king kong (1976)

"There is a girl out there who might be running for her life from some gigantic turned-on ape."
A petroleum exploration unit comes across an isolated island laden with crude oil, hostile natives and an even more hostile giant gorilla. When Dwan (Jessica Lange) is kidnapped and left as sacrifice to Kong, Jack Prescott (Jeff Bridges) having hit it off with her, decides that no gorilla is going to come between them, even a giant one.
Twisting the tale slightly, this is a fairly faithful retelling of the original kong, with added special effects. Though this doesn't add up to a better picture, it does prove to be an entertaining adventure.

king kong (1933)

"I see you've put on the "Beauty and the Beast" costume!"
A film crew travels to a tropical island in order to to shoot in an exotic location shoot and discovers more than they bargained for, a wild tribe. Then the tribe take a shine to the nubile blonde co-star Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and kidnap her to sacrifice to their god Kong, a giant gorilla. With the gorilla captivated by Ann, the rest of the crew determine to rescue her...
A thrilling classic in the monster movie genre, brought to the screen by Willis O'Brien.

double agent 73 (1974)

"Toplar's agents are everywhere. Don't trust anybody."
Agent 99 uncovers the identity of drug kingpin Toplar, but dies before telling anything more than that Toplar has a scar. Agent 73 , Jane (Chesty Morgan) is sent in to continue the search...
Cheesecake flick that sets out to exploit the extremely large chest of the heroine. This could have been made as an example of how not to direct a film, but despite itself, or probably because of Wishman's peculiar style, it becomes a must see, just like a car wreck, you just cannot turn away!

adventures of a plumber's mate (1978)

"Do you mind switching it off."
Sid South (Christopher Neil) has acruied some serious gambling debts and tries to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks. Add in a sub-plot of some gold disguised as a toilet seat and you have the makings of a very unfunny british sex farce.
All I can say is this is a lackluster comedy that does no one any favours.

the first of the few (1942)

aka Spitfire.
"I want to build a fighter, the fastest and deadliest plane in the sky."
R.J. Mitchell (Leslie Howard) is an idealistic plane designer with dreams conquering the air. Only not everyone shares his desires. Geoffrey Crisp (David Niven), relates his story and that of the pinnicle of his design theories, the spitfire fighter plane.
This fictionalised account of Mitchell's life was Howards last on screen role, and very much a propaganda film, to bolster Britain's flagging morale, and as such plays a little fast and loose with chronology as well as the facts. But what the hey, we were at war and needed to win. Spitfire, the US version of the film was a re-edit, bolstering Niven's onscreen prescence.

the spy in black (1939)

aka U-boat 29.
"If I am to be shot it is as an officer."
1917 and a German u-boat captain (Conrad Veidt) is sent to the Orkney Isles to aid in the blockade of Britain and help sink some of the British fleet. To do so he is ordered to report to the local schoolmistress (Valerie Hobson), who is a German spy. She has a means to help him in his mission.
Powell and Prestburger's first collaboration is a spy story with a twist. Much of it follows the U-boat captain's story in a dispassionate way, making him less of a villain then one would suppose, but then the film was made a year before the second world war started.

adventures of a private eye (1977)

aka Adventures of a Private Dick.
"I'm Bob West by the way and I'm a private detective."
Bob West (Christopher Neil) is an assistant working for a private detective. His boss goes on holiday just as Laura Sutton (Suzy Kendall) walks in the door needing help. So Bob takes on the case. Unfortunately he is accident prone, and not a detective...
A role-call of British comedy talent pack out this lacklustre and uninspiring film, from Harry H. Corbett, Liz Fraser and Diana Dors.