Outrageous! (1977)

Cinema 5 Distributing
Directed by Richard Benner
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Hen's Tooth Video)

Canadian drag queen Craig Russell develops a stage act consisting of spot-on impersonations of classic Hollywood movie stars. He takes in roommate Hollis McLaren who suffers from schizophrenia and has just run away from a mental hospital, though is still under the care of a doctor. The odd couple live an odd life of parties, drugs and drag shows at the club. She eventually gets pregnant and he goes to New York to find fame and fortune. The impersonations are the best part and hilarious. McLaren's mental illness tends to drag it down, though there are lessons to be learned along the way and an upbeat ending.

Gog (1954)

United Artists
Directed by Herbert L. Strock
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM Limited Edition Collection)

Scientists in an underground research bunker are being killed by a mysterious force which is controlling their central computer. One freezes to death in a "cold chamber", another receives a fatal dose of radiation and others are strangled by robots on the loose. Richard Egan is sent by Washington to find out the cause. This says more about 1950s American society than the "future", with sexist dialogue and campy "science". Absolutely hilarious.

Japan's Longest Day (1967)

Toho Company
Directed by Kihachi Okamoto
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Animeigo)

As Japan's leaders negotiate a surrender with the Allies, a handful of soldiers decide to rebel and make one last attempt to preserve the country's honor. The prime minister and his cabinet have endless meetings to haggle over the wording of the official "rescript" which the emperor will read to the nation over the radio. A young, wild-eyed soldier and his buddy decide to take matters into their own hands and prolong the war as long as possible. They assassinate the leader of the Imperial guard, take hostages and make a frantic search for the recordings for the next day's radio broadcast. However, when their plot is uncovered by their superior officers it is quickly suppressed. Talky and extremely long at nearly 3 hours, but certainly provides a different perspective for the western viewer of the final days of WWII.

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Edward Cline
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Fields plays himself in his final film: working for a fictional movie studio, teenage niece in tow, trying to break into pictures. He pitches a screenplay to an executive, leading to a movie-within-a-movie in which Fields jumps out of an airplane to retrieve a bottle of whiskey, lands on a remote mountain top where he teaches kissing games to a beautiful young woman who has never seen a man. He ends up engaged to her mother instead. Meanwhile back in Hollywood, he gets involved in a wild car chase taking a pregnant woman to the hospital, well sort of. A couple of good laughs, but precocious teen Gloria Jean as the niece is annoying, and the lack of a coherent plot makes it hard to follow.

Herostratus (1967)

British Film Institute
Directed by Don Levy
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, BFI)

Frustrated writer Michael Gothard trashes his apartment with an axe when his landlady asks him to turn down the classical music. He wanders the streets of London, axe in tow, eventually talking his way into seeing a powerful advertising executive. He pitches the idea of a public suicide as a way of making a statement against all the wrongs he sees in modern society. He is seduced by the executive's secretary the night before the planned suicide and decides he has something to live for after all, until he finds out she was paid for it. His final act on a rooftop next to the dome of St. Paul's is unexpectedly interrupted. Audacious film incorporates experimental editing techniques and is visually stunning. However, director Levy unwisely chooses to use graphic slaughterhouse footage, ruining an otherwise thought provoking and highly original effort.

The Bank Dick (1940)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Edward Cline
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Henpecked Fields spends most of his time in the Black Pussy Cat Cafe drinking away his problems. He talks his way into directing a picture, which turns into a complete disaster. Later, he accidentally stops a couple of bank robbers. As a reward, the bank president makes him a security guard. He convinces his son-in-law to be, a bank employee, to steal money to buy worthless stocks from a swindler he meets in the bar. He tries to cover up the crime by getting the bank auditor drunk. Luckily the bank robber shows up again and provides a way out of the mess. Fields is starting to show his age by this film: the pace is slower, the jokes not as fresh and he looks run down and tired.

