maybe they do, but they are going about in completely the wrong way. A tragedy pushes them to one final showdown with the politicians and lawyers, which leads them to march on the city. It's never funny and actually quite pathetic.

Renegade Girl (1946)

Directed by William Berke
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Communications)

Only the presence of platinum blond starlet Ann Savage saves this from being a complete waste of time. The acting is atrocious, the lines delivered without emotion in a monotone reminiscent of a high school play. Ann is an outlaw whose only purpose in life is to hunt and kill Yankees after the Civil War. Betrayed by an Indian, she makes him the object of her relentless pursuit as well. She enlists the help of a gang, holding a promise of sex over them if they kill the Indian. Meanwhile, she is madly in love with a Yankee officer. The ending is an unbelievably bad melodramatic scene, fading to the image of a church in flames.

Mystery Street (1950)

MGM
Directed by John Sturges
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Ricardo Montalban is a persistent police detective trying to solve the murder of a call girl. He gets help, lots of help, from his buddies at the Harvard medical school. Leads that seem flimsy at first turn out to break the case wide open. They are initially lead to the wrong man who is arrested and put on trial. A missing gun leads to the real killer. Elsa Lanchester is excellent as a drunken landlady who plays a very important part in the plot.

The Great Jesse James Raid (1953)

Lippert Pictures
Directed by Reginald Le Borg
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Entertainment)

Jesse James is retired and living under an assumed named in St. Joe. An old friend convinces him to put together a gang for one more heist that will allow him to retire in obscurity. The first half of the film is the gathering of the gang. They intend to rob a gold mine by using an abandoned tunnel. The heist is the rest of the film. Of course it doesn't go as planned and the ending is anticlimactic. Filmed in that weird AnscoColor.

Equus (1977)

United Artists
Directed by Sidney Lumet
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Ambitious, complex but ultimately unsatisfying adaptation of the Peter Shaffer play. Richard Burton is a psychologist assigned a particularly difficult case: a boy who has blinded six horses. At first the boy refuses to talk, only singing jingles from TV commercials. Burton investigates his home life, finding a deeply religious mother and suspicious father. Gaining the boy's trust and using psychological tricks like hypnosis he gets the boy to tell his story. At it's root, the boy's problem is a complex mix of religion and sex. These themes are difficult to put on film, though Burton and Lumet do their best. The flashback scenes are an easy out, and hurt more than help the film. Animal lovers will not want to see the graphic violence towards horses, fake or not, and these scenes could, and should, have been left out. Still, Burton has some of his best lines since Virginia Woolf and it is fascinating to watch him be transformed as much as his patient.

Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975)

MGM
Directed by Joseph Manduke
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Devastating drama about the police in the big city shooting the wrong man and then trying to cover it up with lies and witness intimidation. In the concluding trial the only one big enough to tell the truth is 11-year-old Laurence Fishburne. Talented character actors provide authenticity and warmth throughout. Melodramatic to a fault, just listen to the chorus of voices that erupt during the important shooting, but hard to ignore its emotional jolt. Even today we are still dealing with the same questions of racial profiling, police brutality and lack of cooperation from witnesses.

Black Bandit (1938)

Universal
Directed by George Waggner
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Communications)

Singing cowboy Bob Baker pulls double duty as a sheriff after his own twin brother who is a rustler. They each wear the others clothes in an attempt to conceal their real identity, leading to viewer confusion. They also ride twin horses, though the horses don't look alike. Waggner would later direct Universal's seminal werewolf movie The Wolf Man and other minor horror classics.

Act of Violence (1948)

MGM
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Crazed WWII vet Robert Ryan stalks his old C.O. Van Heflin years after the war has ended. He follows him cross country to California, tracking him down at work, home and vacation. Turns out Van was a "stoolie for the Nazis" during their stay at a POW camp and Ryan can't forget. In a change of pace, the women in their lives have more strength and common sense than the men. A final act of heroism redeems Heflin, but the price is steep.

Fuzz (1972)

United Artists
Directed by Richard A. Colla
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

A Boston precinct house full of inept detectives is assigned to uncover the identity of an extortionist murdering prominent politicians. Most of their time is spent in undercover antics, dressed as nuns, pool hustlers and the like, then chasing people through alleys and streets. Meanwhile the extortionist, Yul Brynner and his gang, are ratcheting up the stakes with each succeeding threat. The police finally catch up with him, but not in the way they were expecting. Ensemble of characters that are easy to like and well-drawn make for an entertaining if breezy film. Boston locations add authenticity.

Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)

Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by Norman Foster
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Very entertaining Chan entry that deftly blends mystery, magic and horror elements. Treasure Island was built to house the World's Fair in San Francisco in the late 30s. It was a playground of fun and a showcase for world culture, particularly Asian culture. Anyway, Chan's friend commits suicide on an airplane landing in San Francisco. It turns out he was being blackmailed by the mysterious Dr. Zodiac. Chan, Number Two Son and magician Cesar Romero investigate the mysterious mansion of Dr. Zodiac and his seances. The mystery is solved at a magic show at the World's Fair.

The Racket (1951)

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by John Cromwell
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Gritty crime caper with Mitchum as a police captain trying to stop the mob from infiltrating his city. Robert Ryan scowls appropriately during his screen time while beating up people and barking orders. The murder of an idealistic young cop proves to be the turning point. I thought Mitchum and Ryan were miscast, Mitchum makes a better bad guy and Ryan a good guy, so reversing their roles would have boosted believability.

King Solomon's Mines (1950)

MGM
Directed by Compton Bennett and Andrew Marton
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

It starts out with a brutal shooting of an elephant, but after that there is nothing more offensive than your typical Tarzan movie. Stewart Granger leads a safari through the bush with Deborah Kerr, who is searching for her lost husband. Along the way they fall in love and deal with wild animals, mysterious tribes and harsh landscapes. One of their bearers turns out to be a king in disguise. He saves them from the Watusi and claims his rightful throne in the climactic fight.

Sheriff of Sage Valley (1942)

PRC Pictures
Directed by Sam Newfield
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Communications)

Buster Crabbe takes on a dual role, as Billy the Kid and his identical twin brother who leads a gang of gamblers terrorizing Sage Valley. Remember that Crabbe's Billy the Kid is actually a good guy, despite his past. Along with Fuzzy St. John, they help the local mayor and bank president capture the bad Buster. Some note must be made of Fuzzy St. John, who is just as important as Buster Crabbe to the series. Here Fuzzy is in Three Stooges mode, just watch the fight scenes in which Fuzzy uses his head as a battering ram and frequently lands upside down with his legs flailing above him. The sound effects use a thin knocking sound for punches, so the violence is impossible to take seriously. The final scene features Buster Crabbe in a fist fight with himself.

On Dangerous Ground (1952)

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by Nicholas Ray
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Robert Ryan is a restless cop in the big city battling the demon of loneliness. He takes it out on the hapless thugs he beats to a pulp, justifying it by saying "it's his job". His superiors send him to a remote town in an attempt to save him from himself. He helps solve a local murder that leads to the lonely house of the blind Ida Lupino. Her brother is the suspect and she is hiding him. Despite her blindness, and maybe because of it, Ryan falls in love with her. A complex character study with Hitchcock overtones, including a fine score by Bernard Herrmann.

Wild Horse Phantom (1944)

PRC Pictures
Directed by Sam Newfield
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Communications)

This Buster Crabbe B is a lot of fun. Buster and his sidekick Fuzzy St. John have great chemistry. Fuzzy is allowed plenty of room for his physical comedy. In particular, his battle with a bat in an abandoned mine is a hoot. Fuzzy evens gets a sentimental scene towards the beginning when an old friend dies in his bed. The combination of comedy, horror and shoot 'em up is well done and makes for an enjoyable Saturday afternoon matinee.

Get to Know Your Rabbit (1972)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Brian De Palma
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Anti-establishment comedy has Tom Smothers dropping out of his well-paid executive position to become a tap dancing magician. His "new life" takes him on the road to the small-town bars and strip joints of America. In one of them he meets Katharine Ross and they start a relationship. Meanwhile, his manager, John Astin, also a former executive, has incorporated and is making millions training other executives to become tap dancing magicians. So it all comes full circle and Smothers is right back where he started. An interesting idea taken to its logical conclusion, but so what? Smothers' dead-pan style doesn't help.

Charlie Chan in Reno (1939)

Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by Norman Foster
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Toler starts warming up to the Chan role in this serviceable mystery. Chan is called to Reno to help solve a murder while Number Two Son Jimmy also arrives while on break from college. The hotel setting feels almost stage bound, rarely leaving the premises, though a foray to a ghost town is memorable. There are the usual array of suspects and clues, and the resolution is tough to guess ahead of time. Eddie Collins appears briefly as a cab driver for "comic relief".

