THE SKY DRAGON

Roland Winters in the final Chan film

THE SKY DRAGON (1949). Director: Lesley Selander.

In the final Charlie Chan picture (of the series that began with Warner Oland), Chan (Roland Winters) is aboard a plane when the pilot (Milburn Stone), co-pilot (Joel Marston), stewardesses and passengers are all knocked out with drugged coffee. So is a security guard named John Anderson (Paul Maxey) while his associate, Ed Davidson (Lyle Latell), is murdered. Fortunately Lee Chan (Keye Luke) can fly the plane but then a satchel with a quarter of a million dollars in it disappears. The suspects include the aforementioned pilots; the stewardesses Jane (Noel Neill of the Superman serial) and Maria (Elena Verdugo of The Lost Tribe); burlesque queen Wanda LaFern (Iris Adrian of Lady of Burlesque); her friend Andrew Barrett (Lyle Talbot); and others. Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) dallies with Wanda's saucy maid, Lena (Louise Franklin) in a couple of cute sequences, and Eddie Parks makes an amusing Justice of the Peace, Tibbetts. Although the killer in this may be fairly obvious to many, The Sky Dragon is entertaining, has a number of clever aspects, and has a very satisfying and exciting wind-up with everyone back on a plane for the climax.

Verdict: A nice wind-up to the Charlie Chan series. ***.

THE ROYAL MOUNTED RIDES AGAIN

Distinctive bad guys:Joe Haworth and Danny Morton

THE ROYAL MOUNTED RIDES AGAIN (13 chapter Universal serial/1945). Directors:Lewis D. Collins; Ray Taylor.

Northwestern Canada at the turn of the century. Mine owner Tom Bailey is murdered by Brad Taggart (Milburn Stone), but his employer Jackson Decker (Addison Richards) becomes the chief suspect. Bailey's daughter, June (Daun Kennedy) comes to town to investigate her father's murder, as do mounties Frenchy Moselle (George Dolenz) and Corporal Wayne Decker (Bill Kennedy) the son of Jackson Decker. Jackson wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and work for his copper mine and other businesses, but Wayne didn't like his father's unethical business practices. Now he's hoping to prove that his father was not mixed up in this murder. Other characters include Madame Misterioso, a fortune teller whose real name is Dillie Clark (Helen Bennett), who is an ally of June's; and colorful codger "Latitude" Bucket (Paul E. Burns) '' -- he's been "everywhere" -- who has a rather surprising secret. The bad buys in this movie are not the usual generic gunsels but have a bit more flavor to them, especially Bunker (Joseph Haworth) with his ingratiatingly insolent manner, and "Dancer" (Danny Morton), with his shiny hair and casual, non-subservient attitude. Milburn Stone is typical of the rather bland actor who makes more of an impression as a villain than as a hero [which he played in The Great Alaskan Mystery and other serials], although he's hardly a Charles Middleton. Robert Armstrong, who also appeared in a number of serials such as The Adventures of the Flying Cadets, plays shady Price, who owns the Yukon Gold tavern, where several scenes take place. Rondo Hatton does nothing for chapter after chapter except sit watching the proceedings and drawing his gun now and then; he has no dialogue. Royal Mounted Rides Again has a fairly good story and a few noteworthy cliffhangers, such as when a huge log is shoved down a chute toward a prone Corporal Decker; a mine car that hurtles down a deep shaft towards the same man; and a bit with a dangling suspension bridge in a rainstorm that has explosives attached to it. Paul Birch (Not of This Earth) appears very briefly as a highwayman. While this is not as slick or snappy as Republic's "Mounted" serials such as King of the Mounties, it is nevertheless entertaining. Apparently stars Bill and Daun Kennedy were neither related nor married to one another. Bill was a busy television actor while Daun had only a few credits to her name. Helen Bennett was also in Lost City of the Jungle.

Verdict: Interesting serial with several flavorful performances and good scenes. ***.

THE MASTER KEY

THE MASTER KEY 13 chapter Universal serial (1945). Directed by Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins.

Professor Elwood Henderson (Byron Foulger) is kidnapped by the Master Key, a mysterious character who heads a group of Nazis hoping to cause mischief and keep the U.S. out of the war in 1938. Henderson has invented a device called an oratron that can extract gold from sea water. Among those hoping to find Henderson are agent Tom Brant (Milburn Stone), Detective Lt. Jack Ryan (Dennis Moore), and intrepid reporter Janet Lowe (Jan Wiley), whose half brother Walter Stark (John Eldredge) becomes unwittingly embroiled with the Master Key's gang. There's also an old woman named Aggie (Sarah Padden), who leads a group of boy junior reporters, which includes Dan (Jerry Shane). There are some interesting cliffhangers involving a drawbridge, and a flying boat crashing into the ocean, among others. The cast is game, with Foulger giving the most memorable performance as the professor. The surprise identity of the Master Key seems to come out of nowhere!

Verdict: Not top-notch but has its exciting passages. **1/2.

THE SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES BACK

THE SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES BACK (1946). Director: Arthur Lubin. 

"But it won't really be dying -- you'll live on in this beautiful plant!" 

Jean Kingsley (Brenda Joyce) arrives at an isolated community where coincidentally an old boyfriend, Hal (Kirby Grant), just happens to be living. Jean has been hired by a supposedly blind woman named Zenobia Dollard (Gale Sondergaard) -- without either ever meeting the other -- to be her live-in companion. [You would think that name alone would have frightened Miss Kingsley off.] Zenobia seems quite charming, if a touch smarmy, and has a brutish deformed servant, Mario (Rondo Hatton) who has rather poor manners. While a nervous Jean tries to find out what really happened to Zenobia's last companion, who supposedly went off to get married but was never heard from again, Mr. Moore (Milburn Stone) of the Department of Agriculture is trying to find out where the weed is that's poisoning so many of the farmers' cows. Sondergaard is as excellent as ever as the rather batty, vengeance-minded woman who feeds both spiders and human blood to her collection of carnivorous plants. One supposes the title of this film was meant to tie the movie in with the great Sherlock Holmes film The Spider Woman, made two years earlier, which also features a deadly spider and stars Sondergaard [as Adrea Spedding, a completely different but similarly evil character]? 

