Bela Lugosi made eight film for Monogram Pictures and of the eight, this is the best. Joseph H. Lewis directs with confidence and style and gets good performances out his small cast. Lugosi plays Charles Kessler with skill, and Polly Ann Young does well with her role as his his daughter. Even Betty Compson, in a very small part, manages to do the best she can.
The vast majority of the reviews are very condescending to this little B film. One goes into detail about how Lugosi later descended into working for Edward D. Wood, Jr., which has nothing to do with this particular film. Another review writes that the actress playing Lugosi's daughter is "Pollyanna Young," which is incorrect. Another claims that "there is comic relief from Clarence Muse." The authors of "Forgotten Horrors2 (2001), Price and Turner, have a different take writing "the fine black actor Clarence Muse . . . Plays the butler with stern authority." (page 155).
The vast majority of the reviews are very condescending to this little B film. One goes into detail about how Lugosi later descended into working for Edward D. Wood, Jr., which has nothing to do with this particular film. Another review writes that the actress playing Lugosi's daughter is "Pollyanna Young," which is incorrect. Another claims that "there is comic relief from Clarence Muse." The authors of "Forgotten Horrors2 (2001), Price and Turner, have a different take writing "the fine black actor Clarence Muse . . . Plays the butler with stern authority." (page 155).