MartinHafer "The Hidden Hand" is an interesting twist on the familiar old dark house thrillers. But, like so many similar films in this genre in this era, it has Willie Best on hand...as if there was some unwritten law that he be on hand in each of these films!!The film begins with a madman escaping from the sanitarium. It seems that John Channing (Milton Parsons) was assisted in his escape by his sister, Lorinda (Cecil Cunningham). She seems pretty unconcerned about her murderous brother's antics and wants his help in throwing an interesting party. She has invited her relatives there and she knows most of them are real swine....and she and John are going to make sure the deserving ones don't leave the house alive!There are many nice twists in the film...but I don't want to discuss them because it would spoil the film. Overall, it's fun and quite entertaining...and well worth seeing.

GL84 Gathering her relatives together at her house, a woman's intent on celebrating her wealth with them is interrupted by a series of murders forcing them to find the killer before he strikes them again.This here was a rather decent enough murder/mystery rather than a true horror effort. This is mostly undone by the fact that there's the opening escape that showcases the killer from the beginning which really tends to lower that factory considerably as this one features such an illogically-staged sequence putting him in full-view for the entire scene doesn't make the fear of him all that common here which is pretty much the whole purpose here. That could've easily been done by framing the escape without showing him in order to keep the mystery going, but rather the fact that the rest of the movie takes place with him out in the open along with the rest of the family is where this one does tend to show itself off in that regard as a fine comedic horror effort as there's some really decent slapstick scenes here of the murder attempts on her life that really are quite enjoyable. The falling flower pot and the poisoning do make for quite silly scenes but are played off as genuine enough to prolong the mystery well enough for them to be considered goofy, silly fun long enough to hold this up nicely enough in carrying the first half here. The second half plays like a true old- school haunted house mystery with the secret passages, disappearing rooms and investigations into the events here that makes for quite a fun time here and really makes for quite a fun time in generating some genuine laughs and enough twists in the final moments to make it memorable though still somewhat troubled.Rated Unrated/PG: Violence.

dougandwin Boy oh boy, this was a howler with some of the worst over-acting you will ever see, and to me the highlight was the appearance of Willie Best as the chauffeur while the rest of the cast was abysmal in their acting talents. Made on a shoestring, and looking it, every little diabolical cliché was used, with the "insane" brother and sister planning on removing all the "hangers-on" after their fortune. Seems longer than it was, but I did see it on late night TV, and maybe I was overtired. If it comes your way, and you decide to have a look, at least stay there for the scene where our two "stars" jointly break into maniacal laughter - the best part of the movie.

harrisfalk Possibly my comments won't fit with other viewers' comments as I saw this film in 1942 when it was issued, and I was 7 years old.As a 7 year old I found it scary, interesting, and sometimes comic.I realize 62 years later the film would probably not frighten me now in the least. I think the story was original. Milton Parsons I remember well. His funereal manner was fascinating and his appearance is vivid in my memory. I remember him as a good little cameo actor from the 1940s, as well as one unfortunate, Rondo Hatton, who was not an actor but appeared as a monster due to his acromegaly. Bring back the films of the 1940s and early 1950s!