If you ever wanted to see a blend of 40s film-noir and classic (30s to 40s) horror, this is the movie for you. It opens with murder of a young woman, Rosalind, which is quickly written off by the police as suicide. So, now we know there is a murderer on the loose. Rosalind was the secretary of a seemingly-wealthy host of a popular mystery radio-show, Victor Grandison (Claude Rains). Strange events soon start taking place at his household. The script seems to have been written with film-noir in mind.There is murder, deceit, suspense, a damsel in distress, a guy playing detective, etc. However, one distinctive feature of noir is that it is grounded reality, more so than other genres and script fails at this by incorporating some rather improbable events. How to remedy this? By adding a touch of horror of course (a genre where suspension of disbelief is stretched quite often). At the centre of it is Claude Rains giving a superb performance. Suave, calm assured, sinister (and caring), his persona is more of a horror villain (as opposed tough and street-smart noir characters). It is a joy to watch him. The rest of the cast is serviceable. Some other reviewers have complained about too many plot threads. While I agree with them, I did not find it distracting. Could this movie have been a teensy bit better? Yes. But, is it worth watching? Yes again.

Claude Rains is suave and sinister in this film noir drama from 1947, which is worth watching, but guard your expectations. Rains plays the mellifluous announcer of a murder mystery radio show, and his performance is one of the high points of the movie. The others are in the great shots that Director Michael Curtiz creates with shadows and reflections. In one fantastic scene early on, the camera takes us through the streets to a flashing neon sign for the "Hotel Peekskill", and while we hear Rains narrating his show, we see his hired heavy (Jack Lambert) lying in bed smoking. The last four letters are not really the ones showing through the window, but the psychological effect is such that that's what viewers 'see' and remember. In some other great moments, Rains's shadow stretches abnormally long across the floor as he walks away, and his reflection seen in a record warps slightly while it spins. I also loved the use of the 'high tech' audio equipment in his home.Unfortunately, the plot is second rate. There are several points that seem artificial and mostly unexplained, starting with the niece (Joan Caulfield) having apparently died and then coming back. There are also moments which don't make sense, particularly towards the end, but I won't spoil anything. The plot just seems too heavily constructed. It also suffers a bit from a lack of real suspense, though when Rains has Caulfield help him with a recording, we get an eerie feeling as to his intentions. As for the rest of the cast, Audrey Totter delivers some spice as his other niece and Constance Bennett some acerbic lines as his producer, but overall, it's pretty average. Entertaining, with its dramatic music and noir feel, but imperfect.

This is from the director and screenwriter of Mildred Pierce -- but don't let that get your hopes up. The plot and dialogue have to be experienced to be believed. And except for Rains, having fun hamming it up, the cast is dreadful. It barely makes sense, and is utterly unbelievable at any rate.The Rains character kills off one character after another, and no one around him seems to suspect a thing, despite the fact that he gives himself away in his ridiculous radio scripts, allegedly true crime tales that he reads plummily with a live orchestra in the background.Curtiz keeps it all watchable, although it could be shorter. He does provide a nice touch or two, as when the camera moves toward the dark front of a radio speaker and the shot dissolves to a train tunnel.Michael North, as the bland hero, and Audrey Totter, as a sharp-tongued floozy, provide stiff and amateurish line readings that are somewhat entertaining in themselves. Hurd Hatfield is more convincing in the less than inspired part of a weak, drunkard husband. Joan Caulfield mystifyingly gets top billing over Rains.Was this really an 'A' picture at Warner Bros.? It's campy fun, but nowhere near the classic Macdougal and Curtiz had recently produced with Joan Crawford.

Some acidic one-liners here and there and Rains' effectively oily performance add an undeserved touch of class to the protracted proceedings.Curtiz tries to build up a web of intrigue, but gets tangled up from the beginning. Murder and melodrama are paired in an unholy alliance while more and more corpses litter the screen and logic slowly dissolves.In the end, you don't care much about the outcome of this unexciting crime flick.4 out of 10 screaming secretaries