The Hidden Hand

Thriller about a murderous maniac on the loose. Craig Stevens, Julie Bishop. Mary: Elisabeth Fraser. Chauffeur: Willie Best. Estelle: Ruth Ford. Lorinda: Cecil Cunningham. Channing: Frank Wilcox. Hattie: Inez Gary. Directed by Ben Stoloff., Everybody seems to have had a good time making the overripe melodrama The Hidden Hand, especially cadaverous Milton Parsons as insane-asylum escapee John Channing. In her efforts to protect her brother from the authorities, John’s sister Lorinda (Cecil Cunningham) opens the door for a series of grisly murders. Hero Peter Thorne (Craig Stevens) and heroine Mary Winfield (Elizabeth Fraser) try to stop John before he overracts-er, kills-again. Absolutely impossible to take seriously, The Hidden Hand is nonetheless worth a glance, if for no other reason than to see perennial bit player Parsons in a juicy leading role. The film was based on Invitation to a Murder, a play by Rufus King., Chilling tale of a crazed murderer who escapes from a lunatic asylum and goes on a killing spree before he runs up against an heroic foe.