The Phantom

A prisoner named the Phantom is moments away from going to the chair when he climbs over the wall, jumps on top of a passing train and makes a get away when a plane flies down and picks him up. He then threatens the DA, even though he's not the DA who sent him up the river...and then things get complicated.

This is a movie from the early days of sound. Using silent footage with sound effects it broadens what could be done at reasonable expense with the then bulky sound equipment. As a result this film does things that many similar movies from the period couldn't, it goes outside the drawing room, the best example is the jail break at the beginning.

But while it goes places that other films didn't, and it has more twists than a pretzel factory, this film suffers from the same problem that countless other lower budget films did, and that is its limited by sound itself. There is no music and many scenes are staged simply to have people talk, a sequence at the beginning in the newspaper editor's office for example, goes on way too long just so we can hear the characters talking on the phone.

The movie itself is interesting up to a point, but at times it seems to want to get as many of the mystery conventions into the movie as possible so things keep spinning out for no real reason other than to make the film reach a reasonable length. The problem is that as interesting as the plot is, the film's age hinders full enjoyment of it.

If you're in the mood for an antique give it a try, otherwise steer clear.

I would think that for the people of 1931, this would be quite a movie. The beginning (as many have already stated), was quite exciting - even by today's standards. Then the movie drags a bit.

But my reason for writing this review is only to add that the eclectic cast is worth watching. You can see the obvious influence of the silent era in their expressions and actions/reactions.

But to me, Lucy (played by Violet Knights) almost steals the show. She seems to me a very funny actress. I hope to get to see her in something else some time. However, I suspect this is probably her crowning achievement as an actress, as she made less than ten talking pictures, and was only credited in two of them. I know her acting is overboard, but her expressions and manners are worth the watching of this movie to me. Without her, I would probably give this movie only one or two stars.

The strange Swede (William Jackie?) is also a great comic in this, his only credited role (according to IMDb).

If you like unusual characters, I think this is definitely a movie worth a watch. Don't expect a great story - as others have mentioned, the plot is a bit over-used. But the cast to me is not a disappointment.

This is the kind of movie you start watching from the cynical forward-looking viewpoint of 2007 and start complaining that the premise is hokey, the set-ups are creaky and the dialog is loaded with clichés.

Then you realize that this film IS SO DANG OLD that it represents probably the first time that some of these set-ups, situations and dialog were ever seen on the movie screen! This dates from only the third year that talking pictures were widely available, so there wasn't much before this that this film could be ripping off, except probably stage plays. From this perspective, there is at least some originality here by definition, and lots of fun to be had with the murderer-on-the-loose-in-the-creepy-insane-asylum premise.

This would make a great double feature with "The Old Dark House," from 1932, creating lots of fodder which would be mocked in the ensuing decades by Bugs Bunny cartoons, Three Stooges shorts, Abbott and Costello films, sketches on "The Carol Burnett Show," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and Larry Blamire's "Dark and Stormy Night."

The four-feature DVD from Retromedia is worth the price if you are a fan of obscure, ancient, creaky horror movies like this. You can look up the other features under the individual titles for reviews, but they are all just about as entertaining as this feature. If black-and-white horror films from the dawn of time are not your bag, you should pass, otherwise this DVD is a worthwhile purchase. And these movies are so old that they won't really scare children except for the smallest tots. Pop some popcorn and go back to the 1930's.

I really enjoy classic horror, even the poverty row productions. This one, though,was tough to get through.

I agree with others who have said the acting is poor. They're also not well-rehearsed; especially at the beginning the actors are stepping on each others' lines.

I also have a problem with the editing. As the movie starts, it feels like we're cutting between three movies: a prison, the top of a train, and a helicopter. It becomes clear in a few how they connect, but the disjointed editing continues throughout the movie, making for jarring changes between scenes... sometimes lingering too long, sometimes not giving us enough setup or wrap-up.

I knew I was taking a risk when I started it. The description made it sound more like a murder mystery / police drama, and I should have trusted my gut on this one. It's played for laughs almost all the way through which is frustrating, and even when it's not intentional the laughs occasionally come anyway: when the phantom enters a room, it's truly laughable. (Watch carefully as no one makes any attempt to get away.)

You can watch it for free on Archive Dot Org, or on Tubi... but if you're looking for another Dracula or Frankenstein... this ain't it. It doesn't compare well to the. Basil Rathbone / Nigel Bruce mysteries about a decade later, either.

