Best movie of this year hands down!

Sorry, this movie sucks

Good idea lost in the noise

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

In the beginning of the movie there is a page dedicating the movie to the New York Police: "This picture dedicated to the New York Police Department with its thousands of loyal and courageous men for meritorious service to its community." A man named Digberry/Byron Foulge is seen climbing out on a cemetery wall by a policeman late at night. The policeman asked what he was doing in the cemetery. Digberry gives the policeman a story that is like suspicious and kind of funny that he is brought to the police station and questioned.The story goes on from there that Digberry got a letter from a anonymous person to leave money on a grave. He claims he paid the money because he has a wife and 5 daughter on vacation who will be coming home and he does not want them frightened or anything bad happen to them. Other people that know each other got a similar letter with a paw print on it and days later Digberry got direction as to where and when he was to leave the money.A woman is murdered and 3 men are considered suspect. One of the clues is a wig. Digberry is a wig maker and there is another man that made a wig for a man. The hair of the wig was found in the dead woman's hand.There are lots of funny scenes. What I thought was interesting is the way the police investigated. They were very clever and alert as to what was said and what they saw and the way people responded. Good police work.Good mystery, lots of humor and nice for a black and white picture made in 1942 you can watch for free on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OY6ddm8zy0

This is a cute blend of comedy and mystery as others have said. It is at least as good as a modern TV sitcom. I thought Byron Foulger did a great job as the suspicious character who just might be a bad guy. He is so addled being questioned by the police and so scared of his wife and 5 daughters it makes for a sympathetic and charming hero. The plot slowly bumps along with plenty of red herrings thrown around and more humour stirred in with the stereotyped black elevator operator doing the step and fetch it style humour good for a little chuckle. If hubby who really does not like B and W movies stayed interested, then that is enough to recommend it.

Anthony Abbot's fictional detective, Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt, inspired only two little known Columbia features, 1932's "The Night Club Lady" and 1933's "The Circus Queen Murder," so after a decade's passing, Poverty Row's PRC took a crack at the character with "The Panther's Claw," intended to be only the first in a new series that came to naught. Replacing two-time Colt Adolphe Menjou with dependable Sidney Blackmer (an excellent choice), the often comic story is derived from Abbot's 1940 short story, "About the Perfect Crime of Mr. Digberry." In keeping Digberry (Byron Foulger) at the forefront, Blackmer's Colt is reduced in stature, conducting a too leisurely investigation as other annoying suspects get an abundance of screen time until he comes on strong at the end. Sadly missing from this PRC Colt are his faithful assistant Miss Kelly, delightfully portrayed by Ruthelma Stevens, and his unique lip reading abilities, which at least made him stand out from his inspiration, Van Dine's Philo Vance. Speaking of which, this would be the screen finale of Thatcher Colt, just as PRC also brought Philo Vance to his end, in a three picture series from 1947. Both characters suffered the same fate on television, as neither were ever revived for small screen incarnations. In hindsight, I believe that PRC was not only better than Monogram with mysteries (Charlie Chan), but also the horror genre, as their stories usually wasted no time getting underway; feel free to disagree.

Producers Releasing Corporation was known for it's cheap sets and low production values; "The Panther's Claw" probably falls in the middle tier of their low budget offerings. What I found most amusing about this picture is the choice of it's title, purporting to be some great mystery a la the symbolism of a sleek black cat. Instead, the panther's claw belongs to a common house cat named Gomer, and when all is said and done, the 'claw' becomes virtually a throw away in the solving of the murder mystery at the center of the story. In fact, Gomer doesn't even show up for the end of the picture, his purpose having been served about mid way through.The story itself is actually decent enough, with Sidney Blackmer in the role of Police Commissioner Thatcher Colt. His character might have been Charlie Chan, Mr. Wong or Bulldog Drummond in any of those detective flicks from the same era, and he acquits himself rather well via a low key manner and methodical police work. He manages to fend off the aggressive D.A. who wants to arrest an innocent man in the murder of a famous opera star, thereby clearing a milquetoast of a man named Digberry (Byron Foulger), who's been implicated in the murder by coincidence and a rather elaborate frame up. You never get the impression that Digberry might be a legitimate suspect, with an early hint offered by a Digberry lookalike who slinks around the corridors of his apartment without showing his face. Like the Charlie Chan films, this one offers a red herring or two to keep the viewer guessing, and the murderer could actually have been any of them depending on the script writer.The opening credits dedicate the picture to the members of the New York City Police Department, and on that score it was a reasonable tribute. There was a fair amount of detective work that went into the solving of the crime on the part of Commissioner Colt, and a lot of information was packed into the seventy minute run time. This was the first picture I watched out of a two hundred fifty movie DVD set I picked up quite reasonably from Mill Creek Entertainment as part of their Mystery Collection, and it wasn't a bad way to get started. Only two hundred forty nine more to go.