HIGHWAY 13

Pamela Blake as Doris with Robert Lowery

HIGHWAY 13 (1948). Director: William Berke.

A series of mysterious accidents are plaguing a truck company, although the head of the outfit seems unconcerned. Another executive in the firm, Frank Denton (Michael Whalen), finds out that his wife's car has been driven off a cliff and feels he was the real target. Even an undercover detective (Steve Pendleton) hired to investigate comes to a bad end. Driver Hank Wilson (Robert Lowery), who is engaged to personable, pretty waitress Doris (Pamela Blake), is determined to get to the bottom of things. Other characters include Doris' uncle, known as "Pops" (Clem Bevans); his wife, Aunt Myrt (Mary Gordon); the trucking firm's personnel manager, Mary (Maris Wrixon of The Face of Marble); and detectives played by Lyle Talbot and Dan Seymour. Highway 13 could be dismissed as a typical minor "B"  thriller were it not for the fact that it has a good script, interesting characters and performances, and it isn't obvious from the first who the bad guys are. Pamela Blake [Ghost of Zorro] offers a very appealing portrait of the waitress Doris, Lowery is the stalwart hero, and Clem Bevans [Gold Raiders] pretty much steals the picture as the dyspeptic old Pops.

Verdict: Entertaining and suspenseful, with a few surprises and a satisfying wind-up. **1/2.

THE CASE OF THE BLACK PARROT

Eddie Foy Jr., William Lundigan and Maris Wrixon

THE CASE OF THE BLACK PARROT (1941). Director: Noel M. Smith.

Jim Moore (William Lundigan of Riders to the Stars) is a reporter who works with a photographer named "Tripod" (Eddie Foy Jr.) and has a girlfriend named Sandy (Maris Wrixon). Sandy's Uncle Paul (Charles Waldron) has returned from Europe with an antique cabinet that seems to have a lot of secrets surrounding it. For one thing, it has hidden drawers containing all sorts of surprises, and for another, anyone who touches the thing drops dead right afterward, with what appears to be a strange bite mark on their hands. Then there's the master criminal, the Black Parrot, suspected of stealing the Mona Lisa and substituting a fake -- like a parrot, he imitates, get it? Now he seems to be after this cabinet, which itself may be only a copy. Others involved in this intrigue include Max Armand (Paul Cavanagh of Son of Dr. Jekyll); Madame de Charrier (Luli Deste); an anxious lady named Julia (Phyllis Barry); and of course Rogers the butler (Cyril Thornton). Inspector Grady (Joseph Crehan) tries to solve the case, but he's not quick enough for Moore. This is a pleasant enough but unremarkable programmer with little to recommend it, although the cast has some appeal, and there are a couple of mildly clever touches. Barry, who gave a fine performance nine years earlier in Cynara with Ronald Colman, is utterly wasted in this, and the oddly-named Wrixon makes a somewhat odd leading lady by Hollywood standards.

Verdict: At least it's only about an hour long. **.