Lady in the Lake (1947)

MGM
Directed by Robert Montgomery
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Point-of-view gimmick is utilized the entire film, but unfortunately adds little. Robert Montgomery is the famous Raymond Chandler detective Phillip Marlowe. He is hired to find a missing woman, but instead finds a trail of dead bodies. He falls in love with the girl who hires him, or maybe she falls in love with him, but she might also be the killer. Lloyd Nolan is a bad cop and Jayne Meadows another shady character. The mystery unravels in a flurry of secret identities, an easy way out and difficult for the viewer to solve.

Western Cyclone (1943)

PRC Pictures
Directed by Sam Newfield
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Communications)

The first thing to remember is that Buster Crabbe's Billy the Kid is a good guy. He has renounced his life of crime, and in this film sets out to clear the name of his good friends the Governor and a Senator. The bad guys attempt to frame Billy for murder and kidnap the niece of the Senator. Fuzzy St. John turns detective, using a mark on a shell casing to lead him to the killer.

Last Tango in Paris (1972)

United Artists
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Bertolucci's controversial film managed to get some laughs out of me, something most comedies fail to do. The only problem is, this isn't a comedy. Instead, it's a deeply disturbing look at a sado-masochistic relationship between an older man, Brando, and a younger girl, Maria Schneider. When they aren't having kinky sex, Brando is spewing a stream-of-consciousness barrage of filth, sometimes both at the same time. Well, alright, we get it, love, real love, is dirty. This is contrasted, rather awkwardly, by Schneider's relationship with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Leaud. Here, love is like in the movies, and not surprisingly it doesn't work out. However, neither does her relationship with Brando, which she can only break with a desperate act of violence. Like all of Bertolucci's films it's beautiful to look at, but this one is so over-the-top that it is on the brink of epic failure.

Charlie Chan in Honolulu (1938)

Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by H. Bruce Humberstone
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

After the death of Warner Oland and an extensive search by Fox for a replacement, Sidney Toler takes over the role of Charlie Chan. Naturally, it's a bit of a shock. Toler is in heavy make-up, and combined with his strained accent almost seems like a bad impersonation of Oland. The absence of Keye Luke is also felt, as his role is taken over by younger Number Two Son Sen Yung. He is a bit too enthusiastic in his role as junior detective. Then there is the intrusive "comedy" relief by Eddie Collins and his lion. All in all, an awkward and not very good start to the Toler era.

His Kind of Woman (1951)

RKO Radio Pictures
Directed by John Farrow
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros)

Robert Mitchum is a gambler in debt who is offered 50 grand to go to a vacation lodge in Mexico. Once he arrives, he spends his time, and most of the movie, flirting with Jane Russell, ordering endless ginger ales or goofing off with Jim Backus and Vincent Price. Eventually, an undercover cop tells him why he is there and the action picks up towards the end. Supposedly this is a comedy or spoof, but other than Price hamming it up I just didn't see it that way. It's too long and mostly talk, talk, talk.

Fugitive of the Plains (1943)

PRC Pictures
Directed by Sam Newfield
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Communications)

Poor entry for Buster Crabbe as Billy the Kid, well he's not really Billy the Kid, or is he? Now that I think about it, he starts out as a "reformed" Billy the Kid, then joins a gang led by a woman who is pretending to be Billy the Kid and smearing his name. Throw in the ridiculous antics of Fuzzy St. John and you've got a very bad B western.

Deadly Game (1977)

Directed by Lane Slate
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Andy Griffith is the Chief of Police in a small town filled with quirky characters. An Army truck loaded with chemicals overturns and kills people. Was it an accident or sabotage? Andy goes into Matlock mode and leads the investigation. The quirkiness is at first funny, then irritating but ultimately self-defeating. It permeates every character and every situation, getting in the way of the plot. It's distracting and self-conscious in the worst possible way. The mystery is practically impossible to solve ahead of time, hinging on unrevealed character identities and relationships.

Charlie Chan at Monte Carlo (1937)

Twentieth Century-Fox
Directed by Eugene Forde
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Warner Oland's final appearance as Charlie Chan is set in the French resort town of Monte Carlo. Chan assists a the Chief of Police when they discover a body in a car outside of town. Charlie mostly plays second fiddle to the French police, though he often proves them wrong. Number One Son Keye Luke provides comic relief by butchering the French language and chasing meaningless clues.