Crime films on my IMDb ratings page

[greenbudgie]

                                                                             GUMSHOE (1971). Rated 8/10.

Albert Finney is a bingo caller. He fantasises about being Humphrey Bogart. Giving a Sam Spade type narration and wearing a trenchcoat. He trawls greasy spoon cafes and darkened alleyways on the trail of a character called the Fat Man. This film comes across as both a spoof and a homage to the 1940s private eye movies. The music is also evocative of that period. This is a crime comedy which gives respect to the genre that it's spoofing.

[greenbudgie]

                                                                  LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH (1969). Rated 7/10.

This is Fassbinder's low-budget directorial debut. Anyone who likes Jean Luc Goddard's crime films could go for this one.

The plot is sparse so not recommended for anyone who likes plenty of action. I enjoyed the comic moments. I got to know the characters of the small time crooks through their boredom of their existence. It might be me but I didn't quite get why the syndicate put a number on the life of the prostitute. I recommend it for anyone who likes an unusual crime film.

[greenbudgie]

                                                                                   ALIBI MARK (1937). Rated 6/10.

I have to admit that I was drawn to this by it's intriguing title. TCM have got this. It's also on You Tube. It is only a 13 minute cheapie but I couldn't resist adding it to my crime list. It's about a homeless man who gets accused of murder.

It illustrates the Great Depression era when people hitched free rides on trains. By people who had been cast adrift in that period.

[cigar joe]

                                                                                   ALIBI MARK (1937). Rated 6/10.

I have to admit that I was drawn to this by it's intriguing title. TCM have got this. It's also on You Tube. It is only a 13 minute cheapie but I couldn't resist adding it to my crime list. It's about a homeless man who gets accused of murder.

It illustrates the Great Depression era when people hitched free rides on trains. By people who had been cast adrift in that period.

Thanks I'll check it out

[greenbudgie]

                                                                    SHADOWS OVER CHINATOWN (1946). Rated 7/10.

I was glad to watch this Charlie Chan movie on You Tube. I reckon that this might be the best Chan movie ever. It' really intriguing with loads of characters. Some of the are really red herrings as their place in the movie is never really explained. That's good as I am really into mystery movies nowadays rather than just plain crime.

Sidney Toler is Chan with his Confucius sayings. He is on the search for someone's missing daughter amid a series of gruesome headless torso killings.

[greenbudgie]

                                                                        DO YOU KNOW THIS VOICE? (1964). Rated 7/10.

I was surprised to come across this British-made Dan Duryea crime mystery. It might be a bit of a rarity.

Duryea is a down-on-his-luck type who plans a kidnapping of a child. Even though the child dies he desperately plans to pick up the ransom. The story develops into a cat-and-mouse game between the police and Duryea. Good interplay between him and his faithful wife played by Gwen Watford. And a good twist ending. Despite his desperate actions I tended to have sympathy for the kidnapper. This is a good movie for Duryea fans to search out if they haven't already seen it.

[cigar joe]

                                                                        DO YOU KNOW THIS VOICE? (1964). Rated 7/10.

I was surprised to come across this British-made Dan Duryea crime mystery. It might be a bit of a rarity.

Duryea is a down-on-his-luck type who plans a kidnapping of a child. Even though the child dies he desperately plans to pick up the ransom. The story develops into a cat-and-mouse game between the police and Duryea. Good interplay between him and his faithful wife played by Gwen Watford. And a good twist ending. Despite his desperate actions I tended to have sympathy for the kidnapper. This is a good movie for Duryea fans to search out if they haven't already seen it.

Sounds interesting how did you view it?

[greenbudgie]

Sounds interesting how did you view it?

I was lucky enough to get it on a used DVD in a S/H shop here in the UK. I notice Amazon UK have got one copy available at the moment. I don't know if it's ever been available elsewhere. I hope you get to see it sometime.

[greenbudgie]

                                                           MYSTERY IN MEXICO (1948). Rated 6/10.

This is a Robert Wise movie that I am tempted to watch again. There are no stars in this. William Lundigan is an undercover insurance inspector on the trail of a woman. She slips across the Mexican border in search of her brother.

