The Sign of Four

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Having had such a lovely time with Partner watching The Hound of the Baskervilles, I was interested to see if there were any other Richardson Sherlock Holmes movies and was elated to discover that a version of The Sign of Four had also been made.

Famous detective and his partner Doctor Watson are hired by a young woman named Mary Morstan to investigate the recent death of her father’s friend from the army as well as the mysterious letter she received along with the Great Mogul, the second largest diamond in the world. What starts as an innocent mystery of a strange letter sent, soon turns immeasurably sinister with the renowned duo becoming immersed in a plot of murder and revenge.

The Sign of Four takes on a little more of a macabre edge than The Hound of the Baskervilles but nevertheless proves to be another enjoyable adaptation of a classic literary thriller. A timeless race against the clock to find a killer on the loose, the excitement of TSOF comes from the known human aspect of the plot rather than the supernatural course that HOFB travels.

Ian Richardson continues to be charming with a little more of an added heroic streak and a fiercer determination that colours some of the more memorable and action-packed scenes within the climactic third act. David Healy plays a lovestruck Watson adorably: slightly flustered, but mostly, sweet, sincere, and sometimes even cool (well, as cool as Watson can get).

The ominous settings of elaborate mansions, dust-filled attics, and carnival fairgrounds are shot in ways that nicely heighten the tension and the sinister and macabre elements of the plot, and the climactic final confrontation, while shot in brilliant daylight in an unlikely and constrictive location, is very memorable. The drama of the plot is also beefed up with the use of montage that conveys the passing of time and teasingly hints that there is a chance that the trail to the killer might even go cold.

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A different story and thus, a different vibe of film, The Sign of Four is still an exciting and enjoyable thriller filled with mystery, action, romance, and gore. It felt a little more serious than Hound of the Baskervilles, but still served us perfectly for a cosy Friday night in.

Director: Desmond Davis, 1983

Cast: Ian Richardson, David Healy, Cherie Lunghi, Thorley Walters, Terence Rigby, Clive Merrison, Richard Heffer, John Melia, John Pedrick, & John Benfield

The Hound of the Baskervilles

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I cannot speak for anyone but myself, but when I consider great literature and its adaptation into the visual mediums of the play, movie, or TV series, I think of England. The homeland of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the most memorable sitcom casts and comedy groups, the BBC, and the delightful telemovie. The British telemovie is a wondrous thing: a feature-length adaptation of history’s most captivating novels, made for a specific audience and not marred by the pressures of the mainstream box office and theatrical release. Some of the best adaptations that I have come across have been telemovies, discovered purely by chance and treasured for years afterward. I’m not sure what it is that tickles me about them, maybe it’s the sparing budget, maybe it’s the love for the story that they are retelling, or maybe it’s the idea that a large portion of the population may not even know it exists. Whatever the reason, I do enjoy a modest British telemovie and recently came across a classic on Amazon Prime: an adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles starring Ian Richardson.

Renowned detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner Doctor Watson accept an intriguing escort assignment when Sir Henry Baskerville arrives from Canada to take up residence in his ancestral home after the death of Sir Charles Baskerville. Upon his arrival, he receives a mysterious letter urging him to stay away from the house and the surrounding moors, which prompts him to hire Holmes to find the sender and their motive. The case takes turn when the superstitious story about a spectral hound that has been terrorising the Baskervilles for generations comes to light and Sir Henry’s own life might be at risk.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Sherlock Holmes mystery and has been adaptated for the screen time and time again. In true, polite, British fashion, this telemovie is made captivating by the brilliance of the story, the wonderful depictions of these beloved characters by the cast, and the natural allure of the landscape. There is no glossy coating of an extravagant budget, but a modest, misty, and grainy texture to the film: an all-natural vibe that keeps you focused on the narrative as well as feeling the love and respect that the cast and filmmakers have for the story.

