Tonight's Movie: Unmasked (1950) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

I first saw UNMASKED (1950), a 60-minute Republic Pictures "B" film, at the 2025 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival.

I loved it and said it was probably my "favorite" new-to-me film of the festival.

Now, to my delight, UNMASKED is available on Blu-ray in a beautiful print as part of the Dark Side of Cinema XXVII Collection from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

Even better? It has a commentary track by Alan K. Rode, who programmed the movie as producer and host of the Arthur Lyons Festival.

I never would have dreamed, once upon a time, that a film such as this would receive such a wonderful Blu-ray treatment. And this set also includes a 1941 Bob Steele picture, THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY (1941) which I reviewed a couple weeks ago; my "B" movie cup runneth over!

Lest anyone think this is a "classic" film, I'll quote my instant Twitter impression from my first viewing again: "Great cast, short, fast-paced, and slightly stupid at times, in the most delightful ways. Loved it."

Raymond Burr stars as Roger Lewis, a tabloid publisher who strangles his mistress Doris (Hillary Brooke) in the early going. This enables him to tear up IOUs for substantial sums he owed Doris. And did I mention he's also dating his secretary Mona (Grace Gillern)?

A brief intermission: A few years ago Toby posted a brief but lovely tribute to Hillary Brooke at The Hannibal 8. She really does turn up in the most interesting places.

Back to UNMASKED: Roger frames Doris's hapless husband Harry (Paul Jackson) for the murder. Harry's daughter Linda (Barbra Fuller) and Lt. Jim Webster (Robert Rockwell) gather evidence to solve the case and, as far as Linda hopes, clear her father.

This hour, written by Albert DeMond and Norman S. Hall from a story by Manuel Seff and Paul Yawitz, flies by at a breakneck pace thanks to the direction of George Blair and tight editing by Robert M. Leeds. Murder! Jailbreak! Mobsters! Shoot-out! Romance!

It's one of those movies I like to say isn't great art but is great fun, including performances which are, at times, slightly awkward. Fuller was a longtime radio actress and comes across as confident yet not a standard-issue leading lady.

And as for Burr, he absolutely nails Lewis as an utter creep. Perry Mason he's not!

The supporting cast includes John Eldredge, Norman Budd, Emory Parnell, Barbara Pepper, Harry Harvey, Charles Trowbridge, and Russell Hicks.

The movie was filmed in black and white by Bud Thackery. It was restored by Paramount Pictures, which owns the rights.

In addition to the previously mentioned commentary track by Alan K. Rode, the disc includes three trailers for other films available from Kino Lorber.

I'll be reviewing the final film in the set, THE MAN IS ARMED! (1956), at a future date. It's another Republic Pictures film, starring Dane Clark and Burr's future PERRY MASON costar, William Talman.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray collection.

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John Wayne Giveaway Finale!

Thanks to everyone who participated in my John Wayne Giveaway quiz, which concluded earlier this week.

Several participants answered all five questions correctly. I drew an email address from among those entries which had all answers correct.

I have contacted the winner by email but have not yet received a response. If I don't receive a reply in the next few days I will draw a backup winner, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!  Next week I'll update this post either way.

Here are the correct quiz answers:

Q. John Wayne made how many films with director Howard Hawks?

A. Five.

Q. Which actor had the most speaking parts in movies starring John Wayne?

A. Paul Fix.

Q.What was the first film released by John Wayne and Robert Fellows' production cpmany Batjac Productions?

A. BIG JIM MCLAIN (1952).

Q. Which actress did NOT appear in a film with John Wayne?

A. Kay Francis.

Q. In SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON what is the name of the fort where Captain Nathan Brittles is assigned?

A. Fort Starke.

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