Dark Streets of Cairo

1940's "Dark Streets of Cairo" is a real obscurity among Universal buffs, as it was never included in the studio's SHOCK! collection of classic horror films issued to television in the late 50s, probably never making the rounds on local stations either, although Realart posters assured its theatrical comeback. Released a few months after "The Mummy's Hand," the film reunites George Zucco and Siegfried Arno in basically the same roles, but are now jewel smugglers based in Cairo, using the same sets and much of the same musical cues. Zucco's fez wearing gang leader is named Abbadi (pronounced 'a body'), who tries to pin his crimes on a kidnapped wealthy baron (Lloyd Corrigan), with top billing going to Sigrid Gurie as the baron's daughter. The screen's best known Dick Tracy, Ralph Byrd, plays the hero, and diminutive Eddie Quillan, fresh from "The Grapes of Wrath," supplies too much comic relief for a 59 minute feature that provides little thriller relief. Zucco easily handles his duties in fine fashion, and other villains are played by Henry Brandon, Nestor Paiva, Steven Geray, and Charles Wagenheim.