Wednesday, April 29 - Nazi Agent

Nazi Agent (1942)

Humble stamp dealer Otto Becker (Conrad Veidt) has little to do with international politics, so when he receives a surprise visit from his estranged twin brother and Nazi spy, Baron Hugo von Detner (Conrad Veidt), his world is thrown into turmoil. Threatening Becker with deportation, Hugo forces him to use his shop as a front for espionage. But when Becker's friend Professor Sterling (Ivan Simpson) turns up dead, Becker accidentally shoots his brother and assumes his identity.

He takes this opportunity to place himself in the evil brother's shoes in order to spy upon the spies.

Tuesday, April 28 - One Mile from Heaven

One Mile from Heaven (1937)

Claire Trevor plays 'Tex', a go-getting girl reporter. Tricked into chasing a fake story on the wrong side of town, she stumbles onto a more interesting tale: a local black woman (Fredi Washington) who claims that her white daughter (Joan Carroll) is her real daughter.

As Tex attempts to scoop her bumbling colleagues on the story, she finds herself confronting issues of journalistic integrity as she befriends the woman and her policeman beau, played (and occasionally tap-danced) by Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Blackmailers and a wealthy couple (Sally Blane and John Eldredge) become involved before the truth is revealed.

Monday, April 27 - Hired Wife

Hired Wife (1940)

Cement company CEO Stephen Dexter asks his secretary Kendall to marry him as a wife in name only, an arrangement made to protect his finances from an attempt at a hostile business takeover. Once the threat to his company is neutralized, he asks Kendall for a divorce and is dismayed when she engages in continuous ploys and antics to maintain the marriage.

Sunday, April 26 - The Steel Jungle

The Steel Jungle (1956)

Ed Novak (Perry Lopez) is a cocky hothead and bookie who, after being arrested, is told if he tells all he knows about the operations of Steve Marlin (Ted de Corsia) he''ll get a greatly reduced sentence. Loyal to the undeserving Marlin, he refuses, much to the heartbreak of his wife, Frances (Beverly Garland), who doesn't care about the fur coats he gives her and hopes he'll get an honest job after serving his time. Marlin is also in jail and Ed tries to ingratiate himself with the mob boss, who comes to like him. Ed witnesses the murder of a guard which Marlin was responsible for and still refuses to talk, leading to serious complications and an unexpected kidnapping ... Marlin intends to see that Novak keeps his mouth shut permanently.

Saturday, April 25 - Sons and Lovers

Sons and Lovers (1960)

A young man with artistic talent who lives in a close-knit, English coal-mining town during the early 20th century finds himself inhibited by his emotionally manipulative, domineering mother — a literary, psychological interpretation of the Oedipus story.

Gertrude Morel, miserable in her marriage, puts her hope into her son, Paul. In seeking to maintain her involvement in and influence over Paul's life, she jealously attempts to prevent Paul from having a relationship with the girl he is seeing, Miriam. Miriam too suffers from a maternal influence - her mother has imbued in her a distaste for sex. Paul drops Miriam but becomes enchanted with self-actualized and "liberated" feminist co-worker, Mrs. Clara Dawes, who is married, though separated. Paul and Clara become involved sexually and Clara realizes that Paul's emotional attachment, as with her own, lies with another person — in Paul's case, his mother.

Gertrude learns of Paul's involvement with Clara, and slips into a morose depression and, later, serious physical sickness. Clara rejects Paul for his lack of emotional connection to her and her continuing feelings for her husband. Paul flees to his terminally ill mother, to care for her and sit by her side. After his mother's death, Paul meets again the girlfriend of his youth, Miriam, and rejects her proposal of marriage, telling her that he intends to live the rest of his life without any serious relationship with another woman.

Friday, April 24 - The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre: Never Back Losers

The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959–1965): Never Back Losers (Season 2 | Episode 6 - aired 27 September 1967)

Jim Matthews (Jack Hedley) is a lowly clerk working for an insurance company. The work is mind-numbingly boring but there is hope. He has applied for a transfer to the Claims department which would mean much more interesting work and getting out from a desk. Much to his surprise his transfer is approved.

It’s a pretty routine case. A jockey named Wally Sanders was badly injured in a car crash and won’t be able to ride again. Wally had demonstrated admirable foresight in taking out an insurance policy which covered him for such eventualities. The insurance company is however not entirely happy about the claim, partly because Sanders had been involved in an incident on the racetrack which suggested he might have deliberately caused his horse, the odds on favourite, to lose. There is no proof but the stewards were just a little doubtful about his explanation. Investigating the claim will be the first assignment for Jim Matthews in his new position.

He throws himself into the case with energy and enthusiasm, although perhaps not with terribly good judgment. He discovers a few things that suggest that Wally Sanders was definitely mixed up in something crooked. In fact Jim discovers enough to earn himself a beating by a couple of hoodlums who warn him to stop nosing around. Jim is an easy-going affable sort of chap but he’s very stubborn and he’s determined to keep digging.

It seems highly likely that Ben Black (Patrick Magee) is involved in some way. Black runs a number of legitimate businesses and others that are not so legitimate.

There’s also (naturally) a pretty young woman mixed up in the affair, which may be a partial explanation for Jim’s keen interest in the case. Marion Parker (Jacqueline Ellis) is the sister of jockey Clive Parker (Larry Martyn) and he’s been hanging around with a rather unsavoury crowd lately.

