The Devil's Mask

1946 film by Henry Levin

The Devil's Mask is a 1946 American crime film directed by Henry Levin and starring Anita Louise, Jim Bannon and Michael Duane.The film was the second of three B pictures based on the popular radio series I Love a Mystery.^[1] As well as its crime theme, the film also incorporates elements of horror.^[2] It was preceded by I Love a Mystery, and followed by The Unknown.^[3]

Plot

Two private detectives are asked to go to a museum to meet a woman who claims she is about to be murdered by her stepdaughter. The case becomes linked to a plane crash, a shrunken head just sent to the museum, and a scientist who disappeared during an expedition to South America.

Cast

• Anita Louise as Janet Mitchell
• Jim Bannon as Jack Packard
• Michael Duane as Rex Kennedy
• Mona Barrie as Louise Mitchell
• Barton Yarborough as Doc Long
• Ludwig Donath as Dr. Karger
• Paul E. Burns as Leon Hartman
• Frank Wilcox as Prof. Arthur Logan
• Bud Averill as Museum Guard
• Edward Earle as E.R. Willard
• John Elliott as John the Butler
• Fred Godoy as Mendoza
• Richard Hale as Curator Raymond Halliday
• Coulter Irwin as Frank
• Thomas E. Jackson as Detective Captain Quinn
• Frank Mayo as Gordon R. Mitchell
• Mary Newton as Karger's Nurse
• Harry Strang as Brophy - Night Watchman

Critical reception

TV Guide called it an "enjoyable programmer".^[4]

References

1. Sterling & O'Dell p.373-74
2. Bansak p.367
3. Blottner, Gene (2011). "I Love a Mystery". Columbia Pictures Movie Series, 1926–1955: The Harry Cohn Years. McFarland. ISBN 9780786486724.
4. "The Devil's Mask". TVGuide.com.

Bibliography

• Bansak, Edmund G. Fearing the Dark: The Val Lewton Career. McFarland, 2003.
• Sterling, Christopher H. & O'Dell, Cary. The Concise Encyclopedia of American Radio. Routledge, 2011.

External links

• The Devil's Mask at IMDb
• The Devil's Mask at AllMovie
• The Devil's Mask at the TCM Movie Database
• The Devil's Mask at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films