The subtitle of this film is The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk. I think viewing this film is a MUST for anyone that actually heard the radio production of I Love A Mystery. When the film is viewed today, it is a decent mystery with a decent cast, BUT when it was viewed by a seven year old kid, it was just plain SCARY. I searched for this film for fifty years, not knowing what I was searching FOR. The opening scenes of the mysterious peg leg "decapitator" had stuck with me and I searched for a film with this character, until I stumbled onto the film, via IMDb. Try to find this film, you will enjoy it... and you would also enjoy the other two films in the series, The Unknown, and The Devil's Mask
28 Reviews
By far the best of the "I Love A Mystery" series...
Doylenf7 November 2007
There's a real film noir feeling to this Columbia programmer based on the "I Love A Mystery" radio series. The story is a good one, about a man who predicts his own death will happen in a few days (GEORGE MACREADY) and hires two detectives (JIM BANNON and BARTON YARBOROUGH) to help him avoid the hit man.
The plot keeps spinning unpredictably from scene to scene, all of it played in earnest style by the participants, including NINA FOCH as Macready's scheming wife. As a matter of fact, it has the feel of a Cornel Woolrich story, but he didn't pen this one.
Well photographed, given some good production values and it gives George Macready another chance to show just how he could dominate any scene he appeared in. His role here is just as enjoyable as his much more famous screen appearance in Columbia's GILDA.
With a clever script and smoothly directed, it's probably the best in the trio of "I Love A Mystery" series that made it to the screen.
The plot keeps spinning unpredictably from scene to scene, all of it played in earnest style by the participants, including NINA FOCH as Macready's scheming wife. As a matter of fact, it has the feel of a Cornel Woolrich story, but he didn't pen this one.
Well photographed, given some good production values and it gives George Macready another chance to show just how he could dominate any scene he appeared in. His role here is just as enjoyable as his much more famous screen appearance in Columbia's GILDA.
With a clever script and smoothly directed, it's probably the best in the trio of "I Love A Mystery" series that made it to the screen.
Entertaining
blanche-224 May 2010
"I Love a Mystery," based on the radio program of the same name, is a 1945 film starring Jim Bannon, Barton Yarborough, George Macready, and Nina Foch. Packard and Doc Long (Bannon and Yarborough) meet Macready in a nightclub with a woman - apparently he knows when he's going to die. A cult, whose ancient leader Macready resembles, wants his head, I guess to replace it on their leader's mummified body, and one of the members is following him. The detectives agree to follow Macready home to see if they can spot the man, and they do.
As preposterous as it sounds (and it is), this is actually a pretty neat mystery, done on New York set at Columbia. There's lots of dry ice and a dark, noirish atmosphere, as well as a few plot twists. It's quite entertaining as well as not being terribly long. And it's a good cast, with the highlights being Macready and Foch as his crippled wife. Growing up, Nina Foch to me was an older woman who did television and quiz shows; later on, I knew she became a big acting teacher in L.A. It's fun to see her as a young woman in films such as this one. It was also fun because I remember Bannon's son from "Lou Grant."
As preposterous as it sounds (and it is), this is actually a pretty neat mystery, done on New York set at Columbia. There's lots of dry ice and a dark, noirish atmosphere, as well as a few plot twists. It's quite entertaining as well as not being terribly long. And it's a good cast, with the highlights being Macready and Foch as his crippled wife. Growing up, Nina Foch to me was an older woman who did television and quiz shows; later on, I knew she became a big acting teacher in L.A. It's fun to see her as a young woman in films such as this one. It was also fun because I remember Bannon's son from "Lou Grant."
A Great Film; Must see!
Norm-3030 September 1999
Despite the comments by the other reviewer, I thot this was one of THE most entertaining mysteries of the 30's - 40's! (And, I own over 700 films!). It contains MANY plot twists, and plot "twist-twists"; nothing is as it seems. The entire film gives a creepy, "something is about to happen" atmosphere and shows a VERY creative author, as Calton E. Morse was! A mystery you won't forget!
Norm
Norm
Dark edge to this well done mystery
csteidler24 October 2011
Jim Bannon and Barton Yarborough are Jack and Doc, detectives: this particular case has them encountering a man with a peg leg, a woman mysteriously confined to a wheelchair, a Russian psychiatrist who apparently does not speak that language, and a man named Monk (George Macready) who is certain he is going to be decapitated within a matter of days. Told mainly in flashback, the story shows Jack and Doc unfolding the mystery and gradually discovering that not all of these characters are what they seem. Indeed—are any of them?
Macready is excellent as the bizarrely-behaving threatened man who is either rattled or drugged or just unbalanced. Nina Foch is excellent as his wife—from her first appearance there is little doubt that there is more going on behind that face than she is letting on. Bannon is steady if unspectacular as the lead detective, essentially a no-nonsense straight man looking for logical answers. Yarborough's southern drawl as Doc is, I take it, meant to indicate his status as slightly comical sidekick; he says things like, "Hey, you mean all that stuff about the prophecy is just so much razzle dazzle?" but for the most part he stays out of the way.
Overall, an inventive story and solid direction combine to produce a sinister atmosphere in which tension stays high and the viewer is kept guessing. Straightforward performances add weight to this excellently dark mystery.
