kill her gently (1957)

"You knew all along. That's why you picked us up!"
Motorist Jeff Martin (Griffith Jones) stops to help two men (Marc Lawrence & George Mikell) who say their motorbike has broken down. They are in fact escaped convicts, who Martin decides to hire to murder his wife (Maureen Connell), in turn for helping them escape.
Low budget but gripping thriller.

the woman eater (1958)

aka Womaneater.
"My dear Margaret, I have never trusted you or any other woman with anything I didn't want anyone else to know."
Scientist James Moran (George Coulouris) discovers that a tree worshipped by South Sea natives has life giving properties. Unfortunately to keep it alive it also has an appetite for live humans! So having brought it back to Britain, he then has to regularly supply it with young women, but things get complicated when he falls for his new house keeper Sally (Vera Day).
A little known British creature feature is an entertainingly camp romp, featuring an Edwin Astley soundtrack.

one wild oat (1951)

"so I slapped his face, and after I picked myself up..."
Solicitor Humphrey Proudfoot (Robertson Hare) tries to stop his daughter (June Sylvaine) from falling for Fred Gilby (Andrew Crawford), as he considers him and his family of a lower class. But his plan backfires when Fred's father (Stanley Holloway) in turn threatens to reveal Humphrey's own shady background.
A less than humourous farce.

love in pawn (1953)

aka The Pledge.
"Are we starving better over here, or in Canada?"
A struggling artist Roger Fox (Bernard Braden) is hocked, to a pawnbroker, by his wife Jean (Barbara Kelly), as they are skint. The broker's family soon a take a shine to him, especially daughter (Jean Carson), and he settles in, as Jean tries to find the ticket, that she has lost, so she can redeem him.
Breezy little sitcom.

the end of the line (1957)

"It doesn't pay to upset people"
American writer Mike Selby (Alan Baxter) gets mixed up Liliane (Barbara Shelley), the wife of a noted hotelier and nightclub owner (Arthur Gomez), with a sideline in jewelry fencing. Stupidly he is goaded into stealing from him, and realises how deep he's in it when he finds the fence dead.
Shelley is the cool manipulator, Baxter a plank of wood...guess where the film falls down?

scarlet webb (1954)

"Wanted for questioning is a polite way of saying wanted for murder."
Insurance investigator Jake Winter (Griffith Jones) is ensnared in a trap by Laura Vane (Zena Marshall) and framed for murder. So he teams up with his new boss Susan Honeywell (Hazel Court) to extricate himself from the sticky situation.
Nice mix of mystery and comic banter, makes for an enjoyable flick.

meet mr Callaghan (1955)

"You've been lying haven't you?"
Slim Callaghan (Derrick de Marney) is a private eye out to solve the murder of a deeply disliked businessman. This involves him meeting people like Larry The Dip and fem-fatale nightclub singers.
Brisk, and involving thriller.

the gentle trap (1960)

"It takes a man to handle the big stuff!"
Novice burglar, Johnny Ryan (Spencer Teakle) ends up on the run after another gang jump him for the haul, and has to scarper when the rozzers arrive, but not before they have killed his accomplice. Realising his girlfriend Sylvia (Dawn Brooks) has double-crossed him, Johnny ends up holed up hiding out from both police and crooks, with no one he can trust.
Run of the mill crime drama, with a convoluted happy ending!

a time to kill (1955)

"What was the hold she had on him?"
A woman is murdered, whilst the man she was drinking with survives, pronouncing it death by Strychnine. Meanwhile the wife of the doctor who signed the death certificate is being blackmailed by a masked man. All of this needing to be unraveled by Inspector Simmons (Russell Napier), and dogged journalist Dennis Willows (Jack Watling).
A speedy quota quickie, with enough twists and plot lines for 5 or 6 other films. Rushed, possibly too rushed.

the man without a body (1957)

"I am a dying man."
Dr Merritt (Robert Hutton) and his obviously glamorous assistant (Julia Arnall) are experimenting with reviving the heads of dead chimps! They are approached by businessman Mr Brousard (George Coulouris), who is desperate to save his brain, due to a debilitating illness, and he brings a man's head for the Dr to use. The head of Nostradamus!
A classic of the head in a box genre...with a surprise ending.

strictly confidential (1959)

"The Baron won't be using it for four years, forgery you know!"
A pair of con men (Richard Murdoch and William Kendall) get involved with a young and beautiful heiress Maxine Millard (Maya Koumani). She immediately offers them positions on the board of her company, but is she on the level?
Run of the mill quota quickie comedy, with little to recommend it.

danger by my side (1963)

AKA Danger On My Side.
"What do you want to take me for? I had nothing to do with it!"
Lynne (Maureen Connell) sees her brother (an undercover detective) killed and is determined to find the culprits. He had been frequenting a Soho nightclub called Nicky's, so she does what any self respecting grieving sister would do, that's right she gets a job there and ends up uncovering a diamond smuggling ring.
A standard Butchers film, a bit of cut price glamour, (Courtesy of Sonya Cordeau), and some rough and ready gangsters. Routine, with no real lifer, but it passes the time entertainingly enough, just don't expect anything above the ordinary.

naked fury (1959)

aka The Pleasure Lovers.
A gang botches a jewel heist and think they've killed the security guard. They take the guards daughter as hostage and hide her in a disused and crumbling warehouse, as they await the ship that will be their getaway. Eddy (Reed De Rouen) is the gang leader, and ubiquitous American star. Johnny (Kenneth Cope), is the young and headstrong troublemaker, and Carol (Leigh Madison) is the kidnapped girl stuck in the middle. Nerves fray as the various gang members bide their time in different ways, causing the inevitable frictions and trouble.
A good example of a Butchers brit noir, the actors do their bit with the usual minimal script and it's enhanced by a fine score by Edwin Astley.