You know that this is NOT going to be a great film when you see that Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams is the star of the show. This isn't to say he's a 100% terrible actor, but in the lead he's clearly out of his league and doesn't have the acting ability or charisma to carry the film. Later, in supporting roles with actors such as Errol Flynn, he found his niche.
The movie is about a character named 'the Phantom'—who is wanted by the police. Additionally, the newspapers are trying to find out who he is as well as catch him. This eventually leads, believe it or not, to a missing doctor from a mental hospital who is actually alive and well and doing research on brain transplants!! It seems that the good doctor is crazy and he and the inmates are up to no good in this odd variation on an old dark house film.
Sadly, the film is terribly written and the acting is even worse! There's a lady who screams and yells worse than Una O'Connor and another who swoons at the slightest provocation and makes groaning noises. It's all very amateurish and silly—even by the standards of the day.
By the way, towards the beginning of the film, you may notice that a few scenes of silent film footage were used. Because sound pictures run at a slightly faster speed than silent (24 frames per second instead of the varying 16-22 for silents), these few scenes look accelerated compared to the rest of the movie. This is sloppy, but considering the lack of care in this Poverty Row film, I wasn't at all surprised.
The movie is about a character named 'the Phantom'—who is wanted by the police. Additionally, the newspapers are trying to find out who he is as well as catch him. This eventually leads, believe it or not, to a missing doctor from a mental hospital who is actually alive and well and doing research on brain transplants!! It seems that the good doctor is crazy and he and the inmates are up to no good in this odd variation on an old dark house film.
Sadly, the film is terribly written and the acting is even worse! There's a lady who screams and yells worse than Una O'Connor and another who swoons at the slightest provocation and makes groaning noises. It's all very amateurish and silly—even by the standards of the day.
By the way, towards the beginning of the film, you may notice that a few scenes of silent film footage were used. Because sound pictures run at a slightly faster speed than silent (24 frames per second instead of the varying 16-22 for silents), these few scenes look accelerated compared to the rest of the movie. This is sloppy, but considering the lack of care in this Poverty Row film, I wasn't at all surprised.