GManfred Pretty good Gothic mystery, although it's been done before. Lots of bodies and screaming women and neurotic family members with axes to grind - and, of course, you have to guess which one is the murderer. The picture moves along at breakneck speed, so fast that many important pieces of the plot are skimmed over and without leaving time to create much mood or tension.I thought the main problem with this film was that the actors weren't very good. The picture is filled with actors who never made it big in Hollywood, mainly because they lacked talent and charisma, and they were a drag on a fairly good storyline. This was not a 'cheapie', as production values were good, but the only recognizable star worth a mention is Jeff Donnell.Nevertheless, it is worth your time (only 70 minutes worth here) but you can't help thinking it could have been better. This was on TCM the other morning, an invaluable source of older and hard-to-find movies.

aimless-46 "The Unknown" (1946) is a surprisingly entertaining and atmospheric mystery inspired by the "I LOVE A MYSTERY" radio program. It is actually one of three Republic B-movies based on the program, all featured straight arrow detective Jack Packard and his corn-pone partner Doc Long (Barton Yarborough). In "The Unknown" Jack and Doc are hired to escort young Nina Arnold (Jeff Donnell) to her ancestral mansion in Kentucky for the reading of her grandmother's will. The twist is that Nina was placed in foster care as an infant and will be meeting her mother Rachel (Karen Morley) for the first time. The mansion is spooky with her grandfather's body buried behind the fireplace and a mausoleum full of seemingly restless ancestors located outside the house.I was very surprised at how well written and nicely paced this film was. It's a good yarn with a lot of misdirection and some unexpected plot elements. Although Bannon and Yarborough are the series regulars, top billing for "The Unknown" went to Morley. Deservedly so as it is clearly her film, she plays an addled woman who never recovered from the loss of her baby daughter. She keeps a baby crib in her bedroom and hears a baby crying throughout the film. The was probably Morley's best performance, shortly after she fell victim to the HUAC hearings and worked very little in the industry from that point. The other two "I LOVE A MYSTERY" thrillers are also quite entertaining but neither has anything to match Morley's performance.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

jim riecken (youroldpaljim) As mentioned by "Norm", this film is an entry in Columbia studios "I Love a Mystery" series based on the popular radio program. This deals with the spooky going ons at the reading of a will. The film is set in an old southern mansion. As is often with these types of films, there is an aristocratic family with a "skeleton in the closet." This kind of plot was common in films since the early thirties but would soon go out of style.THE UNKNOWN is only a moderately entertaining mystery with a few atmospheric moments. It is one of those movies that one watches with mild interest but little enthusiasm.

Norm-30 Back in 1946, A trio of films was made from the "I Love a Mystery" radio programs; this was one of them. (The other 2 were the "Devils' Mask" and the "Decapitation of Jefferson Monk"). This film is about the 2nd best of the series (with "Monk" being the best).Someone had told me that this film was based on the "ILAM" pgm, "The Thing That Cries in the Night", but it ISN"T! (The only thing it has in common is the sound of a baby crying).FAR too much time is given to the "history" and "family skeletons" of a Southern family (in fact, the film reminded me of "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte"!). Jack & Doc were added almost as an afterthought!And, unbelieveable as it seems, some of those Civil War people were STILL alive in 1946; this is stretching the imagination a bit TOO far!Carleton E. Morse had (potentially) great material to work with; this is one of his (very few) failures.Norm