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Ian Richardson is a very charming Sherlock Holmes: dapper and gentlemanly, but still with a level of snarkiness and pride in his own brilliance, which comes across most delightfully in the cute and teasing way he leads Watson down the paths of his deductive reasoning. Donald Churchill plays a Watson that is consistently awestruck by his friend and partner’s brilliance while also harbouring a strong desire to prove his worth to him. The chemistry between the two leads is endearing and amusing; a very good pairing.

Filled with mystery, murder, romance, and action, the 1983 telemovie adaption of The Hound of the Baskervilles is an exciting little romp that’s perfect for a Friday night in.

Director: Douglas Hickox, 1983

Cast: Ian Richardson, Donald Churchill, Denholm Elliot, Glynis Barber, Nicholas Clay, Ronald Lacey, Connie Booth, & Bryan Blessed

The Sheep Detectives

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We don’t say it enough, but animals really are wondrous. Think about it, they bring sooo much to human society. They help to feed us, clothe us, guide us, soothe us, they provide jobs in rearing, researching, destroying, and preserving, and they are so often used as such marvelous narrative devices. Whether they are outsmarting villainous fashionist divas a la Disney or satirising the rise of Soviet totalitarianism for Orwell, animals are everywhere and exerting more influence in our daily lives than they and we realise.

In Kyle Balda’s The Sheep Detectives animals, primarily sheep, explore and dissect the generic formula of the whodunnit while remaining a very sweet and moving family movie.

George Hardy is a smalltown shepherd who spends his time tending his flock: feeding them, shearing them, giving them their medicine, and reading crime novels aloud to them. When he is found dead one morning, his flock immediately recognise the telltale signs of a murder, and they put their love of crime novels to the test to solve the mystery.

Based on the novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, The Sheep Detectives is an adorable family whodunnit that is both whimsical and darkly intriguing: like a cross between Babe and Knives Out. Running parallel to the PG murder mystery is a deep and moving story about belonging as well as a shallow exploration into the social complexities of communities and the intricacies of their relationships.

A delightful and whimsical cast of memorable characters zealously dissect and follow the recognisable formula of the whodunnit genre, while simultaneously making fun of the genre by exaggerating key tropes like the inept authorities and hammering home the idea that the formula is so straightforward that even a sheep can solve it. Add to this a darling array of voice talents and it’s a few adorable ideas about the cultural beliefs of sheep and you’ve got a movie that is the perfect way to spend a cozy Sunday afternoon.

Image credit: Australian Catholics

Director: Kyle Balda, 2026

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Regina Hall, Brett Goldstein, Bella Ramsay, Chris O’Dowd, Rhys Darby, Patrick Stewart, Bryan Cranston, Nicholas Braun, Conleth Hill, Tosin Cole, Hong Chau, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, & Emma Thompson

Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler)

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There is no doubt that, narratively, genre films have gone through phases of becoming increasingly complicated: whether it be the ‘scientific’ intricacies of sci-fi or the superhero origin story, or the seemingly endless cast of characters that populate a gangster drama. There have definitely been a number of movies that I have gotten to the end of and thought, ‘there was a bit too much in that for me to keep track of’.

I discovered recently that this overloading audiences with everything plus the kitchen sink approach is nothing new though, having just finished watching Fritz Lang’s 1922 2-part thriller Dr. Mabuse, Der Spieler (Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler).

The film chronicles the dramatic, thrilling, and unsettling exploits of Dr. Mabuse (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), a renown supercriminal and master of disguise with ambitions to upset the stability of society and rule over Berlin. From running a counterfeit operation to stealing a Swiss-Dutch trade agreement and causing a major upset in the stock market, Mabuse’s plans are far-reaching and grand, which becomes a problem when the determined State Attorney von Wenk (Bernhard Goetzke) gets on his trail.

