The Phantom of 42nd Street

"The death of a performer at a Broadway stage play brings a theatre critic and a police detective together as an unlikely crime-solving duo. The dead performer's niece becomes not only the object of affection for our critic, but also a prime suspect in this death, and some other murders that occur at the theatre. 'The Phantom Killer' sets his sights upon the young woman as his next victim; so, it is a race against time for our heroes to catch the killer," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Milton Raison's screenplay puts a little spark in this low-budget mystery whodunit. Helpfully, Dave O'Brien (as Anthony "Tony" Woolrich) does well in the lead role; his skills as an actor appear to be much greater than the productions employing him. O'Brien and cab driving sidekick Frank Jenks (as Egbert "Romeo" Egglehoffer) would have made a fine 1950s TV detective team. Leading lady Kay Aldridge (as Claudia Moore) and the supporting cast are also good. Unfortunately, the story becomes meandering, and anti-climactic.

**** The Phantom of 42nd Street (5/2/45) Albert Herman ~ Dave O'Brien, Kay Aldridge, Frank Jenks

This is a creative cheapie from PRC. I like Dave O'Brien. He ought to have had a major career in films. He's good here, but I guess PRC was not the place to forge a career.

I think I saw this on local TV years ago. If not, I saw many mysteries like it.

This is about murders involving a theatrical family. Alan Mowbry, looking quite gone to seed, plays the patriarch. He gets to ham it up a little in "Julius Caesar." Forty-second Street! Wow, are there ever phantoms wandering around! At the time this was made, they were pining for the days of the Ziedgfeld Girl. Then there were legitimate theaters, where plays were performed. Next came years of decline: peep shows, etc. Now it is all cleaned up and is like a vast mall. It isn't much fun. The phantoms will go elsewhere.

A newspaper's drama critic turns detective when he gets mixed up with murder among members of a theatre company. Eventually, a series of murders occurs apparently committed by a mysterious phantom.

Not a bad little detective mystery from low-budget PRC. That's thanks mainly to a lively turn from O'Brien as Woolrich and the decorous Kay Aldridge as Claudia. Then there's the familiar Frank Jenks as the comedy relief cabbie, and a surprisingly delightful Vera Marshe as the lame brain waitress Ginger. The screenplay makes good use of its theatrical setting, and I suspect many of those backstage set-ups were real backstage scenes from PRC's sound stage. Of course, 50-some minutes is scarcely enough time to develop a strong list of suspects or mystery plot, but there's enough colorful characterizations to compensate. All in all, an adequate little time-passer.

From PRC, Producers Releasing Corp, comes the moidah of an actor. Dave OBrien is "Tony", mister suave reporter, who is trying to solve the case. Kay Aldridge is the actress Claudia, who may or may not be involved. lots of talking, talking with suspects, who may or may not be suspects. O'Brien certainly did it all; writer, actor, director. probably best known for "Reefer Madness", 1936. Met Harry Truman. died quite young at 57 from a heart attack. Keep an eye out for Cyril Delevanti... was the old guy in "Night of the Iguana". Directed by Al Herman; this was one of his last films. had started in silents, doing short films, and moved into the talkies. the sound and picture quality is pretty bad, but there ARE captions, so i guess we're lucky it's watchable at all, after eighty years. showing on FilmDetective streaming channel. it's okay. that about all.

A haughty theatre critic is co-opted by his editor to investigate a sleazy backstage murder. Reluctant at first, he warms to the task through the enthusiastic prodding of his Shakespeare-loving, cab-driver sidekick and his developing interest in the aristocratic young lady involved in the case. For the Charlie-Chan-like climax, he sets up an audition of Julius Caesar, hoping to lure the murderer into all-to-realistically participating in the assassination scene. Imagine what a breezy and biting satire Hecht and MacArthur could have made of that premise. Unfortunately, the idea ended up at lowly PRC studios, which assigned the picture to Albert Herman, one of the most inept directors in history. At least Ed Wood and Andy Milligan had some flair and energy (no matter how misguided), but Herman just contributed dullness to all he touched (coincidentally, the final plot revelations have some ingredients in common with Wood's "Jailbait"). Thankfully, the cast of B-movie stalwarts makes the entire outing at least watchable. Prolific Dave O'Brien cops a rare leading role, and although disappointingly subdued, he elicits intelligence and charm throughout (unfortunately, he's now best remembered for his giggly emoting in "Reefer Madness" and not his many fine comic character turns in both features and shorts).