THE GHOST CAMERA (1933)

John Gray is driving through the English countryside on his way home from a vacation. When he passes a hillside castle, we see (but he doesn't) someone throw a camera from the castle cliff which lands in his back seat. At home, he complains to his valet Sims that he's tired of boring vacations, then is excited to discover the camera, thinking he has a mystery to solve, as in, how did it get there and who does it belong to? He exposes one picture, thinking it will be beach vacation shots of "proud parents and vacuous progeny," but it seems to show a man stabbing another man. Distracted by the doorbell, Gray leaves his darkroom and someone enters and takes the negative and the camera. When he discovers the theft, Gray thinks he might be in the middle of an adventure, though he tempers that somewhat by suggesting that he and Sims are talking "like characters in a mystery melodrama." He develops another picture which shows a young woman in a doorway; he recognizes the neighborhood, finds the house and meets the woman, May Elton. The camera belongs to her brother Ernest who took a road trip through the countryside to take some "snaps" to enter in a competition and hasn't come back. With May as his sidekick, adventure is officially afoot, especially after they learn that Ernest is wanted by the police as being an accomplice in connection with a robbery at a jewelry store where he worked. They stay the night at an inn where Ernest stayed before he went missing and they trace his trail to the castle ruins, Norman Arches, which we saw at the beginning of the film. Soon enough, one of the jewel thieves turns up dead, Ernest is found and arrested for the murder, and John and May keep playing detective as they slowly fall in love. Despite its title, this is not a horror movie, nor is there anything supernatural going on, though the scenes in the darkroom and later in the castle are nicely creepy. It's a romantic comedy hidden in a traditional mystery, and it's entertaining. Directed by busy B-filmmaker Bernard Vorhaus, the most striking things about it are the camerawork (by Ernest Palmer) and the film editing (by the future director David Lean) with jump cuts and some intended shakiness, breaking the film out of the early sound rut of static shots and leisurely pacing. Henry Kendall is fine as John, the somewhat nerdish hero, and Ida Lupino, who was only fifteen at the time, is good—and unrecognizable—as May. British stalwart John Mills, 25 at the time, is Ernest, and Victor Stanley has a couple good moments as the valet. One of the better of the British B-movie quota quickies of the era. Pictured are Kendall and Lupino. [Streaming]

SEA OF SAND (1958)

It's October, 1942 as the British army prepares for a major offensive against the Germans at El Alamein in Egypt. The soldiers from a Long Range Desert Group are harassing Rommel's men, disrupting communications and supply lines. The group, led by Capt. Cotton (Michael Craig, pictured), operates in fairly non-standard ways which the newly assigned Capt. Williams (John Gregson) from the corps of engineers isn't completely comfortable with. Their next mission is to destroy a German petrol dump. Cotton, who should be taking leave, stays, perhaps needing distraction because of a recent break up with his wife. The two are at loggerheads for a time, but as war movie buffs will know, they'll eventually come to respect each other. Given the fairly large number of characters, it's surprising that they aren't more distinctly differentiated. The two we get to know most are Brody (Richard Attenborough), the snarky bloke who sneaks brandy in his canteen—even spitting brandy in the face of a German soldier at one point—and Matheson (Barry Foster), the young recent recruit with a new baby back home he hasn't seen yet. Behind enemy lines, they mostly manage to avoid the Germans, and when a German patrol goes past them while they're on the side of a road, Williams manages to con them by speaking German. There's an interesting scene in which a lone German armored car approaches slowly; the Brits think it might go right on by but it does engage them in a short battle. The attack on the depot is successful but getting back to base is crucial as they have important information about hidden German tanks to pass on. Their trek becomes quite dangerous with several casualties and one critically wounded man (Percy Herbert) who ends up with the most compelling storyline of the characters. There is despair and sacrifice in the hot desert as we wonder if any Desert Group survivors will make it back to base. One reason I liked this movie is that it reminded me of the 1960s TV show The Rat Patrol which was also about a group of Allied desert disrupters. There were only four men in the Rat Patrol (3 Americans, 1 British) but there are nearly a dozen soldiers who have at least some dialogue here. I wouldn't say there is a lack of stereotypes but they are downplayed a bit, and the sometimes bumpy camaraderie of the men feels right. It was filmed in Libya, giving the locations a look of realism. Acting is solid all around, with Michael Craig and John Gregson largely underplaying to good effect. Attenborough is perhaps a bit showier and Percy Herbert is a standout as the doomed wounded man. (Others are doomed as well.) This British film was released in a shortened version in the States as DESERT PATROL. Quite watchable. [YouTube]

