Adele Mara

Kane Richmond

Richard Fraser

Peggy Stewart

Cy Kendall

Gregory Gaye

John Kelly

Beverly Lloyd

Addison Richards

Donia Bussey

Frank Reicher

Garry Owen

Gerladine Farnum

Major McBride

William H. O'Brien

Jack O'Shea

Robert Strong

Beverly Reedy

Melva Anstead

Lucille Byron

Martha Carroll

Harriette Haddon

Rosemonde James

Marian Kerrigan

Philip Ford

Ernest Miller

Frank Hotaling

Otto Siegel

George Carleton Brown

John Dunkel

Fred Allen

Richard Cherwin

Thriller

The Tiger Woman

Republic Pictures

United States of America

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

English