The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)

When Professor Jonathan Drake has a vision of three skulls, he knows his brother Kenneth is in danger. But by the time he arrives at the country mansion, Kenneth is already dead. Routine heart attack, nothing suspicious. No need to run a toxicology scan. Oh, and his head is missing. The police suspect foul play but professor Drake knows it’s the family curse.

Directed by schlockmeister Edward Cahn who helmed 72 films in his career. Not a bad total, but impressively he directed 44 features between 1956 and 1961 alone. That averages to over seven films a year. That’s … exhausting. How did he rush through that many films? Simple. He rushed through them. Everything about this picture felt rushed. The script, acting, stage direction, everything. I’m sure only the most disastrous takes were redone. Cahn would direct two more in 1962, then die. And so it goes.

I thought I had seen The Four Skulls just before I started my blog but apparently that was The Screaming Skull. I watched a lot of this sort of thing in the year prior to blogging. Obvious bad guy type Henry Daniell is the obvious bad guy. Coming from the stage, he seemed to be the only actor to rehearse their lines (such as they are) prior to filming. This is the eleventh film I’ve seen him in, including three Sherlock Holmes.

Despite itself, The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake was enjoyable to watch. The sets were fine, the story made sense, and was barely over an hour long. It held my interest without taxing my slip glazed brain. What more could one want? AMRU 3.5.