The Atomic Submarine (1959)

Starring Arthur Franz, Dick Foran, Brett Halsey, Tom Conway, Paul Dubov
Directed by Spencer G. Bennet
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

The crew of an atomic submarine are tasked with patrolling the Arctic Circle, and stopping an unknown adversary that's been destroying vessels, which they discover is not from this Earth.

One of a number of films in the 1950s produced by special effects artists Irving Block, Jack Rabin, and Louis DeWitt, this is one of their most impressive looking, despite having to combine their visuals with a large amount of stock footage.  The alien ship is effectively designed and smartly shrouded in darkness for much of the picture, and its unique occupant is appropriately striking and fearsome.  Orville Hampton's script is also well-composed, although a subplot creating conflict between Franz and Halsey is while topical a bit too familiar a trope.  The ensemble cast however is most welcome, with Franz a familiar sci-fi headliner, Foran good to see as the sub's determined commander, Conway memorable as a thoughtful scientist, and veteran screen cowboy Bob Steele enjoyable as the sub's grizzled chief petty officer.  The eerie electronic music score by Alexander Laszlo helps create a suspenseful mood throughout and combined with the visuals and the experienced cast makes this an entertaining picture on what had to have been a limited budget.

Private Detective (1939)

Starring Jane Wyman, Dick Foran, Gloria Dickson, Maxie Rosenbloom, John Ridgely
Directed by Noel Smith
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A female private detective gives up a job working for an unscrupulous attorney to aid his client's ex-wife instead, and tries to keep one step ahead of her boyfriend, a detective for the police.

Wyman stars as the lady detective, and a good one, in a film surprisingly free of the usual stereotypes about professional women, but the plot and characters are formula to the bone, echoing hundreds of mysteries where a smart aleck reporter tries to outsmart a police detective.  Nevertheless, it's still fun, and Maxie Rosenbloom is amusing as Foran's police sidekick whose main chore is to try to break down locked doors, not always successfully.  Although modern feminists would not be fans of the film's ending, Wyman is quite good in an atypical role, and future Dick Tracy Morgan Conway gives an accomplished performance as the oily lawyer.

The Mummy's Tomb (1942)

Starring Lon Chaney, Jr., Dick Foran, John Hubbard, Elyse Knox, George Zucco
Directed by Harold Young
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An Egyptian high priest is tasked with transporting the still-living Kharis the mummy to America, so he can bring death to the surviving members of the Banning expedition that violated his princess' tomb.

In this sequel to The Mummy's Hand, set thirty years in the future, despite the prior film having been released just two years earlier, Chaney takes over the role of Kharis the mummy, and the heroes of the last installment become Kharis' victims this time around.  This was disappointing to me, as I found Foran and Wallace Ford and the rest very likable characters, and even George Zucco, so entertaining as the villain of the last film, is forced to turn over the reins to a younger high priest.  Nevertheless, Chaney is a strong upgrade as the Mummy, with his stocky frame and lone staring eye beneath the makeup making for a more fearsome monster.  Chaney's presence, along with Universal's production values and fine music cues, make this another fun monster movie, although not exactly what I was hoping for.

Horror Island (1941)

Starring Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo, Peggy Moran, Fuzzy Knight, John Eldredge
Directed by George Waggner
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A huckster tries to lure thrillseekers to a phony haunted castle on an island he owns, but the lure of a hidden treasure on the island also brings a mysterious phantom there.

A fun little B-movie mystery from Universal Pictures, this picture reunites Dick Foran and Peggy Moran, the stars of The Mummy's Hand, and benefits from their charming screen chemistry.  There's also a pleasant mixture of comedy and thrills in the offing, a nice assemblage of music cues from the Universal library, and a colorful supporting cast with standouts in Carrillo as a boisterous peg-legged sailor, and the sinister-voiced Foy Van Dolsen as The Phantom.  I've always felt the comic mysteries Universal put out in the forties were second to none, and this one's no exception.

The Mummy's Hand (1940)

Starring Dick Foran, Peggy Moran, Wallace Ford, Eduardo Ciannelli, George Zucco

Directed by Christy Cabanne

(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

An out-of-work archaeologist and his partner try to find a backer for an excavation of an Egyptian tomb, unaware that's it under the protection of an evil high priest and an ancient living mummy.

This is Universal Pictures' follow-up to the classic horror film The Mummy, but it's not a sequel, instead repurposing footage from that film to present a tale of a new mummy, this time a lumbering servant to George Zucco's sinister high priest, who controls the tana leaves that must be brewed to keep the mummy alive.  Tom Tyler, probably best known for playing the title role in the terrific Adventures Of Captain Marvel serial, plays the mummy here, and is not particularly fearsome, except when shot in close-up, with the actor's eyes blacked out in the film's eeriest effect.  Still, I love this film, which amps up the comedy considerably for a horror movie, and features a great villainous turn by Zucco, a fantastic Egyptian sacrificial chamber set, and lots of fun foreboding music re-used from Frank Skinner & Hans J. Salter's score for Son Of Frankenstein.