The Girl Who Dared

While this film has no big names (in fact no names I have heard at all), it still manages to be a fun "old dark house" film with a clever plot and interesting characters. The story and plot revolve around radiation, which I found to be very appropriate and a bit novel for the 1940s.

I also have to call out the black servant, Woodrow, played by Willie Best. Best may not be a household name, but he had an incredible career (including such films as "High Sierra" and "Cabin in the Sky"). Maybe it is wrong of me to find humor in these "black servant" roles. Maybe they are racist. But Best does them well, making the characters he plays endearing and fun. I look forward to seeing his work.

I recommend this film. It is short, so you are not investing much time. And it is well-written and of above average quality. Definitely worth a peek.

A group of people are invited to a party at a creepy mansion where legend has it a ghost appears once a year. The trouble is that this group doesn't know who invited them and sure enough it doesn't take long before one by one they start dropping dead.

A typical "group invited to a an isolated mansion and dying one by one" b-picture but for its short running time it's quite enjoyable and effective in enough in what it wants to achieve. Interesting bits are a pirate ship that crashed a hundred years earlier with its the ghost haunting the area and an odd bit about radiation and its impact if anyone comes in contact with it. Similar appearances of the group can be confusing, but it's a decent and competently made B film. There's some fine atmosphere and spooky scenes. If you're a sucker for a dark house picture, like myself, then this is worth checking out. The title is a bit odd, though. Which girl dared?

Okay, you've likely seen the format before—a creepy isolated house, a series of murders, an attractive cast that includes the murderer, and an amateur sleuth. But also throw in a batch of radium a full year before the A-bomb, plus a purported ghost, for good measure. Surprisingly, the rather murky whodunit is not uppermost, instead it's the characters and atmosphere. What it all adds up to is a decent little programmer for wartime audiences and even for later folks taking a break from the computer.

You just know from the outset that despite appearances Blair (Cookson) can't be the bad guy, he's just too good-looking. Besides, the winsome Ann (Gray) takes a shine to him, and you know how Hollywood is in that regard. It's an attractive cast of vets and up and comers, but I did get confused at times with the similar names and appearances. Plus, the reveal scene was much too brief, like someone's contract had suddenly run out. Nonetheless, that one ghost scene was truly spooky, along with the usual secret passages, shadowy rooms, and stormy nights. Come to think of it, I miss old b&w for the effects that color simply cannot duplicate—new Hollywood should loosen up! Anyway, it's a fun little hour with a gang of Hollywood pro's and an old dark house. So how can you lose.

An assortment of relatives come to visit John Hamilton at his isolated house on an island, connected to the mainland by a causeway. The local legend is that a hundred years earlier a pirate ship had sunk there -- the remains can still be seen offshore -- and one night a year, this night, the ghost of the pirate captain can be seen from the shore. Then one of the houseguests is killed and the movie shifts gears.

It starts off as a lighthearted old-dark-house/mystery/comedy from Republic under the direction of Howard Bretherton, the studio's reliable jack-of-all-genres, and the B-list acting talent available for the studio's non-western programmers are up making the most of their roles and the spooky camerawork of Bud Thackery. It maintains its interest right to the end, although the mystery aspect of the movie is lazily handled; still, that fits right in with its multi-genre script, and more in keeping with its sense of being a mood piece, rather than a serious effort.

Several people are invited to the home of Beau and Chattie Richmond for a party at which the "ghost of Heron Point" will make an appearance. The thing is - the Richmonds did not send out the invitations. The ghost is supposedly one of the crew of a pirate ship that sunk a hundred years ago near the Richmond estate. Then there's the mysterious mechanic who crashes the party. While the guests await for the ghost to appear, one of them is murdered but her body later disappears. Two more murders follow. This dark house type mystery is devoid of humor, has a thin and unbelievable plot, and a not really spooky atmosphere but is nonetheless mildly entertaining to watch because of the cast. Oh, there's Superman (Kirk Alyn), there's Perry White (John Hamilton), there's the guy that was in a gazillion Westerns (Roy Bancroft), there's Loretta Young's first husband and actor in dozens of B movies (Grant Withers), there's the brassy and always competent character actress Veda Ann Borg, and last, but not least, there's Willie Best as the servant who is always scared. At least the motive for the murder is somewhat innovative as is the ploy for identifying him. The lead characters, played by Peter Cookson and Lorna Gray are pretty bland. It is sad, though, to have to watch the talented comedian Willie Best as a shuffling, scared servant. This an actor who Bob Hope evidently referred to as one of the finest performers he ever worked with. What a waste and what a shame.