As a Richard Conte fan, it’s good to see some of his early films like THE SPIDER from 1945.
As usual in a ‘B’, The Spider manages to cram so much into 60 minutes.
Set in New Orleans,Conte is a private eye whose partner Ann Savage is murdered in his apartment.
First mistake, you don’t kill off Ann Savage in the first ten minutes. The nominal leading lady is Faye Marlowe who only made a few films – she wasn’t very good.She employs Conte to investigate the mystery of her missing sister.
Faye is a magician’s assistant (Kurt Kreuger is the magician).
Walter Sande is the cop trying to figure out what’s going on.
In a small part is a young Cara Williams who was far better than Miss Marlowe.
Conte makes a good detective, with his laid back, commanding style.
Would have been great to see Ann Savage playing opposite him for the whole film!
The title, I think, refers to the stage setting Kreuger uses for his mind reading act.
Vienna's Classic Hollywood 
Never seen this but it sounds interesting. I have to say killing off Ann Savage in the early stages does seem an intensely dumb idea.
Yep. What were they thinking!
As another fan of Richard Conte, this does sound intriguing. I like the idea of setting the story in New Orleans. I’ll stay on the watch for this one!
Best wishes,
Laura
Thanks, Laura. Being the world of B movies, you have to use your imagination about the location!