Thursday, April 23 - Prison Mutiny

You Can't Beat the Law (1943) - Re-titled 'Prison Mutiny'

Playboy Johnny Gray is framed and sent to prison after his stolen car is found at a holdup committed by Rico, and while the latter is not suspected (actually, the bandits carjack Johnny, Rico bails out and the cops pull the car over, arresting Johnny and the other 3 bandits), his henchmen Harry, Creeper and Red are convicted with Johnny. Stung by the injustice, when even his fiancée believes him guilty, Johnny becomes an unruly prisoner and is put in a cell with Cain, head of the prison gang planning a break. The new warden, Frank Sanders, wins Johnny over by changing his cell mate and giving him a chance to work in the prison gardens. Here, he meets Amy Duncan, daughter of prison guard Duncan. In an failed escaped, engineered from the outside by Rico, who is killed, one of Rico's men confesses that Johnny is innocent.

Wednesday, April 22 - Night in New Orleans

Night in New Orleans (1942)

Foster and Dekker are both Lieutenants in the New Orleans Police Department. They are both in competition for one opening as a Police Captain.

Foster is married to Patricia Morrison. Foster is out one fog filled night trying to retrieve some letters Morrison had written a former paramour. The letters could be taken wrong if they hit the papers etc. The problem for Foster is that he finds the man who has the letters, dead, with several large bullet holes in him. Foster rifles the man's desk and grabs up the letters, then beats the feet home.

Needless to say there are several witnesses who see him leave the house and street. When the body is found, Lt Dekker gets the call. He soon discovers that Foster was seen in the area at the time of death. Bingo, he has a suspect, Policeman or not.

The rest of the 75 minute runtime is spent chasing down the clues that pop up one after the other. First, Foster is the lead suspect, then, both the dead man's brothers top the list, then, it is the dead man's bodyguard followed by a singer at a hot New Orleans night spot. This one hops all over the place before disclosing the real killer in the last two minutes.

Tuesday, April 21 - It Had to Happen

It Had to Happen (1936)

George Raft is an Italian immigrant just arriving in America with his pal Leo Carrillo ( though George doesn’t have an accent!). George meets rich girl Rosalind Russell on the ship coming from Europe. It’s love at first sight for him and he is spurred on to going from being a ditch digger to a powerful New York politician in the shake of an eye! (He meets the mayor who offers him a job.)

The very next scene is 4 years later and he’s the usual well dressed,suave Raft! ( with no attempt at an explanation of his success).

Rosalind is married to an unscrupulous banker whom Raft saves from prison...

Monday, April 20 - Spring Madness

Spring Madness (1938)

In their last semester at Harvard, Sam Thatcher and his roommate, who is nicknamed "The Lippencott", have grand ideas of seeing the remote corners of the world, they having booked passage on a freighter from New York to Siberia, the trip immediately after they graduate. They plan to live and observe the economic life there for two years before they settle down. They've had such plans since they were freshmen, not wanting to be tied down to the American rat race immediately following graduation. Sam, however, has not mentioned any of these plans to his girlfriend, Alex Benson, also a student in her final semester at the New England College for Women.

Alex wants Sam to attend the college's spring dance with her to be able to show him off to the other girls, the dance a rite of passage to a serious commitment. Sam doesn't want to lead Alex on by attending but also doesn't want to miss one last opportunity to see her. His plan to graduate and attend the dance hits a snag when the sailing is moved up by two weeks, it now at the end of the weekend of the dance. Lipp, who has a mole in a mutual friend named Hat who goes to the college every weekend to visit with his girl, Frances, a friend of Alex's, doesn't trust Sam, who he feels may leave him in the lurch by not going on the trip to Siberia. Knowing that Sam, against his word, will be going to the college to see Alex anyway, Lipp decides to ambush him at the college to make sure he says his goodbyes and heads to New York for the sailing. The weekend thus becomes a race between Alex's friends, who, without Alex's knowledge, do whatever they can to ensure Sam doesn't want to make that ship, and Lipp who knows there's something afoot behind all those feminine curls. Added to the fray is the fact that the dance is being attended by boys from all the Ivy League schools, who have a friendly or not so friendly rivalry with Harvard.

Sunday, April 19 - The Invisible Wall

The Invisible Wall (1947)

Told in flashback, the film recounts how gambler Harry Lane (Castle) ended up accused of murder: Returned from the war he took up his old job working for bookmaker Marty Floyd (Keane). Dispatched by his boss to deliver $20,000 to a contact in Las Vegas, he foolishly loses some of the money at the gambling tables, then loses the rest of it to a conman (Gaines). His attempts to recover the money result in him accidentally killing the conman. In the end Lane is cleared when it is revealed that the victim was no victim after all.

Don Castle gets out of prison and goes back to work for boss gambler Edward Keane. He's sent to Las Vegas to pay off a high roller, but gets taken by a con man, kills the con man, imitates the con man and hooks up with the con man's widow, Virginia Christine.

Saturday, April 18 - Two in the Dark

Two in the Dark (1936)

An unemployed actress comes to the aid of an amnesia victim who believes he may have murdered a theatrical producer.