Darro & Moreland

CHASING TROUBLE-1940-Jimmy (Frankie Darro) and Jefferson (Mantan Moreland) deliver flowers for an obviously shady florist. When Jimmy finds out his friend Susie (Marjorie Reynolds; later in THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES with Abbott and Costello) has lost her boyfriend (and job) he decides to find her a new one. He thinks someone named Bill Jones would be perfect. Among other things, Jimmy considers himself a handwriting expert. Saboteur Morgan (Alex Callam) convinces Jimmy he's a G-man and makes Jimmy one too so Jimmy can keep an eye on reporter Pat Callahan (Milburn Stone) who's investigating a murder which Morgan committed. Morgan's assistant is Phillips (Tristram Coffin). Naively Jimmy tries to set Susie up with Morgan. Later Jimmy figures out he's a spy and he and his gang have set a bomb at an airplane factory. Callahan winds up in the hospital but a traffic cop (Joe Devlin) helps him get out. Despite the racial subservient role Jeff is a lot wiser than Jimmy, suspecting trouble and questioning his partner's misguided motives. Director Howard Bretherton made UP IN THE AIR with the Darro-Moreland team (they made 8 together for Monogram Pictures).

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Sondergaard and Hatton

 

THE SPIDER WOMAN STRIKES BACK-1946-Jean Kingsley (Brenda Joyce) returns to her hometown after a career somewhere else to be a companion to Zenobia (Gale Sondergaard), a blind woman who lives in a dark house with her mute manservant Mario (Rondo Hatton). 

Zenobia seems a pleasant sort while Mario seems rather sinister. One night while Jean is asleep (obviously drugged) Zenobia comes to Jean's bedroom and draws blood from her. She then meets Mario in the basement where she feeds her carnivorous plants with Jean's blood! After some cattle and a little girl die, Z draws more blood from Jean. 

From a talk between her and Mario we learn Z killed the other girls who came to work for her. She promises Mario, who's sweet on Jean, that Jean won't die. Hal (Kirby Grant), a guy who once asked Jean to marry him, brings agricultural agent Moore (Milburn Stone) in to investigate. Later Jean discovers Z isn't blind and she's making the poison that's killing the cattle. Her mad plan is to drive all the farmers away and buy up all the land that once belonged to her family. In a frenzied effort to burn all the plants when suspicion is thrown on her, she and Mario die. Hal rescues Jean. 

This Universal quickie is like a TV movie running less than an hour. Since it was not a hit, some critics feel this movie signaled the end of the classic Universal Pictures horror run. 

Director Arthur Lubin directed 5 of Abbott & Costello's classic Universal films and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA remake with Claude Rains. Later did most most of the "Francis The Talking Mule" series and in the '60's made THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET. 

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Inner Sanctum #4

THE FROZEN GHOST-1945-Radio hypnotist Gregor the Great (Lon Chaney) believes he killed a man through his hypnotism act. After much soul searching he comes to believe he's losing his mind so his  manager George (Milburn Stone) suggests he take a job helping Madame Monet (Tala Birell) at her wax museum. Naturally trouble brews between Monet and Greg's girlfriend Maura (Evelyn Ankers) and then between Rudi (Martin Kosleck), the weird sculptor and Gregor over the affections of Monet's niece Nina (Elena Verdugo; Chaney's romantic lead in HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN the year before). Later Monet disappears and Greg thinks he killed her. A cynical Shakespeare loving police captain Brant (Douglas Dumbrille) investigates and at one point says "I'm not paid to think". When Nina discovers her aunt's corpse in a wax display she's chased by a knife packing Rudi but comes to suspect Greg when she sees him with aunt's scarf. Soon it's revealed that George and Rudi are in league to drive Greg crazy. Fortunately Gregor and Brant devise a plan and arrive just in time to save Nina from being burned alive. 

This was the fourth of six “Inner Sanctum” miseries, I mean mysteries. It's ok but the story and direction are kind of slipshod. Harold Young had directed Chaney earlier in 1942's THE MUMMY'S TOMB and later made THE JUNGLE CAPTIVE (the last of the Paula Duree/ape woman series). A drunk at the beginning of the film is played (un-billed) by Arthur Hohl (Montgomery from ISLAND OF LOST SOULS).

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Late James Whale

SINNERS IN PARADISE-1938-On a plane to China all the passengers have a story: Anne Wesson (Madge Evans), an unhappy wife trying to escape her jealous husband, Thelma Chase (Charlotte Wynters), an heiress trying to escape union troubles at her factory, a pompous senator (Gene Lockhart), two munitions rivals Brand (Morgan Conway, a future Dick Tracy) and Honeyman (Milburn Stone), an old woman (Nana Bryant), Malone (KING KONG's Bruce Cabot), a gangster known as The Torpedo, wise cracking Iris (Marion Martin) who's escaping a grand jury. Their plane crashes during a storm and only they survive along with the plane's steward Jessup (future western star Don “Red” Barry). 

They find refuge on a tropical island where the only inhabitant is Jim Taylor (John Boles), a loner who lives there with his Asian servant Ping (Willie Fung). He has a boat but won't let them use it because he has a secret of his own for being on the island and isn't exactly thrilled with his unscheduled guests. Later Taylor decides to let them go and get some peace but not all of them will fit in his boat, so some can go and some will have to wait. The munitions rivals can't wait to go and Taylor has to fight them off. Malone saves him. Taylor gets sweet on Thelma and asks her to stay. The munitions rivals hijack the boat (with Ping in it) and the old lady is shot. Taylor tries to remove the bullet but she dies before he can operate. It turns out Taylor was a doctor accused of killing a mobster: the old woman's son! Everyone goes native and some comic parts made me think of “Gilligan's Island”! 

