THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER

Richard Dix

THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER (1945). Director: Lew Landers.

Jean Lang (Janis Carter of Slightly French) spies a stranger (Richard Dix of Lovin' the Ladies) in a bar and decides to read his fortune from across the room with playing cards. When the cards say that he faces death within 48 hours, she  decides to see if she can help him, and discovers that he has lost his memory in an accident. Along with her sister, Francie (Jeff Donnell of The Fuller Brush Girl), Jean and the stranger, whom she calls George, hunt down every clue they can to his identity. But will smitten-but-stupid Jean eventually get an unpleasant surprise when she finds out who the man really is ... ? This is the third in the Columbia mystery series based on the radio show The Whistler, and, as usual, the unseen narrator pipes in now and then to push the story along and to, alas, minimize the suspense that's been built up in the first half of the film. Too much information is given away too early so that the final quarter just plods along on a predictable path. This is too bad, because the basic premise is fine, and there are many opportunities for tense sequences (especially one involving a poisoned birthday cake) that are just frittered away by routine direction and not enough taut music. Hitchcock might have done something with this. Dix is pretty good in the lead, the two ladies are fine, and Loren Tindall makes a pleasant impression as Francie's fiance, Charlie. Tala Birell plays a ballet dancer who was once involved with "George."

Verdict: This is one you will probably watch and quickly forget. **1/4. 

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Peter Lorre and Edward Arnold

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (1935). Director: Josef von Sternberg.

"You said you'd show me some of your blundering police methods, and you certainly have!" -- Roderick to Inspector Porfiry.

Roderick (Peter Lorre) is a poor but talented writer on criminal psychology who is months behind in his rent. He is forced to bring some of his possessions to a pawnbroker, Leona (Mrs. Patrick Campbell), a loathsome old lady who insults her clients and offers them little money for their items. Roderick hatches a scheme to get the money he needs, but things go wrong almost from the start. Now Roderick has to deal not only with Inspector Porfiry (Edward Arnold of Lillian Russell), who admires Roderick but comes to suspect him, but with his own conscience. One could argue that the movie is a cinematic "cliff's notes" version of Dostoevsky's famous 1866 novel, but the story and its implications and ironic aspects remain powerful. Lorre gives a great performance, nearly matched by Arnold, and there is also fine work from Marian Marsh [Svengali] as Sonya, whom Roderick has fallen in love with; Tala Birell [The Frozen Ghost] as Roderick's sister, Antonya, who is willing to make any sacrifice for him; Campbell as the old lady and murder victim; Gene Lockhart as Antonya's much-older suitor; Douglass Dumbrille as another man who is in love with the sister; and especially Elisabeth Risdon as Roderick's mother, who gets at least one very strong scene when she finds out the truth about what her beloved son has done. One problem with the movie is that our modern-day knowledge of criminology might cause us to look less sympathetically at Roderick. Nowadays we might even see Dostoevsky's anti-hero as a borderline narcissist and even a sociopath -- his crimes are even worse in the book than they are in the film -- and his "conscience" could simply be worry over being caught, thereby proving him not to be quite as superior as he thought.

Mrs. Patrick Campbell originated the role of Eliza Doolittle in Shaw's Pygmailion on the stage.  She was perhaps most famous for her oft-quoted line: "It doesn't matter what you do in the bedroom as long as you don't do it in the street and frighten the horses." More of a theater person than a film personality, she had only six movie credits, of which Crime and Punishment was the last. She did not enjoy working with von Sternberg, possibly because  he (appropriately) made her look horrible on camera.

Verdict:  Some very raw and powerful acting in this. ***. 

PHILO VANCE'S SECRET MISSION

Alan Curtis and Sheila Ryan

PHILO VANCE'S SECRET MISSION (1947). Director: Reginald Le Borg.

Martin Jamison (Paul Maxey of The Sky Dragon), a publisher of lurid horror and mystery pulp magazines, wants to hire Philo Vance (Alan Curtis) to write a story based on a real-life murder case. The victim was the husband of widowed Elizabeth Phillips (Tala Birell), who is working for Jamison and faints when she discovers Vance will be investigating her late spouse's still-unsolved murder. Jamison announces that he already knows who did it -- and is later found dead in the trunk of a car. Aided by Jamison's cover model, Mona Bannister (Sheila Ryan), Vance attempts to discover who killed the late Mr. Phillips as well as Jamison. Other suspects include Paul Morgan (Frank Fenton of Hell Bound), Louise Roberts (Toni Todd of Philo Vance's Gamble), and others who worked for their deceased boss. Philo Vance's Secret Mission is an acceptable lower case mystery with a not-bad plot, even if the solution is somewhat obvious. Curtis makes a handsome and reasonably adept Philo and the others are all okay. Frank Jenks plays Philo's buddy and sort of-partner, Ernie, and James Bell is the sheriff. This is another PRC release.

