Name: The Unknown Guest
Genre: Mystery
Released: 1943-10-22
Duration: 1 h 1 min
Rating: 5.3
Cast: Victor Jory, Pamela Blake, Veda Ann Borg

An Interesting Idea With Mediocre Execution

Lee "Lasses" White and Nora Cecil are about to close down their hunting lodge for the winter, as they do every year, even though the hunting season hasn't ended. Seasonal employee Pamela Blake asks for a loan so she can buy a dress for the dance in a week, and they respond in a tight-fisted manner. After she leaves, in comes Victor Jory, their ne'er-do-well nephew. He asks to stay overnight, and they say know. He's obviously on the run from something, and the next thing the audience sees is that he is telling Miss Blake that he'll be keeping the place open for the winter while his aunt and uncle are gone. But there's something suspicious about him, and when Harry Hayden asks for a contact address for a deal they've been trying to make for years, Jory says he doesn't know, and orders Hayden off the property.... and a boulder almost hits him. Meanwhile, the postman says they always go to the same place every winter, but they haven't shown up. Soon the whole town grows suspicious.

It's a King Brothers production, and an interesting exposition in how people are very suspicious. However, the script makes everything a little too obvious that there's something off about Jory, and his careful diction doesn't make his poor grammar. Still, it's an interesting cast, filled with the sort of players who don't usually get screen credit, like Emory Parnell, Emmett Lynn, and Cyril Ring. Director Kurt Neumann certainly brings out the paranoia.

The mystery genre features the investigation and solving of a puzzle, typically a crime or an enigmatic event. Mysteries are known for their suspenseful narratives, intricate plots, and the challenge they present to readers or viewers to piece together clues and solve the central mystery alongside the characters.

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Residents get suspicious when a shady character takes over the local hunting lodge right after the two old-timers who own it disappear.

Pamela Blake, Veda Ann Borg, Paul Fix, Harry Hayden, Victor Jory, Emory Parnell, and Lee 'Lasses' White in The Unknown Guest (1943)

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Pamela Blake and Victor Jory in The Unknown Guest (1943)

The Unknown Guest

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