The Panther’s Claw (1942)
The Panther’s Claw (1942)
„The Panther’s Claw“ is a 1942 Black & White crime mystery B-movie directed by William Beaudine. The screenplay by Martin Mooney is based on the 1940 short story „The Perfect Crime of Mr. Digberry“ by Fulton Oursler.
Mild-mannered wigmaker Everett P. Digberry is arrested on suspicion of robbery by Police Officer Murphy. He is questioned by police commissioner Thatcher Colt and Anthony „Tony“ Abbot. Everett shows them a blackmail letter signed by the "Black Panther" and marked with a panther’s claw pawprint. Five other members of the opera company Everett works for have received similar letters but have not paid. Everyone suspects tenor Enrico Lombardi.
Later, Lombardi tries to force his affection on opera star Nina Politza, but she throws him out of her room and leaves for a vacation in Buenos Aires.
Everett, who is living in a small apartment while his wife and five daughters are out of town, is visited by Murphy, who asks him for his bank book to prove he withdrew the money.
Colt demonstrates that Everett’s cat provided the paw print for the letters. Everett admits to writing the blackmail letters to cover up a $1,000 loan to a friend. However, while he is being questioned, Captain Mike Flynn calls Colt with news that one of Everett’s neighbors has been murdered. Colt and Abbot investigate, and discover that Everett’s neighbor is actually Nina wearing a grey wig, and they find a torn photograph of Everett.
Later, Colt shows Everett a piece of a wig found in Nina’s hand, Everett identifies it as having been made by his rival, Samuel Wilkins, who verifies that the wig is one of two he sold to either Lombardi or a man named Frank Galloway.
Colt later is pressured by campaigning district attorney Bill Dougherty to arrest Everett for Nina’s murder, but Colt assures him that while the evidence rests heavily against Everett, he is sure that he is innocent. Shortly after, Flynn reports that Frank Galloway does not exist, and that Nina’s ex-husband has been picked up.
Nina’s manager, Edgar Walters, comes to see Colt about the investigation, and gets Colt’s permission to search her apartment for an insurance policy. Wilkins is murdered that night, and police find a portion of a photo of Everett’s head in his shop. Everett’s apartment is searched, and the murder weapon and Nina’s insurance policy are found. Everett is arrested.
Everett denies that the gun belongs to him, he reveals that he had loaned the $1,000 to Nina because she was bankrupt, and she signed over her insurance policy to him, and secretly moved into his apartment building, as security.
All the evidence points to Everett as both Nina and Wilkins’ killer, but he proves that the suit from his closet is not actually his. Colt then accuses Walters of killing both Wilkins and Nina, and proves his case by showing that Walters purchased the same suit and gun, and that he wore the grey wig to impersonate Everett. Walters is arrested. Everett receives the $1,000 reward, and Colt provides Everett with a police escort so he can pick up his wife and five daughters from the train station.
Cast:
- Sidney Blackmer – Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt
- Rick Vallin – Anthony „Tony“ Abbot
- Byron Foulger – Everett P. Digberry
- Herbert Rawlinson – District Attorney Bill Dougherty
- Lynn Starr – Miss Spencer
- Barry Bernard – Police Captain Edgar Walters
- Gerta Rozan – Nina Politza
- Thornton Edwards – Enrico Lombardi
- John Ince – Police Captain Mike Flynn
- Martin Ashe – Officer Murphy
- Walter James – Police Captain Tom Henry
- Frank Darien – Samuel Wilkins
- Joseph DeVillard – Antonio Spogucci
- Jacques Vanaire – Guiseppe Bartarelli
- Willy Castello – John Martin George
- Harry Clark – Officer Lou Levinsky
- Lew Leroy – Apartment Manager
- Billy Mitchell – Nicodemus J. Brown
- Florence O’Brien – Petunia
- Harte Wayne – Coroner
- Pat McKee – Joe Morgan
- Casey MacGregor – Police Sergeant Flanagan
- Billy Snyder – Hotel Manager Stevens
- Sam Lufkin – Lombardi’s Police Escort
„The Panther’s Claw“(dt.: Die Kralle des Panthers) ist ein schwarz-weißer Krimi-B-Film von 1942 unter der Regie von William Beaudine. Das Drehbuch von Martin Mooney basiert auf der 1940 erschienenen Kurzgeschichte „Das perfekte Verbrechen des Mr. Digberry“ von Fulton Oursler.
Der sanftmütige Perückenmacher Everett P. Digberry wird von Police Officer Murphy wegen des Verdachts auf Raub verhaftet. Er wird von Polizeikommissar Thatcher Colt und Anthony „Tony“ Abbot verhört. Everett zeigt ihnen einen Erpresserbrief, der vom „Schwarzen Panther“ unterzeichnet und mit dem Pfotenabdruck einer Pantherkralle versehen ist. Fünf weitere Mitglieder der Operntruppe, für die Everett arbeitet, haben ähnliche Briefe erhalten, aber nicht gezahlt. Alle verdächtigen den Tenor Enrico Lombardi.
Später versucht Lombardi, seine Zuneigung zu dem Opernstar Nina Politza zu erzwingen, aber sie wirft ihn aus ihrem Zimmer und fährt in den Urlaub nach Buenos Aires.
Everett, der in einer kleinen Wohnung lebt, während seine Frau und seine fünf Töchter verreist sind, wird von Murphy aufgesucht, der ihn nach seinem Sparbuch fragt, um zu beweisen, dass er das Geld abgehoben hat.