Macready is excellent as the bizarrely-behaving threatened man who is either rattled or drugged or just unbalanced. Nina Foch is excellent as his wife—from her first appearance there is little doubt that there is more going on behind that face than she is letting on. Bannon is steady if unspectacular as the lead detective, essentially a no-nonsense straight man looking for logical answers. Yarborough's southern drawl as Doc is, I take it, meant to indicate his status as slightly comical sidekick; he says things like, "Hey, you mean all that stuff about the prophecy is just so much razzle dazzle?" but for the most part he stays out of the way.
Overall, an inventive story and solid direction combine to produce a sinister atmosphere in which tension stays high and the viewer is kept guessing. Straightforward performances add weight to this excellently dark mystery.
You expect me to sell you my HEAD!!
sol-kay9 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
***SPOILERS*** Hum dingier of a mystery involving sleuths Jack Parker and his sidekick Doc Long, Jim Bannon & Barton Yarborough,in the case of the missing head, that was foretold to happen a year in advance, of San Francisco socialite Jefferson Monk, George Macready.
Monk already lost his head in a car accident just as the movie started so there was no mystery if he'll keep his head or not. It's then that we get the whole story, in flashback, from Jack Packard and Doc Long to the events that lead to Monk ending up a head shorter and about eight to ten pounds lighter.
It all started three days earlier at the Samovar Club where Packard and Long were having a few drinks. Seeing Monk go crazy when his lady friend Jane Anderson, Carole Mathews, called him a coward Packard tries to get the very disturbed and angry man to settle down by offering him a strong hot Russian coffee. It's when the flaming coffee pot suddenly, and accidentally, falls and almost burns Monk that Packard and Doc Long agree to walk the very nervous Monk home. It's then that they get the story right from the horses, Jefferson Monk, mouth as to the reasons for Monks acute paranoia.
Monk has been scared out of his wits after he returned from India with his now invalid wife Ellen, Nina Fuch. Being directed by this blind man, who seemed to have been following him all the way from India, that he ran into on the Streets of San Fancisco to this secret underground monastery Monk's learns the truth about himself and his destiny. Monk finds all this out from the blind mans master who calls himself Mr. "G", Justin Reeves.
Mr. "G" turned out to be the Grand Master of the secret society that calls itself the Barokan. A society that originates beyond the ice locked mountains of Tibet. Monk is told that he's a dead ringer of the societies founder and spiritual leader "the Great One' who's been dead and mummified for some 1,000 years! With "The Great One's" head now quickly giving into the rigors of time and weather Mr. "G" wants Monk to replace the cults founders now decomposing head with his own! Mr."G" even goes so far as offering Monk $10,000.00 to sell his head to him! This just scratches the surface of what the movie "I Love a Mystery" has in store for it's audience. The film really has to do with murder betrayal a falling out between thieves and a number of puzzling events that all lead to the truth behind both Mr. "G" predictions as well as his true identity.
Monk who seems to be normal at first, despite his paranoia, goes homicidal when he finds out the real reason for what's been happening to him since his trip with Ellan, who's suddenly falling ill was also predicted by Mr. "G", to India. This all has to do with two million dollars that Monk is to inherit under very strict and unusual circumstance's. You get the impression that Monk's head, or loss of it, has really nothing to do with what's going on in the film. Except in the cold hard fact that Monk is somehow being set up to be murdered, or forced to commit suicide, for the two million dollars that he's soon to inherit.
It's only later that the prediction of Monk losing his head, in order to replace the decomposing head of "The Great One", becomes a reality that has you left wondering what all this losing your head business is really about. It's also that reality that has both Jack Packer and Doc Long who were on "the Missing Head Case" wondering, as they recall the mysterious story of the now dead and headless Jefferson Monk, if there really is something supernatural about the whole thing after all?
Monk already lost his head in a car accident just as the movie started so there was no mystery if he'll keep his head or not. It's then that we get the whole story, in flashback, from Jack Packard and Doc Long to the events that lead to Monk ending up a head shorter and about eight to ten pounds lighter.
It all started three days earlier at the Samovar Club where Packard and Long were having a few drinks. Seeing Monk go crazy when his lady friend Jane Anderson, Carole Mathews, called him a coward Packard tries to get the very disturbed and angry man to settle down by offering him a strong hot Russian coffee. It's when the flaming coffee pot suddenly, and accidentally, falls and almost burns Monk that Packard and Doc Long agree to walk the very nervous Monk home. It's then that they get the story right from the horses, Jefferson Monk, mouth as to the reasons for Monks acute paranoia.
Monk has been scared out of his wits after he returned from India with his now invalid wife Ellen, Nina Fuch. Being directed by this blind man, who seemed to have been following him all the way from India, that he ran into on the Streets of San Fancisco to this secret underground monastery Monk's learns the truth about himself and his destiny. Monk finds all this out from the blind mans master who calls himself Mr. "G", Justin Reeves.
