PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Torment 1950

Torment 1950 Written and directed by John Guillermin. It was John's first solo directing job. It was released in the US with the title Paper Gallows.

Twin brothers, Cliff and Jim Brandon, are murder mystery writers. They're both interested in their secretary Joan but she's only got eyes for one of them. The unwanted brother kills someone and frames Joan for the murder. The good brother has to keep her off the gallows and marry her before the end of the movie.

Dermot Walsh plays Cliff, Rona Anderson plays Joan and John Bentley plays Jim. It's an OK movie but not much above average. It's short and quickly paced, I was entertained.

Tomorrow At Ten 1963

Tomorrow At Ten 1963 Story and screenplay by James Kelley and Peter Miller, directed by Lance Comfort. Lance directed a few good crime and horror films that I've seen. Most recent for me was The Painted Smile. I keep an eye out for his films.

It's got a good cast: Robert Shaw, John Gregson, Alan Wheatley, Kenneth Cope, William Hartnell, Betty McDowall, Ernest Clark, Helen Cherry, Renee Houston and Alan Clunes (father of Martin Clunes).

Alan plays a rich guy who's son is kidnapped and hidden away with a bomb. The kidnapper shows up at Alan's house wanting a big pile of cash. He plans to run away to Argentina where they can't extradite him. When he gets there he'll call with the location of the boy. Things don't go well after Alan's wife calls the police.

I thought it was a good story that was well told. You can see a decent copy on YouTube.

Das Mädchen Mit Den Katzenaugen 1958

Das Mädchen Mit Den Katzenaugen 1958 Story and screenplay by Werner P Zibaso, directed by Eugen York. A German film called The Girl With The Cat Eyes.

The German police are investigating a stolen car ring. Gert Fröbe is the owner of a garage the crooks are using to process the stolen cars for resale. He's not happy when his daughter shows up unannounced. He's even more upset when he has to run over a police detective with his truck. He's got no choice, the baddies will kill him if he doesn't.

Joachim Fuchsberger plays the next detective to go undercover. It takes him a while to get the goods on the baddies but he does a OK job of it. He even gets the girl. I enjoyed it, except for the fact I was watching a rather poor copy from YouTube. You can see it by clicking the link above. Here's a rather nice Italian poster for the movie.

The Painted Smile 1962

The Painted Smile 1962 From an original idea by Brock Williams,, screenplay by Pip and Jane Baker, directed by Lance Comfort.

Liz Frazer plays a con artist who's partner in crime is found dead in her apartment. She gets a guy to move the body and he becomes a person of interest to the police. There's plenty of chasing about and the film has a nice sense of humor.

It's all fairly light hearted and predictable but still entertaining. I liked the actors and they do a good job. Peter Reynolds plays the dead guy, Kenneth Griffith plays a baddie, Tony Wickert plays the suspect. You can check it out on YouTube.

All Coppers Are... 1972

All Coppers Are... 1972 Screenplay by Allan Prior and direction by Sidney Hayers. Produced by Carry On producer Peter Rogers.

A gritty crime story set in and around Battersea. A cop has a romp in the hay with a blonde woman he meet at a party. She doesn't know he's married with a baby and a cop. She gets something going with a local small time hood who's got a cigarette heist in mind. The heist puts him and the cop up against each other and it doesn't go so well.

It's pretty average despite the decent cast, Julia Foster, Martin Potter, Nicky Henson, Wendy Allnutt, Ian Hendry, Norman Jones, David Essex, Robin Askwith and Tony Wright. The script does well enough with the dialog and such but it's pretty much a by the numbers production. I more enjoyed the ambience of the time and place. You can check it out on YouTube and see if you like it.

 

Deadly Nightshade 1953

Deadly Nightshade 1953 Screenplay by Lawrence Huntington, directed by John Gilling, produced by Robert S Baker and Monty Berman.

Emrys Jones plays two parts, a convict on the run and a landscape painter. The convict kills the painter and tries to take over the man's life. It doesn't go so well when the painter's past catches up to him.

It's short, only 61 mins, and pretty much average. I did like it's sense of humor. I was happy enough to see it and I'd probably watch it again someday. I got the DVD cheap somewhere and finally watched it. I've been pulling the classic British films out of the To Be Watched pile and I've watched a few now. 

The Big Chance 1957

The Big Chance 1957 Based on the novel The Big Chance by Pamela Barrington, screenplay by Barbara S Harper and Peter Graham Scott, directed by Peter Graham Scott.

William Russell is a travel agent, he's not a happy guy, he doesn't care much for his job, he's not happy at home. He gets a chance to steal a big pile of cash and a ticket to South America. The flight get delayed and William meets a woman, they have a fling.

The ending is a bit weak but the film is good on average. I'd watch it again but not for a while.

Stormy Crossing 1958

Stormy Crossing 1958 Based on the story Black Tide by Sid Harris and Lou Dyer, screenplay by Brock Williams, directed by C M Pennington-Richards, produced by Monty Berman. The film was released in the US under the title Black Tide.

John Ireland is training his brother to swim the English Channel, Sheldon Lawrence plays the brother. Joy Webster is also swimming the channel, she's having an affair with a married man played by Derek Bond. On the big day someone comes along in a speedboat, attacking Sheldon and killing Joy. It's believed to be an accident but Sheldon turns up and the killer is revealed.

I found a copy on YouTube. I thought it was a decent story but there was way too much swimming for me.

Homebodies 1974

Homebodies 1974 Screenplay by Howard Kaminsky, Bennett Sims and Larry Yust, directed by Larry Yust.

An odd little film about some seniors that turn to murder to keep their condemned apartment building.

I liked the film's sense of humor and the groups decent into madness. I enjoyed the movie and would watch it again.

Dublin Nightmares 1958

Dublin Nightmare 1958 Based on the Robin Estridge novel, screenplay by John Tully, directed by John Pomeroy.

A guy gets involved in a robbery to fund the IRA. The robbery goes wrong and the money disappears and one of the robbers winds up dead. William Sylvester is a photographer who comes to the UK only to find his friend is the dead man. He starts investigating on his own.

A fairly good story and cast.