1943's "The Black Raven" was George Zucco's third vehicle for Poverty Row PRC, different from "The Mad Monster" and "Dead Men Walk" due to its whodunit outline, but still reunited with burly Glenn Strange, required here to supply the comic relief as handyman Andy. The title role of Amos Bradford offers Zucco a genuinely heroic role for a change, proprietor of The Black Raven Inn in upstate New York, the perfect location for smuggling people in legal trouble across the Canadian border. Everything takes place during one dark and stormy night, several unexpected guests popping up because the bridge is out: I. Stanford Jolley as escaped convict Whitey Cole, Bradford's former business partner, believing he was railroaded when the heat was on and intent on revenge; Noel Madison as racketeer Mike Bardoni, also seeking vengeance after being thrown over by corrupt New York politician Tim Winfield; Byron Foulger as disgraced banker Horace Weatherby, on the run after embezzling $50,000 from his employers; Robert Livingston as Allen Bentley, planning to elope across the border with 20 year old sweetheart Lee Winfield (Wanda McKay) due to her father's disapproval; and lastly, the powerful Winfield himself (Robert Middlemass), who not only accuses Bentley of kidnapping his daughter but also wrangles Weatherby out of his stolen loot with every intention of keeping it for himself. It's hardly a surprise to later discover the despicable Winfield dead, smashed over the head by a stool and the $50,000 now missing, with Charles Middleton's rather dense sheriff all set to pin it on young Bentley to the annoyance of the more practical Bradford. An evening at The Black Raven with Amos and Andy certainly proves more lively than expected, Glenn Strange in particular receiving a great deal of screen time, whether grumbling about repeatedly going out in the rain or being scared of his own shadow in a cellar full of shadows. As expected, Zucco holds everything together in a relaxed performance that may be his best for tiny PRC (21 months would pass before they would call for his services again, and the opportunity for scene stealing opposite Lionel Atwill in "Fog Island").
Review of The Black Raven
