June Lockhart passed away last fall at 100 and TCM ran a few of her films recently. Many might remember her as the mom on Lassie, or perhaps as the mom on Lost in Space, but she has a ton of screen credits to choose from. Her first screen credit was as a Cratchit child in A Christmas Carol (1938). The Cratchit parents were played by her real life ones.
The murders spark sensationalist stories in the newspapers. Inspector Pierce (Dennis Hoey) investigates. Hoey also played the bumbling Inspector Lestrade in six Sherlock Holmes films. The charming fiancee Barry (Don Porter) doesn’t accept that his lovely Phyllis is responsible, and does his own investigation.
She-Wolf of London is period drama posing as gothic horror. While well made and well acted, it was entirely predictable. If you haven’t figured everything out by the end of the first act, you’re not paying attention. But it isn’t easy to develop a complex story in sixty one minutes, so I feel generous. Pour one out for Ms. June. AMRU 3.