While the narrative itself is not too difficult to follow: it’s essentially a thrilling game of cat and mouse between the societal ‘hero’ and the supervillain, Lang packs the film to absolute bursting point with everything from politics, to satire, to sex, to social commentary, to horror, violence, art, psychology, and special effects. A commercial success in which the villain is the embodiment of the real evils of the era, Dr. Mabuse treads a fine line between the surreal and the pulpy. You can definitely see elements of the noir, a little prophetic of the hardboiled detective films of Bogart, Oceans Eleven, and even Die Hard.

While the achievements in makeup design, set design, costumes, and even special effects are to be applauded in this movie, the real star is the narrative figure of Mabuse. A vessel for the film’s social commentary on the ‘worth’ of money, the strength of morals, and the terrifying idea that we can’t even trust our own minds, Mabuse is wonderfully manipulative both inside and outside the film. Handling identity photos like a deck of playing cards, we don’t even get confirmation of who this character is until almost midway through the film, his actions and reactions are indicative of a person with no readable (thus unfathomable) emotional slate, and there is a truly delicious – if very tragic- irony in what happens to him in the end. Lang expertly uses Mabuse as a key narrative tool to convey the intelligence of this movie that lies underneath all the shallow thrills of sex, violence, action, and intrigue. It’s very smart, very compelling, and stands up against the tests of time.

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Considering that this is the man who would later bring us Metropolis, it’s unsurprising that this level of spectacle could be achieved in a (seemingly) simple cat-and-mouse criminal thriller. Dr. Mabuse, while long, harbours a lot to be enjoyed.

Director: Fritz Lang, 1922

Cast: Rudolph Klein-Rogge, Alfred Abel, Aud Egede Nissen, Gertrude Welcker, Bernhard Goetzke, Robert Forster-Larrinaga, Paul Richterll, Hans Adalbert Schlettow, Georg John, Grete Berger, Julius Falkenstein, Lydia Potechina, Anita Berber, Paul Biensfeldt & Karl Platen

Knives Out

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I love talking about movies as much as anyone, all different shapes, sizes, and genres, but one of my most favourite to talk about and analyse is the murder mystery. Spawned from gothic literature, and having a successful, ever-shifting career in cinema thanks to people like Hitchcock and Bogart, the murder mystery is one of the most enjoyable, unwavering, and versatile subgenres in cinema. Yesterday I took myself off to see Rian Johnson’s new addition to the already overflowing reservoir of murder mysteries that cinema boasts: Knives Out.

The film is a classic return to the Agatha Christie style whodunit murder mystery centring on crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) who is found with his throat slit the morning after his 85^th birthday. Leading the investigation is celebrity private detective, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), who is hired anonymously to uncover foul play. But Blanc proves to have his work cut out for him as he discovers that every one of Harlan’s own family has a motive for murder.

This is a most agreeable film. Dripping with red herrings, misread clues, and layer upon layer of sidesteps and backtracks, Knives Out takes the traditional steps of the murder mystery and twists them around to create a truly exciting and fun dark comedy. A rather cynical social commentary on the moral state of humanity, the film’s central entertainment comes from its cast of erratic, eccentric, and morally flimsy characters (not to mention the weird and glorious cast itself). There is a great sense of emotional and moral payoff at the end when the truth is revealed, making for a very satisfying movie experience.

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The script is very clever and fun, following an exhilarating Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie style path, while simultaneously bringing the genre into the modern age. Everything is done perfectly; the red herrings, the misread clues, even the narrative ‘shotgun’, which gets very satisfactorily fired in the third act. One can truly feel the cast and crew’s enjoyment and appreciation of the genre oozing from all directions, which in turn makes the audience enjoy it too!

I would certainly recommend Knives Out.

Director: Rian Johnson, 2019

Cast: Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, LaKeith Stanfield, Daniel Craig, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, Chris Evans, and Frank Oz

Beat the Devil

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While I claim to be a ‘humble’ cinephile, there is a certain level of pomp that edges its way into my opinions; honestly that’s just basic human nature: we all muddle our facts and opinions and put too much clout behind them. But when it comes to movies, my passion does surpass my attempts to be humble. I don’t wonder, but do believe that audiences who boycott black and white films are incorrect.