Mr. "G" turned out to be the Grand Master of the secret society that calls itself the Barokan. A society that originates beyond the ice locked mountains of Tibet. Monk is told that he's a dead ringer of the societies founder and spiritual leader "the Great One' who's been dead and mummified for some 1,000 years! With "The Great One's" head now quickly giving into the rigors of time and weather Mr. "G" wants Monk to replace the cults founders now decomposing head with his own! Mr."G" even goes so far as offering Monk $10,000.00 to sell his head to him! This just scratches the surface of what the movie "I Love a Mystery" has in store for it's audience. The film really has to do with murder betrayal a falling out between thieves and a number of puzzling events that all lead to the truth behind both Mr. "G" predictions as well as his true identity.
Monk who seems to be normal at first, despite his paranoia, goes homicidal when he finds out the real reason for what's been happening to him since his trip with Ellan, who's suddenly falling ill was also predicted by Mr. "G", to India. This all has to do with two million dollars that Monk is to inherit under very strict and unusual circumstance's. You get the impression that Monk's head, or loss of it, has really nothing to do with what's going on in the film. Except in the cold hard fact that Monk is somehow being set up to be murdered, or forced to commit suicide, for the two million dollars that he's soon to inherit.
It's only later that the prediction of Monk losing his head, in order to replace the decomposing head of "The Great One", becomes a reality that has you left wondering what all this losing your head business is really about. It's also that reality that has both Jack Packer and Doc Long who were on "the Missing Head Case" wondering, as they recall the mysterious story of the now dead and headless Jefferson Monk, if there really is something supernatural about the whole thing after all?
"Oriental, ain't it?"
utgard143 February 2014
First of three B detective films from Columbia featuring Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and his sidekick Doc Long (Barton Yarborough). The story here begins with the decapitation of a man named Jefferson Monk (what a name -- sounds like a superhero's secret identity). Through flashback, we find out Monk approached Packard and Doc for help earlier. He was told by a cult leader he would be dead within a year if he didn't sell them his head! Now the year is almost up. I can't even begin to describe anything else without ruining it for you.
This series was also a popular radio series back in the day. I listened to a lot of old time radio shows on satellite radio years ago. I don't remember ever hearing this program but I do remember Barton Yarborough quite well from other shows. Nobody who's heard his Huckleberry Hound accent is likely to forget it anytime soon. It's a little annoying but he's the comic relief sidekick so I tried to tolerate it. This is one of three films Nina Foch made with George Macready for Columbia in 1945. The most notable one being My Name Is Julia Ross.
Employs the dreaded "flashback-within-a-flashback" device but it doesn't hurt as the plot is simple enough to follow. Some nice atmosphere and creepy moments, such as when a peg-legged man with a mask attacks Monk on a foggy street. The decapitation angle seems pretty risqué for the time. It's a bizarre and enjoyable entry into a very crowded genre.
This series was also a popular radio series back in the day. I listened to a lot of old time radio shows on satellite radio years ago. I don't remember ever hearing this program but I do remember Barton Yarborough quite well from other shows. Nobody who's heard his Huckleberry Hound accent is likely to forget it anytime soon. It's a little annoying but he's the comic relief sidekick so I tried to tolerate it. This is one of three films Nina Foch made with George Macready for Columbia in 1945. The most notable one being My Name Is Julia Ross.
Employs the dreaded "flashback-within-a-flashback" device but it doesn't hurt as the plot is simple enough to follow. Some nice atmosphere and creepy moments, such as when a peg-legged man with a mask attacks Monk on a foggy street. The decapitation angle seems pretty risqué for the time. It's a bizarre and enjoyable entry into a very crowded genre.
"The whole thing sounds so preposterous!"
mgconlan-19 November 2007
Warning: Spoilers
It certainly does, and yet that's part of the charm of this incredible (in both senses) film. One wonders how Charles "Blackie" O'Neal went from writing Val Lewton's masterpiece "The Seventh Victim" (also about a secret society hounding someone to suicide) to penning something this utterly silly and unbelievable. It's all too reminiscent of "The Maltese Falcon" the San Francisco setting, the use of an historical secret society for the MacGuffin, even a mysterious villain known as "Mr. G." in ways that only remind one of how much better "Falcon" was as a story and a film. But the cast is excellent (though as usual with these productions. Barton Yarborough's "comic" relief gets trying at times, Jim Bannon is a capable hero and George Macready and Nina Foch show their worthiness for the bigger and better roles they got later), the production values good and the overall atmosphere better than I'd expect from a hack director like Henry Levin. It's one of those movies that throws so many movie clichés at you in such a willy-nilly fashion that in the end it attains a sort of accidental surrealism and (here's why I marked the "spoiler" button) it contains a visualized flashback narrated by a character who turns out to be lying five years before Alfred Hitchcock supposedly innovated that in "Stage Fright."
Jack and Doc....but where's Reggie?
collegeofuselessknowlege8 October 2010
The "I Love A Mystery" radio series starred three heroes--Jack, played by Jim Bannon. Doc, played by Barton Yarbarough, and the British Reggie, played by an up and coming American radio voice actor named Tony Randall.
The three films that were based on the series starred the original actors who played Jack and Doc--but Reggie was nowhere to be seen. What happened? Maybe Bannon and Yarborough physical appearances resembled their radio voices, but poor Randall didn't and the radio show didn't want him in the movie because it might ruin what listeners imagined what Reggie looked like.
