HER FIRST ROMANCE (1940)

Edith Fellows and Wilbur Evans

HER FIRST ROMANCE (1940). Director: Edward Dmytryck.  Colorized.

Linda (Edith Fellows of Girls' Town) is a supposedly plain 17-year-old college freshman with an older half-sister and guardian, Eileen (Julie Bishop of Why Men Leave Home), who is cruel and selfish. Katy (Marian Kerby), the peppery housekeeper, can see right through bitchy Eileen, and makes up her mind to help Linda go to the prom -- and get the right dress -- despite her sister's edict that she cannot attend. Linda's being asked to the prom is just a fraternity joke, but when the boys see how transformed -- and downright beautiful -- she is, they all want to be her date. But that honor goes to handsome baritone Philip Niles (Wilbur Evans), who runs into Linda when both are busy singing in the woods!

Alan Ladd and Julie Bishop

Her First Romance is pure romantic fantasy, but it has a degree of charm and some very nice singing. Edith Fellows makes an appealing heroine, but once she becomes officially "beautiful," she's far less interesting. At the halfway point the movie becomes sillier and more incredible, with people falling in and out of love at the drop of a hat. Fellows had been acting since she was six, and amassed over eighty credits. Wilbur Evans appeared mostly on the stage, as he only had four appearances in movies, but with his looks and talent he should have become more famous. (Appearing in a Monogram picture probably didn't help him.) In a supporting role is Alan Ladd (of The Glass Key), as Eileen's fiance, whom she stole away from another sister, Marion (Judith Linden). Ladd, of course, went on to major stardom. The music includes the love duet in the forest; another duet from Don Giovanni; "My Love for You;" and Evans singing a version of Tchaikovsky's "Piano Concerto No. One." You watch the film to the end to see Eileen get her comeuppance, although she deserves worse than she gets.

Verdict: Just buy a new dress and the boys will all pant for you! **1/4. 

JUNIOR PROM

Freddie Stewart

JUNIOR PROM (1946). Director: Arthur Dreifuss.

"You're all acting like a bunch of drips!"

At Whitney High School there's an election for student body president, with the two nominees being Freddie Trimball (Freddie Stewart) and Jimmy Forrest (Jackie Moran of Barefoot Boy). Jimmy's father tells the principal, Professor Townley (Milton Kibbee), that if his son doesn't win the election the school won't get new uniforms or any donation from him. Initially Freddie drops out of the race for the good of the school, although Townley refuses to buckle under. But eventually Freddie and Jimmy run a heated campaign, with Jimmy's manager, Roy (Frankie Darro), going so far as to romance school reporter Betty Rogers (Noel Neill of Superman) to get his man favorable publicity, leading to an estrangement between Betty and her two sisters. Every once in awhile someone, mostly Freddie, breaks out in a song ...

June Preisser and Freddie Stewart

Junior Prom was the first starring role for the now-forgotten Freddie Stewart, an amiable and nice-looking crooner who sang for Tommy Dorsey. Unfortunately, his Hollywood offers only included one from cheapie Monogram studios, who cast him in a series of "Teen Agers" films, of which Junior Prom was the first. His love interest was generally June Preisser [Strike Up the Band], herein cast as Dodie Rogers. He made eight more "Teen Agers" movies even though he was already 21 at the time of filming this flick, and the other "teens" were a bit long-in-the-tooth as well. His various attempts at a comeback were not successful.

Harry the Hipster: This was once the epitome of "cool"

As for Junior Prom, it is also amiable, with some snappy dance numbers and an especially good routine from Preisser during a lively "Teen Canteen" production number, which also features bandleader Abe Lyman (black musician Eddie Heywood appears in an earlier sequence). Another cast member is Warren Mills, who plays the borderline camp and take-charge Lee Watson. "What if you didn't have a boy to take you to the prom?" Dodie asks Lee. "What if I did?" replies Lee, who doesn't seem adverse to the idea even if he's going with Dodie's other sister, Addie (Judy Clark). Murray Davis is cast as fat soda jerk Tiny, but his supposedly funny shtick can sometimes he painful. The picture has the usual tiresome swing vs classical music business. Harry "the Hipster" Gibson, playing himself, does one irritating number. This was his only film appearance.

Verdict: Enthusiastic and talented players, but for most of them this was not an auspicious debut. **3/4. 

