tomwal Having seen this film at the tender age of nine, the images of a "headless ghost" walking around, conjured up nightmares for many nights to come. For a "b" film running a bit under one hour, The Mysterious Doctor manages to convey the proper amount of chills. While not in the Val Lewton class, the cast of Lester Matthews John Loder, Elenor Powell and a standout performance by Matt Willis,atmospheric photography of fog shrouded moors and an eerie score all combine to perhaps take the film up a bit from an average " b" thriller. The ending might seem sugary to todays viewers, but one must take into account that these were the war years.Having just recently seen it again on line, I still enjoyed the movie after all these years!

MARIO GAUCI I cannot say I was aware of this one before our own Michael Elliott gave it a thumbs up not that long ago; actually emerging as only borderline horror, it effectively mingles a traditional plot – an English village, complete with hulking idiot and disfigured bartender hiding his features behind a hood(!), lives in fear of an ancient curse involving a headless ghost – with topical (i.e. WWII) concerns. The village mine was being utilized to produce tin for the Allied cause so the Axis powers apparently felt the need to send out one of their own to intermingle in the community and recreate by night the legend of The Headless Ghost, thus curtailing the mining operations which are subsequently abandoned. The prerequisite foggy atmosphere is thickly laid on, the plot is fairly engaging and the modest but pleasing cast – squire John Loder, the lovely Eleanor Parker, title character Lester Matthews, dim-witted Matt Willis, etc. – is sympathetic to the material at hand. Besides, being a compact 57-minute 'B' flick, it is essentially comparable in quality and effect to the likes of Fox's DR. RENAULT'S SECRET and THE UNDYING MONSTER (both 1942).

telegonus This not perhaps one of the great films but is yet the umpteenth example of how a well-made and nicely acted picture can work wonders even without a particularly outstanding script. A doctor on a walking tour in foggy Cornwall finds himself at a village inn. He has to knock hard to get someone to open the door, and when it does open he is greeted by a man with a black hood over his head. Once inside the stranger meets the customers at the bar, who are the usual dour, sullen, somewhat eccentric British types moviegoers are familiar with thanks to such lively and observant directors as James Whale. Whether such characters have ever existed in the real world is of course irrelevant. The actors are British enough, and the setting sufficiently evocative to satisfy even the most finicky moviegoer. We are in Hollywood's England of the forties, when Brittania ruled with an authority and prestige not seen since, and when dry ice fog and mists suggested a quaint and cozy never-never Albion out of Dickens and Doyle almost as well as the authors themselves had done. One of locals tells the doctor the tale of the headless ghost of Black Morgan, which many believe to still be haunting the village and local mine. For a while, due to the exceptionally suspenseful build-up and clever art direction, one might have expected a werewolf or two to show up before the picture ended. This alas does not happen, and the film, though satisfying in its way, never fulfills the promise of its early, expository scenes.What follows is a mystery, reasonably well done, highly unoriginal, and unworthy of the actors and set designers, who deserved better for their sterling efforts. This film is highly recommended for its atmosphere, though as a story it contains few surprises. Director Ben Stoloff does a commendable job in the dramatic scenes, and has a feel for the nuances of mood in terms of psychology and setting, as the two interact well and properly, as they always should. Leading lady Eleanor Parker handles her generic role quite well and comes close to being convincingly British without any excessive mannerisms. John Loder is decent as the local 'Sir', and the various supporting players are credible if predictable in their routines. Lester Matthews makes a fine Dr. Holmes, and plays his part with an authority and empathy one does not expect in an English actor at this time and in this sort of film. Matt Willis is excellent as the chief suspect. He was always a fine actor, and was never given the parts he deserved in his brief film career. In what one might call the Laird Cregar (or Vincent Price) role he is in his very different way as good as they were, and far more natural. The film's final scenes are badly dated, but overall this is as finely polished a B gem as one can find, and might have been a masterpiece of its kind with a better screenplay.Technically it is a virtuoso piece, suggesting at times Hitchcock, at other times Lang; there's a touch of Val Lewton in the sensitive use of second-hand sets; in its locale, concluding scene and one of its leading actors it is strangely reminiscent of Ford's How Green Was My Valley; and early on it feels like a horror film. Not a bad showing for a little under sixty minutes running time.

Eric Chapman A few chills and some decent atmosphere (atmosphere usually meaning fog) but the modest storyline takes a back seat to war time "rally 'round the troops, boys" sentiment. Seen with that in mind it does possess a certain degree of charm. I like the early shot of the mysterious headless "ghost" wandering through the fog, but it rather quickly becomes apparent that there is a very earth-bound, prosaic explanation. It's all a bit of a mess of course, but quite understandably America and Great Britain had more important things on their mind at the time. Eleanor Parker is porcelain beautiful in one of her early roles.