THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGET

US, 1942, 61 minutes, Black-and-white.

Patric Knowles, Maria Montez, Maria Ouspenskaya, John Litel, Edward Norris, Lloyd Corrigan, Nell O'Day.

Directed by Phil Rosen.

A better than expected small budget supporting feature from Universal Studios in 1942, directed by Russian-born, Phil Rosen, who has 143 credits of direction from 1915 to 1951.

It is based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story, coming after his famous Murders in the Rue Morgue. (There is a creature here also, a pet leopard, but it serves as something of a red herring in the mystery.) The story was published in 1842 about the time here is 1898, only 42 years before the release of the film, but with its sets and decor and transport, seems a different world.

One of the advantages of the film is the number of sets from previous films, used to advantage to create an impressive atmosphere. The plot moves from Poe’s story, Paris, the theatre background, a diva played by Maria Montez as a femme fatale, and an opportunity for performance of a song.

But, the star of the film is Patric Knowles, a doctor working with the police authorities. The head of the police is a comic figure played by Lloyd Corrigan, something of a Holmes and Watson duo.

The film opens with a mysterious murder, a body in the river, her face disfigured. The doctor quietly pursues clues, examines bodies, removes a brain for study, is hired by a grandmother to protect her granddaughter, target of a murder plot for her inheritance. The grandmother is played by veteran Maria Ouspenskaya who controls every scene she is in, completely dominating the cast and the audience.

The plot is rather complex, takes a number of turns, a villain who confesses but has legal chicanery in mind, wanting to be released with charges dropped but then unable to be tried a second time for murder.

A dramatic confrontation at the end – and quite a good hour is spent with a small budget entertainment.