Verdict: Passable time-passer. **1/2.

PHILO VANCE'S GAMBLE

Alan Curtis and Vivian (Terry) Austin

PHILO VANCE'S GAMBLE (1947). Director: Basil Wrangell.

"Looks like I just got here in the nicotine." -- Ernie.

Private eye Philo Vance is asked by aspiring actress Laurian March (Vivian Austin) to intercede on her behalf with a con man named Connor (Dan Seymour), who winds up murdered. The suspects include Connor's jilted girlfriend, Gigi (Toni Todd); Laurian's angel, Oliver (Gavin Gordon), who is in love with her; the stylish Tina Cromwell (Tala Birell); and others. When more murders occur, Philo must not only catch the killer, but figure out what to do with an emerald he discovers in the dead man's possessions and which has a lot to do with the case. Philo Vance's Gamble could easily be dismissed as a dull, cliche-ridden mess but it does have an interesting denouement, and some clever touches. Curtis [The Invisible Man's Revenge] makes an acceptable if minor Philo Vance, and Vivian Austin is wildly uneven as Laurian but she does have her moments. Frank Jenks [The Houston Story] scores as Vance's assistant, Ernie, and James Burke is fine as a cop named Burke. Gavin Gordon makes a quirky Oliver, but Tala Birell [The Frozen Ghost] has little to do as Tina. Lovable Grady Sutton appears briefly as an office clerk, and Francis Pierlot is great as Roberts the butler. If this picture does nothing else it shows that chapstick, or something along those lines, was around in the 1940's. The Philo Vance movies once starred William Powell but by the forties they had degenerated into a mostly unmemorable and very brief B movie series with lesser actors.

Verdict: Comes together neatly but takes a long time to get there -- and the pic is only an hour. **.

JUNGLE QUEEN

JUNGLE QUEEN (13 chapter Universal serial/1945). Directors: Lewis D. Collins; Ray Taylor.

"They're walking into their graves and don't know it."

In 1939 on the eve of WW II, the Nazis have sent agents to the "dark continent" believing it is a necessary strategy to take over Africa, and are using "Tambosa" as their base of operations. One of the German agents is Dr. Elise Bork (Tala Birell) who runs an experimental farm, and works with another Nazi named Lang (Douglass Dumbrille). On the side of the angels are Bob Eliot (Edward Norris) and his buddy Chuck (Eddie Quillan), who go on a mission to Africa and share a plane with Pamela Courtney (Lois Collier), whom they suspect of being an imposter until they all wind up lost in the jungle after the plane crashes. The Nazis are trying to force control upon the natives, but they are less successful with a weird white queen named Lothel (Ruth Roman), who shows up unannounced  to make pronouncements, give advice to the natives, and rescue the boys and Pamela; Lothel is also impervious to bullets [where the hell she came from is never explained]. Then there's the "Sword of Tangu," which has a supposed secret, and is coveted by some of the characters. This is a fairly ridiculous serial but it's often entertaining, the leads are all competent, and it has everyone from Cyril Delevanti to Cy Kendall [the untalented Charles Laughton] in the supporting cast. Pamela is nearly eaten by hungry gators and mauled by a lion, there's a volcanic eruption that sends buildings and statues toppling, and Bob is pursued by dozens of salivating crocs in a river, nearly falls into a pit of lions, and is subjected with the others to a deadly gas attack. Birell had a notable role in The Monster Maker and Collier was in Flying Disc Man from Mars and many other movies.

 Verdict: For all of its flaws, it's one of the better Universal chapterplays. ***.

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.

THE MONSTER MAKER

THE MONSTER MAKER (1944). PRC. Directed by Sam Newfield.

Odd but reasonably attention-holding thriller in which J. Carroll Naish plays Markov, a scientist whose experiments with acromegaly have macabre and chilling results. On the run with the pretty assistant Maxine (Tala Birell) who loves him unconditionally, he spots a beautiful woman (Wanda McKay) who greatly resembles his late daughter. In an event that borders a bit grossly on the incestuous [an aspect that the script doesn't really delve into and which the production code would probably never have allowed it to], Naish falls in love with the woman and wants to marry her. Her father, a famous pianist (Ralph Morgan), strenuously objects and Naish deliberately infects the man with fast-acting acromegaly, making him hideously deformed and almost insane, and of course, putting an end to his brilliant musical career. The make up is very good but the stock musical score adds nothing to the picture. Naish is as good as ever – it might be said the unpleasant movie wastes his talents – and Birell also plays the lovelorn, devoted, but jealous gal-pal to the hilt. Glenn Strange appears in the small role of a giant. This strangely disturbing little movie is no classic but it has its moments.

Verdict: Small-scale but interesting. **1/2.