This forgotten adventure/soap opera was directed by the great James Whale who made a few more films after this (THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, GREEN HELL) but was basically on the downside of a once famous career. This was also one of the last film roles for the once popular top billed Madge Evans who retired from films after marrying author Sidney Kingsley (DEAD END). 

John Boles of course had worked previously with Whale on a film of his caled FRANKENSTEIN....

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Ape Sequel

JUNGLE WOMAN-1944-After the events chronicled in CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN, at inquest Dr. Fletcher (J. Carrol Naish) is investigated after he admits murdering one of his patients at his sanitarium. In a flashback the doc tells all. A storm wrecks the circus freeing lions and tigers during lion tamer Fred Mason's act. Paula (Acquanetta), now a full ape saves Mason (Milburn Stone) but is shot down by the police, Fetcher gets the body and at his lab he revives it. Then Mason relates his own flashback (inside Fetcher's!) about the first time Paula Dupree showed up. (Mason's wife Beth (Evelyn Ankers) also tells about almost being attacked by Paula). We also learn that Fletcher now owns the sanitarium of the departed Dr. Walter (played by John Carradine in the first film). The revived ape escapes but when the doc and Willy, his slow witted assistant (Eddie Hyans) search the grounds all they find is a mysterious but beautiful woman. His examination of her is interrupted by a visit from his daughter Joan (Lois Collier) and her boyfriend Bob (Richard Davis/David) who Paula takes a sudden interest in (she finally talks too!). Once again Paula grows jealous. She kills Willy then tries to drown the happy couple when they go canoeing. For a while Bob thinks Fletcher is abusing Paula. Paula menaces Joan but Fletcher kills her. He's exonerated after Paula's corpse is examined which has now reverted to it's original ape form. 

Douglas Dumbrille appears as a non-believing DA, Samuel Hinds is a judge and Tom Keene is a curious doctor. Director Reginald LeBorg made three movies with Lon Chaney (THE MUMMY'S GHOST and 2 INNER STANCTUMS) the same year he made this 61 minute Universal sequel. It would be followed by a second (and last) sequel.  

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Acquanetta

CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN-1943-A Clive Beatty like animal trainer Fred Mason (Milburn Stone) comes back from Africa with a load of wild animals. After he re-captures a loose tiger his girlfriend Beth (Evelyn Ankers) relates a flashback wherein she takes her ailing sister Dorothy (Martha Vickers) to a sanitarium run by a suave and famous doctor Sigmund Walters (John Carradine) because she has “glandular troubles”. Later Walters takes a shine to Mason's pet gorilla Cheela (Crash Corrigan) and has a recently fired handler (Paul Fix) steal the ape so the doctor can use it in an experiment. Using glandular fluid from Dorothy and his nurse (Fay Helm) he transforms Cheela into the beautiful Paula Dupree (Acquanetta) who arrives at the circus just in time to save Mason from a lion as she seems to have some power over the animals. The circus boss (Lloyd Corrigan) hires her to keep an eye on the lions and tigers while Mason performs with them. Everything is fine until Paula sees Mason kiss Beth. Obviously jealous she begins to turn back into her old simian self and tries to kill Beth. Later Walters plans another experiment using both sisters but Paula/Cheela kills him and heads for the circus arriving just in time to save Mason when a lightening storm wrecks the place. She's shot and dies....or does she?

This little horror film may seem like just another Universal quickie but 2 sequels followed. It's been said that the only reason Milburn Stone (later “Doc” on the long running TV western GUNSMOKE) got the lead is because of his resemblance to the real Clive Beatty who is actually working with the animals in the long shots. Director Edward Dmytryk does a good job of matching them together but the strange flashback almost makes it seem as though the movie was re-edited before it's release. Carradine is his usual cool collected self as the mad but total rational doctor but it's the exotic Acquanetta who steals the show, although some may be disappointed by her brief turn as a hairy ape woman.

In real life Acquanetta's origins are a bit of a mystery though born in Wyoming many  biographies list her real name as Mildred Davenport while the actress herself claimed a different moniker. She co-starred in several other Universal movies and returned for  a "Captive" sequel.

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Watching The Detective!

NICK CARTER-MASTER DETECTIVE-1939-In his first starring role Walter Pidgeon plays Nick Carter, a NYC detective. He's hired by the owner of a defense plant (Addison Richards ) where a new kind of plane is being tested to prevent anymore sabotage by foreign agents. Henry Hull plays the scientist who invented it. After he's killed Carter suspects a nurse (Rita Johnson) but it's really the seemingly nice guy doctor (Stanley Ridges. who was in BLACK FRIDAY with Karloff &Lugosi the next year).

Martin Kosleck and Milburn Stone are spies who pretend to be injured and smuggle out microfilm. Henry Victor (the strong man in FREAKS) is the head of the spy ring. Donald Meek plays a comical private eye/bee keeper who shows up at various times to try and help. The climax takes place at sea with Carter in an aerial duel with the spies' boat. Sterling Holloway and Frank Faylen have small roles.

There's nothing special about this little mystery but it moves along quickly. In fact it almost seems like a an overlong TV show. Oh wait, I forgot TV hadn't been invented in 1939!

The first Nick Carter story appeared as a "dime store" novel in 1886! The persona of Carter was revised several times (like becoming more of a Pulp hero in the early '30's to compete with THE SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE). Several silent films made in France first featured the detective.

After an MGM trilogy Columbia made a serial featuring Nick's son Chick! The character was later again revived in for two movies featuring Eddie Constantine in the lead role. Robert Conrad played him in a made for TV movie in 1972. A radio series ran from 1943 to 1955.

NCMD was only the second full length feature for French born director Jacques Tourneur who in 1942 would direct the classic CAT PEOPLE.

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