Whatever the cause, Tony Randall would have to wait about another ten years or say to get his movie fame,while Jim Bannon and Barton Yarborough would fade to nostalgic obscurity of what-ever-happened-to-land and answers to Trivial Pursuit Games.
BTW. in case you're wondering. I liked the movies. They're from an age of long ago when you based movies on pulp stories and radio shows. Cheese, you say? Well, I LOVE cheese! :) Class Dismissed!
The three films that were based on the series starred the original actors who played Jack and Doc--but Reggie was nowhere to be seen. What happened? Maybe Bannon and Yarborough physical appearances resembled their radio voices, but poor Randall didn't and the radio show didn't want him in the movie because it might ruin what listeners imagined what Reggie looked like.
Whatever the cause, Tony Randall would have to wait about another ten years or say to get his movie fame,while Jim Bannon and Barton Yarborough would fade to nostalgic obscurity of what-ever-happened-to-land and answers to Trivial Pursuit Games.
BTW. in case you're wondering. I liked the movies. They're from an age of long ago when you based movies on pulp stories and radio shows. Cheese, you say? Well, I LOVE cheese! :) Class Dismissed!
Nobody plays the tortured mysterious soul like George Macready
AlsExGal13 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The movie begins with an odd little framing device, wherein a crime reporter questions a morgue attendant and we learn that one Jefferson Monk has been...well, decapitated in a car crash. The entry is actually entitled "The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk", so the film really begins with the ending. The film answers the "How?". So in flashback detectives Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) talk about how they tried to help wealthy Jefferson Monk (George Macready) just days before when they met in the very restaurant in which they are sitting.
Monk tells Doc and Jack that his death has been prophesied to occur in three days. However, the prediction was made a year earlier, shortly after returning from a vacation to the orient with his wife where he felt he had been followed about. Back in San Francisco, Monk's wife was kidnapped by a mysterious oriental cult and the cult leader only agreed to free them both if Jefferson agreed to sell the cult his head upon his death for 10000 dollars. It turns out that the cult worships the one thousand year old preserved body of their deceased leader, who was a dead ringer for Jefferson, and the corpse needs a fresh head as the embalmers' skill had reached their limit. However, this does not mean that the cult will kill Jefferson. Instead, they merely prophesy when he is going to die and will collect the head at that time. To bring home that they might be right, the month before the cult sent Jefferson a prophesy saying his wife would become paralyzed. Three days later she was unable to move her legs and has been wheelchair bound since.
Now at first Packard and Long think they are dealing with a nervous rich guy with too active an imagination, but then they witness a freak accident in the restaurant that would have killed Monk had he been sitting at his original table, and there is a one legged man who follows Jefferson home every night with a small satchel - just the size for a man's head, or so Jefferson Monk claims. But then Packard and Long actually see the guy, so maybe there is something to all of this.
Now this film is worth watching just for the atmosphere, acting - especially Macready, and the plot twists alone. As for the mystery, the film itself reveals what is going on too early in my opinion. Plus, if you listen to Jefferson Monk recount his story to Packard and Long you are going to see the common thread in the tale long before the mystery is unwound. Why this elaborate ruse? That is for Packard to reveal later in the film.
Henry Levin directed all three films in the series and he gives this one some nice noirish touches and a general air of fatalistic doom. It's a good start to the series, and things only get better from there. Nobody in the 40s could make a cheap B mystery film that didn't seem like a cheap B mystery film like Columbia. Recommended.
Monk tells Doc and Jack that his death has been prophesied to occur in three days. However, the prediction was made a year earlier, shortly after returning from a vacation to the orient with his wife where he felt he had been followed about. Back in San Francisco, Monk's wife was kidnapped by a mysterious oriental cult and the cult leader only agreed to free them both if Jefferson agreed to sell the cult his head upon his death for 10000 dollars. It turns out that the cult worships the one thousand year old preserved body of their deceased leader, who was a dead ringer for Jefferson, and the corpse needs a fresh head as the embalmers' skill had reached their limit. However, this does not mean that the cult will kill Jefferson. Instead, they merely prophesy when he is going to die and will collect the head at that time. To bring home that they might be right, the month before the cult sent Jefferson a prophesy saying his wife would become paralyzed. Three days later she was unable to move her legs and has been wheelchair bound since.
Now at first Packard and Long think they are dealing with a nervous rich guy with too active an imagination, but then they witness a freak accident in the restaurant that would have killed Monk had he been sitting at his original table, and there is a one legged man who follows Jefferson home every night with a small satchel - just the size for a man's head, or so Jefferson Monk claims. But then Packard and Long actually see the guy, so maybe there is something to all of this.
Now this film is worth watching just for the atmosphere, acting - especially Macready, and the plot twists alone. As for the mystery, the film itself reveals what is going on too early in my opinion. Plus, if you listen to Jefferson Monk recount his story to Packard and Long you are going to see the common thread in the tale long before the mystery is unwound. Why this elaborate ruse? That is for Packard to reveal later in the film.