Vive L'Amour (1994)

Strand Releasing
Directed by Ming-liang Tsai
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox Lorber)

Bored young adults in sprawling Taipei, Taiwan, each possess a key to an uninhabited luxury apartment. A suicidal, repressed homosexual steals the key when he finds it left in the door. He takes baths, pretends to bowl with a melon, cross dresses and masturbates when no one is around. A real estate agent, the only one with a reason to actually have a key, meets up with a stranger for sex, who later turns up in the apartment as well. They eventually all meet there at the same time for more kinky sex. A very slow, long, deliberate study of an emotionally disconnected modern Taiwanese society that will test the patience of even the most dedicated viewer.

Twelve O'Clock High (1949)

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Henry King
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

Gregory Peck takes over an underachieving bomber squad in the early days of WWII. His hard line military attitude does not sit well with the men, who were accustomed to the more sympathetic approach of their previous commander, leading to almost all of them requesting transfers. Biding for time to win them over, Peck whips them into shape and instills a sense of pride through a series of successful bombing runs. Most of the film takes place on the ground and threatens to become a clinical study of leadership tactics, but a final sortie into Germany which incorporates actual combat footage injects some much needed action.

Landscape After Battle (1970)

Directed by Andrzej Wajda
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Vanguard)

Freed from a German concentration camp, Polish prisoners end up in an American refugee camp after the war where life is just as bad. They argue amongst themselves over politics and never have enough to eat. A couple of beautiful girls show up one day, providing an opportunity to reminisce about the good old days back in the concentration camps. Their meager attempt at romance is interrupted by a trigger happy American soldier. Dense, murky story mired in politics, marred by a zoom-happy cinematographer.

Golden Earrings (1947)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Mitchell Liesen
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Ray Milland escapes his German captors and takes up with gypsy Marlene Dietrich. She dyes his skin, dresses him in rags and teaches him to read palms. The disguise works and they travel across the country where he hopes to cross the border. Naturally they fall in love along the way, and Milland even overcomes some of his prejudices towards gypsies, which is ironic given the setting. Despite everything going against the film, including Hollywood stereotypes of Nazis and gypsies and a fantastic plot, the two leading actors manage to make it entertaining escapism, just what the public needed in 1947.

Project X (1968)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by William Castle
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Olive Films)

Cryongenically frozen Christopher George is thawed out in the year 2118. Scientists hope to pry information from his memories which will save the western world from an attack by an east Asian country. They create an artificial reproduction of a 1960s farm house in the hopes it will stimulate his dreams, which they remotely monitor. George meets pretty Greta Baldwin when he tries to escape and she almost ruins the experiment. The psychedelic dream sequences are heavily processed with video effects and incorporate some Hanna-Barbera animation, but they go on far too long and overwhelm the rest of the film. A disembodied brain plays a key role. It's not particularly good, but can be entertaining in the right mood.

A Bullet for a Stranger (1971)

Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Timeless Media Group)

Two brothers return home to the wild west after being raised back east. Their attempt to change the lawless lifestyle of the area residents falls flat. A gunslinger teaches them how to become a fast draw, which comes in handy when they find out about a stash of money. Uneven mix of slapstick comedy and action, with a muddled plot and too many gimmicks. Still, there are a couple of scenes that manage to rise above it all, such as when the gunslinger shoots off the mustache of one of his opponents. Memorable, if stereotypical, score by Bruno Nicolai.

The Cassandra Crossing (1976)

AVCO Embassy Pictures
Directed by George Pan Cosmatos
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Timeless Media Group)

A terrorist exposed to the plague stows away on a train traveling across Europe. Burt Lancaster is an American military leader assigned to stop the train at all costs. It is diverted to an abandoned rail line which will take it across an old bridge and likely plunge into the river below. The passengers are at first oblivious to their predicament, until they start getting sick and the train is boarded by men in plastic suits carrying machine guns. Richard Harris is the doctor on board who becomes the leader of the passengers and orchestrates their takeover of the train. Sophia Loren is his ex-wife and love interest. Formulaic 70s disaster plot, complete with model train crash for the big ending, but redeemed somewhat by European location shooting and Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack.

