Shameless Self Expression

After a car wreck leaves him with a skull fracture and amnesia, Robert Webber falls for his nurse (Jennifer Jayne) and is eventually released from hospital care. Webber hires a private detective (Maurice Denham) to look into his past, and especially to track down the identity of a woman (Lelia Goldoni) in a photo that Webber had with him after the accident. Meanwhile, Webber begins to hear and see murderous things that seem to completely vanish whenever anyone else is around. Anthony Newlands plays Webber’s psychiatrist.   Although not as well-regarded as some of the other Hammer films of the 1960s, this Freddie Francis ( “Dracula Has Risen From the Grave” , “Tales From the Crypt” , “Legend of the Werewolf” ) psychological mystery from 1965 is a solid and interesting film. Scripted by Jimmy Sangster ( “The Snorkel” , “The Horror of Dracula” , “Paranoiac” , “The Nanny” ), parts of the mystery aren’t terribly mysterious, but the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of it are absolutely diabolical. In...

The story of two con artists, one black (Mel Stewart) the other bi-racial (played by white actor Kiel Martin as the ‘trick baby’ of the film’s title) who after a successful con involving stolen diamonds start to think about their next money-making scheme. This will involve ripping off a bunch of old white dudes with a ghetto property scam. It doesn’t go off without a hitch to say the least, and veteran Stewart might’ve wished he’d retired after the diamond job. Fuddle Bagley plays a mark, Dallas Edward Hayes is the corrupt black cop who resents our leads, especially the half-white Martin.   Although it isn’t nearly as well-known as “Shaft” or “Superfly” , this 1973 blaxploitation-adjacent film from director Larry Yust is pretty well-regarded. Kind of like an urban version of “The Skin Game” or “The Scalphunters” , it has good performances but for me the pacing only works in fits and starts. Con artist movies are generally easy and breezy but this one lacks a pulse for chunks...