Tonight's Movie: Bullet Scars (1942)

BULLET SCARS is a peach of a "B" movie, providing 59 minutes of fast-paced fun with a good cast.

Warner Bros. loved to reuse their plots, and BULLET SCARS is an economical remake of DR. SOCRATES (1935) and KING OF THE UNDERWORLD (1939).

Regis Toomey plays an isolated country doctor, Steven Bishop, who's "recruited" by gangster Frank Dillon (Howard Da Silva) to treat one of his men (Michael Ames) who's been shot in a holdup. Dr. Bishop has no idea that the men have recently robbed a bank, especially as he's told a cover story for the man's bullet wound.

The good doctor performs surgery on the man at the remote lodge where the men are staying, aided by the patient's sister Nora (Adele Longmire), a nurse. Dr. Bishop is a little slow on the uptake to understand that he's the prisoner of some dangerous men, but when he does figure it out he comes up with a very clever way to summon help.

I'm a Regis Toomey fan so it's nice to see him in a leading role as the resourceful doctor. He's surrounded by some terrific "faces," including Da Silva and one of my favorite Warner Bros. supporting actors, John Ridgely, who plays one of his gang. Charles Drake is very noticeable in his two scenes as a young reporter, and you can catch a quick glimpse of future PERRY MASON star William Hopper as the unfortunate bank teller in the opening scene.

This was the film debut of Adele Longmire, who played Ann Rutledge on Broadway in the original production of ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS (1938). After this film she returned to Broadway, then married actor Arthur Franz in 1946. She would not appear on screen again for nearly a decade, when she had a role in Cary Grant's PEOPLE WILL TALK (1951).

The supporting cast also includes Hobart Bosworth, Ben Welden, Frank Wilcox, Roland Drew, Walter Brooke, Creighton Hale, and Ray Montgomery.

BULLET SCARS was directed by D. Ross Lederman and filmed in black and white by Ted McCord.

This movie is not available on DVD or VHS, but it's been shown on Turner Classic Movies.

BULLET SCARS won't go down in history as great drama, but it provides a very enjoyable hour of entertainment, just what a "B" movie should do.