The Flame of New Orleans (1941)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Rene Clair
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Socialite Dietrich flirts with wealthy Roland Young for his money but really is after sailor Bruce Cabot. She concocts an alter identity to have it both ways: one Dietrich has straight bangs and the other curly. This leads to various comic situations, none of which are very funny. When her shenanigans are revealed, she must choose between the two men. Rene Clair's American debut is miles away from his earlier French masterpieces: ridden with cliches and burdened by a low budget, simply awful.

True Confession (1937)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by  Wesley Ruggles
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Carole Lombard is in full dumb-blonde mode as the wife of young lawyer Fred MacMurray. He refuses to take the case of any client he knows is guilty, leading Lombard to get a day job as a personal secretary to a lecherous wealthy man. When he turns up dead, Lombard is accused of murder and MacMurray must save her from the electric chair. She gets off, but extortionist John Barrymore spoils their new-found happiness. Only the presence of Barrymore makes this tolerable, he steals every scene, Lombard is shrill and annoying.

My Little Chickadee (1940)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Edward F. Cline
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Mae West and W.C. Fields tear up the old west in this modest romp. Mae, as usual, makes herself the center of attention, quipping double entendres whenever the opportunity arises. She cons Fields into marriage to get his money, but when it turns out to be funny money she turns her attentions elsewhere. Fields does his usual schtick, mumbling asides, conning suckers, etc., while masquerading as the town sheriff. The pairing of these two giant egos doesn't really work, they have almost no chemistry whenever on screen together, but there are some good moments when separated.

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939)

Universal Pictures
Directed by George Marshall
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

W.C. Fields wrote  himself the perfect role as the owner of a traveling circus. When he's not hustling customers, he's hiding from the law who is trying to serve him with papers. Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy are a sideshow attraction who argue with Fields over their pay. Complications arise when Bergen falls in love with Fields' daughter, but she is already engaged to a wealthy playboy to get his money and save the circus. At its best when Fields is in the forefront and the pacing becomes almost frantic, but Bergen and McCarthy tend to overstay their welcome, as does the romantic subplot.

The Princess Comes Across (1936)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by William K. Howard
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Carole Lombard, doing her best Greta Garbo impersonation, plays a Swedish princess traveling from Europe to Hollywood on a transatlantic ship. When a dead body shows up in her cabin, she enlists the help of musician Fred MacMurray to cover it up and find the murderer. A group of world famous detectives happens to be on board and they join the investigation. The mystery is rather obvious and the romantic subplot tedious, but it's all in good fun. Cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff does manage to add the occasional expressionistic touch through the use of shadows and fog.

Poppy (1936)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by A. Edward Sutherland
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

W.C. Fields plays a carnival huckster who looks for any opportunity to swindle some poor sap out of their money. He forges a marriage license and convinces a town full of snooty socialites that his daughter is the rightful heir to a fortune. Although he is eventually exposed, she turns out to be the rightful heir anyway. His daughter, the lovely Rochelle Hudson, falls in love with the mayor's son, and their budding romance takes up too much screen time. However, Fields has a field day destroying the wealthy and their pastimes, including a cricket game gone awry and the performance from an "opera" in which his hat plays a major role.

Go West Young Man (1936)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Henry Hathaway
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Mae, essentially playing herself, is a movie idol who becomes stranded in a hick town in Pennsylvania. Along for the ride is her press agent and love interest. They take a room at a nearby bed and breakfast where Mae insults everyone in town and lusts after mechanic Randolph Scott. Another insufferable vanity project written by Mae, in which every man instantly falls in love with her and all of the townspeople worship her.