THE TIGER WOMAN (1945)

Private detective Jerry Devery goes to the Tiger Club nightspot thinking he's been summoned to meet a cop but instead he's met by Sharon Winslow, wife of the club's co-owner Fred. Sharon knows that gambling kingpin Joe Sapphire is about to put out a hit on Fred for his huge debts and she asks Jerry, a friend of Sapphire's, to negotiate an understanding, despite the fact that she is in love with Fred's business partner, Steve Mason. Jerry summarizes the case as, "Wife wants to keep hubby intact to keep boyfriend out of trouble." Jerry finds out that the hit is off, as Fred has recently made a big payment to Sapphire which may have been embezzled from the Tiger Club. Sharon plans to tell Fred about Steve, but Fred is found dead at his study desk, a suicide note next to him. To ensure that Sharon gets the insurance money, Steve burns the suicide note, and when the cops declare it murder, Sapphire worries that he'll be a suspect, though Jerry assures Sapphire that he is Sapphire's alibi since they were together at the time of Fred's death. A cleaning lady says a desperate young woman named Carrington was the last person to see Fred alive, and soon the cops are after her. Steve starts feeling guilty about the innocent woman being framed, but we find out (and have suspected for some time) that Sharon is the actual murderer, and she's not about to risk losing her insurance money for anyone. This is a nifty little hour-long B-film, sometimes referred to as film noir because it involves a femme fatale. The various twists in the plot are good ones, and though some are predictable, they are still fun to follow, and a couple are surprising. Kane Richmond, handsome and underrated B-movie star of serials and mysteries, is very good as Jerry, who comes off as pretty smart but still a half-beat behind the bad girl, Adele Mara as Sharon, also very good.  The two have good chemistry even though you know it won't last. Familiar faces include Richard Fraser (Steve), Gregory Gaye (Sapphire—it's nice to have a gambling thug who is a bit civilized), and Cy Kendall as the cop, who doesn't have a lot to do but is always a welcome face. The plot is tricky but easy to keep track of. Don't get this confused with the 1944 serial with the same name—there are no literal tigers here, and no jungle goddesses. Still, entertaining. Pictured are Mara and Richmond. [YouTube]

HELL-BOUND TRAIN (1930)

The Hell-bound train is always running and its engineer, the devil himself, is always on duty. This hour-long silent film was made by James Gist, a Christian evangelist, and his wife Eloyce, and the two would take this and other short films on the road to show in churches and at revival meetings. This one doesn't actually have a narrative; instead, it's a series of episodes showing people engaging in bad behavior that ensures them a ride on the train. The sinning in the first coach is triggered by dancing, which inevitably leads to drinking and bootlegging and sex and adultery and babies. When a jealous woman stabs another to death after too much dancing, the devil (a man in a Halloween devil costume) hops up and down with joy, and we see the title card, "The devil rejoices" for the first of several times. In the second coach, drunkenness prevails, leading to rape. In the third, it's jazz music which drives children mad and causes a woman to collapse. Someone yells out, "Stop the blues and bring the hymn book!" but it’s too late—she's dead. Thievery is the next sin as we see two street kids steal food from a grocer and get sent immediately to work on a chain gang. Murderers, gamblers, adulterers, and liars get their due, with a whole coach devoted to hypocrites and backsliders who strayed from the church. One man is asked to join the church, declines the offer, and dies of a heart attack. Playing pool is bad, as is talking back to your parents. One woman takes "medicine to avoid becoming a mother" which is "murder in cold blood." Finally, we’re told that "the good time midnight life crowd will be lost in Hell," as we see the train, full of sinners, enter a tunnel and burst into flames, undoubtedly a representation of the flames of hell. 

