The Phantom

The Phantom is one hour and one minute and was released in theaters on November 1, 1931. Basically a District Attorney gets a telegram from the Phantom and a reporter and the District Attorney’s daughter head to the insane asylum undercover to go look for the Phantom and that is the movie in a nutshell. The movie is weak in story and is hard to follow along and when the Phantom is unmasked there is no explanation as to why the person became the Phantom. In the end The Phantom get a D-.DVD FeaturesA. PlayB. Chaptersa. Chapter 1b. Chapter 2c. Chapter 3d. Chapter 3e. Chapter 5f. Chapter 6C. CatalogD. Coming Attractionsa. Despiserb. Bohicac. The Ghost of Angela Webbd. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydee. Just Add Pepperf. Blood of the Beastg. Magdalenh. The Ironbound Vampirei. A Chronicle of Corpsesj. Grandparents from Outerspace

I do appreciate that Amazon makes old movies such as this available, and I usually enjoy the mystery movies from this time period. You get to see how people dressed, what cars they drove, etc. But I must say this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. As some of the other reviewers have said, it's a bit like a silent movie, but with talking. The actors make all sorts of facial expressions, and then finally deliver their lines. It's also curious that when the characters are walking indoors, it sounds like they're always stomping. Perhaps that is somehow due to the sound-recording technology, or maybe the movie sets just all had really hollow floors.The movie makes me think this is what Troll 2 would have look like had it been made in 1931, except Troll 2 at least had a more-focused storyline.

There's not much to enjoy in this dated, underachieving thriller, starring Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, who was much better suited to play the roles in which he shined as the goofy side-kick in Westerns starring John Wayne, Errol Flynn, etc. Instead, Williams is assigned the hopeless task of pulling off the lead role in this nuclear disaster-sized failure of a film. "Big Boy" is sorely out of place as the mystery-solving reporter-hero; and although the personable, easy-going everyman apparent in all his performances, peeks through occasionally in this clunker, it does not do so often enough to sustain his character or the film. A welcome addition to every film in which he made an appearance, the blame for this fiasco named THE PHANTOM cannot be laid at Williams' feet. He is woefully miscast and painfully lacks anything remotely resembling competent directorial guidance. And poor Allene Ray. Her brutally fast career demise in post-silent film Hollywood did not occur quite quickly enough, as evidenced by her presence in this movie. Though she was a unique woman and should be remembered as one of the first female bronco-busters in her native Texas, which served as the launch-pad for her uneven silent film career, it's difficult to sit through her high-pitched delivery and her pathetic attempts to attain some level of aural competence, a goal never attained. Equally nauseating is Violet Knights' turn as the housemaid. If anyone ever desperately needed acting lessons—or better yet, of permanently staying as far away from a movie camera as humanly possible—it was she. And rounding out this mass creative self-immolation, the character of the "Phantom" is an absolute disaster in this laughable stab at the haunted house suspense genre; even with no lines to deliver other than incoherent grunts and groans, the actor nevertheless manages to flub even the essential creepy hand gestures, supposed to give audiences the shivers. If you want masterful hand gestures, look to Bela Lugosi who remains unchallenged at expressing emotion through hand movement. The only reason I can think of to recommend this stinker is for a good laugh, or to point out that it would prove valuable to anyone who wanted to learn how NOT to make a film.

Watch this film for a laugh and see how to really botch a film. It is hilariously instructive. Really!It has every flaw you can imagine: dialogue, casting, acting, script, story. It would make a great party game to count them. They seem neatly placed as to almost plead for film school inclusion.The Phantom starts out (for about 30 seconds) as a crime thriller then morphs into Laurel& Hardy meet The Thin Man. I laughed a lot at this film just for the later characters in the insane asylum. You just have to see it to understand. It's nuts. It was all worth that part of the film. The actors/characters seem to all be acting in different shots but it somehow moves smoothly enough to keep me entertained. It seems almost as if there was no director. This is nonetheless, one of the funniest bad films I've seen.(Ronark's excellent review dissects this film clinically and accurately.)

Could have bee a Silent Movie, with the actors making all those faces that audiences before King Kong Loved

I had heard about Phantom movies this one was good. The plot held together, and had twists and turns, and a good finish. I real who done it.

Great old movie. Really enjoyed it

i LIKE OLD MOVIES