PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62

 

This 1933 Warner Bros. programmer is one of William Powell's lesser-known starring roles, despite its being directed by the legendary Michael Curtiz. The investigator Powell plays here, Donald Free, is a far cry from the likes of Philo Vance and Nick Charles. 

The movie begins in Paris, where Free, working for the U.S. Government, is caught stealing state secrets. Free is kicked out of France, and when he gets back to America, he finds work hard to come by. Desperate for a job, Free forces his way into the Peerless Detective Agency, a down-and-out operation run by the shiftless and shady Hogan (Arthur Hohl). The Agency becomes big-time when it begins to be backed by a notorious gangster named Bandor (Gordon Westcott). Said gangster is fed up with a high-class lady named Janet Reynolds (Margaret Lindsay), who has been winning huge gambling sums at his club. Bandor demands that the Peerless Agency find a way to set up Janet and get her in trouble, so Free is assigned the case. Free and Janet fall for each other (no surprise), so Donald goes out of his way to protect his new love and stop Hogan's nefarious activities as well. 

PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62 is another of those many Warner Pre-Codes that last only around an hour and have as many plot complications as a movie that runs twice as long. Michael Curtiz doesn't get much of a chance to show any directorial flair, but he keeps things hopping along, and his wisely lets William Powell's smoothness play out. 

The first part of the film sets up the idea that Powell's Donald Free isn't the most upstanding guy in the world, but one wonders why he stays around such a dissolute operation as the Peerless Detective Agency, other than needing to make a living. (Before the influx of gangster cash, Hogan is reduced to stealing dogs so the owners will hire the Agency to bring them back.) One isn't too sure about Free's scruples till the very end, but with Powell being the star, you know he'll do the proper thing eventually. 

One also wonders why Powell falls for Margaret Lindsay's character. Yes, she's rich and attractive, but she also comes off as haughty and headstrong, and you kind of hope she gets her comeuppance. 

The supporting cast of PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62 has plenty of faces familiar with film geeks, such as Natalie Moorhead, Irving Bacon, Charles Lane, and Toby Wing. Ruth Donnelly gets a nice role as the Agency's sassy secretary. 

PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62 is decent entertainment if you have about an hour to fill, but it veers uneasily between being a satire of the P.I. industry and a suspense tale of a woman getting in too deep with organized crime. William Powell is the main reason to view the film. 

GODZILLA MINUS ZERO

 

I thought that GODZILLA MINUS ONE wasn't just one of the best films I had seen in 2023, I thought it was one of the best films I had seen in the 21st Century. Writer-Director-FX Supervisor Takashi Yamazaki's follow-up, GODZILLA MINUS ZERO, is a worthy sequel, upping the stakes with the addition of the Big G's most legendary foe. 

The main characters of GODZILLA MINUS ONE, specifically the married couple played by Ryunosuke Kamiki and Minami Hamabe, return in MINUS ZERO. These characters all have emotional and physical scars from the events of MINUS ONE, and just when they thought some normality was being established in 1949 Japan, a meteor from outer space lands on Earth and reveals Ghidorah, a dragon-like creature that appears to be even more destructive than the supposedly vanquished Godzilla. 

Of course the two massive Kaiju are set on track for a showdown, but before than happens Takashi Yamazaki keeps the viewer engaged with effective human character development and an ominous subplot concerning how destructive mankind can be, even when it is trying to "save" humanity. There are some jaw-dropping action sequences in MINUS ZERO, but they have even more of an impact due to the way that Yamazaki brings all the larger-than-life chaos down to an individual level. This Godzilla movie makes it very clear that there are plenty of real lives in all those smashed buildings, and all the cataclysmic events have a horrible toll. 

Yamakazi also makes us care about all those human characters he developed in MINUS ONE, so there's also an undercurrent of suspense throughout, as one wonders whether these characters will survive and how their lives will be changed. 

There's not a lot of major Kaiju action in GODZILLA MINUS ZERO, but what there is fills the screen with mammoth spectacle. There are a number of elements that bring to mind the classic 1960s Godzilla movies directed by Ishiro Honda, and there's even a reference to Hitchcock's THE BIRDS. 

