From the opening narration of dead matriarch Phoebe Martin giving the back story of her deranged family, "The Unknown" is several notches above the usual programmer. Part of the "I Love a Mystery" series done briefly at Columbia in the mid 40's, this one is the best, although the first one is pretty neat, too. However, for the most part, this one is unrelated to the first two. They had a bit of a comic overtone, while this one has a gothic feel to it, something like "Rebecca". If not as well known or as polished as that film, it is equally spooky.
The opening segment dramatizes the accidental death of the family patriarch which ultimately leads to the family's desolation into being reduced to being totally reclusive from once the cream of society. When a young girl named Nina (Jeff Donnell) arrives after the death of Grandmother Martin, she quickly discovers her mentally disturbed mother (Karen Morley) who was driven to insanity by being forced to give up her husband, Nina's father.
Soon, it's apparent that someone is trying to get Nina out of the way and her attorneys must help her find out who the culprit is before it's too late. This is where a lot of ingenious surprises come in, and there are lots of them.
The opening segment dramatizes the accidental death of the family patriarch which ultimately leads to the family's desolation into being reduced to being totally reclusive from once the cream of society. When a young girl named Nina (Jeff Donnell) arrives after the death of Grandmother Martin, she quickly discovers her mentally disturbed mother (Karen Morley) who was driven to insanity by being forced to give up her husband, Nina's father.
Soon, it's apparent that someone is trying to get Nina out of the way and her attorneys must help her find out who the culprit is before it's too late. This is where a lot of ingenious surprises come in, and there are lots of them.