Verdict: Gale Sondergaard and flesh-eating plants-- wow! **1/2.

SINNERS IN PARADISE

SINNERS IN PARADISE (1938). Director: James Whale.

A motley group of individuals take off for China in a sea plane and wind up crash landing near an island deserted but for Dr. Jim Taylor (John Boles) and his manservant (Willie Fung). The passengers include a nurse, Anne (Madge Evans); an heiress, Iris (Marion Martin); a mobster, Robert (Bruce Cabot), who's running from hit men; a blithering senator (Gene Lockhart); and others. The doctor has a secret and refuses to let the stranded passengers use his boat to get to the mainland; he eventually relents but there's only room on the boat for six people and the bickering turns into fighting and murder. Alas, the movie is not as good as it sounds; with all that's going on it's still a colossal bore. Some of the performances aren't bad, however. Other cast members include Milburn Stone, Morgan Conway, and Don "Red" Barry.

Verdict: One of James Whale's least interesting pictures. **.

THE FROZEN GHOST

THE FROZEN GHOST (1945). Director: Harold Young.

Okay Inner Sanctum mystery stars -- who else? -- Lon Chaney (Jr.) as a mentalist who's convinced that he's psychically responsible for a heckler (Arthur Hohl) dropping dead during his act, even though the man was a heavy drinker with a heart condition. To recover, he breaks off his engagement to Evelyn Ankers and retreats to a wax museum owned by Valerie Monet (Tala Birell). There he also encounters Monet's niece Nina (Elena Verdugo) and a sinister assistant played by Martin Kosleck. When Valerie disappears, Inspector Brant (Douglass Dumbrille) investigates while Chaney's friend George (Milburn Stone) tries to lend sensible support. This mystery has some interesting elements to it, even if it doesn't always jell. Chaney's whispering is kept to a minimum, and his performance is adequate. Kosleck pretty much steals the picture. There is no ghost in the movie -- the title refers to suspended animation.

Verdict: Acceptable time waster, nothing more. **1/2.

STRANGE CONFESSION

STRANGE CONFESSION (1945). Director: John Hoffman.

The fifth "Inner Sanctum" mystery has a good, absorbing storyline about a chemist, Jeff Carter (Lon Chaney Jr.) who is taken advantage of by his venal boss Roger Graham (J. Carroll Naish). Graham sends Jeff down to South America so he can move in on Carter's wife, Mary (Brenda Joyce). Greedy Graham also releases an anti-influenza formula, Zymurgine, to the public before Carter has a chance to perfect it, leading to tragic consequences and a gruesome revenge. Strange Confession holds the attention, but it just isn't horrific enough and doesn't quite work. Naish is excellent as the bad guy, Chaney is mediocre, and Joyce delivers a fairly weak performance as his wife. Milburn Stone and Lloyd Bridges also have small roles and are competent.

Verdict: Okay time passer **.

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943). Director: Edward Dmytryk.

Universal attempted a new sort of monster in this, the first of three films to deal with Paula Dupree, the Ape Woman. Borrowing a concept from H. G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau, the film has a mad scientist, Dr. Sigmund Walters (the always-reliable John Carradine), manipulating glands and using his nurse's brain to turn a female gorilla, Cheela, into a human female whom he names Paula (Acquanetta, who has no lines). Paula has an uncanny power over wild animals, and is hired by the circus to work with lion tamer Fred Mason (Milburn Stone); most of the scenes of Mason working with lions and tigers are inserts of Stone in stock footage taken from Clyde Beatty features. Unfortunately, Paula develops a lust for Stone -- which brings out her animal instincts -- and tries to get rid of his girlfriend Beth (Evelyn Ankers); Cheela/Paula is able to cut through a person's spinal cord with her fingernails. This weird but oddly likable horror flick could have used twenty more minutes' running time, some more scenes showing Carradine working with the gorilla-turned-girl, and better character development. Still, it's quite entertaining. Ray "Crash" Corrigan plays Cheela the ape, Fay Helm is the ill-fated Nurse Strand, and Lloyd Corrigan is John Whipple, who owns the circus. Followed by Jungle Woman.

Verdict: A hoot! **1/2.

GREAT ALASKAN MYSTERY

GREAT ALASKAN MYSTERY (1944). 13 chapter Universal serial. Directed by Ray Taylor and Lewis D. Collins.

This serial focuses on attempts to steal and use a “Peraton” ray gun that uses a new energized mineral as a power source. At the beginning an evil captain maroons the inventor and party on an iceberg, but they manage to survive for several more chapters of highly moderate and essentially mediocre “excitement.” Yep, Great Alaskan Mystery is more evidence of why Universal was never considered one of the better studios for cliffhanger serials. Milburn Stone is too low-key and dull to make a memorable serial hero. There are a few good scenes, however: a polar bear swims after and attacks a man in the water off the iceberg; and a terrific cliffhanger when a mine car plunges into a pit with the added danger in the fact that it's carrying explosives! The theme music is excellent, and the ever-versatile Jay Novello plays an Eskimo chief. With Marjorie Weaver as Ruth Miller and the always-sinister Martin Kosleck as a nasty turncoat scientist.

Verdict: Okay if you're in the mood for nothing special. **.