A thoroughly disappointing noir is Producers Releasing Corp's The Panther's Claw (1942), the last of three movies featuring Thatcher Colt. The first two, both starring Adolphe Menjou as Colt, have been screened by TCM and marvelous they are too. So I was really looking forward to the third, even though Sidney Blackmer is no Menjou. But it turns out that, although top-billed, Blackmer is not the star after all. It's Byron Foulger, of all people, who enjoys the lion's share of the action, as he plays the title character in Anthony Abbot's story, "The Perfect Crime of Mr Digberry", upon which the film is based. Now Mr Foulger is a neat-as-a-pin Milquetoast and I really enjoy him in small doses. As a lead, however, he tends to way out-stay his welcome. Unfortunately, aside from Blackmer, Rick Vallin (as his assistant), Herbert Rawlinson (as the D.A.) and Frank Darien (in a small role as a wig-maker), the support players are even less beguiling. Martin Mooney's talky, dialogue-bound screenplay doesn't help either, while P.R.C.'s notoriously sparse production values and Bill Beaudine's disinterested direction provide the last words in boredom.
Review of The Panther's Claw
