The Hidden Hand

The least you can say about this film is that it is original, but to a degree that makes it incomparable with any other film - the closest of kin that I can think of is "Arsenic and Old Lace". It's a criminal comedy, an absurd horror story going burlesque, a family drama and tragedy going over the top, and a technically advanced "Family Addams" tale with a very black sense of humour. Milton Parsons as John Channing leads the show together with Cecil Cunningham as Lorinda Channing his sister, and they at least have great fun. The others are just there to be fooled around with. It's a kind of freak show, anatomizing the essence of greed and its unpredictable self-destructive turns, while the leading comedian actually is Willie Best as the chauffeur, he is one of the few survivors, and he has a very last word.

An escapee from an institution returns home to the house of his sister, who arranged his escape. Gathering her family together, she intends using her brother to kill them.

While this is a relatively entertaining B film, it is ultimately neither a comedy or a thriller although it has elements of both. Milton Parsons is sinister as the brother with the underused and underrated Willie Best supplying the comedy.

This is an example of the Dark and Stormy Night motif. A maniac from an insane asylum escapes and makes his way to the house of his wealthy sister. Once there, she enlists him in playing a nasty prank on several heirs to her fortune. She uses a drug to make her look dead with the idea of being revived later. This will force the vultures to attack one another. Meanwhile, the nut case brother begins a little killing spree. The down side is the black servant who is treated like dirt. Of course, he is a mass of stereotypes, typical of the time period.

There was a time when every major studio turned out "B" movies, 60 minute quickies to fill a double bill. "The Hidden Hand," for example. It features a group of credible, little-known actors (aside from Craig Stevens who had not yet played Peter Gunn) and keeps the budget slim by using only one set, a mysterious mansion where members of a greedy family gather to be knocked off. Why are there a pair of homicidal hands behind the painting in the living room? How come the carpet nearby hides a quick dip in a watery grave?? And how did the mistress of the manor get out of the crypt in which she was interred to plot the demise of her house guests? At least, the cast includes Milton Parsons who is either the funniest or scariest butler to escape an insane asylum. In short, a surprisingly entertaining throwback.

Possibly my comments won't fit with other viewers' comments as I saw this film in 1942 when it was issued, and I was 7 years old.

As a 7 year old I found it scary, interesting, and sometimes comic.

I realize 62 years later the film would probably not frighten me now in the least. I think the story was original. Milton Parsons I remember well. His funereal manner was fascinating and his appearance is vivid in my memory. I remember him as a good little cameo actor from the 1940s, as well as one unfortunate, Rondo Hatton, who was not an actor but appeared as a monster due to his acromegaly. Bring back the films of the 1940s and early 1950s!