The Saint Strikes Back 1939 7 out of 10 (The Saint Series #2)

The Saint Strikes Back  1939  7 out of 10

This film was actually the second film of 8 Saint Movies that ran from 1938-1943.   It was the first to star George Sanders as the title character.  Looking back at a bunch of older films starring George Sanders,  he is starting to become one of my favorite actors of the 1930's and 1940's.  With starring roles in a series of Saint films and also the Falcon series (which I will start doing mini reviews for as well) he has a nice resume. Disney fans will recognize his voice as Shere Khan from The Jungle Book.  If James Bond had existed in the 1940's he would be the actor that I would have picked for the role.  Which is ironic since Roger Moore got his start as The Saint on tv in the early 60's before he became Bond.   Sanders just has a style and elegance about him.  He exudes a confidence with every line. 

In the Saint Strikes back Simon Templar (AKA The Saint) solves a mystery of a disgraced San Francisco cop.  The Saint uses his skills as an ex thief to help figure out the mystery of who actually framed the disgraced cop.   A solid little fast paced mystery

 Listen to our Movie Podcast here

http://www.superfantasticterrific.com/

Follow our Movie Facebook page here

https://www.facebook.com/SuperFantasticTerrificPodcast/?ref=bookmarks

For All Disney/Pixar/Marvel and Star Wars Reviews 

 go to my Disney Page. 

https://themouseminute.wordpress.com/author/themouseminute/

The Devil Doll 1936 4 out of 10

The Devil Doll  1936   4 out of 10

The movie has an interesting concept doesn't deliver on its potential.   An escaped convict that was wrongly imprisoned for robbery and murder escapes from prison with a mad scientist.     He learns the secrets to shrinking humans and then being able to control their minds from the scientist.  The scientist passes away during one of his experiments and the main character uses this knowledge to get revenge on those that framed him.  Lionel Barrymore stars in this odd film in which he spends much of the movie in drag posing as an old lady.  The problem is his old lady just seemed like an uninteresting version of the old ladies from some Monty Python sketch.  His revenge plot was kind of boring as he using the doll sized  minions to get his revenge.  I felt like it was  a waste of a cool and interesting story concept in its lackluster execution.  The best moments are early on when scientist shows him how he has shrunken some dogs. 

The movie is directed by Tod Browning of Freaks fame.   

 

My Movie page on Facebook is here  

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Super-Fantastic-Terrific-Page-of-Movies-TV-and-Entertainment/178708865473822

The Invisible Ray 1936 3 out of 10

The Invisible Ray  1936  3  out 10

Karloff and Lugosi...... Sound like a winning formula. Well not in this very dull horror movie.  A scientist played by Karloff turns into a glowing murder after being exposed to some radiation as a result of his discovery of a new element.  That is pretty sums up the whole movie.  It was a revenge tale that never really held my interest or attention.  A waste of the talents of these two horror legends.  The story just dragged...and dragged with nothing interesting happening other than Karloff's hand glowing before he killed off the people he felt had wronged him.

Enjoy the trailer....skip the movie

My Movie page on Facebook is here  

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Super-Fantastic-Terrific-Page-of-Movies-TV-and-Entertainment/178708865473822

The Penguin Pool Murder 1932 7 out of 10

The Penguin Pool Murder  1932  7 out of 10

There has been a murder at the New York aquarium and a old matronly school teacher and detective end up teaming up to solve it.  It is a classic 1930's style  comedy/murder mystery who done it.  The movie has many possible murderers and takes several  twists and turns before concluding with a nice courtroom reveal of the murderer.  The old school teacher as sleuth gave the movie its comic tone as played excellently by Edna May Oliver.   I enjoy watching this old 1930's and 1940's  short murder mystery movies.  The weird thing is that they basically feel like TV episodes.  All of the old Sherlock Holmes and Charlie Chan movies that are barely over an hour long have a formula and feel of episodic TV.  It is fun to revisit this old movies that basically laid the foundations for TV shows like Castle (which is currently one of my favorite shows that I've been watching non stop on Netflix trying to catch up on).  The Penquin Pool Murder reminded me specifically of this TV series since the detective in the story teamed up with a school teacher to solve the crime.  Castle of course has a mystery writer teaming up with a detective to solve crimes.  Of course a single episode of Castle is more entertaining than this movie,  but it is cool to see the comic murder mystery solving roots that have lead to one of my favorite genres.

Here is a quick sample of The Penguin Pool Murder...

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Super-Fantastic-Terrific-Page-of-Movies-TV-and-Entertainment/178708865473822

Satan met a Lady 1936 5 out of 10

Satan Met a Lady   1936   5 out of 10

This was basically a silly, light detective movie.  A remake of The Maltese Falcon with the character names changed and the horn in place of the bird statue.   It was still an effective story although the light and silly tone of the film made what would normally be tense and gritty moments have less weight.   Five years after this remake the film would be remade yet again this time with Humphrey Bogart in the lead role which was a classic.   This version was okay --but especially compare to the much better Bogart version it palls in comparison.  

Plane Crash Double Feature: Five Came Back 1939 and Back from Eternity 1956

Five Came Back 1939  7 out of 10

Back from Eternity  1956   7 out of 10

This movie description applies to both movies since Back from Eternity is a total remake of the original even being done by the same exact director.   It is like watching a play twice and just having different actors playing the roles. Both versions are equally effective .   The movies are about a plane bound for South American with a wide range of passengers including a hooker,  a couple about to get marrie, and older couple and a murderer.  It is like a dramatic Gilligan's Island.  They crash land in uninhabited area that has a tribe of cannibals.  It deals with the how the crash survivors deal with the crash and struggle to repair the plane to hopefully get out before the cannibals find them.  They fix the plane but it will only get airborne with 5 of the original 12 passengers.   The story concept is good and in both cases of the almost identical films the plot and acting were good.  In both films the tension builds over the near perfect backdrop of the sounds of the cannibals drums in the background.  Once the drums stop the final decision of who leaves needs to be made.

Five Came Back starred a young Lucille Ball (way before he I Love Lucy days)  and Chester Morris .  The 1956 remake features  the beautiful Anita Ekberg, Robert Ryan and Rod Steiger. 

Here is a trailer for Back to Eternity 

 

The Saint in London 1939 7 out of 10 (The Saint Series #1)

George Sanders stars as The Saint  in 

  The Saint in London 1939  7 out of 10.

I was aware of the TV show with pre Bond Roger Moore,  I didn't know there was a series of movies back in the 1930's --1940's.   This British Man of Mystery  has style and a confidence in no matter what situation he gets himself into.   The movie was sleek and fun with a short running time.   Sanders was perfect for the role and  I look forward to seeing the other entries in this series.  He starred in 5 Saint movies before moving on to another great character in the Falcon films. In The Saint in London Simon Templar (AKA the Saint) unravels a mystery that involves currency fraud and murder.   

Murder Mysteries of this era generally have a short running time that is just over and hour so to the modern viewer they have the feel of a TV show.  If you enjoy old school Murder Mysteries give the Saint Movie series a try.  It is like watching a Netflix series these days with 8 films in total not a huge time commitment.

 Listen to our Movie Podcast here

http://www.superfantasticterrific.com/

Follow our Movie Facebook page here

https://www.facebook.com/SuperFantasticTerrificPodcast/?ref=bookmarks

For All Disney/Pixar/Marvel and Star Wars Reviews 

 go to my Disney Page. 

https://themouseminute.wordpress.com/author/themouseminute/