The Devil's Mask

Jack Packard, (Jim Bannon) plays the role with a duo of private investigators concerning a shrunken head found on the ruins of a crashed plane traveling from California to Latin America. There are many investigations among head hunters in the jungle and people being killed with deadly blow guns. There are family members who all mistrust each other and lots of mysterious people who appear to be the killers. Janet Mitchell, (Anita Louise) gave an outstanding performance and gave some romance to this black and white low budget film from 1946. Found this film to be rather boring and the story goes around and around in circles and never seems to end. However, this series was an old time radio show starring Jim Bannon which entertained many people during the radio era.

Janet Mitchell (Anita Louise) doesn't trust her stepmother. Janet's father has been killed in a South American jungle and we see who she blames. A man with a deadly blow gun is creeping around the grounds of the Mitchell residence where the two women live. Their butler is killed by a poison dart but was he the intended victim of the blow gun attacker? I felt as though I should be rooting for Janet but we do see an unstable side to her. At one point she admits she likes playing with fire and she has a boyfriend who says he would do anything for her. Janet is put under hypnosis and reveals some strange observations concerning her father while under. I found this Columbia B mystery unusual and entertaining and it should keep you guessing right through to the end. It was originally on a double bill with Richard Dix's Mysterious Intruder.

Second in the I Love a Mystery series sees Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) investigating a mystery involving a missing man, shrunken heads, and blow guns. Yarborough is at his "good ole boy" best, for those who enjoy him. Bannon is not bad but not exciting. Very ordinary. Anita Louise is irritating throughout the picture. Terribly overwrought performance. The best thing about this series were the nice atmospheric moments. The usage of supernatural or bizarre elements helps separate it from most other B detective films. The killer is pretty easily figured out, though the motivation was pretty cool. Anita Louise's hysterics are the worst part of the movie. Still a decent way to spend an hour and change.

A woman thinks her daughter is out to kill her, and hires a detective agency to help her. "Devil's Mask" had a perfectly respectable cast, and a good solid script. With shrunken heads from south America, a panther, and even the use of hypnosis were all probably pretty new and exotic in 1946. (Although, when they try to put someone under hypnosis, they shine a bright light in the actor's eyes, and loudly tap a pencil over and over, so not sure how deeply the actor could have gone under....) The acting by some of the actors is a tad flat, and assistant detective Doc Long (Bart Yarborough) spouts more southern descriptive phrases than necessary, probably the reasons for the low rating on IMDb and membership in the "B Movie" club. The lead detective playing Jack Packard , Jim Bannon, had played detectives and cowboys, and was married to Bea Benaderet (Pearl Bodine, in the Beverly Hillbillies). Another interesting connection, Frank Wilcox, who plays Professor Logan, would also go on to be the oil company president on "Beverly Hillbillies". Also.... Mona Barrie and Bea Benaderet were both in "The First Time". Anita Louise, who plays the daughter Janet in Devil's Mask, was really only six years younger than the Mother Mitchell (Mona Barrie). good Whodunnit. no big glaring plot holes. no big car chase scenes.

The "I Love A Mystery" films from Columbia were all based on a radio program of that name and each of them was made into very entertaining mysteries, the sort that Columbia was able to churn out on a tight budget with directors like Henry Levin.

This is the most gripping mystery in the batch, full of ingredients that will have you guessing from beginning to end just how all the loose ends will be tied up.

It starts off with the shrunken heads discovered when a plane crashes en route from California to Columbia, and then the plot includes a missing explorer who has possibly been murdered, an anxious wife afraid that someone is trying to kill her (MONA BARRIE), a young woman and her fiancé (ANITA LOUISE and MICHAEL DUANE)who resent being followed by detectives, and the detectives hired to cover the case (JIM BANNON and BARTON YARBOROUGH). Also in the mix: a restless black panther and the weird owner of a taxidermist shop (PAUL E. BURNS).

Nicely photographed in crisp B&W with appropriate set decorations, it has the look of a better than average programmer from Coumbia (not Republic, as another comment suggests).

Guaranteed to surprise and entertain, it's well worth watching.