Henry Levin directed all three films in the series and he gives this one some nice noirish touches and a general air of fatalistic doom. It's a good start to the series, and things only get better from there. Nobody in the 40s could make a cheap B mystery film that didn't seem like a cheap B mystery film like Columbia. Recommended.
mystery mystery
SnoopyStyle16 August 2020
Socialite Jefferson Monk is in the morgue decapitated by a car crash. The story is recounted three days earlier. Jefferson is distraught over someone following him. He predicts that he will be killed and lose his head in three days. Detectives Jim Packard and Doc Long listen to him in disbelief but they promise to follow him and his companion Jean Anderson. Jefferson is confronted by a strange man with a disfigured face and he is saved by the two detectives. They bring him home and meet his wheelchair-bounded wife Ellen.
There is a few too many exposition scenes. While I like the premise, the movie has to keep adding to it which leaves it spending too much time in exposition mode. The other issue is the attempt at being exotic. It struggles with white actors while trying to center the cult around the Himalayas. It's almost funny to see old Hollywood doing the exotic east. The mystery points directly to a solution which obviously everyone including the audience can solve almost immediately. That leads to another mystery but that solution leads to a problem with the beginning of the tale. There is no reason why Jefferson would involve the two detectives. This is coming from a radio series. I can see how some of these reveals are compelling to a radio audience. It's not quite as compelling for a movie.
There is a few too many exposition scenes. While I like the premise, the movie has to keep adding to it which leaves it spending too much time in exposition mode. The other issue is the attempt at being exotic. It struggles with white actors while trying to center the cult around the Himalayas. It's almost funny to see old Hollywood doing the exotic east. The mystery points directly to a solution which obviously everyone including the audience can solve almost immediately. That leads to another mystery but that solution leads to a problem with the beginning of the tale. There is no reason why Jefferson would involve the two detectives. This is coming from a radio series. I can see how some of these reveals are compelling to a radio audience. It's not quite as compelling for a movie.
Best screen adaption of the radio program is also one of the best B movie mysteries
dbborroughs21 October 2008
Warning: Spoilers
First of the three films based on the Carlton E Morse radio program is the best of the series and a great little mystery too boot. The plot of the film has Jack and Doc helping Jefferson Monk who appears to have run afoul of a weird cult that is out to kill him and take his head. Jack and Doc wade into the mess with typical aplomb and it isn't long before there are complications and bodies. The closest to the radio series because its based upon a fourth season story. Its clear that the series, had it remained on this course and either brought Morse's stories to the the screen or attempted to approximate them, could have and would have been one of the best B-movie series ever produced. Highly recommended for anyone wanting a really good mystery.
A bit confusing and quite odd...but worth a look.
planktonrules20 May 2017
This first of three B-movies is based on a popular radio program, "I Love a Mystery". It is about a mystery worked on by two pals, Doc and Jack...although, oddly, they are not that prominently featured in the film.
The film begins with a rather grisly scene where one of the detectives goes to the morgue...and finds a decapitated man. The story then goes back in time to when Jefferson Monk (George Macready) came to the private detectives. He has a bizarro story about some weird story about being followed and later being approached by a secret society...because they want to buy his head after he dies! What happens next in the story is just odd and instead of telling you more, I'll just say it's very convoluted and unusual!
The best thing about this film is the creepy atmosphere. Also, Macready was a great actor and was excellent here as well. As far as the detectives, however, they were a dull pair and really had little to do until the very end. Worth seeing but so strange you are left a bit confused by the whole thing.
The film begins with a rather grisly scene where one of the detectives goes to the morgue...and finds a decapitated man. The story then goes back in time to when Jefferson Monk (George Macready) came to the private detectives. He has a bizarro story about some weird story about being followed and later being approached by a secret society...because they want to buy his head after he dies! What happens next in the story is just odd and instead of telling you more, I'll just say it's very convoluted and unusual!
The best thing about this film is the creepy atmosphere. Also, Macready was a great actor and was excellent here as well. As far as the detectives, however, they were a dull pair and really had little to do until the very end. Worth seeing but so strange you are left a bit confused by the whole thing.
But this one, not so much.
BA_Harrison10 April 2023
I love a mystery, especially if there are plenty of well-crafted twists and turns along the way and everything is wrapped up neatly by the end; unfortunately, I Love A Mystery, based on a popular radio series of the day, is a tad TOO convoluted for its own good, the story becoming very muddled and the characters' machinations stretching plausibility to breaking point.
The basic plot sees a pair of private detectives, Jim Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough), trying to work out who is plotting to kill wealthy playboy Jefferson Monk (George Macready). Their investigations involve an ancient Oriental secret society, a mummy with a mouldy head, a one-legged man carrying a head-sized valise, a strange globe-hopping musician playing Tchaikovsky, several murders, a scheming wheelchair-bound wife (Nina Foch), and a mysterious brunette femme fatale (Carole Mathews), with flashbacks, and flashbacks within flashbacks, only serving to make matters even more confusing.
The basic plot sees a pair of private detectives, Jim Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough), trying to work out who is plotting to kill wealthy playboy Jefferson Monk (George Macready). Their investigations involve an ancient Oriental secret society, a mummy with a mouldy head, a one-legged man carrying a head-sized valise, a strange globe-hopping musician playing Tchaikovsky, several murders, a scheming wheelchair-bound wife (Nina Foch), and a mysterious brunette femme fatale (Carole Mathews), with flashbacks, and flashbacks within flashbacks, only serving to make matters even more confusing.
