TCM has two marathons today. The first is actually a mini-marathon of 3 films made at Columbia from 1945-1946. The films were based on the popular radio show
I Love a Mystery! All three films starred Jim Bannon and Barton Yarborough as the crime solving pair Jack Packard and Doc Long. The first film was entitled
I Love a Mystery and costarred a very young Nina Foch as the widow of the murder victim. The story is told in flashback as Packard and Doc Long had met the victim Jefferson Monk (George MacCready) before his demise. There is a sinister and supernatural feel to the killing as the victim's ties to an Oriental cult. The second and third films were released in 1946 and also have a supernatural/exotic plot.. The second film was
The Devil's Mask and costarred Anita Louise. In this movie, five shruken heads are found in a plane crash. One is suspected to be an explorer who went missing in South America. Anita Louise played the explorer's daughter. The third and last film also released in 1946 was
The Unknown. In this installment, a young woman Nina Arnold (Jeff Donnell) returns to her family's estate. Unfortunately, her family's history is a troubled one -- her mother married again her family's wishes. As you can probably guess, there were tragic outcomes. Nina's grandfather was killed and her mother went insane. Is it any wonder that the family home has been having some eerie happenings?
These were fast and fun movies. Jim Bannon and Barton Yarborough were not stars so it's nice to see these supporting players get their chance at being the protagonists.
Fun Fact: Jim Bannon was married to Bea Benaderet from 1938 - 1950. They had a son Jack Bannon who became an actor. You might remember Jack best as editor Art Donovan on
Lou Grant.
0 comments:
Post a Comment