Almost a hundred years after its production, this film is fun to watch and easy to mock, but the sincere tone mitigates a bit against it being seen as camp. (Of course, a sincerely made movie can still be campy, as with the notorious MANOS THE HANDS OF FATE). Though the outcomes for the sinners seem exaggerated, the acting isn't, except for the prancing devil; that guy (there are no credits) is having a really good time rejoicing over sin. Filmed mostly in a Black neighborhood in Indianapolis in wintertime, as there is frequently snow on the ground in exteriors, the only existing print of this film was cobbled together from a number of sources but it makes a satisfying whole. The camera work is rough and ready, but that also adds to the appeal here, as the camera is almost always on the move. Claims have been made that this movie is "visually stunning" and a very important find. Those are exaggerated claims, though the film was chosen for the National Film Registry in 2021. The genre of non-professional religious films is surely an underrepresented one and I'm glad to have seen this. [Criterion Channel]

NIGHT HAS A THOUSAND EYES (1948)

One night, Jean Cortland tries to kill herself by jumping in front of a train, but her boyfriend Elliott Carson saves her. She says she feels like the stars are watching her. At a nearby diner, Elliott and Jean meet up with John Triton, a clairvoyant who foretold her death. In flashback, we learn that Triton used to be a fortune telling con man, the Mental Wizard, who worked with confederates Jenny and Whitney to trick his audience, until one night in 1928 when he got a legitimate vision of a woman’s children being endangered by a house fire. The woman gets home in time to save her children, but Triton is freaked out by this new power. At first he uses it to predict horse race winners and stock market results. Later, he has a vision of a newsboy being killed in a hit-and-run accident and isn't able to stop it. Then he sees the death of Jenny, his fiancée, in childbirth, and he breaks up the act and leaves. However, Jenny marries Whitney and, in fact, dies in childbirth. Whitney grows rich in the oil business (because of a vision of Triton's) and raises his daughter who is Jean Cortland from the opening scene. Triton has kept an eye on them from afar, but recently predicted Whitney's death in a plane crash. When the crash occurs and seems to have been the result of sabotage, Triton is under suspicion by the police. In the present, he predicts Jean's death, at night under the stars, at 11 p.m. Triton tries to protect her, but we've seen that it's difficult to stop fate.

Based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich, this is an interesting if not always successful blend of film noir and fantasy. Noir often deals with death and destiny and with protagonists who try against great odds to change the course of the future. Unlike most noirs, and unlike most Hollywood movies of the era, the supernatural is real here—there is no other explanation for Triton's power, and we never learn how he got it. The two elements don't always fit together well, especially in the last third when we lose some atmosphere and it turns into a cops and crime film. But the movie does sustain a nice element of dread, if not exactly horror (the film is sometimes labeled as horror which I think will be misleading to horror fans) and the noir look is handled nicely, with most scenes taking place at night. Edward G. Robinson carries the movie even through its bumpiest spots as Triton, a sympathetic figure who lives in fear of his weird gift. Gail Russell (Jean) is fairly bland, leading me to not care all that much about what happened to her; John Lund (Elliott) is a bit better, but both are overshadowed by Virginia Bruce (Jenny) and Jerome Cowan (Whitney) from the flashback story. William Demarest is fine as a cop. Favorite line: Robinson, explaining what it's like to foretell deaths: "I had become a reverse zombie—the world was dead and I was living." Pictured are Lund and Robinson. [TCM]

SOLE SURVIVOR (1970 TV-movie)

[Spoilers galore!] In the middle of the Libyan desert, a wrecked Air Force plane sits with its five crew members hoping to be found. But we quickly learn that the plane crashed during World War II and it's now seventeen years later—the men are ghosts, doomed to stay with the plane until their remains are found. The backstory, which is filled in over time, is that the plane was lost at night over the Mediterranean and the navigator, Hamner, panicked, parachuted from the plane, and survived. The other five crewmen kept flying and wound up over the desert. But, as we are told by an investigator, the desert at night can look just like water, and the men jumped from the plane in a rubber raft. Four of them eventually died. The fifth man, Tony, went back to the plane to get water but was killed when he tried to burrow under the plane's tail to avoid the heat of the sun. In the present day, the wreck has been found and a crew of military investigators, accompanied by Hamner, who is now a general, heads out hoping to figure out what happened and to find remains to be buried. Hamner insists that the pilot, Mac, ordered all the men to jump over water, and that they did, and that the plane must have continued flying for some 700 miles into the desert on its own, though the chief investigators, Devlin and Gronke, find that hard to believe. Tony's body is still under the plane, but the others are miles away where the rubber raft fell; the ghosts try to expose Hamner as a liar and steer the investigators to find the bodies, fighting against Hamner's insistence that the bodies are in the Mediterranean. 

