Tag: Review

Colonel March of Scotland Yard

On: By: Romeyn


Based on a character in John Dickson Carr’s The Department of Queer Complaints, Boris Karloff plays detective Colonel March. In this 26 episode television series we find Colonel March solve “unsolvable” mysteries. Being only 30 minutes long the mysteries don’t go very deep and in in the case of at least one episode, had a very “Scooby Doo” vibe to it. As of this writing it is available on TUBI


The role of Colonel March allowed Boris, then age 65, to go back to England to go into semi-retirement and visit old friends.

Ghoul, 1933

On: By: Romeyn

Boris Karloff stars in this British horror film, where he plays the part of Prof. Henry Morlant, a dying Egyptologist who purchased “The Eternal Light” a rare Egyptian artifact, where if placed in the hand of Anubis after death, would grant the owner immortality. Naturally, everyone in the film wants the artifact for themselves, but patiently waited until the eccentric professor had passed away. After an elaborate burial, Morlant rises from the dead to retrieve his stolen jewel!

Original British movie poster

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Fear In The Night, 1947

On: By: Romeyn

 

In De Forest Kelley’s first major role, he plays the part of a man who wakes up from a nightmare, a nightmare where he stabs an unknown man during a scuffle when he stopped him from breaking into a wall safe in an mirrored octagonal room. When he awakens he finds a button and a key, both of which h remembered from the dream. He goes to his brother in law (Paul Kelly) and presents him with the evidence. Did he commit murder, or was it just a dream?
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Midnight Manhunt, 1945

On: By: Romeyn

“Midnight Manhunt” with William Gargan and Ann Savage. There’s murder and there’s mirth! Mr. Gargan and Miss Savage, portraying rival reporters, also take care of the romantic requirement, and a nice pairing of personalities it is.

The picture opens with a murder by Zucco in plain view of the camera, after which the story concerns the purloining and sequestering of the corpus delicti by newspaper reporters and other persons who have various reasons for wanting to (1) retain and or (2) relinquish possession of it. The place is New York, the time is any time, and it all happens in one night.

(Review found in the Roanoke Rapids Herald. November 15, 1945)
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Comedy of Terrors

On: By: Romeyn

Two unscrupulous undertakers (Vincent Price & Peter Lorre) find they are about to be evicted by their landlord (Basil Rathbone) for being a year late on rent. In order to drum up business, the dastardly duo sneak into the house of a wealthy elderly man, but when the bill comes due, his young widow skips town with the inheritance. When they set out to repeat the process, they receive a message from the landlord that the money was due in the morning. So they set off to kill two birds with one pillow. Unfortunately the landlord is harder to kill than expected. Continue reading “Comedy of Terrors” →

The Black Raven, 1943

On: By: Romeyn

It was a dark and stormy night, several strangers find their way to the Black Raven, an escaped convict, a gangster who is trying to slip out of the country, a weaselly bank teller, a young couple trying to get to Canada to elope, and finally the girl’s father, a dirty politician who disapproves of the marriage. George Zucco plays the proprietor Black Raven Inn, who apparently has some ties to the underworld. Glenn Strange, provides comedy relief as Andy the strong but dim-witted help. A fun little low-budget who-done-it which involves two murders and $50,000 cash, and plenty of motive for murder. Continue reading “The Black Raven, 1943” →

10,000 BC, 2008 AD

On: By: Romeyn

10,000 BC was panned by some viewers for being “historically inaccurate,” but honestly what did they expect from a director that had Will Smith knock an alien out with a punch to its helmet or uploading a computer virus to an alien mother ship. I picked up the movie at Dollar Tree, and honestly it looked like some of the D&D games I’ve participated in. It’s basically an alt-history/fantasy flick of a young hunter in a primitive society going to get his beautiful girl back after she was abducted and taken to a far away land. Along the way he gathers an army of men whose people were also taken captive. Its nothing more than a fun popcorn fest. If it was named something other than 10,000 BC it probably would have had better reviews.

Shown below are various posters for 10,000 BC.

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Valley of the Zombies, 1946

On: By: Romeyn

Ormand Murks, thought dead but survives via means of a voodoo potion, has an insatiable need for blood. Murks kills Dr. Maynard, the doctor responsible for  committing him to an insane asylum. Meanwhile two young lovers are suspected of the murders and are out to prove their innocence. Though this doesn’t have much in the way of valleys or zombies, it is a fun little flick with pretty good acting and dialog.
“You might need my help, and I’m good at screaming.” – Susan

Peter Gunn, 1958-1961

On: By: Romeyn


Peter Gunn was a smartly done detective show created by Blake Edwards that ran from 1958-1961. Craig Stevens starred as the titular role of Peter Gunn, Lola Albright played the part of his girlfriend Edie Hart, and Herschel Bernardi was Lieutenant Jacoby. All 114 episodes aired within a 30 minute time-slot, and yet every case was wrapped up without feeling rushed, in some cases there was even enough time for Ms. Albright to sing a jazzy little number in Peter’s favorite hangout “Mothers” (later changed to Edie’s at the beginning of the 3rd season)

One of the most enjoyable things about the series, besides the bantering between Gunn and Jacoby, was the wide array of stool pigeons that Peter had the confidence of. Continue reading “Peter Gunn, 1958-1961” →

Murder At Midnight, 1931

On: By: Romeyn

A game of charades turns to murder when the blanks in the pistol used are replaced with real ammunition. initially it is thought to be a murder suicide, until the bodies start to pile up. Murder at Midnight features a cast of quirky suspects, fun dialog, and an interesting plot with a surprise ending. The picture quality of the copy we watched seemed washed out, but the sound quality was quite passable, though there was a bit of persistent background “noise”

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