Laura Stevens (The Black Widow)

Laura Stevens was yet another chorus girl turned movie starlet, and although she receives billing (last) in the 1946 Shadow thriller Behind the Mask, she is quite a bit more interesting in a brief but memorable turn as Trixie, a girl for hire, in the Republic serial The Black Widow (1947). Trixie turns up in chapter 10 where Carol Forman, in the title role, has been arrested for attempting to assassinate the hero (Bruce Edwards). But Carol, you see, knows a fiendish little trick where she can actually be in two places at the same time. In reality, the "other" Miss Forman, i e. Trixie, is donning a rubber mask in Carol's likeness, complete with elaborate hairdo, and is convincing enough that the real Black Widow is let loose to do the bidding of her nutcase of a father, Hitomu, for another chapter or so.