There are some good scenes of Mexico City. Dolores is the best of the Mexican characters. Jacqueline Dalya plays her in real Latin spitfire style. The movie gets a bit mushy at times. There's enough intrigue and complications to retain my interest overall.

[greenbudgie]

                                                                                  DRESSED TO KILL (1946). Rated 7/10.

This was the last movie in the Basil Rathbone/Universal Sherlock Holmes series. Rathbone didn't want to continue his contract with Universal as he was keen to go back to the stage.

The plot mainly centres on breaking a code set in music through the attainment of three musical boxes. Holmes' disdain for the obvious means that he stays up all night trying to solve a simple code. Elementary Watson solves it for him in one go the following morning. And bumbling Nigel Bruce's Watson offers Holmes a vital clue with a chance remark late in the movie. Watson is a mystery writer for 'The Strand' magazine in this and so equating with Conan Doyle.

Patricia Morrison plays the main adversary to Holmes. She died in May 2018 at the amazing age of 103 so a belated RIP to her in this spot.

[greenbudgie]

                                                                   THE MAN WITH BOGART'S FACE (1980). Rated 7/10.

I've just seen Network TV version of this on You Tube. I really enjoyed this crime comedy that does a good comic homage to noir.

Robert Sacchi has got Bogie's twitchy mouth and lisp down to a T.  He must be the best Humphrey Bogart impersonator ever. Although his voice is sometimes more Columbo than Bogart. In this he plays an ex-cop who has plastic surgery to look like his screen hero. Noir fave M.Mazurki has a cameo at the beginning in disbelief as he see's Bogart's 'double' in a car. Herbert Lom appears as the poncy Mr Zebra in Pete Lorre style. And one of my faves Victor Buono doing his Sidney Greenstreet impression.

[greenbudgie]

                                                                                HOLMES & WATSON (2018). Rated 4/10.

I was looking forward to seeing this Sherlock Holmes crime spoof. Especially John C. Reilly after enjoying so much in 'Stan & Ollie' and 'The Sister Brothers.' This movie would be disappointing for others who like Reilly too. His joint efforts with Will Ferrell have worked in the past from what I've heard.

The story sounds OK at first with Holmes and Watson investigating the threats happening at Queen Victoria's Buckingham Palace. Then history goes adrift and the Titanic comes into it. I don't mind that so much but it's the modern-day knocks that it gives. There are so many Trump jokes in this which I think we've already heard over and over and over again. So it's not a novel idea to put them into a Holmes spoof.

[greenbudgie]

                                                    A LOVELY WAY TO DIE (1968). Rated 6/10.


I've just now watched the Brazilian release print of this private eye thriller on You Tube. Kirk Douglas gives a good performance as the private eye. He has the job of protecting a rich woman who has been accused of murdering her husband. Eli Wallach plays a lawyer who is trying to prove the innocence of the same woman. I reckon that the action is good and in the right amount for the running time.

There are a lot of goofs and plot holes as IMDb have pointed out in their goofs section for this movie. It is played for laughs a lot of the time anyway. I reckon that the musical score is too insistently upbeat. I would have preferred more mysterioso in the music and the storytelling.

[greenbudgie]

                                                        THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT (2017). Rated 8/10.

This is a complex mystery noir set in the Cairo of the 2011 rebellion and it's narrow fusty back streets. The story is based on a true one of a female singer who gets murdered. She had sold herself on a part time basis.

Detective Noredin takes his life in his hands searching the sleazy visciousness of the city. He's played by the Lebanese Fares Fares. He's got all the screen presence of the noir tough guys of the classic era. I'll look out for more of his movies.

This got hidden away in the early morning of our Channel 4. I recommend noir fans to search this one out.

[cigar joe]

                                                        THE NILE HILTON INCIDENT (2017). Rated 8/10.

This is a complex mystery noir set in the Cairo of the 2011 rebellion and it's narrow fusty back streets. The story is based on a true one of a female singer who gets murdered. She had sold herself on a part time basis.

Detective Noredin takes his life in his hands searching the sleazy visciousness of the city. He's played by the Lebanese Fares Fares. He's got all the screen presence of the noir tough guys of the classic era. I'll look out for more of his movies.

This got hidden away in the early morning of our Channel 4. I recommend noir fans to search this one out.

Thanks I'll check it out for sure.