Action movie

Captain Horatio Hornblower

by user
September 24, 2018January 10, 2023

Captain Horatio Hornblower (1950) starring Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo

Synopsis of Captain Horatio Hornblower

Captain Horatio Hornblower: Screen legend Gregory Peck (“To Kill A Mockingbird“) brings to life C.S. Forester’s classic nautical hero, Horatio Hornblower. Hornblower battles the French and the Spanish forces during the Napoleonic wars. But he also finds time for romance in this spectacle from director Raoul Walsh (“White Heat,” “High Sierra“). Co-starring Virginia Mayo (“The Best Years of Our Lives”).

by user
August 16, 2018April 6, 2021

Captain Blood (1935), starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Lionel Atwill, Basil Rathbone, directed by Michael Curtiz

Synopsis of Captain Blood

“Aye, me Buckos!” Errol Flynn (“The Adventures of Robin Hood,” “The Dawn Patrol“) made his swashbuckling debut as a dashing young Irish physician who is exiled into slavery by a tyrannical governor.Read More »Captain Blood

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

by user
August 8, 2018January 2, 2022

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies is the conclusion of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy. Sadly, I’m glad that it’s over.

by user
October 17, 2017March 15, 2024

The Master Mystery (1920) starring Harry Houdini

The Master Mystery stars Harry Houdini as Justice Department agent Quentin Locke, who is investigating a powerful cartel that’s protected by a “menacing” robot (referred to in the film as “the Automaton‘); the cartel is using a gas weapon called “the Madagascar Madness” — and, given that this is an old-time silent film serial, there’s a cliffhanger ending at the end of each chapter. And, since this is a Houdini film, there’s plenty of escape artistry to get out of them. The Master Mystery is available on DVD as part of the DVD collection, Houdini: The Movie Star.

by user
October 15, 2017March 15, 2024

movie review of The Grim Game (1919) starring Harry Houdini

The Grim Game was a silent film starring the great magician and escape artist Harry Houdini. He stars as Harvey Hanford, a man wrongly convicted of crimes that he didn’t commit. Using Houdini’s renowned escape abilities, Houdini quickly escapes out of jail. Harvey pursues the true criminal, who kidnapped his love interest.

by user
May 29, 2017November 10, 2023

War-Gods of the Deep (1965) starring Tab Hunter, David Tomlinson, Vincent Price, Susan Hart, John Le Mesurier

War-Gods of the Deep is a delightful popcorn movie – not dreadfully deep, but eminently enjoyable. It deals with a trio (Tab Hunter, David Tomlinson, Susan Hart) staying at a manor on the Cornish coast in 1903, where the house is burgled by … mermen? Who later proceed to kidnap the woman, sending the two men — and a chicken — in pursuit, where they find a group of smugglers, living deep beneath the sea, near an active volcano, and led by the iconic Vincent Price.

by user
May 10, 2017February 13, 2024

Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island (1961)

Many people consider the 1961 version of Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island to be no more than an excuse for Ray Harryhausen to do his special effects magic. And the special effects are wonderful, but there’s actually more that makes the movie very enjoyable.

by user
April 2, 2017January 20, 2024

The Secret Invasion (1964), starring Stewart Granger, Mickey Rooney, Raf Vallone, Henry Silva, Edd Byrnes, directed by Roger Corman

Synopsis of The Secret Invasion

The Secret Invasion is the story of British Intelligence. They use criminals to work behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia during World War II.

by user
March 27, 2017August 31, 2024

Eat My Dust starring and directed by Ron Howard, produced by Roger Corman

Editorial review of Eat My Dust courtesy of Amazon.com

Way back in 1976, actor-director Ron Howard made a bargain with shlockmeister producer-director Roger Corman. It went something like this: Corman agreed to produce Howard’s feature directorial debut, the 1977 Grand Theft Auto, and Howard agreed to star in another of Corman’s pieces of drive-in fodder, the quirky Eat My Dust! Read More »Eat my Dust

The Mark of Zorro

by user
April 8, 2016July 2, 2024

The Mark of Zorro (1940), starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Basil Rathbone, J. Edward Bromberg, Gale Sondergaard, Eugene Pallette

Synopsis of The Mark of Zorro

Posing as a foppish coward, Diego, a Spanish nobleman, fights injustice in colonial California in The Mark of Zorro. Upon his return from Spain, Diego realizes that Captain Pasquale is terrorizing the district and levying unreasonable taxes. Disguised as Zorro – a masked Robin Hood-like swashbuckler – the young Spaniard menaces the local authorities to the delight of all the peasants. In the meantime, posing as the inept fop, he is able to move through society without being suspected.