THE INVISIBLE KILLER

US, 1939, 63 minutes, Black-and-white.
Grace Bradley, Roland Drew, Jeanne Kelly.
Directed by Sam Newfield (as Sherman Scott).

This is a routine murder thriller, rather enjoyable in its slight way. It was directed by the prolific Sam Newfield, director of many such films, but using the pseudonym Sherman Scott to avoid giving the impression that he was directing too many films!

The film focuses on the police investigating murders. There is also a very active newspaper reporter who is engaged to the police investigator but who also frustrates him much of the time.

The issue is the city’s gambling, powerbrokers of gambling, the casinos, the Mr Bigs behind-the-scenes as well is a criminal who is ready to testify and who is killed. The district attorney’s office is also concerned.

Familiar banter between the central couple, familiar interviews and police activity. The difference with the film is that poison is put into the receivers of the telephones, giving more mystery to the deaths and the investigation.