DICK TRACY (1945)
aka Dick Tracy, Detective
Article 1837 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-26-2006
Posting Date: 8-23-2006
Directed by William A. Berke
Featuring Morgan Conway, Anne Jeffreys, Mike Mazurki

Dick Tracy investigates a series of savage knife murders committed by a man named Splitface.

Though I prefer Ralph Byrd to Morgan Conway in the role of Dick Tracy, this feature version of the comic strip character (the first of series of four) isn’t half bad. It isn’t quite as much fun as DICK TRACY VERSUS CUEBALL , due to the fact that the movie doesn’t seem to be having quite as much fun with the characters, but Mike Mazurki always makes for an effective villain, and the movie also features the cadaverous Milton Parsons as (you guessed it) an undertaker. There is a bit of a sadistic edge to the movie, what with the killer slashing his victims repeatedly with a knife. This detail adds a bit of the horror element to the movie, as does the presence of a spiritualist who is also a master hypnotist. Not great, but it’s watchable enough.

THE DEVIL WITH HITLER (1942)
aka Nazty Nuisance
Article 1836 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-25-2006
Posting Date: 8-22-2006
Directed by Gordon Douglas and Glenn Tryon
Featuring Alan Mowbray, Bobby Watson, George E. Stone

The devil, fearful of losing his job to that upstart Hitler, tries to assuage the fears of his board of directors by tricking Hitler into performing a good deed.

All right, here’s a concept for you – imagine a Three Stooges comedy only substituting the characters of Moe, Curly and Larry with Hitler, Mussolini and a Japanese general. If you can get your mind around that, you’ll be in pretty good shape for taking on this truly strange comedy. The original movie runs only 44 minutes, but mine is significantly longer; this is because another short has been edited into it – its sequel, NAZTY NUISANCE, which features the same trio of actors doing the same kind of schtick. Hitler is played by Bobby Watson, who assayed the character several times in his career, and not always comically. Mussolini is played by Joe Devlin, who also played that same character multiple times; imagine Curly with a Chico Marx accent, and you have an idea of how the character was played. The Japanese General (with the unflattering name of General Suki Yaki) was played by George E. Stone. The basic point of the whole movie is simple; let’s see how many indignities we can heap onto these three personalities in eighty-five minutes.

For what it’s worth, the slice of wartime propaganda gets by with me by dint of sheer chutzpah. During this movie, you will be treated to such visions as –

-Hitler and Mussolini in a pillow fight with an orangutan

-Hitler with his rear end caught on a bucket while a bomb burns inside

-Hitler, Mussolini and General Suki Yaki all taking out life insurance on each other and then trying to kill each other

…and so on, and so on. The devil is played by Alan Mowbray, who gets close to Hitler by becoming his butler, and then tries to get him to perform a good deed by not executing an insurance salesman. You know, in some people’s books, this wouldn’t necessarily be considered a good deed, but I don’t think this movie is aiming for strict realism.

Quite frankly, they don’t make them like this anymore.

DEVIL BAT’S DAUGHTER (1946)
Article 1835 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-24-2006
Posting Date: 8-21-2006
Directed by Frank Wisbar
Featuring Rosemary La Planche, John James, Michael Hale

The daughter of Dr. Carruthers believes she has inherited her father’s criminal tendencies. When the woman who takes her in is found murdered, she believes that she was responsible.

PRC put out some very moody and interesting low budget horror movies in their time. They also put out this one, a murder mystery masquerading as a horror movie which also has the further strike against it of having its plot hinge upon the denial of certain events in the original THE DEVIL BAT. This puts the horror fan in a bit of a bind; which story do you embrace? Well, I don’t blame them for going with THE DEVIL BAT and rejecting this movie, which is nowhere near as much fun as the Lugosi vehicle. On its own terms, it has its moments, but when you have a plot that mostly reminds you of SHE-WOLF OF LONDON , you’re not on good ground with fans of horror. In fact, I was initially wondering if this movie was borrowing the plot of that one, but this one beat the Universal film to the theaters by one month. Frank Wisbar’s other horror entry for the year (STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP ) is certainly a worthier choice.