The Unknown

Re: the review of the Unknown by the reviewer from Kentucky. Republic Studios did not produce the I Love A Mystery series. It was Columbia Pictures. I have the original lobby card from the first film, "I Love A Mystery" (adapted from the radio play "The Decapitation of Johnathen Monk) and probably the only film in the series that was faithful to the radio series. The other two films simply used the characters of Jack Packard and Doc Long. My friend, Carole Mathews appeared in the first film, and signed the lobby card for me. She also provided me with a DVD of the film. Columbia also produced the Whistler film series, which for some reasons lasted longer. There were only 3 films made in the I Love A Mystery series and why they were discontinued is anybody's guess. Probably box office appeal.

Although there's a little too much Southern exposition to set the stage for a present day story, THE UNKNOWN is a better than average programmer in the Columbia studio's "I Love A Mystery" series. Getting to the heart of the story takes up too much time at the start, but once the story starts dealing with the mysterious things going on in an old Southern mansion, it keeps building interest until the mystery is solved.

The cast is an interesting one, even though there are hardly any big names involved. KAREN MORLEY is the troubled woman on the brink of madness, ROBERT WILCOX is her lover who has been banished from the grounds, JIM BANNON is Jack Packard, the detective, and BARTON YARBOROUGH is again his partner. JEFF DONNELL is the lady who stands to win an inheritance and MARK ROBERTS is the young lawyer designated to read the will.

All of it is directed in nimble style by Henry Levin, an old hand at these sort of programmers and, despite the low budget, given some handsome settings.

Summing up: Gets off to a slow start but gradually builds interest.

The Unknown is directed by Henry Levin and adapted to screenplay by Charles O'Neal and Dwight Babcock from the radio play written by Malcolm Boylan and Julian Harmon. It stars Karen Morley, Jim Bannon and Jeff Donnell. Music is by Alexander Steinert and cinematography by Henry Freulich.

A wonderfully good old fashioned spooky house mystery finds a group of relatives arrive at a big mansion estate for the reading of a will. Pretty soon strange occurrences and accidents are the order of the night.

Clocking in at just seventy minutes in run time, Levin's picture doesn't have time to bore or bother with pointless filler. Standard creepy house rules apply here, shadows dominate the visuals (Freulich's photography excellent), which accentuate uneasy atmosphere as characters trawl through secret passageways, barely lit corridors, the ominous staircase and even a mausoleum that sits next to the house.

The sound mix is important because you have to have creaks and groans, and the unnerving cry of a child in the night, all is spot on there. While the characters are a ripe blend of eccentrics, suspicious suspects,intrepid investigators and a dainty dame. The mystery element holds strong throughout, and while the resolution is hardly a bolt from the blue, it pays off well enough to round out a good time spent with the viewing. 6.5/10

The third and final entry in the I Love a Mystery series with Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough). The story this time centers on a mystery at a spooky Southern mansion. Melodramatic acting from some but nobody stinks up the joint. Karen Morley stands out. Bannon is his typically bland but inoffensive self. Perhaps it's the Southern setting but Yarborough is even more Huckleberry Hound than usual ("Hey son, look a-yonder!"). Good time-killer. Better than the second film in the series, but not as good as the first. Overall, this series provided three B mystery films that were pretty good. Not without flaws, particularly with the lackluster detectives themselves. But the stories were interesting and enjoyable with lots of moody atmosphere.

Back in 1946, A trio of films was made from the "I Love a Mystery" radio programs; this was one of them. (The other 2 were the "Devils' Mask" and the "Decapitation of Jefferson Monk"). This film is about the 2nd best of the series (with "Monk" being the best).

Someone had told me that this film was based on the "ILAM" pgm, "The Thing That Cries in the Night", but it ISN"T! (The only thing it has in common is the sound of a baby crying).

FAR too much time is given to the "history" and "family skeletons" of a Southern family (in fact, the film reminded me of "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte"!). Jack & Doc were added almost as an afterthought!

And, unbelieveable as it seems, some of those Civil War people were STILL alive in 1946; this is stretching the imagination a bit TOO far!

Carleton E. Morse had (potentially) great material to work with; this is one of his (very few) failures.

Norm