Though it may feel as if I've spoiled all the surprises, there are a couple more twists, one involving the backstory of Devlin which explains why he is so adamant about finding the bodies. The plot is based loosely on an actual occurrence in which a military plane that vanished without a trace in 1943 was found seventeen years later in the desert, and a Twilight Zone episode, King Nine Will Not Return, dealt with that story in a similar fashion. This might have worked a bit better at a shorter length—it's 100 minutes but could have avoided some padding at 60 or 70 minutes. Still, it's an interesting fantasy with decent performances. Vince Edwards and William Shatner are good as the chief investigators. Patrick Wayne (John's handsome son) and Lawrence Casey (from The Rat Patrol) are nicely low-key as two of the crew members. There is a little scenery chewing from Lou Antonio as the emotional Tony and Richard Basehart as the gruff Hamner. The supernatural rules involving the ghosts are a bit unclear—they can't be seen but they manage to manifest briefly in front of Hamner; they seem to be able to hold and carry things but this doesn't help them get attention. At least one online critic thinks the moving ending is ambiguous; technically the narrative is unfinished but it's pretty clear how it will end. There isn't much humor; at one point, Shatner, trying to placate Edwards, says, "The Libyan desert is no place to make waves." The song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is used hauntingly. Well worth seeing. I watched a blurry YouTube print but it has been issued in much better shape as a region B Blu-ray. I hope a region A release comes soon. [YouTube]

IN THE FOLDS OF THE FLESH (1970)

A title card tells us that a violent shock can damage the mind. Next up, it's night in a big house overlooking the sea; the decapitated corpse of a man, Andre, is surrounded by a woman and two children. We assume a situation in which a wife has killed her abusive husband, and the kids, as per the title card quote, will be damaged by seeing this, but we're not sure. [As viewers will soon figure out, virtually nothing in this film can be taken at face value, so you may assume that many of my assumptions as I summarize the plot are eventually revealed to be wrong.] As some cops chase a motorcyclist on a nearby road, the woman, named Lucille, starts an empty motorboat and pushes it out to sea. Pascal, the motorcyclist and crook on the run, sees her bury the headless body on the property. Pascal is captured even as the cops tread all over the fresh grave. Another title card quotes Freud: "What has been remains embedded in the brain, nestled in the folds of the flesh." Thirteen years later, Lucille still lives at the seaside villa with the two grown children, the possibly neurotic Colin and the possibly frail Falesse. Michel, a cousin of Andre's, arrives for a visit, bringing his German shepherd. We discover that the world believes that Andre died by misadventure in the motorboat we saw Lucille set adrift. But Michel's dog snoops around and starts to dig up the 13-year-old grave, so Colin strangles it—remember it, because we'll see it again. Then Michel is caught snooping around in the house and after Falesse has sex with him, she kills him. Colin and Lucille take the body to the cellar to dissolve it in acid. The next visitor is a boorish goateed man named Alex, friend of Michel's. Colin and Falesse engage in erotic dancing and deep kissing in front of him (this seems to confirm the incestuous vibe we've been getting from the two). When Alex makes out with Falesse, he slips her wig off, she complains that only her father can touch her hair, then she decapitates him. We see a seemingly unrelated scene of a psychiatrist at an asylum taking custody of a young woman. Next, back at the villa, who should show up Pascal, with a gun, wanting to use the knowledge he has about that night thirteen years ago to engage in some blackmail. He seems to have the family at a disadvantage, until he doesn't.

There are more plot points, more kink, and eventually explanations, but unlike some online reviewers, I won't spoil the surprises—some ridiculous, some delicious—since full enjoyment of this film depends on us watching the characters and motivations get untangled. In addition to incest and decapitation and rape and insanity, we get flashbacks to a Nazi concentration camp, Etruscan skulls, caged pet vultures, sexual psychosis, plastic surgery, an ingenious bathtub murder set-up, and some very strange and colorful fashion choices for the adult children. I'm not sure that everything is explained clearly—I'm still uncertain about the incest angle—but it doesn't matter for this deliriously nutty giallo. The film has a decadent feel, but there's not much sex or nudity, and the murders, especially the decapitations, are more campily artificial than gory. I suspect the actors, directed by Sergio Bergonzelli, had little idea what was going on from scene to scene, so any judging of the acting has to be on a superficial level. Eleonora Rossi Drago grounds the film as best she can as Lucille, who generally remains calm and keeps a level head no matter what craziness is going on around her. Emilio Gutierrez Caba (pictured at left) is absolutely right as the debauched but passive and generally ineffective Colin; he’s good looking in an unhealthy way. Pier Angeli, who had a strong Hollywood career in the 50s (Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Silver Chalice) doesn't seem comfortable as Falesse, but her role is the most difficult since she’s carrying the most secrets. Fernando Sancho is gross and off-putting as Pascal, as he should be. The only other cast member to stand out to me is Victor Barrera (pictured at top right with Angeli) as Alex, and that’s more for his looks than anything else, since he's not around very long.