One thing I have to mention about my GODZILLA MINUS ZERO experience: I saw it tonight, opening night, an evening showing....and I was the only person in the theater. (What does that say about South Bend??) I'm actually glad I had the theater all to myself. I could sit back, relax, not have to worry about any distractions, and appreciate an inventive and entertaining film that also has some food for thought. I haven't seen a lot of new movies in the theater this year, but I think I can safely say that GODZILLA MINUS ZERO is my pick for the best film of 2026.  

THEY CAN'T HANG ME

 

The last (and best) movie in Kino's BRIT NOIR COLLECTION IV Blu-ray set is THEY CAN'T HANG ME, a 1955 suspenseful Cold War tale directed and co-written by the highly underrated Val Guest. 

The film starts out with a very nifty pre-credits sequence in which we see a murder, the capture of the culprit, and his trial, in which he is condemned to death. The murderer is Robert Pitt (Andre Morell), a British civil servant. A few days before his scheduled execution, Pitt demands to see Special Branch Inspector Ralph Brown (Terence Morgan). Pitt tells Brown that he knows the identity of a high-ranking traitor, and this person's plans to upset the world order. Pitt demands to be released from prison before he can divulge this information. Brown decides to go out on his own to find the traitor, using what few clues he can get from Pitt. 

THEY CAN'T HANG ME has a number of rain-slicked darkened street scenes, but it is more a story of espionage than noir. The style that Val Guest used on the first two Quatermass films--stark black & white photography, major use of real locations, and a semi-documentary tone--is present here as well. Terence Morgan's performance as Inspector Brown brings to mind Brian Donlevy's Quatermass also. Morgan isn't as brusque or curt as Donlevy, but his Brown is just as determined to get to the bottom of things--and he doesn't have a problem with circumventing authority to do so. 

Andre Morell doesn't get a lot of screen time as Pitt, but he gets a chance to play a very different type of role than was usual for him. Morell's Pitt is fussy, highly strung, and very emotional (of course the guy is a couple days away from being executed). Pitt is so nervy that one wonders if he's telling the truth about all the secrets he supposedly knows. 

THEY CAN'T HANG ME is fast-paced, and a viewer has to pay attention to what is going on, since there are plenty of revelations and twists. Unfortunately there are periodic interruptions to the plot in the form of Brown's extremely cheerful girlfriend, played by Yolande Donlan....who just happened to be Mrs. Val Guest. 

Val Guest is the most prominent Hammer connection to THEY CAN'T HANG ME, but there are a few others, such as supporting actors Arnold Marle and Fred Johnson, who play a couple scientists caught up in the intrigue. Ursula Howells plays Mrs. Pitt, who has plenty of secrets of her own. 

I don't know if Kino has any other BRIT NOIR COLLECTION Blu-ray sets planned, but the four they have put out are all worthy purchases. I wouldn't call all the movies on them brilliant, but they are for the most part above-average and they feature plenty of actors familiar to film buffs. The main thing about the BRIT NOIR COLLECTION sets is that they provide a bunch of films that are very little known to American audiences--I myself had never seen any of the movies included on any of the four releases. 

TIME IS MY ENEMY

 

 

It's back to Kino's BRIT NOIR COLLECTION IV, and the movie is TIME IS MY ENEMY. It's a very taut (running only a little over an hour) 1954 suspense tale starring Dennis Price and Renee Asherson. 

Barbara Everton (Renee Asherson) has a happy life and marriage, but her world is shattered when he first husband Martin Radley (Dennis Price) shows up. Martin was supposed to have been killed during Blitz, but he's very much alive and he needs money as soon as possible since he's on the run from having committed murder during a jewel robbery. Martin starts blackmailing Barbara, and the woman hopes she can pay him off and not have to go through any scandal. Martin, however, keeps pressuring her, and Barbara starts to take things in her own hands. 

TIME IS MY ENEMY is one of those stories where if the leading lady had just told the right person what was going on immediately, there wouldn't have been any trouble whatsoever. Renee Asherson does a fine job as Barbara, but she's such an upstanding Britisher she's more worried about looking bad than taking the proper steps to get out of her situation. One has to take into account the period in which this film was made, but it's frustrating to see Asherson get herself into more and more trouble. 

