Rainey Dawn Not a completely terrible film but it's not a good film. It is however fun to watch Lon Chaney Jr playing two roles: Jack Wilson & Butch Curtain. Butch a shady wharfside pub owner and Jack the look-alike detective that dresses like Butch to catch the criminals and get back the stole gem.It's a weird crime-mystery that has some funny moments. It's not a good film at all but just above horrible - but extremely watchable for Chaney Jr. - he's the best thing about the film besides the feisty females in the story.Watch this for Chaney Jr or if you really like older bad crime-mysteries... if you are a fan of either then you might get a kick out of this film.4/10

kapelusznik18 in the late 1950's***SOILERS*** Lon Cheney Jr. is both the scuzzy unkempt and petty crook Butch Curtin as well as the handsome well dressed & spoken private investigator Jack Wilson here as he tries to recover the stolen Tear of Buddha emerald in some un-named country that's seems to be situated between China & India.. The emerald was stolen from American diamond dealer Joe Bentelt, John Ince, after he was almost strangled by Johnny Fly, Manuel Lopez, who's been after it for years. Being a dead ringer for Butch Curtain who's Fly's assistant Jack Wilson after having Curtain arrested and put on ice takes over his identity in an effort to get Johhny to reveal where the emerald is hidden.Not much of a movie in that it was so bad that it's studio, Astor Studios, kept it on the shelf for eight years only to release it in 1943 when Cheney was by then an established star and feeling some movie goers and Cheney fans will be interested in seeing it just for that reason alone. The film limps alone until the final scene where we have Wilson as Butch Curtain have it out with Johnny Fly. That's after his cover was blown by Johnny's jealous girlfriend Mora, Zarah Tazil, who felt he was to leave her for another woman. This was when Mora in a jealous fit went after the other woman the kidnapped Edith Bentley, John Bentley's daughter, played by Shelia Terry. It was Shelia who Mora felt had stolen Johnny Fly away from her which led to a wild cat fight between the two at the end of the film.As for Lon Cheney's Jr. it wasn't until some four years later in 1939 when he played the part of the tragic and simple minded Lenny in "Mice and Men" that he made him a star. And it could have been the reason that no one saw "A Scream in the night" and how awful it was that made it very possible for Cheney to have gotten that part. and from there he went to bigger and better roles like "The Wolf Man" and "Son of Dracula" as well as the unforgettable Butcher Benton in the bad movie classic "Indistructable Man" before his movie career fizzled out.

MartinHafer This film is notable for one thing--an early appearance by Lon Chaney, Jr.--here billed under his actual name, Creighton Chaney. Aside from that, it's a very low-budget B-movie--and it shows its low pedigree in every way. The acting is often abysmal, the script clichéd and I assumed it was directed by a chimp! The film is about some stolen ruby and a criminal that strangles his victims but as yet is unknown. To get to the bottom of this, a police detective (Chaney) poses as one of the killer's henchmen--who just so happens to look EXACTLY like Chaney!!! How fortuitous! Think about it. the odds of a person looking EXACTLY like someone else are astronomically great. Yet here, on top of that, the cop on the case just happens to look exactly like the #1 suspect!! Sometimes in film you need to suspend disbelief to enjoy them--here you just need to be very stupid! The bottom line is that the actors(?) often struggle over delivering their lines (especially the ones doing outrageous accents), there is a fight scene at the end that is hilariously bad and the entire plot is based on a bad cliché. Even for fans of B-movies, this one is very slow going and dull.By the way, if you do choose to see this film, listen to Chaney's voice. Neither character sounds like Chaney did in his films just a few years later. My assumption is that he got some voice lessons in order to deepen his voice.

Red-Barracuda A detective is on the pursuit of a jewel thief somewhere in the Far East. This very short movie moves at a snail's pace and in truth does not provide very much entertainment. Lon Chaney plays two separate roles here, as the aforementioned detective and a drunken thug. In all honesty, neither character is terribly interesting. Neither is the plot-line either. It's all very lethargic and poorly presented. It was obviously shot on a low budget but that's not really much of an excuse for something so tedious. The title of the movie is entirely meaningless too - I guess it was designed to make it sound like a horror film, and the Chaney name would help sell it. But there are no thrills in this one sadly. The star of the show was probably the lippy parrot that lived in the bar. That of course is strictly faint praise.