smudge

STAR OF INDIA - Enjoyable if unambitious swashbuckler with Cornel Wilde and Herbert Lom in clearly defined roles as wronged hero and avaricious villain respectively. They went to town on the sets and costumes, and the 'against the tide' chase in the village fair felt a little like a sequence from THE WICKER MAN; very nicely realised little set piece...

Smudge

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Joe Fraguela

WARNING!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Last night I watched Wings of Danger from 1952, a UK B-movie starring Zachary Scott, Robert Beatty, Kay Kendall, Naomi Chance, Colin Tapley, Arthur Lane, Harold Lang and Diane Cilento.

Zachary Scott plays Van Ness a former pilot who suffers from blackouts, his friend and co-pilot Nick Talbot played by Robert Beatty takes a plane after being told by Van that he can’t possibly fly the plane to the Channel Islands. Well Nick takes the plane but there’s bad weather and his plane disappears on route to the Channel Islands. Van then takes a plane to the Channel Islands to meet with his boss Boyd Spencer played by Arthur Lane. At the airport he meets Alexia played by Kay Kendall and she drives him to his hotel where he meets up with Ben’s sister Avril played by Naomi Chance.

Van gets a phone call to say that they have found the wreckage of Nick’s plane near St Mary’s Bay. A friend of Van’s Jerry Maxwell, a customs intelligence officer, played by Colin Tapley shows Van some counterfeit money and tells him that he’s suspected of being involved in the counterfeit racket. Jerry asks Van whether Nick’s death was accidental or not. Boyd Spencer’s name is also on Jerry’s list of possible members of the counterfeit gang.

Van rings Avril at the hotel but she has a visitor called Snell played by Harold Lang, he is a blackmailer and also part of the counterfeit gang.

Van pays Alexia a visit and asks her where he can get his hands on some dollars. She tells him he can collect them the following night. Later on that evening Van takes Avril out for a meal on there arrival back at the hotel, Van spots Snell and asks him back to his room. Van threatens Snell and asks him why he is harassing Avril. They fight and Snell tells Van that Nick has been involved with the rackets since the war, he tells him that he introduced Nick to Boyd Spencer. Snell also tells him that he’s due to take a tool-kit to Cherbourg for Boyd Spencer. Van ties him up and leaves him while he goes to visit Avril and tells her he might have to go away.

Van makes his way to the airfield to collect the tool-kit and goes back to his room where Jerry is waiting for him. Snell has escaped. Opening the tool kit they discover it’s actually gold. Snell is later found and arrested.

The following evening Van visits Alexia where she hands over the dollars. He leaves Alexia’s and breaks into Boy Spencer’s office and starts searching through his draws, but someone else is also in the room hiding. Van hears a noise and the mysterious person hiding in the office runs out of the room. Van finds Boyd’s body in the office, Van chases the assailant but he races off on his motorbike, Van chases after him in his car he then starts getting a blackout and crashes his car. The man on the motorcycle pulls van from the wrecked car.

When Van wakes up he sees Nick Talbot, it turns out that Nick was on the motorcycle. Nick introduces Van to Jeanette played by Diane Cilento. Nick tells Van about his part in the racket.

Meanwhile, Boyd has checked out of the hospital and goes back to his office looking for something in his draw which has been stolen.

Van asks Nick for the notebook which he stole from Boyd’s office; the notebook is all in code. It seems that Boyd makes the counterfeit money which he then ships from his airline company. Boyd visits Alexia and tells her the notebook is missing, she tells him that Van could have taken it.

Van goes back to the hotel and tells Avril about events last night and that Nick is still alive. Van takes Avril to see Nick, where she meets Jeanette and tells Avril he’s going to marry Jeanette. Avril tells Nick that Van has gone for a walk to the Causeway. Nick leaves in a hurry for the Causeway.

Van arrives at the Causeway and finds out that this is the place where the counterfeit money is made. Suddenly, Boyd appears with the rest of his gang. Van tells Boyd that Jerry Maxwell knows where he is, Boyd thinks this is a bluff. Nick then arrives and a fight breaks out. Van & Nick escape, however, Boyd shoots Nick, whose badly injured. They drive back to Jeanette’s cottage. Van tells Nick to ring Jerry Maxwell to meet him at the Causeway.

Van goes back to the Causeway, but Boyd and his gang have left. Jerry Maxwell appears but he stills think that Van is involved but he convinces Jerry that he’s not involved and that Boyd is leaving the Island by plane tonight.

Back at the cottage Nick realising that he’s not long left to live he tells Avril about Van’s blackout spells. As Avril goes to get Nick some brandy she returns to find him gone, he collapses dead outside by the car.

Van and Maxwell arrive at the airport where Boyd has made off in a plane with Alexia, however, the airport official tried to stop them taking off as the engines of the plane were cold. Van starts to ring the hotel to talk to Avril, suddenly the plane comes back and crashes. Boyd and Alexia have died in the crash.

