Author Archive: Retro

Sabotage on the railroad with trains being derailed and looted. Good coverage of the Santa Fe La Grande Station that was demolished in 1939 due to earthquake damage.

When an exotic dancer in a carnival troupe is kidnapped and killed by a murderous sheik, it’s up to the dwarf who loved her to avenge her death. English titles.

Poor professor’s daughter catches the eye of a wealthy student. Dir. Basil Dearden and Will Hay.

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The devil takes Maciste down to hell in an attempt to corrupt and ruin his morality.

The Unknown Soldier starts out in life as Fred Williams (Charles Emmett Mack), a garage mechanic who signs up for the Army on the very day that America declares war against Germany. Upon arriving in France, Fred falls in love with wealthy heiress Mary Phillips (Marguerite de la Motte), who has come to the front as an entertainer. Opting for a quick marriage (after all, who knows what tomorrow will bring?), Fred and Mary allow a supposed chaplain to perform a ceremony — but what they don’t know is that the “chaplain” is a deserter with no authority to marry anybody. Mary finds this out on the morning after the wedding, but by now Fred has marched off with his regiment. Later on, Fred receives a letter indicating that Mary is about to give birth in a tiny French hospital which happens to be directly in the line of fire. He volunteers for a suicide [...]

Endeavoring to keep her sideshow free from bad elements, an honest carnival owner finds her territory invaded by a gang of con artists who are cheating her customers and may be responsible for a murder. This melodramatic crime tale is from the early talkie era.

A pickle salesman finds himself in the middle of a South American revolution, impersonating a rebel general and falling for the general’s daughter.

The film that launched the “Vamp” genre. While away from his family on a foreign business cruise, a virtuous diplomat is seduced and controlled by a beautiful, heartless woman. Based on the poem “The Vampire” by Rudyard Kipling. Dir. Frank Powell.