What classics did you see last week, August 1 to August 7?

Zorro’s Fighting Legion / William Witney and John English (1939). From Republic Studio, the leader in quality cliffhanger serials, comes one of the best ever. These programmers were cranked out of mainly, Republic, Universal, and Columbia Studios, as cheap but lucrative filler for young viewers. The best of them – like this one – featured exciting outdoor photography, chases, fights, wall-to-wall action, and spectacular stunt work. The chapter eight opening features a thrilling elaboration on the famous stunt from “Stagecoach.” Zorro (stuntman Yakima Canutt) jumps onto the team of horses of a runaway stagecoach. Someone shoots at him. He falls between the horses and is dragged on the ground. He lets go and when the horses and wagon wheels have passed on either side he catches hold of the coach’s rear, pulls himself around and climbs up the back. Marvelous. There is an even further elaboration of this stunt in the truck chase from “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” (about which more in a moment). The scripts of these weekly chapter plays barely got the job done and characterizations were paper thin, but who had time for nuance? There were bad guys to be stopped. Starting in the late ‘40s, the quality of cliffhanger serials began to decline precipitously. TV was the final blow. The last adventure came out in 1956. Chapter serials were gone, seemingly, without leaving a single footprint of the sands of film history – until 1982, that is. In that year, “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” – a modern film deliberately modeled on the former Saturday matinee form - became a huge hit, kicking off the summer action movie trend which continues unabated almost 40 years later. For anyone who wonders exactly what Spielberg was referencing in “Raiders,” “Zorro’s Fighting Legion” is the perfect answer. Reed Hadley heads the cast as fop Diego Vega and masked hero Zorro (often doubled by Canutt).






The French Key / Walter Colmes (1946). Republic Pictures. Down on his luck P.I. Johnny Fletcher (Albert Dekker) and sidekick Sam Cragg (Mike Mazurki) are locked of their hotel room for unpaid rent. Johnny gets into the room via a window from another rental housing Janet Morgan (Evelyn Ankers) who he takes a shine to. But inside his locked room is a corpse of someone he has never seen before. Now Johnny and Sam have to put their investigative skills to work to a) earn some rent money and b) solve the murder before they get arrested for it. Johnny comes to suspect that Janet may be involved and Sam’s great strength is a key to the solution. A lighthearted detective story that will entertain but not tax your cognitive abilities.






Where’s Charley? / David Butler (1952). Warner Bros-First National Productions. What can you say about a successful Broadway musical (792 performances) with a score by Frank Loesser that never had an original cast album and whose movie version never got a general release? That is the case with “Where’s Charley?” The musical is based on an 1892 play, “Charley’s Aunt,” which, at least until the last years of the 20th century was a perennial community theater and high school drama club favorite. Three Oxford undergrads, Babbs, Jack, and Charley are expecting their girlfriends who have come to visit for the day. Charley’s aunt is expected from Brazil (“Where the nuts come from”) to be a chaperone. Without a chaperone, the girls would leave! How very Victorian. So, when the aunt doesn’t show, Jack and Charlie convince Babbs to dress in women’s clothes (titter) and pretend to be, you guessed it, Charley’s aunt. Coming to the movie from the play as Babbs we have the wonderful Ray Bolger, a genius dancer but American and 48-years-old. Never an Oxford undergraduate, but more believable than Jack Benny (at 47 years) who played the part in the 1941 film of the straight play. It is not really a bad movie, it just sort of sits there. There is no life to it except during the occasional music number. There us one breakout hit which everyone of a certain generation will recognize but not know that it came from this under the radar musical. The song is “Once in love with Amy” which Bolger does great justice to as can be seen in the clip below.




Pulp / Mike Hodges (1972). Here is a bit of historical trivia that most people on this board probably already know: In the 1930s, a number of magazines featuring hard boiled, often violent, sometimes sexy, detective fiction emerged. They had names like Black Mask and Dime Detective. The paper they were printed on was so cheap that bits of wood – or pulp – could be seen, like those Big Chief tablets that some of you might have used in elementary school. So they came to be called The Pulps and the stories they told were, well, Pulp Fiction. Mickey King (Michael Caine) is a writer of pulp, being published under several pseudonyms like Jack Rough, the supposed author of My Gun Is Long. We first encounter a secretarial typing pool on a Mediterranean island, each typist transcribing a different part of King’s latest opus. They are each getting turned on by his lurid prose to the disapproval of the supervisor. King is approached with a proposition that he ghost write the memoirs of a famous person. The mystery surrounding his subject makes King believe that something is up which is confirmed when a man he talks to on a bus is found murdered. Mickey Rooney has more or less an extended cameo as an egotistical former movie star who behaves much like Rooney himself was reputed to act. Although “Pulp” can be enjoyed as a ‘70s curio, it’s progress is very slow, it is over long, and is not helped by Caine’s performance, called by some “underacting,” but “lethargic” would be my description, as if he could barely move and speak. Amazingly, this was Hodges and Caine’s follow-up to their hit film “Get Carter.” Rooney is the high point. Also with Lionel Stander, Al Lettieri, and a still luminous Lizabeth Scott, coming out of retirement to play one of Rooney’s ex-wives.






Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom / Steven Spielberg (1984). The second cliffhanger romp for Dr. Jones, this time in India where he tackles a newly formed cult of Thugees with magical powers and redeems a mystical stone for a suffering village. Along for the ride is Indy’s sidekick, a boy called Short Round (see Sam Fuller’s “The Steel Helmet” for the origin of the name), and Willie (Kate Capshaw, later to be the second Mrs. Steven Spielberg), a nightclub singer on the run from her former sugar daddy. The first reviews were mixed and emphasized as negatives the intense nature of some of the action and a couple of ick-producing scenes (the banquet and the creepy crawlies in the tunnel). On my first viewing, 37-years ago, I thought these were funny and exciting. This week, they failed to thrill. Also, I realized that there are long stretches, marches through jungle, where nothing is happening except time passing. Maybe it was just my mood. We had just returned from a relaxing vacation which exhausted the two of us. Harrison Ford is very good as Indy. Kate Capshaw does what she can while being directed to scream way too much. 12-year-old Ke Huy Quan as Short Round plays a significant role and acquits himself well.

JOKE I READ TODAY: Barack Obama invited followers, Hollywood stars and Steven Spielberg to his 60th birthday on Marth’s Vineyard. Security includes virus testers, armed bodyguards, helicopter surveillance, and Coast Guard ships. It is standard procedure for whenever Spielberg arrives at an event.






Doctor Who S. 7, Ep. 12 “Nightmare In Silver” May 11, 2013. Written by Neil Gaiman. The Doctor (Matt Smith) brings Clara (Jenna Coleman) and her three charges as a nanny to what was supposed to be the greatest theme park in the universe only to discover a closed, dilapidated structure. But that is not all. Cybermen who were thought to be eradicated are returning even more powerful than before. Even The Doctor’s mind can be invaded by the Cyberium and must be defeated at a game of chess. One of Matt Smith’s greatest performances as The Doctor highlight this episode. Jenna Coleman is also magnificent as Clara takes charge of the defenses against the Cybermen. Warwick Davis guest stars as Porridge, magician’s assistant, but he might not be what he seems.

Lola (1981) - 10/10





The Killing (1956) - 8/10




The Eagle Has Landed (1976) - 7/10




Miss Marple: A Pocketful of Rye (1985) - 6/10

This is what the Tele have seen lately...


Fighting With My Family 2019 directed by Stephen Merchant.
The movie in it self is one of those oddities that's rather nice to watch.
No matter what, I' can't support a sports movie where anabolic steroids are well known and used.


A Little Romance 1979, directed by George Roy Hill and based on a novel by Claude Klotz.
Beautiful retro music by Georges Delerue that might have been written by Vivaldi before.
It's rather nice seeing rather intelligent kids fall for each others in beautiful Paris locations.
Somewhere along the way they meet an French Gentleman that could be good to know, a gentleman he isn't, he's a well known Pickpocket.
I understand those who love this movie!



Violent Saturday 1955, directed by Richard Fleischer and based on a novel by William L Heath.
This was a gem and thank's for recommending it!


Affair in Trinidad 1952 directed by William Dieterle
Gilda it ain't but not too bad either. 


The Affairs of Messalina 1951 a Italian-French-Spanish co-production directed by Carmine  Gallone and based on scriptures
Never seen a movie with Maria Felix before, here as evil empress of Rome. Claudius is always gullible around Messalina, executing whoever she fancies, but when she is with her lovers, Claudius might have another agenda to get rid of her... following a fake oracle.


So that's where "Mona Lisa" came from!
Captain Carey USA 1950 directed by Mitchell Leisen and based on a novel by Martha Albrand.
"Mona Lisa" song is used as a warning signal to Allied troops when Nazis are approaching by Italian partisans.
Even if it's only sung in Italian that song made this movie an Academy Award Winning movie.
Is it that awful movie I've heard it would be? Offcourse not! It's an entertaining tale of Ladd returning to Italy in Peacetime and his search of who gave the Allied's away, meeting unexpected frictions...


I Live in Grosvenor Square aka A Yank in London 1945 directed by Herbert Wilcox.
Why must Americans do all the dirty work when the British they are supposed to save drink tea and play afternoon tennis? WWII was still going on when this movie had it's premiere, and frictions among Americans (Stealing all English Girls) and English men were not able to handle those situations.
Never seen a Anne Neagle movie before, and now I've done it.
Though Robert Morley is always fun, this is one of the best things I've seen Rex Harrison do, playing posh and aloof since that's how his character was brought up, and in the same time incapable of showing any feelings what so ever, when American Dean Jagger steels his GF, He notices it and want's to fight back, he wan't to but because of upbringing he has no idea how, and can just notice that she slips to that Arizonian. 
I wish it was a better movie, some scenes feels hasty and sloppy. 
For some fun, Robert Morley plays Anna Neagle's grandfather, in real life he was four years younger than her.

I'm not sure I'd go that far petrolina , but it's a pretty darn good, sleazy, B-movie, and the Wings-man is sensational as Ramrod. The photography was special, and the location where the real deal. When I saw it on the big screen in the eighties I was absolutely blown away by the intensity of his performance. Season Hubley was something too - have you seen her in Paul Schrader's HARDCORE? I recently acquired VICE SQUAD on Blu Ray, and re-watched it a few months ago. Oh dear, I have to go now, but look out for my next reply to Prime for more on the Wings-man.