Nicks` Cabinet of Curios

The Ringer (1953) A film I saw yesterday for the first time.  This is one of three films with this title, all based on an Edgar Wallace novel of the same name.   The earlier film versions are from 1928 and 1931. Another version of the same story was released in 1938 as The Gaunt Stranger, known as The Phantom Strikes in the US. Personally, my taste usually runs to a relatively short B movie, but this intriguing film with a very accomplished cast made for a good couple of hours viewing. 

Thorwald - The Marks of Cain - T&H - 1965 Another addition to my book collection, a very interesting book on the history of fingerprinting and ballistics, aimed at the general reader.  I`ve not made much progress with it yet as I was part-way through another book when it arrived. However, I`m enjoying what I`ve read so far.  Much of the contents are covered elsewhere - Vidocq, Bertillon, the history of Scotland Yard - but it is quite wide-ranging and some of the cases etc discussed are not so well-known, or not known to  me at any rate.  Mine is the UK first edition, published a year later than the original German edition, but wasn`t especially expensive. 

Rain ; The Best of Bruce Ruffin 1967-71  - Trojan CDTRL449 2001 I only bought this album recently, and there`s a reason for that. Given the title , I assumed it would be basically a re-issue of BR`s Rain album, which I already have, plus maybe a couple of bonus tracks. This impression was re-inforced by the use of a badly-cropped version of the cover illustration from that album on the front.  In fact, only some of the tracks appear from Rain appear on this, and what you get is 27 tracks featuring most phases of his career - solo tracks, The Techniques, The Shades, Pat and Bruce, Tyrone and Bruce, Winston and The Shades. There is nothing here from his band Chain Reaction - I must admit I`m quite glad about that as for some reason I can`t get on with their stuff !   With such a comprehensive collection, my only quibbles are rather minor - I personally would have included Make Love Not War, for instance.  What we get here is the essence of Bru...

Just finished watching this fascinating and very watchable 1940s wartime murder mystery movie.  I won`t be writing a review as it`s been a long day, but I will post a link for anyone wanting to watch the film in the very near future (possibly later this evening). 

                                                  Francis Lederer in the Return of Dracula The Return of Dracula - 1958 Not everybody`s kind of thing but I enjoyed this film.  The story involves Count Dracula (played by Francis Lederer) finding his way to the United States and setting up home in 1950s small-town America, lodging with a family who believe him to be a distant relative (in fact he`s murdered the real relative and taken his identity). When it first became apparent that this was the plot I had grave reservations but in fact the film won me over. The contrast between the wholesome host family and the their far-from-wholesome lodger makes for an effective film.  It`s true that some aspects of the plot are fudged - Dracula divides his time between the home of the family he lodges with and a disused mine but it is un...

Bill Gentles - Ever Since I Met You/I Want to Be Loved/I Saw You - Echo - Undated 12" Single This is the latest addition to my music collection and I have to say I`m very, very happy with it.  The late Bill Gentles is a personal favourite of mine, though it`s difficult to explain quite what sets him apart.  For sure he was a capable singer and songwriter and it`s also true that the musicians on these tracks were more than capable*.  Somehow, these deceptively simple songs seem to be more than the sum of their parts and I think that`s the key to his appeal. I bought this disc from an excellent seller named Stu who trades on E-Bay with the user name silvaback18, and who was kind enough to let me use his pictures of the label to illustrate this review. Thanks, Stu.  *I assume these are the same versions of these songs that appeared on BG`s LP Love and Experience, which is unfortunately ruinously expensive now. The musicians on that album include D...