sherlock holmes and the pearl of death (1944)

aka The Pearl Of Death.
"you're in love with cruelty for it's own sake."
Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) is pitted against the master criminal Giles Conover (Miles Mander), when Holmes inadvertently aids in Conover's stealing of the Borgia pearl. Luckily for Holmes Conover has to ditch the pearl before being caught. Thus the chase is on, can Holmes find the hidden pearl before Conover, his beautiful accomplice Naomi Drake (Evelyn Ankers), or worse the vicious Creeper (Rondo Hatton).
With the series in full flow it was by now a well oiled machine, delivering an entertaining thriller packed with interesting characters.

diary of a madman (1963)

"He was a good man..."
We arrive as Magistrate Simon Cordier (Vincent Price) is being buried, and despite a glowing elegy, there is much ill feeling for the man. This continues as they meet to read his diary as requested in his will. From this comes the story of his meeting with condemned prisoner, Louis Girot (Harvey Stephens), on the eve of his execution, and his insistence that a spirit forced him to commit murder. Cordier obviously doesn't believe him, but he starts experiencing some strange events...
One of Price's better performance, being understated, as is the film itself, making it one that is hard to retain in the memory for long.

king solomon's mines (1937)

"Volcanoes are nervous things, it takes so little to upset them."
Kathleen's (Anna Lee) father runs off in search of Solomon's jewels in the unexplored African interior. Fearing for him Kathleen convinces hunter Allan Quartermain (Cedric Hardwicke) to follow and bring him back. Whilst on their journey they come across Umbopa (Paul Robeson), who unlike the other bearers asks no wage and acts aloof.
Despite the initial deviation from the original story this is a fairly faithful retelling of the adventure, with added operatic ballads provided by Paul Robeson.

dick barton strikes back (1949)

"If my guess is correct the atomic bomb is childs play compared to this."
Dick Barton (Don Stannard) is back. This time he and his team take on the dastardly Fouracada (Sebastian Cabot), who plans to take over the world with a weapon of mass destruction.
Boys own adventure, that shows the progress Hammer had made, being a more professional, and entertaining film than the previous installment.

river patrol (1948)

"What'cha gonna do with him guv?"
Following the death of his partner, Robby (John Blythe) is put in charge of breaking a smuggling ring. His response is to go undercover with female officer Jean (Lorna Dean) and infiltrate the gang, which leads him to a gambling club called the Shoehorn.
Stiff upper lips and cut glass accents proliferate in this cheap and short second reeler.

black magic (1949)

aka Cagliostro.
"They are mine to play God with."
Biopic of Joseph Balsamo (Orson Welles), a poor Sicilian, who used his medical and metaphysical knowledge to rise through the courts of Europe's great and good, restyling himself Count Cagliostro, before falling before these very same people, accused of everything from counterfeiting to sorcery.
This account of his life focuses on one element, the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, when he was embroiled in a political dogfight surrounding some diamonds and Marie Antoinette. This leads the production into becoming a romantic melodrama, literally missing a trick.

monster from green hell (1958)

"These riots and reported monsters, what do they have to do with us?"
A rocket full of insects is lost whilst testing the effects of radiation in the upper atmosphere. Later when tales that a monster is terrorising the residents in the Congo come to light, speculation turns to the missing rocket. Dr Brady (Jim Davis) believes that some of the insects may have mutated and organises an expedition to track down the monster, but has to battle through the savage natives and creatures of Africa even before he reaches the monster...
An entertaining creature/safari feature, if you like bad acting, bad special effects, and lots of exposition.

crack in the world (1965)

"You'll save the world or destroy it."
Finding himself terminally ill Dr. Stephen Sorenson (Dana Andrews) is determined to push his latest project to fruition; the tapping of the Earth's magma layer for its geothermal energy. But his use of a thermonuclear device threatens to literally split the Earth in two, as he ignores warnings that his theory may lead to disaster.
An early example of the disaster movie, exploiting flawed science to deliver an OK sci-fi.