In the wreckage if a plane crash a box is found with a shrunken head inside. The Head is similar to one that is on display in the city museum. When the police bring it to the museum to see if they can help determine its origin its found to be similar to one already on display. While at the museum the Museum the police detective meets Jack Packard and Doc Long who are at the museum to meet a new client, the wife of them man who brought the original heads for display. It seems the woman thinks her step daughter is having her followed, so that she can be killed since her husband has gone missing in the jungle. From there the story spirals out as Jack and Doc try to unravel what the daughter is up to and what happened to her father (their client's husband).Good but not great mystery has way too many plot threads running through it for a 66 minute film. In addition to the basic mystery we have murder, blackmail, a black panther, more questions about the head, taxidermy, shrinks and one or two other things. To be certain it keeps the plot moving but at the same time it feels thrown together.Based on Carlton E Morse's classic radio show I Love Mystery (later I Love Adventure) the film makes limited use of its transferred characters who seem to simply wander through events in order just to clean up some one else's mess. Forgive me the radio show worked because Jack and Doc were men of action not reaction. That said Jack Packard comes across as an imposing figure here who I think comes across as being able to kick just about anyone's butt if he chose to. (I've rarely ever seen any character radiate such an aura of being in charge and the baddest man in the room while doing absolutely nothing other than standing.) I have no idea why they were brought in to this story since if they were this under utilized in the first and third films in the series its understandable why it ended with three films.Still the film is not bad and is worth a look for those who like mysteries of the 1940's.(As for the title's meaning, I don't have a god answer except it sounds good.)

Devil's Mask, The (1946) * (out of 4) The title might make it sound like a forgotten horror film but it's actually part of Columbia's "I Love a Mystery" series, which was based on the radio show. A plane crashes without anyone getting killed but the strange thing is a shrunken Indian head, which leads two detectives (Jim Bannon, Barton Yarborough) on a strange case that includes a mysterious woman being stalked by a hired killer. I've been watching a lot of these "B" series this year and this one here is by far the worst film I've seen from any of the series. I'm not sure if others are better but I won't be finding out anytime soon. The two leads are downright horrible and their style of comedy is long past funny and I doubt it was very funny back in 1946. The supporting cast is equally dull as is the screenplay and the actual mystery. The ending is actually pretty good but I wouldn't recommend sitting through the rest of the film just to reach it.

Jack Packard, (Jim Bannon) plays the role with a duo of private investigators concerning a shrunken head found on the ruins of a crashed plane traveling from California to Latin America. There are many investigations among head hunters in the jungle and people being killed with deadly blow guns. There are family members who all mistrust each other and lots of mysterious people who appear to be the killers. Janet Mitchell, (Anita Louise) gave an outstanding performance and gave some romance to this black and white low budget film from 1946. Found this film to be rather boring and the story goes around and around in circles and never seems to end. However, this series was an old time radio show starring Jim Bannon which entertained many people during the radio era.

"The Devil's Mask" (1946) is one of the "I LOVE A MYSTERY" series of B-movies produced by Columbia Studios, based on the then-popular radio show. Poker faced Jim Bannon heads up a duo of private detectives who appear in each of the mysteries.This one begins after a shrunken head is found in the ruins of a crashed plane that was headed from California to Latin America. A woman, who believes that her step-daughter is planning to kill her, hires the pair of detectives.The mystery deepens when the woman's butler is killed by a poison dart from a blow-gun similar to those used by the jungle tribe of head-hunters responsible for the shrunken head. Add a blackmailing psychiatrist, a crazy taxidermist, a ferocious black panther, a few nebulous characters of dubious repute, and you have an atmospheric little chiller that's most enjoyable.You may be able to figure out who the killer is, but that won't stop you from searching out more of these neat little "I LOVE A MYSTERY" thrillers.