Some of the quirkiest and cleverest films that I have ever seen have been in black and white. Despite its seemingly primitiveness, black and white films are the more horrifying, romantic, and thrilling features to grace screens. If you want proof, just compare Hitchcock’s Psycho to Gus Van Sant’s and tell me I’m wrong.

Ranting aside, I got onto this train of thought after watching a truly classic and witty little black and white comedy this afternoon: Beat the Devil.

Beginning with a shot of four crooks in irons and a Bogart voice-over, the film flashes back and tells the story of Billy Dannreuther (Humphrey Bogart), a formerly-wealthy American fallen on hard times and is reluctantly working for four international crooks who are trying to steal uranium-rich land in British East Africa. Set to travel to Africa by boat, the group are to sail with a strangely inquisitive British married couple and hilarious misdemeanours ensue in the shape of a bizarre love triangle, clumsy backstabs, and a series of miscommunications that land everyone in hot water.

Beat the Devil is a movie that flew relatively under the radar. Produced by Bogart and directed by John Huston (who wrote the screenplay with Truman Capote) the film is a fun genetic splice of comedy and noir (think Bob Hope comedy meets Bogart noir thriller). While the humour of the story is very witty and tongue-in-cheek rather than screwball, the sheer strangeness of the cast as well as the screenplay’s genre fluidity is what makes it so damned enjoyable.

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Bogart is classic Bogart playing against a motley group of strange and whimsical characters including a fascist, militant hitman, a poncy English gentlemen, a fast-talking lady with an over-stimulated imagination, an exotic and brooding dark beauty, and the most upstanding and unintimidating crime leader you could ever imagine.

Being an independent film and an international coproduction is certainly what gave Beat the Devil its creative freedom and loosey-goosey feel, which is experienced by everyone, actors and audiences alike. It’s a truly weird, but highly entertaining movie.

Director: John Huston, 1953

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobridgida, Jennifer Jones, Robert Morely, Peter Lorre, Edward Underdown, Ivor Barnard, Marco Tulli, Bernard Lee, Mario Perrone, Guilio Donnini, Saro Urzi, Aldo Silvani, and Juan de Landa

Sherlock Jr.

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Before John Cleese, before Mel Brooks, before the Marx Brothers, and before Charlie Chaplin there was Buster Keaton: an undeniable sweetheart of slapstick! Many filmmakers today continue to pay homage to the great cinephile whose films were not just about the laughter, but filled with rich social commentaries and explorations into that temperamental state between fiction and reality. Perhaps his best –albeit his shortest- film to wade these satisfying waters is Sherlock Jr.

Sitting at a mere 44 minutes long, Sherlock Jr. tells the story of a young projectionist (Buster Keaton) who is simultaneously studying to be a detective. His questionable mystery-solving skills are put to the test when he is accused of stealing from his girlfriend’s father and he sets out to find the real thief: a rival suitor (Ward Cane).

Beginning as a rather sweet, yet lamenting love story in that romance has somehow been lost and replaced with social awkwardness and materialism, the film quickly transcends into the realms of crisp and glorious comedy with a number of sight gags and breathtaking stunts –all dangerous and done by Keaton himself. Scenes such as Keaton attempting to shadow his suspect truly stand the test of time and will definitely stay with me for a long time to come!

While the central story is undeniably simple, the film is beefed up and made richer by its exploration into the voyeuristic allure of literature and cinema. During one of the most magnificent dream sequences in movie history, which features a lot of clever optical tricks and illusions quite modern for the time, the protagonist leaves his failure of a persona in reality and steps into the world of film becoming a character his real-self could only dream of: Sherlock Jr. the world’s second best detective. As the film-within-the-film plays out a choreographed and more exciting version of the protagonist’s own story, the film becomes a reflection on the nature of art and a celebration of its powers of enlightenment, compensation, escapism and fulfillment. It even leaves you with a fabulous little sexual joke at the end, which could still stand up on modern screens!

