Producers Releasing Corporation was known for it's cheap sets and low production values; "The Panther's Claw" probably falls in the middle tier of their low budget offerings. What I found most amusing about this picture is the choice of it's title, purporting to be some great mystery a la the symbolism of a sleek black cat. Instead, the panther's claw belongs to a common house cat named Gomer, and when all is said and done, the 'claw' becomes virtually a throw away in the solving of the murder mystery at the center of the story. In fact, Gomer doesn't even show up for the end of the picture, his purpose having been served about mid way through.
The story itself is actually decent enough, with Sidney Blackmer in the role of Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt. His character might have been Charlie Chan, Mr. Wong or Bulldog Drummond in any of those detective flicks from the same era, and he acquits himself rather well via a low key manner and methodical police work. He manages to fend off the aggressive D.A. who wants to arrest an innocent man in the murder of a famous opera star, thereby clearing a milquetoast of a man named Digberry (Byron Foulger), who's been implicated in the murder by coincidence and a rather elaborate frame up. You never get the impression that Digberry might be a legitimate suspect, with an early hint offered by a Digberry lookalike who slinks around the corridors of his apartment without showing his face. Like the Charlie Chan films, this one offers a red herring or two to keep the viewer guessing, and the murderer could actually have been any of them depending on the script writer.
The opening credits dedicate the picture to the members of the New York City Police Department, and on that score it was a reasonable tribute. There was a fair amount of detective work that went into the solving of the crime on the part of Commissioner Colt, and a lot of information was packed into the seventy minute run time. This was the first picture I watched out of a two hundred fifty movie DVD set I picked up quite reasonably from Mill Creek Entertainment as part of their Mystery Collection, and it wasn't a bad way to get started. Only two hundred forty nine more to go.
The story itself is actually decent enough, with Sidney Blackmer in the role of Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt. His character might have been Charlie Chan, Mr. Wong or Bulldog Drummond in any of those detective flicks from the same era, and he acquits himself rather well via a low key manner and methodical police work. He manages to fend off the aggressive D.A. who wants to arrest an innocent man in the murder of a famous opera star, thereby clearing a milquetoast of a man named Digberry (Byron Foulger), who's been implicated in the murder by coincidence and a rather elaborate frame up. You never get the impression that Digberry might be a legitimate suspect, with an early hint offered by a Digberry lookalike who slinks around the corridors of his apartment without showing his face. Like the Charlie Chan films, this one offers a red herring or two to keep the viewer guessing, and the murderer could actually have been any of them depending on the script writer.
The opening credits dedicate the picture to the members of the New York City Police Department, and on that score it was a reasonable tribute. There was a fair amount of detective work that went into the solving of the crime on the part of Commissioner Colt, and a lot of information was packed into the seventy minute run time. This was the first picture I watched out of a two hundred fifty movie DVD set I picked up quite reasonably from Mill Creek Entertainment as part of their Mystery Collection, and it wasn't a bad way to get started. Only two hundred forty nine more to go.