TPTV Films Page 49

Passenger to London (1937)

Not a bad little murder spy thriller and only 57 minutes long - typical of its type, with no one in it you've ever heard of.
Quite tense in parts, and one I don't regret watching, so 6/10

From the IMDb :-

"A British agent, carrying important papers, is knifed to death on a passenger train. Before his murder, he plants the papers in the trunk of a female passenger. Who will reach her first, the police or the killers? A taut, well-staged climax helps make this forgotten crime film a must-see."

The Ghost of Rashmon Hall aka Night Comes Too Soon (1948)

At only 52 minutes, thought I'd give it a look, especially as it had one of my favourite actors Valentine Dyall in it, who specialised in spooky characters - known on the radio as the mysterious Man in Black.

BUT he was dire, the film was dire and I've no idea what the person who gave it glowing feedback on the IMDb was watching 'cos I thought it was rubbish, with wooden actors I'd never heard of before, apart from Dyall, of course.

Listed as a Horror film, the only horror was I'd never known an hour to take so long.

1/10

It's only saving grace with the car used in it, a 1938 Opel Super 6 Cabriolet I'd never seen before in a film, and looked quite tasty.

The Last Days of Dolwyn (1949) Yank title Woman of Dolwyn (why I don't know)

This is a film I tried to watch once before but was so slow getting going I gave up, but as it appeared again on TPTV, I thought I'd see it through this time, if only to see Richard Burton in his very first cinema film.

Only other people of note were a just about recognisable Edith Evans, the wonderful stock Welshman Hugh Griffith and the writer and director of the film Emlyn Williams.

Not a bad story when it got going about a village in Wales being threatened with flooding for a new reservoir, the chief person pushing for this being a man who was castigated by the village people many years ago when he was a child, and now he uses the flooding as a sort of revenge.

5/10

Round a mate's today as he's got the technology and has stumped up for the live feeds from the IOM TT races. When it finished he switched to TPTV and we caught the last 10 minutes of Scott of the Antarctic (John Mills, 1948)

As the credits started to roll I came out with my usual quip "It's not a proper film without Sam Kidd......."

Then near the end of the list - Leading Stoker E Mckenzie RN ..... Sam Kidd

The Price of Wisdom (1935)

Heiress wants to do more with her life, rather than being comfortable in her mother's country-side mansion, and being artistic goes to London to become a very successful graphic artist, but her older employer falls in love with her and so does this young stud (Roger Livesey, who I'm not a fan of), and so she has to make stark choices - marry a rich older man or the younger one with very little prospects.

Apart from Livesey, I didn't know anyone in this film - the heroine (Lilian Oldland) for example only made 2 more films after this one, in the same year.

Not a bad little film at just over an hour long and didn't strain the brain too much, and I love these pre-war films where everyone is talking in a terribly, terribly clipped posh voice a la Noel Coward

4/10

The Man in Black (1950)

I wouldn't have mentioned this film if it hadn't been for the star being none other than Sid James, playing a serious part, which was refreshing!

The title comes from the very popular post war BBC radio series, in which Valentine Dyall (reprising his role here) relates stories of murder and mystery, and this revolves around a very rich man (Sid) who knows he is dying and that his second and present wife will do her damnedest to ensure that Sid's daughter doesn't get her inheritance from the will that favours her, and so he devises a way, using yoga, to come back from the dead to keep an eye on the goings on and expose his wife for the lying, scheming cheat she is.

Good film actually, with a tale that kept me interested.

7/10

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 13th July 2020, 8:03 AM

Radio Cab Murder (1954)

Jimmy Hanley again with Carol Vordeman's mum Lana Morris (oft seen in Norman Wisdom films) and with quite a good plot. Oh, and we see Sam Kydd in a major part as one of the crooks and Captain Peacock (Frank Thornton) briefly as a Police Inspector......................, and Cor Blimey, Luv a duck, leave it art!! Arthur Mullard uncredited as a "Detective at Briefing" - the mind boggles.

So, we see reformed safe breaker Hanley in his London cab chasing some crooks who held a bank up, his boss then gets a sort of poison pen letter about him and it all then twists and turns from there - as I say, not a bad film, with this time, instead of Jimmy sticking his nose where it's not wanted in police business, they recruit him to infiltrate the gang.

Give it a look if you see it on.

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I thought I'd seen this before, but nevertheless watched it again tonight, as it is quite a good film

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 6th March 2021, 6:01 AM

Black Memory (1947)

Made just after the war and it shows with cheap sets etc., but interesting to see a young Michael Medwin as a poor man's Pinkie and someone called Sydney (sic)James in his first ever film, in a minor part as owner of a very run down greasy spoon with criminal links. I liked the sign in the caff that read "Hot Meat Pies 4d" - that's about 2p in today's money and I expect you got more than just meat in them.

Not a bad story though, and only about 1¼ hours long :-

"Danny Cruff (Michael Atkinson - never heard of him before) returns home years after his father was wrongly accused and hanged for murder. But he can't escape his past."

Father falsely accused of murder and is hung. Just after that, his mother dies and all they can do with a boy like that is to put him in a reform school (!) because they cannot find a foster parent, but the boy is determined not to get mixed up with the semi criminal lot, and later meets one of them again (Medwin) when they are both in their 20s.

Worth a look

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This was repeated on TPTV and I enjoyed watching it again if only to see a cowardly 34 year old Sydney James with a head of thick black hair, and Michael Medwin as a (as I said above) poor man's Pinkie