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More than this, Sherlock Jr. is a sweet and satisfying romp that might be dealing with some complex themes, but does not let that stand in the way of a good time! There are a number of memorable stunts and sight gags that comedy fans all over the world will enjoy including Keaton's turning a car crash into a romantic boat ride, his death-defying bicycle chase, and his hilarious movie clip montage. Seriously, hit up YouTube right now and watch this movie!

Director: Buster Keaton, 1924

Cast: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Joe Keaton, Erwin Connelly, and Ward Cane

Murder On the Orient Express

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This is a movie that proves that some classes of stories will never expire, but just age like cheese or fine wine. Branagh’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic novel is coming 43 years after Sidney Lumet brought it to the big screen and it hasn’t aged a day! What is it about the whodunit that keeps it so perfectly preserved? 

Actually, it's no wonder when you look at the many ways in which you can enjoy the story.

Image credit: Rottom Tomatoes

Level number one –of course- is the classic detective story, which Branagh re-imagines beautifully. For famous detective Hercule Poirot (played by Branagh himself), a lavish train journey turns into a hunt for a murderer when one of the passengers is killed and he discovers that everyone on board has a motive. There are no new-fangled experiments with this modern movie it’s purely a return to basics with all the classic tricks of the genre working to create suspense, confusion, and excitement. We’ve got plot misdirection, red herrings, double identities, and the timeless race against the clock, all shot in a very sophisticated way against this lavish background that makes you want to time travel.

That’s the second layer: the authenticity and its voyeuristic impact. There is a breathtaking amount of detail put into the authenticity of the set, costumes, and makeup design. Despite being helplessly captivated by Branagh’s majestic facial hair, you can spend a large portion of the film marveling at the lavishness of the train itself as well as the gorgeous costumes of the characters. This attention to detail amps up the voyeuristic clout of the story by making it physical, glamorous, and enticing to a contemporary audience.

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The final layer is the turn of events. After all this delicious suspense and events that have our minds racing to find the answers, the ending –don’t worry I’m not going to spoil it- is both shocking and beautiful. Depicted in a way akin to a Shakespearean tragedy, it brings a different genre level into the mix and shows off Branagh’s penchant for serious drama: remember that this guy brought us adaptations of Hamlet (1996), Henry V (1989), and Frankenstein (1994): he obviously knows what he's doing! 

Despite the poster screaming, “camp murder mystery”, this film proves to be more than just another thriller. Branagh’s sophisticated knowledge of the story’s appeal is a wonderful insight into genre and it shows that there are stories out there that will undoubtedly outlive us all!

Starring: Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Josh Gad, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Leslie Odom Jr., Tom Bateman, Derek Jacobi, Sergei Polunin, Lucy Boynton, and Olivia Colmon

Rating: M

Year: 2017

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

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The spy comedy is probably one of the most interesting genres around because you don’t see it that often. Aside from Melissa McCarthy’s Spy, the last big string of spy spoofs that I remember are the Austin Powers movies, and that’s going back over a decade! It’s a subgenre that gets forgotten about and then gains popularity again when a bored director decides it’s what the movie market needs. Thus in 2015 we were given The Kingsman, which surprised everyone. Obviously in a good way because it got the green light for a sequel. 

The Golden Circle follows field agent Eggsy (Taron Egerton) and tech master Merlin (Mark Strong) in their quest to save the world from a psychopath drug manufacturer (Julianne Moore) after she poisons all of her products and holds the world ransom to legalise recreational drug use. Time is against them as half the world is infected and, to make matters worse, Poppy manages to destroy all of Kingsman’s agents. In order to save the world, Eggsy and Merlin must team up with their American cousins, the Statesmen, to bring down Poppy and her drug empire. 

