Back in the 1930s and 40s, double-features were the norm. Audience members could expect to see two complete films....plus possibly a cartoon and a short! The premium film, the one that drew audiences was the so-called 'A-film'. The B-movie, in contrast, was shorter, more quickly made and were more likely to be forgettable. Now I am NOT saying B-movies were all bad....there were many great Bs and many more that were very good entertainment. However, the term 'B-movie' has commonly come to mean bad film...mostly because quite a few of these cheap movies were pretty bad...particularly the ones made by tiny little studios. These tiny studios were so small and tight with budgets that they didn't even own their own studio space...most rented space at the major studios at night when everyone else was at home. One of the most consistently craptastic of these Poverty Row studios was PRC, a studio that managed to make films in the most artless and dull manner possible in too many cases. Is "Rogues Gallery" yet another rotten PRC outing? I sure assumed so when I saw the logo when the movie started!
Reporter Patsy Reynolds and photographer Eddie Porter (Robin Raymond and Frank Jenks) are supposed to meet with an inventor (H.B. Warner)...but when they arrive there's been an attack on the professor and someone has broken into the factory. You can only assume that like too many Bs, the pair will end up investigating the break-in and they'll likely solve it before the cops! And, like many Bs, there's a disappearing and re-appearing corpse!!
The biggest problem about this film is Robin Raymond. I am not sure if she was directed to be so loud and brash...but her character sure was loud and brash! I am pretty sure audiences found her rather off-putting. Additionally, making the police so stupid sure didn't help the story! Yes, as is too often the case with B-mysteries, the police are pretty useless. And, finally, the dialog was often pretty lousy. As a result of these factors, the film is tough going at times and is, at best, a time-passer with a difficult to like leading character.
Reporter Patsy Reynolds and photographer Eddie Porter (Robin Raymond and Frank Jenks) are supposed to meet with an inventor (H.B. Warner)...but when they arrive there's been an attack on the professor and someone has broken into the factory. You can only assume that like too many Bs, the pair will end up investigating the break-in and they'll likely solve it before the cops! And, like many Bs, there's a disappearing and re-appearing corpse!!
The biggest problem about this film is Robin Raymond. I am not sure if she was directed to be so loud and brash...but her character sure was loud and brash! I am pretty sure audiences found her rather off-putting. Additionally, making the police so stupid sure didn't help the story! Yes, as is too often the case with B-mysteries, the police are pretty useless. And, finally, the dialog was often pretty lousy. As a result of these factors, the film is tough going at times and is, at best, a time-passer with a difficult to like leading character.