After the arrest of one of its members, the Crooked Circle, a secret society of crooks, plots vengeance against Col. Walters (Berton Churchill), the head of a rival organization on the side of law and order, and plenty of spooky doings follow at that man’s new home, an old mansion with a sinister reputation. Will …
The Rawhide Terror (1934)
Settlers are gunned down by crooks pretending to be Indians, but the two sons survive, with the elder vanishing into the brush while laughing hysterically. Years pass, and the former renegades are now respected citizens, but they are meeting their doom at the hands of the title character, whose face can be glimpsed in the …
House of Danger (1934)
A man (Onslow Stevens) arrives at the home of his pal, Ralph Nelson, claiming to be Ralph himself. He is actually Don Phillips, who has come there at the request of his friend (James Bush), as Ralph fears some menace threatens both the estate and his former near-fiancée, Sylvia Evans (Janet Chandler). Don is not …
Out of Singapore (1932)
Captain Carroll (Frank Hall Crane) is just asking for trouble when, desperate for ship’s officers, he hires Woolf Barstow (Noah Beery) as first mate despite his very bad reputation — a reputation that is soon shown to be well-deserved, as Barstow is soon slowly poisoning the captain and plotting both the takeover of the ship …
A Face in the Fog (Victory, 1936)
A newspaper reporter, Jean Monroe (June Collyer), sets herself up as a target by rashly claiming knowledge about “the Fiend,” a killer who is terrorizing the cast of a show at the Alden Theatre. A fellow reporter, Frank Gordon (Lloyd Hughes), joins in the investigation, as the murderer continues his crimes and attempts to strike …
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Big Calibre (1935)
After the murder of his father and the theft of $60,000, young Bob Neal (Bob Steele) and pal Rusty (John Elliott) search for the killer, and they find a clue in the town of Gladstone. Unfortunately, Bob has been blamed for the robbery of the stage and is suspected of murdering local rancher Jim Bowers …
The Fifth Cord (1971)
An alcoholic journalist, Andrea Bild (Franco Nero), investigates a series of murders of people in some way connected with him, including someone who attended a party before the attacks began and the editor of the journalist’s paper. Some sequences are quite suspenseful (e.g., the killing of an invalid who is home alone), but the unpleasantness …
Midnight Mystery (RKO, 1930)
Complicated doings at a remote house off the coast of Maine, as Gregory Sloane (Hugh Trevor), the host of the party, shoots guest Mischa Kawelin (Ivan Lebedeff), who has been romancing the wife (Rita La Roy) of another guest (Lowell Sherman). But it’s all a put-up job between Gregory and Mischa, as Gregory (who is …
The Romance of Yder, ed. and trans. by Alison Adams
A young man (Yder) renders a service to King Arthur but the king shows a lack of gratitude, resulting in the fellow going off on adventures. He later becomes the object of Arthur’s jealousy when the king compels Guinevere to reveal the man whom she’d least object to marrying should Arthur die — though young …
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Randy Rides Alone (Lone Star / Monogram, 1934)
A chilling opening in which a cowboy, Randy Bowers, finds a tavern filled with dead men sets up a good early movie for John Wayne. Bowers (Wayne) investigates the killings, aided by the daughter (Alberta Vaughn) of one of the victims, who even helps Randy to escape jail when he is arrested for the murders …
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