Warren William as Perry Mason----

---and Bette Davis as Queen Elizabeth I in two films, plus Nick and Nora Charles - were a weeks winners.

The Case Of The Lucky Legs (1935) Warren William, Genevieve Tobin, Lyle Talbot, Patricia Ellis, Allen Jenkins, Barton MacLane. Warren William as the first Perry Mason in films.  This was the second in the series with William as Perry. Very entertaining with naughty repartee' between Perry and secretary Della Street. This was not your TV uptight Perry a la Raymond Burr. The case involves a competition to find the nicest legs for $1000 dollars. Of course, it is a scam and the promoter ends up very dead. Perry is enlisted to find the one responsible. He is slightly drunk and breezy and seems unserious, but manages to solve the crime, with Della wisecracking all the way. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0026185/

Private Lives Of Elizabeth and Essex (1939) Bette Davis, Errol Flynn. Olivia de Havilland, Donald Crisp. A marvelous film with Bette in her element and Errol holding his own and as charming as ever. The war in Ireland about does in Essex and makes the lovers enemies but it is ambition that ruins his chances with his queen. With all the plotting going on it is no wonder she was so suspicious. Wonderful film from Hollywood's magical year - 1939.   9/10     http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031826/

Maisie (1939) Ann Sothern, Robert Young, Ian Hunter, Ruth Hussey. For some reason, I had never before seen the film that launched the series. While I can see that this is why Ann Sothern was rushed into 2 or three a year for 4 or 5 years, she is ill-served by Robert Young as a gangley wooden ranch hand. Ian Hunter brings some class and humor in his scenes with Maisie, and Hussey is suitable despicable as the cheating wife. The tag line for the advertising was "Maisie..a grand gal every body's crazy about---" Me too. Bought the whole set. 7/10    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031608/

Song Of The Thin Man (1947) Myrna Loy, William Powell, Keenan Wynn, Dean Stockwell, Gloria Graham. Final film in the series and it is still a pleasure to be in Nick and Nora Charles's company. They are attending a charity gambling boat off NYC and listening to a song written by the clarinet star in the band. Soon there is a murder for Nick to get involved in and solve. They get into the jazz and bebop world of musicians and Wynn has some crazy/funny scenes doing the dialog. Stockwell and Asta are along for the scenes at home and are cute. 7/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039853/

The Virgin Queen (1955) Bette Davis, Richard Todd, Joan Collins, Herbert Marshall. Bette is still the Queen and this time her favorite is Sir Walter Raleigh but he is also ambitious and wants ships to sail to the New World. He also has the eye of a young lady-in-waiting to the queen. Against the Queens wishes, he marries the girl and there is hell to pay. Always fun to see Bette The Queen. She is a powerhouse. 8/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048791/

Flight From Ashiya (1964) Yul Brynner, Richard Widmark, George Chakiris, Shirley Knight, Suzy Parker. Story about three men who did air-sea rescue flights after WWII. Confused plotting and jamming 3 stories into one with long action scenes in between the drama, makes a muddled film. Some of the sea rescue work didn't look real. To be a completest of Brynner's films, I had to watch, but only once. 6/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058104/

The Double Man (1967) Yul Brynner, Britt Eckland, Lloyd Nolan. During the cold war, Russia tries to put an exact double for Dan Slater into the C.I.A. Dan's 16 year old son has been killed on a mountain in the Alps where he had been skiing. So cold methodical Dan goes to find out what exactly happened. He enlists the help of retired operative Frank Wheatley who was supposed to be watching out for the boy. He also connects with Gina who rode the ski lift to the top with the son and two other men. Slowly, Dan unravels the sinister plot. Great shots of the mountain ski runs and chalets tucked into the rocks. Story is a bit far fetched but Brynner is fun to watch. 6/10                              http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061594/


Days shorter and cooler now.  So glad the drought has been broken and the dangerous heat is past.