The Panther's Claw (1942)

As cheap and cheerful B-features go, this is actually quite quickly paced and entertaining. It all centres around wig-maker "Digberry" (Byron Foulger) who is apprehended up to no good in a cemetery after hours. His explanation makes little sense to the police officer - he is being blackmailed by the mysterious "Panther" into leaving $1000 on the graveyard of one of his aunts. Turns out that he is not the only recipient of such a letter - many of his friends have also, and this leaves Police Commissioner "Thatch" (Sidney Blackmer), and his sidekick "Abbott" (Rick Vallin) to try to get to the bottom of things. The story is a bit far-fetched, but Foulger is on quite good form as the plot offers intrigues from the operatic to a bit of skull-wiggery, and it passes 70 minutes effortlessly. The ending is a bit obvious, but still - it shows what can be done with a tiny budget if the story is decent and the performances are too.