Murder, My Sweet (1944)

Starring Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley, Otto Kruger, Mike Mazurki
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

Private detective Philip Marlowe takes on the case of locating an ex-con's old girlfriend, but soon becomes involved in investigating the theft of a jade necklace, which may somehow be related.

This adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel, Farewell My Lovely, changes the storyline a bit, but the screenplay by John Paxton captures Chandler's more colorful prose, and Powell gives a good performance as the detective who keeps finding his way into trouble.  It's really a landmark role for Powell, stepping aside from his past films as a singing star, and his hard-boiled narration helps sell him as the character.  He's surrounded by a talented supporting cast who play their parts without any grandstanding, and Harry Wild's shadowy cinematography and Roy Webb's dark score establish the picture as a moody film noir.  It's not the best film of its type, but is a worthy entry in the genre, and Dmytryk should be credited for guiding Marlowe onto the silver screen with the literary feel of the character intact.

The Devil Commands (1941)

Starring Boris Karloff, Richard Fiske, Amanda Duff, Anne Revere, Ralph Penney
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A university science professor is convinced his device for recording thought waves has captured transmissions from his dead wife, and takes desperate measures to try and communicate with her.

Another of Karloff's low-budget "mad doctor" pictures for Columbia, the film may be most notable for being helmed by Dmytryk, who would later be nominated for an Oscar, and also imprisoned in the HUAC attacks on Hollywood in the 1950s.  The story has a great genesis, embracing the worthy idea of scientific communication with the dead, and I enjoyed how it was staged, although Karloff's subservience to Anne Revere's character late in the film could have been better explored and portrayed, rather than focusing on the old chestnut of angry villagers forming a mob against the scientist.  My favorite part of the picture was Karloff's scenes with his screen wife, Shirley Warde.  Not only is she well-cast, bringing a distinguished and vivacious spirit to her character, but she has wonderful chemistry with Boris, who throughout his career didn't get many chances to portray a man in a loving relationship.

Captive Wild Woman (1943)

Starring Acquanetta, John Carradine, Evelyn Ankers, Milburn Stone, Lloyd Corrigan
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A mad scientist kidnaps a circus gorilla for his experiments and succeeds in transforming it into a human woman that savage animals still fear.

We have here one of the few female Universal monsters, the Ape Woman, a statuesque beauty played by Acquanetta who reverts into a half-human beast when her savage instincts take over in a pretty fearsome makeup.  You'll have to leave your disbelief at the door when watching this film, but if you do, it's a fun enough monster movie.  The screenplay seems written around grainy footage of animal tamer Clyde Beatty from an earlier film (1933's The Big Cage, per Wikipedia), and new scenes with Milburn Stone standing in for Beatty don't match up well with that footage, although the animal action, featuring ferocious lions and tigers is superb.  Acquanetta who stays mute throughout the film fares better here than in her later speaking roles, and John Carradine brings the appropriate intensity to the role of the distinguished but evil scientist.  The film is probably most notable for its director, Edward Dmytryk, who according to Wikipedia, later became an Oscar-nominee and was blacklisted during the 1950s.