THE SHADOW RETURNS

Cyril Delevanti as the butler Adams threatened by the Shadow's shadow

  THE SHADOW RETURNS (1946). Director: Phil Rosen.

By 1946 pulp stories had been pretty much replaced by comic book heroes, but somebody at Monogram studios apparently figured there was still life in the character, and hired Kane Richmond of Spy Smasher serial fame to play Lamont Cranston in what would be the first of three features. While nowhere nears as dynamic a figure as the Shadow of the serial with Victor Jory, at least the Monogram series actually put Cranston in a costume and made him more than an amateur criminologist. By and large The Shadow Returns, while no world-beater, was an improvement over the two Shadow films with a completely miscast Rod La Rocque. 

Kane Richmond as the Shadow

The Shadow Returns has our hero, along with Margo Lane (Barbara Read of Three Smart Girls) and comedy relief driver Shrevvie (Tom Dugan), having an adventure that mostly takes place in the mansion of gem dealer Michael Hasdon (Frank Reicher of Son of Kong), who apparently commits suicide. There are other murders as Cranston and his pals investigate from one end, while dyspeptic Inspector Cardona (Joseph Crehan) and Commissioner Weston (Pierre Watkin) -- who in this is Cranston's uncle -- investigate from another, and it's no secret who will come up with the solution first. There's a formula for plastic that's worth millions, and a series of men falling off of balconies to their deaths. There are a number of colorless suspects, but there isn't much fun in finding out who the killer is. 

Kane Richmond and Barbara Read

Like the La Rocque movies, there's way too much supposedly comical banter and the whole approach is lightweight and mediocre. Instead of a cape, the Shadow wears a long coat with a belt. Richmond is okay as the flippant hero but he lacks distinction, which is also true of the comparatively plain Barbara Read as Margo. The inevitable Pierre Watkin is as mediocre as ever as the commissioner. Followed by Behind the Mask. 

Verdict: The Shadow Lite. **. 

BEHIND THE MASK

Kane Richmond as the Shadow

BEHIND THE MASK (1946). Director: Phil Karlson.

The day before Lamont Cranston's (Kane Richmond) marriage to Margo Lane (Barbara Read), he learns that an impostor has broken into the office of the Daily Bulletin and murdered blackmailing reporter Jeff Mann (James Cardwell). Angered by this impersonation, Cranston leaves the pre-wedding party to investigate, incurring the extremely childish wrath of his fiancee. To make matters worse, Margo's maid Jenny (Dorothea Kent) is just as shrill and immature as Margo is, and has a vendetta against her boyfriend, the hapless Shrevvie (now played by George Chandler).

George Chandler, Barbara Read, Kane Richmond

Behind the Mask might have been a decent mystery were it not for the fact that Monogram studios decided to combine the Shadow character with elements of screwball comedy, with the result that nothing really works. The antics of Margo and Jenny, who are constantly hitting their boyfriends, are so tiresome as to be excruciating, and pretty much crowd out any real entertainment value the picture might have had. Joseph Crehan, repeating his role as dyspeptic Inspector Cardonna, is too manic in this by far, and he also loves to keep hitting Cranston. There are a couple of aborted cat fights and more than enough scenes of Margo becoming hysterical because Cranston supposedly has other women's unseen lipstick on his face.

Marjorie Hoshelle with Bill Christy on left and Kent and Crehan on the right 

Chandler plays the role of Shrevvie more like a butler and assistant and is not as stupid as in the previous film, The Shadow Returns. Richmond is a perfectly okay actor who desperately needs a better script and a bigger studio. James Cardwell [The Shanghai Cobra] makes an impression as the rakish reporter Jeff and it's a shame he gets bumped off so early. Edward Gargan [Detective Kitty O'Day] provides the film's few moments of fun as a detective who's suffering from the flu and alleged hallucinations, and Marjorie Hoshelle [The Mask of Dimitrios] is very vivid and striking as Mae, who is mixed up in illegal betting. Robert Shayne is very young and good-looking in this but his performance is no great shakes, and poor Pierre Watkin is as blah as ever as the police commissioner and Cranston's uncle.

Verdict: This has little to do with the Shadow pulp stories. *1/2.  

