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The New Batman Adventures: Animal Act (1998)
Another Era
Animal Act really does belong to another era. We think of this as being a fairly modern series but this story, more than any other, relegates it to a bygone era. On the eve of the millennium it seems to have still been considered acceptable to keep wild animals in tiny cages and to use whips on them to beat them into submission. Over twenty-five years later most people viewing this would be quite appalled at the conditions these magnificent creatures lived in and at the cruelty and pain they endured for their entire lives in captivity. Dick Grayson, having originally come from the circus concerned, shows no distress at finding his favourite gorilla still being kept behind bars, ten years after he last saw her. He clearly thinks this all a huge joke and even finds Tim Drake a job cleaning out these unfortunate creatures' cages. Cue uproarious laughter from Bruce Wayne, who is hardly renowned for having a sense of humour and who should know better. A low point of the series which has dropped very noticeably in quality.
Johnny on the Spot (1954)
I thought I was reasonably intelligent but...
What a mess of a movie! The first few minutes were fine with some good location filming and a voiceover by the main character which explained why he was walking along the beach towards a large house and windmill. He discovered two bodies in the house but from that point I simply couldn't follow what was going on. One thing's for sure - if you don't want to be a murder suspect don't go rummaging around for documents, leaving a trail of fingerprints. If no one saw you approach the house you take the money you think you're owed and get out quick.
The next hour was a total mess. I have no idea who several of the characters were or how they came to be involved. Who was the blind pianist who popped up wherever the script required him to? Why did the character Walter never reappear after his one scene despite being at the other end of a phone? Why did Hugh McDermott's character think the blind man drove off in a speedboat? By the end of the film I was totally confused as to who was working with who or what they were doing. The murderer was revealed but as to his motives - who knows?
If the voiceover had continued for the whole film this may have helped explain the plot. On the other hand it may have just confirmed that none of it made any sense.
The acting was pretty suspect too, particularly that of the star Hugh McDermott who gave an extremely unconvincing performance.
I've given this film three stars but only because I did enjoy the location filming in Sussex and London.
This is the second film on Renown's Crime Collection Volume 3 DVD set and is probably the poorest to appear on any of the first three volumes. There are a few forgotten gems to be found, such as The Third Alibi on Volume 2, but you can't expect them all to sparkle.