PHILO VANCE RETURNS

cop vs private eye: Eddie Dunn and William Wright

PHILO VANCE RETURNS (1947). Director: William Beaudine. 

"Mrs. Simns is a neurotic -- an advanced case."

Larry Blendon (Damian O'Flynn) has already had four wives and a girlfriend, but he is smitten again when he meets singer Virginia Berneaux (Ramsay Ames). Unfortunately, Virginia is shot to death not long after being introduced to Larry's grandmother, Stella (Clara Blandick), then Larry himself is found dead. Larry's friend, detective Philo Vance (William Wright) teams up with Virginia's former manager, Alexis Karnoff (Leon Belasco), to look up these former wives -- and the fan dancer Choo Choo (Iris Adrian) -- all of whom were unaccountably mentioned in Larry's will (what, no divorce settlements?). There are more murders, usually involving women who put on a lipstick that's been poisoned. Frank Wilcox [The Devils Mask] is lawyer George Hullman, and Eddie Dunn [A Fig Leaf for Eve] is police lieutenant Mullard, who often finds Vance underfoot and doesn't like it. This one had possibilities in its characters and plot, but it's a minor PRC (Producer's Releasing Corporation) production, which puts it on an even lower level than Monogram. Still, Wright [Reveille with Beverly] is okay as Vance, and most of the performances are at least competent. Albert Glasser did the score.   

Verdict: Standard series mystery with some interesting elements. **

THE BLACK WIDOW (1947)

THE BLACK WIDOW (12 chapter Republic serial/1947). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Fred C. Brannon.

"Wait! Open the tunnels and we'll cremate them!" -- Sombra. 

Sombra, aka The Black Widow (Carol Forman),  heads a group of nasties who are out to take over America and are desperate to get their claws on a new rocket formula. Sombra takes orders from her father, Hitomu (Theodore Gottlieb), who appears in a special chair via molecular teleportation, and comes off more like a Yiddish comedian on the Borscht circuit than a world-class international villain. Two reporters investigate the Black Widow: Joyce (Virginia Lindley/Lee), who is experienced, and Steve Colt (Bruce Edwards), whose only experience is as a writer of detective fiction and who never misses a chance to be obnoxious and sexist with Joyce [true, he also saves her life on more than one occasion].  Forman [Federal Agents vs Underworld Inc.] who is Asiatic by way of Alabama, fairly drips with steely disdain and evil; Virginia Lee proves plucky and makes an acceptable heroine, but Edwards is utterly colorless as the alleged hero. Some of the cliffhangers in this are recycled, but there are nifty ones as well: Joyce, stuck in a crate, nearly tumbles out of an airplane, and is nearly beheaded by a falling pane of sharp glass. Then there's the old gag with a bomb in the car. The business with Sombra's henchmen using a gas to change the color of their car while in flight is clever. All in all this is a very entertaining Republic serial. Tom Steele and Ramsay Ames are also in the cast.

Verdict: Sombra will getcha if you don't watch out! ***.

G-MEN NEVER FORGET

G-MEN NEVER FORGET (12 chapter Republic serial/1948). Directors: Fred C. Brannon; Yakima Canutt.

Federal agent Ted O'Hara (Clayton Moore) pretends to be a hood and Sgt. Frances Blake (Ramsay Ames) a gun moll so they can infiltrate the gang of Vic Murkland, although both are unaware that after having plastic surgery Burkland has now replaced the police commissioner and is trying to trap them at every turn! Cliffhangers include water rushing after O'Hara on a motorcycle after a tunnel collapses [recycled from an earlier serial], and a deadly crane collapse in chapter 4. Tom Steele and Ken Terrell also get in on the action. This is an acceptable, entertaining Republic serial done in its usual slick and fast-paced style. Moore was also in Black Dragons with Bela Lugosi as well as such serials as The Perils of Nyoka, in which he was a good guy, and The Crimson Ghost and Radar Men from the Moon, in which he was a villain. Ramsay Ames was also in The Vigilante and Barcroft appeared in a number of serials including Manhunt of Mystery Island. 

Verdict: Not quite unforgettable but okay. **1/2.

THE VIGILANTE

THE VIGILANTE (15 chapter Columbia serial/1947.) Director: Wallace Fox.

"These days all you've got to do is take a good-looking guy, give him a hat, black boots and a white horse and you've got a star."

The Vigilante, a super-hero who appeared in Action Comics in the 1940's, gets the serial treatment in this cliffhanger from Columbia. Greg Sanders (Ralph Byrd of the Dick Tracy movies and serials) is a cowboy hero in the movies by day, and the roving action hero Vigilante by night. The plot has to do with a herd of beautiful horses and the curse of the "tears of blood" -- referring to pearls that are secreted in their horseshoes.The mysterious "X-1," whose identity is no surprise and who operates out of a nightclub, wants the horses and the pearls and will kill anyone who gets in his way. Byrd is good, Lyle Talbot is Lyle Talbot, Ramsay Ames (The Mummy's Ghost; Calling Dr. Death) is better than usual as the nominal heroine, and George Offerman Jr. makes for a very amiable sidekick, Stuff. Offerman had small roles in the serials The Master Key and Batman and Robin, and appeared in a great many movies, mostly uncredited. The Vigilante even has a couple of pleasant song numbers but, unfortunately, most of its cliffhangers are very prosaic.

Verdict: Entertaining in spite of itself. **1/2.

CALLING DR. DEATH

CALLING DR DEATH (1943). Director: Reginald LeBorg.

Universal studios' first "Inner Sanctum" mystery should have put paid to the series. Although it runs a little over an hour, it seems to be three hours long. Lon Chaney (Jr.) is a doctor whose wife (Ramsay Ames) is murdered. Chaney thinks he must have done it, but there are other suspects, including one of the wife's boyfriends, as well as his disabled wife. The solution is almost obvious from the start. J. Carroll Naish is fine as a policeman, and Patricia Morison does a nice turn as Chaney's nurse. Chaney is only adequate, however, and his whispered thoughts heard on the soundtrack can bring on somnambulance. Ramsay Ames' terrible performance as Stella, Chaney's worse half, pretty much explains why little more was heard of her, although she was in such films as The Mummy's Ghost and others in later years.

Verdict: Could help if you're having trouble getting to sleep. *