This is Harry H. Corbett’s second appearance in The Edgar Wallace Mysteries series of British B movies, and it’s a very different role to Inspector Bruce in Marriage of Convenience. Corbett gave a straightforward performance as Bruce, verging on bland at times, although the climax to the film was an acting masterclass. This time, Corbett is playing Jack Burgess, a complete failure of an estate agent, who keeps hoping he will hit the big time by closing a sale on a valuable property, but can never quite manage that. His girlfriend, who is also in his employment and isn’t getting paid, is losing patience with him. From the first moment we see him in this film, Corbett gives a big performance. He was definitely born to be a comedy actor, and he does bring the character of Jack to life in a way that he failed to do with Bruce, but this is probably the first time I’ve seen a performance in any of these films that I would describe as theatrical, with the actor maybe having a little bit too much fun in the role. That’s saying something in a film that also has crooks who pronounce their words like “he’s gorn past”, and “get back to the windah”. Kudos to Genine Graham, who plays a woman with a gorblimey accent trying to pretend she’s posh enough to buy a big house, and then has the accent slip from time to time. It’s a very clever performance. Continue reading
As is so often the case, the Girls’ Last Tour anime ended while the manga series was still ongoing. I don’t often bother to find out what happens next, but in this case the anime had really sparked my interest so I was keen to finish the story. In retrospect I’m not sure I made the right decision.
The opening of this episode threw me a bit. Coming off the previous episode when Gideon says there’s “nothing good on TV anyway”, I was a bit surprised by his choice of viewing but to learn it was a data crystal of Eilerson’s adds a distinct layer of comedy to the scene. The idea that Max enjoys alien porn with Pak’Ma’Ra is strange, but then it takes all kinds! That comedy carries through the episode as both Dr. Chambers and Gideon twist their heads to see what’s going on, and later, Dureena does the same thing. The early episode comedy gives way to some heavy discussions at the end and I was surprised how I felt about this one by the time it wrapped up. 
This week we explored strange new worlds with Big Finish in Doctor Who’s Divergent universe in 
Nomad. The very name conjures images of… Actually for me, it reminds me of a coffee pot my grandmother used to have. It was a long, cylindrical thing made of metal that, lord knows, predated safety inspections on such devices. The thing was metal, so when you boiled water within, the damned thing got so hot it would probably glow. I didn’t drink coffee when I was a kid, actually I still don’t, but I was a weird little tyke and I loved Star Trek, so the most natural thing to do was… mind meld with the thing like Spock does in The Changeling. And you know what? I never got burned. Be impressed! Oh, I’m pretty sure it was hot as Dr. Helen Noel, but I did actually convince my 4 year old mind that it would not burn and hey… I’m typing away today with fully functional fingers! (Not as tricky to say either as “fully functioning force field!”) 
Returning to Big Finish after a bit of a gap has been a mixed bag and I’m desperately torn on my feelings about Scherzo. Having left our universe at the end of 
The recent Blu-ray and DVD release of 1945 Japanese wartime propaganda film Momotaro: Sacred Sailors comes with a bonus on the same disk, a 1943 short animation from Kenzo Masaoka. The Spider and the Tulip is absolutely enchanting, but to enjoy it you do have to be prepared to put up with an historical example of a blackface caricature. The spider facially resembles a black and white minstrel, and speaks in a deep male voice that brings to mind Al Jolson. That aside, the film is remarkably lacking in any kind of xenophobia or wartime themes, considering it was made in 1943, and was consequently not well-received by contemporary critics as it was thought to be an oddity, failing to work towards the war effort like just about any other film being made at the time. Despite the blackface villain, it stands as a testament to how humans can focus on beauty while surrounded by horror. 
A few entries into this series of Edgar Wallace B Movies recently have not really been murder mysteries, and once again we are into the realms of a crime thriller here rather than a mystery. That gives us only two things to care about when we watch Number Six: the identity of the undercover agent working for the police, and whether or not the latest intended victim will survive.
Connection / Friends
Let’s take a break from actual video games, retro or otherwise, to dive into a video game-related subject: the complete collection of Mass Effect comics. This tome caught my eye one day and I picked it up to read a little while I sat in a bookstore waiting for my wife to be ready to go home. A short time later and I was disappointed when she was ready to leave. Later, when I told her about it, she made a mental note and gave me the book as a Christmas present.
It’s been a while, but with life returning to normal, my job has us back in the office, so it’s time I go back to Big Finish for some more Doctor Who audio adventures.
In 1945 the first ever Japanese feature-length animated film was released, funded by the Japanese Naval Ministry as a tool for propaganda. As an anime fan with a keen interest in history, I couldn’t resist purchasing this as a special edition from All the Anime. I was delighted with what arrived, a Blu-ray and DVD double set with bonus feature The Spider and the Tulip, with a fascinating book by Jonathan Clements looking at the life and work of the writer and director Seo Mitsuyo, which also examines the film in great detail. That all comes packaged in a very sturdy outer box, so this is a set that any anime fan should be proud to own. It arguably represents the birth of anime, or at the very least Japanese animation in its infancy, and it’s a minor miracle that a print of the film managed to survive the American occupation of Japan after the war, when propaganda films were confiscated and burnt. 
This entry in the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series of British B movies shows us the most civilised looking criminal gang I have ever seen. They look like a group of smart business people having a meeting about their company finances, while they are actually digging up dirt on powerful people and using it to blackmail them into selling their houses at a fraction of their real value. It’s a clever scam, but it has been noticed by Det. Supt. Meredith, played again by Bernard Lee in his fourth of five appearances in The Edgar Wallace Mysteries, the third as Meredith. 
Culture / Destruction / The Past
In some ways, Below Zero surpasses the original because the area to explore is reduced. There are ice walls to the north and west which limits the amount of searchable space you can explore. There’s a chasm of some depth to one other direction and, being the James Cameron of the computer gaming world that I am, I plunged into the darkness. I was greeted by a massive horror that nearly killed me and I only survived by using an electric defense on my craft. I realized the electronic voice that warned me away from that chasm was actually a barrier of its own: don’t go this way, it will kill you. So that meant most of the game took place in roughly a 1000 meter area. There were some extremely deep fissures to explore which adds that dimension and some of the finds are really exciting. Once again, that itch gets a good scratchin’. 
Continuing still further on from our recent examination of Doctor Who extras, I have to take us through David Tennant and Matt Smith’s eras to some very special events: Doctor Who at the Proms. There were three times the Doctor invaded the Proms and each included a special mini-episode meshed into the very fabric of the event. Once again, we’re reminded of a magical time after the return of the Doctor when the series creators knew how to generate interest in the series. Contact Information
I welcome suggestions and feedback and will consider interesting guest posts. If you would like to email please click on the picture to view contact details.
Articles by each writer:
By the same blogger:
DrAcrossthePond
Roger Pocock
