MURDER IN THE MUSIC HALL

William Marshall and Vera (Hruba) Ralston

MURDER IN THE MUSIC HALL (1946). Director: John English.

Lila Leighton (Vera Ralston) is a figure skater who appears in an ice show on the stage of a music hall. She is contacted by Carl Lang (Edward Norris), who spent five years in the penitentiary for killing a man named Douglas. Now Carl tells Lila that he was only covering for her, that he knows she killed Douglas out of jealousy. Lila is still digesting this absurd accusation when Carl himself is murdered, literally stabbed in the back in his penthouse. With the aid of her boyfriend, handsome conductor Don Jordan (William Marshall), Lila tries to ferret out who killed Carl before she herself is accused of the crime by Inspector Wilson (William Gargan). The suspects include Lila's fellow performers -- Millicent (Helen Walker of Nightmare Alley), Diane (Julie Bishop of Why Men Leave Home), and Gracie (Ann Rutherford) -- as well as Rita Morgan (Nancy Kelley of The Bad Seed), the wife of gossip columnist George Morgan (Jerome Cowan). 

Suspects: Helen Walker, Ann Rutherford, Julie Bishop

Murder in the Music Hall is a well-turned-out mystery from Republic studios starring the wife, Ralston, of the studio head. The plot has interesting aspects, especially concerning a certain blind stranger, although the true identity of this person is obvious from the first. The identity of the murderer, however, is by no means certain but won't come as that much of a surprise, either. Never a particularly great actress, Ralston generally manages to be appealing, as she is in this. Marshall, Norris, Gargan and the ladies are all adept. There are some skillful real-life figure skaters who put on brief acts as well. James Craven, Jack La Rue and Anne Nagle are also in the cast in small roles. Director John English also helmed a number of serials.

Verdict: Acceptable Republic murder mystery with an interesting cast. **1/2. 

WOMAN WHO CAME BACK

John Loder, Nancy Kelly and Otto Kruger

WOMAN WHO CAME BACK (1945). Director: Walter Colmes.

Returning to Eben Rock, Massachusetts after an absence of two years, Laura Webster (Nancy Kelly of The Bad Seed) is involved in a bus accident in which a strange old witch-like woman who appeared in the night out of nowhere and boarded the bus disappears. Laura was once ready to marry Dr. Matt Adams (John Loder of Old Acquaintance) and their feelings are rekindled, which disturbs Matt's sister, Ruth (Ruth Ford), who thinks Laura is a little strange. Laura herself thinks she's been possessed by an evil witch who was burned at the stake, and frightening incidents occur which has the whole town up in arms ... Woman Who Came Back has a rather interesting is-she-or-isn't-she? plot which is reminiscent of a classic EC comic story, but while the acting isn't bad, the picture lacks real tension and atmosphere. That's too bad, because the movie has some clever notions in it, as well as an interesting wind-up. Otto Kruger [The Jungle Captive] plays the town priest, and Almira Sessions is fun as the creepy, chattering, highly opinionated housekeeper, Bessie.

Verdict: Watch out for old ladies on buses. **1/2.

TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY

TARZAN'S DESERT MYSTERY (1943). Director: William Thiele.

In this very entertaining Cheeta vehicle -- oh, yes, Tarzan (Johnny Weissmuller) and Boy (Johnny Sheffield) are along for the ride -- an absent Jane asks Tarzan to go to a certain jungle to obtain plants that can be used in a serum. But before he and Boy can get there, they have an adventure in the desert involving Prince Selim ( Robert Lowery), a young lady magician named Connie (Nancy Kelly), and bad guys played winningly by Otto Kruger and Joe Sawyer. In the aforementioned jungle Tarzan and company encounter some big lizards [courtesy of stock footage], carnivorous plants, and a giant spider that sets its sights on Boy trapped in its web. All this is lots of fun, but the highlight is when that wonderful chimp Cheeta puts on a show for the natives in the arab city.

Verdict: Cheeta [aka Cheetah] steals the show! ***.

THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR SEASON 1

THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR [1962 - 1965]. First season. 

The half hour Alfred Hitchcock Presents expanded into an hour with a name change to match but with the same droll introductions by the inimitable Alfred Hitchcock. As usual the stories ran the gamut from chillers to crime dramas to suspense stories to murder mysteries. Surprisingly, many of them lacked a final twist or other clever aspect, but were more matter-of-fact, rescued by a good plot or excellent performances. Most of the episodes of the first season were in the "B" or "C" category -- with a couple of "D's" -- but there were also several outstanding "A" episodes. These include: "Captive Audience," with a superb James Mason as a writer losing his grip on reality over a beautiful woman (Angie Dickinson); "Hangover," with Tony Randall trying to piece together the past few days with the help of Jayne Mansfield (whose appearance and solid non-sex kitten performance are a very pleasant surprise); "Paragon," a strange story about a completely self-absorbed woman played winningly by Joan Fontaine; the very moving "Lonely Heart," in which Nancy Kelly is convinced that Gena Rowlands was accidentally given her own baby [both actresses are excellent]; and the completely unpredictable "Death and the Joyful Woman," in which Gilbert Roland ferociously plays a monster father and Lorraine Day is equally good as the secretary who is in love with him. Even the less interesting shows are quite entertaining and well-acted. 

Verdict: Good show, Hitch! ***.

THE BAD SEED

THE BAD SEED (1956). Director: Mervyn LeRoy. 

Horrifying and fascinating study of a woman, Christine Penmark (Nancy Kelly), who slowly begins to realize that her 8-year-old daughter Rhoda (Patty McCormack, pictured) is what today we would call a sociopath, someone born without a conscience, and that she may have been responsible for the deaths of more than one person, including a little boy whose penmanship medal she coveted. Although at first the film (based on a play, which itself was based on William March's novel) is a bit stagy and the acting a little too broad, eventually it becomes more and more intense, the acting fitting the out-sized emotions of the characters. Patty McCormack is wonderful as the loathsome Rhoda, and Nancy Kelly has some very strong moments as she etches a portrait of a woman facing a prospect so unthinkable that it is enough to drive her insane -- which it nearly does. Eileen Heckart almost walks off with the movie in two shattering scenes as the heartbroken and drunken mother of the dead little boy -- her performance is so strong and true that it's almost hard to watch. The ever-weird Henry Jones gives one of his best performances as the doomed handyman Leroy Jessup. There are also notable performances from Evelyn Varden as Christine's landlady and Paul Fix as her writer-father. William Hopper is certainly out-classed in this company but he has only a couple of appearances as Rhoda's father. While the link of "madness" with heredity is compelling, it's also the most dated aspect of the production. LeRoy's direction of the piece is competent, but it's the acting and script that put this over. One can only imagine what this might have been like with Alfred Hitchcock at the helm! McCormack continued acting well into adulthood, appearing in such films as Mommy and Shallow Ground. The film's comic postscript is regrettable. 

Verdict: Surprisingly powerful stuff. ***1/2.