That was an excellent one.

Purely Joyful Movie!

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

German director Richard Eichberg's British crime thriller "Night Birds," starring Jack Raine and Muriel Angelus, boasts several lively scenes interspersed with loquacious expository dialogue scenes. You can tell that this is an early talkie because the actors rattle off lots of lines as if they were in a stage production. Nevertheless, this entertaining yarn about Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant Harry Cross (Jack Raine of "Rogue's March") and his investigation of an evening robbery by armed thieves dressed as gentlemen that crashed a lavish dinner party of the wealthy and affluent gets off to an energetic start. Afterward, the momentum slackens occasionally as scenarists Victor Kendall of "Atlantis" & Miles Malleson of "Thief of Bagdad" introduce the cops and the robbers as well as those involved with them—wives and girlfriends—and they flesh out the narrative with characterization and intrigue. Two of the three criminals aren't very shrewd. One leaves his calling card—small throwing knives--that he doesn't retrieve from the scene of the crime, and he is the culprit who slew the doorman at the mansion. Meantime, aside from this murderous fiend, the identity of the criminal mastermind nicknamed 'Flash Jack' is the first thing that Cross must uncover. After Cross recovers a five pound note from the crime scene, he heads to a night club where gambling is permitted to launch his probe. He thinks that the hoodlums may be hanging out at a place named Charlo's. As it turns out, the owner of this club, Charlo Bianci (Franklyn Bellamy of "Member of the Jury"), is allowed to operate as long as he provides Scotland Yard with information about crimes. Cross warns Charlo that he is walking on thin ice because he has proved his worth as an informant. Later, Cross romances a go-between the criminal mastermind and the gang, Dolly Mooreland (Muriel Angelus of "Safari"), who dances at the casino. Dolly assures two of the criminals that she will have Cross wrapped around her finger in no time. At the same time, a competing detective, Deacon Lake (Jameson Thomas of "Mister Dynamite") snoops about not only the casino but also the crime. Furthermore, Lake persuades Cross' wife, Mary (Eve Gray of "Moulin Rouge"), so he can gain some insight into Cross' strategy. Already, Cross and his wife have had words about a strand of hair that she found on Cross' wardrobe that came from his flirtatious interviews with Dolly.Although we don't see anybody die, Eichberg depicts some questionable acts that the censors might have objected to, such as our resourceful detective beating up a criminal out of sight and later the detective smashing out a window and then adhering tape to hold the shards after he scores the window with a knife. You know from the start who to cheer for because Eichberg and his writers paint Harry Cross with sympathetic strokes. The newlywed detective assures his wife that if he cracks this case that he might be able to buy them not only a house but also a motor car. He promises to get Mary some dresses, too. Meantime, he struggles to peel back the layers of deceit and get to the bottom of the crime and the identity of the notorious Flash Jack who has terrorized high society with his depredations. The production values are strong, and the cast is good. If you enjoy old-fashioned British mystery thrillers, this one is worth watching. The hero's Peter Pan efforts to thwart a crime during a show by springing into the balcony by means of wires attached to him is rather spectacular. Some of the dialogue is clever as well as naughty. The scene where Cross meets Dolly in her dressing room after a mouse terrifies her is fraught with sexual innuendo. Depending on your individual efforts at unmasking the criminal mastermind, you may find it either obvious or difficult. Altogether, despite it's obvious age, "Night Birds" is a lot of fun.

This is an oddity from a vanished British era directed by the German director Richard Eichberg (in English). The DVD is made from a negative and is crisp and new, like something just minted. However, the film itself is another matter. It starts with some interesting shots of Piccadilly Circus at night as it was in 1929. (I always enjoy seeing the changes of advertisements over the decades in old films showing Piccadilly Circus.) The film is ruined right away by the appalling bad acting of Jack Raine as the lead character, Police Sergeant Harry Cross. (It never Raines but it pours irritating tedium.) The film is more or less a detective film, but not really. And, frankly, who cares. The reason for watching this strange survival from an archaic age is for being shocked at the manners and mores of London in 1930. All those gentleman oafs in white tie! All those false manners! All those social put-downs, all that complacent and self-satisfied idiocy, all those arrogant nonentities, all that empty formality, and all that flaunting of dinner jackets as emblems of superior status! No thanks, I prefer the 21st century.

I'm not going to bother giving a decent synopsis of the story as the characters make it impossible to follow. All the men look the same with their moustaches. It's ridiculous. The main guy is Harry Cross (Jack Raine), a detective who is trying to catch some bloke who throws knives at people. This bad guy is part of a gang of robbers who meet at a club owned by Charlo (Franklyn Bellamy).It's a whodunnit mystery with an intolerably annoying Jack Raine in the lead role. He is permanently smiling or laughing and it is very irritating. The way he laughs at his wife instead of explaining things to her is unbelievable and he deserves a smack in the mouth. It's a shame that she takes it all and allows him to carry on laughing at her. With a better cast, the film could have been OK but as it stands it's confusing and not very good.

It is a sad fact that whilst a fair number of Hollywood films of the early talking films still remain in public view the same can not be said of British films of this era.For example,All Quiet On The Western Front,Applause,Public Enemy,42nd Street.Apart from a few films directed by Hitch this period is almost unknown.This film is a case in point.It is a thriller set in a nightclub.However the period and the settings add to the charm.It is all very light and engaging and still engages one.It is helped by some of the performances.There is a brilliantine's Hay Petrie playing a convincing villain with a nifty hand with the dagger.There is Jameson Thomas who went to Hollywood and played character parts.One of the leading ladies is Muriel Angelus.She happened to go to the States where she was in a lot of Broadway shows and Hollywood films.In fact believe it or not her last film credit is as The Great Mcgintys wife.A really touching performance in that great film.There is also a very young Garry Marsh.So there is a lot to commend this unknown film.Not a classic but still worth a view.