The Missing Juror *** (1944, Jim Bannon, Janis Carter, George Macready, Jean Stevens, Joseph Crehan) – Classic Movie Review 9626

In director Budd Boetticher’s 1944 film noir mystery thriller The Missing Juror, the members of a murder trial jury who convicted an innocent victim are gradually being bumped off one by one.

Jim Bannon plays Joe Keats, the reporter who tries to save the rest, with six down and six to go. There is heroism from Bannon, plus romance from Janis Carter as Alice Hill and villainy from George Macready, and both are engaging.

The Missing Juror is only a cheap programmer, maybe, but it is taut, tense and tingling, and well done with some imagination and style by cult director Budd Boetticher, who was then called Oscar Boetticher Jr.

Charles O’Neal’s screenplay is based on the story by Leon Abrams and Richard Hill Wilkinson.

Also in the cast are Jean Stevens, Joseph Crehan, Carole Matthews, Cliff Clark, Edmund Cobb, Mike Mazurki, Trevor Bardette and George Lloyd.

The Missing Juror is directed by Budd Boetticher [Oscar Boetticher Jr], runs 66 minutes, is made and released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Charles O’Neal, based on the story by Leon Abrams and Richard Hill Wilkinson, is shot in black and white by L William O’Connell, is produced by Wallace MacDonald and is scored by Mischa Bakaleinikoff (musical director), with Art Direction by George Brooks.

It is Boetticher’s second film, after One Mysterious Night (1944).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9626

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com