The Phantom Of 42nd Street (1945)

Starring Dave O'Brien, Kay Aldridge, Alan Mowbray, Frank Jenks, Edythe Elliott
Directed by Albert Herman
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

At the urging of his editor, a newspaper drama critic turns investigative reporter to solve murders connected to a theater showing classical plays, mounted by a wealthy family. 

A low budget production from PRC, the film lacks any particularly well-known stars, although O'Brien is a more than competent lead as the newspaper critic, and Mowbray had been a reliable character actor for decades, as he is here.  They're surrounded by familar faces from many a poverty row production, including Jenks, Stanley Price, Robert Strange, Milton Kibbee, and Jack Mulhall as the predictably flustered detective.  Although the identity of the murderer won't come as a big shock to anyone, the picture is efficiently directed and the screenplay presents a wealth of suspects while distinguishing them well enough from the other actors.  However, although O'Brien and Aldridge's characters are definitely interested in each other, their romance is given short shrift in favor of comic relief scenes with Jenks and his dimwitted girlfriend, played by Vera Marshe.

The Devil Bat (1940)

Starring Bela Lugosi, Suzanne Kaaren, Dave O'Brien, Guy Usher, Yolande Mallott
Directed by Jean Yarbrough
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After being deprived of a share in the wealth of the company he works for, a vengeful scientist grows a gigantic bat creature he uses to attack the family members of the company's owners.

One of the first of Lugosi's films for the "Poverty Row" studios that starred him in a series of such low-budget pictures, it's a pretty slight movie but not without a fun factor.  Grinning while subjecting his bats to electric rays from the requisite machines of his mad scientist's lab, and leaving his unknowing victims with only a serious, "Goodbye," Lugosi's presence sells the film.  Despite the meager budget on display here, the giant bat prop looks somewhat convincing, swooping down in dimly lit night scenes that mask whatever special effects were used.  The material's beneath the actor's talents, but I can't help but look back on the film fondly, as despite its shortcomings, it still showcases Lugosi's sinister appeal.