dougdoepke
Good combination of horror and noir. Now if I could just figure out whose head belongs on which body, I might be able to figure out the plot. But, no matter since the film is carried by some great noirish atmosphere. The gloom hangs heavy over everyone, so you just know anything might happen. The movie's adapted from a radio stage play and it shows in the stretched out storyline that sometimes appears to ramble. Still, brighter bulbs than mine may be able to follow out the mystery part. Anyhow, I really like the obscure Michael Duane as the ambivalent Rex Kennedy; he brings unexpected depth to the part. The cast is basically an ensemble of no-names, who, nevertheless do well enough in their roles. No, the movie never rises above programmer status, but does show how imaginative these bottom-of-the-bill B- movies could be.
MartinHafer
Anita Louise plays Janet--a young lady whose father has disappeared in South America and who may be dead. I say MAY because some shrunken heads were found in the crashed plane--and one of them might be his. Not a terrible start to the film but what follows is very uneven. Some of this B mystery film are quite good (such as the ambiance) but this is all overshadowed by Louise's awful characterization. I am not sure if the problem was due to her acting ability or the director--all I know is that she is often hysterical, whiny and annoying. And, at the end of the film when she is about to be killed and is urged to run, she just stands there!!! Rarely have a seen a film ruined by just one performance, but this is the case with "The Devil's Mask". A decent mystery film marred by uneven writing. No person can be as annoying as Janet and yet have the film be worth your time. A time passer at best.
Michael_Elliott
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.
whpratt1
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.
AD
