Adventure

  • William Witney – Spy Smasher (1942)

    1941-1950AdventureThrillerUSAWilliam Witney

    One of the best serials ever made, Spy Smasher has managed to find favor even among non-serial aficionados. Like his fellow masked avenger, Batman, Spy Smasher possessed no super-human powers but was a mere mortal of flesh and blood.

    In brief, Spy Smasher, alias Alan Armstrong (Kane Richmond, and his twin brother Jack (also Richmond) pursue a nefarious German agent known only as The Mask (Hans Schumm). Witney and screenwriters Ronald Davidson, Norman S. Hall, Joseph Poland, William Lively and Joseph O’Donnell imbued their hero with a dark uniform very similar to the one he wore in the comics, but added a fancy belt decorated with a large “V” for “Victory” and the morse code symbol for the letter, three dots and a dash. The coup de grace, so to speak, was Mort Glickman’s signature score adapted from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.Read More »

  • Sam Newfield – Radar Secret Service (1950)

    1941-1950AdventureCrimeSam NewfieldUSA

    In post-WWII America,Radar has been developed to such an extent that law enforcement agencies, seated in their headquarters, can twist a few dials and bring in, on a small television screen, a crisp picture of a roving stock-footage truck carrying uranium material, highly coveted by foreign powers in order to make atomic bombs and blow up the U.S.A. This advanced version of Radar can follow the car occupied by the crooks out to hijack the truck, and also the police car pursuing them after they hijack the truck. But, alas, this can only be done when the atomic material is in motion, and has little value when the crooks park the truck. So the lawmen have to send in a female mole posing as a moll.
    (from IMDB)Read More »

  • Jacques Rozier – Les naufragés de l’île de la tortue AKA The Castaways of Turtle Island (1976)

    1971-1980AdventureComedyFranceJacques Rozier

    Quote:
    Bonaventure (Pierre Richard) is a semi-competent travel agent. One day, he teases his girlfriend’s jealousy by making a false mistress with a name which happens to be belong to a real girl… Having to make this lie true, his false mistress becomes also a true one and this is how adventure begins…Read More »

  • Shimako Sato – K-20: Kaijin niju menso den AKA K-20: Legend of the Mask (2008)

    2001-2010AdventureFantasyJapanShimako Sato

    Imdb:
    Holy Steampunk, Sherlock Holmes! Screen idol Takeshi Kaneshiro is back and this time hes showing his respect for Lupin, Raffles and all the great thieves and masked penny dreadful heroes of the turn-of-the-century in this massive steampunk blow-out directed by Shimako Sato, one of the few female directors in the big budget end of the Japanese film industry.Read More »

  • Seijun Suzuki – Hana to dotô AKA The Flower and the Angry Waves (1964)

    1961-1970AdventureDramaJapanSeijun Suzuki

    Synopsis:
    It’s 1964 and Seijun Suzuki continues to work harder than any other director doing the rounds. Working from a novel by Aoyama Koji he tells the story of Ogata Kikuji (Kobayashi Akira) – a former Yakuza member, now on the straight and narrow. One year ago he rescued a woman named Oshige (Matsubara Chieko) from the clutches of his Yakuza boss and shortly after they wed; for his insolent behaviour a quiet assassin called Yoshimura (Kawaji Tamio) is sent to take care of Kikuji, who is now living under the roof of reformed gangster and innkeeper Ihei (Takashina Kaku). Meanwhile, Kikuji keeps his relationship with Oshige a secret, even shielding his marriage from Manryu (Kubo Naoko) – who has taken quite a liking to him and wishes to escape her depressing situation, brought on by years of having to put up with unscrupulous men.Read More »

  • Vladimir Gajdarov – Wellen der Leidenschaft AKA The Waves of Passion (1930)

    1921-1930AdventureEstoniaSilentVladimir GajdarovWeimar Republic cinema

    Synopsis:
    The young Brazilian journalist Rex Ronney is gathering data for his book on Nordic alcohol smuggling and embarks on a boat trip to Estonia and Finland, where alcohol is prohibited. On the boat, he meets the booze king Kõlgis, whose confidence he wins. Kõlgis issues him a letter of recommendation and sends him to the smuggler Bratt in Tallinn, who is in the service of Mart Martens, who in turn is heavily indebted to Kõlgis. As a result, Betty Martens, his daughter, is compelled to get engaged with Kõlgis. In order to clear her father’s debts, Betty conducts the alcohol transports from Finland herself. When Rex Ronney shows up, it has consequences…Read More »

  • Natuk Baytan – Kiliç Aslan AKA Lion Man AKA The Sword and the Claw (1975)

    1971-1980AdventureCultNatuk BaytanTurkey

    Synopsis:
    When the king is murdered, his baby son and heir is hidden in the forest where he is abducted and raised by a pride of lions. As an adult he uses his beastly strength and claw-like hands to take revenge against the new king and his armies.Read More »

  • Leslie Stevens – Hero’s Island (1962)

    Drama1961-1970AdventureLeslie StevensUSA

    IMDB:
    In 1718, on a small island off the Carolina coast, a recently freed family of indentured servants plans to settle and homestead there but they run into conflict with a group of fishermen also claiming ownership of the island.Read More »

  • Sam Peckinpah – The Wild Bunch (1969)

    1961-1970AdventureSam PeckinpahUSAWestern

    Quote:
    An aging group of outlaws look for one last big score as the “traditional” American West is disappearing around them.Read More »

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