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The first movie was such a surprise with its MA rating and somehow, un-gory climax of heads exploding, I was concerned that the moviemakers would somehow try and best that (and overdo it in the process). Thankfully, director Matthew Vaughn and the writers decided to up the ante on a different front: the villain. Poppy is a strange villain. She’s kind of a cross between Heath Leger’s Joker and a Stepford Wife. She’s all smiles and cheerful 1950s housewife visage, even when she’s feeding employees burgers made from their ‘fallen’ colleagues, and there’s no given rhyme or reason to her actions other than ‘she’s crazeh’, which is now apparently a character type for women… 

And it seems that there were some struggles in adding dept to the film, which eventually got given up on by the looks. Firth’s character is back (not a spoiler, the trailers give that away) and I can see they tried to have some sort of character journey/story between him and Eggsy, but it fell flatter than a crepe. 

Whatever other drama aside from the central plot they tried to inject was rejected with a cinematic upchuck reflex. 

Ultimately Golden Circle isn’t better than the first movie because it doesn’t have that fresh novelty. The story is a strategic save the world narrative taking the place of Bond meets My Fair Lady, which is fine but not groundbreaking, the action sequences are cool if a little cartoonish, and the characters are all pretty bland and archetypal. All the elements work together to make a good popcorn movie, but really that’s all this is: a film that you can just watch and don’t have to think through. It may start with all guns blazing, but by the end of Kingsman: The Golden Circle you’re left feeling a little zoned out and unfulfilled. 

Starring: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Hanna Alstrom, Edward Holcroft, Michael Gambon, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Pedro Pascal, and Elton John 

Rating: MA 

Year: 2017

A Shriek in the Night

When a film starts with a scream and a man falling a couple of storeys to his death, it promises to be an interesting ride. But sometimes this is not always the case, such as in the case of A Shriek in the Night. 

Beginning with a dramatic death scene, the film chronicles a murder mystery that has police baffled. But two rivalling journalists (Ginger Rogers and Lyle Talbot) aren’t so quick to close the case. When another body is found, a resident of the same apartment building, the two competitors team up to find the murderer and get the scoop. 

Part Hitchcock thriller with cryptic clues, part romantic comedy in the vein of His Girl Friday, A Shriek in the Night sits as a truly vanilla film. There is nothing actually wrong with it, but it could have been strawberry cheesecake or phish food, something much more exciting. The story is all gothic and whodunit with all the answers being spilled out at the last minute. 

The characters of the two journalists are kind of fun, she’s pretty and ambitious but not the most cunning and he’s a smartarse, cynical dickhead who fancies her. I might have been more invested if their story and relationship was developed a little more, but sadly it is all about the murder and that doesn’t really work as a thickening agent for their ‘romance’. 

At best, this movie can be described as a paint-by-numbers thriller: going along in a preordained sequence that will produce something entertaining, but not spontaneous and creative or original at the end. 

While there is nothing wrong with the construction of this movie, it could have done with a little more investment from the writers and director. The story is engaging and opens really well, throwing us right in the deep end, but then there’s not a lot to flesh out the conspiracy of it all throughout the rest of the film and I can’t help but feel that if we were given more characters or information about the other residents of the apartment building (as they’re the ones dropping like flies), it could have been rounded out into a much more intriguing thriller like a Hitchcock classic or Sherlock Holmes narrative. Its one-dimensional path (for the majority of the movie) is fine to travel by, but doesn’t offer any distractions, which is something that a movie like this needs to really deliver an experience. Plus, with a little more investment, the identity of the murderer could have been much more of a twist. 

While the story is fine, the characters are interesting, and the performances are all solid, A Shriek in the Night is a vanilla thriller that suffers from a lack of investment from those whose job it is to make the movie exciting. The straight and narrow path proves not to be the best to take when dealing with whodunit movies. 

Starring Ginger Rogers, Lyle Talbot, Harvey Clark, Purnell Pratt, Lillian Harmer, Arthur Hoyt, Louise beaver, and Clarence Wilson 

Rating: PG 

Year: 1933

The Gorilla

It may come as news to some people that many of their favourite movie subgenres are older than they think. Take the horror movie spoof for example. While they seemed to make a resurgence in the late 90s and all though the 2000s with Dracula Dead and Loving It (1995), Shaun of the Dead (2004), and of course Scary Movie (2000), the genre itself has been around since the 1930s. The films from that day may not be as clever or witty as some of today’s spoofs, but they still do the job with classics like One Body Too Many (1944) and The Gorilla still getting the laughs. 

