If You Could Read My Mind...

 (imdb)

THE MIND READER-1933-A carnival huckster (Warren William) becomes “The Great Chandra”, a phony fortune teller. He's assisted by Frank (Allen Jenkins) and Sam (Clarence Muse). He meets pretty unemployed stenographer Sylvia (Constance Cummings) and hires her as his secretary. They start to fall in love, even after she discovers his mind reading act is phony. In a town where fortune telling is illegal, he helps the local sheriff by predicting a jewel robbery (he sent it up!). Later a woman (Mayo Methot) accuses Chandra of ruining her life with his “predictions”. When she commits suicide, Sylvia decides to leave him. He gives up the racket for her and becomes a brush salesman in NYC. 

Frank, now a chauffeur, gets Chandra involved in a new scheme exposing cheating husbands with his “power”. He's very successful behind Sylvia's back but he accidentally kills a disgruntled husband with Sylvia right outside his office. Somehow, she's arrested and put on trial for the killing. Chandra hides out in Mexico, drunk and guilt ridden. He exposes his whole act in front of an audience. Then he goes back to NY, confesses, exonerates Sylvia and tries to divorce her but she sticks by him. Final line: “It sure is tough to be going away just when beer is coming back”. 

The Mind Reader was directed by Roy Del Ruth (PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954)) who made the original version of THE MALTESE FALCON in 1931. His last feature film was THE ALLIGATOR PEOPLE in 1959.

Even A Man Who Is Pure In Heart....

THE WOLFMAN-1941-In England Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr.) returns home to Castle Talbot after spending 18 years in America, upon the death of his older brother. His dad Sir John (Claude Rains) wants him to become one of the family again. Cheerful Larry no sooner gets settled when he's fooling around with a telescope and spies Gwen (Evelyn Ankers) in her antique shop. When he visits she tells him about werewolves and the sign of the pentagram.

Larry wants his fortune told so he, Gwen and her friend Jenny (Fay Helm) visit a gypsy camp. There Bela (Bela Lugosi) reads Jenny's fortune and it's not good. He sees a pentagram on her palm. While Larry romances Gwen Bela turns into a werewolf and kills Jenny. Larry kills the werewolf with his silver cane but is bitten in the process. He's helped home by Maleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) . Later the chief of police (Ralph Bellamy) and Doctor Lloyd (Warren William) find Jenny and Bela (not a wolf anymore). The next day Larry recovers and his wolf bite has disappeared. Larry overhears Maleva talking to the dead Bela and finds out he was her son. Later Gwen introduces Larry to her fiance Frank Andrews (Patrick Knowles), game keeper for the estate. Maleva gives Larry the low down on his curse and the gypsies pack up and leave as Larry turns into the title character. His first victim is a gravedigger. Next time he goes out prowling he gets his foot caught in a trap planted by the constable. He passes out but doesn't get caught because Maleva finds him and somehow gets him to change back to human. Larry goes to Gwen for help but when he sees the sign of the pentagram on her palm he freaks out. He confesses his fears to his dad but Sir John doesn't believe it. He straps his son to chair in a locked room while everyone is out hunting the wolf. He transforms and escapes. Gwen winds up in the foggy woods being pursued by hairy Larry. He attacks her but Sir John confronts him and in an ironic twist beats him to death with Larry's cane. Larry turns human and Maleva declares “Your suffering is over”.

 THE WOLF MAN kind of ushered in the second era of Universal horror films. Director George Waggner also did MAN MADE MONSTER with Chaney the same year. He later made THE CLIMAX with Karloff. This has a great cast and the foggy scenes where the wolf man prowls are excellent despite being all done in the studio. Screenwriter Curt Siodmak went on to write several more in the series. Waggner later went into TV. His last work was on the BATMAN TV in the '60's.

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Perry Mason

THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE-1935-Attorney Perry Mason (Warren William) is ready to go on vacation to China when an old friend named Rhoda (Margaret Lindsey) wants his help. It seems Rhoda thought her husband was dead and re-married. Turns out she was wrong and now hubby number one has returned and is blackmailing her. When he winds up dead Perry really gets involved. This very entertaining film has a clever script and great performances. Clare Dodd is Della Street and Allen Jenkins is Mason's right hand man, Spudsy. Olin Howlin is his wise cracking coroner friend. Also with Barton McLane, Donald Woods, Warren Hymer and Errol Flynn in one of his earliest roles (he appears in a short flashback toward the end of the story).

Almost forgotten today Warren William was a big star in his (relatively short) time. He also portrayed The Lone Wolf and Philo Vance and was in the second version of "The Maltese Falcon" called SATAN MET A LADY. This was one of 4 Perry Mason stories he made. He died in 1948 at the age of 53.

Director Michael Curtiz made THE WALKING DEAD starring Boris Karloff the next year.
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Two Strange Films

STRANGE ILLUSION-1945-A teenager (Jimmy Lydon, the former star of the HENRY ALDRICH movie series; not Johnny Rotten’s brother) suspects his mom’s new beau (Warren William in his last role) may have been responsible for his father’s death. He pretends he needs psychiatric help so he can expose the guilty men. He gets help from the family doctor (Regis Toomey) and has a strange, prophetic dream.