THE MISSING LADY

Jo-Carroll Dennison and Kane Richmond

THE MISSING LADY (1946). Director: Phil Karlson.

When a series of murders occur that center on a stolen statue called the "Jade Lady," Lamont Cranston (Kane Richmond) investigates and tries to find out just who is killing whom. This is the third and last of the Monogram "Shadow" pictures and it's a very slight improvement over the first two even if Cranston never appears in costume and "The Shadow" is never even mentioned; Cranston is simply a criminologist, which is why he can hold his own in a fight with one man but is helpless against two guys, one of whom has a gun. For most pulp heroes, even a gang of men would be no problem!

Richmond in the elevator with Almira Sessions and Nora Cecil

The problem with this trio of films is that producer George Callahan should have fired screenwriter George Callahan, who has absolutely no feel for the character. Callahan could turn out excellent scripts, such as the Charlie Chan film The Scarlet Clue, but the comedy in that wasn't so inappropriate. The Missing Lady, like the previous Shadow film Behind the Mask, at least starts out well, with an air of mystery and a bit of suspense, but then we're reintroduced to Margo Lane (Barbara Read) and her maid Jennie (Dorothea Kent) and the silliness begins, although in this entry the gals' involvement is somewhat mercifully limited -- but not enough. The movie really gets loopy with the introduction of two elderly sisters who own the building Cranston lives in and love to play elevator operator, racing up and down the shaft for fun. Pierre Watkin is a little more animated as the commissioner and James Flavin, now playing Inspector Cardona, is suitably apoplectic. George Chandler returns as Shrevvie. The supporting players include Jo-Carroll Dennison as the slinky Gilda; James Cardwell as an insurance investigator; Jack Overman as a husky bad guy named Ox; Frances Robinson [Red Barry] as his wife, Anne; Claire Carleton [Too Many Winners] as the hard-boiled blond, Rose; and the ever-reliable Anthony Warde as the nasty gunsel, Lefty.

Verdict: Stick with The Shadow serial and forget these forgotten "Bs" **. 

FRECKLES COMES HOME

Mantan Moreland and Laurence Criner

FRECKLES COMES HOME (1942). Director: Jean Yarbrough.

Summoned by his old pal Danny (Marvin Stephens of Borrowing Trouble), "Freckles" Winslow (Johnny Downs) comes back to Fairfield, Indiana, accompanied on the bus by a stranger named Muggsy Dolan (Water Sande of Blonde Ice). Muggsy pulled off a bank robbery in which a guard was killed, and has taken it on the lam, figuring quiet, isolated Fairfield is as good a place to hide out as any. He gets it into his head to rob the bank and brings in an associate, Quigley (Bradley Page). Danny lost money that he needed to pay bills for his hotel by buying an alleged gold-finding machine, and wants Freckles' help in using old girlfriend Jane Potter (Gale Storm) to convince her banker father, Hiram Potter (John Ince), to build a new highway into town, increasing business. Freckles is irritated because Jane seems to go for Quigley's oily charm. Meanwhile hotel porter Jeff (Mantan Moreland) has fun trying to convince Quigley's chauffeur, Roxbury (Lawrence Criner), to buy his phony machine. Freckles Comes Home has an amiable cast, including Betty Blythe [The Spanish Cape Mystery] as Hiram's wife and Irving Bacon as the ditsy town constable, but the picture is completely stolen by Moreland and Criner, especially in a very funny sequence when the two argue over which of them is to get the more comfortable bed in their hotel room. These are two great comic actors in their prime. Otherwise this is a typical Monogram quickie. Apparently this has nothing to do with the old Freckles newspaper comic strip.

Verdict: Short Monogram flick is fairly easy to take. **3/4.

BAREFOOT BOY

Jackie Moran and Marcia Mae Jones

BAREFOOT BOY (1938). Director: Karl Brown.

