Phantom Killer

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.

This is directed to the guy who gives the kudos in "Phantom Killer" to Jack Benny's valet/chef/chauffeur/right-hand-man Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. You got it wrong, fellow. That was not Rochester playing Nicodemus, the janitor who sees a man talk who can't talk. Nope. It was the great Mantan Moreland.

BTW, this low budget Monogram 2-reeler is fun, especially if you're a fan of the dozens of Old Dark House mysteries that were produced in the 30s & 40s.

Mantan, who died in 1973 at age 71, is probably best remembered these days as Birmingham Brown, Charlie Chan's driver and cohort to Charlie's Numbers One, Two & Three sons in 14 Charlie Chan movies from 1944-1949.

Mantan also had solid roles in "King of the Zombies" (1941), "Dressed to Kill" (1941) with Lloyd Nolan as shamus Mike Shayne, "The Strange Case of Dr. RX" (1942) with another great, Lionel Atwill and many other fun films. He acted into the 1970s when he appeared in such TV series as "Love, American Style" and "Adam-12."

Mantan has deservedly been remembered in beloved fashion by many and needs to be recognized here.

Billy "B-Movie" Beaudine Directed this Monogram Movie with about as Much Creativity as His other 300 Films. Competent and Quick the Man who went on to Helm..."Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter" (1966) and "Billy the Kid vs Dracula" (1966) along with many Others that "Bad Movie" Archaeologists have Dug Up and Poked Fun.

This is a Transparent Plot Paraded Out for Non-Discerning Wartime Audiences. There are some Amusing Cultural References about Sinking the Japs and a Reference to "Superman" that made His Comic Book Debut only Three Years Earlier.

Pop-Eyed and always Poking Fun at Himself and His Race, Mantan Moreland is On Hand for a while, "Feets don't fail me now!", but is Surprisingly Absent after a Brief Gin Guzzling Opening.

John Hamilton (TV's Perry White) is the "Villain" along with Three Leading Actors that no one can or Should Remember, because They basically Show Up, Read Lines and Annoy the Audience.

The Title is Better than the Movie and the Movie is Better than Being on the Bottom End of a Bomb Run.

Note...A Title Card shown at the end of the Movie asks for 80,000,000 Theater Patrons to "Buy Bonds Now", and many did. Movie goers were generous Patriots throughout WWII and helped the War effort substantially.

Note 2…Someone on IMDb should remove the poster on this title page. It is almost as embarrassing as this Movie.

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.

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!