Definitely in my top 10 mysteries
steve05018 January 2003
I am a fan of mystery movies, and this is one of my all time favorites. I love the plot twists and the eerie atmosphere. I remember when I first saw this film, many years ago, how astonished I was when the villains are murdered one by one. My only complaint with the film is the phony arrest and jail break of Jack Packard. This was silly and unnecessary. Jack Packard should have been able to nail the killer without these shenanigans. This being said, I recommend this film, especially if you like mysteries and are looking for something different. Jack Packard, played by Jim Bannon, is an excellent screen detective, and Doc Long, played by Barton Yarborough, is a likeable sidekick who provides some comic relief, and best of all is Jefferson Monk played by George Macready.
According to the film ANONYMOUS, Queen Elizabeth the First enjoyed lopping . . .
oscaralbert17 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
. . . noggins so much that she ordered her own son AND grandson to be decapitated. The court intrigue behind the Last of the Tudor Choppers seems quite gripping compared to the tawdry tale told in I LOVE A MYSTERY. Unlike SWEENEY TODD, this flick also lacks catchy show tunes. True, this 1945 flick includes three slit throats, plus a beheading that is constantly telegraphed from the opening scene onward. However, all of the SKULLDUGGERY occurs off-screen, making Jack a very dull boy.
The Decapitation Of Jefferson Monk
atlasmb19 September 2022
Based on a radio broadcast, this noirish film is deliciously melodramatic. And it retains elements that are reminiscent of its radio origins, like a scream that is a plot point, but unnecessary.
The story includes a flashback within a flashback, and feels like a campfire tale of rich details. There are prophesies of bad fortune, mummies, a one-legged man, Eurasian artifacts, mysterious strangers, and practitioners of the occult.
This is a murder mystery. It features the superior sleuthing of Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and his sidekick Doc Long (Barton Yarborough).
So take a trip back to yesteryear, and enjoy this retelling of a radio whodunit.
The story includes a flashback within a flashback, and feels like a campfire tale of rich details. There are prophesies of bad fortune, mummies, a one-legged man, Eurasian artifacts, mysterious strangers, and practitioners of the occult.
This is a murder mystery. It features the superior sleuthing of Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and his sidekick Doc Long (Barton Yarborough).
So take a trip back to yesteryear, and enjoy this retelling of a radio whodunit.
Mediocre B-movie
gridoon202430 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
An engaging title, but not a particularly engaging B-movie. First of all, they made THREE of these movies with Jim Bannon and Barton Yarborough as leads? They are OK as supporting characters but hardly a charismatic pair of leads; Nina Foch and George Macready far outshine the rest of the cast, but the former exits the picture abruptly. The mystery plot intrigues you at first, with its Oriental mysticism and its peculiar flashback-within-a-flashback-structure, but it has a tendency of revealing its secrets to the viewer too early, and ultimately it turns out to be more of a "Scooby-Doo" type of deal. Henry Levin's direction is no more than functional. ** out of 4.
I love a mystery
coltras3517 November 2023
In San Francisco, detective partners Jack Packard and Doc Long are hired by socialite Jefferson Monk who believes someone is following him with the aim to kill him.
A little off beat mystery with some fine performances and atmosphere, but I found it a little hard to follow, as it was a bit confusing and lacked drive and was a bit dull - the heroes didn't help, they were lacklustre. In contrast, George Macready excels as a tortured soul. Which isn't surprising as he was a very talented actor with a distinctive voice. It's standard B-movie fare which would have been bettered with the "unknown", a far superior addition to the series.
A little off beat mystery with some fine performances and atmosphere, but I found it a little hard to follow, as it was a bit confusing and lacked drive and was a bit dull - the heroes didn't help, they were lacklustre. In contrast, George Macready excels as a tortured soul. Which isn't surprising as he was a very talented actor with a distinctive voice. It's standard B-movie fare which would have been bettered with the "unknown", a far superior addition to the series.
With Nina Foch and George MacCready You Know You're On a Winner!!!
kidboots28 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Nina Foch was another actress who had to flee to Broadway ("John Loves Mary" 423 performances) to prove her acting dedication - in Hollywood, even though she was terrific in "My Name is Julia Ross" she just wasn't given a go. "I Love a Mystery" is typical, a nice little noir and Foch was outstanding as the wife with a secret but Hollywood didn't seem to take any notice. "I Love a Mystery" had started life as a radio serial in 1939 and was about three friends who manage a detective agency and travel the world in search of adventure but when the movie was released it seemed only two of the friends made it to the silver screen.
When a flaming desert is almost spilled on a trio of men, Jefferson Monk (George MacCready) informs the others, two detectives, Jim Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) that it was meant for him and explains a prediction that prophesies he will die in three days. Doc and Jim become his unofficial minders - they meet his invalid wife whose behaviour is calm and hysterical by turns. Monk tells of their travels in the Middle East and of a strange street musician with an eerie song who he encounters again back in New York. He is lured into a secret society where he finds that the face of their founder who died 1,000 years before is a mirror image of himself. The Leader begs Monk to sell him his head!!! - hence he is now running for his life!!