For completists only!

This is another movie that I had never heard until I was working my way through the horror movie releases from 1931 from Letterboxd. This one intrigued me with the title as it reminded me of the hero serial/film that came out. I did read the synopsis to this one before seeing it as I was trying to find something to pair up. It doesn't make the greatest double feature for my Odyssey through the Ones, but it will work. The synopsis I'm referring to is a group of people are stalked by a masked killer in an old mansion.

We start this movie off in a prison. It appears that a criminal going by the nickname of The Phantom (Sheldon Lewis) is to be executed that day. The warden is talking to a reporter about this and they're alerted a plane is flying low over the building again. We then see The Phantom scales the wall, jumps to a train and the plane picks him up to make his escape.

The Phantom then sends a warning to the district attorney, John Hampton (Wilfred Lucas). He wants to meet him at his house that night to kill him. John agrees and the police are going to send men over. A police sergeant of Pat Collins (Tom O'Brien) is the one assigned here.

John's daughter is also alerted to this. She is a reporter for a local newspaper for the event section. Her name is Ruth (Allen Ray) and she is dating another reporter of Dick Mallory (Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams). Her boss though is in love with her, Sam Crandall (Niles Welch). He expresses how he feels and she tells him she is going to marry Dick. They are just hoping he gets a promotion, which falls on Sam. He has to decide what he will do here.

All of these people converge on John Hampton's home that night. Also included are his maid, Lucy (Violet Knights), who is jumpy and she is seeing the chauffeur, Shorty (Bobby Dunn), who is much in the same vein as her. The Phantom sneaks into the house along with another guy who makes a demand of John without introducing himself. This becomes a wild night to figure out who The Phantom really is and capture him before he kills anyone. Their search will lead him to a local asylum ran by Dr. Weldon (William Gould) and us getting to meet the odd Oscar (William Jackie).

I feel that is enough to flesh out the story this movie and get you up to speed with what type of movie we are going to get. What I will start with is that this is short. It runs just over an hour and doesn't waste any time getting into it, which is good. What I found interesting though was that I thought we were going to get an 'Old Dark House' type film and that is how it starts. We actually get 2 of them including the asylum where we have secret passages and what not which I do enjoy.

With this story here, I do think it is lacking some fleshing out of things. I like the idea of The Phantom, him escaping from prison and wanting to get revenge on the district attorney. It is interesting though is that John wasn't the DA when this case was tried, but The Phantom still blames the office. There is an interesting scene with Dick that we get early on into the night where I thought we were going to have to guess who The Phantom really is. Lewis plays the role quite creepy what I like, but the reveal is just a bit abrupt and not really shocking. It also feels a bit like a cheat as well. The movie really wants more to focus on this love triangle between Dick, Ruth and Sam, but Sam really just has to make one decision whether or not to give Dick the promotion or not. It seems they're on the right path to make a deep story, but didn't go far enough with it.

What I will say is that the acting is fine. I can see why Williams has the nickname of Big Boy as he's a tall guy. It does make it hard for us to believe that he's The Phantom though. Ray is solid as his love interest, but they don't flesh out Ruth all that much. Welch is good as the better option for Ruth despite how she feels about Dick. Sam is a solid guy for sure. Aside from that I think the rest of the cast rounded this out for what was needed. Lewis as I said was creepy as The Phantom, Knights and Dunn bring some levity to the movie which we got a lot of in this era. I really liked Jackie as Oscar as well in his limited role.

Then really aside from that, it just leaves me the cinematography, effects and soundtrack. For the former, it is fine. Being in early cinema, we are getting static shots. What I will give credit to though is the setting. Both houses are interesting with their secret passages and what not. I'm a sucker for that. This isn't really the type of movie that has effects, but I think the look of The Phantom is creepy. Oscar seems to be abnormally tall as well as slender and how he moves his body was interesting. Then really the soundtrack fit for what was needed. It didn't stand out or hurt the movie for me.

This there really isn't a whole lot to delve into this movie that is where I'm going to leave it. I do think that we have some interesting set ups here, but the movie just doesn't go far enough in fleshing them out. I like the idea of this villain escaping from prison and trying to get revenge. The acting is solid enough. The setting and look of The Phantom are also bright spots. Aside from that, the movie is okay just lacking quite a bit for me to really enjoy this one. For that reason I'd say this is an average movie. There are good and bad aspects on both sides for me so I'm coming in the middle here.