The Panther's Claw (1942)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Not even bad in a good way

Boring

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

In the beginning of the movie there is a page dedicating the movie to the New York Police: "This picture dedicated to the New York Police Department with its thousands of loyal and courageous men for meritorious service to its community." A man named Digberry/Byron Foulge is seen climbing out on a cemetery wall by a policeman late at night. The policeman asked what he was doing in the cemetery. Digberry gives the policeman a story that is like suspicious and kind of funny that he is brought to the police station and questioned.The story goes on from there that Digberry got a letter from a anonymous person to leave money on a grave. He claims he paid the money because he has a wife and 5 daughter on vacation who will be coming home and he does not want them frightened or anything bad happen to them. Other people that know each other got a similar letter with a paw print on it and days later Digberry got direction as to where and when he was to leave the money.A woman is murdered and 3 men are considered suspect. One of the clues is a wig. Digberry is a wig maker and there is another man that made a wig for a man. The hair of the wig was found in the dead woman's hand.There are lots of funny scenes. What I thought was interesting is the way the police investigated. They were very clever and alert as to what was said and what they saw and the way people responded. Good police work.Good mystery, lots of humor and nice for a black and white picture made in 1942 you can watch for free on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OY6ddm8zy0

The war years saw a lot of "pretty good" movies, relatively innocuous stories, usually good entertainment, the sort one would rat 4-7, with a few poorly directed slow moving ones a little less.And it's unfortunate that movie makers post 1965 sought to emulate the slow pace dull ones. It would take 30 years for film makers to learn their mistakes. Such was their incompetence. A man on the street could have done better than 98% of producers, directors, and writers from 1965-1995; it was truly the error of "rich kids and children with the silver spoon" at the reins.But these war years were full of fairly safe vehicles. Some were smartly done, like this murder mystery.We have a mystery here that begins with the comedy and affable personalities first, then goes into the plot, and that's what makes the atmosphere style murder mystery work.This is expertly done, and could be used for a film class to show how to make a film. It is "Entertainment".

Producers Releasing Corporation was known for it's cheap sets and low production values; "The Panther's Claw" probably falls in the middle tier of their low budget offerings. What I found most amusing about this picture is the choice of it's title, purporting to be some great mystery a la the symbolism of a sleek black cat. Instead, the panther's claw belongs to a common house cat named Gomer, and when all is said and done, the 'claw' becomes virtually a throw away in the solving of the murder mystery at the center of the story. In fact, Gomer doesn't even show up for the end of the picture, his purpose having been served about mid way through.The story itself is actually decent enough, with Sidney Blackmer in the role of Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt. His character might have been Charlie Chan, Mr. Wong or Bulldog Drummond in any of those detective flicks from the same era, and he acquits himself rather well via a low key manner and methodical police work. He manages to fend off the aggressive D.A. who wants to arrest an innocent man in the murder of a famous opera star, thereby clearing a milquetoast of a man named Digberry (Byron Foulger), who's been implicated in the murder by coincidence and a rather elaborate frame up. You never get the impression that Digberry might be a legitimate suspect, with an early hint offered by a Digberry lookalike who slinks around the corridors of his apartment without showing his face. Like the Charlie Chan films, this one offers a red herring or two to keep the viewer guessing, and the murderer could actually have been any of them depending on the script writer.The opening credits dedicate the picture to the members of the New York City Police Department, and on that score it was a reasonable tribute. There was a fair amount of detective work that went into the solving of the crime on the part of Commissioner Colt, and a lot of information was packed into the seventy minute run time. This was the first picture I watched out of a two hundred fifty movie DVD set I picked up quite reasonably from Mill Creek Entertainment as part of their Mystery Collection, and it wasn't a bad way to get started. Only two hundred forty nine more to go.

I was very happy to be able to buy this movie and watch it last weekend. I last saw this movie over 30 years ago. I remember it being good, and I was not disapponted. It has a fairly good mystery, but what makes this movie special is that it's very funny. It has several scenes which I think are classic. The line up scene is hilarious. Byron Foulger gives a great comedic performance.