SMOOTH AS SILK

Milburn Stone, Kent Taylor, Virginia Grey

SMOOTH AS SILK (1946). Director: Charles Barton. Colorized.

Defense attorney Mark Fenton (Kent Taylor) and prosecutor John Kimble (Milburn Stone) have been friendly enemies for years, but there are complications when Fenton becomes engaged to actress Paula Marlowe (Virginia Grey). She desperately hopes that producer Stephen Elliott (John Litel) will star her in his next production, which seems a given after Fenton successfully defends Elliott's nephew, Don (Danny Morton), in a vehicular manslaughter case; Don is guilty as sin. However, Elliott has other plans for the role until Paula begins to work her wiles on him, igniting intense jealousy in Fenton. He concocts a scheme to take out his rival, but will he get away with it ...?

John Litel and Danny Morton

Smooth as Silk is a short, fast-paced crime melodrama that boasts some fine performances, with Taylor [The Crimson Key] on top of things as the reptilian lawyer; Litel [Runaway Daughters] effective as the lustful producer; Milburn Stone [Swing It Professor] lending solid support; and Grey [Black Zoo] practically stealing the show as the bitch Paula who uses men right and left in one career move after another. Danny Morton was also in The Mysterious Mr. M. 

Verdict: Absorbing if minor meller. **1/2. 

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. M

Dennis Moore

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. M (13 chapter Universal serial/1946). Directed by Lewis D. Collins and Vernon Keays. 

Criminal Anthony Waldron (Edmund MacDonald) is presumed dead by the authorities but is actually living in a hide-out in the basement of his grandmother, Cornelia (Virginia Brissac), who is also unaware of his presence. Cornelia has two supposed relatives -- Marina (Jane Randolph of Railroaded) and her brother Derek (Danny Morton) -- who are associates of Waldron's and who hope to get her money. Waldron is hoping to get his hands on a new invention, an engine that "could move submarines as big as ocean liners." To that end he uses a serum called Hypnodrene that turns people into his mind slaves. 

Jane Randolph and Edmund MacDonald

Waldron has used the fake identity of "Mr. M' to carry out assorted murders and the like, but to his surprise discovers that someone else, some unknown person, has appropriated the pseudonym of "the Mysterious Mr. M" and is blackmailing him and his confederates to do what he wants. One of the earliest victims of both Hypnodrene and Waldron is Jim Farrell (William Ching), whose brother, agent Grant Farrell (Dennis Moore of The Purple Monster Strikes), is determined to bring his killer to justice. Grant is aided by insurance investigator Shirley Clinton (Pamela Blake) as well as Lt. Kirby Walsh (Richard Martin). Other characters caught up in this intrigue include lawyer Wetherby (Byron Foulger), gunsel Schrag (Jack Ingram), Professor Parker (Cyril Delevanti), Waldron's assistant Barron (Douglas Carter), and others. 

Richard Martin, Dennis Moore, Byron Foulger

The Mysterious Mr. M was Universal Studio's last serial, and also one of its best. The serial is not only a flavorful crime action-drama with good performances from the large cast, but has several exciting cliffhangers: Grant's car falls into a shaft in a parking garage (the logistics of this are rather confusing, however); a fiery explosion at an oil field -- and later a laboratory -- traps Grant and Shirley; Grant and Kirby are menaced by falling electric towers; and Shirley is forced to land a plane by herself after Kirby is knocked out and his assailant leaves by parachute. The best cliffhanger has Grant and Waldron clinging to one parachute (in a different sequence) whereupon Grant falls onto the tracks just ahead of a speeding train! Dennis Moore had one of the best and butchest voices in Hollywood!

Verdict: No mystery that this is a very exciting and suspenseful serial. ***.