This was among the very few remaining vintage Universal Horror titles, a genuine 'B' movie but a surprisingly effective one nonetheless – if only tenuously related to the genre (being based on an Edgar Allan Poe tale, the presence of an ostensibly dangerous animal i.e. a leopard, thus anticipating the Val Lewton chiller THE LEOPARD MAN {1943}, and its utilizing a steel-claw for a murder weapon that literally obliterates the victims' faces
which, apart from the latter film itself, would subsequently see service in at least 2 more of the studio's efforts, namely the Sherlock Holmes adventure THE SCARLET CLAW {1944} and the maligned SHE-WOLF OF London {1946}!).
Incidentally, this can be considered an unofficial sequel to one of the earliest Universal horror classics, MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932), since it is not only set in much the same surroundings as that more popular Poe story but it actually features one of the protagonists, forensic expert Pierre Dupin (here played by stiff-upper-lipped but likable Patric Knowles, who around this same time would co-star in two higher-profile genre efforts for the studio in THE WOLF MAN {1941} and its direct successor in the Larry Talbot franchise FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN {1943}!). For the record, MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET managed to rope in another cast member of those very pictures, Maria Ouspenskaya
who is at her most outspoken here, constantly belittling Prefect of Police and Knowles' long-suffering sidekick Lloyd Corrigan (who indeed has no easier time with the doctor, in view of the fact that the latter never bothers to fully explain his schemes in entrapping criminals to his understandably flustered superior!).
Which brings us to nominal lead Maria Montez though, given the brevity of her appearance in an already tight 61-minute film, this cannot be deemed a star vehicle for her (as it happens, I currently have 7 of those in my "To Watch" pile!). Anyway, while heavily-accented, she does get to warble a song in French (to the evident delight of Corrigan) and, in any case, her character is established as being wicked
which Knowles goes to extreme lengths to prove (by stealthily extracting the brain from her corpse in the morgue – the scene evoking FRANKENSTEIN {1931} in conception and MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM {1933} in execution – and, under advise from some eminent authority on the workings of the criminal mind, carrying out experiments on it off-screen!).
Despite watching this via a worn-out VHS print, where the detail is so far gone one can hardly discern the actors' facial features(!), the unmistakable atmosphere of a good old Universal horror movie is well in evidence, thus making this a blast (if clearly a minor entry in the field). For what it is worth, we are also treated to a horse-and-carriage chase along the cobbled streets of a studio-built Paris and, while I was sure I had figured out the culprit's true identity, the script (which is surprisingly complex and eminently engaging) went on to prove me wrong by making him out to be the guilty party the Police had fingered all along!