Van rings the hotel and speaks with Avril he tells her that he may not be back for a while and he’s going away to think things out. All planes have been grounded due to the met reports of bad weather, but Van has plans to take a plane out, but then Avril arrives in her car and she rushes to him, they hug and kiss and they walk back to her car. The End.

I found this film a very enjoyable b-movie. Made by Exclusive Films and boasting a very good cast.

Joe Fraguela

Last night I watched the 1956 film The Green Man, released by British Lion films and starring Alastair Sim, Raymond Huntley, George Cole, John Chandos, Jill Adams, Terry Thomas, Avril Angers, Dora Bryan & Colin Gordon. One of the best comedy films Alastair Sim's made. An enjoyable and amusing night's viewing.

stevie boy

Hi Joe, re the Green Man that is enough information for me, but why do you go into so much detail for some of your posts, although you put spoilers ahead, that means that I cannot see your comments, not having a moan,just interested

batman

Robbery with Stanley Baker, James Booth, Barry Foster and George Sewell, sadly none of whom are still with us. A really good, solid crime thriller excitingly directed by Peter Yates.

Bats.

There are 31 excellent quizzes to bamboozle you on the Quiz Page. Just click on the 'Quick Links' icon and scroll down!

dremble wedge

There's an absolutely belting car chase at the beginning of that. Very exciting stuff.

batman

Apparently Steve McQueen saw that car chase and said 'Get that guy for Bullitt'.

Bats.

There are 31 excellent quizzes to bamboozle you on the Quiz Page. Just click on the 'Quick Links' icon and scroll down!

DB7

Albert RN
Another in the long list of post-war POW films. All the usual stereotypes are here with the quiet guy worrying about his loved on, the paternal officer and the guy with itchy feet that must escape regardless of the risk involved. Anton Diffring takes the acting honours as a brutal double-dealing Nazi officer.

batman

I spent a pleasant evening watching part 2 of Return To Lonesome Dove which features a nice performance from Ollie Reed.

Earlier in the day I found time to squeeze in Paul Temple's Triumph. The third in the Temple series is much the same as the others but is still very enjoyable. John Bentley is a little more animated than in the second film and it features some good location footage.

Bats.

There are 31 excellent quizzes to bamboozle you on the Quiz Page. Just click on the 'Quick Links' icon and scroll down!

Dame Starry

That must have been rather painful, Bats?

YDSL x.

batman

Good job it wasn't Paul Temple's Harley Davidson!

Bats.

There are 31 excellent quizzes to bamboozle you on the Quiz Page. Just click on the 'Quick Links' icon and scroll down!

Harbottle

The Two-Headed Spy (1958) DVD-R. WW2 spy story featuring an excellent performance by Jack Hawkins as a Nazi General! Apparently based on a true story, but I do find it amazing that if this audacious scheme was based on fact its not better known, whatever the truth of the matter the film gripped me. Excellent support especially Felix Aylmer as Von Hawkins contact. 8/10


Ladies Who Do (1963) DVD-R. Comedy where a group of office cleaners hit on a scheme to hit it rich, who can fail not to enjoy a film that has a cast including Robert Morley, Harry H Corbett and Peggy Mount? 7/10

Joe Fraguela

Last night I watched a double bill of films starring the late Deborah Kerr. First up was The Naked Edge from 1961 starring Deborah Kerr, Gary Cooper, Michael Wilding, Eric Portman, Diane Cilento, Hermione Gingold, Ray McAnally, Sandor Eles, Joyce Carey & Peter Cushing. An excellent thriller that keeps you going and featuring some excellent performances from Deborah Kerr, Gary Cooper, Eric Portman and Diane Cilento. Includes some very good use of London locations.

The final film was Prudence & The Pill from 1968 starring Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Robert Coote, Judy Geeson, Edith Evans, Joyce Redman, Keith Michel and Irina Demick. An amusing and hilarious film, full of subtle, elegant, classy and witty British humour. Lovely performances from Deborah Kerr and David Niven.

Torquemada

Shut up and Sing

Charting the story of the Dixie Chicks from the so-called anti-American comment, through the hatred and death threats they received, to them coming out the other side when the peope accepted they were right all along.

Not preachy and good music but highlighting what freedom speech actually means in Bush's America.

Joe Fraguela

Last night I watched The Hypnotist from 1957, released by Anglo Amalgamated films and starring Paul Carpenter, Patricia Roc, Roland Culver, William Hartnell, Gordon Needham, Ellen Pollock and Kay Callard. Paul Carpenter plays Val Neal a test pilot who is injured in a plane crash. He then suffers from blackouts, amnesia, his fiancee Mary Foster played by the lovely Patricia Roc suggests he visits her friend Dr Francis Pelham a well known Psychiatrist played by Roland Culver. However, Dr Pelham is unhapilly married to Barbara Barton , a novelist played by Ellen Pollock and attempts to hypnotize Val into killing her. A good neat b-movie film and very enjoyable. Some nice use of london locations. Paul Carpenter is one of my favourite B movie film actors. The film also stars another Canadian, Kay Callard, who, like Paul Carpenter and several other Canadian actors came to England in the 1950's to make films of this ilk.