Everyone calls this a giallo, and while it does have that feel from time to time, it's not a traditional whodunit. We know who's doing most of the killing because we see the murders happen—except for the very first death which does remain shrouded in mystery until the end. It also has other markers of the giallo, with crazy camera moves, psychedelic visual fragmentation, a convoluted (some might say nonsensical) plot, heavy if not explicit sexual content, and bright colors all around. Bergonzelli seems to want to subvert most of our expectations of giallo—the most nudity we see is, perhaps offensively, in the Nazi flashbacks—and some critics call this a dark comedy or a giallo parody, which I totally get. I didn't notice the background score too often, but the main theme borrows a few notes from Doctor Zhivago's "Lara's Theme." This is not the movie to use to introduce newcomers to the giallo genre, but presented with gin martinis all around, this might be a good party movie for serious film buffs. [Criterion Channel]

CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OLYMPICS (1937)

This is a bit of an oddity in the Charlie Chan series, invoking two timely real-world references: the Berlin Olympics of 1936, at which American runner Jesse Owens won four gold medals, and the German dirigible Hindenburg, which exploded with much loss of life just weeks before this movie was released. Otherwise, it's not a particularly noteworthy entry. The first twenty minutes take place in Honolulu. As Chan's son Lee (Keye Luke) is heading to Berlin to compete in the Olympics as a swimmer, Chan (Warner Oland) gets roped into helping authorities figure out what happened to a plane that vanished during a test flight for an invention that could guide a plane by remote radio control. The pilot was forced by a stowaway to fly the plane to a deserted beach where he was killed and the device taken. The spies, who now have the remote control, are on the ocean liner Manhattan, headed to Berlin where the Olympics will give cover to their attempt to sell the device to a foreign power. Also on board: the U.S. Olympic team, including Lee Chan, his gal pal Betty and her boyfriend Dick, a pole vaulter. Dick gets sidetracked by the attention paid to him by the sophisticated white fox-fur wearing Yvonne, whom we're pretty sure is one of the spies. Chan, along with Hopkins, owner of the device, and Cartwright, inventor of the device, take the Hindenburg to Berlin in order to arrive before the ocean liner. Once there, Chan and the spies play cat-and-mouse games, with Chan getting hold of the device but the spies kidnapping Lee to force Chan to give it up. But, as usual, the villains have underestimated Honolulu's finest policeman.

Though Jesse Owens is not singled out in the narrative, we do see newsreel footage of him running in the relay race for which he won a medal and we hear someone yell, "Come on, Jesse!" Footage of the Hindenburg, with the swastikas blurred out, is shown briefly, though the zeppelin trip is not a major part of the story. What story there is winds up being both convoluted and predictable, and aside from Oland and Luke, the best acting comes from the bad guys: Katherine DeMille (Cecil's adopted daughter) as the exotic Yvonne and C. Henry Gordon as Hughes, an arms dealer trying to get the remote control for himself before it can be sold to a foreign diplomat named Zaraka. Pauline Moore is nicely perky as Betty; Allan Lane is in good physical form as Dick, the pole vaulter. Other familiar faces are John Eldredge as Cartwright and Jonathan Hale as Hopkins, both of whom, despite being the inventor and the owner of the device, act a bit suspicious at times. Nine-year-old Layne Tom Jr. (pictured at left) has a couple of cute scenes as Charlie Jr., a young Chan son (whom Chan misidentifies as Son #2; all Charlie Chan fans know that is actually Tommy) and he has a running joke about his fascination with the phrase "white fox fur." The last part of the film degenerates into people running in and out of rooms, and despite the real-life references, this is about par for the course for the Oland series. I watched this over the weekend to coincide with the current winter games. Pictured at top: Oland, Luke and Gordon. [DVD]

YOU AND ME (1938)

