writers_reign With hindsight there's a wonderful irony at work here; screenwriter Curt Siodmak (kid brother of director Robert) was born in Dresden, Germany, and turned out this screenplay about the nightly bombings in London a good two years before Bomber Harris orchestrated the almost total annihilation of Dresden (which had no military value) by carpet bombing. Siodmak had made his name writing a different kind of horror with titles like Wolf Man, I Walked With A Zombie and the like and managed to pull off this neat 'why' not so much as 'who' dunnit featuring John Abbot as the cool assassin and Lloyd Corrigan - so memorable in the Jose Ferrer Cyrano de Bergerac and later The Manchurian Candidate - as the intrepid detective who solves the case. At 50-odd minutes it's a nice little curio.

mark.waltz You already know who the murder is when the first one is committed, so there is no mystery here as far as that is concerned. The mystery is to as why, and that plot point also really comes to no surprise. This is more interesting for its plot set-up, the abundance of eccentric British characters and a twist that comes out from the plot revelation that was obvious a mile away. It all surrounds a frail young woman (Mary McLeod) who witnessed her parents being killed during an air raid and is instantly paranoid of the intellectual man (John Abbott) who owns the house where she is resting. Anita Sharp-Bolster, a British version of Margaret Hamilton, is amusing as a hatchet-faced busybody who suspects Abbott of nefarious deeds, and indeed, he is. The victims are dispatched with the aid of a hidden weapon which literally causes a physical burning that kills quickly after horrendous pain. Portly Lloyd Corrigan (as an easy going detective) is obviously not British, but it is his investigation which exposes everything. While there are some interesting things about this low-budget Republic programmer, it really isn't all that intriguing even though there are some interesting elements about it.

dbborroughs Moody murder mystery set during the early days of the Blitz. As people huddle in bomb shelters someone is going around killing well placed people. Who is doing it and why? Could it be the kindly tobacco salesman? Off beat film has mood and an odd plot that keeps you watching but there is something off about it that makes it more an intellectual candy than an emotional one. I like the film but I don't love it, part of the problem is the film is talky and oddly paced. The things that make it intellectually intriguing are the same things that make it prickly.If you want a mystery that doesn't feel like any other this is it. If you want one that is warm and snuggly this isn't it.definitely worth seeing for the intellectual intriguing nature of it.

Michael O'Keefe A more or less predictable 50 minute B-picture from Republic. Taking place in London during WWII, where bombs are falling hard and heavy. Terrified people seek out the closest shelter with something else to fear...a sly lunatic seems to have a murderous agenda of killing people with a hypodermic needle. There soon becomes comparisons with the legendary Jack the Ripper. A tobacco store owner (John Abbott)suddenly draws attention as curiosity grows about the selection of the rich men being murdered during the German bombing raids. All of the victims do have something in common and in the eyes of the law...murder is murder. Other players include: Mary McLeod, Lloyd Corrigan, Anita Sharp-Bolster and Lester Matthews.