The Tiger Woman (1945)

Sharon – The Tiger Woman!

A budget crime/mystery out of Republic Pictures, The Tiger Woman crams as much as it can into a running time of just under an hour. It’s a private detective yarn tinged with a dangerous femme fatale as the plot sends P I Jerry Devery (Kane Richmond) into the world of Sharon Winslow (Adele Mara), who needs him to help get her husband out of debt to the mob. But the husband’s death opens up a can of mysterious worms.

Please stop beating your gums.

What follows is a whole bunch of bluffs, wrong leads and red herrings, the latter of which usually involves cigarettes. The pic is strung together via a number of character exchanges where the dialogue pings with humorous spice, in the interim moments there’s court shenanigans, murder, beat downs and a beautiful southpaw thrown! It all leads to a genuinely pleasing finale as the reveal seems obvious even though it wasn’t, that’s how good the twists and turns are in the build up.

Mara smoulders with her big eyes and shapely legs and Richmond offers up good solid lantern jawed machismo. They are supported well by Peggy Stewart, Richard Fraser, Cy Kendall, John Kelly and Addison Richards. Phillip Ford (The Last Crooked Mile/Hideout) directs with classic Republic “B” efficiency and Ernest Miller (The Steel Helmet) photographs to the good staple requirements of black and white crime yarns of the era. 7/10