Love Before Breakfast (1936)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Walter Lang
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Socialite Carole Lombard is pursued by wealthy oil magnate Preston Foster, who won't take no for an answer. He buys a competing company just so he can send her fiance to Japan and eliminate the competition. He shows up in her house, at her stylist or on the trail riding a horse, ignoring all of her pleas to just leave her alone. So, he tries giving her the cold shoulder and letting her fiance come home. Incredibly, that works, leading to the predictable happy ending. Foster is just plain annoying, Lombard is watchable as always but this is not her best role.

Sword of Desperation (2010)

Toei Company
Directed by Hideyuki Hirayama
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Animeigo)

A respected member of a Japanese clan unexpectedly murders his master's consort. Instead of being sentenced to death, he is given the surprisingly lenient sentence of house arrest and a demotion. Upon release, he lives simply with his wife, but she gets sick and dies. He begins living with his niece who takes care of him, while being hired as personal bodyguard to his former master. His fighting skills are put to the test by a rebellious young swordsman, and the reasons for his light sentence are revealed. This builds slowly to the brutal and bloody climax, with plenty of time to absorb the superb natural photography and authentic traditional Japanese culture on display.

Love and Bullets (1979)

Associated Film Distribution
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Timeless Media Group)

Police officer Bronson agrees to help the FBI rescue a witness who can testify against the mob from Switzerland, where she has been targeted to be killed. He plays a cat and mouse game with her assassins in scenic mountain locations. For some reason he doesn't carry a gun, so improvises some interesting weapons, including a blow gun made out of paper and nails with which he kills several men. Jill Ireland is the bimbo girl he is trying to help, although she takes her part a little too far at times. Rod Steiger gives another convincing performance as the mob kingpin. Unfortunately the Timeless Media Group DVD release is a pan and scan mess, like watching the movie through a telephoto lens.

Cruising (1980)

United Artists
Directed by William Friedkin
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Bros.)

Al Pacino goes undercover in the nightclubs of NYC to find a killer who is preying on homosexuals. He spends night after night in sweaty, underground clubs, witnessing first hand their depraved lifestyles. He believes a waiter might be the killer and brings him to a bugged hotel room where the police break down the door and arrest him. Pacino becomes sympathetic to the man's situation when it becomes obvious they have the wrong man and he is beaten up during interrogation. He goes back to the bars and identifies another suspect, eventually confronting him in a seedy park. A complex character study brilliantly written by Friedkin and flawlessly portrayed by Pacino, who is gradually seduced by the lifestyle that initially repulses him.

7 Dollars on Red (1966)

Directed by Alberto Cardone
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Timeless Media Group)

A man finds his wife murdered and son missing and vows revenge on the gang who did it. Years later, his son has become a ruthless murderer and the two of them meet by chance in a dusty western town. He doesn't discover his identity until they face off in the inevitable show down. Standard revenge-driven spaghetti western, dragged down by some poor voice acting on the English version of this print.

Despair (1978)

New Line Cinema
Directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Olive Films)

Dirk Bogarde is the owner of a failing chocolate factory in the early days of Nazi Germany. He has a strained relationship with his wife and her artist "cousin", who he suspects are having an affair. He concocts a murder scheme in which he fakes his own death by switching identities with a man he meets at a cafe. After carrying out the plan, he hides out in a small town in Switzerland where the police eventually catch up with him. Despite a fine performance by Bogarde and a screenplay by Tom Stoppard adapted from as story by Nabokov, this is murky and aloof, working neither as murder mystery or period drama. Superb photography by Michael Ballhaus, however, saves it from being a complete waste of time.

The Wandering Swordsman (1970)

Shaw Bros.
Directed by Cheh Chang
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

David Chiang is sort of a Chinese Robin Hood, wandering the countryside doing good deeds for the poor and homeless. One day he gets tricked into joining a gang and helping them rob a treasure that is being transported across the country. When he finds out their true intentions, he fights to get it back and get revenge on the gang. Extraordinarily mundane and episodic, with Chiang flying around with ease, or making impossible leaps using backwards photography and trampolines.

