Elderly Edward Stillwell (Paul E. Burns of The Royal Mounted Rides Again) hires private detective Don Gale (Richard Dix) to find a woman, Elora Lund, that he hasn't seen in several years. Gale is a somewhat shady character, and he has a lady friend, Freda (Helen Mowery), pretend to be Elora so he can get the skinny on just why Stillwell is trying to find the dame. Then the real Elora (Pamela Blake of Highway 13) shows up and Dale keeps tripping over corpses. Seems Elora was left some valuable items that may be worth a fortune ... Mysterious Intruder is one of the movies in the Whistler series, and it is narrated by that unseen character from radio, voiced by Otto Forrest. Dix is fine as the hero, and there are good supporting performances from Mowery; Blake; Nina Vale as Dale's secretary, Joan; Charles Lane and Barton MacLane as cops; Regis Toomey as an apartment manager; and especially Kathleen Howard [First Love] in a flavorful turn as a landlady who looks after Gale's clients when he needs a place to park them. Mysterious Intruder has a good and downbeat ending, but it's still a very minor mystery film. This was the fifth entry in the Columbia series.
Verdict: Some days a guy just doesn't get a break. **.
No comments:
Post a Comment