Midnight Phantom
- Css Darth-Sheol
- Jun 9, 2015
- 2 min read
I believe Midnight Phantom would be considered part of the Poverty Row suspense flicks of the 30's. It has corny mystery elements and low production quality that falls below some of the other similar films of the time period.
The new police chief is trying to clean up the dregs of his department. There are too many officers not doing their jobs well with some even going as far as being corrupt. He has everyone one up in arms with the exception of a couple of honest men, and someone is furious enough to murder him right in front of a bunch of police officers. Nearly everyone there has motive to kill him, but despite the crowd nobody can prove who the culprit is. It will be up to the last few good men to catch a killer.
While the murder mystery is going on two men have eyes for his daughter. The plot becomes a tangled mess of romantic relationships. It's somewhat amusing. We would not see this level of a mother's unreasonable control over her adult, professional, well-balanced daughter in a modern film.
Some of the music and indistinct yelling suggest that parts of this movie are intended to be comical. At least, I hope comedy was the intention. The humor is uneven and doesn't provide enough comic relief to be enjoyable.
The acting is stiff, and the plot slow. It takes a long time to get to the murder mystery without the characters being engaging enough to make up for the lack of excitement. When we do get into the suspense the plot points boarder on too ridiculous to take seriously.
MORALITY:
Like the typical black-and-white film there is no sexuality, nudity, or strong language. Violence is minimal and not at all graphic.
SPIRITUALITY:
This isn't a story deep enough to have much to discuss.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I don't know if I would call Midnight Phantom the worst of the 30's suspense flicks. It actually might be quaintly amusing if you like these kinds of early films. There is much better out there, though, and you should avoid this one unless you have a strong interest in this type of cinema.
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