Pre-Guns John Woo

LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY-1979-After his father is killed by a martial arts master Tsing Yi (Damian Lau) vows revenge. He hires two swordsmen Pray (Hark-on Fung) and Chan (Pai Wei) to help and they have several sword fights. However while the hired killers live by a code of honor that might not be so for Yi. 

 There's not that much hand to hand combat but the swordplay choreography is terrific in this early John Woo period piece (that he also co-produced and co-wrote) for Golden Harvest. Of course a few years later he traded in swords for guns with super action dramas like HARDBOILED and THE KILLER

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Japan Sci-Fi

BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE-1959-In 1965 Earth is invaded by aliens from the planet Natal with a base on the moon. They use an anti-gravity machine and some kind of mind control as their main weapons. Earth holds a world conference in Japan. The invaders make a guy in a turban do sabotage but when he's thwarted he's disintegrated by a UFO. It's decided Earth will send two manned rockets to the moon. One headed by Japanese Dr. Adachi (Koreya Senda; also in THE H-MAN) and the other by Dr. Richardson (Len Stanford in his only film role apparently), a white guy. After some hi-jinx in space like one guy who doesn't even know about weightlessness and crew member Iwamura (Yoshio Tsuchyia from many other Toho productions and Kurosawa films) almost sabotaging the mission after his mind is taken over, both ships land on the moon. The crews investigate and discover some short aliens who capture Etsuko (Kyoko Anzai), the female crew member. They also make Iwamura destroy one of the ships but he comes to his senses in time and sacrifices his own life so the second ship can go back to Earth and come up with a solution to the invasion. There are lots of toy effects. 

The Adachi character had also appeared earlier in THE MYSTERIANS. Many Godzilla "hands" were  in this, not the least being the great Ishiro Honda who directed this fun Toho production which was distributed on a double bill in the US by Columbia pictures. mind 

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Late James Whale

SINNERS IN PARADISE-1938-On a plane to China all the passengers have a story: Anne Wesson (Madge Evans), an unhappy wife trying to escape her jealous husband, Thelma Chase (Charlotte Wynters), an heiress trying to escape union troubles at her factory, a pompous senator (Gene Lockhart), two munitions rivals Brand (Morgan Conway, a future Dick Tracy) and Honeyman (Milburn Stone), an old woman (Nana Bryant), Malone (KING KONG's Bruce Cabot), a gangster known as The Torpedo, wise cracking Iris (Marion Martin) who's escaping a grand jury. Their plane crashes during a storm and only they survive along with the plane's steward Jessup (future western star Don “Red” Barry). 

They find refuge on a tropical island where the only inhabitant is Jim Taylor (John Boles), a loner who lives there with his Asian servant Ping (Willie Fung). He has a boat but won't let them use it because he has a secret of his own for being on the island and isn't exactly thrilled with his unscheduled guests. Later Taylor decides to let them go and get some peace but not all of them will fit in his boat, so some can go and some will have to wait. The munitions rivals can't wait to go and Taylor has to fight them off. Malone saves him. Taylor gets sweet on Thelma and asks her to stay. The munitions rivals hijack the boat (with Ping in it) and the old lady is shot. Taylor tries to remove the bullet but she dies before he can operate. It turns out Taylor was a doctor accused of killing a mobster: the old woman's son! Everyone goes native and some comic parts made me think of “Gilligan's Island”! 

This forgotten adventure/soap opera was directed by the great James Whale who made a few more films after this (THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, GREEN HELL) but was basically on the downside of a once famous career. This was also one of the last film roles for the once popular top billed Madge Evans who retired from films after marrying author Sidney Kingsley (DEAD END). 

John Boles of course had worked previously with Whale on a film of his caled FRANKENSTEIN....