Jim is suspicious of Ellen Monk's (Foch) debilitating illness and he is not wrong as Ellen is up and walking around when she is sure no one is in the house. The plot thickens when the pegleg stalker is killed and the girl who had initially picked up Monk at the "Silver Samovar" is revealed as the stalker's daughter. But you know that with George McCready as the star, he is going to make everyone, both goodies and baddies, feel mighty uncomfortable!!
Introduced by a narrator as "The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk" this would have made a good series in "The Whistler" vein. Columbia made a tentative go at it with "The Devil's Mask" and "The Unknown" both from 1946 and both with Barton Yarborough and Jim Bannon - it's just a pity the studio didn't pursue it.
When a flaming desert is almost spilled on a trio of men, Jefferson Monk (George MacCready) informs the others, two detectives, Jim Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) that it was meant for him and explains a prediction that prophesies he will die in three days. Doc and Jim become his unofficial minders - they meet his invalid wife whose behaviour is calm and hysterical by turns. Monk tells of their travels in the Middle East and of a strange street musician with an eerie song who he encounters again back in New York. He is lured into a secret society where he finds that the face of their founder who died 1,000 years before is a mirror image of himself. The Leader begs Monk to sell him his head!!! - hence he is now running for his life!!
Jim is suspicious of Ellen Monk's (Foch) debilitating illness and he is not wrong as Ellen is up and walking around when she is sure no one is in the house. The plot thickens when the pegleg stalker is killed and the girl who had initially picked up Monk at the "Silver Samovar" is revealed as the stalker's daughter. But you know that with George McCready as the star, he is going to make everyone, both goodies and baddies, feel mighty uncomfortable!!
Introduced by a narrator as "The Decapitation of Jefferson Monk" this would have made a good series in "The Whistler" vein. Columbia made a tentative go at it with "The Devil's Mask" and "The Unknown" both from 1946 and both with Barton Yarborough and Jim Bannon - it's just a pity the studio didn't pursue it.
just didn't grab me... missing something
ksf-216 September 2022
Monk hires the detective firm of packard and long to figure out who's following him. It seems to be a man with a wooden leg. Something about a prophecy, and people threatening mister monk. And his invalid wife. They have somehow gotten mixed up with a secret society, which seems to want to cause him harm. Can the detectives figure out what's going on in time? Stars jim bannon, george macreaady, barton yarborough. Nina foch is monk's wife. It probably made for a fascinating radio program, but for some reason, it comes across like dry toast with no butter on film. Not sure why. Not much chemistry between the actors. And it happens in a very linear fashion... they don't really figure anything out..things just happen, one after the other. Directed by henry levin. Maybe the sequels are better.
Nice Mix of Mystery, Noir and Horror
Michael_Elliott16 May 2010
I Love a Mystery (1945)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
The first of three films from Columbia based around the popular radio program I Love a Mystery. In the film, detectives Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) meet a man (George Macready) who fears he's going to die in a matter of days because a secret cult wants his head to put on the body of their mummified master. The detectives begin to unravel clues that might lead to the man's wife (Nina Foch) who is also being stalked by the cult. Due to how they were showed on TCM I ended up watching the second film in the series, THE DEVIL'S MASK, first and hated it from start to finish so I really wasn't sure what to expect from this film. Turns out that it's one of the more unique murder/mysteries from this era due to dark, foggy streets, a rich atmosphere, interesting characters and a rather ugly subject matter. The word decapitation is used throughout this film and one of the biggest plot moves is that this man is going to have his head cut off. How this got past the censors is beyond me but it's these dark touches that really make this film stick out, especially when compared to other films like this. Director Levin does a very good job at building up the atmosphere as we get several classic touches from the dark streets, people hiding in shadows and of course one plot twist happening after another. The movie actually manages to be very believable in all the twists that happen and it's helped even more by the fact that the mystery itself is a good one. Bannon is very good in the role and his laid back approach makes for an interesting leading man. Yarborough, playing pretty much a country bumpkin, isn't too bad either. Macready does a real good job playing the scared man who feels he's about to die. The film belongs to the ladies though as Foch is terrific in her few scenes as the wife and we also get a great femme fatal in Carole Mathews playing a strange woman who Macready meets in a bar. At 69-minutes the film runs just long enough to get enough right and it doesn't over welcome itself by going for too long. Fans of this genre will want to check this out just for the darker than normal subject matter and the fun performances.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
The first of three films from Columbia based around the popular radio program I Love a Mystery. In the film, detectives Jack Packard (Jim Bannon) and Doc Long (Barton Yarborough) meet a man (George Macready) who fears he's going to die in a matter of days because a secret cult wants his head to put on the body of their mummified master. The detectives begin to unravel clues that might lead to the man's wife (Nina Foch) who is also being stalked by the cult. Due to how they were showed on TCM I ended up watching the second film in the series, THE DEVIL'S MASK, first and hated it from start to finish so I really wasn't sure what to expect from this film. Turns out that it's one of the more unique murder/mysteries from this era due to dark, foggy streets, a rich atmosphere, interesting characters and a rather ugly subject matter. The word decapitation is used throughout this film and one of the biggest plot moves is that this man is going to have his head cut off. How this got past the censors is beyond me but it's these dark touches that really make this film stick out, especially when compared to other films like this. Director Levin does a very good job at building up the atmosphere as we get several classic touches from the dark streets, people hiding in shadows and of course one plot twist happening after another. The movie actually manages to be very believable in all the twists that happen and it's helped even more by the fact that the mystery itself is a good one. Bannon is very good in the role and his laid back approach makes for an interesting leading man. Yarborough, playing pretty much a country bumpkin, isn't too bad either. Macready does a real good job playing the scared man who feels he's about to die. The film belongs to the ladies though as Foch is terrific in her few scenes as the wife and we also get a great femme fatal in Carole Mathews playing a strange woman who Macready meets in a bar. At 69-minutes the film runs just long enough to get enough right and it doesn't over welcome itself by going for too long. Fans of this genre will want to check this out just for the darker than normal subject matter and the fun performances.
