Scotland Yard Investigator (1945)

Erich von Stroheim is an art lover who collects the great masterpieces - illegally. The Mona Lisa is in Britain on loan from France. Stroheim intends to have it. Forrester Harvey knows what Stroheim is after, but Stroheim does not want his help. Sir C. Aubrey Smith is the head of the museum, whose wife is confined to a wheelchair. Smith (in the movie) is to be knighted (just as Smith was in real life). French delegates show up to collect the painting, but they are Stroheim's agents. However, the painting is a fraud. Harvey has it, and he murders the man who originally stole it. Smith's knighthood is in jeopardy because of the theft.

Stroheim shows up at Harvey's house and Harvey names a price of $100,000 for the painting. Smith's expert verifies that the painting they have is the one they received from France, but there is little they can do to establish that fact. Then Harvey contacts Smith to name his price. Smith feels he has to raise the money himself since the fault for the theft was his. The French authority calls Smith granddaughter, Stephanie Bachelor, telling them of the thieves. She calls her boyfriend, Richard Fraser, who is a Scotland Yard inspector. In the meantime, Stroheim sees where Harvey has hidden the painting, stabs him and steals it. The French agent shows up and Bachelor and the museum assistant delay him with the phoney painting. When Smith comes home that night, he is attired as a burglar, and evidently intends to steal the painting from Stroheim. He gets into the house, but Stroheim greets him with a sword. However, Harvey's widow is hiding behind the curtain and shoots Stroheim. The find the painting and just have time to catch the French authority to give him the real painting.

Bachelor


Harvey