L'incubo del passato

When a man is thrown from a speeding car, he awakens without a clue who he is. It takes ten years for him to rehabilitate into the renowned "Dr. Ordway" (Warner Baxter), a man who ends up esteemed enough to be put in charge of the parole board. It's as he is making a broadcast that an inmate elsewhere (Dorothy Tree) recognises his voice and identifies criminal mastermind "Philip Morgan" - a man whose gang stole $200,000 that is still unaccounted for. It's not just her who has identified him, and pretty swiftly his erstwhile gang are also on his trail wanting their loot. "Ordway" realises that he still has some cards to play in his dealings with their leader "Caspair" (John Litel) that might just help him fully re-establish his identity and hopefully find the money. This is quite an engaging little mystery that allows Baxter to establish his character's credentials as a competent detective whilst using some elementary psychology, the odd shrug and a wry smile to provide us with a decently paced cat-and-mouse drama that presents our protagonist with a sort of lose-lose scenario towards the end. The production is adequate, the dialogue quite entertaining and it amiably sets the scene for more to come.