A Face in the Fog

A bizarre killer called "The Fiend" is holding the city in a grip of fear. No one has seen his face and lived to describe it. He kills with a diabolical poison but there is never a wound on the body. Who is he? How does he commit his crimes? Is he a madman or is he dangerously sane?

This thriller from 1936 came very late into the genre. In fact this was the year the first great cycle of terror films ended due to the British market drying up. Still it is a fun film that mixes suspense with comedy.

Frank Gordon and Jean Monroe (Lloyd Hughes and June Collier) are reporters for the "Daily Journal". Jean prints an article that she has seen the face of The Fiend which gets her marked as a victim. With Frank helping the cops in tracking down clues they track the seemingly crippled, hunchbacked killer to a theatre where a musical show is going on. Hardly have they arrived when the shows lead dancer becomes the next victim. With the producers worried the bad publicity will wreck the show and the playwright playing amateur detective it'll be a miracle if Frank and the cops can get anything done.

If this movie had been made 6 years earlier I would have expected Sheldon Lewis to be in the cast. Whoever dreamed up the character of The Fiend seems to have borrowed a few pages out of Mr. Lewis' acting manual though because our villain reminded me a lot of The Clutching Hand. Of course the idea of a caped, limping hunchback goes back to the 1926 serial OFFICER 444 and maybe even further than that. usually the villain turns out to be an ordinary person in makeup but knowing Who does not always mean knowing Why and that is what keeps us guessing throughout many of the movies in this genre. A FACE IN THE FOG is no exception to that rule.

Acting is fairly competent all around. Lloyd Hughes is best remembered (by me anyway) as the brave reporter who goes with Wallace Beery and Bessie Love to THE LOST WORLD in 1925. Watch for Al St. John as Elmer, the photographer who is scared of his own shadow and keeps tripping over his own feet. Al got started with Mack Sennett and appeared with people like Buster Keaton and Fatty Arbuckle. In the 40's he grew a beard and became "Fuzzy" St. John and acted in dozens of B western with Buster Crabbe, Eddie Dean and any other sagebrush hero who needed a sidekick.

Okay so the comedy relief gets a little strained at times. At one point Frank gets Elmer on the phone and tells him to call the cops because The Fiend is close by. Elmer faints on the spot and when he comes to an hour later the police already have a suspect in custody. The one musical number we get to see is . . .well . . .okay, but it is obvious producer Sam Katzman was no Busby Berkley. As for suspense, expect plenty!

Give this one a chance. You will not be disappointed.

Bizarre little mystery with no budget, but the story is pretty good and there are several interesting actors here at the zenith of their careers. A murderer called "the fiend" is killing show people but no one knows how they are being killed except that they are being poisoned. No one ever comes near the victims. And then there's that hunchback.

June Collyer (her last film) plays a meddlesome reporter who claims she can recognize "the fiend" because she saw his face in the fog (in a mirror). She becomes his target. Fellow reporter (Lloyd Hughes) tries to protect her, along with a ditzy photographer (Al. St. John). After there is a murder in a theater, the playwright (Lawrence Gray) pitches in to help solve the case.

St. John had been in silent films in the teens with Keaton and Arbuckle. Hughes was also a silent film start (THE LOST WORLD), and Gray was a big star in silent films and early musicals with the likes of Gloria Swanson, Marion Davies, and the Duncan Sisters.

Worth a look.

A Face in the Fog is a very derivative 1930's mystery movie. We have many of the staples of the genre – a mysterious black cloaked villain, a bubbly and inquisitive female journalist, a cowardly comedy character, a ridiculous murder method, etc etc. So it isn't exactly breaking the mould to say the least. However, it isn't too bad as these films go either. Unlike many mystery movies of the time, this one actually remembers to include some suspenseful moments. OK, it's hardly a white knuckle ride but it does have a reasonable villain and a good enough final confrontation; while the mystery is reasonably diverting enough. And last, and by no means least, it's very short so it never really outstays its welcome. These old Poverty Row films are for the most part extremely limited and lacking, and while this one doesn't entirely break away from that generalisation, it's one of the more entertaining ones.

A mysterious murderer known as The Fiend is targeting the people of a theatre. To draw the killer into the open, newspaper reporter Jean Monroe (June Collyer) writes an article claiming that she saw his face and can identify him; naturally that makes her a target. Sure enough, the killer strikes but isn't successful. Jean's love interest Frank Gordon (Lloyd Hughes) tries to protect her while playwright Peter Fortune (Lawrence Gray) assists the police in apprehending the villain.

This poverty row effort is so cheap that it doesn't even deliver on the fog promised in the title (or sound effects for a gun firing, for that matter).

Sloppily written and directed, with no notable performances (unless you count Al St. John as comic relief photographer Elmer, who is only notable for being so thoroughly irritating), the film lurches awkwardly from scene to scene. There's a modicum of fun to be had from the ridiculous idea of a gun (silently) firing frozen poison into the victims and leaving no marks, and the hunchbacked killer in black cloak and hat is suitably menacing, but the film is too slapdash and laboriously talky to be an effective thriller.

3.5/10, rounded up to 4 for the entertaining acrobatic dance rehearsal at the theatre.

"A stage company cast finds themselves terrified when a bizarre killer known as 'The Fiend' targets them for death. A pair of reporters and their clumsy photographer set out to work the story of 'The Fiend' and find themselves targets as well. Just as you think our trio of heroes has the case solved, you're thrown another twist that has you wondering who the killer really is," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.

Taking "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" to Hollywood, producer Sam Katzman's lack of studio settings probably helps "A Face in the Fog" look interesting, especially toward the end (1930s traffic). The direction could be improved upon; for example, the camera angle on the fight scene is not helpful. The budget appears slight. Under the circumstances, most of the silent/talkie crossover cast perform it amiably.

**** A Face in the Fog (2/1/36) Robert F. Hill ~ Lloyd Hughes, June Collyer, Al St. John