The Girl Who Dared

While this film has no big names (in fact no names I have heard at all), it still manages to be a fun "old dark house" film with a clever plot and interesting characters. The story and plot revolve around radiation, which I found to be very appropriate and a bit novel for the 1940s.

I also have to call out the black servant, Woodrow, played by Willie Best. Best may not be a household name, but he had an incredible career (including such films as "High Sierra" and "Cabin in the Sky"). Maybe it is wrong of me to find humor in these "black servant" roles. Maybe they are racist. But Best does them well, making the characters he plays endearing and fun. I look forward to seeing his work.

I recommend this film. It is short, so you are not investing much time. And it is well-written and of above average quality. Definitely worth a peek.

An assortment of relatives come to visit John Hamilton at his isolated house on an island, connected to the mainland by a causeway. The local legend is that a hundred years earlier a pirate ship had sunk there -- the remains can still be seen offshore -- and one night a year, this night, the ghost of the pirate captain can be seen from the shore. Then one of the houseguests is killed and the movie shifts gears.

It starts off as a lighthearted old-dark-house/mystery/comedy from Republic under the direction of Howard Bretherton, the studio's reliable jack-of-all-genres, and the B-list acting talent available for the studio's non-western programmers are up making the most of their roles and the spooky camerawork of Bud Thackery. It maintains its interest right to the end, although the mystery aspect of the movie is lazily handled; still, that fits right in with its multi-genre script, and more in keeping with its sense of being a mood piece, rather than a serious effort.

Okay, you've likely seen the format before—a creepy isolated house, a series of murders, an attractive cast that includes the murderer, and an amateur sleuth. But also throw in a batch of radium a full year before the A-bomb, plus a purported ghost, for good measure. Surprisingly, the rather murky whodunit is not uppermost, instead it's the characters and atmosphere. What it all adds up to is a decent little programmer for wartime audiences and even for later folks taking a break from the computer.

You just know from the outset that despite appearances Blair (Cookson) can't be the bad guy, he's just too good-looking. Besides, the winsome Ann (Gray) takes a shine to him, and you know how Hollywood is in that regard. It's an attractive cast of vets and up and comers, but I did get confused at times with the similar names and appearances. Plus, the reveal scene was much too brief, like someone's contract had suddenly run out. Nonetheless, that one ghost scene was truly spooky, along with the usual secret passages, shadowy rooms, and stormy nights. Come to think of it, I miss old b&w for the effects that color simply cannot duplicate—new Hollywood should loosen up! Anyway, it's a fun little hour with a gang of Hollywood pro's and an old dark house. So how can you lose.

"The Girl Who Dared" sounds more like a Western adventure instead of a B old-dark-house mystery, but the latter is what it is. This fast (under an hour), breezy film is something of a variation of "And Then There Were None," and actually beat the film version of the Agatha Christie novel to the screens by a year! It leaves no convention unexplored and no cliché unplumbed, and the identity of the killer is more random than motive-inspired. But it is competently done, with some interesting camera work for such a cheapie, and a couple decent plot twists. The trapping of the killer is unique, too. The cast performs competently, and some of the actors play against their usual types, particularly Roy Barcroft, normally a Western and Serial heavy who here plays the hotheaded, jealous ex-husband of one of the key characters, and Kirk "Superman" Alyn, as the equally hot-headed brother of the "Girl" of the title. John "Perry White" Hamilton also enjoys a larger and different kind of role than he was normally given. If only the filmmakers had been so generous with Willie Best, who once again shuffles around as a pop-eyed, comic relief servant who is afraid of his own shadow. All in all, it's worth an hour of a movie buff's time.

"You can't convict a man of murder if you can't find the body"--from the film...and certainly NOT true!

In the 1930s and 40s, Hollywood made a ton of scary old house movies. They always involved some folks getting stuck in some home as a maniac slowly begins picking them off...one by one. "The Girl Who Dared" is one of these films...but it's also a bit better.

In this film, a group of people are invited to a mansion...but when they arrive the homeowner says he didn't invite them. Soon, a body turns up...and then another. And, naturally, the phones have been cut and their cars vandalized so they cannot escape!

The reason I liked this one is the ending...it was a clever way to catch the killer and their motivation was interesting. A decent time-passer.