Phantom Killer

"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.

John Harrison (John Hamilton) is a well respected philanthropist. He's also known for begin deaf and a true mute...born with paralyzed vocal cords. However, shortly after the film begins, Harrison (or a guy looking exactly like him) talks to a janitor (Mantan Moreland) as he leaves an office building. Soon, the janitor finds a dead body. It seems that again and again, when Hamilton is at big public charity events, men from finance companies die in the same cities he's in....but it can't be him, as he is seen at the charity events when the murders are occurring. So what gives? How can this be explained away?!

When the assistant DA (Dick Purcell) tries to prosecute Harrison for murder, doctors verify he IS unable to talk and it couldn't have been Harrison as he has alibis. And, as a result, the DA is laughed out of court...and determined to somehow proved Harrison is a killer...one who sure takes a lot of trouble to establish these alibis if this is true!

The solution to this mystery certainly is no mystery....and most folks watching the film will guess it early on in the film. I think having the man assumed to be mute when he isn't could have worked....but being in two places at once...well, unless he's perfected cloning, there's only one obvious answer! Still, it is entertaining and a decent time-passer...even if it all doesn't make sense.

Some things in the film don't make a lot of sense when it comes to deafness. Rarely is a deaf person unable to talk because of any paralysis....and the term 'deaf mute' really doesn't make sense for nearly all deaf people, as they can talk or make vocalizations....just not all that well in most cases. Also in one scene a person says that deaf people ALL can read lips (also called 'speech reading')...which is definitely NOT true! However, what the film did get right is the sign language. It looks as if they have a person who knows sign language do the closeup scenes showing just the hands....although in a few cases, Hamilton obviously had been taught a few signs. I do appreciate this....as, in the original version of the movie, 1933's "The Sphinx", the signing was all a lot of gibberish and they made no attempt to do real American Sign Language or anything approximating it.

Oh, and finally, Warren Hymer played comic relief as a dumb cop. Interestingly, he wasn't ALL dumb and actually was quite competent at the end of the film!

Quite average even by Monogram standards, this mystery (a remake of The Sphinx) has an oddball plot which is not unraveled to much effect -- you'll see through it after about ten minutes. The two leads have some nice breezy dialog at the outset, but John Hamilton is hopelessly dull as the villain (perfectly cast Lionel Atwill originated the role) and Warren Hymer's nitwit shtick is pretty annoying. However, it's worth sitting through for a five-minute appearance by the incomparable Mantan Moreland as Nicodemus the janitor, who gets the better of the defense attorney during a hilarious courtroom appearance. You've got to hand it to Bill "One-Take" Beaudine; he wasn't much of a director, but he would always punch up a routine programmer with some goofy vaudeville.

Phantom Killer (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A janitor (Mantan Moreland) witnesses a murder and he identifies the murderer as John G. Harrison (John Hamilton) who the janitor claims asked him for the time. The only problem is that Harrison can't speak or talk but attorney Edward Clark (Dick Purcell) believes he is faking. The only problem is that his girlfriend reporter (Joan Woodbury) claims to have been with Harrison when the murder took place.

William Beaudine directed this remake of the 1933 Lionel Atwill film THE SPHINX. If you've seen that film then you'll know the twist and turns to the story here but it's still a mildly entertaining "B" movie that mixes a mystery with attempted laughs. The horror elements from the original movie are watered down here but it's still worth watching.

As I stated, the horror elements have really been watered down here so one should basically go into this as a murder-mystery with a bunch of comedy elements thrown into. These type of films were quite popular throughout the 30s and 40s and for the most part this one here works thanks to the decent story as well as a fun cast who help make the 60-minute running time go by extremely quick.

I thought both Purcell and Woodbury were very good in their roles. I especially liked the fast-talking nature that the two dug into each other with. I also thought Hamilton was very good in his role and Moreland adds the type of comedy that you'd expect from him. Again, if you've seen the original film then there's really nothing new here but this is entertaining enough for fans of the genre.

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.