Faces to the voices
bkoganbing16 August 2020
I kove A Mystery was the first of tree films that Columbia Pictures did based on
the radio detective series of the same name. Stars Jim Bannon and Barton
Yarborough came overfrom radio to do their roles as a pair of San Francisco
based private eyes. Harry Cohn reasoned correctly the radio listeners were a built
in audience to fill movie seats. And I'm sure listeners were grateful to have the opportunity to put faces to voices.
George MacReady plays a millionaire playboy trying to find out who's been haunting him with a prophecy about decapitating him to replace the head on the body of a long dead eastern cult leader. Among other things prophesied were a paralyzing illness now affecting MacReady's wife Nina Foch.
Of course it's carefully planned scheme, but tables do get turned and that's all I have to say.
It's a really silly plot, but with players like MacReady and Foch thy make it interesting.
George MacReady plays a millionaire playboy trying to find out who's been haunting him with a prophecy about decapitating him to replace the head on the body of a long dead eastern cult leader. Among other things prophesied were a paralyzing illness now affecting MacReady's wife Nina Foch.
Of course it's carefully planned scheme, but tables do get turned and that's all I have to say.
It's a really silly plot, but with players like MacReady and Foch thy make it interesting.
Strange occurrences keeps the victim a head of his enemies.
mark.waltz4 September 2015
Warning: Spoilers
"Oh, the cleverness of me!" I recall as a kid saying that to myself and others when I came up with a smart answer or a particularly good paper in school, and I can just hear the writers of this intelligent but smug mystery saying that as they put their final stamp on the completed script. The first of a three part series of little "B" mysteries is intriguing but bogs down with chatty plot development that takes this down a convoluted road. It starts off fine with the seemingly accidental death of a prominent citizen (George Macready), decapitated in a car accident. Jim Bannon is detective Jack Packard who arrives at the mortuary, not at all surprised by what has happened to Macready. Through flashbacks, a confusing mix of Asian cult religion and marital discord between MacReady and his supposedly wheelchair bound wife (Nina Foch) is examined, taking this into areas that are often morbid, frequently thrilling, but ultimately a tangled mess that tosses the viewer into a state of frenzy.
In spite of all this in the state of confusion, there is something to be said for the imagination which went into this, and even if everything is explained in the horrific outcome, it takes a lot of thought afterwords to put it all together. A lot of the characters are not who they appear to be, utilizing disguises, alternate personalities and phony illnesses to achieve a nefarious goal. Other than Bannon, the characters are mostly morally bankrupt, and as the world moved from the end of World War II into a very cynical age, this was appropriately novel in its approach. Like any major piece of modern art, this is to be taken at an individual face value by each viewer as to what they get out of it. For me, it's an impressive attempt for a screenwriter to be very literary but ultimately just drops into a huge abyss where the writer must dig themselves out with the force of volcanic emotion erupting beneath him.
In spite of all this in the state of confusion, there is something to be said for the imagination which went into this, and even if everything is explained in the horrific outcome, it takes a lot of thought afterwords to put it all together. A lot of the characters are not who they appear to be, utilizing disguises, alternate personalities and phony illnesses to achieve a nefarious goal. Other than Bannon, the characters are mostly morally bankrupt, and as the world moved from the end of World War II into a very cynical age, this was appropriately novel in its approach. Like any major piece of modern art, this is to be taken at an individual face value by each viewer as to what they get out of it. For me, it's an impressive attempt for a screenwriter to be very literary but ultimately just drops into a huge abyss where the writer must dig themselves out with the force of volcanic emotion erupting beneath him.
Macready's Mystery
ellenirishellen-6296226 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Didn't find this movie boring.Macready definitely the star,and outshines screen wife Nina Foch.She cracked that it was hysterical George as Dame May Witty's son in My Name Is Julia Ross,but without him as a co-star,she wouldn't have a chance to show she could act.He was so much better than her in all their screen pairings.Bannon & Yarborough were pretty good,neither of them up to Macready's acting either.That George gets trashed so much is beyond comprehension,he was great!He always draws my attention right away,never resulting in cheap tricks to cover a lack of acting talent like today's stars who have to rely on six pack abs.This movie almost as good as another I Love A Mystery film,The Missing Juror,also with the wooden Jim Bannon.
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