Fantasma da Rua 42

From PRC, Producers Releasing Corp, comes the moidah of an actor. Dave OBrien is "Tony", mister suave reporter, who is trying to solve the case. Kay Aldridge is the actress Claudia, who may or may not be involved. lots of talking, talking with suspects, who may or may not be suspects. O'Brien certainly did it all; writer, actor, director. probably best known for "Reefer Madness", 1936. Met Harry Truman. died quite young at 57 from a heart attack. Keep an eye out for Cyril Delevanti... was the old guy in "Night of the Iguana". Directed by Al Herman; this was one of his last films. had started in silents, doing short films, and moved into the talkies. the sound and picture quality is pretty bad, but there ARE captions, so i guess we're lucky it's watchable at all, after eighty years. showing on FilmDetective streaming channel. it's okay. that about all.

This is a creative cheapie from PRC. I like Dave O'Brien. He ought to have had a major career in films. He's good here, but I guess PRC was not the place to forge a career.

I think I saw this on local TV years ago. If not, I saw many mysteries like it.

This is about murders involving a theatrical family. Alan Mowbry, looking quite gone to seed, plays the patriarch. He gets to ham it up a little in "Julius Caesar." Forty-second Street! Wow, are there ever phantoms wandering around! At the time this was made, they were pining for the days of the Ziedgfeld Girl. Then there were legitimate theaters, where plays were performed. Next came years of decline: peep shows, etc. Now it is all cleaned up and is like a vast mall. It isn't much fun. The phantoms will go elsewhere.

A haughty theatre critic is co-opted by his editor to investigate a sleazy backstage murder. Reluctant at first, he warms to the task through the enthusiastic prodding of his Shakespeare-loving, cab-driver sidekick and his developing interest in the aristocratic young lady involved in the case. For the Charlie-Chan-like climax, he sets up an audition of Julius Caesar, hoping to lure the murderer into all-to-realistically participating in the assassination scene. Imagine what a breezy and biting satire Hecht and MacArthur could have made of that premise. Unfortunately, the idea ended up at lowly PRC studios, which assigned the picture to Albert Herman, one of the most inept directors in history. At least Ed Wood and Andy Milligan had some flair and energy (no matter how misguided), but Herman just contributed dullness to all he touched (coincidentally, the final plot revelations have some ingredients in common with Wood's "Jailbait"). Thankfully, the cast of B-movie stalwarts makes the entire outing at least watchable. Prolific Dave O'Brien cops a rare leading role, and although disappointingly subdued, he elicits intelligence and charm throughout (unfortunately, he's now best remembered for his giggly emoting in "Reefer Madness" and not his many fine comic character turns in both features and shorts).

A newspaper's drama critic turns detective when he gets mixed up with murder among members of a theatre company. Eventually, a series of murders occurs apparently committed by a mysterious phantom.

Not a bad little detective mystery from low-budget PRC. That's thanks mainly to a lively turn from O'Brien as Woolrich and the decorous Kay Aldridge as Claudia. Then there's the familiar Frank Jenks as the comedy relief cabbie, and a surprisingly delightful Vera Marshe as the lame brain waitress Ginger. The screenplay makes good use of its theatrical setting, and I suspect many of those backstage set-ups were real backstage scenes from PRC's sound stage. Of course, 50-some minutes is scarcely enough time to develop a strong list of suspects or mystery plot, but there's enough colorful characterizations to compensate. All in all, an adequate little time-passer.

After watching this poverty row mystery -- and re-running the climactic scene three or four times -- there's no need for a spoiler alert. I still have no idea who committed the murders nor why. Which sorta' takes the wind out of watching Dave O'Brien as the drama critic for the New York Record playing amateur sleuth, probing the slayings that are decimating the cast of a New York repertory theater. Then again, why was the film called "Phantom of 42nd Street" when live theater had long given way to grind movie houses on 42 Street by the time it was made in the 1940s? That's easy. While "Phantom of 47th Street Between Seventh and Eighth Avenues" would have been more accurate, it wouldn't have had nearly the cache. And fitting it on marquees -- especially at theaters that played PRC releases -- would have been a challenge.