Classic Horrors Club

As a lifelong DC Comics fan, it was a thrill to hear reference to Superman in a film from 1942. Only “four years-old” at the time, it indicates to me the immediate popularity of the character. In Phantom Killer (1942), when assistant district attorney Edward Clark (Dick Purcell) is certain about the identity of a murderer, but he has an iron clad alibi, his reporter girlfriend, Barbara Mason (Joan Woodbury) says, “Even Superman can’t do that” (be in two places at once.)

The validity of Clark’s theory is further questioned by the fact that the suspect, John G. Harrison (John Hamilton), is deaf-mute, but supposedly asked a witness for the time when he exited the murder scene. My immediate thought was that Harrison had a doppelgänger. However, the way the story unfolds, I wasn’t completely sure. Part of the fun was wondering if the outcome was going to be more unexpected than that.

That’s for you to experience, but with a running time of just over an hour, there’s not much of a time investment needed. Phantom Killer is a few links down the evolutionary chain, but if you like Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), you’ll probably enjoy this descendant. Both feature a fast-talking woman reporter that steals the focus of the plot from the mystery at hand to the romantic comedy.

Also adding a light touch is the inclusion of the witness, janitor Nicodumus (Mantan Moreland.) Harrison’s defense team finds him unreliable because he guzzled a bottle of gin after finding the body. His testimony brings laughter to the spectators in the courtroom, but it’s genuinely humorous, based on the situation, not the character’s (or actor’s) race. Such portrayals can be dated, but I wasn’t offended by it.

I was, however, annoyed by Sgt. Corrigan (Warren Hymer), exaggerating his East coast caricature with pronunciation of words like “goil” and “moider.” It wasn’t a bit funny to me and seemed out of place. It does, though, counterbalance a character that is deaf mute, keeping the film on an overall even keel.

If the story sounds familiar, Phantom Killer is a remake of the 1933 film, The Sphinx. I haven’t seen it, but since it features Lionel Atwill, I’m inclined to believe it’s a cut above this. On the other hand, Phantom Killer was directed by the prolific William Beaudine, with whom we’re familiar from some other Poverty Row thrillers including The Ape Man (1943) and Voodoo Man (1944), both featuring Bela Lugosi.