The Invisible Killer

The plot concerns the police and a spunky girl reporter battling to solve murders connected to a gambling syndicate. Its a run of the mill affair that really isn't anything special, at least not the sort of special the title Invisible Killer might imply. The "killer" of the title is given the short end of the stick since the film is more concerned with the spunky (ie annoying) girl reporter and her battle with a homicide detective to flush out the murderer. If you've seen any film with a spunky girl reporter and a harden police detective you'll know what to expect from this movie. While I can say that this trip down the well worn rut of a plot isn't bad, I also have to say that is completely unremarkable and the sort of thing that's not likely to remain with you long after the credits roll. Its like eating your favorite dessert only discovering half way through it has almost no flavor, its not bad but it doesn't have what makes you love to eat it. Not bad, not good, just sort of is.

In my head, it always seems as if every movie made in the 30s and 40s is good and worth seeking out. Stuff like "The Invisible Killer" prove that dreadfully boring, rubbishy, and utterly pointless movies have always existed. Apart from a man who picks up the phone and spontaneously drops dead, there's absolutely nothing interesting happening here. Heck, even that scene itself is fairly lame. There's only talking, talking, talking. Endless talking. Whenever they are not bickering with an over-ambitious and intrusive female reporter (Grace Bradley), two police detectives must look for a killer within an illegal gambling ring. 62 minutes rarely lasted this long.

There isn't much to say about this. The young woman reporter keeps scooping the police department. She is tireless and keeps on the move. Her dippy police boyfriend is always a step behind and she takes advantage. The bad guys are a bunch of organized crime guys from a gambling syndicate. They have been running things with the help of bribes. Now the new DA has had enough and calls them all in. During the investigation, there is a lot of in-fighting and the bad guys start to use poison in various forms to kill the investigators and some of their own rats. The girl is always around and is way more competent than anyone in the department. I would imagine the movie viewers of the thirties would have found this charming, but it was hard for me to get through.

This film is pretty much what you'd expect from a murder mystery film from Monogram--a spunky reporter (in this case she's a lady) and insanely difficult and complicated murders.

Sue Walker (Grace Bradley) is a reporter who wants the guys to respect her, so, like Lois Lane, it means being brash and trying to scoop everyone else on a case involving gamblers. And, like MOST B- mysteries of the age, that means she will end up investigating a murder case like she's one of the cops! In this case, folks are dying...but the coroner isn't sure how. They've been poisoned but who and how are they doing it?

Overall, the film is exactly what you'd expect from such a film--the usual clichés and the usual suspense. No real surprises here and certainly not a film for those who cannot cut it a lot of slack. Passable low-budget entertainment and nothing more.

Now, don't expect too much from this Poverty Row 'cheapie'; it was made by PRC, one of the poorest of the poor - and yet this murder yawn DOES have some very nice points for fans of the genre: a quite realistic depiction of the gambling racket with all its crossing and double-crossing, a pretty inventive murder method, and a VERY entertaining 'love-hate' relationship between a tough cop and an even tougher girl reporter, who's always a step ahead of the police...

You think you've seen all that before? Well, but probably not in THIS literally DRASTIC way: Sue, who's a true-bred police reporter and would risk ANYTHING (even her life) for a hot murder headline, even goes so far as to knock her flatfoot 'boyfriend' out when he wants to keep her from digging deeper into that dangerous gangster story!! All in all, Grace Bradley as Sue is the very core of the otherwise pretty average movie - one of the greatest (and yet one of the least known to the wider audience) reporter heroines of classic crime movies - which leaves us all with a REAL mystery: WHY didn't she become a big star?? She would most CERTAINLY have deserved it.