She Wore a Yellow Ribbon - 1949

I was looking though some of the movies I still needed to watch, and the amount of time I had, and this movie fit what I needed. 

John Wayne plays the Captain at a U.S. Cavalry post in the west. He's nearing retirement, but he needs to go on one last patrol. The mission has an added twist: he has to escort two women to the stagecoach. There are raids by the dog soldiers, and this takes place not long after Custer's last stand.

There's a side plot with a young woman playing two men against each other. She's annoying for that, but she gets called out for it numerous times. I just felt a bit bad for the one guy that didn't see what she was doing.

I want to mention the ending. I thought it was really cool the way the Captain handled the impending war. Also, major props to breaking tradition on killing the guy who's on his last mission. These days, it seems like anyone who's on their last day/last mission, etc. gets killed.

The movie was pretty good. The scenery was neat, and it was filmed around the Monument Valley on the Arizona/Utah border. Very pretty. I recognized some of the actors, mainly a couple from The Quiet Man. Apparently, this was one of Wayne's favorite movies. I liked it, but I don't think this one will rank up there as one of my favorite John Wayne movies. It still gets a Good Movie! review.

Dr. Cyclops - 1940

The next horror movie in the strange list I've got was Dr. Cyclops. It was a big change from the last one. While Son of Ingagi was blurry and in black and white, this movie was crisp and clear, and it even had color! Unfortunately, it didn't really help the "plot."

Dr. Cyclops (I can't remember his name) murders his assistant, so he needs to summon some experts to join him in the jungle to help him in his research. By help, he means look in a microscope for two seconds. They mention some iron crystals, the doctor is happy, and then they're released. The doctor doesn't need them anymore and tells them to leave.

The stuffy Dr. Bulfinch doesn't accept the dismissal and stays. He's brought along a beautiful, blond assistant, a reluctant ne'er-do-well, and a donkey minder. They decide to work together with Pedro, a man who can't find his horse, to discover what's really going on in the camp. And what's the big mystery? Dr. Cyclops is miniaturizing things!

He tricks the oblivious snoopers into the room to shrink them, and then it's basically the mad scientist trying to examine his new toys. I was curious how they chose to make their clothes. The old dude got some kind of Roman robe, the woman got a dress, and the other guys got togas. Except Pedro. They really did him dirty. They basically gave him a diaper. Even later, when they had colored fabric clothes, he had a red flowered diaper. Rude.

Anyway, the stuffy Bulfinch calls him Cyclops because he's not very smart. Not because the doctor has to use coke bottle glasses and is having issues seeing. Later, they break one of the lenses, so then he can really be Dr. Cyclops. I don't know what happened to the horse or the dog. Bulfinch's death was kind of funny. But RIP to Pedro. There's got to be a gem in this list somewhere...doesn't there?