Dennis Price gives another of his sarcastic, sardonic cad performances, and he's particularly nasty here. Just like in THE TECKMAN MYSTERY, the first film from this set that I covered, Duncan Lamont plays a police inspector, but this time his role is bigger and more important. His investigator is actually an old friend of Barbara's, and he appears to have feelings for her, an element that doesn't get enough attention. 

The ending of the film contains a major twist that I felt was more miraculous intervention than clever scripting. It's an ending that magically clears up all loose ends, and in some ways feels like a cop out. Until that climax, director Don Chaffey does a decent job in putting the leading lady into an untenable situation, but the story feels very much like a play at times. 

How one feels about the ending will determine how one feels about TIME IS MY ENEMY overall. 

THE TECKMAN MYSTERY

 

Kino is back again with the BRIT NOIR COLLECTION IV Blu-ray set. Once again three lesser-known black & white British crime dramas are featured on two discs. 

The first film in this set that I viewed was THE TECKMAN MYSTERY, a 1954 story written by thriller author Francis Durbridge. Mystery writer Phillip Chance (John Justin) is tasked to write a biography of a pilot named Martin Teckman, who supposedly was killed in a crash involving an experimental aircraft. Chance soon finds out that some one, or some group, does not want Teckman's story told. Chance joins forces with Teckman's sister Helen (Margaret Leighton) to find out why he is being pressured not to write the book, and if Teckman himself may still be alive. 

It took awhile for THE TECKMAN MYSTERY to get going. The first part of the film is very talky, and despite this title being placed in a Noir set, most of the scenes take place in brightly lit rooms. The story perks up toward the end, with a sequence taking place outside the Tower of London, and a climax that in a way anticipates the ending of VERTIGO. 

THE TECKMAN MYSTERY also has another major Hitchcock element--it feels very much like one of the movies made by the Master of the Suspense in England during the 1930s, with its somewhat lighthearted attitude and quirky characters. John Justin's Phillip Chance is a sardonic fellow who at times borders on being annoying. (He even has a manservant that he trades quips with.) The revelation of the person behind all the dastardly doings is a big surprise (I certainly didn't guess it), and the experimental plane subplot adds a Cold War aspect to the proceedings. 

Margaret Leighton does very well in the important role of Helen (after watching the film you'll know why she deserves first billing). Hammer fans will spot among the supporting cast Raymond Huntley (THE MUMMY) and Duncan Lamont (THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN), while Michael Medwin plays almost the exact type of role he essayed in THE INTRUDER, which was included in Kino's BRIT NOIR COLLECTION II set. 

One other unique fact about THE TECKMAN MYSTERY: it was directed by Wendy Toye, one of the very few women who got to direct any sort of theatrical film in Britain during the 1950s. 

Kino presents THE TECKMAN MYSTERY in a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, and as expected, the print is very sharp and clear. The main extras on the BRIT NOIR COLLECTION IV set are new commentaries for each feature. (The other two films on this set are TIME IS MY ENEMY and THEY CAN'T HANG ME, and yes, I plan on eventually writing blogs on both.) 

THE TECKMAN MYSTERY is more light Hitchcock than by-the-book Noir, but I found it to be an inventive puzzler that was certainly worth seeing. The great thing about Kino's BRIT NOIR COLLECTION sets is that they provide film buffs with a number of worthy titles that they wouldn't have been exposed to otherwise. 

KIM NOVAK'S VERTIGO

 

This is a documentary that I've been pining to see since I first heard about it last year. KIM NOVAK'S VERTIGO has just been released on DVD by Kino Lorber. (For whatever reason, this film is not on Blu-ray yet.) 

Producer/Director Alexandre O. Philippe somehow managed to gain the trust of the reclusive legendary actress Kim Novak, and the result is a free-flowing conversation (mostly at Novak's Oregon retreat) that goes into various aspects of her life and film career. The talk is non-linear, with Philippe keeping mostly off to the side and letting Novak reveal her thoughts and feelings at her own pace, and on her own terms. Because of this unique setup, the viewer feels as if Novak is in the room with you, providing rare insights and reflections. 