Beginning with a dramatic opening of flashing headlines about a maniacal murderer, The Gorilla tells the story of rich man, Walter Stevens (Lionel Atwill) receiving a threatening message from the killer, targeting him as the next victim. With only 24 hours to live, Stevenson hires three bumbling detectives (Jimmy, Harry, and Al Ritz) to solve the case before the killer strikes. But then he disappears. Stevens’ niece, her fiancé, the butler, and the maid are trapped in the house with the detectives in a race against the clock to find the Gorilla. 

Despite the predictability of its plot as well as a few of its gags, The Gorilla is still a clever little whodunit horror spoof. With an aesthetic more akin to a Bogart noir thriller, the film doesn’t rely on expositions and scripted red herrings to throw audiences off the scent. Rather, lit ets its characters do all the work. 

Each one is a certain sort of stereotype and plays the role perfectly, commanding all your attention and distracting you from any clues there are in the mise-en-scene. We’ve got the three bumbling detectives, reminiscent of the Marx Brothers or the Three Stooges but with words rather than slapstick. Then there’s the pretty and helpless heiress and her handsome, cynical, and enquiring fiancé. Add to that the humorously loud and wisecracking maid and the sinisterly smiling butler (played by Bela Legosi for further irony) and it’s a good recipe. 

Like with any great whodunit mystery, the entire film takes place in a single space (a mansion) with only three rooms being the sites of drama. This minimalism is made complex by the added gothic tropes of hidden passages as well as the appearance and disappearance of characters in the blink of an eye. 

While it’s not the most clever, exciting, or groundbreaking movie to grace screens, The Gorilla certainly has something that hasn’t expired over the years and is worth a watch for anyone remotely interested in older cinema, spoof movies, or cult classics. 

Starring Jimmy Ritz, Harry Ritz, Al Ritz, Lionel Atwill, Anita Louise, Joseph Calleia, Edward Norris, Wally Vernon, Paul Harvey, and Bela Lugosi 

Rating PG 

Year: 1939

Atomic Blonde

I don’t think femme fatales are going to go out of style. Blonde and sexy shady ladies have been a hot item ever since 1930s Hitchcock. Over the years they have developed as their genres have developed: thrillers and action movies splintering into different subgroups to create ladies of all kinds of bad-arsery. But the hottest thing right now is the cool and calculating lady spy and assassin. And with that image in mind, we turn our attention to Charlize Theron and Atomic Blonde. 

Set during the Cold War, just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the film tells the story of MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton (Theron) who is sent to Berlin to recover a missing list of agent identities following the death of a fellow agent. With the questionable help of fellow agent Percival (James McAvoy), Broughton discovers there is more going on than mere recovery of a lost list: there’s a double agent threatening everything. 

For the most part, this is a clever and stylish Cold War spy thriller filmed with taste and a great understanding of the genre. All of the misdirection and subterfuge is done perfectly with red herrings swimming about flawlessly and the twist coming as a delightful and exciting shock. 

However, the last five minutes renders all that brilliance void. It seems that the writers got so hopped up on the twists and turns of the genre and decided to really bash us over the head with the spy-twist mallet. Not only could the film have finished three scenes before it finally did, the twists of the last few minutes completely made half of everything that happened in the movie pointless and highlighted some lazy writing that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. So, at the end of it you’re left feeling completely confused. 

On a more positive note, Theron is a classic femme fatale. She’s cold, calculating, and practically emotionless, only becoming really animated when she’s kicking some serious arse. Half of the amusement is trying to read her face and get clues as to what’s going on from her actions, but she hides everything so well. 