The Way Ahead (1944)

General Film Distributors (UK)
Directed by Carol Reed
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI Entertainment)

Ordinary British citizens are called for duty at the beginning of WWII. They go through several months of basic training where they learn to hate, then appreciate, their superior officers. They finally see real action in north Africa where they have a series of skirmishes with the Germans. The acting is fine and there is one good action scene on a sinking ship, but there are also long lapses of boredom where nothing seems to happen other than singing and carousing in bars or having tea with a friendly old lady. The final battle in north Africa lacks urgency.

Black Like Me (1964)

Continental Distributing
Directed by Carl Lerner
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VSC)

Magazine writer James Whitmore takes pills and sits under a tanning lamp to turn his skin dark. He passes himself off as a black man while taking a bus through southern towns. He meets racists of all kinds, though most seem to be obsessed with his sexual activity with white women. Over time, the vitriol and hate directed at him starts to impact his psyche and he becomes a racist himself, though towards whites. He finally reveals his true identity to a young black activist, who turns against him. This would be an audacious premise if it wasn't based on a true story. However, it is episodic in nature and lacks a killer instinct, resulting in somewhat of a missed opportunity. Unconvincing makeup for Whitmore does not help.

The War Between Men and Women (1972)

National General Pictures
Directed by Melville Shavelson
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, CBS/Paramount)

Humorist Jack Lemmon makes a living writing and drawing cartoons about his hatred for women, dogs and children. His beliefs are put to the test when he falls in love with lonely divorcee Barbara Harris. They eventually get married and he is thrust into dealing with her precocious young children and their problems, not to mention her ex-husband. Meanwhile, he is slowly going blind from a childhood injury. Based on the writings of James Thurber, the film even manages to incorporate his cartoon drawings into the plot, with a memorable scene involving a drunk Lemmon and Jason Robards fighting it out with an army of cartoon women.

The Pleasure Girls (1965)

Compton-Cameo Films (UK)
Directed by Gerry O'Hara
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, BFI)

Country girl Francesca Annis moves to London to attend modeling school. She lives with her friends in a large flat. They go to parties, dance to records and meet boys. One of them is pregnant and contemplates an abortion, but her no-good boyfriend loses all of their money gambling. Another one is the lover of their landlord, Klaus Kinski, but he gets beat up by some thugs. Meanwhile Francesca is falling in love with her new boyfriend Ian McShane. A rather obvious morality tale in which the only girl who ends up happy is the one not having sex, but an interesting time capsule of mid 60s London.

The Tamarind Seed (1974)

AVCO Embassy Pictures
Directed by Blake Edwards
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Timeless Media Group)

Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif are vacationing alone in Barbados, she to get away from recently ended love affairs, he to get away from his stressful life as a Russian spy. She resists his attempts to start a love affair, but back home in London gradually falls in love with him. When he decides to defect, she helps him arrange to exchange information on the identity of a top Russian spy for his freedom. It starts off slowly but does build to a somewhat tense and surprising ending.

Iron Sky (2012)

Entertainment One
Directed by Timo Vuorensola
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Entertainment One)

Nazi's have been hiding on the dark side of the moon waiting for their chance to invade Earth. They kidnap an American astronaut and use his cell phone to power up their giant killing machine. They go head-to-head with a female American president seeking reelection. However, it's one of their own who is their biggest enemy. An uneasy mix of sci-fi spectacle and political satire, with American arrogance and stupidity firmly in its cross hairs.

10,000 Dollars for a Massacre (1967)

Directed by Romolo Guerrieri
My rating; 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Timeless Media Group)

Bounty hunter "Django" goes after a most wanted outlaw, but it turns out the two have a lot in common. He joins their gang and robs a stagecoach full of gold, but with unintended tragic results. He changes sides once again and hunts them all down in a windswept ghost town for the finale. While dramatically uneven, it does work as a character study of the conflicts faced by the main protagonist, buoyed by Nina Orlandi's theremin-tinged score and some imaginative set pieces. However, the actors are heavily made up in eyeliner and mascara, including some of the men, which kind of dulls the effect. 