Director Edgar G. Ulmer (from Austria-Hungry; now The Czech Republic) made the classic (and controversial) Universal Karloff-Lugosi team-up THE BLACK CAT in 1934 but worked mainly for basement budget companies like PRC turning out some film noir classics like DETOUR (made the year before), BLUEBEARD and THE MAN FROM PLANET X.

Supposedly Ulmer had an affair with a Universal studio boss’ wife (who he later married) which put him on the shit list with all major studios! If anyone could make “ a silk purse out of a sow’s ear” it was Ulmer!



THE STRANGE WOMAN-1946-Strange indeed! Hedy Lamaar stars as the title character who uses her feminine wilds to get whatever she wants. She marries storekeeper Gene Lockhart for his money then woos his son (Louis Hayward). She drives him to kill his old man then dumps him for his best friend (George Sanders), who dumps his own fiancée (Hilary Brooke). Eventually her evil deeds catch up with her in the dumb finale. This farfetched movie only works if you feel Lamaar was “the most beautiful actress ever”. Otherwise...

The rest of the cast includes Ian Keith and future TV Batman butler Alan Napier. Director Ulmer tries hard to do his best with what he’s got but it’s one of his weakest. Lamaar (from Vienna) had made a big splash with her semi-nude scenes in the German made EXTASE in 1932. She had a short successful career in Hollywood and even developed a guiding system for torpedoes during WW2! She retired in the late ‘50’s and was only heard from sporadically after that, several times for her arrests on shoplifting charges. She died in 2000 at 87.




Personally Edgar Ulmer was one of the greatest directors ever!

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The Lone Wolf (not the Japanese guy)

THE LONE WOLF SERIES-This series of films concerned a retired jewel thief named Michael Lanyard. Author Louis Joseph Vance created the character, which had already been filmed many times dating back to the silent days. These four entries are the most popular and they all starred actor Warren William (quite popular in his day as well).


THE LONE WOLF SPY HUNT-1939-Here the title character Michael Lanyard is a well off widower with a small daughter (Virginia Weidler; later in Katherine Hepburn’s sister in THE PHILIDELPHIA STORY) and a butler (Leonard Carey). He gets in hot water when some gangsters (Ralph Morgan and soon to be famous Rita Hayworth) want him to crack a safe containing some government rocket plans. Ida Lupino is his “younger” girlfriend who tries to help but usually just gets in the way. A police inspector (Don Beddoe) and his Sgt. (Tom Dugan) spend a lot of time trying to pin the crime on Lanyard.

The ensuing entries are nothing like this one that may have been an attempted to compete with the popular THIN MAN series. Some of the dialogue is quite funny.

Ben Weldon is the lead henchman. An un-billed Jack Norton is featured as his usual drunk and there are other un-billed appearances by I. Standford Jolly, Vernon Dent, Marc Lawrence and James Craig.

Director Peter Godfrey directed a few other films including THE TWO MRS. CARROLLS and THE WOMAN IN WHITE. Star William was D’Artangan in James Whales’ THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK the same year. Leading lady Lupino became a star a few years later co-starring with Bogart in THE DRIVE BY NIGHT and HIGH SIERRA.




THE LONE WOLF STRIKES-1940-In the second of the popular series William is still the ex-thief Michael Lanyard but now he is no longer a widower nor does he have a daughter. He’s obsessed with raising fish instead! Eric Blore is now cast as his comical butler who longs for the “old days” of crime. Here he’s involved with the theft of some expensive pearls and the murder of a friend. Don Beddoe returns as the police inspector still trying to pin any crime on Lanyard but Fred Kelsey is now his second in command. Also with Addison Richards, Mongtagu Love, Alan Baxter and Joan Perry (who later married Columbia head honcho Harry Cohn). Sidney Salkow directed the next episode too.


THE LONE WOLF MEETS A LADY-1940-Once again The Lone Wolf, Michael Lanyard (Warren William) gets involved in another theft, this time a rare family heirloom. Eric Blore is still his butler. Jean Muir holds the valuables and her ex-husband (Roger Pryor) tries to help thief Victor Jory get them. Lanyard tries to help her and winds up getting the crime pinned on him. Fred Kelsey returns as a detective but his boss is now played by Thurston Hall! Strangely Don Beddoe who played the police inspector in the first two is now reduced to an un-billed role as a coroner! Shemp Howard has one scene as a pickpocket.


THE LONE WOLF TAKES A CHANCE-1941-Warren William and Eric Blore return in the most far-fetched and comical entry of the four. Lanyard uses a plane and a blow-up of a newsreel short to help solve a crime involving an inventor (Lloyd Bridges) and his burglar proof railroad car. Thurston Hall and Fred Kelsey return as the police determined to pin a murder rap on Lanyard. Don Beddoe is now a local sheriff! June Storey, Henry Wilcoxon and Regis Toomey co-star.

Star William (sometimes referred rather unfairly as "the poor man's John Barrymore), would play The Lone Wolf in 5 more features and was the first film portrayer of Perry Mason. He had a small role in Universal’s THE WOLF MAN the same year as TAKES A CHANCE. He played Sam Spade in the second remake of THE MALTESE FALCON, SATAN MET A LADY (although Bette Davis was the star). After The Lone Wolf features he portrayed another detective Philo Vance. He died in 1948 of bone marrow cancer at age 52. One of his last roles was as the villain in Edgar Ulmer’s STRANGE ILLUSION.



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