bkoganbing The Phantom Of 42nd Street from PRC is a not too bad murder mystery of a group of people connected to a theatrical company. Theater critic Dave O'Brien is on the job reviewing a play when the first murder is committed. He gets drafted into the job of covering this and the other murders as they are committed. The ultimate target seems to be Alan Mowbray who is the actor/manager of the company and his daughter Kay Aldridge.It all goes back to some dirt done the murderer many years ago by many members of the company both in front of and backstage. The culprit has gone quite nuts about it, no doubt fixating for many years on how he would do the job. It is a he, I'll give that much away.Having a critic be a detective is an intriguing plot premise. Surprisingly the cops seem to warm up quickly to the outside help they're getting unlike in so many of these mysteries.At a major studio this might have been a minor classic with a lot of the holes in the plot not existing. Still for a PRC film it's far from the worst I've seen.

wes-connors "The death of a performer at a Broadway stage play brings a theatre critic and a police detective together as an unlikely crime-solving duo. The dead performer's niece becomes not only the object of affection for our critic, but also a prime suspect in this death, and some other murders that occur at the theatre. 'The Phantom Killer' sets his sights upon the young woman as his next victim; so, it is a race against time for our heroes to catch the killer," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Milton Raison's screenplay puts a little spark in this low-budget mystery whodunit. Helpfully, Dave O'Brien (as Anthony "Tony" Woolrich) does well in the lead role; his skills as an actor appear to be much greater than the productions employing him. O'Brien and cab driving sidekick Frank Jenks (as Egbert "Romeo" Egglehoffer) would have made a fine 1950s TV detective team. Leading lady Kay Aldridge (as Claudia Moore) and the supporting cast are also good. Unfortunately, the story becomes meandering, and anti-climactic.**** The Phantom of 42nd Street (5/2/45) Albert Herman ~ Dave O'Brien, Kay Aldridge, Frank Jenks

Scarecrow-88 Minor little murder mystery involving the deaths of members of a theater company and how it revolves around a popular star of the stage, Cecil Moore(Alan Mowbray). A renowned New York City theater critic, Anthony Woolrich(Dave O'Brien)is asked by his newspaper's publisher to cover the story of the murder of Cecil Moore's brother, found hung with a note with written verse from a play. A second murder, an electrician who once worked for Cecil during an old theatrical troupe many years previous, is murdered as well(..a note with verse also left at his crime scene), and Tony has a hunch that it might concern a revenge of some sort tied to the Moores from their past. Looking through an old program that contained names of those involved with this troupe, Tony questions the leading actress, Janet(Edythe Elliot)and discovers, by her own admission, that she was in fact married to Cecil and is mother to his daughter, Claudia(Kay Aldridge). This might just be the link. Both Cecil and his brother were after Janet's hand, but she was in love with another..and actor who vanished, perhaps murdered by a jealous rival for her affections. Janet married and divorced from Cecil, and soon met another, a Buchanan, someone also involved with the stage who she confirmed died in an asylum..or did he? Tony believes someone currently working for Cecil might be the madman and that Claudia could be in danger as well. Even Tony himself was shot at. Along with his trusty taxi driver, Romeo(..the wisecracking Frank Jenks, whose cabbie never feels appreciated for all he does for our intrepid reporter), and Homicide detective, Lt Walsh(Jack Mulhall), Tony will attempt to lure the killer into a trap by staging a charity play of Julius Caesar, hoping that he will literally inhabit the role of Brutus, getting caught in the process.Time hasn't been kind to this relic, and when you watch a film like THE PHANTOM OF 42ND STREET, you'll realize just why the role of film preservationists is so important. Lots of film jumps, lines and blotches that have effected key moments in the movie, and cuts into the dialogue due to the devastated quality really hamper the viewing experience..nothing's as important as getting all the details and when characters are interrupted by ravaged film and sound, you never completely get the whole story. The film is certainly of it's time as the talk and humor are relative to the people who existed in New York City of the 40's(..Jenks' cabbie is a true example of this). O'Brien is a handsome charmer and Aldridge quite a stunner. It's relatively quick at around an hour and harmless, but rather forgettable amongst others of it's type. Very talky..quite dialogue driven as clues are pursued with our hero's life always in danger, although he never breaks a sweat, quite determined and motivated to save the Moores from potential peril.

oscar-35 A somewhat pedestrian and unimportant film. Has all the elements of a detective mystery. But lacks any real star-power or memorable features. Probably a good theater fodder during it's time. The plot revolves around a theater critic/detective. There is a watchable group of New York street types like taxi driver, bartender and others. All of these character actor faces are familiar to people who are film buffs of this time. It was part of a three film DVD collection of similar detective mysteries of the 40's. I think this was one of those 'potboilers' films that war-time Hollywood was famous in turning out. Nothing special about this film comes to mind to mention here. The plot is uneventful, watchable, but somewhat droll. I always wanted to use the word 'droll'.