The other major upside to this film is its dirty and punk-rock 1980s aesthetic with grunge, neon, and spray-paint featuring prominently in the set design and location captions. 

And then we have the fantastic soundtrack! Like a Tarantino movie or Guardians of the Galaxy, the soundtrack has a strong working role and is not just there to provide noise. A mixture of 80s synth-pop, grunge, and metal, it accompanies the film perfectly, creating ambience, drama, and sometimes comedy. 

For the most part, Atomic Blonde is a really good movie, and it’s awful that the last few minutes work to undo all that goodness. But sadly, the film is made memorable for the confused and unsatisfied feeling you’re left with at the end. 

Starring: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, Tony Jones, Eddie Marsan, James Faulkner, Roland Moller, Sofia Boutella, Bill Skarsgard, Til Schweiger, Sam Hargrave, and John Goodman 

Rating: 

MA Year: 2017

The Third Man

Genre is a funny thing. One the one hand, it’s a fixed set of rules that writers, producers, and directors follow to make a movie. On the other hand, those rules often change as societal attitudes change. As a result, we are treated to a multitude of classic movies that just keeps on growing. The thriller genre is a particular one of interest for me. It’s a genre that works as a bridge between drama and horror and, as such, its movies are shaped by the building blocks of each. One can easily argue that thrillers these days have become a tad convoluted: made confusing by elaborate stories and plotline rules that become to numerous to retain. But when you go back and watch, say, The Big Sleep (1946), you realise it’s not all that different from modern movies like Inception or Se7en. However, there was a time when simple things such as the setting, the script, and the camera angles had just as much, if not more, power than the complexities of the modern thriller script. Take Carol Reed’s The Third Man for example. 

The film tells the story of a broke American pulp Western writer (Joseph Cotton) who comes to a post-war Vienna with the promise of a job from an old boyhood friend. However, he arrives to discover that his friend Harry Lime has been killed in a car accident. Curiosity causes him to probe into the death and when a few witness accounts don’t add up, he begins to suspect foul play. The further he probes, the more questions come to light about Harry Lime: what was the racket he was involved in, is his lover really that clueless about his friends, and who was the mysterious third man who helped move his body? 

The screenplay is by Graham Greene and it’s a masterstroke from start to finish. Taking the familiar tropes of American noir movies and putting them in a post-war European setting not only provides a haunting and horrific visual setting, but also brings a lot of complexity to the movie. Shot on location in Vienna, which has been quartered into districts between four military powers, the film depicts a real post-war horror show. Buildings are half-standing, there is rubble and fragments of architectural civilisation everywhere, and the entire place is plagued with black market racketeers. It provides a truly sad and haunted backdrop that beautifully contradicts and takes away some of the romanticism of the American noir story it’s telling. 

And then complexity is brought into the game simply by the fact that a large portion of the script is in German. The language barrier works wonders in creating a very large serving of mystery and plot misdirection, but at the same time the events of the film are easy to follow because of the genre rules that it adheres to. It just goes to show that genre is the same in any language. 

On a more visual front, this movie is absolutely stunning. Each camera angle is memorable whether it’s depicting shadows on the wall, dying fingers grasping through a manhole, or a headlight illuminating the face of the villain. Indeed the majority of the film’s power comes from its flawless camera shots that don’t necessarily show a lot, but express a whole heap. Add into the mix the wonderful performances from Cotton, Alida Valli, and of course Welles who’s improvised monologue about the cuckoo clock makes for a very interesting scene, and The Third Man is a picture of cinematic brilliance that manages to do an awful lot when you really consider all that’s going on underneath it. The film has a wonderful grasp on, not only genre but cultural genre and how it means different things in different settings, as well as literary devices that make it rich, bold, and truly classic. 

Starring: Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Paul Horbiger, Ernst Deutsch, Erich Ponto, Siegfried Breuer, Hedwig Bleibtreu, Bernard Lee, and Wilfrid Hyde-White 

Year: 1949 

Rating: PG