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Bomba

BOMBA THE JUNGLE BOY-1949-A photographer Charles Harland (Onslow Stevens) and his daughter Patricia (Peggy Ann Garner) come to “the jungle” to get some photos. After showing some footage to Andy (Charles Erwin), “a glorified game warden” and his servant Eli (Smoki Whitfield) they set off on safari and see lots of animal stock footage. Patricia is saved from a leopard attack by Bomba (Johnny Sheffield), a white curly haired jungle boy. He wants to be nice but she pulls a gun on him so he walks away. Later she asks for his help but he wants none of her (“You try hurt me”). He cools to her and she tries to explain what a family is. He tells her about an old guy who taught him English. He gets shot for his efforts but later shows her around the jungle and his cave home (and animal friends). She dons a cave dress and they even go swimming together. When danger threatens in the form of some hunters Bomba saves everyone by starting a fire. There's also some talk of Bomba being left alone after his father (?), a misanthrope named Cody died.

 It's based on a series of books by Roy Rockwood (probably not a real person)and often sighted for it's racist overtones. The prolific Ford Beebe directed it and a number of others in the series (there were 12 entries in all). DC even published a few comics based on the character in the 1960's.  

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Giant Sized Dinosaur

THE GIANT BEHEMOTH-1959-Some time after a fisherman named Tom is burned to death (his last word is “behemoth”), American scientist Doc Carr (Gene Evans) lectures some stuffy English eggheads about radiation and Bikini island. When “thousands” of dead fish are washed up on the English coast Carr and Prof. Bickford (Andre Morell) investigate the goings on in Cornwall. Naturally there's a giant radiation created dinosaur prowling around. Besides being very big it can also shoot a radioactive ray that burns its victims to cinders. It makes its way to the Thames and sinks a ferry, then rampages through London. After killing the beast, Carr and Bickford get some bad news in the final scene. Jack MacGowran is also featured a paleontologist who helps out.

THE GIANT BEHEMOTH is a fun movie but Willis O'Brien's stop motion animation isn't as good as most of his US output, probably due to budget restraints and the fact that the movie was filmed in England while the special effects were done (with his assistant Pete Peterson) in Los Angeles. 

Director Eugene Lourie (THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS) co-wrote the screenplay with blacklisted writer Daniel James who'd go on to pen the screenplay for GORGO (which Lourie would direct) in 1961.

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Lost and Found

THE ATTICUS INSTITUTE-2015-Mockumentary about a small institute founded by Dr. West (William Mapother) to test people with paranormal powers. After several setbacks they meet a woman named Judith (Rya Kihlstedt; on several TV shows at the time including HEROES REBORN) who seems to have incredible power. When she becomes uncontrollable the institute calls in the government. They discover she has an “evil” inside her and conduct some experiments that mostly end in disaster. She even seems capable of terrorizing the families of those involved. When it appears an actual entity is to blame the government tries to control it. It's more like torture. Later they get a priest (with a gas mask) to perform an exorcism. 

This type of “found footage” horror is getting old hat. I hope writer/director Chris Sparling remembers this when he makes his next movie.  

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Robin Hood

THE SWORD OF SHERWOOD FOREST-1960-Robin Hood (Richard Greene; future Nayland Smith in the Chris Lee/Fu Manchu series) and his merry men protect a mysterious traveler wanted as a dangerous criminal by The Sheriff of Nottingham (Peter Cushing) who offers one merry man a pardon if he'll talk and when he does the sheriff has him killed anyway. The sheriff is after a silver medallion the traveler has. Maid Marian (Sarah Branch), a comical Friar Tuck (Niall McGuiness), Little John (Nigel Greene; another Nayland Smith) et.al are all there to help. 

Later Robin meets Lord Newark (Richard Pasco) and his band of un-merry men including the falcon loving Lord Melton (Oliver Reed). Newark wants Robin to assassinate The Archbishop of Canterbury (Jack Gwillam). When this fails, the lord and his men attack a nunnery where the bishop and Marian are hiding out. The sheriff won't go along with the plan so Melton knifes him. The finale sword battle takes place in the nunnery's church. Most of the sword play is bad especially when Marian is tossed a sword and she fights off an attack side saddled! 

There's several other story lines that don't even involve Robin giving it the feel of a condensed TV series. 

This Hammer production was filmed in Ireland by Terence Fisher (who made the much better BRIDES OF DRACULA with Cushing the same year) after the end of the original TV series that starred Richard Greene.  

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