Gypsy Wildcat (1944)

When a Count is found dead, a wicked baron (Douglass Dumbrille) blames a local settlement of gypsies. The only witness to the killing is a gypsy dancer (Maria Montez) but she remains silent because of her attraction to the main suspect (Jon Hall) in the killing. Directed by Roy William Neill (BLACK ANGEL), this is yet another Technicolor Maria Montez vehicle that apparently 1940s audiences couldn't get enough of. Universal wisely understood that she couldn't always play exotic Arabian or Egyptian dancing girls or the public might tire of her quickly so here they made her a gypsy dancing girl. But changing the time and location didn't really alter the plots or simplistic dialogue (reportedly an uncredited James M. Cain worked on the script) much, it's as silly as ever. But the movie (and Montez) are gorgeous to look at and at a brief one hour and fifteen minutes, it's painlessly over before you know it. With Gale Sondergaard, Leo Carrillo, Nigel Bruce and Peter Coe.