Sorcerer (1977)

Universal-Paramount
Directed by William Friedkin
My rating: 4 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Warner Bros.)

Four men flee to a poverty stricken village in Central America, each in trouble for different reasons. Roy Scheider is running from the mob after a robbery goes wrong. He works for an oil company, lives in a run down shack and spends his spare time drinking. When one of the oil wells is sabotaged, he takes a job driving a truck full of nitro glycerin across jungles, swamps and mountains. Friedkin's chase scene in his previous film, The French Connection, is one of the most famous, but here he takes it to another level: a truck full of nitro crossing a swollen river on a worn out rope bridge during a driving rainstorm. The tension is palpable and real, elements missing in today's CGI driven spectacles, where this stunt would not even be attempted.

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

Directed by Vincent Ward
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Hen's Tooth Video)

Family and friends living in a remote European mountain village in medieval times plan a journey to escape The Plague which is ravishing the continent. A young boy has visions of the future and guides them to a place which takes them deep inside the Earth. They emerge in a modern day city and, again following the boy's visions, undertake a quest to place a spire atop a church. Cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson imaginatively evokes the dream-like visions of the boy, but also somewhat predictably films the medieval scenes in black and white and the modern ones in color. The story is basically a gimmick, but one that is exploited to its fullest potential.

The Water Margin (1972)

Shaw Bros.
Directed by Cheh Chang
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

A man who spends too much time training and ignores his wife vows revenge when he catches her with another man. She uses her connections to get him arrested and sent to another city, where he gets involved in a war between "bandits" and a corrupt government. He gets plenty of help from his friend and sidekick, a martial arts master, who does most of the dirty work. Based on a classic Chinese text, this tries to be an epic-style movie, but instead there are just endless characters and situations making it very difficult to follow any kind of story. The fight scenes are front and back loaded, but quite bloody once they get going.

Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Clyde Bruckman
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Henpecked husband W.C. Fields deals with burglars who break into his basement and raid his stash of "apple jack". At his job, he makes up an excuse to get the afternoon off to see a wrestling match, leading to more unexpected consequences. The plot is irrelevant, it merely provides the setting for Fields's peculiar brand of comedy. His character, "Ambrose Wolfinger", is a frustrated husband stuck in an unhappy marriage, living with his mother-in-law and her loafing son, both of whom bear the brunt of his carefully controlled rage. However, when the opportunity arises he does not hesitate to throw a few punches their way. A slapstick comedy barely above the level of the Three Stooges, entertaining but hardly groundbreaking.

Blood for a Silver Dollar (1965)

Directed by Giorgio Ferroni
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Timeless Media Group)

In the days after the Civil War, two Rebel prisoners in the wild west are set free by their Yankee captors. They go their separate ways only to meet up again unexpectedly in the saloon of a dusty western town. They are both presumed dead in a shootout, but one of them actually survives. He returns using a different name to infiltrate the gang that killed him and uncover their leader. A routine spaghetti western rather flatly directed, but the final shootout does have a neat twist.

Campbell's Kingdom (1957)

J. Arthur Rank
Directed by Ralph Thomas
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, VCI Entertainment)

Dirk Bogarde inherits his grandfather's land, and his trouble with locals, in a remote Canadian valley. A rich baron wants to build a dam to power his mines, but doing so will flood Dirk's property. In order to stop them, he needs to prove that there is oil. He ends up in a battle of wills with Stanley Baker, the foreman of the dam building project, who goes as far as murder to make sure Dirk does not succeed. Formulaic action yarn with a disaster-style ending, with the Dolomites in Italy standing in for the Rockies.