Billy Whittaker (Jackie Moran) is a small town boy who runs about barefoot all the time and has a crush on a neighbor girl named Julia (Marilyn Knowlden). Vying for her affections is an obnoxious lad named Kenneth Hale (Bradley Metcalfe), whose father, John (Ralph Morgan of The Monster and the Ape), is just out of prison and sends the arrogant youngster to live with the Whittakers. An old house in the woods holds a secret, not only the bank notes supposedly stolen by John Hale but the real criminals, hiding out, as well. Marcia Mae Jones [Haunted House] plays Julia's sister Pige, who is even more obnoxious than Kenneth, and Johnnie Morris is their likable brother, Jeff. Barefoot Boy is supposedly inspired by the poem of the same name, but it really has nothing to do with it -- this is just another Moran/Jones movie from Monogram. Moran and most of the other actors are fine, but the movie is cheap and unmemorable. Pudgy-faced, plain, and extremely irritating, most viewers probably wanted to strangle Miss Jones. Metcalfe makes a better impression as Kenneth.

Verdict: Proof that some children should be seen and not heard. *1/2.

SWING PARADE OF 1946

Will Osborne and Mary Treen

SWING PARADE OF 1946 (1946). Director: Phil Karlson.

"... a tender word can mend a lot."

Aspiring singer Carol Lawrence (Gale Storm) is thrown out of her boarding house and can't get a job, so she becomes a process server for a grumpy, disapproving man, Mr. Warren (Russell Hicks of The Flying Saucer), who wants to close down his own son, Danny's, nightclub. Instead. Carol takes a job with Danny (Phil Regan), getting her in trouble with Warren and almost with Danny when he learns about the summons. Middle-aged Marie (Mary Treen), who seems to like Danny, develops a hankering for bandleader Will (Will Osborne) instead and tells off Old Man Warren. Then we have the Three Stooges as terrible waiters, and a couple of pleasant enough song numbers. Storm is perky and efficient, as ever, and once-popular Regan [We're in the Money] is handsome and has a smooth singing voice. Mary Treen [Blonde from Brooklyn] was a likable character actress with about a zillion credits, but although she had a way with a line and was frequently both adept and amusing, she never quite became well-known like, say, Eve Arden. There was something a little more distinctive about Arden, and while she wasn't a raving beauty, either, she was better-looking and more sensual than Treen. Treen has a bit more to do in this film but, alas, it's a Monogram picture. Will Osborne was a bandleader of the time who played himself in a couple of movies and was appealing. Singer Connee Boswell also plays herself; she had a few other credits as well.

Verdict:  Another amiable but third-rate Monogram musical. **.

STAGE STRUCK (1948)

Kane Richmond and Audrey Long

STAGE STRUCK (1948). Director: William  Nigh.

Benny Nordick (John Gallaudet of Docks of New Orleans) who runs a night club and a acting school racket, murders hopeful Helen Howard (Wanda McKay) because she knows too much about his sleazy operation. Nick Mantee (Kane Richmond) helps Nordick cover up the crime and becomes his partner. Ignoring the advice of Lt. Williams (Conrad Nagel of All That Heaven Allows) and his assistant Sgt. Ramey (Ralph Byrd), Helen's sister Nancy (Audrey Long)  takes it upon herself to go undercover at Nordick's school. Dodging persistent passes from Mantee and suspicious glances from Nordick, she tries to find out what she can. Stage Struck is a passable Monogram entry with an interesting cast, most of whom were down on their luck. Lt. Williams' reason for being tough with Helen after she learns of her sister's murder makes no sense, and his piousness gets a little tiresome as well. The leads are fine in this cheap production, and Anthony Warde, Pamela Drake and Evelyn Brent [Holt of the Secret Service] have smaller roles and are equally effective. I've no doubt that acting and modeling schools that are more interested in taking gullible people's money than helping their careers still exist in every major city. Richmond and Byrd, of course, were major serial heroes. Richmond amassed over 100 credits, but this was his last film; he retired from movies to work in the fashion industry. Byrd did a few more films and died rather young in 1952.

Verdict: Distinctive Nagel, Byrd and Richmond help put this over. **.

DETECTIVE KITTY O'DAY

Jean Parker and Peter Cookson

DETECTIVE KITTY O'DAY (1944). Director: William Beaudine.

Kitty O' Day (Jean Parker) works for Oliver Wentworth (Oliver Earle), who has also hired her boyfriend, Johnny Jones (Peter Cookson), to deliver some important papers. Wentworth is murdered and the papers are missing, and Kitty determines to find out what's what and clear both her and Johnny's names. Suspects include Veda Ann Borg as Wentworth's much-younger widow; Douglas Fowley as her possible love interest; Herbert Heyes as another attorney; and Olaf Hytten [Shanghai Chest] as the butler, Charles. Blowsy Kitty keeps tripping over bodies as she investigates, and winds up balancing on a ledge with Johnny in a scary-funny sequence set in an apartment building. Parker [Flying Deuces] isn't bad, Cookson is as good (and wasted) as ever, Tim Ryan (who co-wrote the screenplay) is fine as typically harried Inspector Clancy, and Edward Gargan scores as Clancy's befuddled and put-upon assistant, Mike. Followed by a sequel.

