A spooky lighthouse is the setting for this enjoyable but mindless nonsense about two wacky detectives (Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins) on the search for a criminal mastermind known simply as the Octopus. Yes, there is a real octopus present (one of the silliest looking ever on-screen until Bela Lugosi went up against one in "Bride of the Monster"), and it never is made clear whether or not the octopus tentacles which keep appearing mysteriously are actually those of the one who gets Herbert in his grip or some man-made contraption. There's all sorts of wacky characters including a sinister looking man known as "hook" the sinister villain whose face changes upon their revelation. That sequence alone is frightening enough but funny and is straight out of the exit given to the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz". Jenkins and Herbert together are pretty much Warner Brothers' version of the Two Stooges. George Rosener and Elspeth Dugeon are among those who stand out among the supporting cast. Still, with all the excitement in the film's short running time, the conclusion is a major let-down, making it seem like an extended short rather than a feature which obviously played on the bottom of a double bill.

Entertaining comedy. While I was watching this, many of the lines were said in a way that reminded me of some other people. Martin and Lewis came to mind. Bing and Bob came to mind. But then it "HIT" me. They are really, Abbott and Costello. 3-4 years early. And the act works. I am thinking that by the time A&C came along, the formula had been perfected, or at least improved on, and that the time for this type of team comedy was ready to take off. Even down to the way lines are said, many that Hugh Herbert makes down in the basement of the lighthouse, when he is alone, is totally Lou Costello. I am wondering if A&C were just mimicking this style of comedy with their own spin. Great as they were. I enjoyed them very much, as well as the others I mentioned.The movie, as a movie, is very enjoyable and moves along at a good pace. I had a good time, and that was the point, then as now.

...this film is downright silly.Being such a fan of Hugh Herbert, I went to great lengths to acquire a DVD of this film and I really wanted to like it, but outside of a few comical moments, I was let down by this film.Hugh Herbert would eventually star in a series of Columbia 2-reel comedy shorts and this film plays much more like one of those Columbia 2-reelers than a feature put out by Warner Bros./First National.It is odd that in such a slipshod production, the special effects are surprisingly well done. Like when they used the remarkable on-screen transition effect mentioned by other reviewers to expose the true identity of the "Octopus". This was only the 4th time I've seen this effect being used in a feature film. (The other three were: The 1935 film "Werewolf of London" where the effect is used on Henry Hull in the very initial portion of his first on-screen transformation into the werewolf, the 1931 version of "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde" where Fredric March becomes Hyde for the first time, and the 1925 version of "Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ" where the transition effect is used to show a woman being miraculously healed of her leprosy.) Although, a quick review of the career of William McGann, who directed this film, shows that his one nomination for an Academy Award came, not for directing, but for Special Effects (Visual), for the 1946 film "A Stolen Life" starring Bette Davis. So maybe the use of that transition effect in this clunky little film isn't so strange after all. Judging from this film, McGann appears to have been much better at special effects than at directing.Fans of Hugh Herbert or Allen Jenkins will probably find this film worthwhile. I suspect all others are in for a loooong 54 minutes.

A couple of years ago, a 35MM print of this was resurrected for the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival and Marathon (bostonsci-fi.com). Not truly SF, but it was so rare the organizers couldn't resist the opportunity to show it. It moves briskly along and the comedy is amusing enough to carry through the somewhat muddled 'mystery'. The ending, as others have noted, has that incredible pre-CGI morphing effect. Everybody who I talked to after the screening was truly impressed to see how well it was done 50+ years before CGI! In fact, its so seamless, I think it more effective than many a morph effect (for one thing, you feel that it truly IS happening before your eyes, not just some digital bits being manipulated by a computer). I noticed that SH! was playing on TCM this weekend and made a point to DVR the ending of it to watch that effect again. And again. Many times. Slow motion. Frame by Frame. It's still pretty darn amazing!SPECIAL EFFECTS SPOILER:As noted, I agree that it is a variation on the Makeup Effect used in the classic 1932 Rouben Mamoulian version of DR.JEYKLL AND MR. HYDE. Basically, it's done with trick makeup combined with colored lenses and lighting. It's all done "live" on the set. That's why there's no 'seam' where you see an optical dissolve (like those used in the WOLFMAN or THE INVISIBLE MAN). It's possible, that some post-production tinkering was done, but doubtful. It's still an astonishing illusion! The makeup is extremely well done, a wart seems to 'grow' on her nose, teeth get blackened and her whole complexion changes. The only 'give-away' I could detect was that the patterns on her dress get darker and harder to see when the light/filters are switched.Thing is, that one effect is so amazing, that I had completely forgotten about the 'twist' ending...and oh, those freaky offspring!