Herbert I. Leeds was an efficient American B-film director and editor of Jewish origin, born and died in Manhattan, of whom you may have never heard, but not because he made bad movies, but because American film industry opted over the years for huge, expensive products built around the names of profitable monsters, with little space for little movies.
From Leeds I had seen a couple of entertaining and well-constructed films from the Mr. Moto and Charlie Chan detective series, today considered un-PC and offensive. They are still enjoyable and benefit from Leeds' experience as an editor, filming low budget stories with narrative and visual economy. My curiosity has been aroused now by the good opinion that some people have of his four films of detective Mike Shayne, played by Lloyd Nolan, and of «Manila Calling», a film made in wartime that, according to what I read, avoid US Army propaganda, until the last moment.
I'm adding now «Bunco Squad» to the list of little films by Leeds that I like. The cast is clearly having a good time telling us the story of five swindlers who use the occult to trick unsuspecting clients and rob them. The target is a millionaire lady whose son has died. The crooks create the Rama Society, with Princess Liane as the in-house medium, but the strings are pulled by the criminal Tony Weldon (Ricardo Cortez, once again in the roles of villain he always did very well). Since the deceased son had charitable tendencies, the swindlers induce his mother to bequeath her fortune to the Rama Society, which they present almost as a charity association.
The dramatic complication is clear, without great complications or mysteries, Leeds handles the action with skill, the good guys and the bad guys pulse with pleasure for 67 minutes, and the interest in the spiritism theme (with a slight smile on my face) never wanes. At a very low cost.
