Leofwine_draca THE BLACK RIDER is a ridiculously-plotted and mildly entertaining B-movie about a young reporter on the track of the sinister local legend of the 'Black Rider', who haunts the marshes and scares drunks. What he uncovers goes way beyond the boundaries of believability, involving a sinister secret in the dungeon of a local castle. It's straight out of the pages of an Enid Blyton book.The film is unashamedly racist, preying on viewers' Cold War fears, and features Lionel Jeffries miscast in a highly atypical role. Jimmy Hanley, as the supposedly youthful reporter protagonist, is old and camp, and the many scenes involving his motorbike gang have a whiff of naffness about them.It's all very predictable and genteel, without one iota of genuine tension, but there's something distinctly nostalgic about watching such fare from this era. Watch out for Kenneth Connor's hilarious cameo as the town drunk.

didi-5 If you remove the thought that Jimmy Hanley is the British Marlon Brando in this biker movie made around the same time as the classic 'The Wild One', then you might enjoy this laid-back tale of smugglers, deceit, dads, and dark pubs.Jerry (Hanley) is a reporter who rides a motorbike despite the disapproval of his parents - the fact that he seems rather elderly is neither here nor there! There's a girlfriend, a local legend of a ghost, and a nice comic turn from a young Kenneth Connor.The local rich chappie and maybe villain of the piece is Lionel Jeffries, in a reliable performance. Hanley himself is adequate but perhaps an actor like Albert Finney would have been so much more interesting as Jerry. However, 'The Black Rider' is a good wheeze and a decent little B movie.

heedarmy This sturdy British B-picture features a plot right out of Enid Blyton or Scooby-Doo. A gang of crooks, bent on smuggling "atomic sabotage equipment" into the country (crumbs!), are using the legend of the Black Rider to scare people away from crumbling Brocken Castle, where they have a secret headquarters in the dungeons. Gosh!The film is best enjoyed for its view of the vanished innocence of 50s Britain. This is a place where smiling librarians select handpicked novels for little old ladies, where the teapot is always full, where the harmless village drunk (Kenneth Connor) is plied with booze by indulgent locals and where the local youths are too busy fixing their motorbikes to bother with vandalising the bus shelter. No Hells Angels these - they are all clean-cut and impeccably polite, trundling along the leafy lanes at a sedate 25 mph or participating in motorised egg-and-spoon races at the village fete.Jimmy Hanley and Rona Anderson make a charming hero and heroine, Lionel Jeffries is good as the urbane villain and there' s a jolly, infuriatingly catchy theme tune. Nobody gets killed and even Hanley's irascible employer and future father-in-law turns out to be a decent cove at the end, even buying his own motorcycle and sidecar combination for some exhilarating spins with the missus. Somehow I doubt if Quentin Tarantino will be doing a remake.

Chris Gaskin I only recently found out about this movie thanks to ITV screening it. As it was on during the early hours, I set the video to record it and was pleased I did. A group of smugglers are 'haunting' a castle, which happens to be haunted anyway by a monk. One of the smugglers poses as this monk and frightens some of the locals. A reporter and his girlfriend decide to investigate this and discover these smugglers are importing parts to build an atomic bomb which could course great loss of life and destruction over a large area. They get arrested at the end.This movie also gives you an idea on what life was like during the 1950's including a village fete which were popular at the time and still are today.The nuclear jitters of the time probably spawned the movie, which was made at the height of the Atomic Age.As well as Jimmy Hanley, it also stars Lionel Jefferies (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and Carry On star Kenneth Conner. All play good parts. The movie has a great theme and score too.This movie is worth watching if you get the chance as it is rather hold to get hold of.Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.