Phantom Killer

This is directed to the guy who gives the kudos in "Phantom Killer" to Jack Benny's valet/chef/chauffeur/right-hand-man Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. You got it wrong, fellow. That was not Rochester playing Nicodemus, the janitor who sees a man talk who can't talk. Nope. It was the great Mantan Moreland.

BTW, this low budget Monogram 2-reeler is fun, especially if you're a fan of the dozens of Old Dark House mysteries that were produced in the 30s & 40s.

Mantan, who died in 1973 at age 71, is probably best remembered these days as Birmingham Brown, Charlie Chan's driver and cohort to Charlie's Numbers One, Two & Three sons in 14 Charlie Chan movies from 1944-1949.

Mantan also had solid roles in "King of the Zombies" (1941), "Dressed to Kill" (1941) with Lloyd Nolan as shamus Mike Shayne, "The Strange Case of Dr. RX" (1942) with another great, Lionel Atwill and many other fun films. He acted into the 1970s when he appeared in such TV series as "Love, American Style" and "Adam-12."

Mantan has deservedly been remembered in beloved fashion by many and needs to be recognized here.

This is not great film art. However, I found it fun. It does its job: It is breezy at times. It has romantic elements between Joan Woodbury and Dick Purcell. And it is frightening: The central concept, that a man who can neither hear nor speak and is never at the scene of the crime is a ruthless killer, has a nightmarish quality.

Ms. Woodbury gets several costume changes. They aren't always logical. She plays an ambitious newspaper reporter. In one sequence, we find her interviewing a central character while wearing an evening gown! (Yes, it's in the daytime.) Discovering films from Monogram is generally fun. Sometimes they don't pan out. This one, whether or not it is a remake of "The Sphinx," does. It held my attention without fail.

This independent B film which had a few familiar faces in the cast had some interesting elements, but in the end doesn't quite make it.

John Hamilton known better to early television fans as Perry White in the Superman series is a well known philanthropist who is seen at the scene of several murders of other people in the financial field. But he's got a nice alibi. Every time one of those murders takes place Hamilton is also seen at some public event.

Nevertheless and I think rather stupidly ace prosecutor Dick Purcell proceeds with an indictment against him with only janitor Mantan Moreland as a witness to Hamilton at the scene of a murder. No way in real life or on Law And Order would Purcell take such a flimsy case to trial.

But even when he loses Purcell continues on with the investigation even with his girlfriend, reporter Joan Woodbury giving him the horse laugh.

This film had some potential to be better than it was. But there were too many loose ends in the plot and bizarre behavior by some of the characters in the story line of Phantom Killer.

However Mantan Moreland on the witness stand is hilarious. Would that the rest of Phantom Killer was as good.

As expected from Monogram, the sets are cheap, the comedy broad, and the acting erratic. Still, the premise is engaging. That is, how can deaf-mute Harrison (Hamilton) manage to be in two places at once. If we're to believe our eyes, he's emceeing big public events in one part of town, while in another part, he's wringing people's necks. Pretty good trick. So the movie's more a howsitdun than a whodunit.

Hamilton's excellent in the pivotal role. Looks like he's been doing sign language for years. Plus there's that unblinking stare, while we wonder what's behind it. Happily, Woodbury (Barbara) injects needed spark as a girl Friday, while Moreland enlivens with his bug-eyed comedic bit. Too bad he soon disappears (as another reviewer points out). Now, if casting had kept Moreland and dumped the unfunny cop Hymer, things would have improved—but then Moreland probably had to get over to the Charlie Chan set. And who is Dick Purcell, the supposed leading man. I kept looking for him, but he's so recessive, he's hard to spot. I guess all the good B-leading men were away at war, but then neither the script nor director Beaudine throws much Purcell's way.

Anyway, despite the drawbacks, there's enough suspense-- especially around the piano-- to keep up interest and maybe even reaffirm the laws of physics.

"Phantom" opens with the night janitor (Mantan Moreland) finding Mr. Cromwell dead on the floor of his office. The sound and picture quality are just terrible, so hopefully "someone" will give this a good restoration someday. This one stars Dick Purcell, who seems to have had a rough life all around - he was only married from March of 1942 to August of 1942. Odd. Then he ups and dies of a heart attack at age 35. Purcell works for the District Attorney, and thinks he has found the right suspect, but won't prosecute yet. John Hamilton is the suspect "John Harrison", who seems to have a great alibi, with tons of witnesses. Joan Woodbury is the reporter Barbara Mason, and part of Harrison's alibi. This is just a 61 minute shortie, so we don't get too deep into anyone's story, but it's not bad, as they go. Also interesting to see an early version of sign language, as Harrison is a deaf mute, and we see him spelling words out in court. The night janitor (Moreland) has the best lines and the best facial expressions here, giving the film a light tone. From the title, I was expecting a darker, horror film, but when they put him on the witness stand, he makes a monkey out of the lawyer. Better than I expect it to be. Directed by William Beaudine, who also had an interesting life. Note that he died in 1970, but was listed as director on films from 1974 and 1976. Started acting and writing in 1909. Wow. Low key, fun (but very predictable) film - catch it on Turner Classics.