Unmasked *** (1950, Robert Rockwell, Barbra Fuller, Raymond Burr, Hillary Brooke) – Classic Movie Review 11,490

Republic Pictures’ lively 1950 black and white crime thriller film Unmasked stars Robert Rockwell, Barbra Fuller, Raymond Burr and Hillary Brooke.

‘Smeared by Scandal that led to MURDER! SHOCK STORY of a VICIOUS RACKET! SHAKEDOWN RACKET Exposed!’

Republic Pictures’ lively 1950 American black and white crime thriller film Unmasked is directed by George Blair, and stars Robert Rockwell, Barbra Fuller, Raymond Burr and Hillary Brooke.

Raymond Burr is outstanding as the blackmailing, murderous scandal-sheet publisher Roger Lewis, who tricks gullible rich women into investing in his ventures. His latest is ex-showgirl Doris King (Hillary Brooke), the wife of producer Harry Jackson (Paul Harvey), who has lost his money, but Doris still has her jewellery and wants to divorce him and marry Lewis, who has other ideas.

Robert Rockwell stars as Detective Lt James ‘Jim’ Webster and Barbra Fuller also stars as Linda Jackson.

Unmasked runs just 60 minutes but they are good, noirish ones.

Release date: January 30, 1950.

Unmasked is directed by George Blair, runs 60 minutes, is made by Republic Pictures, is released by Republic Pictures, is written by Manuel Seff (story), Paul Yawitz (story), Albert DeMond (screenplay) and Norman S Hall (screenplay), is shot in black and white by Bud Thackery, is produced by Stephen Auer, is scored by Stanley Wilson, and is designed by art director Frank Hotaling.

The main cast are Robert Rockwell as Detective Lt James ‘Jim’ Webster, Barbra Fuller as Linda Jackson, Raymond Burr as Roger Lewis, Hillary Brooke as Doris King Jackson, Paul Harvey as Harry Jackson, Norman Budd as ‘Biggie’ Wolfe, John Eldredge as Johnny Rocco, Emory Parnell as ‘Pop’ Swenson, Russell Hicks as District Attorney George Richards, Grace Albertson as Lewis’s sweetheart Mona Durant,  Lester Sharpe as Pawnbroker Mr. Schmidt, Charles Quigley as Police Detective Newcombe, Barbara Pepper as Mrs. Schmidt, Charles Trowbridge as Dr Lowell, and Harry Harvey as Saunders.

Barbra Fuller signed a contract with Republic Pictures in 1949 and starred in nine films in 1950 alone.

Her first screen credit is for The Red Menace (1949), followed by Flame of Youth (1949), Alias the Champ (1949), Harbor of Missing Men (1950), Women from Headquarters (1950),  Trial without Jury (1950), Unmasked (1950), Crosswinds (1951) and City of Bad Men (1953). Her last movie parts came in How Sweet It Is! (1968) and The Roommates (1973).

Before her film career, she was featured in 25 radio serials by the age of 18. After her contract with Republic expired, she worked mainly in TV, and made many TV performances, beginning with a 1953 episode of The Adventures of Superman, and including two episodes of Perry Mason (1960, 1964), reuniting her with Raymond Burr.

Lash LaRue.

Barbara Deane Fuller was born in Nahant, Massachusetts, on July 31, 1921. She married Western star Lash LaRue on February 23, 1951, in Yuma, Arizona, but divorced him on June 2, 1952, claiming he ‘treated her mean’. She did not remarry or have children.

Barbra Fuller died on May 15, 2024, aged 102.

Raymond Burr and Natalie Wood star in A Cry in the Night (1956).

The Best of Raymond Burr: Desperate (1947), Sleep, My Love (1948), Raw Deal (1948), Pitfall (1948), Abandoned (1949), Red Light (1949), M (1951), His Kind of Woman (1951), The Blue Gardenia (1953), Walk a Crooked Mile (1948), Borderline (1950), Unmasked (1950), The Whip Hand (1951), FBI Girl (1951), Meet Danny Wilson (1952), Rear Window (1954), They Were So Young (1954), A Cry in the Night (1956), Affair in Havana (1957), and Crime of Passion (1957).

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,490

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/