Verdict: A monogram picture that actually has a few real laughs in it to go with some good acting. **1/2.

THE GIRL WHO DARED

Peter Cookson

THE GIRL WHO DARED (1944). Director: Howard Bretherton.

Ann Carroll (Lorna Gray) and her brother Josh (Kirk Alyn of Superman) are given a lift by the mysterious Rufus Blair (Peter Cookson) to a sort of haunted house party on an island that lies past a causeway. However, the owners of the house, Beau and Chattie Richmond (John Hamilton and Vivien Oakland), never sent out any invitations. While the group is pondering who might have invited people to a non-party, one of a pair of twins (Veda Ann Borg) is found murdered. The phone lines are cut and the causeway is cut off due to a storm. Everything seems to be tied into a theft of radium which someone is killing for. The suspense is quite bearable in this otherwise entertaining if distinctly minor Monogram mystery. The cast is game enough, with Willie Best [My Little Margie] making the best impression (despite the old-fashioned nature of his acting) as the funny and likable manservant Woodrow, along with Peter Cookson [Shadow of Suspicion], who proves once again that he was a criminally underutilized leading man. Roy Barcroft and Grant Withers are also in the cast. Howard Bretherton directed a number of serials, Charlie Chan movies, and Frankie Darro features.

Verdict: The girl who dared what? **1/2 out of 4.

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. ***.

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE

Benson Fong, Mantan Moreland and Marianne Quon

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE SECRET SERVICE (1944). Director: Phil Rosen.

In Washington D.C. the inventor of a new weapon holds a cocktail party but stupidly refuses body guards. Naturally, said scientist winds up dead, the torpedo plans stolen. Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) arrives to find those plans and arrest the guilty party. But is it gruff Luis Vega (Gene Roth of Earth vs. the Spider); wheelchair-bound Paul Arranto (George J. Lewis of Ghost of Zorro); David Blake (Barry Bernard), of the Department of Political Economy; the housekeeper Mrs. Hargue (Sarah Edwards); or the dithery Mrs. Winters (Lelah Tyler); among others. Surely it can't be Inspector Jones (Arthur Loft) or Sergeant Billings (Davison Clark)? This is the first Charlie Chan picture for Monogram studios, and it's a typically cheap production, but it has its moments. Nobody ever seems to give a damn about the dead man, even though he was an important scientist and everyone's host! Jimmy Chan (Victor Sen Yung) is gone, replaced by his less interesting brother, Tommy (Benson Fong), as well as his sister, number two daughter, Iris (Marianne Quon), who is cute if little else. This movie introduces the popular character of Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland, whose name leads the list of supporting players in bigger letters), who appeared in the later Chan films. Phil Rosen directed many Charlie Chan pictures as well as such stuff as Spooks Run Wild.

Verdict: Serviceable Chan film with some clever moments. **1/2.

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT

Sidney Toler and Benson Fong

CHARLIE CHAN IN THE CHINESE CAT (aka The Chinese Cat/1944). Director: Phil Rosen.

"One Chan at a time is enough! No more murders for me!' -- Birmingham Brown.

Six months after the police are stumped by a "locked room" murder in which Thomas Manning is found shot, a work of fiction, "Murder by Madame," comes out which puts the blame on the widow, Mrs. Manning (Betty Blythe of A Fig Leaf for Eve). It appears that the woman's first husband died mysteriously as well, but this sub-plot is dropped early on. Mrs. Manning's daughter, Leah Manning (Joan Woodbury), who apparently took her stepfather's name, importunes Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) to finally solve the case and remove the cloud of suspicion over her mother. Charlie also makes a bet with the novelist, Recknik (Ian Keith of Cleopatra) as to whether or not the detective will come up with a new solution. There's a hidden staircase (which makes you wonder why anyone considered it a "locked room" puzzle); gems secreted inside cat statues with hidden compartments; and a climax inside a fun house on a pier. Alas, the one thing this movie doesn't have is any real suspense. While different and not as lovable as Victor Sen Yung, Benson Fong is quite good as Tommy Chan. Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland), now a Yellow cab man in New York, gets in on the action whether he wants to or not. Detective Harvey Dennis (Walden Heyburn) happens to be Leah Manning's boyfriend, and the ever-mediocre Cy Kendall is the late Manning's business partner, Webster Deacon. John Davidson [The Perils of Pauline] plays creepy-looking twins.

