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Tim McCoy's 1935-36 westerns for Puritan Pictures were an above-average lot, and this is one of his best. McCoy's "mistaken identity" plot is trotted out once again, and while this could never happen in real life, it's a great movie plot device and keeps the viewer on the edge of the chair. Will the bad guys find out who time REALLY is? Classic movie villain Wheeler Oakman is perfectly cast as the slimy crime boss, and his standoffs with McCoy--featuring many close-ups as they stare each other down--remind the viewer of how good acting can elevate a genre western. Rex Lease (although not in the movie that much) is his usual charming self, and Robert McKenzie is hilarious as a bumbling attorney who is under the thumb of Oakman but tries to pretend he isn't. As always, McCoy carries himself with an almost regal manner-- he and Wild Bill Elliott were certainly the most dignified of B-Western heroes--and the unexpected ending gives depth to McCoy's character. This film is in a class of its own and should satisfy any lover of solid genre westerns of the 1930s. It would also be a fine film to introduce novices to the genre.

Known in its English language version as DEFEAT OF THE MAFIA, this quirky Italian crime film is overly talky and inconsistent in tone, but has many distinctive touches about it, fine location photography, and an amazing performance by Victor Spinetti as the nervous, Milquetoast relative of an American girl who dies of a drug overdose in Italy...or so it seems. Actually, Spinetti's performance--as he evolves throughout the film and finally reveals his true identity--is a tour-de-force. Anthony Perkins is the only other actor I could imagine taking on a role like this in 1969. The "hero" of this film is a harried police inspector played by Pier Paolo Capponi (and voiced in English by someone who has voiced MANY Italo crime films and westerns), but Spinetti earns his top billing, and he makes what could have been a routine film a very interesting film. The film also uses multiple voiceovers by various characters, which is an odd technique that doesn't truly work (and is often the sign of an amateur screentwriter), but gives the film a far different feel most similar films which feature stoic, hard-boiled dialog. Overall, an interesting film...and a fine performance by Spinetti. Very difficult to find, however.

This wonderful film, which I've seen dozens of times since it

came out in the late 1980s, completely achieves what it set out to achieve. Full of lowbrow humor and sex jokes, it's the perfect vehicle for Elvira. The formula is as old as Mae West, but Elvira's brilliant comic timing and physical comedy skill make it all come alive. It's also a neat attack on fundamentalism and intolerance, but that's not the reason why anyone would watch this. It appeals to the leering 14-year old boy in us all, whatever our ages.