L'Empreinte de Dracula

I saw this on TCM recently and, through the IMDb I found that there were seven "Crime Doctor" movies with Warner Baxter as the psychiatrist-detective. Baxter is a bit long in the tooth compared to his stolid performance in 42nd Street a decade earlier. Not noir, and a bit campy today, the movie also has a touch of the possible supernatural. The plot, black and white cinematography and characters are far more complex than those of the Mr. Moto and Charlie Chan series. There are subplots, unexpected twists and appearances by a number of B movie stalwartly we all should recognize immediately (none ever made it to the A status). It is a wonderfully unpredictable 70 minutes.

I would love to see a boxed DVD series of these films.

Better than average World War II-era "who-dun-it" featuring Warner Baxter as a former gangster who suffered amnesia and has been reborn as a psychiatrist now known as Robert Ordway who helps both the police and criminals who want to go straight. Crime Doctor's Courage is the fourth in the series of ten and also involves a victim who might have some mental problems. The link to "courage" is not particularly clear.

This entry revolves around the death of fortune hunter Gordon Carson whose two previous wives have under mysterious circumstances and who in turn dies in a locked room under conditions that resemble suicide but Dr. Ordway labels murder. Hillary Brooke plays the part of widow Kathleen Carson who is involved with Anthony Caruso - a mysterious Spanish dancer whose act includes his sister that disappears on stage. As a mystery novelist, Jerome Cowan is a good supporting actor as is Lloyd Corrigan as an aficionado in crime.

Spooky houses with creaking doors, caskets in the cellar, and suspects that are never seen in daylight add to the air of suspense. The set for the dance sequence is quite elaborate and the ballet music very good. Direction, production design, and photography stand out. The exterior shots and costumes suggest more affluence rather than normally found in the average "B" detective thriller.

Strongly recommended.

This one is not only baffling, it's weird.

It starts off with a good hook for drawing the viewer into the story--but then veers off in so many different directions that the plot is soon downright bizarre. The opening has HILLARY BROOKE urging Dr. Ordway (WARNER BAXTER) to attend a dinner at her home so that he can have a good look at her husband (STEPHEN CRANE), a man whose previous wives have died mysteriously and whom she suspects might be insane.

When Crane is murdered that evening, behind doors in a locked room, Dr. Ordway must solve the case. LLOYD CORRIGAN is on hand as a bumbling carpenter friend but the plot revolves around Spanish dancers (ANTHONY CARUSO and LUPITA TOVAR), suspected of being vampires because no one has ever seen them in daylight.

A series of baffling twists and turns shed little light on whatever the outcome of the case will be--and the explanations that come forth during the film's last five minutes are less than satisfying, nor are they the least bit credible.

It's a murky yarn that starts out acceptably in typical mystery fashion, but soon gets bogged down in a far-fetched story that deals with vampirism, a jealous suitor, trick effects to make a dancer disappear, and a rather abrupt ending with virtually no character development to prepare the viewer for the final explanation.

Summing up: Interesting, but a bizarre mixture of mystery elements.

As Doctor Robert Ordway, the Crime Doctor, Warner Baxter gets involved in all kinds of mysteries. But one usually doesn't get invitations to dinner like this even from beautiful women like Hillary Brooke.

Brooke married Stephen Crane whose two previous brides both had accidental deaths. For some odd reason, she's beginning to have second thoughts about the marriage. So the famous Crime Doctor is invited for dinner and a consultation to observe the behavior of her husband.

In true murder mystery style the husband is shot to death last night in a locked room with the house still full of guests. Baxter calls the police and Captaine Emory Parnell arrives on the scene. Of course Baxter is no small help in eventually arriving at the identity of the culprit though another murder takes place.

We've even got the supernatural involved because one of the suspects is half of a mysterious Spanish dancing team of Anthony Caruso and Lupita Tovar. They're suspected of being vampires.

The Crime Doctor's Courage I'm sure didn't people running for the exits when it played the bottom half of double bills in the Forties. One thing I will say though, the behavior of one of the suspects during a scene that didn't involve Baxter kind of gave away the identity of the murderer. Still it's a passable enough murder mystery.

Crime Doctor's Courage, The (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Strange fourth entry into Columbia's series is your typical detective film until half way through when it turns into a horror film. The Crime Doctor (Warner Baxter) is asked to check out a husband who is on his third wife. The guy's previous two wives all suffered accidental deaths days after the wedding but there's a subplot with vampires thrown in. This is the third in the series that I've seen and it works the best because of how strange it actually is. I'm really not sure what made the writer turn to vampires but it makes for some interesting plot twists, although none of them really add up in the end. Baxter also seemed to do his best work here and the supporting cast is interesting if not totally successful.