Verdict: Fairly standard Chan picture is not one of the better ones. **.

MEETING AT MIDNIGHT/BLACK MAGIC

Sidney Toler and Helen Beverly

MEETING AT MIDNIGHT (aka Black Magic/1944). Director: Phil Rosen.

"Mr. Chan, I've been leavin' ever since I got here." -- Birmingham Brown.

During a seance, the lights go out and the medium is found shot to death. The strange thing is that an autopsy reveals there's a gunshot wound in the body but no bullet! [The explanation for this is clever even if today's forensics people might scoff.] The suspects include the widow, Mrs. Bonner (Jacqueline deWit of The Damned Don't Cry); Norma Duncan (Helen Beverly), who bore the man a grudge; assistants Tom and Vera Starky (Charles Jordan and Claudia Dell); mousy fan manufacturer, Edwards (Harry Depp); and two victims of blackmail, Hamlin (Frank Jaquet) and Harriet Green (Geraldine Wall), who had a brief fling with the murdered man. The cops are Rafferty (Ralph Peters) and Matthews (Joseph Crehan of The Case of the Black Parrot). A suspenseful scene has another victim hypnotized into throwing herself off of a roof, something which nearly happens to Charlie in the film's best sequence and climax. Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland of On the Spot) is along for the ride but Tommy Chan has been replaced by his sister Frances (coincidentally played by a not-very-talented actress named, believe it or not, Francis Chan. A decade earlier she also played a Chan daughter in the lost film Charlie Chan's Greatest Case with Warner Oland.). This is another rather mediocre Monogram cheapie but it does pick up a bit towards the end. NOTE: Actress Jacquline deWit spelled it "DeWit," "de Wit" and probably others.

Verdict: Neither Charlie's best nor worst. **1/2.

THE RED DRAGON (1945)

Sidney Toler,  Fortunio Bonanova, Benson Fong, Willie Best 

THE RED DRAGON (1945). Director: Phil Rosen.

Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) and son Tommy (Benson Fong) are in Mexico City when Charlie is called in to investigate what turns out to be a series of strange murders. People are being shot to death in front of witnesses but nobody (but Chan, of course) can figure out how come there is no assailant in the room or even exactly what kind of weapon has been used. The first victim is a man who discovered a 95th element whose destructive powers in an atomic bomb could wipe out the entire country! The suspects include Marguerite Fontan (Carol Hughes of Meet the Boyfriend), whom Inspector Carvero (Fortunio Bonanova) has special feelings for; Countess Irena (Marjorie Hoshelle), an entertainer with a shady background; Alfred Wyans (Robert Emmett Keane), who is all excited over the loss of a certain typewriter; Joseph Bradish (Barton Yarborough), an oil salesman or possible smuggler; and others. With Mantan Moreland working elsewhere at the time, Birmingham Brown is replaced by his cousin Chattanooga (Willie Best of Dangerous Money). The title refers to a type of Chinese ink. The members of the supporting cast in this are mostly colorless, but the story has clever elements and the leads are, as ever, swell. And we mustn't forget the scene when Charlie does the rumba to the shock of son Tommy!

Verdict: Chan capably treading water. **1/2.

THE LION HUNTERS

THE LION HUNTERS (1951). Writer/director: Ford Beebe.

