DOUBLE CROSS

Kane Richmond

DOUBLE CROSS (1941). Director: Albert H. Kelley.

A cop named Bronson (Richard Beach) is fiddling with a moll named Fay (Wynne Gibson), who works in a club, The Silver Slipper, owned by gangster Nick Taggart (John Miljan of The Ghost Walks). When the place is raided, Fay shoots one of the officers, and Bronson is mistakenly fired upon in return. Bronson's sister, Ellen (Pauline Moore), works in the club and is engaged to Bronson's pal and fellow officer, Jim Murray (Kane Richmond of The Tiger Woman). When Bronson kicks the bucket, Jim comes upon a plan to get kicked off the force so he can go undercover at the Silver Slipper and get the goods on the gang. He tells his fiancee of his plans, but doesn't clue in his heart-broken father (Robert Homans of X Marks the Spot), who happens to be a police captain!

John Miljan and Wynne Gibson

Kane Richmond is perfectly acceptable as Jim Murray, but the acting honors go to the vivid Wynne Gibson as Fay, who loves Taggart not wisely but well. Her best scene has her going off on Taggart when she discovers he's secretly recorded her talking about her crime. Pauline Moore is adequate if bland, John Miljan is fairly snappy as the crime boss who has the mayor in his pocket, and Homans is effective if overall unpleasant as the captain. The movie is relatively fast-paced although the finale seems a little dragged out. This is a cheap production from the poverty row studio PRC (Producer's Releasing Corporation). 

Verdict: Square-jawed Kane Richmond in another cheap thriller. **1/2. 

THE GHOST WALKS

Johnny Arthur, Richard Carle, John Miljan

THE GHOST WALKS (1934). Director: Frank R. Strayer. Colorized.  

On a dark and stormy night producer Herman Wood (Richard Carle), his nervous secretary, Homer (Johnny Arthur), and playwright Prescott Ames (John Miljan) manage to make it to the home of Dr. Kent (Henry Kolker). Prescott is engaged to Kent's daughter, Gloria (June Collyer), but she is also pursued by a persistent Terry Shaw (Donald Kirke). During dinner Beatrice (Eve Southern) says that the ghost of her dead husband will be joining them -- after dinner she is found dead. It develops that, aside from the murder, everything that transpired at dinner is taken from Prescott's play, and Wood and Homer still think everyone is just acting when Beatrice's corpse disappears ...

Rivals: Donald Kirke and John Miljan

Even by 1934 standards this comedy-mystery film is creaky with the usual quota of hoary elements, such as an old mansion, a thunderstorm, even an escaped maniac from an asylum conveniently located nearby. As the emphasis is on humor it's hard to get much involved with the "plot," such as it is. The only thing that keeps one watching is the relatively fast pace and some of the performances, with Carle and Arthur making an amusing combo of secretary and impatient, grumpy employer. The others in the cast are professional enough although no one stands out, which is no surprise given the material. At one point Homer winds up in a bed straight out of a Hawthorne  story when the canopy begins to descend. 

Verdict: Where are Abbott and Costello when you need them? **.