Phantom Killer (1942)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Disappointing Continuation

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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.

***SPOILERS*** In the movie John Hamilton, playing deft-mute philanthropist John G. Harrison, the future editor, in "The Adventurs of Superman" of the Daily Planet Perry White seems to do something that even the series star Superman couldn't do: Be in two places at the same time defying the laws of physics! In fact Harrison goes out of his way to show off his amazing powers by leaving clues, by talking which he's not capable of doing, to anyone near the murder scene so he can later identify him as the murderer! This has the janitor doing his nightly rounds at the Cromwell Building Nicodemus, Mantan Moreland, who discovered the murder victim-President of the Cromwell Corp- positively identify Harrison as his killer! What doesn't seem to fit in all this is that at the same time that Harrison was spotted by Nicodemus he was at a charity event five miles away!It's Assistant D.A Edward Clark, Dick Purcell, who feels something smells in all this it that Harrison was involved in two other murders using the very same cover. That's by exposing himself as the murderer to an eye witness where at the very same time he was miles away from the murder scene! This has Clark quit his job to prove that somehow Harrison was the killer of the President of the Cromwell Corp. but how he did it that's another story! ****SPOILERS**** A bit hard to take even from a Monogram movie that has Harrison and his man servant and sign language interpretor Kramer, George Lewis, using his identical twin brother, also played by John Hamilton,as cover for his crimes. This has Clark get his girlfriend newspaper reporter Barbara Mason, Joan Woodbury, to use her talents in making Harrison believe she's writing his biography to get in his mansion and find out what he's really up to. And she finds that out by innocently playing his piano that he, in being deft, is not supposed to be able to hear! Confusing ending with Harrison being caught red-handed and about to be arrested trying to do himself in by swallowing a vile of poison. Only to fail miserably by having the poison vile knocked out of his hand and ending up facing the bar of justice.

As expected from Monogram, the sets are cheap, the comedy broad, and the acting erratic. Still, the premise is engaging. That is, how can deaf-mute Harrison (Hamilton) manage to be in two places at once. If we're to believe our eyes, he's emceeing big public events in one part of town, while in another part, he's wringing people's necks. Pretty good trick. So the movie's more a howsitdun than a whodunit.Hamilton's excellent in the pivotal role. Looks like he's been doing sign language for years. Plus there's that unblinking stare, while we wonder what's behind it. Happily, Woodbury (Barbara) injects needed spark as a girl Friday, while Moreland enlivens with his bug-eyed comedic bit. Too bad he soon disappears (as another reviewer points out). Now, if casting had kept Moreland and dumped the unfunny cop Hymer, things would have improved—but then Moreland probably had to get over to the Charlie Chan set. And who is Dick Purcell, the supposed leading man. I kept looking for him, but he's so recessive, he's hard to spot. I guess all the good B-leading men were away at war, but then neither the script nor director Beaudine throws much Purcell's way.Anyway, despite the drawbacks, there's enough suspense-- especially around the piano-- to keep up interest and maybe even reaffirm the laws of physics.

Racist overtones aside, there is a lot to recommend in this remake of The Sphinx where horror icon Lionel Atwill played a dual role, one a killer, the other his alibi. To prove you can't be two places at once, a deaf and mute philanthropist is off doing good deeds while the other is on nefarious sprees. The outcome is obvious but the method of revelation is what makes it more fun and intriguing. Replacing Atwill is an obscure actor named John Hamilton, a George Zucco look-alike who lacks the sinister image of both Atwill and Zucco. B fan favorite Joan Woodburry is the feisty reporter who fights for her belief in Hamilton's innocence while Dick Purcell is the detective trying to prove just the opposite. On the right side of the law are J. Farrell MacDonald and Warren Hymer, still typecast as a buffoon.There's racial overtones concerning the cowardly black porter played by Mantan Moreland who first encounters Hamilton then runs to his gin stash upon discovering the film's first corpse. Director William Beaudine speeds up the plot by instilling lots of humor, particularly a sequence with Hymer on the phone with his nagging wife who squeals like an old record on the wrong speed while Hymer hides the phone in a desk drawer. Like other Monogram remakes of their earlier films, this is even better than the original. It is pure entertainment without pretension made during the war ear that needed diversions like this.