Yes, Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) is back in his fourth adventure, discovering that a lion has been injured and left to die in agony. At first Bomba blames the Masai tribe, but then learns that certain hunters are capturing the noble beasts presumably to put in zoos and circuses. Bomba doesn't feel that any animal should lose his freedom, and a young lady named Jean (Ann Todd) comes to agree with him. Jean is the daughter of the kind-hearted Tom Forbes (Morris Ankrum of Rocketship X-M), but his business partner and fellow trapper Marty (Douglas Kennedy of Flaxy Martin) isn't quite so benevolent. Meanwhile Bomba sneaks through Forbes' encampment and frees all of the lions. In another development the Masai chief's son goes out to kill a lion as a rite of passage but panics, with Bomba trying to prevent further bloodshed. An all-out lion attack caps the action. This is not a bad Bomba adventure, and the stock footage is very cleverly integrated into the new action. Ann Todd, aka Ann E. Todd, is not to be confused with the British actress of the same name. She was a nice actress and had many film credits but this was her last film. She then became a regular for many episodes of The Stu Erwin Show. Sheffield, now twenty-one, makes a very appealing hero exhibiting both a strong and sensitive nature.

Verdict: The lions are beautiful. **1/2.

WHEN STRANGERS MARRY/BETRAYAL

Neil Hamilton confers with Robert Mitchum

WHEN STRANGERS MARRY (aka Betrayal/1944), Director: William Castle.

Mildred Baxter (Kim Hunter) marries in haste and then has reason to worry. Her new husband, Paul (Dean Jagger) is [unnecessarily] secretive and she comes to suspect that he may be the notorious silk tie strangler. Fred Grahm (Robert Mitchum), who has always loved Millie, tries to be supportive and also has meetings with Lieutenant Blake (Neil Hamilton), who suggests he knows more than he's saying. When Strangers Marry is a pretty dull alleged suspense film whose twist comes as little surprise. The only lively scene takes place in a black jazz club, supposedly in Harlem. Hunter [The Seventh Victim] is good, Mitchum is very good, Jagger [The Brotherhood of the Bell] is hamstrung by his role, and Hamilton is Hamilton. When Millie moves into her new apartment there's a photo of director William Castle [Macabre] on the mantle.

Verdict: A Monogram cheapie and it shows. *1/2.

UP IN THE AIR

Darro, Renolds, Moreland, and Coffin have a conference

UP IN THE AIR (1940). Director: Howard Bretherton.

Frankie (Frankie Darro) is a page boy in a radio studio who tries to impress new receptionist Anne (Marjorie Reynolds of The Time of Their Lives) by pretending to be a producer, which doesn't sit well with her or with their boss, Mr. Farrell (Tristram Coffin). Farrell and others at the station are having problems with difficult, bitchy radio singer Rita Wilson (Lorna Gray of The Perils of Nyoka) but those problems abruptly end when she's shot dead by an unknown person during a rehearsal. Will Anne be chosen to go on in her place? Will Frankie and his buddy Jeff (Mantan Moreland) unveil the murderer before the police do? Yes, it's another Darro-Moreland mystery comedy from Monogram studios, full of flavorful actors but without much of a story. Gordon Jones (The Green Hornet) is a lousy cowboy singer; Dennis Moore (The Purple Monster Strikes) is a gag writer; Dick Elliott is Hastings, the station owner; and John Holland (The Girl in Black Stockings) -- also Alice's handsome boss on an episode of The Honeymooners -- is Sam Quigley, another executive. Neither of the "girl" singers really do justice to the snappy number "Conga;" the best scene has Mantan Morelamd doing a soft shoe routine.

Verdict: Very likable leads but where's the decent script? **.

ON THE SPOT

Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland

ON THE SPOT (1940). Director: Howard Bretherton.

Frankie Kelly (Frankie Darro), a soda jerk in a drug store with an eye on becoming a doctor, and his buddy Jefferson (Mantan Moreland) are in the store when a dying gangster with a bullet in him comes in and tries to impart information before expiring. Everyone -- townspeople, cops and crooks alike -- thinks the fellows were told where the dead man stashed some loot, but they actually know nuthin'. When another mobster is shot in the drug store, Frankie makes up his mind to find out who the killer is. John St. Polis is the "doc" who owns the drug store, and Mary Kornman is his daughter, Ruth. Maxine Leslie plays a lady investigator who gets a room in Frankie's house, making Ruth slightly jealous. I could swear that's Tristram Coffin in the role of her boss, but he is neither credited nor listed on imdb.com. In any case, Darrro and Moreland are as likable and professional as ever, but this very minor poverty row movie is pretty much a waste of time. The two actors did a whole series of similar films for Monogram studios.

Verdict: Darro and Moreland always make a good team, but ... **.