The Phantom

When a dangerous killer escapes from the local gaol, police suspect he may come after the DA as retribution for his incarceration. Assigned to protect the DA (Lucas), bull-nose detective (O'Brien) settles in for a long night that ends up turning into a fracas when "The Phantom" enters the house via a secret labyrinth of ducts and concealed passages, threatening the DA's daughter (Ray) before disappearing into the night. Fortunately, novice reporter (Williams) has a hunch "The Phantom" might be heading for a local mental sanitarium leading to a terrifying encounter with the residents of the local loony-bin.

There's some mild chuckles and feint thrills in his uneven comedy-thriller, but the acting seems quite stilted at times and the tension seems to be constantly nobbled by ill-timed humour. Williams is the strongest performer as the young, assertive reporter keen to solve the mystery to earn a pay increase that will fund his ensuing matrimonials with the DA's daughter.

I found the jittery housekeeper (Knights) a tad over-bearing, her incessant shrills and dramatics becoming old very quickly, while combined with her vertically challenged boyfriend, the Chauffeur Shorty (Dunn) the pair added a touch of farce to the proceedings that I felt were unnecessary diversions (perhaps padding). Nevertheless, it's coherent and at barely one hour in duration, nothing if not efficient.

For those who enjoy old films and are not put off by poor prints and bad quality sound, this hard to find film is quite fun. Break out the popcorn on a Saturday night in front of the TV. It is spooky and atmospheric, with a number of very funny, intentionally campy moments thrown in, much in line with The Old Dark House. I loved the bit where the reluctant visitor to the spooky old house was being chased around by one of the deranged looking inhabitants with a large stick. When he was finally cornered and was going to give himself up to whatever fate that awaited him, the ungainly old servant just lightly bopped the guy on the head and asked "Hey, did you lose this?" I was quite struck by the connection this film made with me, even though it was made almost 70 years ago.

This is the kind of movie you start watching from the cynical forward-looking viewpoint of 2007 and start complaining that the premise is hokey, the set-ups are creaky and the dialog is loaded with clichés.

Then you realize that this film IS SO DANG OLD that it represents probably the first time that some of these set-ups, situations and dialog were ever seen on the movie screen! This dates from only the third year that talking pictures were widely available, so there wasn't much before this that this film could be ripping off, except probably stage plays. From this perspective, there is at least some originality here by definition, and lots of fun to be had with the murderer-on-the-loose-in-the-creepy-insane-asylum premise.

This would make a great double feature with "The Old Dark House," from 1932, creating lots of fodder which would be mocked in the ensuing decades by Bugs Bunny cartoons, Three Stooges shorts, Abbott and Costello films, sketches on "The Carol Burnett Show," "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," and Larry Blamire's "Dark and Stormy Night."

The four-feature DVD from Retromedia is worth the price if you are a fan of obscure, ancient, creaky horror movies like this. You can look up the other features under the individual titles for reviews, but they are all just about as entertaining as this feature. If black-and-white horror films from the dawn of time are not your bag, you should pass, otherwise this DVD is a worthwhile purchase. And these movies are so old that they won't really scare children except for the smallest tots. Pop some popcorn and go back to the 1930's.

A prisoner named the Phantom is moments away from going to the chair when he climbs over the wall, jumps on top of a passing train and makes a get away when a plane flies down and picks him up. He then threatens the DA, even though he's not the DA who sent him up the river...and then things get complicated.

This is a movie from the early days of sound. Using silent footage with sound effects it broadens what could be done at reasonable expense with the then bulky sound equipment. As a result this film does things that many similar movies from the period couldn't, it goes outside the drawing room, the best example is the jail break at the beginning.

But while it goes places that other films didn't, and it has more twists than a pretzel factory, this film suffers from the same problem that countless other lower budget films did, and that is its limited by sound itself. There is no music and many scenes are staged simply to have people talk, a sequence at the beginning in the newspaper editor's office for example, goes on way too long just so we can hear the characters talking on the phone.

The movie itself is interesting up to a point, but at times it seems to want to get as many of the mystery conventions into the movie as possible so things keep spinning out for no real reason other than to make the film reach a reasonable length. The problem is that as interesting as the plot is, the film's age hinders full enjoyment of it.

If you're in the mood for an antique give it a try, otherwise steer clear.

I would think that for the people of 1931, this would be quite a movie. The beginning (as many have already stated), was quite exciting - even by today's standards. Then the movie drags a bit.

But my reason for writing this review is only to add that the eclectic cast is worth watching. You can see the obvious influence of the silent era in their expressions and actions/reactions.

But to me, Lucy (played by Violet Knights) almost steals the show. She seems to me a very funny actress. I hope to get to see her in something else some time. However, I suspect this is probably her crowning achievement as an actress, as she made less than ten talking pictures, and was only credited in two of them. I know her acting is overboard, but her expressions and manners are worth the watching of this movie to me. Without her, I would probably give this movie only one or two stars.

The strange Swede (William Jackie?) is also a great comic in this, his only credited role (according to IMDb).

If you like unusual characters, I think this is definitely a movie worth a watch. Don't expect a great story - as others have mentioned, the plot is a bit over-used. But the cast to me is not a disappointment.