Phantom Raiders

Phantom Raiders portrays a crime that is all to possible today, blowing up ships set off by electrical devices. However this was 1940, the era of the wisecracking detective and his sidekick neatly wrapping up the mystery in a little over an hour. What sets this film apart from other movies of the same type is its crackling good dialog, an insidious villain,(Joseph Shildkraut),the suave Nick Carter,(a clean shaven Walter Pigeon), his assistant, Mr Bartholomew (beautifully played by Donald Meek), the innocent ingénue(the captivating Florence Rice). Speaking of Florence Rice, she literally lights up the screen when she is on. At the same time vulnerable, adoring. Listen to the way she says "I love him", talking about her boyfriend, it will melt your heart. Highly recommend!

Second in the Nick Carter detective series, from MGM and director Jacques Tourneur. P.I. Carter (Walter Pidgeon) is hired to look into a series of mysterious explosions sinking ships near the Panama canal. It's all part of a insurance scam run by slick crook Al Taurez (Joseph Schildkraut).

Unlike many B-detective flicks, this one isn't a mystery, as the crimes are clearly shown, as are the culprits, even before Carter makes his first appearance in the film. I haven't seen the first movie, but an introduction didn't really seem necessary, even if Carter's relationship to partner Bartholomew (Donald Meek) isn't explained. Meek seems like an unlikely detective, but he was enjoyably offbeat, particularly when he pretends to be a lunatic.

Schildkraut makes for an excellent villain, and Pidgeon is amiable enough. His Carter seems more at home schmoozing in the nightclubs than throwing punches. However, since there is no mystery to the story, there isn't a lot of suspense, and some of the other supporting characters seem superfluous and distracting.

Conceived in the 19th century by Ormond G. Smith and realized as a literary character by several writers, detective Nick Carter has had a long life in newspaper serials, novels, movies, radio series and comics. From his first appearance in September 1886, Carter has evolved according to the times, and it would not be a surprise for a revival in this century with new adventures and cases to solve. In 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer launched a trilogy with Walter Pidgeon in the role of Carter, composed of "Nick Carter, Master Detective", and the following year by "Phantom Raiders" and "Sky Murder", all three based on original scripts.

«Phantom Raiders» (known in Latin America as "Nick Carter in Panama") has the peculiar distinction (for Panamanians) of being set in the city of Colón, on the Atlantic coast of Panamá, and belonging to a group of films that use the country as exotic location and little else. As in many productions imagined in Los Angeles, the cities below the Rio Grande are rather rural villages, with music combining Spanish cadences, rancheras and Cuban rhythms. The first establishing shots are places on the other ocean (Pacific), giving way to the Colón of Culver City, a Moroccan-looking set with hotels and a club for cheerful sailors and women called La Cita Café, where much of the plot takes place.

That bizarre mishmash seems a hint of what continues, an agile and funny plot of sabotage (although there are countless dead on the road... or at the bottom of the Caribbean sea) which, fortunately, has nothing to do with Asian or Eastern European spies trying to destroy the Panama Canal. No, this time it is a knife-throwing villain from San Francisco, one Al Taurez (Joseph Schildkraut), who sinks ships from his office in Colón, by exploding bombs ingeniously located on the vessels, in order to collect insurance. But his greed betrays him, because, when the third ship is sunk in the course of a fortnight, the insurance company Llewelyn's of London hires Carter to solve the case.

In addition to the traps that Taurez tends, in which Carter falls and escapes from, with the usual elegance of Pidgeon, the plot is dotted with humor and spark, thanks to the interventions of the "bee man" Bartholomew (Donald Meek), Carter's assistant; and from a Mexican prostitute named Dolores Arango (played by Hungarian Steffi Duna), who entangles everything, including her boyfriend (Nat Pendleton), a jealous former boxing champion who wants to finish Carter off. The direction is aptly handled by Jacques Tourneur, the man behind the classics «Cat People», «I Walked with a Zombie», «Out of the Past» and «Night of the Demon», which guarantees a pleasant 70-minute ride. Enjoy.

As B-films go, PHANTOM RAIDERS is just a slight cut above a serial cliffhanger, the kind that the poverty row studios churned out in the '30s and '40s. Surprisingly enough, this one comes from MGM and has a certain gloss.

It's fast moving, neatly developed and, except for some unnecessary comic interludes, provides a satisfying look at the pre-WWII era. Nick Carter (Pidgeon) is assigned to find out who is blowing up cargo ships in Panama for insurance money. We learn early on that the culprit is the cruel and cunning Joseph Schildkraut, always one step ahead of the authorities until the very end.

Donald Meek has a rather annoying role as a bee-keeper who happens to be Carter's sidekick. His unlikely role is a departure from his usual "meek" roles but it becomes tedious after some comic interludes in a mystery that tries to blend corny humor with suspense. Thankfully, the good supporting cast includes Florence Rice, John Carroll, Cecil Kellaway and Nat Pendleton.

Not bad, but easily a programmer you can afford to miss. Obviously made before Walter Pidgeon became a big name at Metro via being teamed with Greer Garson in a series of successful films.

Instantly sinister, Joseph Schildkraut gives a knife throwing lesson to some underlings. Schildkraut is delightfully wicked as a shady character who manages a night club—and also runs a ship-wrecking insurance scam.

Walter Pidgeon makes his second appearance as detective Nick Carter, once again exuding self-confidence; he is again joined by Donald Meek as would-be detective Bartholomew, better known as the Bee Man. Together they gradually unravel the ship-wrecking plot with the help of the usual supporting characters—including John Carroll as a shipping magnate's son, and Florence Rice, who is quite good as the requisite beautiful young woman mixed up in the case.

The setting is Panama, and while the first half of the picture moves rather slowly, it features plenty of MGM-style Panama atmosphere. Eventually the plot starts to move along and builds nicely to a truly exciting climax on board ship.

Nat Pendleton is amusing as a dumb henchman who is told to "Take a walk around the block" any time there is real dirty work to be done. Meek is entertaining as always, and Pidgeon handles both the detective work and the smart-alecky dialog adeptly. Schildkraut as the villain, however, has the juiciest role.

The plot is nothing special but it does include a nifty surprise or two; overall, there's not much to this picture but it's plenty easy to watch.