Plenty of rare private footage and scenes from Novak's films are included, sometimes almost at random, sometimes as a way to back up what Novak is expressing at the moment. Novak's striking and ethereal artwork gets plenty of screen time as well. 

As one expects from the title, VERTIGO plays a major role in this documentary. Novak and Philippe go back to it again and again, and it appears that the actress has finally accepted how the movie has defined her life and career. At one point it is revealed that Novak has the famed grey suit she wore in VERTIGO safely packed away in storage at her home--and she is shown unpacking and examining it for the first time in years, a jaw-dropping moment for any film geek. (Novak is brought to tears during this sequence.) 

Some may feel that KIM NOVAK'S VERTIGO is unfocused, and that it leaves more questions than answers. The documentary is only 76 minutes long, and many basic facts about Novak and her films are either not acknowledged or only alluded to. One must remember Novak's solitary nature (she has far more affection for animals than people) and the fact that much of her star status was built upon her mysterious qualities. (It's no coincidence that many of Novak's characters on screen were pretending to be something they were not.) KIM NOVAK'S VERTIGO doesn't "explain" its subject (as if any documentary about a complex personality actually could), but it shows that this is a woman who chose to live her life her own way, and that she has managed to reach her Nineties and still be able to reflect on her life and work in a articulate and perceptive manner. KIM NOVAK'S VERTIGO is a poignant, unusual documentary about a woman who lived an unusual life, but was still able to thrive and survive on her own terms. 

DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST On Blu-ray From Kino

 

DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST(1966), one of the many Euro Westerns with the name "Django" in the title, has just been released on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. 

Whoever this Django is, he's decidedly not the one portrayed by Franco Nero. This Django is played by Dutch actor Glenn Saxon, and he's far more affable and talkative than most iterations of the character, and he has a sense of humor to boot. This Django discovers that his father has been killed by a bounty hunter after escaping jail from a town near the border called Silver Creek. Django also finds out that his father was set up by the town bigwig, who happens to run the local bank. Django sets out to make things right, while romancing a pretty saloonkeeper (Erika Blanc) and avoiding the machinations of the bigwig's deceitful coldhearted wife (Evelyn Stewart). 

DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST was directed by Alberto De Martino, who made all sorts of pictures in various genres. De Martino's style changed depending on what type of story he was making, and DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST has a much more lighthearted tone than one would expect. Glenn Saxon's Django isn't seething with revenge--he seems more amused by the whole situation than anything else. The pacing here is a bit slower than the usual spaghetti western, and instead of the story ending after the final confrontation, the focus switches back to a saloon brawl that keeps going on....and on. There's even a bit of a twist at the end that makes one wonder if the whole thing was supposed to be a spoof. 

Nevertheless, De Martino knew how to make solid adventures, and DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST is diverting enough, although hardcore Euro Western fans might prefer something more brutal and edgy. Evelyn Stewart steals the film as the darkly ambitious femme fatale, and she and Erika Blanc even come to blows at one point, which might be some Euro Cult fanboy's idea of a wet dream. 

Alberto Lupo plays a mysterious well-dressed fellow known as "Doc" who takes it upon himself to help Django. Doc is very reminiscent of Lee Van Cleef's Colonel Mortimer--Doc even provides info on an incident from the past that gives a major reason for all the goings-on. Euro Western veteran Fernando Sancho, usually a bad guy, here plays Django's confidant. The fine score is by Bruno Nicolai. 

Kino provides an excellent-looking print of DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST on this disc, in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. English and Italian dub tracks are included, along with English subtitles. 

The extras include a 15 minute program in which Glenn Saxon provides memories of making the film, along with some info on his life and career. (Unfortunately Saxon is never actually shown--only his voice is heard.) There's also an audio commentary by Alex Cox, which I have not listened to yet. (I have nothing against Cox, but it seems that whenever Kino releases a Euro Western on Blu-ray, by default he does the audio commentary. I'd like to see some other film buffs and historians get the chance to discuss these types of films.) 

DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST is not as dark or as stylized as most renowned spaghetti westerns, but it does have enough entertaining elements in it, and it does feature two striking Euro Cult performers: Evelyn Stewart and Erika Blanc. Any time a lesser-known Euro Western gets a proper official home video release is a good thing.