After hearing a song about money ("Whatever you see that you really want / You may have, provided you buy it"), we see Helen (Sylvia Sidney), an employee at Morris's, a department store, catch a woman trying to shoplift a blouse, and the soft-hearted Helen lets her go. Helen is an ex-con on parole who has been given a second chance by Mr. Morris, the store's owner. In fact, Morris makes it a habit of hiring ex-cons. Another one of them is Joe (George Raft), who works in sporting goods and is sweet on Helen. She knows about his past, but he doesn't know about hers. He's fallen in love with her and on a whim they decide to get married. She tells Joe they must keep the marriage secret because it's against the store rules. It's not really but she's still on parole and can't get married. He tells her how much he doesn't like jailbirds and liars which makes her very uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Gimpy Carter (who works in the shoe department) is visited by Mickey, an old crony, who tries to tempt Gimpy into one last heist: robbing the department store. A handful of the ex-cons fall in but Joe refuses until he finds out that Helen has been lying about her past. Helen finds out about the plans, tells Morris, and the gang have a surprise when they break into the store that night: Morris is there and forces the men to listen to a lecture Helen has prepared, complete with blackboard, showing mathematically that crime, or at least the crime they're planning, won't pay enough to be worth it. Will the men listen? Will Morris forgive them? Will Joe go back to Helen, and if so, will Helen's parole status be threatened?

Some critics refer to this as Runyonesque (as in Damon Runyon, whose whimsical crime stories were the basis of the musical Guys and Dolls) and it definitely is. Except for Mickey (Barton MacLane), these crooks are a likable bunch of guys we sympathize with, even if the quickness with which they agree to pull off the robbery is a bit jarring. Sidney is quite good as the conflicted heroine. It is difficult to side with her as she continues to lie to Joe, although that is the plotline that supplies the most conflict. Raft is out of his element early on as the romantic lead, but is more convincing in the last half-hour as he reverts to his more typical criminal persona. I liked Harry Carey as Mr. Morris, and the strong supporting cast includes Roscoe Karns (whose highlight is a scene in which he threatens a little girl into liking a toy), Warren Hymer, George E. Stone, Cecil Cunningham, and Robert Cummings. Director Fritz Lang, not known for a light romantic touch, throws in some unusual scenes. There is music by Kurt Weill; the opening song, "Song of the Cash Register," is backed by impressionistic abstract montage shots of consumer goods. Later, as the crooks reminisce about the old days, "The Knocking Song" has them all chanting song-like dialogue against dark montage shots. It's an interesting moment but it doesn't really fit. Actually, the various moods of the story (comedy, melodrama, romantic comedy, noir visuals) mesh uneasily, and the happy ending doesn't exactly feel earned. But it's an unusual film for the era and is worth a shot. [Criterion Channel]

THE BLACK PARACHUTE (1944)

In 1942, the Nazis occupy a small European country led by King Stephen. Radio broadcasts from the king ask his people to cooperate with the Nazis, but the leaders of the underground movement suspect that he is being coerced into making these statements—and we discover indeed that the Nazi general Von Bodenbach is holding the king in "protective custody" and having a voice double make the broadcasts. American reporter Michael Lindley, in Europe to cover the war, is asked by resistance leaders Kurt and Erik to help free the king. He agrees and is parachuted into the country with a black parachute, supposedly less visible in the night, but the Germans still see him and try to chase him down. He gets help from a reluctant farmer and his daughter; the man Michael had arranged to contact is now dead, and the farmer is suspicious. But they offer him refuge in a cellar and then test him by undertaking a fake raid. Convinced of his loyalty, the group accepts him, and after they kill a small Nazi convoy, Michael takes the uniform and ID papers of Captain Mir and gains entrance to King Stephen’s castle. Bodenbach is fooled, but his mistress Marya knew Mir in the past and knows he's not Mir, but she doesn’t give him away. She asks Michael to take her with him when he frees the king (with the help of some resistance fighters who are present in the castle), but can she really be trusted? The title of this unassuming B-movie ultimately means nothing, as the black parachute doesn't really work. But it is kind of a cool title and the reason I watched this when it came up as a YouTube algorithm suggestion. At seventy minutes, it's about the right length for what it sets out to do, which is to tell a story about a resistance rescue. Larry Parks (pictured), who plays Michael, is not exactly the heroic type in build or voice, but he suffices for a B-movie lead. John Carradine is the Nazi general, and of course, he could do this kind of role in his sleep. Osa Massen is very good as Marya, keeping us guessing about her loyalty and motivations until the climax, though at times she sounds like Madeline Kahn's character in Blazing Saddles. Charles Wagenheim (Kurt) sounds a little like Groucho Marx. Busy character actor Jonathan Hale is King Stephen. It's a decent propaganda piece, as most wartime films were, and builds to a tense conclusion. [YouTube]