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Passport to Pimlico (1949, UK, Cornelius)

A street of much-rationed, much-regulated Londoners discover that they’re technically part of the Duchy of Burgundy, and decide to secede from England.  Watched it all.  What an amazingly libertarian movie this is, especially for the time.  What they’re really doing is creating an economic free zone, free from regulators and moral busybodies.  Suddenly the economy is booming, everyone’s getting involved in local politics, and are generally having a good time.  Of course it doesn’t last, but only because they’re sabotaged by the British government.

Border Incident (1949, USA, Mann)

Most Mexicans who want to work in the US are law-abiding citizens who enter it legally, but there are some who try to cross the border illegally!  Unfortunately they are usually killed by bandits.  Which is a shame, so let’s send the police to protect them.  Watched: 15 minutes.

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The Spider and the Fly (1949, UK, Hamer)

I guess any well-worn trope becomes interesting when I haven’t encountered it in a while.  In this case it’s the gentleman thief, who foils the French police in humorous ways, then goes off into World War I to serve his country, because one is after all a patriot.  Watched it all.

Post Office Investigator (1949, USA, Blair)

One trend in the late 40’s was to make movies about all the brave deeds government employees did to keep their country safe: Fighting terrorists, Communists, illegal immigrants, and, in this case .. er, stamp thiefs.  They were really scraping the barrel at this point.  Watched: 3 minutes.