Just Before Dawn ** (1946, Warner Baxter, Adele Roberts, Martin Kosleck, Mona Barrie) – Classic Movie Review 12,180

‘A FACELESS KILLER ON THE LOOSE!’ Just Before Dawn (1946) is the creepy sixth Crime Doctor mystery film episode, in which bad guys make Crime Doctor Robert Ordway (Warner Baxter) deliver a killer injection.

‘A FACELESS KILLER ON THE LOOSE!’

Director William Castle’s 1946 Columbia Pictures mystery thriller Just Before Dawn stars Warner Baxter as crime-solving criminal psychologist Dr Robert Ordway, along with Adele Roberts [Adelle Roberts], Martin Kosleck and Mona Barrie.

Just Before Dawn is the creepy sixth Crime Doctor mystery episode, in which bad guys make Crime Doctor Robert Ordway (Warner Baxter) deliver a killer injection. Ordway gives an injection of what he thinks is insulin taken from a bottle in the diabetic patient’s pocket but the insulin is really poison and the man dies.

Resolute performances and a grimly atmospheric air of intrigue help to deliver the moderate material thriller safe and sound.

Also in the cast are Marvin Miller, Charles D Brown, Craig Reynolds, Robert Barrat, Milton Graf, Charles Lane, Charles Arnt, Ted Hecht, Peggy Converse, Irene Tedrow, and Thomas Jackson.

Writers: Eric Taylor (story), Aubrey Wisberg (screenplay), Max Marcin (radio series Crime Doctor characters).

Columbia Pictures made a series of 10 low-budget Crime Doctor mysteries from 1943 to 1949, all with Warner Baxter as Dr Robert Ordway. Sadly Baxter was in poor health while working on the series, and two years after making the tenth film, he died of pneumonia.

Just Before Dawn is directed by William Castle, runs 66 minutes, is made and released by Columbia, is written by Eric Taylor (story) and Aubrey Wisberg, based on Max Marcin’s radio series Crime Doctor characters, is shot in black and white by Philip Tannura and Henry Freulich, is produced by Rudolph C Flothow, is scored by Mischa Bakaleinikoff, and is designed by Hans Radon.

It was released on March 7, 1946.

The cast are Warner Baxter as Dr Robert Ordway, Adele Roberts [Adelle Roberts] as Claire Foster, Martin Kosleck as Karl Ganss, Mona Barrie as Harriet Travers, Marvin Miller as Casper (Gypsy Corsello), Charles D Brown as Inspector Burns, Robert Barrat as Clyde Travers, Craig Reynolds, Milton Graf, Charles Lane, Charles Arnt, Ted Hecht, Peggy Converse, Irene Tedrow, and Thomas Jackson.

The 10 Crime Doctor films: Crime Doctor (1943), The Crime Doctor’s Strangest Case (1943), Shadows in the Night (1944), Crime Doctor’s Warning (1945), The Crime Doctor’s Courage (1945), Just Before Dawn (1946), The Crime Doctor’s Man Hunt (1946), The Millerson Case (1947) (aka The Crime Doctor’s Vacation), The Crime Doctor’s Gamble (1947), and The Crime Doctor’s Diary (1949).

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,180

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